Iconic – AA Butterfly

Every month, Goodmoods investigates a vintage iconic piece, the history of its creation and the details of its manufacture. An emblematic object to be hunted on leboncoin.

Paris, 1937, three young Argentinian architects – Antonio Bonet, Juan Kurchan & Jorge Ferrari-Hardoy – meet at Le Corbusier’s Parisian workshop. From there an idea germinated, that of revisiting a great classic of the military base: the Tripolina. Shortly afterwards, the Butterfly emerged from its chrysalis and flew away, propelled by an exhibition at MoMA and a commercial success that it owes to the American publisher Knoll.

Today, the Butterfly chair remains a great classic and is now published by the French publisher Airborne under the name AA. Both a symbol of freedom and an expression of informal elegance, it marks the advent of tubular furniture with its four curved steel legs. Deciphering and exploring the history of a folding armchair that has travelled through the ages, from military camps to the most extraordinary design interiors…