Our brands have collaborated with countless fascinating designers to create their collections. On this page we would like to tell you more about the designers, their history and their design philosophy.
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Spalvieri & Del Ciotto — Inga Sempé — Oiva Toikka — Javier Mariscal — Eero Aarnio — Benedetta Mori Ubaldini — Marc Newson — Jasper Morrison — Floris Hovers — Thomas Heatherwick — Konstantin Grcic — Naoto Fukasawa — Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec — Edward Barber & Jay Osgerby — Ron Arad — Anderssen & Voll
Spalvieri & Del Ciotto
Simone Spalvieri and Valentina Del Ciotto, both born in 1982, met in 2003. After graduating in industrial design and interior design respectively from the Milan Politecnico, they immediately became a couple, both in their personal and professional lives.
They lived and worked in Milan and London before moving their base to Tolentino, a small village surrounded by nature.
Spalvieri & Del Ciotto's design studio is a meeting place and a melting pot of ideas, research and experimentation. Their work, characterized by formal, functional purity, is based on the idea that every design product should be a value that can be passed on to future generations and contains and conveys a piece of our history and culture.
Through design, they try to make new materials and new technologies more human-friendly, with the aim of making more innovative objects more understandable and easier to use.
They collaborate with some of the most fascinating Italian and international designer names such as Magis, Poltrona Frau, Established & Sons, Lexon, Fratelli Guzzini, Arena Waterinstinct, Mamoli and Colombo Design. In 2013 they were winners of the "Top Young Italian Industrial Designers Prize", awarded by Massimo Vignelli with an exhibition at the Italian Cultural Institute in New York entitled "Slow Design Exhibition". They have won international awards such as the Red Dot Award and the China Good Design and German Design Awards.
Inga Sempé
This French designer was born in Paris and graduated from Ensci (École Nationale Supérieure de Création Industrielle, Paris) in 1993.
From 2000 to 2001 she was a guest lecturer at the Villa Medici in Rome (French Academy). She has been working for herself since 2000.
She started working with the Italian companies Cappellini and Edra, followed by other French, Japanese, Italian and Scandinavian companies, including HAY, Ligne Roset, Wästberg, Alessi, LucePlan, Magis, Mutina, Røros, Mustache, Svenskt Tenn, Gärsnäs.. .
She lives and works in Paris.
Oiva Toikka
Professor Oiva Toikka (born 1931) is one of the biggest names in Finnish glass. His imaginative, rich, bold glass art deviates from the streamlined aesthetic of Scandinavian design. Oiva Toikka is known worldwide for his unique and enormous contribution to Finnish art glass over the past half century (the Birds Collection for Iittala is his most famous work. The pieces are renewed annually and are highly sought after as gifts and collectibles). He enjoyed an international career and received numerous awards, including the Lunning Prize, Pro Finlandia Medal, World Glass Now 85 Award, Kaj Franck Design Prize and the Prince Eugen Medal.
In recent years, Toikka has also entered into a fruitful collaboration with Magis, resulting in three products made from rotationally molded polyethylene (the Dodo rocking bird, the colorful Paradise Tree coat rack and the Downtown shelving system) and a pair of screen prints, called Moments of Ingenuity.
Javier Mariscal
Javier Mariscal was born in Valencia in 1950 and developed his professional career in Barcelona. The Mediterranean culture of both cities is reflected in his work: from this he has inherited the hedonism, optimism and symbolism that characterize his designs, as well as the vibrant color palette and his poetic approach.
Before dealing with projects from a multidisciplinary point of view became a recognized value, his professional activity already moved easily and confidently from one discipline to another, thanks to his tireless curiosity and his passionate drive for innovation, contributing to make everyday life more interesting, easier to make and friendlier.
The creation of Estudio Mariscal in 1989, made up of a team of specialists who work closely with him, has enabled him to tackle complete projects. Mariscal is internationally known and his work reverberates widely in the media because, like his work, he knows how to communicate directly with the general public.
