Milan Design Week: Afra and Tobia Scarpa’s monastic marvel of a chair returns to life

Molteni & C’s reissue of the ‘Monk’ chair has us worshipping at the altar of its designers, Afra and Tobia Scarpa

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Monk chair by Afra & Tobia Scarpa
The 'Monk' chair by Afra & Tobia Scarpa, reissued by Molteni&C
(Image credit: Molteni&C)

The reissue of our dreams, no less. Afra & Tobia Scarpa originally designed the ‘Monk’ chair for Angelo Molteni in 1973. It was the first step of what would become a rich and fruitful relationship between the couple and the family manufacturer, and the chair quickly acquired legendary appeal among the design cognoscenti.

The ‘Monk’ is a proudly handsome creature – with leather (or canvas) back and seat stretched over a tubular steel frame, resting on wooden legs, arranged perpendicularly. The Scarpas felt it had a monastic simplicity, hence the name; we wouldn’t mind living in their monastery.

In its re-edition, Molteni is presenting the ‘Monk’ with a solid wood frame in American walnut, black oak or coffee oak, and with the addition of a lower, wider armchair version.

Musing on the reissue, Tobia Scarpa said: ‘We must allow what the past gifts us to continue expressing itself, to continue living; sometimes we must allow it to resonate in the present, to sing, in order to grasp all its potential and magic.’ Hallelujah.

molteni.it

Salone del Mobile 2025 takes place 8-13 April. Check our full Milan Design Week 2025 guide for the must-sees

This article appears in the May 2025 issue of Wallpaper*, available in print on newsstands from 3 April, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today

Original Monk chair by Afra & Tobia Scarpa

The original 'Monk' chair was designed in 1973 for Angelo Molteni

(Image credit: Molteni&C)

Monk chair by Afra & Tobia Scarpa

Rivet detail on the leg of the 'Monk' chair

(Image credit: Molteni&C)

Monk chairs by Afra & Tobia Scarpa

(Image credit: Molteni&C)

Lounge Monk chair

The 'Monk' lounge chair

(Image credit: Molteni&C)
Hugo Macdonald
Hugo Macdonald
Design Critic

Hugo is a design critic, curator and the co-founder of Bard, a gallery in Edinburgh dedicated to Scottish design and craft. A long-serving member of the Wallpaper* family, he has also been the design editor at Monocle and the brand director at Studioilse, Ilse Crawford's multi-faceted design studio. Today, Hugo wields his pen and opinions for a broad swathe of publications and panels. He has twice curated both the Object section of MIART (the Milan Contemporary Art Fair) and the Harewood House Biennial. He consults as a strategist and writer for clients ranging from Airbnb to Vitra, Ikea to Instagram, Erdem to The Goldsmith's Company. Hugo recently returned to the Wallpaper* fold to cover the parental leave of Rosa Bertoli as global design director, and is now serving as its design critic.