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Modular bed for Prisunic, by Marc Held, France, circa 1970

Creator: Marc Held
Offered by: Galerie Canavèse

Description
Modular double bed, circa 1970. Edition Créateurs et Industriels pour Prisunic
Thermoformed molded polyester and fiberglass
Light system integrated into both bedside units

In the ’60s, Marc Held designed a set of furniture at the request of Candilis, an architect from Port-Barcarès (Pyrénées-Orientales). His aim was to provide low-cost furnishings for vacation apartments sold furnished. The bed he designed for the project, in fiberglass-reinforced polyester, uses the inexpensive contact-molding technique.
Its shape, with rounded corners, is that of a truncated pyramid, which facilitates demolding in a single operation. The bed, two bedside tables and two lamps are combined in a single, two-piece object. This bed was published by Prisunic in 1966. It is typical of Marc Held’s principles, who rejected all furniture he described as “luxurious”. Developing the double plastic shell construction principle perfected for his bed, Marc Held also created an office program comprising a large desk, a small desk, a drawer unit and a folding screen.

Bibliography:
Anne Bony, Prisunic et le design, catalog of the Via exhibition in 2008, Alternatives, p.84. Marc Held campaigned to change the world with his objects: “beauty is born of function and is the equal of good”, and in 1972 won the Prix de l’Esthetique Industrielle for this creation.
Length: 215 cm (84.6 inches - 7.05 feet)
Width: 116 cm X 2 = 232 cm (45.66 inches X 2 = 91.34 inches)
Height of bedside tables: 38 cm (15 inches)
Bed height: 20 cm (7.88 inches)

Biography

Marc Held (Author of the plastic Prisunic bed and the Culbuto armchair published by Knoll, Marc Held is a key designer of the 70s.
His rue de Seine gallery, L’Echoppe, symbolized a generation’s aspirations for lifestyle and living. From teak to all-plastic, from tall ships to Renault cars, from steel houses to vernacular architecture, from the salons de l’Élysée to IBM factories, the diversity of Marc Held’s work finds its unity in a constant humanistic preoccupation, and has largely contributed to the democratization of design.

To know more, please read the Wikipedia page (in French)

More Information

Documentation:	Documented elsewhere (exact item)
Origin:	France
Period:	1950-1979
Materials:	Molded and thermoformed polyester, fiberglass
Condition:	Good.
Creation Date:	Circa 1970
Styles / Movements:	Modern, Mid Century
Incollect Reference #:	814232

Dimensions

W.	91.34 in;	H.	14.96 in;	D.	84.65 in;
W.	232 cm;	H.	38 cm;	D.	215 cm;

Message from Seller:

Catherine Canavese is an expert from the "Compagnie Nationale des Experts." She is an astute antique dealer and offers to connoisseurs, dealers and private customers a curated selection of objects, furniture, sculptures, lamps and decorative elements of the XIXth up to the XXIth century, all original and of the best quality. The gallery has been in operation since 2001.