MARCO ZANUSO

Marco Zanuso, Italian architect and designer, studied architecture from 1935 until 1939 at Milan Polytechnic. From 1945 Marco Zanuso had a practice in Milan and worked as an architect, urban planner and designer. Marco Zanuso is regarded as a leading light in postwar Italian design.

In 1946-47 Marco Zanuso was editor of “Domus”, then until 1949 editor of “Casabella. From 1958 until 1977, the German designer Richard Sapper worked in Marco Zanuso’s practice and the two collaborated on a great many extremely imaginative and original designs for furniture, lamps, and electrical appliances.

In 1956 Marco Zanuso co-founded the Associazione per il Disegno Industriale (ADI), of which he was president from 1966 until 1969.

Among Marco Zanuso’s most important projects, the table lamp “Zanuso 275” designed in 1965 for Oluce Company.

Among his architectural project the Olivetti factory buildings in Buenos Aires and São Paulo (1955-57), and the Necchi office building in Pavia (1961-62), as well as IBM factory buildings in Segrate, Milan, and Palomba between 1974 and 1982.

SERGE BENSIMON

Serge Bensimon uses his intuition to transform his emotions into unique experiences, with his own touch of chic. From fashion to the home, from an art bookstore to a gallery dedicated to creation in all its forms, this lover of beautiful things gives life and strength to his desire for authenticity and simplicity. What words best characterize his plurality of passions? A sense of Beauty and a taste for the Essential.

FABRICE BERRUX

Born in Boulogne-Billancourt (Paris) in 1964, Fabrice Berrux qualified in 1986 from the National Arts School in Dijon. He started then as an interior Architect before setting up his firm “18 AOUT”, in 1987. 18 AOUT produced and distributed sensitive and playful objects referring to Art, such as FLOWER, a vase that was made in honor of Andy Warhol, or CHAUDFROID, a table mat inspired by Land Art. They regularly exhibited during professional shows or big events such as 30 UNDER 30 in 1989, in New York, and the European Capitals Of New Design event in 1991, at Georges Pompidou Centre in Paris. In 1991, Fabrice Berrux founded Dix Heures Dix, enlarging and re-organizing 18 AOUT’s production.

In 1994, he exhibited at VIA Fair in Paris By 1990, some of his products entered the collection of the Decorative Arts Museum in Paris and were sold to the shops of Modern Art Museums in Rotterdam, Dallas, Los Angeles, Chicago and George Pompidou Centre in Paris. From 1990 till 1994, he was design teacher in Dijon, Limoges and Reims, but also in Paris at the Charpentier Academy. Since 2005, he has been teaching design at the Ecole Bleue in Paris. From 1997 on, among other things, Fabrice Berrux has been developing ranges of lighting products made out of pleated-fabric, silkscreen glass, altuglas and piled-up bulbs lamps diffusing soft light … From 2002 till 2004, he was the artistic supervisor of a new collection of carpets for Serge Lesage. He also works with companies like Perigot, D’Argentat, Monnaie de Paris, Roche Bobois, Lexon and Taittinger.

JACQUES BINY

Jacques Biny is a major French luminary from the era of the glorious 30’s. Unlike other designers, he is also a publisher (serial industrial manufacturer) and has collaborated with some of the best young designers of his time, such as Michel Buffet, Gustave Gauthier, Jean Boris Lacroix, or Charles Ramos. Together, they embarked on the adventure of serial modern lighting.

Graduated from the National School of Decorative Arts in Paris, Jacques Biny first settled in Valence, his hometown, to work as a decorator. Faced with a lack of lighting on his sites, he decided to design his first models, which he offered to his customers. In 1950, following this successful experience, he returned to Paris and five years later founded his own modern lighting manufacturing workshop, Luminalite.

JÖRG BONER

Jörg Boner was born in 1968 in Uster, Switzerland.

He initially trained as a cabinet maker and later studied design at the “Schule für Gestaltung” in Basel. He was a member of the design group N2 until, in 2001, he opened his own studio in Zurich.

Since 2003 he has been teaching at the prestigious ECAL in Lausanne. He has designed for ClassiCon, COR, Nils Holger Moormann, Normann Copenhagen, Veuve Clicquot, and Wogg, to mention but a few. Many of his pieces form part of the Swiss Confederation collection at the Design Museum in Zurich, while his “pof 1” chair is in the permanent collection of London’s Victoria & Albert Museum. He won the IF Gold Design Award Germany (2006) and the Chicago Athenaeum Good Design Award (2005) for his “Dresscode” wardrobe.

In 2011, he received the Swiss Confederation “Grand Prix Design” career award. In the same year he won Wallpaper magazine’s “Best domestic design 2011”.

