Amantas sofa set in blue/grey by Mario Belinni for B&B Italia
View Similar Items
Amantas sofa set in blue/grey by Mario Belinni for B&B Italia
About the Item
- Creator:B&B Italia (Manufacturer),Mario Bellini (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 26.78 in (68 cm)Width: 33.47 in (85 cm)Depth: 33.47 in (85 cm)Seat Height: 14.57 in (37 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 5
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:circa 1970
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Antwerpen, BE
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU8031235899442
Mario Bellini
Milan-born architect and designer Mario Bellini just may be the closest thing to a modern-day Renaissance man: His creative output spans genres, from electronics to furniture to architecture to cars, comprising iconic designs in each. He has been the recipient of multiple prestigious Compasso d’Oro design awards, and more than 20 of his works are in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
Born in 1935, Bellini studied architecture at the Polytechnic University of Milan before founding his own firm in his native city in the early 1960s. He soon branched out beyond architecture, however, first for the tech manufacturer Olivetti, where he served as chief industrial design consultant from 1963 to 1991. During that time, Bellini oversaw the design of some of Olivetti’s most popular typewriters.
His penchant for electronic design didn’t stop there: Bellini also designed cameras for Fuji, televisions for Brionvega and a slew of audio devices for Yamaha, then served as design consultant for Renault and devised the interior of the 1980 Lancia Trevi for Fiat. Meanwhile, his architecture work spans continents, including such modern gems as the Museum of Islamic Arts at the Louvre, the National Gallery of Victoria extension in Melbourne, the Dubai Creek Complex and the Milan Convention Centre in his hometown.
And then there’s the furniture: Over the last 70 years, Bellini has designed office furniture for Vitra; lamps for Artemide, Erco and FLOS; porcelain for Rosenthal and long-admired sofas and other seating for Kartell, Natuzzi, B&B Italia, Cassina and more.
His oft-imitated 1977 Cab chair for Cassina, comprising 16 individual pieces of saddle leather that create a “skin” over a minimal metal frame, remains one of the manufacturer’s best sellers today. His pudgy-legged, round tables for Cassina foreshadow Faye Toogood’s widely loved Roly Poly line. His postmodern Summa armchairs for Kartell, as well as his elegant Chiara floor lamp, still lure collectors on vintage furniture websites.
Bellini’s most famous contribution to furniture design, though, may be his 1970 Camaleonda sofa for B&B Italia (then C&B Italia). An entrant to the 1972 MoMA show “Italy: The New Domestic Landscape,” the seat takes its name from the Italian words for chameleon and wave. Its bulbous, modular form makes it infinitely flexible. The sofa was a runaway hit at the show and, once discontinued, remained so popular among vintage dealers that B&B Italia reissued it in 2020 with all recycled materials and interchangeable seat covers. “Of all the objects I have designed, Camaleonda is perhaps the best in terms of its sense of freedom,” Bellini said.
Browse an expansive collection of Mario Bellini furniture — including dining tables, armchairs, mid-century sofas and more — today on 1stDibs.
B&B Italia
In 1966, Piero Ambrogio Busnelli cofounded C&B Italia, a modern Italian furniture manufacturer, with Cesare Cassina in northern Milan. From the outset, Busnelli and Cassina set about recruiting the most talented modernists in Italy to conceive of creative furnishings manufactured in modern ways. In the early 1970s, the company split, with Cassina founding his own eponymous firm and Busnelli taking leadership of what became B&B Italia.
For decades, Busnelli cultivated relationships with the world’s best design talent, resulting in furniture pieces that remain iconic today — be they Gaetano Pesce’s outwardly curvaceous Up seating (made for C&B, reintroduced by B&B) or tables from industrial designer Paolo Piva, each more sophisticated than the next in their geometrically complex steel-tube bases. B&B Italia earned four prestigious Compasso d’Oro design awards: in 1979 for Mario Bellini’s Le Bambole, in 1984 for the Sisamo wardrobe system by Studio Kairos, in 1987 for Antonio Citterio’s modular Sity sofa and, in 1989, the first award given to a manufacturing company itself.
