Download PDF (488 K)RON ARAD
1951 Born in Tel Aviv, Israel.
1971-73 Jerusalem Academy of Art.
1973 Moved to London.
1974-79 Architectural Association - School of Architecture, studies under Peter Cook and B. Tschumi.
1981 Establishes One Off Ltd. with Caroline Thorman in Covent Garden, London, a design studio, workshops and showroom. First success with a range of furniture and interior structures in tube and cast iron fittings. Well known pieces include the 'Rover Chair', the vacuum-packed 'Transformer' chair and the remote controlled 'Aerial' light. Later work explored the use of tempered steel, first in the 'Well-Tempered Chair' and later in the popular 'Bookworm'.
1987 Participates in Nouvelles Tendences at the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris.
1987 Participates in Documenta 8 Kassel.
1987-90 Sticks and Stones, One-Offs & Short Runs: Ron Arad 1980-1990 a touring exhibition organized by the Vitra Design Museum.
1994 Designs the New Tel-Aviv Opera House.
1997 Teaches product design at Royal College of Art, London.
1998 Introduces Design Products MA course.
2000 Before and After Now retrospective at Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
2003 Works on projects including the Maserati headquarters showroom in Modena, Italy and Y's fashion store for Yohji Yamamoto in Tokyo. Begins designing for the Upperworld Hotel at Battersea Power Station, London.
2004 Begins designing Magis' headquarters in Treviso, Italy and the Holon Design Museum in Holon, Israel.
Participates in British Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale.
2006 Exhibits in Designing Modern Britain at the Design Museum, London.
Ron Arad was guest Editor of 1994 International Design Yearbook and Designer of the Year, 1994. His work has been widely featured in many design/architectural books and magazines worldwide.
He was Professor of Product Design at the Hochschule für Angewandte Kunst in Vienna from 1994-7, and Professor of Furniture Design at the Royal College of Art in London, 1997. He is currently Professor of Design Product at the RCA.
Ron Arad has run several design workshops for students, including those at the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein, Germany, Vitra Farm in France and Ravenna in Italy. He continues to lecture on his work regularly at universities and design schools worldwide.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2008 Guarded Thoughts. Friedman Benda, New York, November 6— December 20
Ron Arad, Centre Pompidou, Paris, November 20—January 26
Let's Play, Galerie Arums, Paris, May 30- July 10
2007 Restless, Friedman Benda, New York, NY
Bodyguards, Dolce & Gabbana, Milan, Italy
Paved with Good Intentions (2005), arums galerie, Paris, June 1-July 22
2006 THERE IS NO SOLUTION because there is no problem, Installation at 508 West 26th Street, NY. Barry Friedman Ltd., NY: September 14-30
Blo-Glo, Dolce & Gabbana, Milan, Italy
Blo-Jobs, Gallery Mourmans, Lanaken, Belgium
2005 Paved with Good Intentions, Installation at the Collins Building, Miami, FL Barry Friedman Ltd.: December 1-10
Ron Arad: A Retrospective Exhibition 1981-2004, Barry Friedman Ltd., NY: May 5 – June 24
Lo-rez-dolores-tabula-rasa, with Mike Figgis. Phillips de Pury & Company
New Works & Installations in Corian, Installation at Phillips, de Pury & Company, NY. Barry Friedman Ltd., NY: May 2 – June 10
Volumes and Voids, Museum of Contemporary Art, Indianapolis, Indiana: November 11 – January 21, 2006
2002 Two Floors, Galeria Marconi, Milan, Italy
2001 Delight in Dedark, Galeria Marconi, Milan, Italy
2000 Not Made By Hand Not Made in China, Galeria Marconi, Milan, Italy
Before and After Now, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK
1998 R.T.W., Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow, Scotland, UK
1997 Ron Arad: New Acquisitions, Montreal Museum of Decorative Arts, Canada
Ron Arad, The Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, Australia
Ron Arad and Ingo Maurer, Spazio Krizia, Milan, Italy
1996 Glasgow Festival of Architecture & Design, Scotland
Ron Arad and Ingo Maurer, Spazio Krizia, Milan, Italy
1995 Ron Arad, Gazi, Athens, Greece
The Work of Ron Arad, Museum of Applied Arts, Helsinki, Finland
Ron Arad and Ingo Maurer, Triennale, Milan, Italy
1994 L'Esprit du Nomade, Cartier Fondation, Paris, France
1993 Breeding in Captivity, Edward Totah Gallery, London, UK
Design in the 20th Century, Grand Palais, Paris, France
One Off and Short Runs, Centre for Contemporary Arts: Warsaw, Krakow, Prague
1991 A Break with Tradition, Rohska Museum, Gothenburg, Sweden
