Milan, 1929-1991
A professional jazz drummer and self-taught designer, Bonetto (at around 30 years of age) interrupted his musical career and started to collaborate with companies linked to the automobile industry such as body shops and component manufacturers. In 1946 he won the first of seven Golden Compass Awards for his Sfericlock for Veglia Borletti. His automobile and appliance designs were so innovative that Thomas Maldnado assigned him a professorship at the Hochschule für Gestaltung in Ulm, in charge of the first car design course. During his career, he designed interiors for Fiat, machine tools for Olivetti, radios for Autovox, the Melania armchair for Driade (1972), and the Boomerang armchair for Flexform (1968).