Patricia Urquiola: A Quest for Serenity
TLmag spoke to industry leader Patricia Urquiola about the silver qualities of her Serena standing lamp for lighting giant Flos.
Top designer Patricia Urquiola bases her approach on rigour, emotion, innovation and well-being. Trained by historical figures like Achille Castiglioni and Piero Lissoni, the Italo-Spanish master looks to reinvigorate the discipline by reintroducing the notions of precision, craft and handmade production. This holistic ethos has taken the Politecnico di Milano graduate to different parts of the world; a method that engages her directly with manufacturing processes. Having won numerous awards and national titles, Urquiola’s artisan-oriented designs can be found in the gamut of major design houses Alessi, Axor, Baccarat, Cappellini, Cassina, Kartell, Kvadrat, Moroso, Louis Vuitton, Rosenthal, Panerai and Missoni; just to name a few. TLmag spoke to the industry leader about the silver qualities of her Serena standing lamp for lighting giant Flos.
TLmag : What is your affinity for silver as both a visual and material composite?
Patricia Urquiola : I have a very curious approach towards all the materials, I like to experiment with their abilities and challenges. Lately I’m attracted to changing surfaces, how the light is reflected and diffused on them. Silver has a unique finish that is able to reflect and play with the light resulting fun and surprising illumination effects still being noble and elegant.
TLmag: Your Containers design features a silver finish. What visual, physical or metphoric treatment does this effect allow you to express?
P.U.: The Jelly container with the silver-like finish enabled plastic to become a more precious material, more like a luxury item. Its sophisticated mirror-like surface has a kaleidoscopic effect multiplying the object inside to the infinity.
TLmag : What process did you use to achieve a silver aesthetic?
P.U. : We use a leaf in aluminum with a mirror surface in Serena whereas in Jelly in Precious, it is metallic PMMA.
TLmag : How did your choice of material allow you adopt an iridescent, reflective, or luminous effect within your design?
P.U. :I love the magical, fascinating and animated mirror effect and its continuous variation according to the angle of the light source and the vantage point.
TLmag : In what way can the silver finish and chosen material extend the function of your design?
P.U. : In a lamp, like in the Serena’s case, it gives a second life to the light. It is lightweight and plays with the diffusers, reflecting or allowing the light to pass through. It almost animates the “foliage”.
25th Biennale Interieur, Xpo Kortrijk,
14-23 October 2016
Spazio Nobile by Pro Material Gallery Brussels
24 November 2016 – 19 February 2017
Articles you also might like
Spazio Nobile Studiolo presents a selection of Quentin Vuong’s alchemical Mercure mirrors, in conversation with sculptural wood forms and collectible furniture by Kaspar Hamacher, as part of the Season XXXVI of Spazio Nobile Gallery. The exhibition is on view through January 18th, 2026.
Spazio Nobile presents a solo exhibition by Didi Ng Wing Yin, finalist of the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize 2025. A collection of furniture, sculptures and vessels made in wood, Yin’s primary material, The Nature of Wood centres on the artist’s investigation of materiality and the relationships between design and art. The exhibition is on view through January 18, 2026.
Spazio Nobile presents “A Complementary Grammar of Creation,” a duo-show by Kiki van Eijk & Joost van Bleiswijk, curated by Maria Cristina Didero. The exhibition opened on September 4th as part of the RendezVous Brussels Gallery Weekend.
The fall art season kicks off on September 4th with the opening of RendezVous – Brussels Art Week, a citywide initiative that brings together galleries, museums, artist studios, auction houses and more, highlighting the city’s diverse and dynamic art and culture scene.