GOES AL FRESCO
GUBI is venturing into the open air and breaking down the
boundaries between inside and out. This new take on al fres-
co design features new collections from archival and con-
temporary designers, alongside outdoor versions of much-
loved indoor classics. In the threshold spaces between
inside and outside, iconic designers’ visions of la dolce vita
come to life, with a refined bohemian aesthetic and a sense
of celebration.
The divisions between inside and out have been blurring for
decades, and today, there is a distinct global shift towards
a more flexible approach to where we work, rest and play.
Whereas once people wanted to ‘bring the outside in’ with
biophilic interiors, or take the inside out by creating ‘outdoor
rooms,’ now indoor and outdoor areas are merging to cre-
ate overlapping zones where the conventional distinctions
between indoors and out are eroded. Such threshold spac-
es are no longer seen simply as welcome additions to our
homes, but an integral part of them.
Today, more and more of us are investing in considered
schemes that flow out onto a terrace or balcony, extending
the usable square footage of our homes. Architecture flows
outside to create ‘transteriors’ – half-way spaces of transition
that are neither fully indoors nor entirely out. These might be
covered patios, sunrooms and conservatories, heated decks
or greenhouses, pergolas strung with lights that draw the
eye and create a convivial atmosphere, or even simple cano-
pies to gather beneath.
People are increasingly making design decisions that enable
them to extend the amount of the day – and the year – that
they can spend outside, investing in partially covered spaces
that offer shade from the sun in the summer and protection
from the elements in the shoulder seasons. There is an al-
most magical appeal about the night sky, some wild weath-
er, or a perfectly planted garden, enjoyed from the vantage
point of low-level seating in a warm, comfortable space.
When moving outside, design lovers don’t leave their style
or standards at the door – they prioritize the same aesthet-
ics and want all the same comforts of inside on the outside.
Challenging the utilitarian focus of traditional outdoor furni-
ture, these new spaces demand the same aesthetic and er-
gonomic standards as indoor design. The humble barbecue
grill teamed with a table and four chairs will no longer cut it.
As we move through, between, and within spaces, we want
our design values to move with us. Outdoor spaces have ac-
quired the same importance to us as rooms within the house
GUBI GOES
AL FR ESCO
– zoned into comfortable, well-equipped extensions of the
home, providing for everything you might do inside, with aes-
thetic standards to match.
There is a space for every purpose and every time of day, from
cozy single-person nooks to afternoon sun traps for lounging
with family and friends, and from expansive dining areas with
long generous tables to secluded breakfast spots perfectly
positioned to catch the morning light just for the family.
Designed to move easily between indoor and outdoor spac-
es, GUBI’s new ‘transterior’ furniture and lighting includes
the refined alternative-lifestyle aesthetic of Gabriella Cres-
pi’s Bohemian ’72 Collection, loved by the stars of stage and
screen. GUBI adds dynamism to GamFratesi’s TS Table and
Bill Curry’s innovative Obello Lamp, reinventing them as por-
table accessories that follow us wherever we go, bringing the
look and feel of the indoors outside.
These transitional pieces are complemented by a selection of
weatherproof options developed for year-round outdoor use.
The low-level lounging embodied in Pierre Paulin’s sculptural
Pacha Collection and the functional rigor of Marcel Gascoin’s
C-Chair and F-Chair – now in teak – are reimagined for the
outdoors. Out of production for decades, Mathieu Mategot’s
Tropique Collection is also back – its playful fringes and
hammock-like seat and backrest perfect for poolside dining
in the sun.
Statement pieces create interest and tell a story – and while
a chandelier over the patio table might be impractical, adding
portable table lamps or a striking piece of furniture is a simple
way to elevate the atmosphere. You can create a bold and yet
unified interior scheme that also encompasses the exterior
– safe in the knowledge that everything has been optimized
for outdoor use. You will even find outdoor-ready upholstery
options to match your aesthetic taste.
From design classics converted for outdoor use to original
design masters’ takes on al fresco living and contemporary
additions to the collection, the newly expanded GUBI Col-
lection has been curated without compromise to embrace all
spaces. Under a roof or open to the elements, you can have
the best of GUBI wherever life takes you.
GABRIELLA
CRESPI
In the year that Italian
designer Gabriella Crespi
would have turned 100,
and 50 years after its ini-
tial conception, GUBI is
putting the Bohemian 72
Collection into production
for the first time. The col-
lection is the beginning of
a new collaboration with
Archivio Gabriella Crespi
and reflects the harmony
between Crespi’s artis-
tic, bohemian vision and
her love of travel and
GUBI’s confident cura-
tions and global outlook.
D E S I G N E R
TO THE
STARS
Born in 1922, Italian artist and designer Gabriella Crespi would
have turned 100 this year. Throughout her extraordinary ca-
reer in the design world, she moved effortlessly among both
European royalty and the Hollywood jet set. Her indisputable
glamour and sophisticated sense of style made her a muse to
the fashion designer Valentino, and brought the likes of Au-
drey Hepburn, Gianni Versace, and Hubert de Givenchy into
her social circle. As a designer, it was her gift for streamlined
forms and lavish material finishes that won her a dedicated
following and saw her become a coveted partner to presti-
gious fashion houses ranging from Dior to Stella McCartney.
