Monk

Chair

Afra e Tobia Scarpa, 1973

Monk is all about the expressive quality of the materials, which include Italian walnut, natural ash, leather and natural canvas. The seat and the back are made of leather or canvas, which is fitted over two tubular steel sections in such a way as to create a very comfortable chair. Made from solid wooden planks, the legs support the tubular sections and are joined two by two with crosspieces.

Design Afra e Tobia Scarpa, 1973

“I had imagined it as a single piece, because it was more economical that way. Angelo Molteni changed the design though: “No, no” he said. “We do things properly”. So we came up with an iron structure stretched between two identical frames, which made the seat”.

- Tobia Scarpa

Design

Afra e Tobia Scarpa

Protagonists of 20th century Italian design and culture Tobia Scarpa (born in Venice in 1935) and his wife Afra Bianchin (1937-2011) both graduated from the IUAV in Venice in 1969. Multifaceted and curious designers, they have dealt with architecture, restoration, installations, design, graphics and teaching. Since the 1960s, they have established themselves as leaders in industrial design, through collaboration with a number of important Italian and international companies, including UniFor and Molteni&C. In addition to their industrial product, the work of the Scarpa couple has also involved to the restoration and design of numerous places of sale. Among these, the Corporate Showrooms of UniFor.

Complete biography

"Knowing how to build is a debt to technique. Knowing how to give a meaning to things I create is a debt to logic required by the forms"

Afra e Tobia Scarpa