Ron Arad | Prestige Melograno

Born in Tel Aviv in 1951, educated at the Jerusalem Academy of Art and later at the Architectural Association in London, Ron Arad co-founded with Caroline Thorman the design and production studio One Off in 1981 and later, in 1989, Ron Arad Associates architecture and design practice. In 2008 Ron Arad Architects was established alongside Ron Arad Associates.

Ron Arad was awarded the Royal Designer for Industry (RDI) in recognition of his ‘sustained excellence in aesthetic and efficient design for industry’ in 2002, and was awarded the London Design Medal in 2011.

He was professor of Design at the Hochschule in Vienna from 1994 to 1997, and later Professor of Design Products at the Royal College of Art in London up until 2009, when he was made Professor Emeritus. In 2013 he was elected as a Royal Academician by the Royal Academy of Art in London.

From 1994 to 1999 he established the Ron Arad Studio, design and production unit in Como, Italy.

Ron Arad’s constant experimentation with the possibilities of materials such as steel, aluminium or polyamide and his radical re-conception of the form and structure of furniture has put him at the forefront of contemporary design.

Awards

Compasso d’Oro 2016

Pillar of the Roundhouse, London 2014

London Design Medal 2011

Honorary Doctorate at Tel Aviv University 2010

The Jerusalem Prize for Arts and Letters, awarded by Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Israel 2006

FX magazine Designer of the Year Award, 2005

Architektur & Wohnen Designer of the Year Award, 2004

Finalist for the 2002 World Technology Award for Design

Royal Designer for Industry 2002

Oribe Art & Design Award, Gifu, Japan, 2001

Gio Ponti International Design Award, Denver, 2001

Barcelona Primavera International Award for Design, 2001

Co-winner of Perrier Jouët Selfridges Design Prize, London, 2001

Design Plus Award, Frankfurt/Main; Internationaler Designpreis Baden-Württemberg, Design Center Stuttgart, 1999

Designer of the Year, Salon du Meuble, Paris, 1994

Alongside his limited edition studio work, Arad designs for many leading international companies.

Kartell

Vitra

Moroso

Fiam

Driade

Alessi

Zeus Noto

Cappellini

Cassina

WMF

Magis

Illy

iGuzzini

Nude

Bonaldo

Fed-Ex, Germany

Martell, France

NAC (New Acoustic Concept), Italy

Poltronova

Serralunga

Swarovski

Valli & Valli

pq Eyewear

Hennessy

Ruinart

Venini

VersaTile

Kenzo

Schiffini

Pasabache

Le Coq Sportif

DiaCore

Fit Flop

Samsung

Roca

Notify

Nani Marquina

Fiat

Bombay Sapphire

Nestle

LG

Ron Arad has designed a number of Public Art pieces, including the Vortext in Seoul, Korea, the Kesher Sculpture at Tel Aviv University, Evergreen in Tokyo, and Curtain Call for Roundhouse, London. A new sculpture, Spyre, was installed at the Royal Academy of Arts in London during summer 2016, and Thought of Train of Thought was part of the Terrace Wires installation programme at St Pancras International station in London in 2017. 720 Degrees appeared in September 2016 at the Singapore International Festival of Arts. In October 2017 it was announced that Ron Arad Architects, together with Adjaye Associates and Gustafson Porter + Bowman, had won the UK Holocaust Memorial International Design Competition. Ron Arad’s ‘Safe Hands’ sculpture will be unveiled in Toronto in early 2019.