Crespi’s aesthetic was characterized by dualities, pairing
modernist functionality with an eye for the baroque, and shift-
ing between clean lines and sensuous curves. When she died
aged 95 in 2017, she left behind a repertoire of more than two
thousand pieces, spanning furniture, jewelry, and sculpture
– all imbued with an eclectic style that embraced both the
organically whimsical and the formally geometric.
Crespi’s daughter Elisabetta Crespi now heads up Archivio
Gabriella Crespi. “My mother was utterly Milanese,” she says.
“She had extraordinary taste, stemming from her inner pas-
sions and bohemian lifestyle. She was naturally elegant and
didn’t follow mainstream fashion; instead, she favored a cul-
tivated simplicity in her aesthetic. She was modern, daring
- almost radical in her propositions. From her innate allur-
ing qualities to the inviting furniture she designed, everything
was sophisticated yet unconventional, with a warm, human,
and sensuous feel to it.”
Bohemian 72 Ottoman
Bohemian 72 Floor Lamp
Bohemian 72 Sofa
Bohemian 72 Ottoman
Bohemian 72 Lounge Chair
TS Outdoor Coffee Table Ø80
Epic Coffee Table
9602 Floor Lamp
Gravity Table Lamp
10
To honor the inspiring and extraordinary designer that Ga-
briella Crespi was, GUBI is proud to introduce the Bohemian
72 Collection. Elegant, flexible, and refined, this collection is
the distillation of Crespi’s vision of a versatile rattan furniture
family for what she called her ‘house of the sun’. The pinnacle
of the jet-set bohemian lounge lifestyle, Bohemian 72 brings
together Crespi’s interest in natural materials, her fascination
with stacked sculptural forms, and her curiosity about Eastern
cultures and philosophies, honed over years of travel.
During her lifetime, these exclusive pieces were only ever pro-
duced for private clients, but today, 50 years after they were
first conceived, GUBI has worked from Crespi’s original draw-
ings to bring an extraordinary collection into production for
the first time. In these iconic rattan furniture designs, a worldly
Milanese sophistication is conjured from one of nature’s most
humble-seeming materials.
Crespi designed the Bohemian 72 Collection in the spring of
1972 from the terrace of her home in Milan. Alongside the re-
nowned ‘Rising Sun’ and ‘Five Positions’ Collections, Bohe-
mian 72 was part of Crespi’s wider ‘Bamboo Collection’, de-
signed between 1972 and 1975. Comprising a lounge chair,
three-seater sofa, ottoman and floor lamp, the collection is the
culmination of Crespi’s career-long mission to create furniture
that seamlessly unites indoor and outdoor living.
LIFESTYLE
BOHEMIAN 72 CRESPI’S
REFINED LOUNGE
12
Drawn to rattan for its strength and versatility, she conceived
these pieces at a time when the material was very much in
vogue within the high-society circles in which she moved,
viewed as the height of interior sophistication. Her deci-
sion to use repeating layers of vertically coiled rattan vines,
however, was unusual for the time, and results in a distinctive
and highly luxurious take on lounge furniture that has proven
truly timeless.
Crespi’s goal was to create a flexible rattan seating collec-
tion that felt equally at home in the city or the country, at
the seaside or high on a mountain slope. Her great ambi-
tion, she once said, was to create ‘a house of the sun’ – an
environment that radiated warmth, light and sophistication.
Rattan, with its gentle tones, natural appearance and the
way light passes between its canes, is the perfect material
to create such a setting.
“I wanted to create the house of the sun,” she said. “I
couldn’t help but do it with rattan and bamboo, materials of
which I’m very fond and that combine strength and flexibility,
the warmth of mellow tones, and the ability to be run through
by light. Very long spokes give an impression of the infinite
and indeterminate just as cane thickets that rise toward the
sky do in nature.”
To recreate Crespi’s original designs demands a high lev-
el of craftsmanship, as the rattan canes must be steamed
and then bent by hand around a die, specially made to the
dimensions of her drawings. Because it is a natural material,
standardizing rattan is a complex process, and color, texture
and dimension differ from vine to vine, introducing another
level of skill to the production process.
CRESPI’S
LOVE OF
Bohemian 72 Floor Lamp
Bohemian 72 Lounge Chair
14
Bohemian 72 Ottoman
Bohemian 72 Sofa
9602 Floor Lamp
16
Each of the seats is topped with a lavishly plump cushion that follows the
outline of the rattan frame perfectly, based on Crespi’s original drawings.
Sleek in form but supremely soft, they introduce a cosseting level of com-
fort to the collection. This near-decadent focus on indulgence is empha-
sized in the backrest of the lounge chair, which has a generous 115º incline
to encourage even deeper relaxation.
The floor lamp has a shade formed from a vertical arrangement of rattan
strips, with brass detailing. The pattern of the strips allows the lamp to cast
a beautifully delicate play of light and shade on the floor around it, evok-
ing an atmosphere of rustic warmth and bohemian sophistication. In all
four pieces, the bent rattan canes and strips are stained with antique color
and finished with a gloss coating to ensure a consistent appearance and a
rich and warming natural texture. Each member of the collection can stand
proudly on its own, but taken as an ensemble, the quartet makes a timeless
statement of luxury.
BOHEMIAN
72
UP
CLOSE
Left: Bohemian 72 Floor Lamp
Bohemian 72 Lounge Chair
Right: Bohemian 72 Lounge Chair
Tropique Dining Chair
Tropique Dining Table