FRANCESCA BORELLI

Francesca Borelli was born in Rome on 1 March 1993.

After graduating from a scientific high school she earned her undergraduate degree in Product Design from the Istituto Europeo di Design (IED) in Rome and is currently working towards a master’s degree in Design at the University of Florence (UNIFI).

She became interested in the subject matter as a young girl when she would accompany her mother to her architectural studio, discovering a sense of tranquillity and creativity and awakening her passion. She played with rulers, set squares, and colors, and above all spent most of the time staring at an enormous poster that showed chairs of every kind, drawing her own crooked and impossible versions. That poster is now on the wall in her room.

For as much as she is able, at such a young age, to define herself in the field of design, what she has thus far discovered is that she has a propensity for furniture design that is both emotional and conceptual.
She likes form as much as color, and the two together.

People say she is introspective and analytical, and she hopes that one day her objects will represent her.

FLORENCE BOUREL

Florence Bourel is an independent designer since 1998. She lives and works in Paris. She has a degree in product design and interior architecture in France and Italy (ESAG, LISAA, and Istituto Europeo di design).

For several years she has been fascinated by the conception of orientation and information programs applied to cultural heritage and the arts. She collaborates with prestigious graphic design studios on important material projects: integral Ruedi Baur (signage for the Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris), Studio Des Signes (signage for Palais de la Découverte or the Château de Fontainebleau ). Florence also imagines scenographies and interior fittings for public institutions or private clients, as for 27 rue Jacob, the event space-bookshop of the publishing housesles Arènes and the magazine XXI.

STEFANO CASCIANI

Stefano Casciani is an Italian writer, designer, curator and industrial consultant. He was born in Rome in 1955 and moved to Milan in 1979. At 24 years of age, he was the editor of Domus magazine, and at 25 he was Art Director for Zanotta. He published his first book, Mobili come architecture (Furniture As Architecture) in 1984.
From there, he progressively built his reputation as a designer, but also as one of the most renowned popularisers of international artistic culture, through exhibitions, publications, and conferences on art, design, and architecture, which earned him a series of important recognitions. In 2000 he received the Golden Compass Award for the RAI program Lezioni di Design (Lessons in Design).
Casciani stood as Deputy Director of Domus for several years, and since 2011 he has been a part of the Bisazza Foundation’s Scientific Committee. In the same year, with Skira, he published the volume Flâneur, an extensive collection of his writings from 1979 to today).

In 2012 he founded the magazine disegno. la nuova cultura industriale (design. the new industrial culture), a quarterly review on issues and individuals in design, of which he is the editor and director.
Since 2012 he has been the Scientific Director for the arcVision Women and Architecture Prize, awarded by the Italcementi Group.

JOE COLOMBO

Telling about Joe Colombo means telling the brief but intense parable of one of the greatest Italian designers, who died in 1971 at the young age of 41. It means telling about life, as quick as lightning, of a man who strongly believed in the future and who gave us a very particular prefiguration of those fundamental 60s, when the future suddenly started to appear closer. Joe Colombo’s future was an anti-nostalgic future (he would not have recognized as ”future” the ’90s in which we live today), in which an intelligent technology would have helped every human activity, laying the foundations for completely new living models.

At the time, Joe Colombo designed entire living cells. The first one was for Bayer, Visiona ’69, an integrated cell divided into” functional stations”: the ”Night-Cell” block (bed+cupboards+bathroom), the ”Kitchen-Box” (kitchen+dining room), the ”Central-Living” (living room). These functional stations are articulated mapwise as well as section-wise, just like the homes designed by Joe Colombo, where floors and ceilings go up and down, continuously accelerating and slowing down within the interior dynamism, where shelves hang from above and lights are deep-set in the floor. This is probably the best-known vision of Joe Colombo’s future, which makes us smile today and talk about a science fiction utopia, but another one exists, one that has been subject to less analysis and which, unlike the former, proposes independent single elements, which condense functions and which are finished and ready to use.

MASSIMO CREMA & ERMANNO ROCCHI

Conceived and founded in 1997 by Ermanno Rocchi and Massimo Crema, Melogranoblu is an Italian interior lighting company based in Bergamo. Over the years, the company has developed a wide range of solutions for interior lighting design, suitable for homes, or offering more impressive installations for large architectural settings.
Melogranoblu creations are veritable spectacles of light, focusing on the sensory and emotional effect of light through glass.
Design projects in which all forms of glass are conceived and designed according to the effects they can generate through light.

