Milan (MI), Italy
Mario Bellini of Mario Bellini Architects has perfected the Le Bambole collection of sofas, armchairs, and double beds for B&B Italia, bringing them into today’s world, with improvements in comfort and use of recyclable materials.
For its iconic design, Le Bambole has recently been awarded a 2022 Good Design Award by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
In 1972 B&B Italia – known as C&B at the time – presented Le Bambole to the world, a collection of revolutionary upholstered furniture items designed by Mario Bellini.
An icon of timeless contemporaneity and one of the most effective expressions of Made in Italy excellence combining research and creative flair, Le Bambole provided a very personal answer to the theme of seats.
What made them so special was the apparent absence of a load-bearing structure, the extreme naturalness of the shape, and the combination of comfort, softness, and elasticity.
It was a collection so memorable that in 1979 it won the Compasso d’Oro, an award that accompanied its first years of success and launched Le Bambole into a long life as a protagonist of Italian and international design.
Throughout its history, Le Bambole has seen slight adaptations in shape, proving that it is always able to keep up with the times.
Fifty years after its initial creation, it is now presented in a radically renewed version making it even more comfortable and increasingly sustainable.
Where the original construction was based on a metal structure embedded in polyurethane, now the materials used are of the latest generation, starting from recycled polyethylene that is used for the internal frame.
A sustainable project thanks to the choice of materials and the construction method, allowing the components of Le Bambole to be completely disassembled and therefore easily recyclable.
The collection includes the Bambola armchair, the Bibambola two-seater sofa, the three-seater Granbambola sofa, and the Bamboletto double bed.
Project: Le Bambole
Designers: Mario Bellini Architects
Lead Designer: Mario Bellini
Manufacturer: B&B Italia SpA.