The sofa as landscape: How Groundpiece rewrote the rules

“When we designed it, in 2001, it felt like an idea rich in substance but with little chance of success. Too simple, too direct, non-traditional. It wasn’t even clear whether it was a sofa or not. And yet we found the experiment compelling – this encounter between art and a cushion – something extraordinary, almost paradoxical. So, we went ahead with it. A few months later – success,” Citterio reflects on the origins of Groundpiece.

Launched in 2001, Groundpiece arrived at a moment when the sofa was being rethought from the ground up, literally. Citterio pushed the profile low and deep, stripping away the rigid formality of upholstered seating and replacing it with something more attuned to how people actually live. The sofa became a place to work, to rest, to eat, to sprawl.

Groundpiece introduced a genuinely new idea: the sofa as a landscape. Its modular architecture allows configurations that function less in the manner of furniture and more like architecture in miniature – islands of seating that define and break up a room. New distinctive details were added such as the innovative open compartment in lieu of the traditional upholstered armrest. No longer a passive edge, but an active surface, the armrest is a cowhide-clad metal console that doubles as a shelf, a side table, a place to set a book or a glass, providing utility and elegance in a single gesture.

Citterio drew on unexpected influences. The name itself is a nod to the minimalist sculptures of Donald Judd – a reference embedded in the proportions and asymmetries. “My sources and influences don’t always need to be explained,” Citterio says, “What matters is the sensitivity that comes from looking at and reinterpreting what we’ve seen.”

Twenty-five years in, Groundpiece has the same freshness that it did at launch. The silhouette remains current – low, clean, deconstructed in the best sense. The goose-down cushions still set the benchmark for comfort. The modularity still solves problems that other sofas can’t. While design can often get lost on the idea of novelty as currency, enduring quality of this kind is a rare feat.

For design-driven interiors – whether a Melbourne terrace, a Milan apartment, or a Tokyo penthouse – the Groundpiece remains the sofa that asks very little and delivers everything: versatility, longevity, and a presence that does not need to announce itself.

To learn more about Flexform Groundpiece find your nearest retailer here.