Rare “Zam” folding chair by De Pas D’Urbino Lomazzi for 2 Inn, designed 1972. Birch plywood; folds to a compact profile. Excellent vintage condition.

Specifications

• Designer: Jonathan De Pas, Donato D’Urbino, Paolo Lomazzi


• Manufacturer: 2 Inn


• Country/Period: Italy, 1970s (designed 1972)




• Materials: Birch plywood


• Conditions: Excellent vintage condition; minimal signs of age and wear; fully functional folding mechanism


• Dimensions: Open: H 74 × W 43.5 × D 50.5 cm; Closed: H 74 × W 43.5 × D 12 cm




• Price: €600


• Shipping: Contact us for a quote

Designed in 1972 by the celebrated Milanese trio De Pas, D’Urbino, and Lomazzi for the short-lived manufacturer 2 Inn, the “Zam” epitomizes early-1970s Italian experimentation with portable, dematerialized seating. Rarely seen on the market due to its brief production window, this example offers collectors a documented instance of the group’s search for essential form and intelligent function in everyday furniture.

Executed in birch plywood, the chair presents an elementary silhouette whose planar geometry becomes sculptural when deployed. Both the seat and the secondary floor support fold, enabling a compact profile without sacrificing stability. The warm, natural grain of the plywood underscores the piece’s disciplined proportions and crisp edges, aligning it with the era’s reductionist aesthetics.

Technically refined yet direct in construction, the “Zam” privileges clarity: hinges and pivots are resolved to keep the outline clean in both open and closed states. The chair remains in excellent vintage condition with only minimal signs of time and wear, consistent with careful use. Its abstract, rectilinear attitude invites comparisons with coeval minimalist furniture—echoing, in spirit, the planar rigor found in Donald Judd’s contemporaneous work, while remaining firmly rooted in Italian design culture.

As a compact, fully foldable seat from a limited production, the “Zam” holds particular interest for collectors of radical and post-radical Italian design. It distills the studio’s wit and functional intelligence into a lean, architectural object suited to contemporary interiors and curated displays alike.