Bonaldo And Its 80-Year Legacy Of Authentic Italian Artistry
With the release of its Contemporary Soul collection, the Italian furniture maker reflects on its early roots that continue to shape its philosophies.
In a world where design often favours the fleeting, the Italian furniture house Bonaldo stands apart by offering not just objects but also immersive encounters. Rooted in more than eight decades of craft tradition, Bonaldo channels the spirit of Made in Italy—where artisanal workmanship, creativity, and material integrity converge to shape living spaces into expressions of modern elegance.
From its origins in 1936 as a metal-bedstead workshop under Giovanni Vittorio Bonaldo in Padua, Bonaldo steadily evolved, moving from industrial beds and tubular metal furniture in the 1950s and 1960s to full-scale furniture design by the 1970s. Over time, the company embraced a philosophy of design that values both innovation and enduring style, anchored in its northern Italian origins yet fluent in a global design language.
More than a historical chronology, the heart of Bonaldo’s identity lies in its design heritage and philosophy. Central to this is the brand’s concept of B/Style: a curated programme that treats furniture not as isolated pieces, but as instruments in a cohesive spatial dialogue. According to Bonaldo, “B/Style means that the furnishings are not just a simple collection of individual parts, but different instruments in the same orchestra.” Under B/Style, a sofa, a table, or a lighting element can speak to one another, and to the person inhabiting the space in a shared language of form, material, and emotion. This vision resonates through collections crafted to be at once striking and functional, sculptural yet comfortable.
Take the iconic Big Table (designed by Alain Gilles for Bonaldo) as a perfect example of how design iconography is embedded into the brand’s DNA. Launched in 2009, the Big Table blends bold geometry, laser-cut steel, and refined surfaces to become a dynamic centrepiece rather than simply a dining table. Meanwhile, the Blend sofa embodies the brand’s softer side, characterised by the attention to detail in the processing of its composite materials: emery leather and fabric, making for a piece of furniture elegant in image and soft in composure. These examples reflect how Bonaldo moves between extremes of statement and subtlety—always rooted in its design philosophy of marrying form to function.
Bonaldo’s material palette and craftsmanship further underline this ethos: from cast polyurethane bases and marble tabletops to high-precision metal frames and luxury upholstery, the brand never compromises on quality or detail, driven by collaborations with some of the world’s most visionary designers in the home design space. Collaborators such as Karim Rashid, Fabrice Berrux, Mauro Lipparini, and Alain Gilles have helped shape Bonaldo’s visual language, contributing bold silhouettes and a global mindset.
Today, as Bonaldo tours Asia with its “Our Journey in the World of Design” event, the brand is rightfully looking forward. With its commitment to B/Style intact, Bonaldo’s latest collections continue to explore evolving lifestyles—blending living, dining, and night zones into unified worlds of design. Its flagship pieces and contemporary designers ensure that each new catalogue reflects not only furniture but also an attitude, growing the company’s deeply Italian roots, and its branches as a global, modern house.
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