Patricia Urquiola
Spanish designer and architect Patricia Urquiola established her studio in Milan in 2001. Her interior design collaborations include hotels, showrooms and residential projects, while her furniture design – from tables to textiles, for the likes of Moroso, Mutina and B&B Italia – is renowned for its unique ability to energise and enliven architecture and space. Urquiola was Wallpaper’s Designer of the Year in 2006 and jointly in 2015.
Officine Panerai’s boutique in London’s New Bond Street, presented an opportunity to look back on the results of the brand’s fruitful interior design collaboration with Patricia Urquiola. Having first breathed new life into the Paris home of the Florentine marque in 2014, the Spanish designer was set to work on an extensive renovation concept of its proud Florentine home. For a renowned tastemaker like Urquiola, a stripped-back approach was natural, but her choice of materials for the London store added sumptuous warmth of tone in the form of a geometric Striato Olimpico marble floor and walnut, brass and steel details. Photography: Aylin Bayhan
Patricia Urquiola’s interiors for The Lincoln Square development, due for completion in 2018, mark her first London project. Urquiola designed 17,000 sq ft of luxury amenities – including pool, spa, cinema, private club, snooker room and on-site library. Each space exudes Urquiola expertise in seamlessly melding materials; bronze mesh gilding can be found in both ceilings and room dividers, while a mix of coloured glass, timber and marble create opulence throughout the spaces.
Laufen enlisted Patricia Urquiola to design its Madrid showroom, which opened in early 2016. Urquiola embraced her Mediterranean roots by imbuing clinical bathroom ceramics with warmth, curating the products like sculpture. Hints of colour were added by way of the dark marble plinths, vibrant side tables and tinted glass shutters that mimic the iridescent iterations of her ‘Shimmer’ collection for Glas Italia.
Patricia Urquiola’s first US solo exhibition titled ‘Between Craft and Industry’ at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 2017 explored the methodology behind the designer’s practice. ‘She throws herself into each project,’ says Donna Corbin, curator at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. ‘The design is not enough,’ says Urquiola. ‘What matters more is the transparency of the process: concepts, initial choices, prototyping, applied technologies, materials, logistics, human relations and ultimately the way to work with four hands between designer and publisher.’
A collaboration with Denmark’s premier silverware marque, Georg Jensen, Patricia Urquiola’s tableware collection ‘Urkiola’ features jugs, bowls, vases, trays and an angular candelabra, all made from mirror-polish finish stainless steel, with contrasting handles and sections PVD-coated in coppery rose gold. The ‘Urkiola’ pieces are representative of a very modern Georg Jensen; a heritage, luxury marque with a history that spans more than 100 years but is always looking to the future. For inspiration, Urquiola first delved into the Georg Jensen archives, her interest particularly piqued by the ribbed patterns on the classic ’Bernadotte’ cutlery range.
Indian architect Rajiv Saini sprinkled modern magic on the showroom for fabric house Atmosphere in Mumbai, bringing new life to the world of textiles. The crisp open-air space is speckled with contemporary design highlights like Patricia Urquiola’s quilted ‘Redondo’ chair for Moroso.
Patricia Urquiola’s 2014 ’Openest’ office furniture line for Haworth debuted at Chicago’s NeoCon design expo and swiftly won Best in Show. The line of office furnishings are simple yet radical – especially for a company like Haworth. The collection features sofas, pouf seating, tables and space-dividing screens, all of which function as flexible design elements that can be configured in a multitude of ways for both open or conventional work spaces. The fabric backs that create a cocoon effect and a reliance on soft textiles recall the comforts of home.
Following the global trend for affordable design accommodation, this canny collaboration between Patricia Urquiola and budget friendly hotel group Room Mate shows how design can be fresh, fun and welcoming. The 85-room Giulia is saturated in optimistic colour, with just a whiff of Milan’s famous mid-century mood. In the guest rooms, bold armchairs by design brands Kartell and Moroso sit alongside lamps by lighting companies Flos and Oluce, while grid patterned Kvadrat curtains add visual texture.
In 2016 Patricia Urquiola was a Wallpaper* Design Awards judge, pictured here with fellow-judge Konstantin Grcic. The pair met at the Fondazione Prada in Milan – with Urquiola’s husband, and Grcic’s partner and baby daughter patiently in tow – to discuss who got top marks and why, across the 11 different categories.
In time for its fifth anniversary in 2014, the Mandarin Oriental in Barcelona expanded to include a further 17 suites, housed in a modernist building next door. Outfitted by Urquiola, the new suites feature warming woods, tactile upholstery and a palette of greys with lime-green accents, while the furniture is a mix of bespoke pieces by Studio Urquiola, along with Flos lamps, Moroso sofas and tables, and ’Husk’ chairs for B&B Italia.
