Flashlights 1983 by Emilio Ambasz
Flashlights 1983 by Emilio Ambasz

Emilio Ambasz is an Argentinean who studied architecture at Princeton University from 1960 to 1965, worked at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York from 1970 to 1975 as Curator of Design arranged the landmark Italy: The New Domestic Landscape Exhibition in 1972. As seen in the work of groups like Archizoom and Superstudio, this showcase for Italian avant-garde design thought explored the concept of objects as part of an entire world rather than discrete, stand-alone, aesthetically self-conscious items. 

In 1974, he curated the MOMA exhibition The Chairs of Charles R. Mackintosh. In 1976, he produced the MOMA exhibition The Taxi Project: Practical Solutions Today, which focused on environmental issues. 

Opened offices

In 1976, he opened architectural and design offices in New York and Bologna, Italy, as an industrial, graphic, and exhibition designer. 

Design Works

In 1981, Emilio Ambasz formed the Emilio Ambasz Design Group in New York. The Ergonomic Vertebra chair for Open Ark (1976), which adapted to the user’s movements, the Dorsal seating system (1981), spotlights for Logotec (1981), and the Osiris lighting system for Erco Leuchten (1981) were all design successes (1983). He’s held various educational positions in Europe and the United States, including a visiting professorship at Ulm’s Hochschule für Gestaltung in 1967.

Casa de Retiro Espiritual, Córdoba, Spain, Section 1979 by Emilio Ambasz
Casa de Retiro Espiritual, Córdoba, Spain, Section 1979 by Emilio Ambasz
Vertebra Operational Chair 1975 by Emilio Ambasz, Giancarlo Piretti
Vertebra Operational Chair 1975 by Emilio Ambasz, Giancarlo Piretti

Also, he has received several design awards, including the American Institute of Graphic Arts Award in 1973, the US National Design Award in 1980, and the Compasso d’Oro in 1981.

Sources

Woodham, J. M. (2006). A dictionary of modern design. Oxford University Press.

More Industrial Designers

  • Carl-Arne Breger (1932 – 2009), Swedish Industrial Designer

    Carl-Arne Breger (1932 – 2009), Swedish Industrial Designer

    Carl-Arne Breger was a Swedish industrial designer who designed products for a variety of companies and trades, including household goods, tools, appliances, machines, and telephones. His square bucket was recognised as ‘the best plastic product for the 1950-60 decade’ by Swedish Plastic Association.Read More →

  • Henning Koppel (1918 – 1981) Danish Designer

    Henning Koppel (1918 – 1981) Danish Designer

    Koppel had his debut as a sculptor at the Artists’ Authumn Exhibition in 1935 with an expressive portrait bust. He was also represented with drawings on several exhibitions. His best works as a sculptor are the busts of Valdemar and Jytte Koppel (1938 and 1942, both in black granite) and Tora Nordstrom Bonnier and Karl-Adam…

  • Chafik Gasmi (b.1962) French-Algerian designer

    Chafik Gasmi (b.1962) French-Algerian designer

    Chafik Gasmi is a registered architect in France who founded UNIVERS INTÉRIEUR in 1990 and has since expanded his brand to include home goods and decor items. Chafik developed his ideas for the brand and graphic identity of the LE ROYAL MONCEAU building in Paris, collaborated with LANCME, created a resort for the launch of…

  • Antonia Astori (b.1940) co-founded Driade

    Antonia Astori (b.1940) co-founded Driade

    Antonia Astori co-founded Driade with her brother Enrico and Adelaide Acerbi in 1968. She was able to create a unique network of furniture designers, galleries, and shops.Read More →

  • Peter Murdoch (b.1940) British furniture, industrial designer

    Peter Murdoch (b.1940) British furniture, industrial designer

    Peter Murdoch (b.1940) is a British furniture, interior, graphic, and industrial designer.Read More →

  • Jasper Morrison (b.1959) – British Designer, quirky, understated furniture

    Jasper Morrison (b.1959) – British Designer, quirky, understated furniture

    Morrison produced quirky, satiric, understated furniture. His 1986 South Kensington flat was widely published in design magazines. He designed 1988 Door handles I and II, and a 1989 range of aluminium handles produced by FSB in Germany. Read More →

  • Sebastian Bergne (b. 1966) – English / Italian industrial designer

    Sebastian Bergne (b. 1966) – English / Italian industrial designer

    The phrase ‘less is more’ perfectly encapsulates the core of these works, the quality of which can only be attained by a proper understanding of form.Read More →

  • Tapio Wirkkala (1913 – 1985) Finland’s leading designer

    Tapio Wirkkala (1913 – 1985) Finland’s leading designer

    Tapio Wirkkala is widely regarded as one of Finland’s most influential designers. Wirkkala began hisRead More →

