Pond Ice Bucket in Steel by Aldo Cibic for Paola C

Self-taught architect-designer Aldo Cibic was born in 1955 in Schio, Italy. In 1977, Cibic moved to Milan to work with Ettore Sottsass, and became his partner at Sottsass Associati in 1980. That same year, under the guidance of Sottsass, Cibic was among the designers who cofounded the Memphis Group, the iconic, postmodern collective active until 1987. Its highly experimental approach had a major impact on Cibic throughout his career. In 1989, he established his own office, Cibic & Partners, in Milan. The studio produces industrial design pieces, multimedia communications, exhibition design, and architectural and interior design projects for a roster of Italian and international clients.

In addition to his own design work, Cibic also teaches industrial design at the Domus Academy, the Milan Polytechnic, and the University of Architecture in Venice. He is an honorary professor at Shanghai’s Tongji University. He also takes on a variety of collaborative research projects, and, as of 2000, has served as the art director and designer at Paola C. in Milan.

Cibic’s work has been exhibited internationally for years. Recently, in 2006, architectural historian and professor Kurt W. Forster invited Cibic to participate in the Venice Architecture Biennale, where he presented the project Microrealities within an exhibition called Metamorph. In 2010, he was invited once again to Venice: this time, Cibic’s project Rethinking Happiness was included in the exhibition People Meet in Architecture, directed by Japanese architect Kazuyo Sejima.

During the late 1980s, Cibic founded the investigative design project, Cibic Workshop, out of his Milan studio space, aiming to develop new design methods by working collaboratively with businesses, schools, and other research centers on interdisciplinary projects ranging from environment development to product design. Since its inception, Cibic Workshop has grown to include a second Italian location in Vicenza.

Paola C. was established in 2000 in Milan by curator Paola Coin. The gallery and showroom commissions and presents contemporary tableware collections in varied materials by an international roster of designers, including Jaime Hayon, Bijoy Jain, Meriç Kara, and Matteo Cibic. In 2000, Paola C. began an ongoing collaboration with Milan-based designer Aldo Cibic, who continues to act as the art director of Paola C.’s in-house collections. These consist of cooperative projects and exhibitions with design schools around the world, including the Royal College of Art, London; Fabrica, Treviso, Italy; Tonji University of Shanghai; and Atelier Prey, Design and Art Faculty, Free University of Bozen, Italy.