ERIC DE DORMAEL

Eric de Dormael began by creating exceptional limited-edition luminaries, gradually concentrating on unique pieces that have become veritable light sculptures. The act of drawing and the pure line is of utmost importance for Dormael. The architectural structure is fundamental to his work. Brass, a noble and pliable material, along with plaster or bronze enable him to make light and shadow meet. Light, poetic, and glistening, his works are both material and immaterial.

NICOLA GALLIZIA

Born in Milan, he went to the faculty of architecture at Milan Polytechnic.
From 1990 to 1999 he assisted Luca Meda in producing the image and product for Molteni & C. and Dada SpA.
Since 1999, his work with Molteni and Dada has continued as an image and product development consultant.
Participation as art director and designer at the Gruppo Camera.

2001
He begins working with Pitti Living to produce displays and exhibitions. iDot award for the Rayon Vert table.

2003
In 2003 he took over the artistic direction at Molteni & C., specifically dealing with the new artwork project, the concept and the producing of product catalogs, setting up stands at the main fairs, and design and fitting of some of their flagship stores and events.

2008
Received the Good Design Award 2008 assigned by Chicago Athenaeum and the European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies for the China lamp.

2009
Received a Designpreis Deutschland 2010 nomination for the Progetto 6 clock.

GIOPATO & COOMBES

Cristiana Giopato and Christopher Coombes (her Italian and him British) first struck up a working relationship in 2004 with the “In Dust We Trust” project; an exhibition that they set up and directed and which led to the foundation of the company InDustReal.A few years later the duo founded an independent, multifaceted studio to find out how their two different cultures might be fused to form a unique interior design product or project. Since their very first projects for Fiam Italia and Guzzini, Cristiana and Christopher have continued to design products for all living spaces, having been called upon by companies such as Living Divani, Lema Mobili, Miniforms, Frag and Glass Idromassaggio. In 2006, they were selected by Patricia Urquiola for the Promosedia award.

Some of their products have won the prestigious Italian “Young & Design” award, featured in various exhibitions and published in print media and magazines worldwide.

In 2012, Cristiana completed a degree in Architecture and her studies have now led to the creation of dedicated interior design and residential architecture department. This has allowed Cristiana and Christopher to create photo sets and exhibition stands for catalogs and fairs, whilst continuing to trust in the fusion of their disciplines. In 2013, they delivered their first private residential commission.

ERIC GIZARD

Eric Gizard finds his inspiration and sources in the contemporary Decorative Arts. Passionate about contemporary design without ignoring the past, he undertakes distinctly diverse projects to which he brings very personal solutions that always bear the hallmark of his unique style.

Strong contrasts, a fusion of materials and colors, creation of a “chiaroscuro” effect, and a judicious combination of tradition and modernity – these are the distinctive characteristics of his style.
As an assiduous explorer of design from around the world, his broad range of interests and talents has led him to work on a variety of different projects: apartments and boutiques in Japan; tea-rooms in Korea; offices in Shanghai; the commercial environment of luxury brands of cosmetics in Asia; private residences and hospitality projects in Europe; presidential spaces and boutiques in Paris; the interior design concept of the « Printemps » department store in Deauville…

He has also coordinated the color schemes for the Air France A380 cabins and has been responsible for the furnishing of their VIP lounges throughout the world.

His taste for juxtaposition and eclecticism has led him to develop a vitality in design by creating simple shapes, responding to the contemporary principles of lightness, fluidity and clarity. In addition to the creation of furniture lines for publishers, he is also involved in the design of tableware, lighting and objets d’art for the table, for large French luxury houses.

BERNARD-ALBIN GRAS

In 1921 Bernard-Albin GRAS designed a series of lamps for use in offices and in industrial environments. The GRAS lamp, as it was subsequently called, was astounding in its simple, robust and yet very ergonomic design. There are neither screws nor welded joints in the basic form. In 1927 the Ravel company purchased the patent and started production of the GRAS lamps.

Bernard-Albin Gras was one of the most innovative designer of the 20th century. The functional esthetic of his lamps and especially the design of details such as those of the arms, stems, brackets and bases were truly original and far ahead of his time. Early on Le Corbusier was seduced by the modern design and user-friendliness of the lamps and became one of Bernard-Albin GRAS’s most enthusiastic supporters using the lamps in his own offices as well as employing them in numerous architectural projects all over the world.

Others such as Robert Mallet-Stevens, Jacques Emile Ruhlmann and Eileen Gray followed this trend as well. Furthermore, such well-known artists as Sonia Delaunay and Georges Braque also used these lamps in their studios. For the first time in history, a lamp was equally popular in professional as well as in residential applications. Bernard-Albin Gras’ talented and visionary design has proven to be timeless.