1990-95 Sticks and Stones, Vitra Design Museum, Touring Exhibition
1990 Ron Arad Recent Works, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Israel
1987 Nouvelles Tendences, Centre Georges Pompidou, France
Documenta 8, Kassel, Germany
1986 Intellectual Interiors, With P. Starck, R. Kawakubo, S. Kuramata. Seibo, Tokyo, Japan
Group Exhibitions
2007 Mod'If, arums Paris Gallery
Designing Modern Britain, Design Museum, London
2006 Graff, arums Paris Gallery
1987 Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Tel Aviv Museum, Tel Aviv
Triennale, Milan
Design Museum, London
Design Museum, Osaka
Awards/ Distinctions
2006 The Jerusalem Prize for Arts and Letters. Awarded by Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Israel
2005 Designer of the Year Award, FX magazine
2004 Designer of the Year Award, Architektur & Wohnen
2002 Finalist for the 2002 World Technology Award for Design
Royal Designer for Industry (RDI) in recognition of his 'sustained excellence in aesthetic and efficient design for industry'
Fellow of the World Technology Network
2001 Oribe Art & Design Award. Japan
Gio Ponti International Design Award. Denver, CO
Barcelona Primavera International Award for Design. Barcelona, Spain
Perrier Jouët Selfridges Design Prize, Co-winner. London, UK
1999 Design Plus Award. Frankfurt/Main, Germany
Internationaler Designpreis. Baden-Württemberg Design Center, Stuttgart, Germany
1994 Designer of the Year. Salon du Meuble, Paris, France
Work in Public Collections
Centre National d'Art Plastique, Paris, France
Design Museum, London, UK
Design Museum, Nürnberg, Germany
Design Museum, Osaka, Japan
Fond National d'Art Contemporain, Paris, France
Ghent Museum, Belgium
Landesmuseum Baden-Württemberg, Stuttgart, Germany
Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester, UK
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA
Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Montreal, Canada
Musée des Beaux Arts, Montreal, Canada
Musée National d'Art Moderne/Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, France
Museum of Arts and Design, New York, USA
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, USA
Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA
Neue Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, Germany
Powerhouse, Sydney, Australia
Rohsska Design Museum, Gothenburg, Sweden
Stedelijk Museum of Modern Art, Amsterdam, Netherlands
St Louis Art Museum, USA
Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv, Israel
Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK
Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein, Germany
Monographs
Ron Arad: Paved with Good Intentions. New York: Friedman Benda, 2007.
Ron Arad. New York: Barry Friedman Ltd., 2005.
Collings, Matthew. Ron Arad Talks to Matthew Collings about Designing Chairs, Vases, Buildings and… New York: Phaidon Publications, 2004.
Sudjic, Deyan. Ron Arad. London: Laurence King Publications, 1999.
Guidot, Raymond and Olivier Boissiere. Ron Arad. France: Dis Voir, 1998.
Albus, Volker. Design Classics Bookworm. Germany: Form Verlag, 1997.
Ron Arad Associates: One Off Three. London: Artemis Architectural Publishing, 1993.
Vegesack, Alexander von. Ron Arad. Germany: Vitra Design Museum, 1990.
Sudjic, Deyan. Restless Furniture. With introductions by Ettore Sottsass and Cedric Price. London: Fourth Estate, 1989.
Selected Articles and Essays
2007
"Record Français pour Ron Arad." La Gazette de L'Hotel Drouot, December 21, 2007.
"What's In: Shanghai-based Art and Design Entrepreneur Pearl Lam has an Unapologetically Pluralistic Point of View." Harper's Bazaar, November, 2007.
2006
"Ancient vs. Modern." Vogue Living: Special Issue, Fall/Winter 2006.
"Ron Arad: THERE IS NO SOLUTION because there is no problem." Gallery Guide, September, 2006.
"But is it Art?" and "Ahead of the Curve." Wallpaper, September, 2006.
UHmepbep, September, 2006.
"The Future of Design." Fast Company, July/August, 2006.
"The Road to Hell." Frame, July/August, 2006.
"High Limits: How Contemporary Art Collectors are Changing Today's Design World." House and Garden, June, 2006.
"Die Picassos des Möbeldesigns." Architectural Digest, June, 2006.
"Art Basel and Design Miami." Metropolitan Home, May, 2006.
"Palm Beach 3. What great things a little money can buy." Florida InsideOut, March/April, 2006.
"Mirror Image. Ron Arad's Sculptural Maze Leads Us on a Reflective Journey through Art Basel Miami." Surface, March, 2006.
"Turning the Tables." ArtNews, March, 2006.
"Artful Design at Miami's design.05." Modernism, Spring, 2006.
