Mario Bellini

Mario Bellini (born February 1, 1935, Milan) is an Italian architect and designer. He graduated from the Milan Polytechnic - Faculty of Architecture in 1959 and began working as an architect himself in the early 1960s. He is the winner among others of 8 Compasso d’Oro and prestigious architecture awards including the Medaglia d’Oro conferred on him by the President of the Italian Republic.
Like many other Italian architects, his activities range from architecture and urban planning to product and furniture design.
Design.
His career as a product and furniture designer began in 1963, and from 1963 to 1991 he was chief design consultant for Olivetti.
For many years he designed furnishing products and systems for B&B Italia and Cassina, TV sets for Brionvega, and hi-fi systems, headphones and electric organs for Yamaha.
For five years he worked as an automobile design consultant with Renault.
In 1972 he was commissioned to design and build the prototype of the Kar-a-Sutra mobile environment for the exhibition “Italy: the New Domestic Landscape” at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
He has also designed for Fiat and Lancia (notably the interior of the 1980 Lancia Trevi), lamps for Artemide, Erco and Flos, and office furniture for Vitra.
Other firms for whom he has designed and/or continues to design products include (in Italy) Acerbis, Bras, Driade, Candy, Castilia, Flou, Kartell, Marcatrè, Meritalia, Natuzzi and Poltrona Frau; (in Belgium) Ideal Standard; (in Germany) Lamy and Rosenthal; (in Japan) Fuji and Zojirushi; and (in the USA) Heller.
His early international success grew rapidly during the first two decades, especially in the design sector, and reached its peak in 1987 with a personal retrospective exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art of New York. At the time the museum already included 25 of his works in its Permanent Collection, including a remarkable set of Olivetti machines as well as the furniture for B&B and Cassina - such as the famous "Cab" chair - and the innovative office chairs designed for Vitra.
MBA's headquarters of 1,500 square metres in Milan were designed by Mario Bellini himself in the early 1990s, and today an average of 30 to 35 architects.
In 1999, MBA obtained ISO 9001 quality certification.
Architecture.
Since the ‘80s, he has been increasingly successful in the field of architecture in Europe, Japan, the United States, Australia and the Arab Emirates.
Projects built
Projects under construction
Among the best architectural creations
Exhibitions.
Avid art lover and collector, he has been responsible for the exhibition design of many art exhibitions, among which: