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Patricia Urquiola

By Jonathan Lo

Being in an industry that is traditionally dominated by males, Spanish designer Patricia Urquiola is one of the few females whom has the capacity to move the limits of the companies and herself, and uses creativity to engage in dialogues with the industry. Urquiola studied at the faculty of Architecture at the Madrid Politecnico and at Politecnico di Milano. She was greatly influenced by her mentor Archille Castiglioni and began her career in industrial design. In 2001 she opened her studio of product design, display, and architecture. Urquiola sees potentiality in mixing traditional artisan and craftsman techniques with modern technologies in generating an emotional response that is connected to something we know and recognize but that has been adapted in an innovative way. She works with analogies and takes inspiration from things she sees in everyday life to transform them into something else.