Milan Design Week: Get into the Gruuve - Fluid Forms and Free Thinking by Patricia Urquiola

The Gruuve sofa by Patricia Urquiola that is being exhibited during the Salone del Mobile. Cover picture of the Gruuve chair at the Moroso showroom in Milan by Jay Zoo for DAM.

At Milan Design Week, where experimentation sets the tone for how we will live tomorrow, Moroso introduces a new kind of statement piece with Gruuve by Patricia Urquiola, a design that shifts seating from static arrangement to immersive experience. It unfolds as a fluid composition of forms that invites movement, interaction, and spontaneity, signalling a decisive move away from more rigid living room conventions toward something altogether more expressive and communal, writes Antonio Visconti

Spanish Designer Patricia Urquiola

in her studio. 

IN Milan, a sinuous new seating system by Patricia Urquiola that reimagines the living room as something fluid, social, and unexpected was unveiled at Moroso. Neither conventional sofa nor sculptural installation, Gruuve is conceived as a dynamic landscape, an invitation to inhabit space differently.

Urquiola’s latest work builds on her earlier Lowseat concept from 2000, but here the language is more grounded and generous in scale. The modules are fuller, their rounded silhouettes extending all the way to the floor, creating a sense of visual continuity and physical presence. There is a deliberate softness to the forms, yet also a structural clarity that anchors the system in contemporary interiors.

The spirit of the 1970s hovers over Gruuve, not as nostalgia but as attitude. This was a decade that challenged domestic life, and Urquiola taps into that same nonconformist energy. The system’s irregular, flowing modules can be arranged freely, linear, angular, or labyrinthine, encouraging users to choreograph their own environments. 

What distinguishes Gruuve is its duality of use. The front offers a more traditional seating posture, while the reverse invites a looser, informal occupation. This subtle shift transforms the sofa into a social catalyst, supporting conversation from multiple directions and dissolving the hierarchy of “front” and “back.” In open-plan interiors or hospitality settings, the effect is particularly striking: Gruuve becomes a kind of soft architecture, shaping movement and interaction.

The spirit of the 1970s hovers over Gruuve, not as nostalgia but as attitude

Gruuve sofa with its dynamic curve and modular design. 

The collection extends beyond modular seating to include an armchair and chaise longue, reinforcing its versatility across residential and public contexts. Upholstery plays a key role in its identity, with custom textiles designed by Urquiola adding a graphic layer that enhances the system’s sense of rhythm and movement.

For Moroso, a brand long associated with experimental design, Gruuve represents a confident continuation of its dialogue between craft and innovation. For Urquiola, it is another chapter in a career defined by material sensitivity and spatial intelligence. Here, those qualities converge in a piece that feels both instinctive and highly considered.

In an era where the boundaries between living, working, and socialising continue to blur, Gruuve offers another proposition: a seating system not just to sit on, but to gather within.