Alla designer Patricia Urquiola va il Premio Internazionale Leonardo da Vinci alla Carriera

The Florence Biennale announces the awarding of the prestigious International "Leonardo da Vinci" Lifetime Achievement Award (for Design) to Patricia Urquiola, an internationally renowned architect, designer, and art director. The award ceremony is scheduled for Thursday, October 23, 2025. The decision by the Biennale's Board, along with the Curatorial Committee and the International Jury, is justified with the following words:
"For the constant research, fearless experimentation, and extraordinary talent with which she has designed spaces, objects, and production processes intended to improve people's lives and built with respect for nature; our recognition goes to an architect and designer who has been able to embrace and develop the legacy of her mentor Achille Castiglioni, projecting design and architecture towards new horizons that go beyond the limits of what has been previously explored, representing a remarkable example of hybridization and unification of opposites."
Trained at the Polytechnic University of Madrid and Milan, where she graduated with Achille Castiglioni, Patricia Urquiola now works with great versatility in fields ranging from product design to architecture, from graphic installations to interiors. Since 2015, she has been the Art Director of Cassina and collaborates with important design companies such as Flos, Moroso, Driade, GAN, Andreu World, Glas Italia, Kettal, Kvadrat, and international groups like Haworth, BMW, Boeing, Louis Vuitton, Missoni, Mandarin Oriental Hotels, Four Seasons, Marriott Group, Starbucks, Ferrari, and Swarovski. In Spain, she has been awarded the Gold Medal for Fine Arts and the Cross of Isabella the Catholic. In 2023, she was distinguished as one of the new Honorary Ambassadors of Marca España. In 2024, she was appointed a member of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando. In the same year, she was awarded the title of Knight of the Republic by the President of the Italian Republic in recognition of her merits.
Having received numerous international awards and recognitions, Patricia Urquiola has been named Designer of the Year by Wallpaper, Elle Decor International, AD Spain, Architektur&Wohnen, and many other publications. Her creations are part of the permanent collections of some of the world's most important museums, including the MoMa in New York, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, the Triennale Museum in Milan, the Museum of Design in Munich, the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, the Vitra Design Museum in Basel, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, the Design Museum in Zurich, the Stedelijk Museum of modern and contemporary art in Amsterdam, the Design Museum in Barcelona, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Her career has profoundly marked the landscape of contemporary design, characterized by soft forms, sensory materials, and a strong focus on sustainability.

Regarded as an exemplar for other artists and designers, from October 18th and throughout the duration of the Biennale, ample space will be dedicated to some of Patricia Urquiola's masterpieces in an exhibition space entirely reserved for her. The awarding of the International "Leonardo da Vinci" Lifetime Achievement Award (Design) will take place on Thursday, October 23, at the theater area of the Florence Biennale (Spadolini Pavilion, Fortezza da Basso, Florence) in a ceremony open to the public.

The renowned Spanish designer and architect commented on receiving the award: "It is an honor to receive the Leonardo da Vinci Award at the Florence Biennale, a recognition that celebrates curiosity and the ability to change. I have had the pleasure of working in Florence, a city that preserves the art of thought and transformation. Designing, for me, is a continuous gesture of experimentation, made up of questions rather than answers. It is not just about finding solutions, but about inhabiting the process. And this award – bearing the name of someone who always united art, science, and curiosity – reminds me that design is a way to engage with complexity, without simplifying it."

Past recipients of the award in the design category include Salvatore and Wanda Ferragamo (2019), Elsa Peretti of Tiffany & Co. (2019), Paula Scher (2019), Vivienne Westwood (2021), and Santiago Calatrava (2023).

The 15th edition of the international exhibition of contemporary art and design has the central theme "The Sublime Essence of Light and Darkness. Concepts of Dualism and Unity in Contemporary Art and Design" and will take place at the Fortezza da Basso in Florence from October 18 to 26, 2025, with a rich calendar of collateral events such as conferences, exhibitions, performances, screenings, and educational initiatives, offering various opportunities for interaction between artists and visitors.