Piero Ambrogio Busnelli – the Prometheus of Design

by Evi Mibelli.

The history of B&B Italia, founded on April 13, 1966 (as C&B) in Meda, is simple and exemplary, and coincides with the image of its visionary founder: Piero Ambrogio Busnelli, born in Meda on April 13, 1926.

Even just looking at her face, her eyes stand out for their liveliness and sharpness. They seem to move even in the stillness of a photograph.

The founders of C&B, Cesare Cassina and Piero Ambrogio Busnelli, in 1966 (archive photo)

Behind his extraordinary energy lay his entrepreneurial skills and courageous innovatorship, but also his solid artisanal background and, above all, an iron will to be a pioneer of his time. This was demonstrated in his choice of designers and architects who worked for B&B Italia, in his technological investments, in communications and marketing, and all without cultural subservience, since it should be remembered that Piero Ambrogio Busnelli only had a primary school education. This demonstrates that talent and genius are a gift, and nothing can hinder their expression when combined with intuition, willpower, determination, and hard work.

Piero Busnelli's training was rather inconsistent: " All the jobs I did, after a while, once I had mastered them, bored me ." He worked as a printer, dabbled in precision mechanics, and was an apprentice weaver and inlayer. Until 1953 , when he and his brother Franco founded F.lli Busnelli , a company producing armchairs and sofas that established itself in the Brianza furniture district, a hub of quality manufacturing and craftsmanship. But that wasn't enough; he wanted to relaunch. He was itching to get going and thinking industrially, aiming to conquer foreign markets.

Where to start, then? He focuses on researching new materials as alternatives to traditional foam rubber for upholstery, and is interested in new technologies and advanced production systems in fields outside his own. He travels extensively, despite not knowing any languages, harnessing his prodigious curiosity and keen observation. He truly is a living version of the myth of Prometheus.

The Coronado sofa designed by Afra and Tobia Scarpa in 1966 and still in production

He landed in London to visit the Interplast exhibition, where he saw a machine that produced ducks using cold polyurethane injections, and was captivated. Piero Busnelli, returning to Italy, bought two drums and got to work: he realized he held the key to forever changing the way upholstered furniture is produced.

Obviously, the technological and production leap isn't so simple, starting with sourcing the raw materials: " I had to buy it in industrial quantities, but when I showed up at Bayer, a complete stranger, they wouldn't take me in. I went to one of their representatives and got the polyurethane I needed ."

Piero Busnelli invested in the development of specific machinery suited to the project he had in mind, but his brother Franco wasn't convinced by the idea, and so they parted ways. It was April 13, 1966, his 40th birthday, when he founded C&B with Cesare Cassina . The idea Piero Busnelli explained to Cesare to convince him was, in short, this: traditional sofa and armchair frames are made of wood. Why not make a metal structure, insert it into a mold, and cast it in cold-injected polyurethane? The entire operation took about 30 minutes, and the resulting product simply needed finishing.

Institutional campaign from 1968. C&B tells its story through investments in cutting-edge technological systems (B&B Italia archive photo)

The union between Cassina and Busnelli saw the birth of a company capable of combining Cesare's extraordinary foresight in making use of the best generation of post-war architects – Vico Magistretti, Gianfranco Frattini, Marco Zanuso , to name a few – with Piero's pioneering qualities in the industrial field.

The masterpiece that symbolizes that debut—and is still in production today—is the Coronado sofa by Afra and Tobia Scarpa , a product that can be assembled quickly, using just two screws. Its modularity makes it perfect for shipping, revolutionizing logistics, which from then on evolved and became more agile and streamlined. A global success, a textbook success, the epitome of a new industrial culture applied to furniture.

The 1966 Amanta series, designed by Mario Bellini, marked a quantum leap in upholstered furniture production (archive photo by Mario Bellini Architects)

Also in 1966, from that C&B warehouse – whose story will be told shortly – another bestseller was released, Amanta , designed by a young twenty-nine-year-old who already had a Compasso d'Oro under his belt: Mario Bellini . “ I remember walking through the warehouse with Piero Busnelli, picking up a sheet of paper and, observing the production line, I drew the profile of Amanta. Piero made up his mind immediately; it was one of his qualities. He didn't waste time .”

Foaming department (B&B Italia archive)

Let's return to the factory building for a moment: Piero Busnelli didn't want a run-of-the-mill prefabricated building for his new company, he wanted architecture of value. He decided to look around and visited the Benetton headquarters in Ponzano, built to a design by Afra and Tobia Scarpa. After touring the complex, he asked the two Venetian architects, both in their early thirties, to design the C&B building (whose logo, incidentally, bears the signature of Bob Noorda). Afra and Tobia Scarpa thus worked on the spaces and production organization, delivering a facility designed according to innovative industrial criteria.

