Biography

In recent years, the internationally known architect and designer, who has received numerous awards, has supervised construction projects in Qatar and China. Before concentrating primarily on large-scale architectural projects, Mario Bellini supplied numerous designs for furniture, technical devices and everyday objects. In the 1960s he worked for the office machine manufacturer Olivetti and was given the exciting opportunity to help shape the aesthetics of the rapidly developing computing machines, typewriters and computers. He also delivered original designs for Cassina based on the new synthetic materials. In 1987, the New York MoMA honored him with a retrospective and included 25 designs in their permanent design collection. In a lecture on the exhibition, Mario Bellini illustrated his approach with an extensive slide show. In this slide show he juxtaposed his own designs with some pictures from art history and nature shots. For example, he compared his design for the chair CAB 412 to a pair of working oxen. A cowhide leather cover is pulled over the ultra-light tubular steel chair frame, which is closed with four zippers. Bellini's idea was that the chair should shape and change during daily use like a person's skin.

In the 1970s, Bellini supplied numerous convincing concepts for upholstered seating and seating landscapes. The modular 'Camaleonda' system (1970) consists of frameless seat cushions and backrest cushions, which can be extended in all directions using snap hooks. The geometric blocks 'Gli Scacchi' (1971) are made of polyurethane and can be moved playfully in a space. The 'Le Bambole' sofa system (1972) is based on the archetypal shape of a simple pillow, in which the inner metal structure has been reduced to the bare essentials and embedded in the soft, crunchy polyurethane filling.

Since the 1980s, he has devoted himself almost exclusively to architecture. The diverse projects he has designed include the Portello exhibition center in Milan, the Villa Erba exhibition center in Cernobbio (Como), the Tokyo Design Center in Japan, the Natuzzi Americas headquarters in the United States, and Messe Essen in Germany, National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, the headquarters of Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt am Main, the Verona Forum complex, the Museum of Urban History in Bologna, the Department of Islamic Art at the Louvre in Paris, and the new Milan Convention Center, the largest in Europe.

Objects by Mario Bellini