Studio BBPR for Olivetti, 'Spazio' Metal Sideboard, 1959

Four-door sideboard in wood, metal, and brushed aluminum, with a marble top, produced by Knoll, designed by Florence Knoll, 1960s A long life, great masters, and well-deserved lasti...

Sideboard with Doors and Drawers, Walnut Wood, Italian Production, Design by Silvio Coppola, 1960s Wood takes center stage in this architecturally shaped sideboard, which fits into ...

A large solid wood sideboard with four sculpted doors, in the style of Paolo Buffa, Italian Manufacture, 1940s The striking wood grain, running horizontally across the piece, combin...

Oak wood sideboard with carved walnut inlays, Italian craftsmanship from the 1940s, designed by Pier Luigi Colli. The Colli family, established in Turin since the mid-19th century a...

Studio BBPR for Olivetti, 'Spazio' sideboard, lacquered steel, faux leather, vinyl, plastic, Italy, design 1959/60, production 1960s In 1954, Olivetti, the Italian office equipment...

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...

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

Studio BBPR for Olivetti, 'Spazio' sideboard, coated steel, vinyl, plastic, Italy, design 1959/60, production 1960s In 1954, Olivetti, the Italian office equipment manufacturer, hi...