SAM HECHT

Sam Hecht was born in London in 1969. He studied Industrial Design at the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design and later at the Royal College of Art. After extensive work experience, he founded a design studio called “Industrial Facility” in London in 2002, with Kim Colin. He has designed for Epson, Issey Miyake, Herman Miller, and Mattiazzi, among others.

He has been designing for Muji, a company of which he is also a general consultant, since 2002. He has received more than 40 international awards including the “IF Hannover Gold Awards” five times over. His pieces belong to the permanent collections of the world’s leading museums, particularly New York’s MoMA, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the SFMOMA, and the Chicago Art Institute.

In 2008, he was nominated “Royal Designer for Industry” by the “British Royal Society of Arts” and in 2011 “Design of the Year” for furniture by the Design Museum in London.

TOSHIYUKI KITA

Born in 1942, Toshiyuki Kita begins to work for an aluminum company, developing new products.
In 1967 he decides to establish his design office, starting his research on lifestyle goods and traditional handcraft products.

In 1969 Kita begins to work also in Italy, developing his work on furniture. He has chances to work with companies such as Bernini and Bilumen.
In this period starts his interest in chairs and in 1967 he designs the basic idea for the revolutionary Saruyama for Moroso. In 1980 Kita realizes the Wink Chair for Cassina. Starting from this period, he designs different projects, such as new products made of recycled aluminum.
He continued with personal exposition at Barcelona, Helsinky, and Singapore, participating at forums on design.

In 1990 Toshiyuki Kita wins the Delta de Oro Award in Spain and in 1993 he is a Guest Professor at the University of Applied Arts Vienna (Universität für Angewandte Kunst, Wien).
In 2000 the design of the LCD for Sharp makes its first appearance, in the same period also the robot for the Mitsubishi Electrics is presented.
Many of his works are selected for the permanent collections of several Museums in the world, such as the Museum of Modern Art of New York and the Center Georges Pompidou in Paris.

In recent years he held seminars and workshops not only in Japan but also in Europe and Asia in order to promote education.
He always directs his work towards the collaboration with traditional craft design and the promotion of local industries.

MARTA LAUDANI & MARCO ROMANELLI

Marta Laudani and Marco Romanelli, architects, have been collaborating since 1988 in the associated offices of Rome and Milan.

They work in the fields of design (for Bosa, Dorelan, Driade, Fiam, Glas, Nodus, Oluce, Salviati, etc., interior decorating (their works have been published in the most important international magazines and, in 2004, they participated in the Biennale of Architecture in Venice in the section “Notizie dall’Interno”) and exhibit design (in 2002-2003 “Gio Ponti: a World” at the London Design Museum, Rotterdam Nal and Triennial of Milan; in 2007 “Bruno Munari” in Tokyo).

In 2001, in Rome, they designed the restoration of the “Museum of Roman Civilization” for Fiat-Engineering. Both flank their design work with intense critical meditation on topics involving living and design: Marta Laudani has lectured at the Sapienza in Rome; Marco Romanelli has been editor of both Domus and Abitare.

VICO MAGISTRETTI

Furniture, lamps, and other objects that he designed may be found all over the world and the most important design museums have given exhibitions in his honor and kept examples of his work in their permanent collections.

Magistretti’s research has been continuous – into the design, the culture of the project and innovative experimentation with materials and space solutions, not to mention shapes and functions far from the rigors of fashion that they have passed through during the years. He started designing for Cassina in 1960, and from that date on his signature is to be found on very many products. We recall in particular the Maralunga sofa of 1973 and the Nuvola Rossa (1977) bookcase, which is still indisputable international best-sellers and has provoked hordes of imitations which have not been able to echo even faintly the success of the originals.

MIST-O

Noa Ikeuchi from Japan and Tommaso Nani, Italian, met while they were attending the Istituto Europeo di Design and started working together to various projects, some of which were soon exhibited at Salone Satellite, Triennale Design Museum, MOMA design store, and also started to collaborate with prestigious design brand.

In 2010 they established together their own office named Mist-o, based in Milan and Tokyo, working in a different fields from Interior design to art direction and graphic.

The studio collaborate with design brand such as Antolini, Atipico, Cappellini, Ex-t, Frag, Ichendorf, Living Divani, L’Abitare, Mogg, Oluce.

NENDO

Behind the Nendo trademark is Oki Sato, the Japanese designer born in Canada in 1977. Sato graduated in 2000 from Tokyo’s Waseda University and went on to specialize in Architecture (2002).

While still a student, in 2002, he won the Gold Medal at the Koizumi International Lighting Design show, in addition to many other awards. In 2003, he participated in the Milan Salone Satellite where he received a Special Mention Award from the German magazine “Design Report” and also won the Design Award at the Tokyo Design Week. In 2004, he participated in all the major international fairs (Paris, Cologne, Stockholm, and Milan), won the Good Design Award, received extensive coverage in the magazine “Abitare” and was noted by many international companies.

