Patricia Urquiola: craft and industry, with no hierarchy between them

Ask Patricia Urquiola where craft ends and industry begins and she declines the question. She calls her method rhizomatic: no hierarchy between the hand and the machine, between inherited technique and new process. In a market that still makes things by hand at scale, that is not a slogan — it is a working position.

How the studio works

Studio Urquiola, founded in Milan in 2001 with Alberto Zontone, runs over a hundred people from 18 countries across product design, architecture and art direction. Born in Oviedo, trained in Madrid and Milan under Achille Castiglioni, she learned to ask who will use this, how, and to what end — before the first line is drawn. Since 2015 she has been Creative Director of Cassina.

Recognition

The Spanish government awarded her the Medalla de Oro al Mérito en las Bellas Artes; Wallpaper and Elle Decor International named her Designer of the Year. She designs for Kartell, B&B Italia, Moroso, Flos, Haworth and Mutina, and her work is held in the permanent collections of the MoMA, the V&A and the Vitra Design Museum.

Patricia Urquiola at La Mercanti

La Mercanti carries two collections from the Urquiola orbit: Emu outdoor furniture, built to contract specification for hospitality and workplace exteriors, and Mutina ceramic surfaces for floors and walls in demanding projects.

Send us the drawings, or ask our team for the collection documentation.