Konstantin Grcic

Background

Konstantin Grcic (born 1965 in Munich) is a German industrial designer. According to Wikipedia he grew up in Wuppertal, the son of a Belgrade-born father who collected 18th-century art and a mother who was an art dealer. He trained as a cabinet maker at the John Makepeace School for Craftsmen in Wood before studying design at the Royal College of Art in London, and worked as a studio assistant to Jasper Morrison until 1990. He set up his own practice in 1991 in Munich; Magis notes that Konstantin Grcic Design is now based in Berlin.

Signature Style

Grcic's work relies on geometric forms, unusual angles and hard edges, with what The New York Times called a rigorous focus on logic, utility and simplicity. Magis writes that he defines function in human terms, combining formal strictness with mental acuity and humour, and that his work rests on careful research into art, design and architecture and a passion for technology and materials. He moves between high-tech materials and hand-made paper models.

Notable Works

Wikipedia lists the Refolo trolley (1995), Wanda dish rack (1997), Mayday lamp (1998), ES shelf (1999), Chaos chair (2001), Chair_One for Magis, Miura stool (2006) and Myto chair (2008). His Compasso d'Oro awards came for Mayday (Flos, 2001), Myto (Plank, 2011) and the OK lamp (Flos, 2016). For Magis he has also designed Stool_One, Chair_One_4Star, the Wild Bunch series, 360°, Bell Chair, South and Bishop.

Legacy

His designs are in the permanent collections of MoMA, the Centre Pompidou and Die Neue Sammlung. He became a Royal Designer for Industry in 2009, was named Designer of the Year at Design Miami in 2010 and received the German Design Award Personality Award in 2016. From 2020 to 2024 he was a professor at the Hamburg University of Fine Arts.