Ron Arad b. 1951

Ron Arad was born in Tel Aviv in 1951 and attended the Bezaele Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem from 1971-73. He moved to London to attend the Architectural Association, encountering a creative environment that emphasized ideas over technique. Inspired by Gaetano Pesce, Arad became interested in using industrial materials in domestic settings. He co-founded his London design studio and workshop, One-Off with Caroline Thorman in 1981. That same year, Arad created his seminal Rover chairs made with scavenged materials. Throughout the 80s, Arad explored the possibilities of sheet steel, opting to shape and alter it by hand, imparting a distinctive rough finish that would become a signature of his work. From 1997-2009, Arad was the head of the Design Product Department at the Royal College of Art in London. In 2008, Ron Arad Architects was established; two years later, the Design Museum in Holon, Israel was completed and received much international acclaim. Along with his studio work, Arad has produced a number of designs for companies such as Vitra, Alessi and Cassina to name a few.