Spanish interior designer and product designer Patricia Urquiola inspires Milan Design Week because she is base in Milan and she is present in each design event that happens in that city.

My Design Week will let you know a bit more about this designer and we want you to be inspired by her work!

Born in Oviedo, Spain but living in Italy Patricia Urquiola is a famous architect and designer. She is known internationally because her work is suitable in too many projects, she also works with a lot of kown furniture companies such as Molteni or Boffi.

Urquiola’s work is widely known to be playful and poetic, yet pragmatic and functional, a creative combination that is the magic behind her work. She comes and goes through conventional time – rethinking, reinventing, and creating new. The effect is a powerful reminder of the past and exploration into the now, always creating a new experience for the user.

Some of her products are exposed in the permanent collection of Moma in New York and other international museums. Urquiola has won several international prices and awards, amongst others the medalla de oro al mérito en las Bellas Artes 2010 awarded by the Spanish government (2011) and the A&W magazine nomination as designer of the year 2012.

See also: Architecture and design inspirations: Mario Bellini

She was awarded as Designer of the Year for the magazines Wallpaper, Elle Deco, and Designer of the Decennium 2000-2010 for the German magazines Home and Häuser. Among others, she received the Red Dot Award and the Chicago Athenaeum Good Design Awards. Personal exhibitions on her work have been shown all over the world.

Background & Realizations: the projects

Design

Salinas

Italian brand Boffi has a modular kitchen system by Spanish designer Patricia Urquiola at its Chelsea showroom during London Design Festival 2015.

Objets Nomades swing chair – Patricia Urquiola for Louis Vuitton – Made from nylon rope and complemented with leather cushions, the project definitely has a unique appearance.

Butterfly (for B&B Italia) gets its name from the “butterfly” shape created by the outer corner that joinsthe armrest and the backrest. it is a modular seating system that responds effectively tothe needs of modularity and comfort, suitable for free and informal usage. its modularstructure is shaped around an ottoman, which is the base piece, and which, whenintegrated with the backrest and/or the armrest, becomes a central or terminal element,either left or right. the combination of these elements, using a simple joint system, makesit possible to freely set up versatile configurations, from in-line sofas to cornersolutions, from front-facing to lounge layouts. this first textile sofa in b&b italiaoutdoor collection is characterised by soft and sinuous shapes.

Lariana (for Agape) is a compact bathtub of reduced dimensions. This feature, combined with double wrapping, gives lightness to the solid structure and accentuates the linear form of this modern product. The bathtub is made of white Cristalplant®

The ‘jellies’ coat hangers are a line of wall-mounted hooks which take the form of a button, that refer to urquiola’s ‘kartell in tavola’ pieces. recalling the line of tableware, the designs feature a variety of patterns and rich textures that offer visually interesting reflections. made from colored and transparent plastic, the ‘jellies’ coat hangers are reminiscent of faceted crystals and their multiple geometries.

 

Shimmer (for Glas Italia)

Group of low laminated and glued glass round tables, characterized by a special iridescent multicolored finish; the nuance varies according to the incidence angle of the light and to the vantage point. Objects with magical and ethereal appearance emerge.

Architecture

Molteni

Patricia Urquiola, always interested in local cultural background as lymph for her projects, rediscovers in views of the Komyo-in temple of Kyoto new perspective filters able to guarantee through modern re-elaborations contemporary effects that concern the relation between interior and exterior. Thus was born a graphic wall 7m high made of local cedar as a filter between interior space and the rising sun. The result is a perfect fusion of Japanese traditional high-end style and Italian design.

Not only Milan Design Week should be inspired by Patricia Urquiola’s work. Has you can see she works for a large amount of brands.

See more: Top Interior Designers | Patricia Urquiola