A lounge chair designed by Roberto Semprini for Sintesi in 1994. Formed from a chrome-plated steel frame wrapped in clear PVC spaghetti cord, the Hydra reduces the chair to a single flowing line, with structure and seat becoming one and the same.
The cord gives the chair an unusual visual lightness. From a distance it appears almost drawn rather than built, while up close the woven strands catch and scatter the light, continually shifting between transparency and reflection.
Semprini described the design as a contemporary interpretation of the woven seating found in 1950s Italian cafés. The reference remains, but the Hydra feels less nostalgic than quietly experimental. Equal parts furniture and line drawing, it achieves an uncommon sense of movement despite being entirely still.
More than three decades after its introduction, it retains the optimism, technical confidence and sculptural simplicity that characterised much of Italy's most experimental design of the 1990s.
Dimensions: 77 × 53 × 63 cm
Collection from Brixton, London or arranged delivery.
About the designer
Roberto Semprini is an Italian architect and designer whose work became closely associated with the country's postmodern design movement during the 1980s and 1990s. In 1987 he became a member of Bolidismo, an Italian avant-garde design group that embraced expressive form, speed and colour in reaction to the restraint of modernism.
Working across furniture, interiors and architecture, Semprini is known for distilling familiar forms into bold, fluid gestures, combining playful experimentation with rigorous functionality. His work for Sintesi remains among the clearest expressions of that approach.
A lounge chair designed by Roberto Semprini for Sintesi in 1994. Formed from a chrome-plated steel frame wrapped in clear PVC spaghetti cord, the Hydra reduces the chair to a single flowing line, with structure and seat becoming one and the same.
The cord gives the chair an unusual visual lightness. From a distance it appears almost drawn rather than built, while up close the woven strands catch and scatter the light, continually shifting between transparency and reflection.
Semprini described the design as a contemporary interpretation of the woven seating found in 1950s Italian cafés. The reference remains, but the Hydra feels less nostalgic than quietly experimental. Equal parts furniture and line drawing, it achieves an uncommon sense of movement despite being entirely still.
More than three decades after its introduction, it retains the optimism, technical confidence and sculptural simplicity that characterised much of Italy's most experimental design of the 1990s.
Dimensions: 77 × 53 × 63 cm
Collection from Brixton, London or arranged delivery.
About the designer
Roberto Semprini is an Italian architect and designer whose work became closely associated with the country's postmodern design movement during the 1980s and 1990s. In 1987 he became a member of Bolidismo, an Italian avant-garde design group that embraced expressive form, speed and colour in reaction to the restraint of modernism.
Working across furniture, interiors and architecture, Semprini is known for distilling familiar forms into bold, fluid gestures, combining playful experimentation with rigorous functionality. His work for Sintesi remains among the clearest expressions of that approach.
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