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Designer’s Voice: Patricia Urquiola about innovation, sustainability and interior design trends

Patricia Urquiola, member of the imm cologne Trend Board. (photo: Koelnmesse)

Patricia Urquiola is a member of the imm cologne Trend Board and was born in Oviedo, Spain and now lives and works in Milan. She attended the faculty of architecture at Madrid Polytechnic and Milan Polytechnic, from which she graduated in 1989 having completed her thesis with Achille Castiglioni.

In 2001 she opened her own studio, working on product design, architecture, installations and concept creation. In 2006 Koelnmesse invited Patricia Urquiola to build one of the ideal houses for imm cologne. Urquiola‘s clients include, among others, Agape, Alessi, Artelano, Axor, B&B Italia, Bisazza, BMW, Bosa, De Padova, Driade, Salvatore Ferragamo, Flos, Foscarini, Kartell, Kvadrat, MDF Italia, Molteni, Moroso and Panasonic.

During the imm cologne’s Trendboard workshop, you didn’t just name four of the most influential tendencies in interior design right now, you discussed other trends in the design scene as well. How much of it do you think is really important?
I think there is a new trend regarding the idea of what is innovative. Innovation was always primarily connected with the idea of industrial progress, i.e. with a more traditional idea. More and more, however, the term innovation is coming to be associated with values like sustainability and with what people really see as innovative – for instance if something is surprisingly intelligent or opens up new usage possibilities. People are paying more attention to how something is done and why it is done. More importance is being attached to the concept.

Johanna Grawunder: architect, interior designer, member of the imm cologne trendboard

Johanna Grawunder, member of the imm cologne trendboard, photo: Koelnmesse; Lutz Sternstein

Johanna Grawunder isn’t easy to pin down. She builds houses, designs interiors and creates classic industrial products for clients like Boffi, Flos, B&B or WMF. But above all, she creates exclusive furniture and lighting for galleries in Europe and the USA, often integrating LEDs and seemingly dematerialising the forms.

For her, light is an important medium for designing the interior as part of the whole. Nor does lighting always have to be a stand-alone item, believes Johanna Grawunder. Integrated into furniture, it’s simply there – and takes on a whole new quality.

The architect from California began her career in Ettore Sottsass’ Milan studio in 1985 and was involved with some of his most prestigious architecture and interior design projects.

The interior trend experts: the Trendboard panel at a glance

Cecilie Manz, Marcus Fairs, Johanna Grawunder, Giulio Ridolfo and Bertjan Pot (f.l.t.r.) Photo: Koelnmesse; Lutz Sternstein

Every summer, five or six renowned designers get together in the tower block of Cologne exhibition centre for an unusual workshop that culminates in a prognosis of the most important developments in interior design: the Trend Book with the interior trends of the coming year. Every year, the Trendboard convened by the imm cologne brings together product designers, architects, material specialists and journalists who are regarded as internationally acknowledged authorities on design and are successful at international level. The Trendboard line-up changes every year and represents several nationalities and disciplines.

This year, materials specialist Giulio Ridolfo and journalist Marcus Fairs ensure the desired continuity. Giulio Ridolfo, a designer and textile consultant from Italy’s creative stronghold Udine, made a name for himself with his unusual works for the likes of Patricia Urquiola.

London author Marcus Fairs’ reputation is founded on his online magazine dezeen. New impulses came from American architect and interior designer Johanna Grawunder, whose work in the field of product design includes exclusive and colourful limited editions, and Cecilie Manz, a young and successful designer from Denmark with an excellent instinct for materials and colours. Dutch designer Bertjan Pot, the third new face on this year’s Trendboard, is also part of the young, successful generation of designers that is currently accelerating the pace of change in the design scene.

As in previous years, the Trendboard was accompanied by Andrej Kupetz, managing director of the Frankfurt-based German Design Council since 1999.

Konstantin Grcic: ”I even think certain rules have to be laid down. That’s the only way things are going to change.”

Konstantin Grcic (*1965) trained as a cabinetmaker at the John Makepeace School for Craftsmen in Dorset (1985 to 1987) before studying furniture design at the Royal College of Art in London.

After a year as an assistant to Jasper Morrison, he founded his own firm in Munich in 1991: “Konstantin Grcic Industrial Design”. The 90s saw the start of his success with laundry baskets and other plastic items for Authentics; then came style icons such as the Mayday lamp for Flos (1999), the swaying shelving unit Es for Nils Holger Moormann (1999), the Chaos armchair for ClassiCon (2001) and the Osorom seating element for Moroso (2002). The chair_ONE die-cast aluminium chair with a conical concrete foot (Magis, 2004) was actually intended for public spaces but went on to sell in its thousands as a sculptural lattice structure with seating function for the private loft. It was followed by the Miura bar stool (Plank, 2005).

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Designer’s Voice: Patricia Urquiola about innovation, sustainability and interior design trends

Johanna Grawunder: architect, interior designer, member of the imm cologne trendboard

The interior trend experts: the Trendboard panel at a glance

Konstantin Grcic: ”I even think certain rules have to be laid down. That’s the only way things are going to change.”

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