An Icon Reborn

Five decades since it was originally launched by B&B Italia, architect and designer Mario Bellini's Camaleonda sofa system is making a welcome return, looking just as contemporary as it did in 1970 — a fact that reinforces its status as an icon. Its update preserves the sofa's original features and introduces new materials by B&B Italia's Research & Development Centre.

The modular sofa system represents more than an aesthetic, it's an attitude and lifestyle — a testament to Bellini's ability to move between diverse design languages. ‘Camaleonda is a name that I invented in 1970 by mixing two words: the first is the name of an extraordinary animal, the chameleon ( camaleonte in Italian), that can adapt to the environment around it and the word onda, ‘wave', that indicates the curve of the sea and the desert. Both these words describe the shape and function of this sofa,' the designer explained about the sofa's nomenclature.

An architectural feature in its own right, the Camaleonda sofa doesn't just fill space, it defines it.