(Rome) The visionary Italian architect and designer Gaetano Pesce, creator of the famous “Up” armchair series, has died at the age of 84, according to a message published Thursday on his official Instagram account.
The New York-based designer, known for his colorful and playful furniture, had faced “health issues” in recent months, but “remained positive and always curious,” and “it is with heavy hearts that we announce his passing from this visionary creator,” announces the press release published on Instagram.
Among his best-known creations are the “Up” armchairs, a series of anthropomorphic foam seats, including one evoking the body of a voluptuous woman.
PHOTO ISABEL INFANTES, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE ARCHIVES
“In the space of six decades, Gaetano has revolutionized the fashions of art, design, architecture and the spaces at the borders of these categories”, underlines the press release, saluting “his incomparable originality and audacity”.
Born in 1939 in La Spezia, a port city in Liguria, Gaetano Pesce studied architecture in Venice and taught in Strasbourg for 28 years, but also in Pittsburgh, Milan, Hong Kong, Sao Paulo and New York, where he was installed in 1980.
His works are exhibited in the permanent collections of prestigious museums such as the MoMA in New York, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Center Pompidou in Paris.