MANILA, Philippines - Who is the Egyptian-born designer who has created over 3,000 designs including the Oh chair for Umbra, furniture for Artemide, the brand identities of Citbank and Hyundai, and has been called the Most Famous Industrial Designer in all America by Time magazine?
He was born in Cairo in 1960 to Egyptian and English parents, and was raised in Canada, where he received a bachelor in Industrial Design degree from the Carleton University in Ottawa. He completed his postgraduate studies in Italy, and since then has created over 3,000 designs in projects as diverse as interiors, fashion, furniture, lighting, furniture, art and music, and installations.
He has worked in over 35 countries and received over 300 awards for democratic objects like the ubiquitous Garbo waste can and Oh chair for Umbra, interiors for the Morimoto Restaurant in Philadelphia and the Seminaris Hotel in Athens, and exhibitions for the Duetsch Bank and Audi.
His collaborations with clients have also produced groundbreaking works including designs for Method and Dirt Devil, furniture for Artimede and Magis, brand identity for Citibank and Hyundai, hi-tech products for La Cie and Samsung, luxury goods for Veuve Cliquot, Swarovski, and Kenzo to name a few.
His work is featured in 20 permanent collections, and he exhibits art in galleries worldwide. He is a perennial winner of the Red Dot Award, the Chicago Atheneaum Good Design Award, ID Magazine Annual Design Review, and the IDSA Industrial Design Excellence Award.
Now residing in New York where he manages his own design studio, he has been called the Most Famous Industrial Designer in All the Americas by Time magazine.
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Last week’s question: Who is this Danish-Icelandic artist (born 1967 in Copenhagen, Denmark) who established a design laboratory for spatial research. He represented Denmark at the 50th Venice Biennale in 2003 and later that year installed “The Weather Project” in the Turbine Hall of Tate Modern, London.
Answer: Olafur Eliasson
Winner: Gloria Sandoval of Cubao, Quezon City
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Text your answer to 0917-9498721 with your name and address. One winner will be chosen through a raffle of texts with the correct answer. The winner will receive P2,000 worth of SM gift certificates for use at Our Home, SM Department Store, or SM Supermarket. They can claim their prize at Our Home in SM Megamall. Call the store manager at 634-1950, 634-1943. Bring photocopies of two valid IDs and a clipping of the Design Quiz issue in which you appear as winner.