Other notable names who designed for B&B Italia over the course of its 54-year history include Patricia Urquiola, Naoto Fukasawa, Zaha Hadid, Ettore Sottsass and Vincent Van Duysen, to name a very few. And while these names bring star power to the B&B brand, in many cases, it was B&B Italia who helped usher in their celebrity, fostering a wave of design talent on the world stage.
The company’s forward-thinking vision manifested in its own headquarters, too: In 1972, B&B Italia tapped architects Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers to design a steel-framed, postmodern-style home for the brand, whose crisscrossing metal exoskeleton is reminiscent of the pair’s Centre Pompidou in Paris, which was built at roughly the same time. Now, B&B Italia manages a contract division and outdoor section as well as its residential arm, and it also controls production for Maxalto, a brand spun out with furniture designs by Antonio Citterio.
At 1stDibs, find a range of vintage B&B Italia furniture — including sofas, cocktail tables and more.
- Pair of Amanta Lounges by Mario Bellini for B&B Italia in Original UpholsteryBy B&B Italia, Mario BelliniLocated in Grand Cayman, KYSet of 2 iconic Organic Modern Amanta lounges by Mario Bellini for B&B Italia. Brown zig-zag fiberglass shell houses seating upholstered in a very particul...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Organic Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsFabric, Fiberglass
$2,478 Sale Price / set20% Off - Mario Bellini Amanta B&B Italia Modular Sofa Four Seats in Fabric Italy 1970By B&B Italia, Mario BelliniLocated in Almelo, NLMario Bellini Amanta B&B Italia Modular Sofa/ Five Seats, Italy 1970s Looking for a grand and comfortable sofa that can accommodate your entire family? Look no further than the "Ama...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Sectional Sofas
MaterialsFabric, Fiberglass
- Mario Bellini Amanta B&B Italia Modular Sofa Four Seats in Fabric Italy 1970By Mario Bellini, B&B ItaliaLocated in Almelo, NLMario Bellini Amanta B&B Italia Modular Sofa/ Four Seats, Italy 1970s Looking for a grand and comfortable sofa that can accommodate your entire family? Look no further than the "A...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Sectional Sofas
MaterialsFabric, Fiberglass
- Mario Bellini Blue Cotton Velvet Camaleonda Sofa for B&B Italia, 1972, Set Of 7By Mario Bellini, B&B ItaliaLocated in Vicenza, ITCamaleonda sofa, designed by Mario Bellini and manufactured by B&B Italia in 1972. The set features seven modules with backrest (four big modules and three small ones) and one armres...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Space Age Sectional Sofas
MaterialsVelvet, Foam, Cotton
- ''Le Bambole'' sofa by Mario Bellini for C&B/B&B Italia, 1970s, set of 5By B&B Italia, Mario BelliniLocated in Quarrata, ITModular sofa model ''Le Bambole'' by Mario Bellini for C&B Italia, B&B Italia, 1970s. Composed of 5 elements of which two corner elements can form different compositions.Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Sectional Sofas
MaterialsLeather, Rubber
- 20th Century "Amanta" Modular Sofa By Mario Bellini For C&B Italia, c.1970By Mario BelliniLocated in Royal Tunbridge Wells, KentA early 1970s C&B Italia “Amanta” modular or sectional four piece sofa designed by Mario Bellini in 1966. Produced in the early 1970s by C&B Italia (know...Category
20th Century Italian Sectional Sofas
MaterialsMetal
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
Who Is Mario Bellini, and Why Is His 1970s Camaleonda Sofa Everywhere Right Now?
Get the lowdown on the ultrachic modular sofas that are currently taking up real estate in your Instagram saved folder.
Rooms We Love: 11 Splendid Living Rooms
Common wisdom used to declare the kitchen the hub of the house. These days, the living room seems to have assumed the role of domestic focal point. Unlike the Victorian parlor, stiffly furnished and reserved for guests, today’s living room is a central place for reading, conversation and, well, living, with furnishings that lend themselves to both casual lounging and elegant entertaining.