Mario Bellini

Mario Bellini is an Italian designer and architect, born in 1935. Bellini studied Architecture at the Polytechnic University of Milan, where he graduated in 1959, before going on to open his own design studio, Studio Bellini, in 1963. During this period, he also worked as the chief design Consultant at Olivetti (1963 - 1993) and was the editor of Domus Magazine (1985 - 1991).

The work of Mario Bellini combines organic aesthetics with contemporary Italian design principles and has received global recognition. He has been awarded the Compasso d'Oro award eight times, as well as receiving the Milan Triennale Gold Medal. Since 1991, he has been a Royal Honorary Designer of RDI, and since the 1980s, he has dedicated himself almost entirely to architecture. Bellini has designed buildings all across the world, including the Tokyo Design Centre in Japan, the Natuzzi America Headquarters in the United States and the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne.

"Now, they say that the era of styles is over, that now form follows function. But form has almost always followed function; otherwise, millennia ago, we would have managed to design a chair on which not to sit. But form also follows emotion, meaning, and values." - Maria Bellini