After kicking off in Cologne a series of worldwide events to celebrate its 50th anniversary, B&B Italia followed in New York last Tuesday, with an event at The Morgan Library & Museum where it premiered on the continent the documentary film B&B Italia. Poetry in the Shape. When design meets the industry.
Screened in the modernist annex building designed by Renzo Piano, the documentary by Didi Gnocchi tells the personal and entrepreneurial story of B&B Italia’s founder Piero Ambrogio Busnelli (who passed away in early 2014). In unraveling his journey, some important focuses are explored: the company’s current situation, its challenges, and its desires for the future. This effective narrative is performed through important testimonies by architects and designers such as Antonio Citterio, Mario Bellini, Piano, Gaetano Pesce, Pierluigi Cerri, Vincent Van Duysen, Patricia Urquiola, and others. The epic story of the design house remains accessible and appealing to a wide audience of creative minds, design enthusiasts, and entrepreneurs.
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In addition to the film, the book The long life of design in Italy. B&B Italia 50 years and beyond, edited by Stefano Casciani, tells both the past and present of the company through coherent thought strategy and business action towards the future. The book subtly interweaves and confronts the poetry of design with corporate culture and world market challenges.
