Paula

Overview

Paula (2023) is Vincent Van Duysen's armchair for Molteni&C, accompanied by a matching ottoman. According to the page it is an innovative design that creates a sense of movement and lightness, built on carefully considered proportions: a cantilevered frame with suspended cushions.

Construction

The datasheet lists the structure as painted aluminium with non-slip plastic feet tips, finished in burnished metal. Looping bonded hide leather straps attach the seat and the backrest to the frame, and the seat and backrest cushions combine polyurethane and polyester fibre beneath a bonded cotton-polyester cover.

Specifications

• PPL1 armchair: 70.5 cm wide and 77 cm deep; the drawing's only vertical value is 77 cm, which is not labelled on the drawing
• PPO1 pouf: 70.5 cm wide and 48 cm deep
• Strap finishes: natural, tobacco, hazelnut, mud green

A reading of modernist seating

A first-person statement on the page says Paula was inspired by modernist furniture such as the Barcelona armchair by Mies van der Rohe. It describes paying attention to the details and proportions of that armchair: a decisive silhouette balanced by the lightness of the metal structure and a system of leather straps that define the seat, the backrest and the cushions.

An ottoman as a continuation

The matching ottoman was conceived as a visual continuation of the armchair. The page says it stands on the same pedestal feet, in burnished or sand metal, and that its cushion is fixed with the same looping straps; the datasheet names burnished metal for the base.