In 2005, he was present at the Milan Fair with products for OLuce, De Padova, and Swedese. In 2006 he was noted for his poetic installation at the “Fuori Salone” exhibit during Milan design week. The same year, Nendo began a joint partnership with Cappellini. By then, Oki Sato/Nendo was well on the road to success, and in just a few years he has become one of the most promising designers on the international scene. At the 2007 edition of Euroluce, his Switch lamp for Oluce was undoubtedly one of the most admired products.

PHILIPPE NIGRO

Philippe, a French designer, lives between Paris and Milan. After studying industrial design and a degree in applied arts at the Boulle school in Paris, he started with Michele De Lucchi and then set up his studio to bring his ideas to life: his objects, his architectural projects, and scenography of space.

Philippe opens his personal journal to show us Respiro (Italian for breath).
Lightness, sweetness, desire to be together, sharing stories, changing the world… Respiro light is good for you! For what? Everything!

GIUSEPPE OSTUNI

Giuseppe Ostuni was an Italian light designer who revolutionized the world of lighting with his innovative designs and creative approach. Born in 1901 in Agrate Brianza, Italy, Ostuni was a visionary who believed that lighting was an essential element in creating a harmonious and functional living space.

Ostuni’s career began in the 1920s when he started working as a designer for the prestigious Italian lighting company, Gabbianelli. He quickly gained recognition for his unique designs that combined functionality with elegance and simplicity. His work caught the attention of many leading architects and designers of the time, and he soon became one of the most sought-after lighting designers in Italy.

In the 1940s, Ostuni founded his own lighting company, Oluce, which became renowned for its innovative and avant-garde designs. His creations were characterized by clean lines, geometric shapes, and the use of new materials such as plexiglass and aluminum. His designs were not only aesthetically pleasing but also practical, providing the perfect balance of form and function.

Ostuni’s work has been exhibited in some of the most prestigious museums and galleries around the world, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Triennale di Milano. His designs have also been featured in numerous publications, including Domus, Casa Vogue, and Architectural Digest.

Today, Giuseppe Ostuni is considered one of the most influential lighting designers of the 20th century. His legacy continues to inspire designers and architects around the world, and his designs remain as relevant and innovative as they were when he first created them.

MARIANA PELLEGRINO SOTO

Born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela, she attended and graduated from the Italian scientific high school Agostino Codazzi.

When she was 18 years old, she moved to Italy to pursue a degree in Product Design at the Istituto Europeo di Design in Rome. During the three-year program, she participated in the Erasmus project, studying for one semester at the Institute’s Barcelona campus.

She participated and won a university competition for the design of a glass water bottle “Acqua Santa Maria” (for the Şayaçhi Group of Companies) and won the Best Packaging Award in the 2016 Global Bottled Water Awards.

During her final year in the program, her thesis project was completed in collaboration with Oluce which, once having chosen her project, developed it all the way to the product’s final creation. She currently works as a design developer for Compositi.

DOMINIQUE PERRAULT & GAËLLE LAURIOT-PRÉVOST

In 2008, Dominique Perrault described himself in eleven words: School. Rupture. Defiance. Void. Wall. Earth. Land art. Site. Place. Happiness. And finally, Mesh, a supple material that has structure but whose very essence is to be present and yet be invisible. It is a material that is both rigorous and poetic, virtual yet present, and which the architect has used in the past as a way of delineating a geographic area, either as a protection or a way of welcoming, as well as a way of channeling natural or artificial light. This is the same mesh that Dominique Perrault and Gaëlle Lauriot-Prévost have adapted, manipulated, contorted, and transplanted into the inner workings of their lamps to create the thousands of exceptional and powerful lighting solutions that light up the French National Library, day and night.

Not one who is prone to brandishing himself in the media, his conceptual hedonism comes allied with infectious enthusiasm and a healthy dose of fun. Dominique Perrault’s signature is barely seen on products. It is something of an event therefore when he uses it, along with that of Gaëlle Lauriot-Prévost, on the IN THE TUBE and IN THE SUN collections. It is, in its way, a way of domesticating and refining the raw power of the industrial, of filtering the source into something considered and thought-out, resulting in an object that is comfortable, soft, and sophisticated.

« This transfer of universes is nothing new. The domestic interior is these days constantly being penetrated by the industrial, which in turn has long since lost its aura of being something nasty and noisy, separate to the rest of the world. Nowadays it is normal to make use of these components which fit naturally into the world of design ».

