Patricia Urquiola Hidalgo (born 1961 in

Oviedo Oviedo (; ast, Uviéu ) is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain and the administrative and commercial centre of the region. It is also the name of the municipality that contains the city. Oviedo is located ap ...

) is a Spanish architect, industrial designer and

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

Biography

At age 22, Urquiola left her hometown of Oviedo to attend the

Polytechnic University of Milan The Polytechnic University of Milan () is the largest technical university in Italy, with about 42,000 students. The university offers undergraduate, graduate and higher education courses in engineering, architecture and design. Founded in 186 ...

in architecture. After graduation, she went to work at the studio of De Padova in Milan where she became the head of product design. From 1996 to 2001 she worked for Lissoni Associati. She has designed products and furniture for companies including Alessi, Cappellini, Cassina,

Coalesse Coalesse is a United States-based furniture company founded in 2008. It is a division of Steelcase and creates products with the goal of encouraging collaboration. Coalesse is headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan with their design headquarters i ...

, ,

Kartell Kartell is an Italian company that makes and sells plastic contemporary furniture. It is headquartered in Noviglio, Metropolitan City of Milan, Italy, and it is a subsidiary of Felofin. History The company began manufacturing automobile access ...

, and Moroso. Her ''Step Sofa'' was shown at the

Salone del Mobile The Milan Furniture Fair ( it, Salone Internazionale del Mobile di Milano) is a furniture fair held annually in Milan. It is the largest trade fair of its kind in the world. The exhibition showcases the latest in furniture and design from countrie ...

in Milan. Since 2015, she has been the

Creative Director A creative director (or creative supervisor) is a person who makes high-level creative decisions and, with those decisions, oversees the creation of creative assets such as advertisements, products, events, or logos. Creative director positions ar ...

of the Italian furniture company Cassina.

Reception

In 2011 she was awarded the Medalla de Oro al Mérito en las Bellas Artes and the Order of

Isabella the Catholic Isabella I ( es, Isabel I; 22 April 1451 – 26 November 1504), also called Isabella the Catholic (Spanish: ''la Católica''), was Queen of Castile from 1474 until her death in 1504, as well as Queen consort of Aragon from 1479 until 1504 by ...

King Juan Carlos I Juan Carlos I (;, * ca, Joan Carles I, * gl, Xoán Carlos I, Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias, born 5 January 1938) is a member of the Spanish royal family who reigned as King of Spain from 22 Novem ...

of Spain. The New York Times has described her as: "possibly the most lauded and in-demand industrial designer in Europe, on par with

Philippe Starck Philippe Starck (; born 18 January 1949) is a French industrial architect and designer known for his wide range of designs, including interior design, architecture, household objects, furniture, boats and other vehicles. Life Starck was born on ...

and

Hella Jongerius Hella Jongerius (born 30 May 1963 in De Meern, Utrecht) is a Dutch industrial designer. Biography Jongerius was born in De Meern, a village to the west of Utrecht in the Netherlands in 1963. From 1988 to 1993, she studied design at the Design ...

Museum Collections & Exhibitions

Her work has been acquired for the permanent collections of the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

in New York,

Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMoA) is an art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at the northwest end of the Benjamin Fr ...

Vitra Design Museum The Vitra Design Museum is a privately owned museum for design in Weil am Rhein, Germany. Former Vitra CEO, and son of Vitra founders Willi and Erika Fehlbaum, Rolf Fehlbaum founded the museum in 1989 as an independent private foundation. The ...

, and Musée des Arts décoratifs in Paris. Her work has also been displayed in the following exhibitions: * 2013 “O’clock – time design, design time”,

CAFA Art Museum The Central Academy of Fine Arts or CAFA is an art academy under the direct charge of the Ministry of Education of China. The Manila Bulletin calls the school "China’s most prestigious and renowned art academy". It is one of the most selectiv ...

, Beijing, China. * 2013 "Patricia Urquiola and Rosenthal, Landscape",

Neues Museum The Neues Museum (English: ''New Museum'') is a listed building on the Museum Island in the historic centre of Berlin. Built from 1843 to 1855 by order of King Frederick William IV of Prussia in Neoclassical and Renaissance Revival styles, it ...

, Nüremburg, Germany. * 2017 "Patricia Urquiola: Between Craft and Industry", Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, USA.

References

External links

*
patriciaurquiola.com Official site
* *
Glasstress Patricia Urquiola at the Venice Biennale
{{DEFAULTSORT:Urquiola, Patricia 1961 births Living people Polytechnic University of Milan alumni 20th-century Spanish women 20th-century Spanish architects 21st-century Spanish architects Spanish women architects Spanish designers Industrial designers Product designers Furniture designers Designers Compasso d'Oro Award recipients