bottega veneta crumples cardboard boxes into sculptural stools for summer 2027 show

cardboard boxes become stools for Bottega Veneta show

For Bottega Veneta’s Summer 2027 show, Ukrainian artist Illya Goldman Gubin takes ordinary cardboard boxes and turns them into sculptural stools, shaping each one through direct physical contact before reinforcing it with resin and fiberglass. Made for the show’s seating, the works retain the identity of the boxes they began as, while their folded and interlocking flaps recall the Italian house’s Intrecciato leather technique. Once used to carry objects, the cardboard is reshaped into furniture that carries the body, with each stool preserving traces of the artist’s physical intervention.

Goldman Gubin works directly with the cardboard, crumpling and deforming it through a physical, almost performative process. Each piece records that encounter, with the material taking on the marks and irregularities of the artist’s gestures. 

images courtesy of Bottega Veneta, unless stated otherwise

llya Goldman Gubin shapes cardboard with the body

Cardboard has been a recurring material in Goldman Gubin’s work, from sculptures and installations to furniture. For these stools, he starts with the box as it is, folding and crumpling it by hand so that each form develops through the pressure of his body. The resulting creases, dents, and uneven surfaces remain visible once the cardboard is reinforced with resin and fiberglass, making each stool slightly different from the next.

A cardboard box is made to carry something before it is usually thrown away, but Goldman Gubin gives the same material another purpose by turning it into a seat. The box that once carried an object can now carry a person, while its folded flaps are worked into one another to recall the interwoven leather fettucce of Bottega Veneta’s Intreccio.  Goldman Gubin uses the existing structure of the box to create the interlocking effect. The process leaves the making visible in the finished stools, with the original material still legible beneath the hardened surface. What begins as an ordinary cardboard container is reshaped through direct physical contact into a piece of furniture, retaining the folds and irregularities produced along the way.

cardboard boxes become sculptural stools | image courtesy of Illya Goldman Gubin

shaped through direct physical contact | image courtesy of Illya Goldman Gubin

resin and fibreglass clad the stools | image courtesy of Illya Goldman Gubin

each stool is unique | image courtesy of Illya Goldman Gubin

comissioned for the Bottega Veneta Summer 2027 show | image courtesy of Illya Goldman Gubin

the works retain the identity of the boxes they began as | image courtesy of Illya Goldman Gubin

the cardboard is reshaped into furniture that carries the body | image courtesy of Illya Goldman Gubin

each stool preserves traces of the artist’s physical intervention | image courtesy of Illya Goldman Gubin

Goldman Gubin works directly with the cardboard | image courtesy of Illya Goldman Gubin

the material takes on the marks and irregularities of the artist’s gestures | image courtesy of Illya Goldman Gubin

creases, dents, and uneven surfaces remain visible | image courtesy of Illya Goldman Gubin

Goldman Gubin gives the same material another purpose by turning it into a seat | image courtesy of Illya Goldman Gubin

the box that once carried an object can now carry a person | image courtesy of Illya Goldman Gubin

the original material is still legible beneath the hardened surface | image courtesy of Illya Goldman Gubin

project info:

name: Karton Hocker [Cardboard Stool]
designer: Illya Goldman Gubin | @illyagoldmangubin
commission: Bottega Veneta Summer 2027 show set