80s Paolo Piva ‘tabaret 1320’ sofa for Wittmann
Born in Adria near Venice in 1950, Paolo Piva is one of the most prominent Italian architect-designers of the late 20th century. Over the course of his career, he has created seating, casegoods, kitchens, and more for major European design brands while making a significant contribution to the field of architecture in Venice and Vienna.
Piva studied architecture and visual arts at the IUAV (Istituto Universitario di Architettura di Venezia) under Carlo Scarpa. His thesis, Social Housing in Vienna from 1918 to 1934, is the first indication of Piva’s interest in the Austrian capital, a fascination that continued throughout his life. In 1975, Piva worked for Venice’s Institute of History & Architecture (Istituto di storia e architettura di Venetia), assisting in the curation of an important exhibition on the same subject as his thesis, architecture in Vienna during the socialist period, in collaboration with the Viennese Academy of Applied Arts (Akademie Der Angewandten Kunst). This exhibition lead to Red Vienna, a similar exhibition in Rome in 1980.
From the 1970s onward, Piva collaborated with various manufacturers, including B&B Italia, Burelli Cucine, Dada, de Sede, Fama, Giovannetti, Lumenform, Mobel Italia, Poliform, Team 7, Thonet, and Wittmann.
Piva maintained an office in both Venice and Vienna and held a professorship in Design at the Hochschule für Angewandte Kunst in Vienna since 1988. He passed away in 2017.
Wittmann is a family-owned company since 1896 which has never left its original location and therefore never lost its roots. Embedded in a magnificent cultural landscape surrounded by wine gardens, the upholstered furniture factory is located in Etsdorf am Kamp, not far from Vienna. Wittmann stands for manufacturing high quality handcrafted leather upholstered furnitures.
Piva designed this ‘Tabaret 1320’ luxury two seat sofa in the 1980s. Tabaret is part of a small family, Tabaret fauteuil 1312 and larger Tabaret sofa 1330. This piece is in good condition with its thick leather, consistent with age and use.