CHRISTOPHE PILLET

Lucidity of expression and the search for simplicity are the key principles: in the work of Christophe Pillet the elegance is optimized. Pillet’s perfect command of sensuality and refinement has made him one of the rare French designers who have gained global recognition designing hotels, boutiques, and directing artistic projects in the USA, Great-Britain, and Japan. He has won international acclaim for the spectrum and quality of his creations. Architecture, objects, furniture, artistic direction, his signature is invariably associated with the finest brands: Lacoste, Jean-Claude Jitrois, Catherine Malandrino, Lancel, Le Tannneur International.

The scope and the variety of his projects share a common attitude, independent of scale. Whether it be as design director for Lacoste, or in long-term collaborations with Driade, Cappellini, Emu, Porro or Serralunga his considered interpretations are a testament to high-voltage chic, distinguished both by its precision and rigor. If a “Pillet style” exists, it is in his ability to crystallize, within a project, the excitement of a proposition.

ILIA SERGUEÏEVITCH POTEMINE

Ilia Sergeevich Potemine is Russian. Better still, he’s Italian-Russian: the original double agent. You may think he’s a designer. In reality, he’s an airline pilot. The sky is his playground, the sun a revolutionary star and he has only dropped in on this earth for the time it takes for a quick layover. For the time it takes to design the extraordinary lights that are in complete contrast with what the mainstream is doing.
Flashback: for a nanosecond Howard Hughes comes to mind. And Potemine has taken off again. No law, no order. Except perhaps Achille Castiglioni who was the original radical, inventing the lights of the future at a time when creativity was bound only by time and space. Ilia Potemine, just 30 years old, is in the same vein. His ISP lamp is rooted in the same manifesto and defies classification.

GERALDINE PRIEUR

Interior designer, she holds a bachelor’s degree in the History of Art and Archeology. Following this, Géraldine Prieur obtained a Master Certificate of Fine Art Design and Interior Design in London. She received the “Excellence Design Export – France Qatar 2000” prize in Doha which contributed to her success in the Middle East.
​The poetic and artistic heritage of her family of painters, great poets, and atypical characters, feeds her imagination that she likes to transmit through her honed and vibrant creations.

​Her creations seduce Art Lovers and Collectors from around the world. The Saudi Arabian Royal family, the Kennedy family in New York, His Majesty KING MOHAMMED VI and prestigious figures located in Paris, London, Geneva, New York, Miami, Monaco…put their trust in her.

JOSE MARIA REINA

José María Reina (Utrera, Sevilla 1951 – Barcelona 2016) versatile and self-taught designer. He belongs to the generation that promoted Barcelona as a city of reference in the industrial design field.

His multidisciplinary work in the furniture and jewelry design areas led him to fuse both projects together, creating a new clock concept. These clocks have a renewed aesthetics reflected both in its shapes as in its materials.

Thanks to his designs, the wall clock has been given back his status as a decorative piece of prestige and distinction for the home, the office and public spaces.

FRANCESCO ROTA

Interior and product designer Francesco Rota was born in 1966, Milan, Italy.

In 1994, he graduates at Art Center College of Design in La Tour Peliz, Switzerland.

In 1995 he goes back to Milan and establishes the Francesco Rota Design Office, and starts to collaborate with Italian and foreign companies. His major works include showroom design for Versus and John Richmond; showroom design for L’Oreal; office, showroom and warehouse interior design for the Oluce Factory and Headquarters in Milan; office, showroom, and apartments interior design for the Bals Corporation Milan Headquarters; interior design for Women Celebrities Agency in Paris, as well as spatial design for the Nestlè exhibition during The International Salone del Mobile at Superstudio+ Milan in 2004.

In addition, he has done spatial installations for Daimler Chrysler_Mercedes Benz during the 8th International Exhibition of Architecture in Venice at The Corderie dell’Arsenale in 2004 and the ‘Terrazza Martini’ for Martini&Rossi during the 62nd International Exhibition of Cinematography Art in Venice in 2005.

His product designs include the complete home collection and the outdoor collection for the company Paola Lenti for which he has also designed several installations and the catalog.

He has also produced several lighting fixtures designs for Oluce including Ibiza, an outdoor lamp with an integrated loudspeaker, and a whole collection of products for Martini&Rossi to create brand awareness throughout the use of the personalized products during special events in selected public spaces.

Francesco Rota latest work includes the Space Sofa system and the Jet ceramic tumbler set designed for the Japanese company Bals Tokyo, presented at the 2007 International Salone del Mobile in Milan.

In the last few years, Francesco Rota has taken part in several exhibitions, held at: Spazio Opos, Luisa Delle Piane gallery, Spazio Zeus, St. Etienne Internatinale biennale du design, Hannover Messe, Triennale di Milano.

