Dezeen Magazine

Patricia Urquiola designs "warm and masculine" collection for Georg Jensen

Spanish designer Patricia Urquiola's first collaboration with Danish metalware brand Georg Jensen includes upside-down jugs and a set of tilted vases (+ slideshow).

The Urkiola collection features pitchers, bowls, vases, trays and candle holders, all made from mirror-polished stainless steel. The pieces have cylindrical sections with ridged patterns, and smooth, angled sides.

Patricia Urquiola designs "warm and masculine" collection for Georg Jensen
Patricia Urquiola worked alongside the studio Georg Jensen to create a homeware collection

The pitchers has a handle at its base, while candle holders are made from several steel blades joined together. Georg Jensen has also experimented with a new finish, adding several pieces that contrast rose gold-coloured elements with silver.

"My imagination was generously allowed to run wild, but stainless steel is a new material for me," said the designer, who was named art director at Italian brand Cassina in 2015.

Patricia Urquiola designs "warm and masculine" collection for Georg Jensen
The Urkiola collection includes pitchers, bowls, vases and candle holders, all made from mirror-polished stainless steel

"The simplicity of stainless steel feels warm and masculine with its PVD finish, and the stripes – which were not easy to accomplish – give it an unusual elegance."

To design the range, Urquiola delved into the company's archives, referring back to its Bernadotte collection, which features similar ribbed patterns.

Patricia Urquiola designs "warm and masculine" collection for Georg Jensen
The Urkiola pitchers have handles placed at the base of the container

The Urkiola range is the latest in a series of high-profile collaborations by the brand, which partnered with the late Zaha Hadid to design a collection of silver jewellery.

The company also raised eyebrows with an £82,000 silver tea set, designed by Marc Newson and featuring mammoth tusk handles.

The collaborations are part of an attempt – led by CEO David Chu, who joined the company three years ago – to shake up the company's "dusty" reputation by reinvigorating its history of artistic partnerships.

Patricia Urquiola designs "warm and masculine" collection for Georg Jensen
The Urkiola candle holder is made from several blades of steel joined together

"We are probably a designer's brand," Chu told Dezeen in an interview. "It's a fantastic position to be in. It's like being the most beautiful girl at the party: you get the most choice."