Mario Cananzi and Roberto Semprini, for Edra

MARIO CANANZI (Rimini, 1958) and ROBERTO SEMPRINI (Rimini, 1959) for Edra.
“Tatlin” sofa, designed in 1989.
Steel frame and plywood base, polyurethane padding, and red velvet upholstery; chrome-plated steel legs.
With Edra label.
Shows signs of use and wear on the upholstery.
Measurements: 135 x 190 x 160 cm.

Conceived as a true piece of architecture for sitting, Tatlin quickly became one of Edra’s icons and one of the most distinctive creations of Italian design in the late 1980s. Its form is freely inspired by Vladimir Tatlin’s famous Monument to the Third International—an emblem of Russian Constructivism—translating its helical momentum into a large sculptural seat designed to occupy the center of the space. Edra itself continues to define the model as one of its historic icons.

The slanted spiral organizes the piece around a vertical core and allows access to the sofa from different angles, breaking with the conventional frontal arrangement of upholstered furniture. This configuration encourages different seating positions and ways for occupants to interact; Edra’s technical documentation even indicates a capacity for eight to ten people. The boundary between furniture, sculpture, and architecture is particularly deliberate here, transforming the monumentality of Tatlin’s project into a domestic piece with a strong spatial presence.

Cananzi and Semprini, both trained as architects in Florence, developed Tatlin at the beginning of their respective careers in Milan. The model received the Top Ten Award in 1993, a recognition that quickly cemented its international reputation. A copy was acquired that same year by the Museum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte in Dortmund, and the sofa has also been exhibited at institutions such as the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich, where it was part of the Social Seating project.