Álvaro Catalán de Ocón

Born in Madrid, his take on design is based on a highly sophisticated vision of what makes an object special. His designs are clean and elemental, but rich in experience and associations. The easy and relaxed look of his realizations is achieved through an intensive process of study and reduction. After completing his business management studies, he begins his training in product design at the Instituto Europeo di Design (2000-01) in Milan and later graduates with honours from Central Saint Martins (2001-04) in London. His thesis project, the GLOW BRICK, is still manufactured and distributed by Suck – UK. In 2004 he starts up his own studio in Barcelona where he designs LA FLACA lamp, winner of the DESIGN PLUS AWARD (Frankfurt), and finalist to the DELTA Awards in Barcelona. LA FLACA is now produced and distributed by Metalarte – Spain. In 2009 he moves to Madrid where he also teaches at the Instituto Europeo di Design. During 2011 and 2012 he conceived and developed the PET Lamp Project which –since its presentation at Rosanna Orlandi in 2013– has been a growing success that has enable him to create the PET Lamp Studio Society so that the project can reach even further. This Project is backed up by several prizes and nominations: nomination for the London Design Museum as best product of the year, CODESPA for best PYME (SME), the AD prize for Best Emerging Design Studio, nomination for the Delta Award 2014 and a nomination for the German Design Award 2015. His work has been showcased in several galleries and events such as: “Fuera de Serie” at Madrid CentroCentro (2013), “Spain Alight” at Tokio´s Design Week 2011, David Gill Galleries – Design Art Basel (Basel 2011), Rossana Orlandi (Milan 2011), Salone Satellite winning the DESIGN REPORT AWARD – first prize for the best stand and products (Milan 2010), Galería OA (Madrid 2010), “Design Partners” and Cable Factory (Helsinki 2010), “100 Designers Light” (Gwangju-South Korea 2007), Salone Satellite (Milan 2007), ICFF (New York 2005). He has also curated several exhibitions, among them the Finnish Design Week exhibition “Helsinki – Madrid Findesign”, held in 2010 at the cultural centre El Matadero in Madrid, which he curated together with Pedro Feduchi and Kari Korkman.