  • John Mascheroni (b.1932), American furniture designer

    John Mascheroni (b.1932), American furniture designer

    John Mascheroni has been designing furniture for his entire career, recognized for his design acuity and modernism. LEARN MORERead More →

  • Enzo Mari (1932 -2020) Italian modernist, industrial designer

    Enzo Mari (1932 -2020) Italian modernist, industrial designer

    Inventor of commonplace items whose radical politics were incorporated into their creations Enzo Mari (1932 – 2020) was an Italian modernist and furniture designer who lived from 1932 to 2020. TELL ME MORERead More →

  • Ingo Maurer (1932 – 2019) – industrial designer – Poet of Light

    Ingo Maurer (1932 – 2019) – industrial designer – Poet of Light

    Ingo Maurer was a German industrial designer who specialised in the development of lighting fixtures and installations. “Poet of Light” was his nickname.Read More →

  • Kurt Naef Spielzeug – Swiss Design firm – Unique Playthings

    Kurt Naef Spielzeug –  Swiss Design firm – Unique Playthings

    A typical Naef set is a box with geometric pieces made of wood and cut with great care. Each set has unique block shapes that make its possibilities different. Some of Kurt Naef’s sets were designed by Naef himself, but also by Peer Clahsen and Jo Niemeyer.Read More →

  • Victor Papanek (1923 – 1998) socially responsible Design Prophet

    Victor Papanek (1923 – 1998) socially responsible Design Prophet

    Victor Papanek was a socially responsible designer. Design for the Real World, his book, was released in 20 different languages. TELL ME MORERead More →

  • Antonio Citterio ( b.1950 ) Italian furniture designer

    Antonio Citterio ( b.1950 ) Italian furniture designer

    Antonio Citterio is a leading Italian architect and interior designer, furniture and industrial designer. Citterio explored the possibilities of new materials and technologies rather than aligning himself with New Design’s more fashionable aesthetics.Read More →

  • Rodolfo Bonetto – Italian furniture & industrial designer

    Rodolfo Bonetto – Italian furniture & industrial designer

    Rodolfo Bonetto (1929 – 1991) was Italian furniture and industrial designer. He began his design career at the Pininfarina automobile body design firm. In 1958, he founded his studio. Between 1963-69, was a member of ADI (Associazione per il Disegno Industriale) advisory committee and participated in numerous other professional organisations. Read More →

  • Virgil Exner (1909 – 1973) American Industrial Designer

    Virgil Exner (1909 – 1973) American Industrial Designer

    He was hired to work in the Pontiac design lab after coming to the attention of Harley Earl at General Motors. Later, in 1938, he worked for Raymond Loewy’s design consultant on Studebaker cars, particularly the 1947 Starlight coupé. Loewy received the majority of the critical accolades. Read More →

  • Memphis Group – it has little to do with Tennessee

    Memphis Group – it has little to do with Tennessee

    Memphis was a movement in interior design introduced at the annual Milan Furniture Fair in 1981. It consisted of a group led by Memphis guru Ettore Sottass of avant-garde Italian designers. With outrageous interpretations of traditional furnishings and accessories, Memphis shocked the traditionally quiet industry.Read More →

  • Davide Mercatali (b.1948) Italian Designer

    Davide Mercatali (b.1948) Italian Designer

    He worked independently as a graphic and product designer and illustrator for advertising agencies, publishers, and his clients; he worked for the Societa Donchi Formart, Milan. In 1978, with Paolo Pedrizzetti, he set up an industrial design studio where he initially designed materials and tiles. He worked on promotional accessories, point-of-sale displays in retail stores,…

  • Jean Heiberg (1884 – 1976) – Bakelite Telephone

    Jean Heiberg (1884 – 1976) – Bakelite Telephone

    Norwegian painter Jean Heiberg (1884–1976), who later studied with Matisse in Paris, is credited with designing the first “modern” telephone—certainly the one that is most well-known to consumers.Read More →

  • Design Classics – Influential Design Examples

    Design Classics – Influential Design Examples

    A design classic is readily recognisable and elicits a range of emotions in individuals, including nostalgia and inventiveness. The following are some of the posts I have completed on objects, architecture that may be considered classic designs.Read More →

You may also be interested in

Max Bill (1908 – 1994) – Swiss painter, sculptor, architect, designer, teacher, and writer – Encyclopedia of Design

Max Bill (1908 – 1994) was a Swiss painter, sculptor, architect, designer, teacher, and writer. He studied at the Bauhaus from 1927 to 1929, then returned to Switzerland, primarily in Zurich.

Illustrator Charlotte Edey creates soft yet bold dream-like worlds – Encyclopedia of Design

Charlotte Edey is a British printing, textile and embroidery artist & illustrator. Her interdisciplinary discovery of the intersections of identity and the spiritual reveals the symbolism and myth within her work. Womxn’s experience of colour is centred in her commentary on the politics of space.

Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.