Catifa 53 designer chair by Arper with polypropylene shell on a four-leg steel base

Six bases and a bench: Catifa 53 across a whole floor

Arper

Lievore Altherr Molina

Meeting room chair
Catifa 53 Meeting room chair
$ 2,558

What did you have in mind?

Bespoke: size, colour, finish

Furnishing a floor usually means four suppliers: task chairs, meeting chairs, canteen chairs, lobby benches. Catifa 53 collapses that into one shell and six base types plus a bench, from four steel legs to a five-star swivel base with gas-lift, and a bench in two, three or four seats.

The value here is not variety for its own sake, and we would put it in exactly these terms: one family means one approval, one finish decision, one replacement path, and a floor that reads as a single project rather than four procurement rounds. It also means a room can change function without changing chair, since the shell that sits in the canteen is the shell that swivels in the office. Designed by Lievore Altherr Molina, 2001. La Mercanti builds the floor schedule base by base before anything is released.

Technical information based on data declared by the manufacturer.

Collection: Catifa 53, design chair for office, contract and public spaces
Manufacturer: Arper (Monastier di Treviso, Italy)
Design: Lievore Altherr Molina, 2001
Base 1: four legs in chromed or powdercoated steel, optional steel and polypropylene armrests, also upholstered
Base 2: four legs in solid oak, natural, bleached or wengé
Base 3: swivel trestle in polished or powdercoated aluminium
Base 4: sled in chromed or powdercoated steel
Base 5: fixed trestle in aluminium on self-braking castors, colour matched
Base 6: five-star swivel base in aluminium on self-braking castors with gas-lift height adjustment
Bench: Catifa 53 Bench in two, three or four seats, white powdercoated metal frame, with polypropylene or upholstered shells
Shell finishes: monocolour · frontal upholstery · padded with fixed cover · padded with removable cover, four stitchings · hard leather
Shell: polypropylene; 2025 update declared by Arper: shell in 100% recycled plastic from post-consumer and post-industrial materials, covers fully separable and glue-free
Castors: self-braking, usable on hard and soft floors
Assembly: no screws and no tools
Intended use: EN 16139 for non-domestic seating, general and extreme levels, as framed by Arper
Awards: FX International 2002 · Delta de Plata ADI-FAD 2003 · iF Product Design Gold 2006 · ICFF Editors Awards USA 2010

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Los Angeles, CA, USA · +1 855 335 8079 · info@lamercanti.us
Supply, quotes, specifications and project support across the United States and North America.

Documents and Catalogs

Arper Catalogue Arper News Catalogue Arper Outdoor Catalogue Catifa Finishes & Materials Arper Arper for Hospitality Arper Arper for Education Arper Arper for Healthcare Catifa GREENGUARD Gold Certificate Arper Case Studies Catifa CAD & 3D Files

FAQ

How does the leather version of Catifa 53 differ from a fabric one?
Hard leather is listed by Arper as one of the five ways to finish the shell, and it covers the shell rather than padding it. The silhouette stays as thin as the bare version.
Is leather more comfortable than an upholstered cover?
Comfort here comes from the shell geometry, not from thickness. Leather changes touch, sound and how the chair ages, which is why it usually lands in boardrooms rather than canteens.
Does leather need different care?
Arper's guidance for shell and wood is a soft cloth and circular movements, with no commercial stain removers and no abrasives. Anything beyond that belongs to the manufacturer's own instructions for the material.
Can leather and fabric sit in the same project?
They regularly do. One shell carries all five levels, so a floor can move from bare polypropylene to leather without changing chair family.
Where is leather the wrong specification?
In rooms that get wiped down every day. There the bare shell is the honest answer and leaves the budget for the rooms where it shows.

How to write Catifa 53 into a specification without ambiguity

Five lines that keep a bid comparable.

Name the shell finish level
One of five: bare, frontal, fixed cover, removable cover, hard leather.
Name the base
Six exist, plus the bench; a base is not interchangeable in a bid.
State armrests explicitly
They are optional and depend on the base, so silence gets read as none.
Say where the chairs go
Arper frames non-domestic seating with EN 16139, distinguishing a general and an extreme level of use.
Ask for the assembly diagram
It travels with the order confirmation and settles later questions on site.

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