Since his great specialty is drawing, his approach to each assignment is an artistic one, using a universal, timeless language that adds value, uniqueness and emotional depth to his projects. His audacity is commensurate with the great challenges he has taken on, from the mascot for the Barcelona Olympic Games, to the overall design of an extremely luxurious hotel, to the creation and direction of the film Chico & Rita.
Ero Arnio
Finnish designer Eero Aarnio (born 1932 in Helsinki) is one of the greatest innovators of modern furniture design. From 1954 to 1957 he attended the School of Applied Arts in Helsinki and in 1956 he married Pirkko Attila, with whom he had two daughters.
His work as a designer began in the early 1960s when he opened his own design studio in Helsinki. Eero Aarnio began experimenting with plastics, vibrant colors and organic shapes, breaking away from traditional design conventions.
His now iconic plastic creations include the Ball (1963), the Pastil (1968) and the Bubble (1968) chairs, as well as the abstract dog Puppy which he designed in 2004 for the Magis Me Too collection. Many of Aarnio's works are included in the world's most prestigious museums, including the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the MoMA in New York and the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein.
Benedetta Mori Ubaldini
Before moving to Milan in 2005, Benedetta Mori Ubaldini lived and studied in London, where he studied Art and Design at Westminster College of Adult Education and then Fine Arts at Middlesex University.
Benedetta works with many materials, but is best known for her innovative and exceptionally beautiful wirework. Each piece begins life as an industrially produced, coiled "chicken wire", which is gradually formed by hand, twisting and joining the pieces to give a seamless appearance.
As Benedetta herself says: "What I like is to fill large spaces with stories, to create three-dimensional images, and I like them to be evocative, symbolic and poetic. The sculptures I make in chicken wire have no internal structure, therefore the interplay between presence and absence becomes the magical element of the work and gives each piece the lightness of an apparition, a ghostly quality, like a trace from memory or images from a dream."
Mark Newson
Marc Newson has been described as the most influential designer of his generation. He has worked in a wide variety of disciplines, creating everything from furniture and household objects to bicycles and cars, private and commercial aircraft, yachts, various architectural commissions and signature sculptural pieces for clients around the world.
Born in Sydney, Newson spent much of his childhood traveling in Europe and Asia. Newson has lived and worked in Tokyo, Paris and London, where he is now based, and continues to travel extensively. His clients include a wide range of the world's best-known and most prestigious brands - from manufacturing and technology to transportation, fashion and the luxury goods sector. Many of his designs have been a resounding success for his clients and have achieved the status of modern design icons.
Marc Newson was included in Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World and has received numerous awards and accolades. His work is present in many major museum collections, including the MoMA in New York, London's Design Museum and V&A, the Center Georges Pompidou and the Vitra Design Museum. Having set numerous auction records, Newson's work now accounts for nearly 25% of the total contemporary design art market.
Jasper Morrison
Born in London in 1959, Jasper Morrison graduated in Design from Kingston Polytechnic Design School, London (1979-82 BA (Des.)) and The Royal College of Art for Postgraduate studies (1982-85 MA (Des.) RCA ). In 1984 he studied with a scholarship at the HdK in Berlin. In 1986 he founded an Office for Design in London.
Today, Jasper Morrison Ltd. exists. of three design offices, a head office in London and two branches: one in Paris (opened in 2002) and one in Tokyo (opened in 2007). The services offered by Jasper Morrison Ltd. are broad, from furniture to tableware and kitchen products, to lighting, electronics and appliance design, design for public space and more recently watches, clocks and shoes. In 2005, he co-founded Super Normal with Naoto Fukasawa. June 2006 saw the first Super Normal exhibition in Tokyo. In 2009 the Jasper Morrison Limited Shop opened in London and in 2011 his web shop was launched.
He has clients all over the world, all leaders in their own fields. They include: Magis, Alessi, Camper, Cappellini, Flos, Rado Watch, Rosenthal, Rowenta, Samsung Electronics, Sony Design, Vitra, etc.
