A Spanish designer working and designing for the international scene

Patricia Urquiola was born in the Spanish city of Oviedo in 1961. At present, she lives and Works in Milan and has been selected for the Forbes Magazine as one of 100 most creative minds in the world. She studied architecture at the Madrid Polytechnic and Milan Polytechnic where she graduated in 1989 with Achille Castiglioni. Assistant lecturer to Achille Castiglioni and Eugenio Bettinelli in Milan and Paris, she became the Responsible of the office for new product development of DePadova, where she worked with Vico Magistretti, as head of Lissoni Associati´s design group.

In 2001 Patricia decided to open her own studio for industrial product design, architecture and contracts with interior design spaces. Amongst her latest project designs are The Italian Museum of the Jewel in Vicenza, the Barcelona luxury Mandarin Oriental Hotel, the prestigious Das Stue Hotel in Berlin, the spa and wellness area of the Four Seasons Hotel in Milan, the Room Mate Giulia Hotel also in Milan and the Il Sereno Hotel at lake Como district; furthermore, Patricia also created the new showroom and office facilities for Gianvito Rossi, carmaker BMW, Cassina, Missoni, Moroso, Molteni, Officine Panerai, retailer H&M, Santoni and Pitti Immagine in Florence.

Patricia designs for the most important Italian and international companies and has taken contemporary design to another level with transforming ideas. Some of the renowned brands she has designed for are bathroom brands Laufen, Agape, Axor – Hansgrohe, furthermore kitchen and furniture brands such as Alessi, B & B Italia, Baccarat, Boffi, Budri, De Padova, and a variety of reputed firms in other sectors including famous international brands Driade, Ferragamo, Flos, Gan, Georg Jensen, Glas Italia, Haworth, Kettal, Kvadrat, Listone Giordano, Louis Vuitton, Molteni, Moroso, Mutina, Rosenthal and Verywood. All designs are characterised by clear, formal and simple design patterns merged with an irrevocable sensuality.

Some of the products Patricia designed are exposed in various Museums and Collections, such as the MoMa in New York, the Museum of Decorative Art of Paris, the Design Museum of Zurich, the Vitra Design Museum in Basel, the London Victorian&Albert Museum, the City Museum of Amsterdam or the Triennale Museum in design capital Milan. Moreover, Patricia has been granted numerous awards and honourable recognitions. She was named Ambassador of the Expo Milan 2015 event and in the month of September of that same year, she became Art Director of the prestigious Italian Cassina brand.

The most international of Spanish designers has been very present as well at the latest Salone del Mobile in Milan, celebrated in April each year, with new designs and product launches, such as the Vimini outdoor furniture collection for Kettal, a stunning collection of garden layers for Spanish brand GAN Rugs, or a new version of the Gentry sofa for Moroso as few examples. Patricia Urquiola was also selected amongst the eight designers that restyled the central headquarter office in Milan of Vogue, and worked on the “Life in Vogue” exhibition, that was celebrated during the Design Week event of the Italian capital of design.