Patricia Urquiola

Spanish architect and designer Patricia Urquiola lives in Milan where she runs Studio Urquiola, a firm that focuses on exhibitions, art direction and architecture.  Prior to starting her own company in 2001, she managed the design group Lissoni Associati.

Over the years, Urquiola has worked with many well-known furniture houses, including Moroso, De Padova, Agape, B&B, Alessi, Driade, Foscarini, Kartell, Flos, Molteni and Artelano. She has received numerous design awards including A&W Designer of the Year and Design Prize Cologne and is sought after as a speaker at conferences and universities across the globe.

Urquiola graduated from the Faculty of Architecture of the Technical University of Madrid in graduated in 1989.  In 1991, as head of the product development team at De Padova, she designed her first commercial furniture pieces in collaboration with Vico Magistretti. Her work was deemed highly imaginative, yet functionally pragmatic, an appealing combination that has defined her work for the last two decades.

Urquiola says after more than 20 years in the industry, she’s still not exactly sure how she arrives at a finished design. “All the little answers to the questions give you a sense of the product,” she said. “It’s a lot of work, the mood of the piece is what people catch – I just flow with the river and try to do things that are sincere, that anyone can understand.”

Patricia Urquiola designed the Last Minute Stool and the Emu Re-Trouvé Collection and collaborated with Coalesse to create Hosu.