Designer Profile: Mario Bellini

Mario Bellini is an Italian architect and furniture designer. Born in Italy on February 1st, 1935, Mario Bellini studied at the Politecnico di Milano, which translates to be the Faculty of Architecture. Bellini’s specific areas of expertise include architecture, urban planning, product design and furniture design.

Graduating from school in 1959, Mario Bellini began his career as a product designer at Olivetti, a communications company based out of Italy. From 1963 to 1991, Mario was the chief design consultant for Olivetti. Throughout these years, Bellini designed furniture for B&B Italia and Cassina, office furniture for Vitra and electric organs for Yamaha. Starting in 1986 until 1991, Mario also worked as the editor of Domus Magazine, a monthly publication of architecture, design and art.

Throughout the 1980s, Mario Bellini became involved in architecture all around the globe, from Japan and Dubai to the United States and Italy. Some of his projects include the Museum of Islamic Arts at the Louvre Museum in Paris, Natuzzi Americas Headquarters in High Point, NC, and the Tokyo Design Center in Tokyo, Japan. In 1987, Mario Bellini was honored by the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in an exhibit “Mario Bellini: Designer.” This was an extreme honor for Bellini, as it was the first retrospective exhibit on a living designer. Twenty-five of his designs are part of the permanent collection at the MOMA.

It is said that the Cab Chair and La Bambole series, both designed in 1977, are what made Bellini famous. The Cab Chair, manufactured by Cassina, is in the design collection of the Museum of Modern Art and the 20th century design and architecture collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In addition to museum exhibitions, Bellini has won Italy’s most prestigious design award, Compasso d’Oro, five times. Bellini’s furniture designs have been manufactured by Cassina, B & B Italia, Vitra and Heller.

Mario designed the Bellini Chair for Heller in 1998. Bellini received a Compasso d’Oro’s for the Bellini Chair in 2001. Other awards were also given to Mario as a result of the Bellini Chair, such as the ID Annual Design Review Design Distinction Award and the Bronze IDEA Industrial Design Excellence Award, both received in 1999. The award-winning Bellini Chair, which is made in the USA, is available in a set of six at Inmod.com.