ARCO Side Desk (Arredamenti Metallici Serie "ARCO") by B.B.P.R. Studio for Olivetti, 1963

These wonderful sixties office sidedesk come from bbpr’s ‚arco‘ office furniture system for olivetti. Architects and designers banfi, belgiojoso, peressutti and rogers (bbpr) were graduates of the milan polytechnic and are among the most important representatives of italian rationalism of the 1930s. Bbpr, founded in 1932, is considered one of the first architectural firms to operate fundamentally as a collective, placing joint creative achievement above the emphasis on individual contributions: „every idea is always our idea“. A very sixties attitude and a sign for a true workshop of modernity. Important team projects were, e.g., the torre velasca in milan, the italian pavilion at expo ’58 in brussels and a whole range of functional furniture designs – such as chairs for arflex, lamps for artemide and office furniture for the olivetti synthesis company. The ‚arco‘ (the arch) system included desks, side desks, machine tables and storage furniture. The modular character works with a painted steel frame in different sizes, added hanging plastic drawers or metal shelves and tabletops in hard plywood or vinyl. Our piece are made of metal panels on angled legs, adjustable hexagonal feet in black and a chest of five drawers on rails in light gray / beige plastic, which is in a good vintage condition. The tabletop is in black vinyl which shows some lovely scribbles as well as scratches and minor loses.