Mario Bellini - the Italian design genius
The Italian architect and industrial designer Mario Bellini was born in Milan in 1935. He studied architecture at the Milan Polytechnic and received his doctorate in 1959. Three years later he founded his own architecture and design office together with Marco Romano.
In 1963 Bellini became a design consultant for Olivetti and developed calculating machines, electric typewriters and the world's first desktop computer, the "Programma 101. This desktop computer was used by NASA for the cartographic projects of the first flight to the moon.
As a furniture designer, Bellini worked for many well-known manufacturers, including B&B Italia, Cassina and Artemide, designing furniture and lighting that became classics. The innovative office chair Headline is available from Vitra. An outstanding example of elegant furniture design is also the Faust series, which Bellini designed for Driade.
Bellini received a special honor in June 1987 when the Museum of Modern Art in New York dedicated a retrospective to him - as the first living designer after Charles Eames. More than 30 of his works can be seen in the permanent exhibition of this museum. © Königsdorfer Medienhaus (Frechen), website of Mario Bellini
