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Konstantin Grcic
Konstantin Grcic ( born in 1965) was trained as a cabinet maker at the John Makepeace School for Craftsmen in Wood before studying Design at the Royal College of Art in London. Since setting up his own practice in 1991, he has developed furniture, products and lighting for leading design companies. Today, Konstantin Grcic Design is based in Berlin and is active in several fields ranging from industrial design projects, exhibition design and collaborations in architecture and fashion.
Among his industrial producers are Flos, Laufen, Magis, Muji, Nespresso, and Vitra. In the fashion and lifestyle sector his clients are a.o. Audi, Hugo Boss, Issey Miyake, Prada, Rado and smart/Daimler.
Many of his products have been awarded international design prizes. He received the Compasso d’Oro in 2001 for the Mayday lamp (Flos), in 2011 for the Myto chair (Plank) and in 2016 for the OK lamp (Flos). For Tom and Jerry from Magis’ series The Wild Bunch he received the German Design Award in Gold in 2011.
The world’s most important design museums (including MoMA, New York, Centre Pompidou, Paris, and Die Neue Sammlung, Munich) have included his designs in their permanent collections.
The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) in England admitted Konstantin Grcic to the circle of Royal Designers for Industry in 2009 and in 2010 he was a fellow of the Villa Massimo in Rome. In 2016, Konstantin Grcic was honoured by the jury of the German Design Award with the Personality Award.
From 2020 to 2024 Grcic held a professorship at the Hamburg University of Fine Arts and has since been Honorary Professor. He has been appointed member of the Academy of Arts, Berlin in 2021 and of the Academy the Fine Arts, Munich in 2022.
Grcic defines function in human terms, combining formal strictness with considerable mental acuity and humour. His work is characterised by careful research into the history of art, design and architecture and his passion for technology and materials.
Red Dot Design Award 2015
