Hurricane Urquiola

"The Spanish force of nature blows into design weeks with her blonde hair and ideas no one has thought of."

The Italians call her 'Hurricane Urquiola'. The Spanish force of nature who blows into design weeks with her blonde hair and ideas no one has thought of: Cabinets become round, a broken seashell becomes a chair, a marble floor is rolled up like a carpet. It's design that manages to be not only surprisingly playful and feminine, but also functional and intelligent. The creative combination has furniture makers lining up for a collaboration. Since opening her studio twenty years ago, she has designed for all the major design houses, from Alessi and Kartell to Moroso and B&B Italia – not to mention Cassina, where she heads the design office.

Born in Oviedo on the Spanish Atlantic coast, Urquiola has been anchored in Milan for decades. There, work blends with home in an art deco building that once served as a textile factory. On three floors of open spaces and a terrace with a garden, she has realised her dream of a 'casa-bottega', the Italian tradition of putting the home on top of the family business.

Daughter Giulia doesn't have to look far to find mum or dad Alberto, also involved in the 40-strong Studio Urquiola, but in the discreet role of manager - the numbers guy who makes sure everything runs smoothly around the Urquiola creative tsunami. There, somewhere between the evergreen garden terrace and the smooth concrete walls, the designer and architect manages to design countless pieces of furniture, showrooms, hotels all over the world, Louis Vuitton bags and even a jewellery museum.

No, she is not the kind of person who collects hobbies or takes long holidays. "Work is my hobby," she says. Still, you can't help but wonder how she does it. What happens in that brain that results in all those amazing shapes, ideas, colours?

– I am an observer with a brain in constant work, Patricia explains. When I observe the world around me, I try to understand where the contemporary world is going at the same time. Trying to interpret it. When I design, I'm always looking for ways to link design to emotional memory to help people connect with their spaces and to create empathy, she says.

"Her designs manage to be not only surprisingly playful and feminine, but also functional and intelligent."

It can be seen in furniture like Manga (2013), a series of poufs and rugs that are like cosy woollen sweaters. But also in Antibodi (2006), a chaise longue covered in inviting felt flowers. Or in the Cassina armchair Gender (2016), which subtly questions masculinity and femininity in a clash between strong forms and an inviting, warm design. However, she avoids questions about sources of inspiration. "Everything", she briefly summarises. Books, museums, people, art... She is determined not to mention specific names, and when Hurricane is determined, you don't argue. She prefers to talk about process. About intense periods of research, about getting the equation of respecting her clients and at the same time pushing them to develop, about the importance of working with the right clients to achieve a fruitful dialogue.

– I have to say that I have been lucky. To work with companies like Cassina that have believed in my vision and supported even my more unconventional ideas. You have to find the right partners to build good projects.

If anyone has surrounded herself with the right people, it's Patricia Urquiola. Her journey began at architecture schools first in Madrid and then at the Polytechnic University of Milan. There she graduated in 1989 under the tutelage of Italian design and architecture legend Achille Castiglioni, for whom she then worked as an assistant professor. Then, when she landed her first job at De Padova's technical department, she got to know another great architect and designer: Vico Magistretti. At the time, Magistretti was widely used by Cassina, which is celebrating his 100th anniversary this year.

– Vico is one of the people who have meant the most to me, says Patricia Urquiola. From him I learnt the value of mistakes, of experimentation, of daring and of breaking boundaries. One of my mantras is to leave the comfortable in order to grow; it is only by overcoming challenges that processes move forward and it is that friction that makes societies think creatively. I owe a lot to Vico.

In her role as creative director at Cassina, this year she has not only celebrated Magistretti, but also brought out works by the great masters Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret and Charlotte Perriand. She explains how colour has played a major role in giving their designs a refreshed and contemporary feel. Colour, which is so extremely present in everything Urquiola does.

– Colour is everything for me, she admits. It is a fundamental part of the projects, along with materials and light. It is precisely this meeting that interests me because it is there that the magic of colour occurs - all colours are the same in the dark. I'm also an architect and always start from the interaction of light with architecture, with spatialities and objects.

Milan Design Week was cancelled this year and the country was shut down due to the pandemic, but that didn't slow down Patricia Urquiola. On the contrary, she took the opportunity to launch a series of conversations on Cassina's Instagram to discuss and question the role of design in the world. "Cassina Out of the Box" kicked off with a conversation between herself and the artist Olafur Eliasson - "a pure talent", as Urquiola calls him, who was her first choice for the live discussions. Since then, the series has also seen her talk to professionals as diverse as celebrity chef Massimo Bottura and Spanish art curator Elena Foster.

For Cassina, she has also been working on the new 2020 collection that was released in June, apparently later than planned, but which included a new collaboration with hyped duo Neri & Hu and a complete bedroom where the different parts have been designed by her and Rodolfo Dordoni.

– I have Cassina Lab to thank for the innovations, says Patricia. My Bio-mbo bed facilitates sleep with eco-friendly soundproofing and air purification, and the Sengu sofa is made with a padding made entirely of PET fibres recycled from the sea. I am proud of them, they are the result of extensive sustainability research at Cassina. Moreover, they are the kind of smart design that is typical of Urquiola. Over the years, she has received prestigious awards such as the Compasso d'Oro and in 2011 the Spanish King awarded her the Order of Isabella the Catholic. Her designs are represented in major museums such as MoMa in New York, the V&A in London and Les Arts Décoratifs in Paris. Of course, she is proud of that. But...

– ... I never take anything for granted and I don't let it affect my creativity, she assures. For me, creativity has always been an instinctive process that also involves a lot of study and research. This has been the case since I was a student and mentors like Castiglioni and Magistretti taught me to stay concrete. Concrete, as in learning from your mistakes. She often comes back to this: that awards and medals are indeed wonderful to receive, but that it is with her failures that she really develops.

– Failure is a strong concept for me. I really think it adds value to my creative process. We have to look at failure as an asset. What mistakes has she made? That remains, emphatically, unsaid.

Written by Sofia Hallström Photo DePasquale + Muffini and Roger Decker (portrait)

Products featured in the post

557 Sengu Table Ø 65 cm

Cassina

L60 Bio-mbo Bedside Table

Cassina