Jorge Pensi was born in Buenos Aires in 1946, where he studied architecture at the University of Buenos Aires. But it was in Barcelona, a city he chose as his creative homeland in 1977, where he found fertile ground to develop his own language. A formal idiom that is precise, sober and profoundly emotional, one that has placed his work among the great references of international design.
In 1984, he founded Pensi Design Studio in the heart of the Gothic Quarter, which has since become a laboratory of ideas where industrial design, ephemeral architecture, lighting and furniture converge, always guided by a clear philosophy: to create objects that bring beauty, serenity and meaning, and that withstand the passage of time beyond trends.
Pensi has said on more than one occasion that he designs as if he were composing music: seeking harmony, rhythm and balance. It is no surprise, then, that a poetics of form is present in each of his creations. The Toledo chair is perhaps his most universal work, but by no means the only one. Other iconic pieces, such as the Gorka chair, the Orfila collection, the Regina lamp or the Duna armchair, have been produced by companies including Thonet, Akaba, Andreu World, Resol, B.Lux, Knoll, Cassina, Pedrali, Steelcase, Janus et Cie, and Otazen, among many others.
His studio has worked with clients in more than thirty countries, always maintaining a rigorous, elegant and essential approach. Though deeply connected to contemporary Spanish design, Jorge Pensi’s universe knows no borders: what matters to him is the honesty of the object, its ability to move us, quietly, without ostentation.
In 1997, he received Spain’s National Design Award, a recognition of his coherence, innovation and contribution to the development of industrial design. His work is also part of the permanent collections of institutions such as the Vitra Design Museum, the Museu del Disseny de Barcelona and the Design Museum in London.
Today, Pensi Design Studio continues its activity with a multidisciplinary and international team from its seaside space in Barcelona’s Olympic Village, at the heart of the city’s new design landscape. There, among sketches, prototypes and scale models, Pensi continues to cultivate what is essential: the silence of well-considered forms, lightness as a virtue, and usefulness as poetry.
The current team at Pensi Design Studio is formed by Jorge Pensi, Toni Casares, Constanze Schütz and Roman Proubasta.