By Willy Wilson | Oct 26, 2009

Patricia Urquiola - A chair wizard

It is not a name that designer furniture lovers throw about willy nilly. But mention Patricia Urquiola and images of lazy weekend by the beach comes to mind.

Internationally acclaimed furniture designer Patricia Urquiola is synonymous with her boundary-crossing creativity that incorporates her Spanish Mediterranean upbringing, innovative design and unique material selections.

However, her work has been consistent. Her unmistakably 3D-texture signature is one of the most groundbreaking innovations in furniture design world. Urquiola, who opened her own design studio in 2001, has arguably contributed prolific output to the industry.

Urquiola comes from an architecture background, having studied at the Faculdad de Arquitectura in Madrid. Shortly after graduating she relocated to Milan and studied under Achille Castiglione at the Politecnico di Milano, which sealed her passion for design.

This year, Patricia Urquiola once again reaffirms her position as the queen of furniture design with three beautiful collections under the umbrella of B&B Italia. Advocating luxurious cosiness, Urquiola employs intricate woven technique to the outdoor furniture collections. Simply perfect for your garden and swimming pool.

Crinoline Armchair
Crinoline Armchair is arguably Urquiola’s best manifestation on 3D texture technique she has developed over the past few years. Consisting of black-white and black-bronze dual coloured polyethylene weave, with matching natural fibre or bronze string, the Crinoline Armchair favours the combination sleek shapes and interesting materials.

Aptly named Crinoline, the chair embodies the traditional coarse stiff fabric of cotton used especially to line and stiffen hats and garments in the olden days. This seems to be Urquiola’s pattern of work; hard materials but soft and refined finishing.

The Crinoline collection consists of a number of armchairs that vary in shape and height.The high back version with an intricate and stunning flower motif weaving is refreshingly outstanding while the low back version is adorned with a magenta natural fibre poncho thrown over it.

Ravel Seating
Urquiola journeyed to the Philippines to complete her Ravel Seating collection. In the Pearl of the Orient Seas, the designer explored the theme of traditional weaving practiced by the locals.

Her experiment results in an exciting outdoor collection entitled Ravel. The Ravel collection consists of modular elements that can be freely positioned to form linear corner seats or chaise longue end units.

Pouf elements can be positioned as intervals between units or to increase seat depth. The woven polyethylene back connects and blends well to a metal base with a slim profile that forms the seat structure. Seat cushions and back pillows in varying sizes complete the look and offers comfort.

Canasta Circular Armchair
Canasta Circular Armchair was the preliminary collection released by B&B Italia that sets the tone and mood for the succeeding collection, Crinoline and Ravel.

Canasta collection favours woven patterns and nostalgic influence, but the overall look carries a decisively contemporary persona. Again, it is safe to say that mixing old and new influence is Urquiola’s signature style.

In Spanish, Canasta literally means basket. But Urquiola admitted that her true inspiration was Vienna straw and its decorative geometric shape. It would not be an overstatement to say that Urquiola has successfully amplified the traditional pattern, built a macro-proportions model out of it and used it to make a beautiful line of comfortable chairs and sofas.

Take a look at the high and low backrest Canasta armchairs and you will know what we mean. Made of polyethylene plastic that guarantees sturdiness, lightness and durability, Canasta circular armchair and bed/chaise-lounge comes in white and bronze. The woven pattern is created from a strip which has a width of 30 mm, while the chaise-lounge has a strip with a width of 15 mm.

Which collection suits your garden and swimming pool the best?

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