DU 30 Chair

Overview

DU 30 is a chair by Gastone Rinaldi, designed in 1953. The page calls it an armchair and the sheet a chair; it has one shaped shell for seat and back, a central seam, and four legs of bent iron tube.

Image source: Poltrona Frau — DU 30 Chair · © Poltrona Frau and the respective rights holders. Quoted to accompany INTEBEE's independent design commentary and research. · View official product page ↗ · Image use & copyright policy

Construction

• Shell: shaped single shell in steel mesh, with a metal rib at the bottom screwed directly to the legs
• Padding: moulded polyurethane foam
• Legs: bent and welded iron tubing, textured wrinkled black finish, black plastic caps
• Cover: Pelle Frau® leather with a central seam from the lower back along the seat and a hand-sewn seam on the front

Specifications

• Code 5578001: largest drawing values, not labelled with axes: 82.5, 55 and 40 cm
• Removability: not possible

Compasso d'Oro 1954

The page says Rinaldi designed the chair in late 1953 and that it won the Compasso d'Oro, then called the Compasso d'Oro-Rinascente, in 1954, the first year the prize was given. It names Gio Ponti, Marco Zanuso and Alberto Rosselli among the jury members.

Patent and magazine cover

The chair was patented immediately and appeared on the cover of the first issue of Stile Industria in June 1954, the page adds. It also points to the central cut and stitch of the single seat-and-back shell as recalling contemporary works by Lucio Fontana.