Giopato & Coombes

Cristiana Giopato and Christopher Coombes have been working together for about 6 years. Their collaboration is a continual discussion of aesthetic and cultural motives together with the advance of both functional and productive methods. The aim is the realization of a project which does not fall to compromise but which unites these two fundamentals rising above each single element. In 2004 their first research project began, with the guidance and encouragement of George Sowden for whom Christopher worked for three years, with the formation of 30 international emerging designers in the exhibition ?In Dust We Trust? leading to the formation of the company Industreal. The same year they met Vittorio Livi who commissioned their first industrial design project, ?Jonker?, a hexagonal coffee table for Fiam Italia. Another important figure in their development is Patricia Urquiola, where Cristiana worked for three years, who in 2006 selected them to participate in the 'Sezione D'Invito' of the Promosedia competition, where they had the chance to work under the guidance of Marco Romanelli and exhibit at Spazio Orlandi. In 2007 they were selected by Andrea Branzi and Silvana Annicchiarico to participate in the exhibition New Italian Design, which has led to further collaborations with the Triennale Di Milano such as Prime Cup. In 2010 at the exhibition Uncovered, they presented the lamp ?Tomahawk?, which has been produced as a limited edition in partnership with the gallery ?Dilmos?, and the armchair ?Alfred?. Cristiana Giopato and Christopher Coombes are currently working in two main fields: the first is mass manufacturing where industrial and market realities are ever present and the second creates new realities that question the fundamentals of our industry, investigating new possibilites within a particular creative or manufacturing process. They collaborate with Glass Idromassaggi, Fiam Italia, Livit by Fiam, Miniforms, Novamobili, Dilmos, Rossana Orlandi, La Triennale Di Milano and Industreal. Their work has been published in magazines around the world, including ?The New York Times? (exhibition In Dust We Trust), ?Interni? Korea (monograph), ?Il Sole 24 Ore? Italy (Mermaid chair), ?Interni? Italy (Uncovered exhibition), ?Icon? UK (Abutilao lamp), ?Glamour? Italy (Bird On A Wire lamp), ?Elle Decor? Italy (Gypsy coffee table), ?AD? Russia (Jonker coffee table) and in the books: ?The International Design Yearbook 2007? (Patricia Uquiola, Jennifer Hudson), ?D Come Design? (Anty Pansera, Luisa Bocchietto) and ?Material Thoughts? (David Bramston).

Back