Mario Bellini Garners Salone del Mobile.Milano Special Award

Salone del Mobile.Milano 2019: Mario Bellini and Salone del Mobile President Claudio Luti (photo by Diego Ravier)

During the closing evening at Palazzo Marino, the Salone del Mobile.Milano celebrates with a lifetime award for one of Italy’s most versatile and iconic architects and designers

This year again, the Salone del Mobile.Milano closed with a great design-fuelled evening at Palazzo Marino with  emotions running high amid  the  huge inspiration instilled in all its visitors by the event. It was a perfect occasion for thanking the exhibiting  companies for their productive and organisational commitment, which has,  yet  again,  gone into making the Salone a unique experience, and for paying tribute to all  the  designers and people who do their utmost to make Milan the most interesting and  attractive place in the world for an entire week.

During the evening, the Salone del Mobile.Milano also  presented  a  Special  Lifetime  Award to Mario Bellini, the multifaceted and innovative Milanese  designer,  many  of  whose furnishings and objects have become icons capable  of  anticipating  or revolutionising taste and style. The award has been made in recognition of  his creativity  and talent, as a plaudit for his ability to translate ideas and projects into  products,  initiatives and architecture, and as a thank you for his huge contribution to the Salone del Mobile through his collaboration with so many exhibiting companies.

The official motivation for the award is as follows:

For the genius with which  he has  conceived  both design  masterpieces  and great pieces  of architecture For the consistency with which he has built his  work  and  the  story  of  Italian design For his tireless desire to innovate  and  explore  new  frontiers  For  his  constant dialogue with the business world For his generosity in his relationships and for having  always believed in and supported his city, Milan For his contribution to the Salone  del Mobile through his collaboration with the many, leading companies for whom he has designed iconic products that have helped forge the  history  and  the  success  of  the  event.”

“We are delighted to assign this award to Mario Bellini who is, first of all, a close friend of mine. He is a designer in the round who wholly personifies the concept of  genius  –  meaning the ingenious ability to create and think  – which we chose as the keyword for this edition of the Salone  del Mobile.  We believe that his work, which ranges from design  to architecture, is truly representative of our mission to research from every possible angle and constitutes a great example to the upcoming generations,” said Salone del Mobile President Claudio Luti.