The Architectural Record's Josephine Minutillo gets first dibs during media day, the unofficial first day of the Milan Furniture Fair. The 53rd edition of the Salone Internazionale del Mobile (International Furniture Fair) officially gets underway tomorrow, but Monday in Milan is an opportunity to preview events and product introductions throughout the city center, before the trek to the Massimiliano Fuksas-designed fairgrounds in the Eastern suburb of Rho.
High-end kitchen and bath line Boffi celebrates its 80th anniversary in 2014, revisiting designs by the likes of Marc Sadler and Piero Lissoni over the decades. B&B Italia, on the other hand, faces its first Salone without charismatic company founder Piero Busnelli, who died in January. Exhibiting as always from its sprawling showroom on fashionable Via Durini, B&B relied on longtime collaborators Antonio Citterio and Patricia Urquiola, who designed an elegant garden and poolside seating line to enhance the outdoor collection B&B began in 2007, and a series of tufted sofas respectively.
Read the full article in Architectural Record.
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.