Gonzalo Milá

Born in 1967, Gonzalo Milà began studying Architecture in Barcelona. He combined his studies with his work at the interior and industrial design studio of Miguel Milà, and also collaborated with Luis Victory, with whom he won second prize in Castilla-La Mancha s Department of Industry furniture awards for the Agarrón Espiga clothes hanger. His work with small objects and his close attention to every project phase led him to study industrial design at Barcelona s ELISAVA School of Design and Engineering.

In the early 1990s, Milà joined forces with a group of architects, designers and photographers to establish the Gòtic Sud studio, refurbishing a large industrial building in Barcelona s historic centre. There, he partnered with Juan Carlos Inés to create the Inés-Milà industrial design studio. Over the years they submitted projects to a number of contests and fairs, and designed a variety of objects, such as the Tutombas Pranha lounger-apparatus for back stretches, which won first prize at the 1994 Valencia Furniture Fair; Sillarga and Sicurta, two granite loungers for Barcelona s Bogatell beach; the Teula bottle rack; and the Segado area divider, a fun idea for delimiting spaces on terraces or at street markets.

In 1999, Gonzalo Milà joined the budding Urban Division of Santa & Cole, now called Urbidermis, where he collaborated in the production and editing departments. Two years later, in 2001, he decided to go it alone again, with the aim of inventing "small but useful things that surprise on a daily basis, using new technologies or by applying traditional ones to new concepts." Milà soon became actively engaged in establishing Milà Diseño, the studio where he worked for three years alongside his father and sister. Notable projects from this time include the reconstruction of a period flat in Gaudí s La Pedrera building and the creation of the Rama family of luminaires (2000-2004), winner of the ADI FAD Silver Delta Award 2001, deserved, according to the jury s report, "due to the versatility afforded by being able to adjust the height and direction of the lights", catering for any area of lighting with a unified formal solution.

Gonzalo Milà is a leading figure in the development of urban furniture for Santa & Cole Urbidermis, having many of his designs featured in our catalogues. His design versatility extended to several European cities, contributing to 21st century urban development with an approach according to which, "the shape of urban furniture has to be very clean, discreet, contributing to the street without filling it".

Gonzalo Milà currently works in his studio designing urban garden lighting and small objects that contribute to the day-to-day comfort of both indoor and outdoor spaces.