Summer reading – From science fiction to social dynamics, how the 70s shaped the sofa

The lead up to ‘Italy: The New Domestic Landscape' saw the worldwide housing shortage of the 1960s. It was a time when the home became the hotbed for avant-garde experimentation as designers explored a smaller, more informal way of living and transformed traditional ideas of privacy and space into the realm of the open plan. Suddenly furniture became a ‘system’ that found its expression in modularity and multifunctional environments inspired by science fiction and the compactness of space travel.

The sofa was now an integral part of interior architecture and would go on to transform how we relaxed and socialised at home. The individual armchair was no longer the centre of the living room, families and friends were gathering in conversation pits and on highly flexible modular sofa systems that created the first lounge ‘landscapes.’ Their design grounded the architectural fluidity of the open interior and could be arranged, and then rearranged, to suit a myriad of social configurations. Furniture was expressing the mid-century’s huge social and cultural shift in real time.

For Italian brands B&B Italia and Arflex, that expression was taking shape with influential designers Mario Bellini, Mario Marenco and Tito Agnoli. Their designs for the Camaleonda, the Marenco and the 9000 respectively, defined the mood of the 70s with flexible designs that turned the living space into a hub for creativity. Each sofa and its range of modular sections could be personalised to suit a particular space, and further defined by a huge range of fabrics that were bright and playful with high gloss finishes and chunky weaves that expressed the era’s huge leaps in material innovation.

‘Certain products are born in the future,’ remarked Mario Bellini at the re-launch of his Camaleonda at the Milan Furniture Fair in 2020. ‘It is so innovative, more contemporary today than it was when designed. It is related to a way of shaping one’s own home environment… Camaleonda was a new possibility. It has these 90 by 90 modules, each one divided into nine extra large capitonné squares, and hooks that let you put together the seats, the backrests, the armrests, to quickly design any shape and shake up a space without buying a new sofa.’

Fast forward half a century and those key design pieces that shook up interiors and waved in a more relaxed approach to living are finding a voice and influencing the next generation of furniture. Here we take a look at the trailblazing pieces from the 1970s by Mario Bellini, Mario Marenco and Tito Agnoli that are as contemporary today as they were when first launched, and explore more recent designs by Piero Lissoni, Francesco Binfaré, Paola Navone and Carlo Colombo that are continuing that freedom and expression.

The 9000 sofa designed by Tito Agnoli in 1970 for Arflex

Described by Italian group Arflex as ‘a series of compact and variously articulated seats’, the 9000 sofa by Tito Agnoli responded to a new approach to smaller, more versatile furniture that was compact, could grow as the need arose and allowed for 'multitasking in the home'. A group founded by Pirelli engineers, Arflex's approach was grounded in research from the start and the company built a reputation for important collaborations with architects and designers that began with Marco Zanuso and would include Mario Marenco and Tito Agnoli. The design for the 9000 with its small dimensions and easy modularity represented the perfect solution for different interior scenarios. Its system of furniture modules, composed of an armchair, a seat with one armrest, or without, and corner, curved and pouf elements, created the freedom for endless configurations and a seating landscape and design following that has elevated the sofa to iconic status.

The Marenco sofa designed in 1970 by Mario Marenco for Arflex, and re-launched with the addition of an outdoor collection and an edition without arms

Mario Marenco was a man of multiple talents. Studying architecture in Italy followed by fellowship research in Sweden and the US, in 1982 he opened studios in Milan and London. Maybe it was his friendship with Gio Ponti that led him to the other side of the world to teach at the University of Sydney, but it was his open approach to design that led to showroom projects for Fiat, Lancia and Alfa Romeo, hotels in Saudi Arabia and housing in Brazil, writing for the architecture powerhouse Rizzoli, furniture for B&B Italia and Arflex, and even acting stints on stage and television. A real renaissance man whose life experience fully informed his inventive approach to design, Marenco's most recognisable furniture piece is his self-titled Marenco sofa that perfectly sums up Arflex's ambition to modernise production and design itself. The characteristic sillouette of Marenco's sculptural cushions is only one side of the sofa's innovative design. Its concealed metal frame in Fiat red cleverly supports the seat and armrest that are designed to slip on and off with ease, providing the collection both comfort and practicality.

The Camaleonda sofa designed in 1970 by Mario Bellini for B&B Italia, and re-launched in circular materials in 2020

First designed in 1970 by Mario Bellini and selected for the 1972 exhibition ‘Italy: The New Domestic Landscape,’ Camaleonda was relaunched by B&B Italia and Mario Bellini in 2020 with an eye on refinement and sustainability. Faithful to the original project are the sofa’s 900 by 900 mm modules, its backrest and armrest and the characteristic capitonné design, still manufactured with the innovative system of cables, hooks and rings first created by Bellini in 1970. It’s on the inside where the new work has centred. Here, the aim was to make the Camaleonda more comfortable than the original and sustainable through its materials and production methodology. Describing the new internal structure as ‘built like a sandwich,’ each layer is made of recycled or recyclable materials and designed to be easily disassembled. The brilliance of the design lies in the sofa's tie-rods and rings. Modules that can be unhooked and recombined in response to the dynamic needs of the user while similtaneously maintaining the sofa's unique identity.