Antonio Citterio for B&B Italia Maxalto Charles Cases
About the Item
- Creator:
- Dimensions:Height: 29.5 in (74.93 cm)Width: 47.25 in (120.02 cm)Depth: 21.75 in (55.25 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 2
- Style:Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:2000
- Condition:Repaired: some existing chips on veneer have been restored professionally. Good vintage condition.
- Seller Location:Chicago, IL
- Reference Number:Seller: C000037071stDibs: LU847439400932
Antonio Citterio
Driven by his belief that beautiful surroundings can heighten the enjoyment of even mundane everyday rituals, Italian architect and industrial designer Antonio Citterio creates furniture that combines sophisticated form with functionality. Citterio’s timeless neoclassical-inspired chairs, outdoor furniture, desks and other pieces have earned him a place among the most influential furniture designers working in his native country.
Born in 1950 in Meda, Citterio grew up just a stone's throw away from the artistic hub of Milan. In 1972, at just 22 years old, he opened his first design studio and designed a chair for the La Rinascente department store while completing his studies in architecture at the Polytechnic University of Milan. Citterio established a partnership with famed furniture designer Terry Dwan, and the pair worked together during the 1980s and 1990s, designing striking buildings in European cities as well as Japan. He is currently chairperson at an interior design and architecture firm with fellow architect Patricia Viel and eight other partners.
Citterio taught at the Università della Svizzera Italiana in Mendrisio, Switzerland, from 2006 to 2016. He holds art director roles for high-end furniture manufacturers Maxalto, Arclinea and Azucena, and today, Citterio lounge chairs, sofas and other furnishings are in hotels all over the world. Citterio’s work is synonymous with luxury, and has yielded collaborations with reputable brands such as Kartell, Knoll, Flexform, Vitra and B&B Italia. His Sity seating collection for the latter and kitchen furnishings for Arclinea are among his best-known innovations.
Citterio has received many awards and accolades for his design work, including the Compasso d’Oro. He was also given the title of “Royal Designer for Industry” by the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts in 2008.
Find Antonio Citterio seating, lighting, tables, case pieces and other furniture 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.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Shipping from: Chicago, IL
- Return Policy
More From This Seller
View AllVintage 1960s American Credenzas
Metal, Bronze
Vintage 1960s American Bookcases
Walnut
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Travertine, Brass
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Credenzas
Bronze
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Credenzas
Steel
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Aluminum
You May Also Like
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Minimalist Sideboards
Metal
Vintage 1970s Italian Commodes and Chests of Drawers
Steel
2010s Italian Modern Sideboards
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Sideboards
Metal
Vintage 1970s Italian Vitrines
Kingwood
Vintage 1980s Italian Modern Sideboards
Steel
Read More
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.
Vincent Van Duysen Imbues Minimalism with Warmth
The Antwerp-based designer lends his unique touch to homes, boutiques and offices in Belgium, the United States and Germany, as well as furniture for B&B Italia and Molteni.