Q&A by Vibia, Interview with Antoni Arola

Antoni Arola studied industrial design at Barcelona’s Escola Superior de Disseny Eina. In 1994 he founded Estudi Arola, its projects cover diverse fields: lighting, furniture, packaging, interior design and exhibition design. Together with Vibia he has produced the Flamingo lighting collection, awarded Best of Year Award and Wallpaper Design Award in 2016, as well as the outdoor lighting collection Bamboo, in collaboration with designer Enric Rodríguez.

 

 

–A memory from your childhood related to your current profession as a designer.

I remember being very young, during an arts and crafts lesson, making a kind of head from wires and transparent coloured paper which I ended up by putting a light bulb inside and it became a lamp.

 

-3 unmissable destinations for design professionals and architects.

Kyoto, Burkina Faso (formerly Upper Volta), Bofill’s Taller de Arquitectura in Barcelona.

 

-A place in Barcelona that you never tire of visiting.

I have a few favourite places … The Bogatell beach in winter, The Miró Foundation, before the refurbishment was carried out.

 

-The moment you most enjoy when working on a new design commission.

When the first light appears….

 

-A person or persons you admire.

My friends.

 

-An anecdote from a project that you’ve worked on.

I remember I was working on a project for El Bulli, with Ferran Adrià, the most creative client that I’ve ever had or ever will have (something that really impressed me), I remember a phrase said in a moment of frustration: “What’s the problem? Are we minimalists or have we just run out of ideas?”

 

-A film or a book that should be seen or read.

Recently I read, on my wife’s recommendation, a literary jewel: Biography of Silence by Pablo d’Ors, and a film … right now Billy Elliot comes to mind … it always makes me cry.

 

-A piece of advice that you would give to a student of industrial design.

To work enthusiastically and forget about their own egos.

 

-Is there any type of object or Project that you haven’t designed to date that you would like to become your next challenge?

My next challenge is not a type of object it’s simply to do better, much better than the last project; it’s about doing something that will last longer than a simple trend.

 

 Related posts:

Flamingo Wallpaper* Award 2017 

Flamingo wins Best of Year- Thank you Interior Design!

Flamingo is recognized with the Design Plus award, powered by Light+ Building