The B&B Italia Manila Icons Anthology Exhibition

B&B Italia has been at the forefront of furniture and design innovation since its founding in 1966. Over the years, the brand continues to innovate and set trends within the design industry through its collaboration with numerous acclaimed international designers who created some of today’s most well-beloved pieces. Taking inspiration from renowned museums, the Icons Anthology Exhibition at B&B Italia Manila celebrates the Italian brand’s rich 55-year history and pays homage to the visions of notable designers Piero Lissoni, Patricia Urquiola, Mario Bellini, Antonio Citterio & Naoto Fukasawa through dedicated and curated rooms displaying their finest works over the years.

Icons Take The Stage

The Icons Anthology Exhibition will be held at the B&B Italia Manila Showroom located at the Twenty-Four Seven McKinley Building, BGC. Housed both on the ground floor and on the 10th floor, the exhibit converges key collections from B&B Italia and Maxalto. The first of its kind for B&B Italia Manila, the exhibit offers an immersive and innovative setting for partners, clients, and design aficionados to interact with and experience the very best that the brand has to offer. The showcase includes furniture design icons such as the Le Bambole (Bellini), Mart (Citterio), Serie Up (Pesce), and the Moon System (Zaha Hadid) among others. Aside from seeing the pieces in person, the exhibit also provides an avenue for visitors to learn more about the concepts behind each piece, to appreciate the history behind B&B Italia, and to discover the process behind each of the furniture pieces.

B&B ITALIA: A 55-YEAR HISTORY

Originating Change

In the 1950s, when the whole Italian furniture industry was dependent on handicraft production, visionary Piero Ambrogio Busnelli was motivated to find a way to industrialize the manufacturing process. Inspired by a machine producing little toy ducks out of cold polyurethane foam, Busnelli sensed the untapped potential of this technique in furniture production – one that will no longer limit the shape and materials used in furniture production, and one that will forever transform the furniture and design industry.

The Future of Design

The Research & Development Centre – often referred to as the ‘mind and heart of B&B Italia’ – was established to facilitate the conversation between international designers and the production team, making it the engine of an experimental, research-driven enterprise that revamped processes and products. Apart from being B&B Italia’s creative workshop, the R&D Centre also serves as a collaboration platform for many world-renowned designers.

This impressive roster includes Piero Lissoni, who was recently appointed as the new creative director of B&B Italia. Italy-born Lissoni comes with a thirty-year background in developing international projects in the fields of architecture, landscape, interiors, product, and graphic design, as well as being responsible for the art direction for some of the most influential design companies. Piero Lissoni’s principle is to never design for a specific function or purpose – but to design for human beings. He shares, “Everything gets a different meaning or taste if you watch it with children’s eyes – there’s a curiosity, there’s a surprise.”

Working with B&B Italia, Mario Bellini has created the modern classic icon Le Bambole sofa which won the Compasso d’Oro award for B&B Italia in 1979, and the Camaleonda sofa which was reissued in 2020 and remains as one of the most recognizable and best-selling sofas today.

Master of elegance and timeless designs, Antonio Citterio is the Art Director of Maxalto, Arclinea, and Azucena, and the designer behind pieces such as the Mart armchair, Noonu sofa, and the Ribes outdoor sofa. As art director of Maxalto, Citterio was able to fully define the brand’s classic contemporary style through his timeless designs, sense of function, and uncompromising desire for perfection. Together with his creative and studio partner Patricia Viel, he designed numerous residential and commercial buildings, luxury apartments – including in Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie – and hotels for the luxury brand Bulgari.

Born in Yamanashi, Japan, Naoto Fukasawa has created products for numerous internationally prestigious brands and Japanese companies. For B&B Italia, Fukasawa developed the ethereal Papilio collection, Harbor armchairs, and the Ayana outdoor collection. Fukasawa’s design philosophy is one that he calls designing ‘Without Thought’. “Finding ideas in people’s spontaneous behavior and realizing these ideas in design is what Without Thought is about”, he explains.

Patricia Urquiola, a Spanish designer and architect, is the visionary behind icons such as the Husk, Tufty, and Fat series. She was awarded the Golden Medal for Merits in Art in Spain and received the Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic. Urquiola’s works are often a powerful reminder of the past and an exploration of the now – always creating a new experience for the user. Her creative combination of playful and poetic, pragmatic yet functional has led her to be named Designer of the Year by many international magazines.