Driving seat: Poltrona Frau and Ferrari join forces on high-octane chair collaboration

Heads up agile workers: the ‘Cockpit’ is a racing chair for the office, the Ferrari of swivel seats. Indeed, commissioned to mark the car maker’s 70th anniversary, and manufactured by Poltrona Frau, it is designed by Flavio Manzoni, Ferrari’s design director and creator of recent models such as the GTC4Lusso and the 812 Superfast.

The chair’s silhouette and structure are informed by the ergonomic seats of the marque’s racing cars, while its modular construction offers flexibility and comfort.

Poltrona Frau has collaborated with Ferrari on its vehicle interiors since the mid-1990s and the long-term partnership has allowed the two firms to develop a mutual appreciation and understanding of each other’s aesthetic values. ‘Our companies share the same care and attention to details, the same constant research for excellence, the same love for craftsmanship and the same sense of balanced elegance,’ explains Nicola Coropulis, Poltrona Frau’s brand director.

The chair features a carbon-fibre shell and a leather seat, while its swivel movement was developed using the same design and mechanics as a Ferrari steering wheel.

Two versions are available: the President is a managerial model with a high back, while the Executive can be adapted to any working context. The models are available in sleek black or classic Ferrari red, and there are also options in brown and tan leather, which were chosen by Manzoni’s team from the material samples offered in the car company’s ‘Tailor-Made’ programme.

‘The biggest lesson we have learned in working with Ferrari is that even the tiniest detail must have meaning and function in relation to the whole project. Nothing is there just to embellish,’ says Coropulis. ‘True beauty is in the essence of things and in the way they are assembled.’

As originally featured in the July 2017 issue of Wallpaper* (W*220)

INFORMATION

’Cockpit President’ chair, from £10,800; ’Cockpit Executive’ chair, from £8,400, both by Ferrari and Poltrona Frau, For more information, visit the website