"Basel Miami Beach Art Fair." ICON, February 2006.
"Crafting a Collection." American Style, February, 2006.
"First Encounters." Departures Magazine, January/February, 2006.
2005
"In Search of a Sofa To Go Under the Schnabel." The New York Times, December 8, 2005.
"Searching for a Sofa To Go With the Schnabel." The New York Times, December 8, 2005.
"The AI Interview: Ron Arad." Art Info, December 6, 2005.
"design.05 Miami." Blueprint Directory, November/December 2005.
"Ron Arad: Trouble Maker." The Independent, August 28, 2005.
"The Creative Edge. How Luxury Influences the Mass Market." TIME Magazine, Summer, 2005.
"Ron Arad's Material Pleasures." Art +Auction, June, 2005.
"Feature. Ron Arad at Barry Friedman." Maine Antique Digest, June, 2005.
"Far from Arad Conditions." Wallpaper, May 2005.
"Furniture Flair." Town&Country, May 2005.
"Chairmaster." Artnet, May 2005.
"Milaan 2005." de Architect Interieur, May 2005.
"He'll Take Manhattan." Architect's Newspaper, May 11, 2005.
"Fash/Art Trinity to Watch: Arad, Miyake, Krakoff." The Daily News, May 4, 2005.
"Ron Arad Retrospective Exhibition Planned for Two NYC Locations. Antiques and The Arts Weekly, April 22, 2005.
"The Multifaceted Ron Arad." INTERVIEW. Metropolismag.com, April 19, 2005.
"Design Resolutionary." The New York Times Style Magazine, Spring 2005.
2004
"Ron Arad a Vicenza." Modo, 2004.
"Kindred Spirits (One of Them Winks)." The New York Times, October 3, 2004.
Feature: Adam Tihany. (Pictured: Ron Arad's After Spring). InsideOut, June 2004.
2003
Lee, Vinny. "Rebel, rebel." The Times Magazine, September 6, 2003.
"Destroy all categories: Ron Arad." Building, July 6, 2003.
2002
Ryan, Zoe. "Future Shock." Surface, no. 33, 2002.
Ellis, Walter. "Storm over 'visual rape' at the V&A." Independent on Sunday, July 23, 2002.
Sudjic, Deyan. "Pull up a car seat and make yourself at home." The Observer, June 18, 2002.
Glancey, Jonathan. "A name to conjure with." Intra, March, 2002.
2001
Marcus, George H. "Furniture with Attitude." Inside Magazine. Autumn, 2001.
Wingfield, Caroline. "Haute fidelity." The Independent Magazine, November 3, 2001.
Delrieu, François. "Around design with Ron Arad." Environment & Composites, no. 9. October, 2001.
Clements, Alison. "Selfridges opts to be a leading light on display." Retail Week, October 12, 2001.
Arad, Ron, Jan Kaplicky, ed. and John Wiley & Sons/Architectural Design. "Work that doesn't need to answer," Looking Back in Envy: 20th Century Art and Design Revisited, September, 2001.
2000
Sudjic, Deyan. "Winwand." Arts & Events-Canary Wharf, 2000.
"Exhibition of the week: Ron Arad, Victoria & Albert Museum." The Week, August 5, 2000.
Moore, Rowan. "How Ron Arad caused a rumpus at the V&A." Evening Standard, July 21, 2000.
Dorment, Richard. "V&A: Before & After—How was this disgrace allowed?" Daily Telegraph, July 19, 2000.
Julius, Corinne. "Enter the mind of a maverick." Evening Standard, June 21, 2000.
Saunders, Frances Stonor. "Professor of cool." New Statement, June 19, 2000.
Rawsthorn, Alice. "Still making a splash." Financial Times Weekend, June 17, 2000.
Gillilan, Leslie. "Pipe Dreams." The Guardian, January 27, 2000.
Field, Marcus. "Ron Arad is looking happy." Blueprint, December, 1999.
Gillilan, Leslie. "Well tempered rooms." The Independent on Sunday, May 23, 1999.
Niesewand, Nonie. "What do my creations actually do? Who cares?" The Independent, September 11, 1998.
Moore, Rowan. "Let's give the coffee table genius a crack at the big stuff." Evening Standard, September 8, 1998.
Gripper, Ali. "Iconoclast designer with lots of shelf life." Sunday Morning Herald (Sydney), August 11, 1997.
Greenwood, Helen. "Shaper of things to come." Sunday Morning Herald (Sydney), July 26, 1997.
Sudjic, Deyan. "Evolution of the metal man," Independent on Sunday, June 8, 1997.
Wrzecionkowdka, Elzbieta. "Still more to be done." The Warsaw Voice, December 18, 1994.