Konstantin Grcic

Konstantin Grcic was born in Munich, Germany, in 1965 
He studied design as a cabinetmaker at the John Makepeace School for Craftsmen in Wood before studying Design at the Royal College of Art in London from 1988 to 1990.

Konstantin Grcic creates essential, simple, minimalist industrial products. What distinguishes it from "fashionable minimalism" is defining function in human terms, combining formal rigor with mental acuity and humor.

Since founding his own studio, Konstantin Grcic Industrial Design (KGID) in Munich in 1991 (today the studio is based in Berlin), he has been developing furniture and lighting components and products for some of Europe's leading design companies such as Agape, Authentics, Classicon, Driade, Flos, Iittala, Krups, Lamy, Magis, Moormann, Moroso, Muji, Plank, SCP, Thomas Rosenthal.
The studio is active in diverse fields ranging from industrial design projects, design editions, exhibition design and collaborations in the fields of architecture and fashion.

Many of his products have received prestigious design awards. In October 2000 Grcic was named "Guest of Honour" at the Biennale Interieur in Kortrijk (Belgium) where he presented his work in an exhibition. The Mayday lamp produced by Flos is included in the permanent collection of the MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) in New York and won the Compasso D'Oro in 2001.

In 2004 KGID was responsible for the scenography of the "design en stock" exhibition for the Fonds National d'Art Contemporain, France.
Since 2003 KGID has been working on the development of a new line of kitchen appliances for KRUPS (part of Groupe SEB).
In June 2005 PHAIDON Press, London, will launch the first comprehensive monograph on the work of Konstantin Grcic Industrial Design. The 240-page volume is edited by Florian Böhm.

In 2009, Grcic was appointed Honorary Royal Designer for Industry by the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA/UK).
As of 2020, Grcic is a professor at the Hamburg University of Fine Arts (Hochschule für Bildende Künste) and was appointed member of the Academy of Arts (Akademie der Künste), Berlin in 2021.

Grcic works with various institutional clients such as the Venice Architecture Biennale, the Musée des Art Décoratifs (Paris), the Instituto Svizzero (Rome), the Fonds national d'art contemporain (FNAC), the Serpentine Gallery (London), the St Etienne Design Biennial, the Vitra Design Museum (Weil am Rhein) and the MUDAM (Luxembourg).

Many of his products have won international design awards, such as the Compasso d'Oro and the German Design Award in Gold.
The most important design museums in the world (including MoMA in New York, Center Pompidou in Paris, Die Neue Sammlung in Munich) have included his projects in their permanent collections.

Products by Konstantin Grcic:

MayDay lamp by Flos, 2000
The name evokes the celebration of Labor Day, but also the need for help in emergency situations. The shape recalls the versatility of a safety lamp. MayDay with its appearance and democratic and industrial appeal obtained the Compasso D'Oro in 2001.

Chair One by Magis, 2003
Today a classic of modern design, Chair One is Grcic's best-known product. The audacity and courage of Magis in the creation of the die-cast chair. The shape is characterized by the geometric-structural motif composed of isosceles triangles.

Miura stool by Plank, 2005
Stackable one-piece design. The Miura bar stool by Plank features Grcic's geometric style, maintaining comfort and practicality. Made from injection-molded reinforced polypropylene, it is durable, lightweight and economical.

Myto chair by Plank, 2007
Part of MoMA's permanent collection, the Myto Chair is another award-winning product from Grcic. Compasso D'Oro, ten years after the May Day Lamp. Grcic has created a monobloc and sinuous chair, exploiting the characteristics of the new material, BASF Ultradur High Speed plastic.

OK lamp by Flos, 2014
Forty years after the debut of Achille Castiglioni's Parentesi di Flos, Konstantin Grcic thought of the cone-shaped weight, which is easier to install. Incandescent light bulb is a flat disk with the electronic motor inserted into the handle that moves the lamp.