Film: Space Bends with B&B Italia

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To celebrate Patricia Urquiola's recently launched Bend Sofa, B&B Italia's 1,000th project, Wallpaper* has teamed up with acclaimed film director Johnny Hardstaff of Ridley Scott Associates to make this unique film, currently being shown at the B&B showroom in London.

Based on the design of the Bend Sofa itself, what initially intrigued Hardstaff was the flexibility and versatility of the furniture system. Setting the film within a room-sized invisible spatial grid system, vague and esoteric social movements are triggered as the seating system moves into various configurations.

As he explains: 'These vague and deeply abstracted social moments would be defined by the activities that might/would take place on/around these seating systems. For instance, social interactions and alienation might be evoked, and sex would be suggested.'

B&B Italia has long been known for its visionary and avant-garde campaigns in advertising. Most notable were early advertising campaigns by photographer Klaus Zauggin in the 1960s for the 'UP' range by Gaetano Pesce and the campaign for 'Le Bambole', where photographer Oliviero Toscani captured a bare-breasted model, Donna Jordan, nestling seductively in an armchair.