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P R O F I L E | L I N A B O B A R D I
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had a singular mission—to help humans be
more free flowing and natural in the world.
The theme of connection, with oneself
and others, was the principle driver for Bo
Bardi. Like many of her generation, she
had witnessed the tremendous upheaval
and devastation of war, and sought, along
with many other designers of her time, to
re-create the world anew via the things and
places that surrounded them. So she did,
with her architecture and furniture, along
with writing, scenic design, teaching, public
activism and more.
Born in Rome in 1914, Achilina di Enrico Bo,
shortened to Lina Bo, came into the world
hen Lina Bo Bardi debuted her
Bowl chair in 1951 it was a sign
of the times: steel; streamlined,
and meant to hop-skip past
tradition. The Bowl chair wasn't
just a place to sit, Bo Bardi designed it to
cradle the human body in all its moods and
poses, not unlike being perched in the palm
of a giant hand.
The chair and its dynamic designer
appeared on the November 1953 cover
of the American magazine "Interiors +
Industrial Design." The monthly Modernist
publication, which featured the latest works
of the post-WWII design set, showed images
of Bo Bardi poised on her "cuddle bowl" as
they called it; reclining languidly, and sitting
up straight and proper.
For Bo Bardi, the Bowl chair was yet another
work in an ever-expanding portfolio that
12 DIGS.NET | 4.21.23
