“Mario Bellini – Architect”: 312 pages and 500 illustrations to tell the story of a Milanese pencil that is recognized and appreciated the world over
Milan, 22 June 2016 – The book, simply titled “Mario Bellini – Architect”, was presented this morning on the 45th floor of the Allianz Tower, the highest building in Italy built on the historical Fiera di Milano site as part of the CityLife project.
In addition to Architect Bellini, attending the presentation were Benito Benedini, chairman of Fondazione Fiera Milano, Nicola Di Battista, director of the Domus magazine, Andrea Maffei, architect, Ermanno Ranzani, architect and curator of the book, and Carlo Rossanigo, head of communications at Allianz Italia. The meeting was moderated by Maxia Zandonai, head of the cultural section of the Milan Regional News.
“The working partnership between Fiera di Milano and architect Bellini – explained Benito Benedini – goes back a long way. Two Milanese “names” that have taken, albeit in different ways, Made in Italy to every corner of the world. It all began in the 90’s with the construction of the Portello pavilions. Then, Bellini signed the new exhibition complex built by Fondazione Fiera at Rho, designing the multi-level car parks near the west entrance. Last, at the beginning of the new millennium, Bellini created his most striking and “revolutionary” work for us, MiCo, Milano Congressi, the largest and one of the most avant-garde conference centers in Europe, with its “Comet” covering that has now become a distinctive feature worldwide.”
Introduced with a preface by the British architecture historian Kenneth Frampton, the book “narrates” the work of Mario Bellini in 500 color images with descriptions, for a veritable world tour of buildings, museums, exhibition complexes, international competitions and large exhibition installations. A journey that goes back in time from 2016 to 1960, to rewind the “continuous thread” linking the work of this great Milanese architect, who has always been committed to and equally successful in any project: small, medium and large. The “continuous thread” brings out an approach to architecture that is a “complex fact” and never repetitive, far removed from a purely “image-oriented” vision of the profession. As is shown by the texts, quotes, photographs, plans, sketches and “other” references, that accompany the reader in this thrilling two-track journey.
Mario Bellini – Architect
Preface by Kenneth Frampton
Edited by Ermanno Ranzani
Artistic Director Piero Mascitti
28 × 28 cm
312 pages
500 color illustrations
paperback Dutch
Bilingual Italian/English edition
Mario Bellini (Milan, 1935) is an internationally-renowned architect and designer. He has received the Compasso d'Oro award 8 times and 25 of his works are part of the permanent collection at MoMA in New York.
He has mainly focused on architecture since 1980 and this rich monograph is devoted to his projects in this very field with a chronology of all his most important undertakings: among these, to mention just a few, are Portello for Fiera Milano, the Tokyo Design Centre in Japan, America headquarters of Natuzzi in the United States, the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, Deutsche Bank headquarters in Frankfurt, the Museum of History of Bologna, the building that hosts the Department of Islamic Arts at Louvre in Paris, and the new conference center in Milan, the largest in Europe.
In 2017, the Allianz Tower, designed by Japanese architect Arata Isozaki with Italian architect Andrea Maffei, is set to become the new Milan headquarters for the Allianz Italia Group led by Managing Director Klaus-Peter Roehler, and will host the group’s 2,800 employees. Allianz Tower, which is recognizable from a distance of more than 10 kilometers, has modified the Milan skyline, becoming one of the symbols of a dynamic city that keeps growing and innovating.