B&B ITALIA BETWEEN CONTEMPORARY DESIGN AND TIMELESS ELEGANCE
An Italian story of success.
This is how we can tell the story of B&B Italia, a leading company in the field of design furniture at international level. It is contemporary design because creativity and innovation have always been the starting points of every B&B Italia project; is timeless elegance because this is a story that has lasted more than fifty years and has made the great reputation of Italy, spreading the Made in Italy symbol of beauty, industrial and managerial capacity in the world where technical research is combined with expressiveness of the product.
The roots of B&B Italia's success grow on the base fueled by creativity, innovation, taste, constant pursuit of perfection and above all encounters, enhancement of experiences and talents. Only by working in this way it is possible to create products that are timeless and that interact with the contemporary needs of living, managing to satisfy them thanks to a path that, starting from design up to the quality of the materials, makes every B&B Italia product become unique and inimitable, a personal and unrepeatable experience.
Like Charles, the sofa designed by Antonio Citterio inspired by the great design intuitions of the fifties and sixties, in a tribute to the architect, director and designer Charles Eames, in love with details. It is the detail that brings out the quality, strikes the eye and remains in the memory, making what you are seeing unique. And Citterio has succeeded very well in his aim: everyone knows why Charles is Charles.
UP5_6 is much more than an armchair, it is a real work of art. It has its own language, it communicates a message and takes a stand just as it unfolds. After fifty years UP5_6 is still able to excite and welcome all those who let themselves go in its forms.
Charles, quality rests on detail
Details are not details, they make the design (C. Eames)
Charles is the sofa designed in 1997 by Antonio Citterio that has become a long and best seller of B&B Italia and a versatile piece of furniture that plays a valuable role in the home. The strength of this sofa lies in the attentive design of the details: the feet in die-cast aluminum with the unmistakable shape of an inverted L are now a real trademark. Thanks to the thin and raised base that lightens the entire structure, Charles has the appearance of being a light and agile sofa while not affecting the basic solidity.
But the real revolution is in the concept of space that guided its design: Charles is an infinitely modular sofa, thanks to the adaptability of the constituent elements capable of always creating new scenarios, the result of Citterio's design. Charles can be configured as a linear sofa, a peninsula, a sofa with a lot of chaise-longue or as a corner sofa. Each solution suggests a different location in the room which, however, is not irreversible: it can be changed by needs, situations and moments. Also for these characteristics Charles has rewritten the laws of contemporary sociality and hospitality thanks to its versatility.
The seat consists of a single cushion while the other cushions, free and of different sizes, are scattered and laid on the backrest. As for the upholstery, there are both in leather and in fabric with a wide choice of chrome and shades ready to enhance the environment without ever being too aggressive.
All that remains is to be inspired by the different compositional solutions.
Up5_6 the anthropomorphic armchair that has become a real object of desire
At that time, I was telling a personal story about my concept of women: I believe that women have always been unwilling prisoners of themselves. This is why I decided to give this armchair the shape of a woman with a ball and chain, a traditional image of a prisoner. (Gaetano Pesce)
In 1969, the architect-designer Gaetano Pesce designed a series of chairs known as UP. Among these, the Up5 in combination with the Up6 will take off towards a reputation that has lasted more than half a century.
Up 5_6 by B&B Italia is the anatomical armchair for antonomasia: the structure is reminiscent of a welcoming mother's womb, a symbol of birth, protection and, at the same time, imprisonment.
An armchair, almost endowed with a life of its own, capable of suggesting induced and reproduced sensations thanks to its enveloping shapes and strong anthropomorphic references.
Gaetano Pesce has combined two elements to tell a story: the armchair is in fact combined with a sphere that works as a pouf to which it is tied by a thread that resembles an umbilical cord. In this way, UP5_6 was the first creation of industrial design to express a meaning that went beyond the object and has become a real cultural icon and Suffering Majesty, the undisputed protagonist in Piazza Duomo of the Fuorisalone 2019.
UP5_6 is made with a cold flexible polyurethane foam padding and is covered with an elastic fabric available in different colors.
But not only that, B&B Italia also offers a 'junior' version, for children aged 3 and over, of this inimitable icon. Reduced in size, but it is faithful to the message of the original in a virtuous circle of growth, thus becoming a very powerful object capable of expressing to everyone.