Written by Catarina Santos

Spanish architect and designer Patricia Urquiola lives in Milan where she runs Studio Urquiola, a firm that focuses on exhibitions, art direction, and architecture. 

Aarehouse, built in the heart of Milan in the Novecento Italiano style, the local version of art nouveau, is where Interior Design Hall of Fame member Patricia Urquiola has installed her namesake studio. It occupies the lower two levels, and she and her family reside above.

The studio, at 5,400 square feet, accommodates two groups of employees. Seven people design products for Italian companies, of course, and international ones. Moroso she’s worked with since she founded her studio in 2001. There’s also B&B Italia, Flos, and Kartell. One of her first U.S. clients, Haworth, she calls “my bold American adventure, my lovely American dream. Americans are very open. They have an incredible aptitude for change.”

A major renovation was required at the Milan warehouse after Urquiola and her partner, Alberto Zontone, bought it. Beneath an existing skylight, the once-gritty walls are now finished in white stucco, the floors have been redone in white resin or cement tile, and balustrades in white-painted steel mesh run alongside a staircase and the mezzanine, where she shares an office with Zontone.

SOURCE: Interior Design