B&B Italia’s new sculptural and modular furniture at Salone 2018
Milan’s 57th edition of the Salone del Mobile—the most keenly awaited event in the world of furniture—reconfirms its leading role in the design industry with a strong appeal. New furnishings were launched where design, creativity and technology evolve and interpret modernity in different areas of the home. This year, B&B Italia proudly introduces new designs for living, dining and night areas.
B&B Atoll
by Antonio Citterio
Named after a coral formation, B&B Italia’s Atoll is Antonio Citterio’s newest modular sofa with a refined expression. A balanced aesthetic with versatile characteristic, Atoll can be used in a wide range of settings, from formal living room set-ups or used as a daybed—this modular sofa fits smoothly into the contemporary language of any given space.
Built on three basic platforms, the modular system is complemented by an armrest and backrest elements to form various types of seats: sofas, dormeuses, corner-end modules, single or modular elements with chaise longue and ottomans.
B&B Atoll is a dynamic project with a fresh ability to adapt to different compositions and create different seating solutions.
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Eda-Mame
by Piero Lissoni
Inspired by the form of a soybean, known as the typical ingredient in Oriental cuisine, Eda-Mame is a genius element with a strong impact. Eda-Mame is a sofa of sculptural design that gives great incisiveness especially if placed in the center of the room.
With its threefold nature: high-back, easy lounge and pouf, Eda-Mame offers versatility in both residential and luxury establishments—an added element to highlight hotel lobbies, living room areas or a contemporary take in your personal space.
“Eda-Mame is strangely full of curves, it welcomes you and, if you want, it lets you drink an aperitif, almost as if it were an upholstered table,” Piero Lissoni shares.
Made from moulded foam, the seating system is upholstered in a stretch fabric with a light stitching. The support base is made of crosspieces with rounded steel feet connected through a bar, all in pewter painted finish.
Harbor
by Naoto Fukasawa
The Harbor series of armchairs and ottoman, presented with success in 2017, is enhanced by a new, equally contemporary and sinuous sofa. Naoto Fukasawa curated the Harbor sofa with the inspiration coming from B&B’s iconic strength to sculpt polyurethane mass.
“The idea for this design to sculpt a form out of this material as if I was making a sculpture out of Carrara marble blocks. It is true to me that B&B Italia is a brand that creates sculptures in polyurethane,” says Naoto Fukasawa.
Harbor sofa reflects the architectural, ergonomic shape of a conversation armchair, with its welcoming appeal of hosting two people. In fabric or leather, it has a visible metal zip on the rear of the backrest that acts as a decorative element and also allows the cover to be removed.
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Belle & Bull
by Naoto Fukasawa
Belle & Bull are two interesting designs by Naoto Fukasawa that captures the fairytale story of Beauty and the Beast. With a clever play of literary and stylistic references, the Belle chair is a character on its own—an elegant chair expressed with a sleek back support with legs that are slightly curved outwards the bottom, adding a graceful touch. Belle is a dashing feminine counterpart to the Bull table. As its name expresses, Bull is a table with four toned legs that stand firm on the ground.
“I designed this very firm looking table together with an elegant chair as a pair. Together they look if they were truly “The Beauty and the Beast”. The beast, after all, is a great looking table,” Naoto Fukasawa says.
Naoto Fukasawa designed the Bull table to communicate the immediate impression of a very solid yet extremely refined object. Bull uses a subtle structural tension with its legs that are slightly inclined and seem to be solidly “planted in the ground” while in contrast, the slim top lightly rests on the frame
Alanda
by Paolo Piva
The Alanda coffee table is an iconic piece that ushered in the 1980s, and now is revisited in homage to Paolo Piva, the great architect and designer who passed away last year. Alanda is one of the most typical design objects of a period with a wealth of strong, daring stylistic signs, often in a dialogue with architecture, reproducing its most attractive, characteristic elements in miniature.
Its structure, serving as both pedestal and support, recalls a group of upturned pyramids, a geodetic frame that has always characterized it as if it was a magical object, entrapping and amplifying cosmic energy.
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Jack
by Michael Anastassiades
Jack is the result of the first collaboration between B&B Italia and Michael Anastassiades. Known for his skills in working with light, the Cypriot designer has designed a modular bookcase system with a striking degree of technological perfection.
“The selected design is a reduced configuration, providing the optium structure and modularity to address a diverse range of interior spaces,” Michael Anastassiades says.
Jack is an innovative design that takes back in the 1950’s. It modernizes a classic center bookcase, transforming it into a partition system with a sophisticated architectural structure. The genius of the piece lies in concealing the engineered supports, including those holding up the laminated shelves while a totally-invisible, floor-ceiling telescopic adjustment system is integrated for design exclusivity.
