Ron Arad

Description	Designer, Sculpturer, Architect
Dates	1951 - present
Lived/Worked	Born in Tel Aviv, Israel. Moved to London in 1973.

Best known for...

Exploration of form and materials, particuarly in furniture, during the 1980s.

Why is he/she important?

Ron Arad's contributions to the world of sculpture in the past 20 years have challenged the way we percieve form and purpose in architecture, furniture and product design. An Art & Design student in his youth in Jerusalem, and now a masters course professer at the Royal College of Art in London, Arad's style of design has its roots in 80s 'rugged individualism' using materials which at the time were unthought of to be used for the purposes for which his sculptures and works were made. While his early works were seen as the result of a design-concious artist working with what he could, the forms and nature of his style soon became widely sought after pieces of art which crossed the boundaries between sculpture and purpose. In his later life he has increasingly been involved in architectural work, his preference of form involving the vastly aesthetic use of curves and flowing bodies which can be seen in most of his works. As with his sculptural work, his architecture tends to challenge typical design motifs and to offer expanding possibilities of experience through new processes of development.

Historical context

In our time of mass producted items, Arad's unique and stunning contributions of furniture and other house hold items are sought after by many. He grew up in a time of great artistic exploration, where the need to express oneself was encouraged in the aftermath of the 2nd World War. Him and many other self taught designers worked with what they could get hold of, and Arads skills with sculping metal was the perfect experimentation grounds for expression and exploration of unique and practical design. The organic nature of his art in both sculpture and architecture disposes of the mass-produced feel which haunts the majority of design we experience in contempory society.

How to see their work

'Wind Wand' and 'Big Blue', Canary Wharf, London
'Evergreen!', Roppongi Hills, Tokyo
Tel Aviv Opera House
Holon Design Museum, Israel (in production)
Magis’ Headquarters, Treviso, Italy (in production)

Ron Arad on the web

Ron Arad official website.

Design Museum Ron Arad entry.