The Gufram Sassi, designed in 1968 by Piero Gilardi, is a radical reinterpretation of one of nature’s most timeless forms: the stone. Conceived during the height of the Italian Radical Design movement, these extraordinary designer poufs and ornamental elements challenge the boundary between natural reality and artificial construction. First presented at the Milan Triennale in the same year, Sassi immediately attracted attention as a conceptual provocation. What at first glance appears to be a set of heavy, immovable boulders turns out to be soft, lightweight, and playful: an embodiment of Gufram’s idea; where nothing is as it seems and everyday expectations are subverted through design.

Material and Illusion

Although they look like authentic stones shaped by centuries of natural erosion, the Sassi poufs are made entirely of lightweight polyurethane. Each piece is carefully hand-finished by artisans, with meticulous painting techniques that reproduce the texture, shading, and mineral variations of real rock. The irony lies in their tactile experience: what seems hard is surprisingly soft, inviting users to sit, lean, or arrange them as sculptural elements within a space. This radical juxtaposition of illusion and reality captures the ingenuity of Italian design at the end of the 1960s, when designers sought to question tradition and propose bold new visions for domestic living.

From Triennale to Today

Over fifty years after their debut, the stone-shaped poufs continue to fascinate collectors, architects, and interior designers worldwide. They function both as unconventional seating and as decorative elements, adapting to private homes, showrooms, or hospitality projects. Their flexibility allows them to be used singly as sculptural accents or grouped together to create an indoor landscape of surreal boulders. The Gufram Sassi can also be paired with other radical works by Piero Gilardi x Gufram, the irreverent icons of Studio 65 and Gufram, or eclectic brands such as Ibride Furniture, enriching interiors with layered narratives that mix humor, irony, and natural inspiration.

A Radical Design Legacy

To own the Gufram Sassi is to embrace a masterpiece of Radical Italian Design. More than ornamental furniture or simple Gufram interior decor, they are sculptural objects that carry the memory of nature into the modern home, reinterpreted through the lens of avant-garde experimentation. Their enduring charm lies in their paradox: they appear immovable yet are light, they look timeless yet feel contemporary, they seem like artifacts of geology yet are products of imagination. The soft seats by Gufram are therefore not only a playful furnishing solution but also a cultural statement, an invitation to rethink the way design interacts with both environment and perception.