1969, for Gunther Lambert, Germany, two acrylic glass hemispheres, metal hinges, foam cushions covered with metal-coated fabric, diameter (closed) approx. 110 cm. (DRAX)

The only known example of this model. The seat object, consisting of two hinged hemispheres, can be closed to form a sphere and locked. Acrylic glass balls at the bottom prevent the object from sliding. The cushions are attached by snap fasteners and weighted down with lead inserted at the bottom.

Lit.:
“Apollo 12 für den Hausgebrauch”, in: Der Stern, no. 29, 20 July 1969, pp. 68–74 – Schöner Wohnen, 8/70, pp. 64/65 (Silvestrin’s apartment) – Kontraste. Dortmunder Kameraskizzen von Horst Thielbeer, 1969 – Design Made in Germany, Cologne 2000, pp. 76/77, fig. 67– G. Siekmann, “zum mond gestartet, im wohnzimmer gelandet. einflüsse der weltraumforschung auf das design von alltagsobjekten und möbeln in den sechziger jahren”, in: Vergangene Zukunft. Design zwischen Utopie und Wissenschaft, Vienna 2001, pp. 30–34, fig. 3

Exhibited:
Vision 2000, Popdom, Cologne 2000 – Design Made in Germany, Cologne 2001 – Vergangene Zukunft. Design zwischen Utopie und Wissenschaft, Kunsthalle Krems, 2001

Provenance:
private ownership, Germany

In the 1960s and 1970s, the Italian architect Danilo Silvestrin was a successful interior designer in Germany who promoted a radically modern approach in line with the utopian living concepts of his time. In Lambert, whose company exclusively specialized in acrylic glass products, he found a producer for his unconventional furniture designs. Silvestrin was a close friend of the artists of the Zero group and also used paintings by Uecker, Luther, and Mack for the apartments he designed. Together with these artists, he was also involved in the interior decoration of the legendary Creamcheese music club in Düsseldorf.

In the age of utopian space travelling, the form of the sphere, because of its complex symbolism, perfectly correlated with the new attitude towards life, which sought to leave conventional housing behind. Silvestrin especially appreciated acrylic glass or Perspex as a material, for its transparency made man “finally the center of his dwelling”, as he said.