In 1971, the Italian company Gufram launched a new product called ‘Pratone’ – a bright green block of wavy plastic fronds, large enough to sit among, should you so choose. Designed by an avant-garde collective of artists and architects based in Turin, called Studio 65, it is quite simply a lunatic pop art proposition for a sofa. And to me, unbeatable as an emblem of Italy’s no-holds-barred post-war exuberance.

But plenty more examples come to mind when thinking of Italian design. There’s the chrome-framed ‘Max’ sofa, created by Antonio Citterio for Flexform in 1983, and the formal elegance of the ‘Charles’ sofa, also by Citterio (for B&B Italia in 1997), which changed the living room landscape in one go.