Designers

Dieter Sieger, born in Münster/ Westphalia in 1938, studied architecture at the Werkkunstschule Dortmund and, after graduating, founded his architectural practice in 1964. He started designing houses and then went on to design the interiors of sailing and motor yachts. In 1980, he started his third career with product design and exhibition stand construction. In 1987, he designed the Giamo bathroom series for Duravit.

Philippe-Patrick Starck was born in Paris in 1949, the son of aircraft designer André Starck and his wife Jacqueline. Starck spent his childhood under his father’s drawing board, where he would spend hours sawing, cutting, glueing and sanding. From his father, Philippe inherited his inventive nature, and from his mother his poetic view of the world and his elegant lifestyle. It was she who advised him to study design at the École Nissim de Camondo in Paris.

Cecilie Manz was born in 1972 in Odsherred, Denmark. She encountered design during her childhood in the ceramic workshop of her parents, both artists involved with design. Her career began in 1992 with an academic education at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts - The School of Design, where Cecilie Manz specialised in furniture and everyday objects. Very early on she became interested in functional and conceptual design, which took her as a foreign exchange student to the UIAH, University of Art and Design in Helsinki. A semester abroad at the University of Art and Design in Helsinki increased Manz’s awareness of the characteristics of Scandinavian design.

Matteo Thun was born in Bozen (South Tyrol) in 1952. After studying at the Oskar Kokoschka Academy in Salzburg, and at the Faculty of Architecture in Florence, in 1981, he was one of the co-founders of the legendary Memphis Group. Its members questioned the pure functionality of design objects.

Kurt Merki Jr. was born in 1978 in Accra, Ghana, as the oldest son of Kurt Merki Sr., a Swiss master joiner, and his Ghanaian wife, a fashion designer who studied in London in the 1960s. He trained as a joiner in his father's furniture factory....

Duravit and Phoenix Design have been working together for years on innovations for the bathroom. "Good design is like a puzzle – there are lots of requirements from completely different directions – the task is to take these and create a cohesive whole". With Caro, Pura Vida and P3 Comforts, the two partners of many years' standing have certainly made a good job of it.

Jo Brewer is an Australian based interior designer who has worked on projects across Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom and Gibraltar. Her design philosophy is to “please” both the client yet the “eye”, using form and function to achieve a balance between cutting edge and timelessness.

Makio Hasuike is the founder of the very first studio of industrial design in Italy, the Maiko Hasuike & Co., and has designed the Dama console in curved glass by Fiam.

Giampiero Castagnoli graduated in mechanical engineering in 1974. He has dedicated his successful career to the bathroom fixtures industry, holding important managerial roles in leading companies both in Italy and across Europe.

Manuela Busetti, Andrea Garuti, Matteo Redaelli established BRG following a design collaboration in Milan. In 2008, they start working together on new projects combining their exceptional skills and talent in design.

Arne Jacobsen (1902-1971) designed the very first VOLA taps for the National Bank of Denmark in 1968. He graduated from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in 1927. His breakthrough as an architect came in 1929 with the winning design for the contest on the House of the Future which was really the introduction of modern architecture on Danish ground. He turned his attention to furniture in 1950. From the outset he gave shape to examples of furniture that, fashionable at the time, are today sought after in antique shops and auction rooms, and yet are still in production. His first success was the Ant chair which he made in 1952 for Fritz Hansen followed by the Swan and Egg chairs.