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Patricia Urquiola.

Is sustainability an important consideration for you?
Yes. Sustainability is a very serious argument. For me, it is a work in progress. I feel quite stupid when it comes to this issue – not only in my work, but in my life too. I am still trying to understand what I should and should not be doing.

There has to be a process of re-education, because my education was just the contrary of this. I am re-educating myself, and I am trying to re-educate my family to be more aware. And, obviously, it impacts my work too.

Now, companies of any kind – be it lighting, furniture, etc – are beginning to listen to you. I remember a few years ago when you very timidly tried to bring up the subject, companies weren’t interested. You would feel very silly for even asking about sustainability.

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Now, finally, we can speak about it and companies are concerned about it. It is no longer a taboo or something that you have to fight for. Finally, they want it. We are just beginning to become concerned about this. It’s a very good thing, and I hope I’m going to grow a lot with this in my personal work. I feel like I’ve done nothing yet.

You are quite adamant about not having a ‘design style’. Why?
‘Style’ is a stupid concept when it comes to design. You can isolate a few projects from a certain period in my work or someone else’s; and you can understand that they were all driven by the same obsessions or the same concepts, that they are part of your personality. But if you take my work over the last ten years, you will find many different ways of working.

You evolve, obviously. A creative person must always evolve. For me, having one style is contrary to being creative. It shows insecurity in some ways. There are elements that are part of you and that come through in your work, but that is different from having a style.

Is there any type of product that you haven’t designed as yet but would like to?
Obviously – but I don’t work with goals. I think perhaps, in this way, I am very feminine. An important characteristic of women is flexibility, the ability to move from one thing to the next. Working without goals is very feminine.

If you want to dance with someone, you are better off standing as far away from them as possible; and then, if they ask you, that is the best dance. But once I get into a relationship with anything, I am extremely passionate. I am very much a ‘creative’ like that.

The Axor Urquiola collection is very accessible. Is this is a common feature in your work?
Designers have to be concerned about how people use things. When you create a tool, you have to understand what it will be used for.

If you don’t know how the product will be used, even if it is very nice, you are creating art, not design. My idea of luxury is that you can buy a bag that is very well done, a Ferragamo for example, but you can match it with any old pair of jeans.

You can have furniture from Ikea and then have an incredible, expensive painting on the wall. This melting point is important. People can’t always have everything of the highest quality. It really depends on what you are interested in.

You might prefer to have that quality in the glasses that you use and are not bothered about what shoes you are wearing. You might be more concerned with seating than lighting. It is all about being yourself in this very complicated world. Try to have your own style. I don’t like it when they use the word to define design, but style is important when it comes to personality, your aura, how you live and work.

Do you think modern designers have lost sight of the fact that design needs to be practical?
I think design is a discipline that is growing very quickly. Design is heavily linked to society because you are creating tools for living. You must be practical. After all, you are creating things that need to be used.

But the comfort that you give through a new tool is not only through the ergonomic relationship; it is through the eye, the mental comfort, the emotional response. It’s the link that you create. That’s where the comfort comes from.

What’s your favourite interior space? Your home, perhaps?
No, not my home. I’m in a period of my life where I’m working a lot, I’m busy looking after my daughters, and the dog might be peeing on the carpet. My home is comfortable, but nothing more than that.

For me, the best scenario is when I arrive in a new city or a new place. The first time you are in a new place, you become like a child, and you are far more sensitive to your surroundings. You are feeling new things and smelling new things, and that appeals to the emotional side of your personality.

MY INSPIRATION
“I am open to everything. Society inspires me. All the different facets of society – the crude and the problematic and the complex – it’s all really important. I am very interested in contemporary art, because I think these are the people that influence society. Everything inspires me. You must be curious and open to the fact that your point of view can always be changed.”