Spazio by Studio BBPR for Olivetti

The ‘Spazio’ series was designed by Studio BBPR for Olivetti in 1960 and actually won the Compasso d’Oro Award in 1962. Today the desk of the series is featured in MoMA's permanent collection. Generally a good sign.

BBPR was an architectural partnership founded in Milan in 1932 by Gianluigi Banfi, Lodovico Barbiano di Belgiojoso, Enrico Peressutti and Ernesto Nathan Rogers – named from the first letters of their family names. The partnership was founded in opposition to Fascism and their purpose was to develop a style that had no references to contemporary politics. During the Second World War, they all joined the resistance except for the Jewish Rogers who fled to Switzerland. Both Belgiojoso and Banfi were deported to the Mauthausen concentration camp, where Banfi died in 1945.

After the war, the others returned to Milan and continued to spread their ideas further. Especially during the 1950s, they created many of their great projects. With their designs, they strongly reacted against the International style by enriching their buildings with medieval references. Incredible history.