Patricia Urquiola and B&B Italia have reimagined a modern classic, engineering their iconic modular sofa to embrace conviviality, sustainability, and a deeper sense of comfort.
“B&B Italia celebrates 20 years of Tufty-Time, a piece very dear to me. A new version designed with longevity in mind, a fundamental quality for a design approach that looks ahead.”
— Patricia Urquiola
A New Domestic Landscape
In the design landscape of 2005, a quiet revolution was reshaping homes. The rigid, partitioned rooms of the 20th century were dissolving into fluid, open-plan spaces, demanding a new language for living. It was an era that called for furniture not as static monuments, but as dynamic platforms for life—adaptable, informal, and communal. Into this moment, designer Patricia Urquiola and manufacturer B&B Italia introduced Tufty-Time, a modular system that didn’t just answer the call; it defined the conversation for years to come.
An instant success, Tufty-Time captured the zeitgeist. Urquiola’s vision was a masterful deconstruction of classic forms, filtering the aristocratic DNA of the Chesterfield and capitonné styles through a free-spirited, 1970s lens. She stripped the archetype of its formality, retaining its gridded, enveloping comfort while rebuilding it as a playful, democratic system of modules. This was design born from empathy, a philosophy Urquiola absorbed from her mentors at the Politecnico di Milano, legends Achille Castiglioni and Vico Magistretti. From them, she learned to begin with the “fundamental element”: how people truly live, move, and connect.
But vision requires a voice, and for Tufty-Time, Urquiola found its perfect technical expression in B&B Italia. Founded in 1966 by Piero Ambrogio Busnelli, the company was built on a radical industrial premise: to augment traditional craftsmanship with the power of modern innovation. Their foundational breakthrough was perfecting cold-moulded polyurethane foam, a technology that liberated designers from the straight line, enabling the organic forms that defined Italian modernism. It was this mastery that allowed Urquiola’s soft, generous, yet perfectly structured modules to exist, forging a symbiotic relationship between creative freedom and industrial prowess.
The Next Chapter: A Softer Geometry
Now, twenty years later, Tufty-Time is reborn. The new Tufty-Time 20 is not a nostalgic tribute but a forward-looking manifesto, meticulously re-engineered to meet the aesthetic and ethical demands of today.
The most visible evolution is the introduction of a curved module, a new sentence in the system’s compositional grammar. Where straight lines delineate, curves invite. This addition allows for the creation of fluid, convivial islands that soften a room’s geometry and encourage face-to-face interaction, sculpting welcoming atmospheres in homes and hospitality spaces alike.
Designed for Life, with the Future in Mind
Beneath the surface lies the most profound innovation: a pledge to the future. Tufty-Time 20 is engineered for circularity, a radical departure from conventional manufacturing. The entire system is now fully disassemblable without tools. The steel frame, Bayfit® foam, recycled polyester padding, and textile cover can all be separated at the end of their life, ready for reuse or recycling. This “design for disassembly” moves the product from a linear take-make-waste model to a cradle-to-cradle philosophy, a principle at the heart of the Flos B&B Italia Group’s corporate strategy.
A Deeper Sense of Welcome
The sensory experience has also been deepened. The new edition features more generous padding and a subtly raised seat height. The key refinement is a thick layer of recycled polyester between the foam and the cover, creating a softer, more cushioned welcome. This enhanced comfort is dressed in a new signature textile: a sophisticated wool chenille with a rich bouclé effect. Prized for its nubby, looped texture, bouclé adds tactile warmth and visual depth, underscoring the design’s renewed focus on creating a piece that is as inviting to the touch as it is to the eye.
Creating a dialogue with the sofa’s modular forms, a new series of coffee tables emerges as the system’s natural counterpart. Crafted in solid oak, or with oak frames and anodized aluminum tops, and developed in various sizes to include clever configurations that integrate seamlessly between the sofa’s modular elements.
The journey of Tufty-Time is a story of intelligent evolution. It proves that a true classic is not a static object but a resilient idea—one capable of adapting to reflect the values of the world it inhabits. Tufty-Time 20 retains the core DNA of modular freedom and informal luxury that made it an icon, but reconfigures it for our time. It is a system designed not just for living, but for living better—together, and with responsibility.