Patricia Urquiola

This is how Patricia defines herself. Born in Oviedo in 1961, she trained at the Polytechnic Universities of Madrid and Milan. In Milan she worked with Vico Magistretti and Achille Castiglioni before opening her own studio there in 2001. She alternates product design projects for major international companies – from Alessi to B&B Italia, Moroso, De Padova, Rosenthal and Axor, to mention but a few – with architecture projects for private homes, hotels and showrooms.

Patricia’s work has earned her numerous international awards: the Wallpaper Design Awards in 2006, Elle Decoration International Design Award, Designer of the Year for the first time in 2003 and several times also in the following years, as in 2009 with Mutina Déchirer collection. Her creations, among which Déchirer, have been also selected for ADI ADI Design Index and The International Design Yearbook.

You still projects for Mutina. How is the collaboration going, which feed-back is the company giving you?

After the first projects and the tables collection, we were willing to continue researching with no shortcuts. I still believe there are several directions to follow in ceramics. We share curiosity, the desire to question, not to take anything for granted and not to surrender. We work for four hands, always taking part into the creative and production process, and also enjoying it.

The new collection you have designed for Mutina is born. Which guideline have you followed?

In the new collections we have worked on sizes, blends, opacities, and textures, also through micro-actions, bas-reliefs, engravings and processing on the borders. We have created products specific for the wall and others both for floor and wall. We have defined colors/non-colors and interconnected effects.