3 times B: the history of BBB
Design has the ability to interpret the time we live, to anticipate it, at times, and to expand it, at other times. An example of this is the Italian company BBB, which since 1949 has been offering a design that overlooks the contemporary. That of the brand is a design commitment which, while not betraying the legacy of tradition, relies on reading daily life in order to always provide highly qualitative proposals.
BBB: innovative by tradition
Over the years BBB has collaborated side by side with designers who I would define as “generational”, because they have given shape to periods and production aspects that have remained in history.
Gio Ponti, Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, Massimo Colombo and Paolo Favaretto are among the figures whose Italian design, and that of BBB in particular, need to name. The far-sightedness of their projects and the ability not to fear the weight of time, perfectly reflect that corporate anthem that is “innovative by tradition” by BBB.
BBB’s project for Fuorisalone 2022
In today’s context in which the presence of women designers is asserting itself with peculiar sensibilities, despite the objective difficulties and the few accessible spaces, it’s gratifying to note that, in BBB, the artistic direction has been entrusted to two professionals, one female and one male, also present in the BBB catalogue. These are Serena Vinciguerra and Franco Poli, who today have the task of innovating the creative proposal and who have curated the exhibition space in HUS Milano for Fuorisalone 2022.
In the heart of Brera, at HUS Milano, BBB will set up its concept, staging some of its proposals that best express the company’s know-how. The exhibition event at the Fuorisalone will be a way to emphasize once again the contemporary appeal that characterizes BBB.
A design by BBB: some proposals
If the aesthetic impact of the BBB catalogue seems to tend towards an elegance suspended in time, it’s because it has secretly developed a perfect formula that balances decorative functions and technical needs.
Luigi Filippo table
The high-sounding name might be deceiving, but the view doesn’t lie in this case. With Luigi Filippo of BBB we are faced with a piece that, while using historically traditional materials, offers itself to the public with a new character, born from a project by Marta Laudani and Marco Romanelli.
Ponti 940 and 969 chairs
Ponti, Gio Ponti. And this would be enough. But it must be added that the Ponti 940, born in 1940, is one of the timeless icons of Italian design, to which new original finishes are regularly added. For undisputed merit it appears in the Icon Chairs collection by BBB.
The Ponti 969, on the other hand, is the synthesis of Gio Ponti as an industrial designer and a proud admirer of craftsmanship. From the decorative backrest to the triangular prism legs, this upholstered seat remains timeless, like the master’s design.
The Sapiens bookcase
Self-supporting, few frills, linearity and exposure. “Tell me what books you read and I’ll tell you who you are” becomes “Show me where and how you keep the books and I’ll tell you who you are”. With the Sapiens bookcase, erected, there are no mistakes. A piece that democratically makes design accessible and universal, designed by Bruno Rainaldi.
Spoiler: soon there will be a version of the library with LEDs that can be activated by voice with Alexa or Google Home.
The Venezia chair
Emblem, icon, lesson: this chair represents the power and responsibility of design. Born from the hand of Paolo Favaretto, it had a Menzione at Compasso d’Oro in 2008 and is currently exhibited at the ADI Design Museum in Milan. For indoors and outdoors, stackable, lightweight and anatomic. If the aliens came and asked us what design is, it’s on a Venezia chair that I would seat them.
BBB Italia faces the contemporary
3 times B, once for each son of Pietro Bonacina, the historic founder who made the small factory a company devoted to change. A change that emerges with the updating of some products that have marked history, resumed today by complying with new production techniques and improving the quality of materials. Eyes on Fuorisalone 2022 to catch the company’s experimental flashes.