Francesco Rota has received several awards, including the International Audi Design Award “Life in Motion” first prize, and two honorable mentions at the 19° Premio Compasso D’Oro 2001 with “Linea” an indoor chaise longue and at the 20° Premio Compasso D’Oro 2004 with “Island” an outdoor sofa system.

Since 2004 Francesco Rota is an instructor of master in product design degrees at the European Design Institute of Milan.

SALTCO (Kenji Fukushima)

Kenji Fukushima was born in Shiga Prefecture in 1982. Following his graduation from the Department of Design at Osaka University of Arts, he furthered his studies in design at HDK University in Sweden. Upon returning to Japan, he joined IDK Design Institute Co., Ltd., where he had the opportunity to study under the mentorship of Toshiyuki Kita, a renowned designer known for his work on Sharp’s LCD TV “Aquos” and various other products.

In 2018, Kenji founded the creative studio “Saltco Co., Ltd.” The same year, Saltco Co., Ltd. was recognized as one of the top five creative companies in Hyogo Prefecture. Kenji has been deeply involved in branding and design projects for over 80 small and medium-sized manufacturing companies.

Kenji oversees the creative management of the joint exhibition “Tete Tete Business Meeting/Tete Te Shopping District” which showcases the craftsmanship of artisans and workshops from across Japan. He boasts extensive experience exhibiting at international events, including six appearances at the prestigious Salone del Milano furniture trade fair in Italy, as well as Maison et Objet in France.

Through collaborations with local governments, regional support organizations, and other governmental agencies, Kenji actively supports small and medium-sized businesses in addressing various challenges, enhancing their business foundations, and striving for growth.

SIMON SCHMITZ

Simon, born in Arnsberg (West Germany), set up his studio in Hamburg after completing his studies at the ” School of Art “.

There he discovered the freedom, autonomy, and responsibility to be a designer. ” Here’s your workshops, here’s a pen, go on then. “.This taught him everything he needed to know about form, materials, processes, and most importantly: the context. ” If you don’t know why you are doing what you are doing, don’t bother doing it at all. ”
The starting point of AARO was a gesture. A movement. He wanted to create an as fluid motion as possible, which immediately lead him to the sphere. A sphere has so many fantastic attributes. With a sphere as a joint, they are no limited directions, it has no left or right, no top or bottom. So with the sphere as the defining element of this piece, everything else ” revolved ” around it. The geometry, the balance, the friction. It all comes down to the sphere, visually pointing at it. An end result is an object that seems to be moved by the wind. It revolves effortlessly around its centerpiece, like planets orbiting around each other. With AARO, inspired by Aaron’s rod, the magician Simon Schmitz makes his lamp levitate.

BERNARD SCHOTTLANDER

Bernard Schottlander was born in Mainz, Germany in 1924 and moved to England in 1939. After serving with the British Army in India, he learnt to weld and took a course in Sculpture at Leeds College of Art and subsequently – with the help of a bursary – at the Anglo-French art centre in St John’s Wood. Bernard Schottlander described himself as a designer for interiors and a sculptor for exteriors.

After several successful years as an industrial designer, Bernard Schottlander chose to concentrate on sculpture. In the late 1950’s he established a workshop in North London where he was ably assisted for many years by George Nash. From 1965 he taught metalwork at St Martins School of Art. In the same year he was part of the group show Six Artists at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London and in the following year (1966) had his first solo show at the Hamilton Galleries, London.

Movement is intrinsic to all of Schottlander’s work : an artist, an engineer and in no small measure a handyman, he devised a clever system of counterweights combined with a series of strong and flexible metal bars. The shade also is unique of its kind. Like an acrobat suspended in mid-air, it is made from aluminium using spinning and chasing techniques that are a part of the metalworker’s inventory of skills, but to which he has brought his sculptor’s eye to create a helical movement in which the symmetrical and the asymmetrical are in opposition.

STUDIO 63

Studio 63 Architecture + Design is based in the historical center of Florence Italy. The fruitful encounter between Piero Angelo Orecchioni and Massimo Dei led to the foundation of Studio 63 in 1998. By 2003, Studio 63 inaugurated its New York City office, by 2005 its office in Hong Kong, and by 2008 its office in Shanghai and an operative partnership in Dubai.

The creative team is composed of gifted professionals, coming from various disciplines, working together in a fertile and challenging multi-cultural exchange.

A strong identity is the hallmark of our projects. This identity is the result of extended research, creative proposals, and deep respect of the contemporary language criteria.

Studio 63 is operating in more than 25 countries around the world managing to the last detail projects from concept development through design and planning towards their complete achievement. Our specialties are retail design and hotelier.

