I Saloni Milan - B&B Italia

“Please, take your seat”:

is the greeting with which B&B Italia announces its new product launches for 2011. Seating, which has always been a particularly strong part of the brand, is the focus of its creative work this year with each product bearing the mark of its designer. For 2011, the work of internationally renowned designers Antonio Citterio and Patricia Urquiola is joined by products from Gabriele and Oscar Buratti, who will be presenting their second designs for B&B Italia.

Working together with B&B Italia’s Research and Development Centre, whose excellence is widely acknowledged, all the designers achieved impressive results, dedicating themselves to an often long and complex development process. The new chairs are functional objects, aesthetically expressive with attention to detail, industrially produced and designed to last the test of time.

Beverly 

by Antonio Citterio

is an extremely elegant armchair of a balanced modernity that enables it to interact with diverse styles and settings. It is contoured by a folding frame in aluminium alloy with a bright brushed or black chrome finish. It is also available in a variety of covers that enable alternative interpretations: from leather for a more classic version to cotton fabrics with leather profiles or technical fabrics that enliven it with bright colours. Two heights are available for the backrest, guaranteeing customised comfort.

Husk 

by Patricia Urquiola

A moulded plastic shell and a series of soft cushions: these are the basic elements of the Husk armchair. A celebration of softness, Husk is the result of a long development process to create a versatile armchair that is both unique in its own right and able to complement even the most classic sofas. Three types of cushions are available: standard, large and very large or with a headrest, while the body support can be either fixed or rotating.

A ottoman footrest is also available. Playing on the wide range of colours and finishes of the body (in four-toned recycled plastic), the support (in natural oak or grey or black lacquered wood) and covers (numerous types of leather or fabric), Husk can radically change its appearance, from a single colour to an extremely bright or subtly elegant style. With this project, B&B Italia embraces the theme of ecology by using both recycled and recyclable materials, and components that can be fully disassembled in future - thus simplifying the recycling process and reducing the environmental impact.

Doyl 

by Gabriele and Oscar Buratti

The seating theme continues with the exploration of the formal and technical development of thick leather. A simple, comfortable chair with refined details created in just one material, Doyl introduces a type of padded leather chair where the classic proportions are inverted, transforming lines that are normally concave into convex sections, and thus enhancing the perception of softness.

The designers placed great importance on graphic markings, created through continuous stitching on both the fronts and backs of the chair which correspond to the cutting lines and junctions of the thick leather. The leather is folded, curved and turned inside out, but never cut. The padding adds surprising comfort for a leather chair, while alternative technical materials offer brightly coloured variations.

Landscape, Ray, Surface, Tufty-Too

This year, a series of designs of undisputed success are presented at the Salone’s fiftieth edition with new versions alongside the old. Their permanence on the market is an affirmation of success and popularity from the public which prompted new versions and finishes of these products. Further, the new editions are in perfect harmony with the company’s dedication to continuously offering new options of enhanced comfort and function.

Ten years since its debut and no less popular, Landscape by Jeffrey Bernett offers a sensation of movement with its lithe, airy lines. A new rocking base transforms it into the most modern of rocking chairs, while a cushioned seat with a three-dimensional surface, designed by Kvadrat for B&B Italia in seven colour variations (mustard yellow, purple, yellow, beige, sage green, orange and dark brown) enhances its comfort.

Ray, the seating system by Antonio Citterio that was met with immediate success at last year’s Milan Furniture Fair, is enhanced this year with an accompanying armchair padded like the sofa with the same blanket stitch detailing, suitable for both the home and contract sectors.

Also augmented since its debut last year, the range of low Surface tables by Vincent Van Duysen is now available in a range of strong and intense shades (15 colours in all). The tables are even more lively thanks to the option of a glossy lacquer finish for shelves and dividers.

With Tufty-Too, Patricia Urquiola recalls one of the most successful designs in her collaboration with B&B Italia and adds a new, soft and contemporary appearance to this family of sofas.

The cover, easily removable, is distinguished by matching and contrasting stitching that becomes a decorative motif. The new range of fabrics offers interesting alternatives for texture and colour that complement already existing items.