Brionvega

Brionvega is an Italian electronics company that is known for manufacturing futuristic television sets and audio equipment, its contributions to post-second world war technological and social advancement in Italian industry, collaborations with well known industrial designers and architects, and its impact on the aesthetics of 1960s Italian design.

History

The company was founded in 1945 in Milan by Giuseppe Brion (who had previously worked at Phonola and Radiomarelli), Onorina Tomasin-Brion, and Leone Pajetta. Initially named B.P.M. Radio, then changed to Vega BP Radio, and finally "BRIONVEGA", when the company was rebranded in 1963.[1]

In 1954 Brionvega introduced the first Italian made television sets after entering into a contract with the country's national broadcaster RAI.[1]

In the early 1960s Brionvega began working with notable architects and industrial designers including Franco Albini, Sergio Asti, Rodolfo Bonetto, brothers Achille, Livio, and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, Mario Bellini, Richard Sapper, and Marco Zanuso.[2] These collaborations resulted in a decade of design innovation and the introduction of products such as the Algol 11 and Doney 14[3] television sets, TS 502 "Cubo" radio, the RR 126 radiogram, which was introduced in 1966, followed by the "Cubo" television in 1969.[4][5][6][7]

The designs that the company manufactured during this period were recognised in their time with awards such as the Compasso d'Oro and Biennale of Design (BIO),[8][9][10] and have since become regarded as icons of 1960s Italian design.[11][12] Alba Cappellieri writing for Domus magazine stated that, "You could write a telling history of Italian post-war industrial design almost entirely through the products of Brionvega".[1]

In more recent decades, the company continued its practice of collaboration with acclaimed designers including Ettore Sottsass, Michael Young,[13] and Hannes Wettstein,[14] periodically introducing new products such as the Alpha LCD television, presented at Salone del Mobile in 2007, and the WearIt portable speaker in 2016.[15][16][17][18] An updated version of the original Cubo television was produced in 1992 with the same exterior casing and updated electronics.[15][19] Two of the other 1960s products, the Doney and Algol television sets, were also re-issued in limited edition runs.[20] The TS 502 portable radio and the RR 126 radiogram have both been re-issued and updated in several different versions.[21][22]

In 1992, the Brion family sold the company to Italian electronics manufacturer Sèleco (which was subsequently acquired by Industrie Formenti in 1998,[1] and eventually declared bankrupt in 2004).[23] Brionvega has gone through several changes of ownership since,[24] and as of 2022 was still active marketing re-editions of the designs from its 1960s and 1970s heyday, as well as some more recent products.[25][26]

Legacy

Many of the company's products are held in museum collections including the ADI Design Museum in Milan, the Pompidou Centre in Paris, the Victoria and Albert in London, the Powerhouse Museum (Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences) in Sydney, and the Cooper Hewitt and Museum of Modern Art in New York.[4][27][28][29][30][31]

The University of Parma holds a large collection of archival material relating to the company including sketches, drawings, prototypes, examples of Brionvega products, brochures and advertising materials.[2] The National Museum of Science and Technology in Milan also holds a number of Brionvega products in its collection.[32]

In 2016 a Brionvega RR 126 radiogram once owned by the singer David Bowie was sold by Sotheby's in London for £257,000.[33][34]

Several examples of the company's products featured in the Art of Noise (exhibition), a 2025 exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.[35]

Gallery

Publications

See also

• Telecommunications collection, Museum of Science and Technology, Milan
• Clamshell design
• List of companies of Italy
• Brion tomb

External links

• Brionvega company website
• Super//Fluo company website
• Brionvega information at Radiomuseum.org
• Fondazione Fiera Milano, historical archives showing archival photographs of 1960s trade fair (in Italian)
• Asolo (Tv) Radio e televisori della Brionvega in mostra, brief emission about 2022 Brionvega exhibition in Asolo, Italy (in Italian)