Floris Hovers
Floris Hovers was born in 1976 in Raamsdonksveer, in the south of the Netherlands. After a basic education in architecture and advertising and presentation techniques in Utrecht, he studied at the Design Academy Eindhoven, where he graduated in 2004.
In 2006 he started his own design studio and workshop in Raamsdonksveer. A simple and straightforward approach to techniques and materials is essential for Hovers to convey his vision and working method.
Simple and easy industrial shapes and structures often appeal to him, and he finds small, naive toys and handmade things moving. Fascinated by both the idyllic workshop and the factory where pieces are mass-produced, he is driven to waver between the two. These extremes are a constant in his work, which he describes as industrial crafts.
Hovers mainly makes his own work; he cherishes the whole process from idea to finished product. He believes that the designer can also be a craftsman who realizes his own designs. In addition to developing his own designs, Hovers also works for brands and manufacturers such as Magis.
Thomas Heatherwick
Founded by Thomas Heatherwick in 1994, Heatherwick Studio is known for its work in architecture, urban infrastructure, sculpture, design and strategic thinking. Today, a team of 160, including architects, designers and makers, work from a combined studio and workshop in Kings Cross, London.
At the heart of the studio's work is a profound dedication to finding innovative design solutions, with a commitment to artistic thinking and the latent potential of materials and craftsmanship. This is achieved through a working method of collaborative rational inquiry, conducted in a spirit of curiosity and experimentation.
The studio's work includes a number of nationally significant projects for the UK, such as the award-winning British pavilion at the 2010 Shanghai World's Fair, the Olympic cauldron for the London 2012 Olympics and the new London bus.
He has won the Prince Philip Designers Prize and in 2004 was the youngest practitioner to be appointed a Royal Designer for Industry. In 2010, Thomas was awarded the RIBA Lubetkin Prize and the London Design Medal in recognition of his outstanding contribution to design.
Konstantin Grcic
Konstantin Grcic trained as a cabinetmaker at the John Makepeace School for Craftsmen in Wood before studying Design at the Royal College of Art in London. Today Konstantin Grcic Design is based in Berlin and active in various fields ranging from industrial design projects, exhibition design and collaborations in architecture and fashion.
Grcic defines function in human terms, combining formal rigor with considerable mental acuity and humour. His work is characterized by a careful investigation into the history of art, design and architecture and his passion for technology and materials.
His producers include Magis Artek, Authentics, Cassina, ClassiCon, Flos, Flötotto, Kettal, Laufen, Mattiazzi, Muji, Mutina, Nespresso, Plank, Serafino Zani and Vitra. His clients from the fashion and lifestyle sector include Audi, Hugo Boss, Issey Miyake, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Rado and smart/Daimler.
Many of its products have been awarded international design awards. He received the Compasso d'Oro in 2001 for the Mayday lamp (Flos), 2011 for the Myto chair (Plank) and 2016 for the OR lamp (Flos). In 2011 he received the German Design Award in Gold for Tom and Jerry from Magis' series The Wild Bunch.
Naoto Fukasawa
With his designs dedicated to simplicity and sublime beauty, Fukasawa has designed for a wide range of leading brands worldwide in Italy, Germany, America, Switzerland, Spain, China, Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, Singapore, France, Portugal, Sweden and Finland, as well as consulting and working with Japanese major companies. His designs cover a wide range of areas from precision electronic equipment to furniture and interior settings.
He received numerous national and international design awards. His wall-mounted CD player for MUJI, humidifier for ±0, and the INFOBAR and neon mobile phones for au/KDDI are all part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York.
In 2007 he was awarded the title of Honorable Royal Designer for Industry (Royal Society of Arts), UK. MUJI's wall-mounted CD player is also part of the permanent collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, while his HIROSHIMA armchair for MARUNI is part of the permanent collection of Designmusuem Danmark.
Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec
Ronan Bouroullec (born 1971) and Erwan Bouroullec (born 1976) have been working together for about ten years. Their collaboration is a permanent dialogue, fueled by their different personalities and a shared sense of commitment, with the aim of achieving greater balance and sophistication.
