Draft:Olivari

Olivari B. S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of handles, knobs, pull-handles and accessories for doors and windows, headquartered in Borgomanero, Italy.

The family-owned company, in business since 1911, has historically enjoyed collaborations with many important international architects and designers... .

History
In 1911, Battista Olivari founded the Fonderia e Torneria B. Olivari srl in Borgomanero. From the beginning, it produces metal (brass, bronze, aluminum) handles and furniture accessories.

The company had significant production when Battista Olivari died in 1926, leaving six young children. His widow, Antonietta, took over the company and became one of the first Italian women to run a metalworking company.

The first collaborations began with architect Marcello Piacentini for the new Palace of Justice in Milan, with architects Alberico and Lodovico Barbiano di Belgiojoso for Casa Feltrinelli, and with Gio Ponti for the Palazzo Montecatini in Milan (later for the EUR Office Building in Rome), each of which generated a new handle model

With Antoinetta's death in 1948, her son Ernesto took over the company management and consolidated collaborations with the Italian architects to make the handles for their new buildings.

Olivari introduces new materials (Bica handle in anodized aluminum, for Palazzo Bica) and enters many projects (Pirelli Tower, Torre Velasca, Primo Palazzo Snam, Torre al Parco, the Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raffaello transatlantics, etc.).

With the 1960s-1970s also the Olivari production was influenced by the emerging discipline of product design: with Joe Colombo   and his bumper handle Beta, 1971, functionality and fastening system were innovated, while with GPA Monti's Boma handle, 1970, experimentation with new materials, especially plastics, began.

The 1980s saw the collaboration with many designers, while from 1986 to 1990 the third generation of the family gradually joined the company.

In 1989, Alessandro Mendini began a collaboration with the company, consolidating the company's identity and enhancing its artistic heritage. Since the 1990s, the company has been modernizing the technologies used in the production process, introducing current shapes and styles and including in the catalog many products resulting from collaboration with world-renowned architects.

Projects
Olivari handles are used in numerous projects, and many models are designed by architects specifically for the target buildings. . Some project examples are:


 * Planet, Burj Khalifa in Dubai;
 * Beta, Margherita Hut on the summit of Monte Rosa;
 * Lama for Pirelli Tower in Milan;
 * Denver for the City Life neighbourhood in Milan;
 * Iustitia and Libertas for Palazzo di Giustizia in Milan;
 * Velasca for Torre Velasca in Milan;
 * E42 for EUR's Palazzo degli Uffici in Rome;
 * Conca for Hotel Mandarin Oriental in Barcelona.

Collaborations
The company has collaborated over time with architects and designers including: Zaha Hadid, Daniel Libeskind, Jean Nouvel, Rem Koolhaas , Toyo Ito , Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, Steven Holl, Dominique Perrault , Piero Lissoni , Marcel Wanders , Patricia Urquiola   , Gio Ponti , Marcello Piacentini , Alessandro Mendini  , Luigi Caccia Dominioni, Vico Magistretti , Antonio Citterio , Ben Van Berkel , Giorgetto Giugiaro, Shigeru Ban , Barber & Osgerby , BBPR , Joe Colombo , Rodolfo Dordoni , Enzo Mari, Peter Marino, Richard Sapper , Vincent Van Duysen , and many others

Awards and recognitions

 * Honorable Mention at Compasso d'Oro Award 1979 for the Product with GPA Monti's Boma handle.
 * Compasso d'Oro Award 1991 for the Product with Giotto Stoppino's Alessia handle
 * Honorable Mention at Compasso d'Oro Award 2014 for the Production Process, for research and technological innovations brought to the production process