New Maralunga Sofa

The history of furniture has always fascinated this writer. I've had articles about Klismos chairs and Chesterfield sofas,m etc., but never a Maralunga sofa. It turns out the Maralunga sofa designed in 1974 was the first upholstered sofa that incorporated movement. It was designed by Cesare Cassina.

"Legend has it that when Cassina first saw Magistretti’s prototype for the now-iconic 1974 Maralunga sofa, he disliked it so much that he punched it — hard. His frustration split the back of the model, which fell back over itself so that it resembled a headrest."

Now, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the sofa, 20 students from the Swiss art and design school ECAL have updated the sofa and it will be on display at Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan’s annual design week,