Work: Sella

Description

“The design of an object for mass production is, above all, an integrated process of continuous human participation, and of choices that must precede and condition every sectoral methodology. It is, first and foremost, an operation of culture.” — Achille Castiglioni.

The chair is perhaps the most well-traveled territory in the design world—there are undoubtedly more seats on Earth than there are human beings. One only needs to think of how many different types we encounter in a single day. Sella (Saddle), however, is a seat that demands a unique kind of sensory-motor alertness from whoever uses it. Designed by Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni in 1957, it has been manufactured by Zanotta since 1983. Its construction features a heavy, rounded steel dome acting as a pivoting pedestal for a central steel column, topped by a leather racing-bicycle saddle. The column is painted a vibrant pink—a nod to the Gazzetta dello Sport, Italy’s premier sports newspaper, and the iconic leader’s jersey of the Giro d’Italia. The stool has only one leg, because the other two belong to the person sitting on it. Standing at 71 cm high, it positions the user in a semi-upright, near-standing posture. Yet, unlike a normal bicycle, when you get off, Sella rocks back and remains perfectly upright.

As design critic Chiara Alessi notes: “Sella is an intentionally uncomfortable seat. It requires a continuous renegotiation of the center of gravity between its single leg and the two legs of the man—or, more probably, the woman, as Castiglioni intended. In fact, Sella was conceived for a very specific, yet entirely everyday scenario: it was designed as a telephone stool.”