OBEROJ

Oberoj takes its name from the luxury hotel group based in New Delhi, and is considered an icon of Eighties design. 

Created by George J. Sowden in 1981, Oberoj is a comfortable armchair in lacquered wood covered in cotton fabric with the blue “Zaire” pattern designed by Nathalie Du Pasquier – who was to become Sowden’s wife -crossed by the orange “Triangolo” motif (designed by Sowden) and raised on four blue cylinders.

The Oberoj armchair was presented in the first Memphis exhibition in 1981, along with other historic pieces of the group. Observing the photographs of the legendary apartment of Karl Lagerfeld in Monaco at the start of the 1980s, another color scheme for Oberoj has emerged, with a superb red for the soft covering and a bright yellow for the supporting feet. In that famous domestic space entirely decorated by Memphis, Oberoj held a position of honor, as a particularly effective feature.

George J. Sowden is a designer and product developer with extensive experience in various fields of industrial design, from the development of mass-market electronic products to limited-edition artisanal products, including ceramics and glass, textiles, and carpets. He studied architecture at Gloucestershire College of Art in the 1960s. He moved to Milan in 1970, where he began working with Ettore Sottsass and Olivetti. In 1981, he co-founded Memphis. That same year, he opened his own design studio, through which he developed an industrial design consultancy practice while continuing to develop his research.

W 95, D 95, H 90 cm