A Major Sponsor of the new Museum of Contemporary Art, Space and B&B Italia collaborated with Elizabeth Ann Macgregor to develop a furniture collection for the museum's new building by Architect Marshall.
Well known for their theatre and museum collaborations, most recently B&B Italia worked with architect Zaha Hadid on the MAXXI Museum in Rome. Like the MAXXI, here the conversation was one of embracing the needs of a busy museum, in the case of the MCA more than 100,000 visitors in its first two weeks of opening, and the importance of responding to the architecture itself.
Works selected are by New York based designer Jeffrey Bernett, Japanese designer Naoto Fukasawa and Italian architect and designer Antonio Citterio, each piece chosen for its clear, sculptural approach in tune with the building's big, bold form.
One of the highlights of the collection is the UP series by Gaetano Pesce. Designed in 1969 at the height of the pop art movement, it is now one of the world’s most exhibited designs that puts the MCA in good company with MoMA New York and the Pompidou Centre in Paris.
The story of Mart can be traced back to the 1960s and a time of huge social change. For the founder of B&B Italia, Piero Ambrogio Busnelli, that meant looking for ideas in sometimes unexpected places. A chance encounter with a rubber duck manufacturer in the UK became the catalyst for a new way to make sofas, and continues to underpin the furniture group’s philosophy for innovation and collaboration.