2019 was a year of double celebrations for B&B Italia : the 50th anniversary of the Up armchair, designed in 1969 byย  Gaetano Pesce โ€œwith its large breasts and the great lower backโ€ and 40 years of the Diesis sofa, designed in 1979 byย  Antonio Citterio and Paolo Nava. Two furnishings with different styles - the first provocative and ironic, the second rigorous and technical - that tell the story of B&B Italia, a company focused on research and production efficiency, but also on aesthetic experimentation. The company, moreover, was founded by Cesare Cassina and Piero Ambrogio Busnelli in 1966, in a historic moment in which the student uprisings also translated into cultural ferment and taste. B&B Italia - which at the time was called C&B - was able to interpret that new aesthetic, while maintaining an absolute productive rigor, which today leads it to be a reference company for everyone in Italian and international design. In the sign of this concreteness and farsightedness, B&B Italia has launched in 2019 interesting new furnishing elements, but has also worked on some of its successful furnishings to update them and give them additional functionality.

Up 5_6 ย armchair by Gaetano Pesce

The body of a woman transformed into an armchair, a soft womb from which to be wrapped, Gaetano Pesce, tells the idea of Up: "The woman has always been against her will, a prisoner of herself. So I liked to give this armchair a feminine shape with the ball and chain, which is also the traditional image of the prisoner ... This chair was for me a way to express other contents besides those of the advanced technique, of the new material and of the comfort of the product, in fact in the reality of that time the problem of the violence of man against the woman was hardly mentioned. I thought then that this serious sign of incivility, which existed in all the countries of the world, with time would have been reduced, but unfortunately it was not so โ€. On the cover a special 50th Anniversary edition , in beige / petrol green lines, which refers to the original 1969 color chart (on the cover).

Diesis 40 sofa by Antonio Citterio and Paolo Nava

Diesis 40 by B&B Italia

Diesis, represents the style of B&B Italia in a different way. It is a sofa that has become iconic thanks to its modern and rigorous yet welcoming lines. The company delivers this piece of furniture to the future, returning to cover the seat and back in solid leather, as in origin. The cushions, which feature a new leather upholstery, now have even softer and more comfortable padding. The reinforcement seams are made with techniques borrowed from the saddlery, demonstrating the devotion to the artisan quality of the upholstery production.

Jack ย shelving byย  Michael Anastassiades

Jack by B&B Italia

In 2018 B&B Italia presented the system of modular bookcases Jack, by Michael Anastassiades. And if in the first version, the system presented only the variant with floor-to-ceiling upright, in 2019 a variant was introduced, with a rod to be fixed to the wall, designed for environments where vertical anchoring cannot be installed. The structure can reach up to 330 cm in height and today presents a wider variety of modular elements: shelves of different depths, drawers and flaps.

ย seat by Vincent Van Duysen

Pablo by B&B Italia

Among the actual innovations introduced by B&B Italia in 2019 we find Pablo, the seat designed by Belgian designer Vincent Van Duysen. The structure is in solid wood where the leather cover is inserted, which hides a thin but effective padding in the seat which, together with the backrest, slightly inclined at the end, makes it comfortable and devoted to relaxation.

Spool ย coffee table byย  Piero Lissoni

Spool by B&B Italia

Spool is a coffee table in printed rigid polyurethane that is appreciated not only for its captivating lines but also for the 18 color variants in which it is proposed. Versatile, simple but with character, it is a joker that can be used both in the living room as a coffee table, in the bedroom as a bedside table, and in the hall.

Pianura ย table by Antonio Citterio

Pianura by B&B Italia

We conclude with Pianura, the small table designed by Antonio Citterio with its aluminum frame and top in marble or veneered plywood. In the center, the top features a tray of aluminum sheet covered in leather that characterizes it and makes it recognizable.


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