Patricia Urquiola

Patricia Urquiola, was born in Oviedo in 1961, in Spain, lives and works in Italy, in Milan. He studied at the Faculdad de Arquitectura de Madrid and at the Politecnico di Milano, where he graduated in 1989, with a thesis that was supervised by Achille Castiglioni, of whom he is assistant at the Polytechnic from 1990 to 1992. Professionally trained in Italy, with the teachings of masters like Bruno Munari, one of the fathers of the Milanese school. Although living in Italy she considers herself "very Spanish, an Asturian of Basque descent". From 1990 to 1992 he was assistant to Eugenio Bettinelli and Achille Castiglioni in the industrial design course of the Milan Polytechnic and at the E.N.S.C.I. Paris. After graduating, from 1990 to 1996, she worked for the "product development" office of Maddalena De Padova, becoming its manager. Here he meets Vico Magistretti with whom he collaborates. In 1996 he became head of design at the Lissoni Associati studio. Magistretti and Castiglioni, two key figures of Italian design, influenced her way of seeing, and pushed her to cultivate her talent and skill. In 1998 he began to collaborate with Moroso: his upholstered items, elegant and comfortable, capture not only the attention of professionals, but also that of the general public. Design a new seating concept with interchangeable components for a truly changeable living room environment. Urqiola does not believe in boring modular elements but in an informal, flexible and modifiable arrangement, mixing various components. With its furniture, it tends to create an environment that invites a feeling of intimacy and comfort and to be together. He opens his studio in Milan in 1998, continues his numerous collaborations, deals with design, architecture and installations. His Step and Lowland sofas were selected for the International Design Yearbook of 1999/2000, Lowseat was also chosen to represent Italian design within the 2001 Design décor Tour. In 2003 he designed the Bague table lamp for Foscarini with Eliana Gerotto . He designs for companies, Agape, Alessi, B&B, De Padova, De Vecchi, Driade, Foscarini, Kartell, MDF, Molteni, Moroso, San Lorenzo. He creates stand and showroom arrangements for Knoll, Marks and Spencer (London), Molteni, Moroso, Sand (Denmark), Somma, Roberto Torretta (Spain). He participates in the editions of Abitare il Tempo in 1998, 1999 and 2000 (Crystal Vases for the 1998 edition, Armchair with Pouf for the 1999 edition, Stone Sofa System for the 2000 edition). In 2001 he took part, with the experience and influence absorbed by the world of art, architecture and above all by its Milanese protagonists, in the international seminars of the Domus Academy Designing Exhibition in Australia, and presided over the jury of the 19 CDIM Award. His products have been selected for the Italian Design 2001 Exhibition and for the Intenational Design Yearbook 1999 and 2001. In 2001 he presided over the jury of the 19th CDIM Design Award and is a lecturer at the Domus Academy. He practices his professional activity in his own studio in Milan in the field of design, set-ups and architecture.chitettura.