B&B Italia headquarters in Novedrate, designed by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers, 1971-72

B&B Italia headquarters in Novedrate, designed by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers, 1971-72 - detail of the systems, an integral part of the building's aesthetics

A few years later, again in Novedrate, he built the current administrative headquarters and the Research & Development Center of B&B Italia . It was 1971, and he entrusted the project to two young architects, unknown to the architectural press until then: Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers.

It wasn't until 1973 that they achieved worldwide fame by designing the Centre Pompidou in Paris , the Beaubourg (named after the neighborhood), a building that would divide critics but would leave an indelible mark on 20th-century architecture. Meanwhile, from 1966 to 1971, many of the world's icons of Italian style came to life on C&B's production lines.

The Centre Pompidou, Paris, 1973. Designed by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers (Photo © Gianni Berengo Gardin / Renzo Piano Building Workshop)

The Lombrico modular sofa, designed by Marco Zanuso in 1967 (B&B Italia archive, photo by Mauro Masera)

In 1967, Marco Zanuso designed Lombrico , a modular upholstered piece that anticipated the birth of contract furniture by at least twenty years. Infinite modularity was the project's aesthetic and conceptual key. Another aspect made Lombrico truly unique: its communicative power, so much so that it became the protagonist of formidable advertising campaigns under the guidance of Enrico Trabacchi , a young art director whom Piero Busnelli himself had brought onto the company team.

The Up Series, designed by Gaetano Pesce in 1969. An icon of Italian Style in the world, it is permanently present at the MoMA in New York

On the left, the Up series, designed by Gaetano Pesce, remains a timeless icon, perfect for today's homes. On the right, an advertising campaign by Enrico Trabacchi and Oliviero Toscani for the Le Bambole series, designed by Mario Bellini, 1972.

In 1969, another masterpiece enriched the C&B catalog: the Up series, designed by twenty-nine-year-old Gaetano Pesce . Here, technology and design were so in symbiosis that they created a disruptive product, not only for its enveloping and iconic shape, but also for its market and logistics; it was, in fact, a vacuum-packed upholstered piece, a thin slice of cheese easy to store and distribute. Not only that, but this characteristic also became the leitmotif of the advertising campaign: when the package was opened, the armchair came to life, inflating in a going-up motion that gave it a three-dimensional appearance.

In 1972, it was the turn of the Le Bambole series, designed by Mario Bellini . Enrico Trabacchi turned to a young photographer, Oliviero Toscani , for the advertising campaign . The result was a transgressive work, featuring a topless model, so transgressive that it was censored in the pavilions of the Salone del Mobile, achieving the desired effect: sensation and interest in the product and the company. Le Bambole also earned the first Compasso d'Oro awarded to an upholstered piece.

Meanwhile, C&B's turnover grows and reaches that of Cassina (the parent company): it is the beginning of the divorce between Piero Busnelli and Cesare Cassina, which will end two years later with the birth of B&B Italia.

Advertising campaign and TV commercial frames for the Alanda sofa, designed by Paolo Piva for B&B Italia, 1981

The centrality of design, technological research, and marketing was further supported by a communications policy that was – as previously mentioned – completely unprecedented for those years: B&B Italia was the first Italian company to make TV commercials; those featuring Paolo Piva's Alanda sofa, accompanied by the slogan " Give me the superfluous and I'll do without the bare essentials, " are historic.

It's the early 80s: Piero Busnelli has been supported for some time by a team of formidable collaborators, composed of Rolando Gorla and Federico Busnelli, who oversee the Research and Development Center, and his son Giorgio, who, at a very young age, follows his father's unquenchable energy, absorbs his passion, and admires his strength and determination.

These were years in which B&B Italia conquered world markets and created exceptional products such as the Sisamo wardrobe, designed by Studio Kairos (Compasso d'Oro 1984); and the Sity upholstered system, designed by Antonio Citterio (Compasso d'Oro 1987).

The Sisamo sliding-door wardrobe, designed by Studio Kairos, 1983, and the Sity sofa system, designed by Antonio Citterio, 1987. Both won the Compasso d'Oro award (B&B archive).

The B&B Italia Contract , B&B Italia Home , and B&B Italia Outdoor divisions are established . These range from home design to cruise ship commissions (with Costa Crociere).

Piero Busnelli's dream is a living reality, constantly evolving, and he gradually entrusts it to Giorgio and the dream team that manages the Research Center. Today, the Group operates in a globally competitive environment, strengthened by an extraordinary identity that serves as a compass for the challenges of the future.

Piero Busnelli passed away on January 25, 2014, at the age of 88. Despite his tangible absence, it's nice to think he's the compass that still points the way forward.

Bend modular upholstered sofa, designed by Patricia Urquiola, 2010

In the cover image, Piero Ambrogio Busnelli (April 13, 1926 – January 25, 2014). Photo: B&B Italia Archive