Olivetti Bookcases

“Shelving can be the most mundane thing you own, or it can be the beautiful bones of a room as pleasing to see as anything it displays. Casey Lurie’s Primo system would be the latter.” William L. Hamilton, The wall street journal The Primo shelving system is composed of notched solid wood planks...

Offered by M2L. With two drop down doors and two drawers. Designed by Swiss architect Fritz Haller and Paul Schaerer in 1963. Made from powder coated steel and chrome plated stee...

This is an Arco desk, designed by Studio B.B.P.R for Olivetti Sintesis in 1963. The piece was manufactured in Italy in the 1960s. The frame and base are made of iron, and it has a ca...

Designed by Swiss architect Fritz Haller and Paul Schaerer in 1963. Made from powder coated steel and chrome-plated steel tubes, the USM Haller system is built to last for generation...

The “Pylon” profile comprises overhanging, interleaved shelves grounded by stacked, conical spacers. These solid elements add visual weight and totemic structure to the shelf system’...

Studio BBPR for Olivetti, 'Spazio' side table cabinet, metal, plastic, fabric, Italy, design 1959/60, production 1960s In 1954, Olivetti, th...

“Shelving can be the most mundane thing you own, or it can be the beautiful bones of a room as pleasing to see as anything it displays. Casey Lurie’s Primo system would be the latter.” William L. Hamilton, The wall street journal The primo shelving system is composed of notched solid wood planks...

Desk Mod. "Arco" designed by Studio BBPR for Olivetti Sintesis in 1963. The desk has an iron frame and base on one side and has a case containing 3 drawers and the original metal was...

Studio BBPR for Olivetti, 'Spazio' sideboard, coated steel, plastic, vinyl, Italy, design 1959/60, production 1960s In 1954, Olivetti, the Italian office equipment manufacturer, hired BBPR to design their New York showroom on Fifth Avenue and to create their first series of office furniture, called Spazio (1959/60). This line included chairs, shelving, cabinet systems, and desks, just like the one shown here. It won the Compasso d'Oro Award in 1962. The cabinet contains compartments with drawers secured on both sides. The top is furnished with dark brown vinyl which adds a sturdy touch the overall industrial appearance. Studio B.B.P.R. was an Italian architectural partnership founded in Milan in 1932 by Gianluigi Banfi (1910-1945), Lodovico Barbiano di Belgiojoso (1909-2004), Enrico Peressutti (1908-1976) and Ernesto Nathan Rogers (1909-1969) who had studied at the Politecnico di Milano. B.B.P.R. was thus an acronym formed from the first letters of their family names. The architects found each other in their opposition to fascism in Italy in the 1930s and 1940s during Mussolini's autocratic regime. The architects therefore believed in developing a style that would have no references to contemporary politics. During the Second World War, they all joined the resistance. However, Rogers, a Jew, fled to Switzerland and both Belgiojoso and Banfi were deported to the Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria, where Banfi died in 1945. Despite the immense loss of Banfi, their architectural practice continued in the same name as before after...

“Shelving can be the most mundane thing you own, or it can be the beautiful bones of a room, as pleasing to see as anything it displays. Casey Lurie’s Primo system would be the latter.” William L. Hamilton, The Wall Street Journal The Primo shelving...

Studio BBPR for Olivetti, 'Spazio' side table or cabinet, coated steel, vinyl, plastic, Italy, design 1959/60, production 1960s In 1954, Olivetti, the Italian office equipment manu...

The Apollo console is a playful expression of loops and semi-circular arcs in galvanised steel metalwork, which combine to form a light and versatile st...