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August 15- August 22,2004 |
Master Architect Builds Reputation
Italy's Mario Bellini has been equally adept at small and large scale projects for 40 years
By Mark Curtis
Originally Published: 2004-08-01
Mario Bellini has been an architect and designer for more than 40 years and his career can be seen in two distinct phases. In the 1960s, the Milan-born Bellini was part of a wave of Italian designers, including others such as Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni and Marco Zanuso, who introduced modern Italian product design to the world and established the country as a design innovation leader. Since turning 50 years old in the mid-1980s, however, Bellini has devoted most of his time to architectural practice and has proved his talent for the large-scale project as well.
After graduating with an architecture degree from the Politecnico di Milano in 1959, Bellini began his career as a designer for La Rinascente department stores before landing a position with office products manufacturer Olivetti. There he designed a range of products that made others take notice. His Divisumma calculator for Olivetti featured a rubber membrane cover which distinguished itself in a still-growing product category. Bellini's achievements as a small-scale designer reached an apex with his 1977 Cab chair for Cassina. The chair's flexible steel frame, including its legs, was covered with a zip-on leather skin, an ingenious design that Abitare magazine has called quiet perfection.
Bellini's recent architectural work has shown a similar quality. "Ordered but subtle classicism" was design critic Deyan Sudjic's description of the architect's exhibition hall and conference centre at Cernobbio on Lake Como. Bellini followed up this work with major projects in Japan before returning to his native city to revitalize the annual Milan design fair with a new architectural work in 1997.
"I like to consider every project like a new exploration, to be faced with curiosity and renewed creative energy," says Bellini, who has earned the coveted Compasso d'Oro design excellence award on seven occasions. His building designs for the North American offices of Puglia-based furniture manufacturer Natuzzi and an ongoing cultural centre project in Turin show a propensity for sweeping design forms and perhaps also are an indication of Bellini's soaring confidence as an architect. He hasn't completely left the field of product design, however. British design entrepreneur Sir Terence Conran praised Bellini's recent plastic MB1 chair for American manufacturer Heller. "For $80, you have a piece of sculpture in your home," said Conran.
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