Exhibition

Miguel Milá

Design Pioneer

26/02/2024

Foto: Poldo Pomes

Design and architecture have always been present in the life of Miguel Milá (Barcelona, 1931). He is the nephew of Pere – developer of Gaudí’s La Pedrera–, and the brother of Alfonso – architect who, in collaboration with Federico Correa, built important works in Barcelona in the 1980s – and of Leopoldo, prominent industrial designer and founder of Polinax and DAE. Influenced by this fertile family environment, from a young age he stood out for his drawing talent and started studying architecture, but soon his passion for interior design took the lead. After six years he decided to leave architecture school to focus fully on design, setting up the platform Tramo and becoming a regular collaborator of architects like Coderch.

Milá’s work is characterized by the constant search for simplicity, away from ostentation and the superfluous. In his more than seventy years of career he has produced emblematic pieces like the TMM and Cesta lamps, or the Salvador chair. Considered to be one of the first and most influential Spanish industrial designers, his long career is now reviewed in a major retrospective exhibition in the context of the Madrid Design Festival; and in two books, one edited by Lumen that reflects his principles and ideas, and a monograph including his most iconic works published by Apartamento.