Antonio Rodriguez

Born in Spain in 1963, Antonio Rodriguez started studying architecture at the Polytechnic of Valencia. After a visit to a design exhibition in Valencia he decided to study industrial design too at the School of Applied Arts of Valencia where took his degree in 1989. This was followed up with a second thesis in ‘Black & Decker tools to use in the home’ at the Istituto Europe di Design in Milan in 1992. Back in Valencia in 1992, he followed his own industrial design studio established in 1989, but moved back to Milan in the following year to freelance, as he felt that Italian entrepreneurs had a more highly developed understanding of the potential to be gained from working with design and designers.

In the nineties, a growing focus on designing in Milan for clients in Japan soon also developed into a working relationship with the Taipei Design Centre in Milan. In Milan he started a five-year stint of practical, project-based teaching at the Istituto Europeo di Design (2000-2005). Antonio Rodriguez joined Matteo Thun & Partners in 2000 to work on product design, contributing significantly to the development of products in vitreous china for Catalano, tap and shower systems for Isy and the Illy bar accessories collection, among others. Antonio Rodriguez was made a partner at MTP in 2003, where he is responsible for the partnership’s flagship activity of industrial design.