SEBASTIAN SUMMA

Sebastian, born in Bavaria, studied design at University of Applied Sciences in Potsdam. He lives in Berlin.

It’s difficult to meet Sebastian in the design world. He works in his studio East-Berlin and is really a doer. Before the university, he started as a blacksmith, in a world of scrap iron, metal, and steel. His workshop is outside time, the work is the clock. It’s interesting to see in rough surroundings, a sweet man, working on delicate objects.

Influenced by science fiction and astronomy, he built the lamp like a shooting star. Its name is ORG. Elegant, surprisingly classic which goes from rough to sophisticated environment.

CHRIS TURNER

An engineer and designer, Chris Turner was among the new breed of commercially savvy design talent to emerge in london during the 90’s via the realization that there was a gap for modern design. In 1998 he and his wife created CTO lighting which was to evolve into a leading contemporary lighting company supplying the finest interiors in London, England. He says “Our aim is tro produce lighting of refined modernity with a decidedly luxurious edge for the most sophisticated interiors”. While already supplyying leading retailers such as Conran and Habitat, CTO lighting quickly gained reputation for innovative design and was soon designing for the new luxury hotel market with a bespoke service.

MATTEO UGOLINI

Art director and creative for Karman Matteo Ugolini slips away from ordinary design outlines entering along with the company in a unique and distinctive path. He has no muse among masters of the past: he just designs what he truly likes. His aim is to excite and create emotion, his roots hold to the remembering of the past and nature that is deeply connected to. Very often we can find nature in his creations: it comes closer to human life just like it has always happened in the past. That process helps the human race to come closer to that important element we are all gradually departing from nature.

BAPTISTE VANDAELE

Baptiste Vandaele, born in Kortrijk, Belgium in 1999, is an innovative and visionary force in the world of design. His passion for creating and designing was ignited during his high school years when he studied visual and architectural arts. This immersive experience transformed his way of thinking and inspired him to pursue a career in the field of design.

After high school, Baptiste delved further into his newfound passion by studying industrial arts. It was during this time that he was recognized for his exceptional talent and was even nominated for a prestigious national design award at the young age of 18. Fueled by this early success and eager to broaden his horizons, he enrolled in a Bachelor’s program in industrial product design at Howest, Kortrijk. With his unwavering dedication and exceptional skills, Baptiste graduated with honors.

Seeking to take his design journey to new heights, Baptiste aspired to gain admission to the esteemed Royal College of Art in London for a Master’s program in design products. Despite his acceptance, the unforeseen challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic prevented him from commencing his studies. Undeterred by this setback, Baptiste made an audacious decision to establish his own design studio.

Baptiste Vandaele began a full-time career in design and his impact is already remarkable. Working with internationally renowned companies in Denmark, Italy, Japan, France and beyond, he has released collections that have delighted the global design community. Baptiste’s dedication to making a difference in the design world and his ability to inspire companies with his innovative ideas distinguish him as a true pioneer in the industry.

VANTOT

Esther and Sam, both graduates of the Design Academy of Eindhoven, are partners, both in life and in their studio. They founded their Eindhoven studio in 2014.

Their favorite area to work with is light. They work on their light fittings down to the last detail. They do not just draw. They also prototype and create, sharing a love for mechanics and movement. Their mathematical approach to design encourages them to avoid the obvious, to reinvent objects when they build. When asked what inspires them, they respond without hesitation: “Everything! We are curious. We are inspired by observing the world.”

And yet their light fittings seem to be invitations to travel aboard ships, setting out to discover our galaxy. In the presence of a “curtain” of VVV, in addition to its unmatched elegance, there is emergent energy. Speed and power take over the void.

VICTOR VASILEV

Victor Vasilev was born in 1974 in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. At the age of 15, his family immigrated to Israel. He studied architecture at the Politecnico in Milan and at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen. At the end of his studies, he decided to stay in Milan and in 2004 started his own practice.

Collaborations with companies like Boffi, Living Divani, MDF Italia and Antrax, have resulted in his winning several international awards.
His design ideas are inspired by the continuous search for formal and material purity.

CAITLIN AND SAMUEL DOWE-SANDES

For 12 years, Caitlin and Samuel Dowe-Sandes, founders of the contemporary concrete tile company popham design, have called Marrakech home. For many of those years, they dreamed of developing a collection of luxury handmade products for the home to complement their tile collection.

The idea was simple, to celebrate and maintain a traditional artisan craft while updating it with beautiful materials like brass, leather and stone, all imbued with a degree of playfulness.  The collection draws inspiration from Morocco and its rich history of pattern.