Ilaria Bianchi

Italian product and furniture designer Ilaria Bianchi was born in Pisa in 1989. She studied industrial design at the Polytechnic University of Turin from 2010-2012, graduating with a Bachelor’s degree. In 2012, Bianchi interned at Frederik Paulsen Studio in Stockholm. Following undergrad, she continued her design research by traveling across Europe, living and working in Sweden, Spain, and Great Britain. During this period, she worked for Kristoffer Sundin in Stockholm (2012), Somerset House and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London (2013); and as an assistant at Pablo Lìmon Studio in London (2013). 

Between 2013 and 2015, Bianchi studied furniture, ceramics, and jewelry at Central Saint Martins in London, ultimately earning her Master’s degree. While there, she developed a focus on sustainable design, wherein materials often dictate the evolution of her design process. Her graduation project, Cast-Away Furniture (an ongoing series begun in 2013) reclaims discarded objects found on the streets of London and upcycles and combines them into new objects that are then shared in public spaces. At the same times that the series is a critique of consumerist society, by placing these pieces in public, Bianchi also wishes to observe what happens when “objects that are generally perceived as belonging to the private sphere are left ‘unsupervised’ for public use . . . Since our attachment to privately owned objects is so strong, perhaps generating a stronger sense of collective ownership of our public spaces could revive our concern towards what we share as a community.”

Between 2013 and 2015, while still a student at Central Saint Martins, Bianchi also worked as an interior designer at BoConcept in Notting Hill. After school, in 2015, she established her own practice in Milan. Since 2015, she has been represented by Dimore Gallery; since 2016, she has also collaborated with Milan-based designer Giacomo Moor.

To date, other standout projects include Blueprint Table (2016) for Dimore Gallery, presented at MiArt 2016, and Fènomena, a sensorial exhibition made in collaboration with Milan-based collective The Ladies’ Room for Fuorisalone 2017 and sponsored by 5Vie design district. As of this writing, her work has been exhibited by Dimore Gallery, Galleria Luisa Delle Piane, Triennale di Milano, and the Victoria & Albert Museum and at London Design Festival, MiArt Fair, and Salone del Mobile Milan.