PIERRE PAULIN’S ICONIC F300 CHAIR IS BACK

A design icon is making its return. Danish design house GUBI is reissuing the F300 chair, Pierre Paulin’s sinuous, space-age relic, which will be available exclusively through Design Within Reach in North America. Originally developed in 1964-65, the F300 belonged to a moment when form followed fantasy, when people imagined a future that seemed free of sharp edges, untethered from the past. It was the kind of chair that signaled not just a place to sit, but a way to exist — at ease, low to the ground. “What I find fascinating about the F300,” says Omar Nobil, Creative Director of Design Within Reach, “is that it manages to be futuristic, nostalgic, and somehow a timeless classic all at once.” A paradox, perhaps, but then Paulin’s work was always about contradiction — the soft made firm, the sculptural made functional, the avant-garde made somehow familiar. He had a way of bending space to his will. “Paulin’s ability to create fluid yet precise shapes is his genius. He was so ahead of his time,” adds Nobil.

Paulin, born in Paris in 1927, studied 3D design at the Camondo Decorative Arts School, and by 1953, was making his own work — furniture that felt less like furniture and more like a proposition for the future. By 1972, he was redesigning the Elysée Palace for President Pompidou, turning Napoleon’s former bedroom into a futuristic dreamscape. (Today, it’s still called the Paulin Room.) His chairs are his real legacy, though. The Mushroom (1963), an orb of comfort. The Tongue (1967), a coil of movement. The Pacha (1975), low-slung and cloud-like. The Dune Ensemble (1970), a modular system that doesn’t just fill a room but completely redefines it.

Along with key dealers in the collectible market (like Demisch Danant in New York), Paulin’s son Benjamin Paulin has been instrumental in bringing his father’s designs back into contemporary relevance through Paulin, Paulin, Paulin, a family-run studio dedicated to preserving and reinterpreting the legacy. Through meticulous re-releases, licenses (like with the F300 and GUBI, which also distributes the Pacha), and carefully curated exhibitions (like a recent one at the Judd Foundation), Paulin, Paulin, Paulin has ensured that Paulin’s work is not only remembered but continues to shape the future of design.

The F300, in particular, is a defining piece of Paulin’s oeuvre. “It embodies my father’s approach to design and the balance between sculpture, elegance, and comfort he sought in his work,” Paulin Jr. explains. “It is almost impossible not to relax when you sit in it.” Marie Kristine Schmidt, CEO of GUBI, also points out its versatility: “It can be moved quickly and easily around the house and brought outside for moments in the sunshine, and it’s totally customizable with diverse upholstery and color options.” (The F300 is available in an Alabaster White or Pastel Green frame with various fabric options. The T877 side table comes in an additional three frame finishes: Violet Ice, Honey Gold, and Molé.)

Its futuristic aesthetic led to real-life sci-fi cameos, appearing in multiple Star Trek episodes and inspiring the interiors of 2001: A Space Odyssey. But, notes Benjamin Paulin, the F300 “is much more than a photogenic sculptural novelty. The design is rooted in research and a practical understanding of how people sit.” Now, with GUBI’s reissue and the partnership with Design Within Reach, the F300 reaffirms its place as more than just a relic of the past, but an invitation to the future of inhabiting space.