Mario Bellini

A leading architect and designer of contemporary Italian design

Born in Milan in 1935, Mario Bellini is regarded as one of the major figures of Italian design in the second half of the twentieth century. After graduating from the Politecnico di Milano in 1959, he developed a multidisciplinary approach that combined architecture, furniture design, industrial design and exhibition design.

His work is distinguished by a constant exploration of materials, comfort and modularity. Mario Bellini played an active role in the evolution of Italian design during the 1960s and 1970s, a period marked by the emergence of new industrial manufacturing processes and profound changes in domestic living spaces.

From 1963 onwards, he worked closely with Olivetti, designing several products that became icons of Italian industrial design, including the Divisumma calculators and the TCV-250 video terminal, both of which are now part of the collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

One of Mario Bellini’s most sought-after creations: the modular “Camaleonda” sofa.

Alongside his industrial design work, Mario Bellini created several landmark armchairs, sofas and vintage furniture collections for C&B Italia and later B&B Italia, including the “Camaleonda”, “Le Bambole”, “Amanta” and “Gli Scacchi” collections. These designs helped redefine Italian lounge furniture through lower, softer and more modular forms.

The “Le Bambole” sofa, an iconic creation by Mario Bellini for B&B Italia, which became a benchmark of Italian design in the 1970s.

Today, his vintage armchairs and modular sofas are among the most sought-after pieces of 1970s Italian design. Bellini’s work is characterised by a particular focus on generous volumes, deep seating and the innovative use of industrial materials in contemporary furniture.

His work extends far beyond furniture design. Bellini also designed lighting, electronic equipment, audio systems, automobiles and exhibition spaces for numerous Italian and international companies, including Cassina, Vitra, Yamaha, Renault, Artemide and Flos.

From the 1980s onwards, he increasingly devoted himself to architecture. His major projects include the Department of Islamic Art at the Louvre in Paris, the Tokyo Design Center, the Milan Convention Centre, and numerous cultural and commercial buildings across Europe, the United States and Asia.

Awarded the Compasso d’Oro eight times, Mario Bellini is widely recognised as one of the most influential Italian designers of his generation. Twenty-five of his creations are part of the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, which dedicated a major retrospective to his work as early as 1987.