In 1997 they presented their Disintegrated Kitchen at the Salon du Meuble in Paris, where it was noticed by Giulio Cappellini, who gave them their first industrial design assignments. The Bouroullecs have worked with Magis since 2004, designing two complete furniture collections - Striped and Steelwood - as well as additional projects such as Pila chair, Pilo table, Central and Tambour tables, and this year the new Officina collection.
Today Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec design for numerous manufacturers including Vitra, Kvadrat, Magis, Kartell, Established and Sons, Ligne Roset, Axor, Alessi, Issey Miyake, Cappellini, Mattiazzi, Flos, Mutina, Hay and more recently Glas Italia and Iittala . They also continue to carry out their own experimental activity essential to the development of their work at Galerie Kreo, Paris, which hosted four exhibitions of their designs between 2001 and 2012.
Edward Barber & Jay Osgerby
Internationally acclaimed designers Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby founded their eponymous studio in 1996 after graduating with a master's degree in architecture from London's Royal College of Art.
The research-led practice of Barber and Osgerby has developed collections for Vitra, B&B Italia, Venini, Cappellini, Magis, Swarovski, Flos and Established & Sons, while also producing edition furniture and one-off works for both private and public commissions. Both Honorary Doctors of Arts, Barber and Osgerby have lectured internationally and conducted workshops in Ecal, Switzerland, and the Vitra Design Museum. Their work is held in permanent collections around the world, including the V&A Museum, London; New York Metropolitan Museum of Art; London Design Museum; and the Art Institute of Chicago.
In addition to their eponymous studio, Barber and Osgerby founded Universal Design Studio in 2001, now recognized as one of the world's most innovative creative design consultancies in architecture, interiors and exhibition design.
Ron Arad
Born in Tel Aviv in 1951, educated at the Jerusalem Academy of Art and later at the Architectural Association in London, Ron Arad co-founded the design and production studio One Off with Caroline Thorman in 1981 and later, in 1989, Ron Arad Associates architecture and design practice. In 2008, Ron Arad Architects was founded alongside Ron Arad Associates.
He was Professor of Product Design at the Royal College of Art in London until 2009. Ron Arad was awarded the London Design Week 2011 Medal for outstanding design and became a Royal Academician of the Royal Academy of Arts in 2013.
Ron Arad's constant experimentation with the possibilities of materials such as steel, aluminum or polyamide and his radical rediscovery of the form and structure of furniture have placed him at the forefront of contemporary design and architecture. In addition to his limited edition studio work, Arad designs for many leading international companies, including Kartell, Vitra, Moroso, Fiam, Driade, Alessi, Cappellini, Cassina, WMF and Magis, as well as many others.
Ron Arad has designed a number of public works of art, most recently the Vortext in Seoul, Korea, and the Kesher Sculpture at Tel Aviv University.
Anderssen & Vol
Torbjørn Anderssen and Espen Voll were born in Elverum, 1976 and in Trondheim, 1965 respectively. They both have creative backgrounds: Torbjørn is the son of a musician and a teacher, and Espen the son of a ceramist and an architect. After graduating from the Bergen Academy of Art and Design and the Oslo National Academy of Art, they founded the Norway Says design group in 2000. Norway Says was forerunners in a growing international orientation among Norwegian designers and at the same time attracted international interest in Norway's emerging young design scene.
Anderssen & Voll was founded in 2009. Their work spans from textile design through tableware, lighting and furniture to electronics for some of Europe's most renowned international brands. They have played an absolutely key role in proposing what is known as "New Nordic", through their contributions for companies such as Muuto, Kvadrat, Erik Jørgensen and Wrong for Hay. Their work also resonates well with Italian brands such as Magis, Foscarini and Lapalma.
Working with the starkly contrasting industrial cultures of Norway's mountains and the Venetian plains is a constant source of inspiration, as is the liberating potential of large-scale industrial thinking.