Karim Rashid was born in Cairo, Egypt in 1960; half English, half Egyptian and raised mostly in Canada. He received a Bachelor of Industrial Design in 1982 from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. He pursued graduate design studies in Naples, Italy, with Ettore Sottsass and others, then moved to Milan for one year at the Rodolfo Bonetto Studio. On his return to Canada, he worked for seven years with KAN Industrial Designers. While at KAN, he also co-founded and designed the Babel Fashion Collection and North from 1985-91. He opened his own practice in New York City in 1993. He has worked for numerous clients globally such as Prada, Giorgio Armani, Foscarini, Guzzini, Zanotta, Estee Lauder, Issey Miyake and during the years he won numerous awards like The Good Design Award (2003) for the Kurve Chair for Neinkamper and the I.D. Magazine’s Annual Design Review (2002). He has over 70 objects in permanent collections and his design work has been exhibited in many art museums in the USA (Museum of Modern Art, New York, Chicago Athenaeum, Chicago; Miami Museum of Contemporary Art), in Europa (British Design Museum, London,UK; Groningen Museum, Groningen, Holland) and in the rest of the world (Tokyo Gas, Tokyo, Japan). He has been a juror for several international competitions and a contributing writer for design periodicals. He was a full-time Associate Professor in Industrial Design for 10 years at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pratt Institute, Rhode Island School of Design, and the Ontario College of Art and lectures internationally. Karim has released two books, ‘I Want To Change The World’ on Rizzoli Universe, 2001, and the International Design Yearbook 18, for Laurence King Publishing, UK as well as having curated two CDs on Seattle boutique label, Neverstop. Currently, Karim is working on his second book for Rizzoli Universe, titled Evolution.

Bonaldo SPA Italy

Bonaldo has been active for more than fifty years at the national and international level thanks to products that meet the many shades relating to contemporary dwelling style: chairs, tables, sofas, beds and accessories. Having achieved complete know-how in the industrialization of metalworking, their present-day designs and production also make use of other types of manufacturing and materials, such as aluminum die-casting, cold molded flexible polyurethane and polypropylene. Different materials co-exist in perfect harmony, with the total reliability of the most technologically advanced manufacturing methods and the skill of their specialized technicians.

Bonaldo believes that only by bringing together different types of experience can enrich creativity and innovation: that means using not one but many languages and designers from various countries thus contributing to the innovative development of design ideas. The imagination and the communication of the company are in continuous evolution and pay attention to the European and Extra-European cultural movements.