Rodrigo Torres

Background

Rodrigo Torres is described on his own website as a Colombian-Italian designer specialized in product design. He graduated in industrial design from the Jorge Tadeo Lozano University in Bogotá and took a master's degree in product design at Domus Academy in Milan; Poliform's designer page dates the degree to 1998 and the master's to 1999 and gives his birth as Bogotá in 1976. After five years at Stefano Giovannoni's studio in Milan he founded his own studio in 2004.

Signature Style

The sources describe his work through clients and awards rather than a written credo. His studio works across furniture, lighting, tableware, kitchen products and taps, for clients such as Alessi, Poliform, Oras, Cassina IXC, Landscapeforms, Nike, Microsoft (with MNML), Domodinamica, Potocco, Challenger, MUMA, Zavotti and Zientte.

Notable Works

• Manta chair for Poliform, which his website lists with the 2008 Lapiz de Acero award
• Morfeo bed sofa for Domodinamica, the 2005 Lapiz de Acero award
• Alessi Sense smart faucet for Oras/Hansa, with the 2016 Lapiz de Acero and Red Dot awards
• Torres lighting collection and Take-Out connected seating for Landscapeforms
• Delta chair and table for Zientte; Blis desk and Aria armchair for MUMA; Maku outdoor collection for Zavotti

Legacy

His website lists awards from 2005 to 2025, including Lapiz de Acero in 2005, 2008, 2016 and 2023, several Red Dot and Good Design awards, and a 2018 Cooper Hewitt National Design Awards finalist mention. He has been a visiting professor and project leader in the product and interaction design masters at Domus Academy and a visiting professor at the Istituto Europeo di Design in Turin, and has given conferences in Italy, Mexico and Colombia.