Gufram presents Punch a Wall by Studio Job

Barolo, Italy, October 2024 - Gufram presents the original Punch a Wall, designed by one of the most irreverent creative studios on the international scene, Studio Job, now available in a limited edition of 333 pieces.

This unique piece was presented for the first time on the occasion of the SuperGufram exhibition at Design Miami/ Basel in 2017. For this special spin-off, the brand collaborated with the Dutch practice, Studio Job to create a limited edition of collectible objects, conceived to investigate the boundaries between industrial design and applied art in the 21st Century.

With SuperGufram, Gufram took radical a step forward, experimenting and increasingly pushing Job Smeets to overcome the limitations of traditional furniture design.

The Punch a Wall is a real punching bag, resembling a column of orange bricks. In this piece, Studio Job uniquely plays with the dichotomy between soft and hard, dream and reality, creating an unexpected short-circuit of perceptions and expectations, supported by the limitless experimentation that a material like expanded polyurethane allows — essentially, the possibility to create anything.

Drawing inspiration from the collaborative spirit of Italian radical designers of the Seventies, this work explores the intersection of art and architecture with shared curiosity and an experimental spirit. Challenging conventional boundaries of form and function, Punch a Wall plays on the illusion generated by the contrast between the visual perception and the actual texture, inviting viewers into a surreal world.

When asked to comment on this new project, Studio Job said: “Super Smooth, Super Slick, Super Sexy, Super Smug, Super Studio Job. It's Super Gufram! Super Gufram is the holy Grail of smooth monumental design.”

The Punch a Wall is a provocation, it encourages to strike and at the same time stops this impulse.

Made entirely by hand by Gufram artisans, the Punch a Wall is sculpted from a piece of expanded polyurethane and then covered with Guflac® Ultra, the evolution of Guflac®, the special paint invented by Gufram over 50 years ago, which makes each piece incredibly durable and weather resistant. Guflac® Ultra is applied entirely by hand, allowing the polyurethane to maintain its elasticity and softness, thus opening the doors to new aesthetic experiments.

NOTES TO THE EDITORS

GUFRAM ​
​Founded in Turin in 1966 and now part of Sandra and Charley Vezza’s Italian Radical Design group, Gufram was originally born as an artisanal entity and is now globally known for pushing the limits of industrial design.
​With its Radical Design spirit and its nonconformist experimentation linked to aesthetics, and technological and material research, over the years Gufram has created playful, subversive and desecrating pieces. Design icons that have become unique in form and value because of the cross-contamination between industrial design, artisanal creation, and imaginative flair, typical of art. The brand’s research commitment has driven the company to master the treatment of flexible polyurethane and to the development of Guflac®, a special finish patented by Gufram to have more uniform, cohesive and elastic surfaces through accurate and meticulous craftsmanship processes. Gufram’s unmistakable furniture items, such as the BOCCA® lips sofa, the PRATONE® chaise lounge and the CACTUS® hall tree, also known as domestic sculptures, represent an interpretation of the contact point between art and design and are now displayed in some of the most beautiful houses and most renown museums worldwide. www.gufram.it | @gufram

STUDIO JOB ​
​Studio Job was founded in 1998 by Job Smeets in the renaissance spirit, combining traditional and modern techniques to produce once-in-a-lifetime objects. At once highly specific and yet entirely universal, personally expressive and yet experimental, Studio Job has crafted a body of work that draws upon classical, popular and contemporary design and highly visual and sculptural art. The work Studio Job creates is heraldic and regal even in its imagery. As sleek as the finished work can be, it is also instinctual and almost primal. ​
​www.studio-job.com | @studiojobofficial

For press inquiries, please contact CAMRON: ​
​gufram@camronglobal.com