Arco Office Desk with Drawers in Metal by BBPR for Olivetti, 1962

Arco office desk or writing desk with a painted with a structure in painted metal and laminated wood, tabletop covered in leather and plastic details, designed by Studio BBPR (Gian Luigi Banfi, Lodovico Barbiano di Belgiojoso, Enrico Peressutti and Ernesto Nathan Rogers) and produced by the historical Italian company Olivetti Synthesis (from the Arredamenti Metallici series) in 1952. Literature: La Rivista dell’Arredamento n°82, 1961 Olivetti is Italian office machinery and furniture firm, located in Ivrea, Northern Italy. For a large part of its history, Olivetti has followed the highest aesthetic standards in its business activities: architecture, interiors, advertising, graphics, corporate branding, as well as its manufactured products—office and computer equipment and office furniture. It has also played a leading role in funding major exhibits, has been the subject of an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and has established an enlightened corporate social welfare program. Olivetti was also noted for its design of office furniture, prominent examples of which included the Arcos office furniture system developed by BBPR in 1960, the groundbreaking Synthesis 45 system of the 1970s by Ettore Sottsass, and the Ephesos system of 1992 by Antonio Citterio. Olivetti followed its commitment to a cohesive and design-rich culture by ordering leading companies and designers to shape its interior through the commissioning of buildings by prominent designers. For example, the BBPR design studio designed the company’s offices in New York in 1954, the Olivetti showroom in Venice in 1957, and the Paris offices in Gae Aulenti in the next decade.