Rodolfo Bonetto

Rodolfo Bonetto or the story of a jazz drummer converted into a designer. This self-taught Milanese has long put his talents at the service of industrialists. Today some of his creations are reissued at B-Line. Before starting his career as a designer in 1958, this Italian born in Milan in 1929 was nevertheless better known for his talent as a musician, which he exercised within the jazz group Sestetto Italiano. At the same time developing a passion for technical drawing, Bonetto naturally moved towards the profession of designer in the service of Italian industrial groups for which he developed different types of products; both for the general public and for car manufacturers. For Veglia Borletti, he notably designs the Sfericlock alarm clock, car upholstery at Fiat, the numerically controlled machine tool for Olivetti or this Linea 1 television set marketed by Autovox. His marked taste for technique and mass production, a rare feature among his colleagues at this period, opened the doors to many industrial sectors, seduced by his talent. Household appliances, watches, telephones, electronic computers, ski boots, surgical lasers, machine tools, lamps… he imposes his mark with a lot of style. This will lead him in particular to teach industrial design at the Hochschule für Gestaltung in Ulm and at the Isia in Rome. But when he is not spending his time in his design offices, Bonetto focuses on furniture. Modular, functional and colorful, his creations are now reissued by B-Line: Boomerang armchair (1968) present in the permanent collection of the NYC Moma, the Aki or 4/4 umbrella stand (1969), a coffee table that can be transformed into a shelf or bookcase. Died in 1991, Rodolfo Bonetto has to his credit eight Compasso d'Oro, prestigious prizes, the last of which was awarded posthumously for his body of work. Today, it is his son Marco who runs the Bonetto studio.