Gala Fernández Montero
Born in Madrid in 1969, designer Gala Fernández studied art and design at Facultad de Bellas Artes de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid, graduating in 1992 with a Bachelor’s degree. She did her postgraduate studies in industrial design at the European Institute of Design in Milan, earning her Master’s degree in 1994. In 1995, Fernández cofounded a Madrid studio called Assembla Design with Riccardo Marzullo. In 2000, she moved to Treviso, Italy to work with Jaime Hayon at the Benetton Group’s Fabrica studio. Together, they oversaw the development of multiple interior and graphic design projects in the studio until 2004.
In 2005, Fernández moved to London and established her eponymous design studio. Fernández’s multidisciplinary work ranges from art and design to curating, and interior and product design to graphic design and publishing. In 2006, she returned to Madrid and began an ongoing collaboration with artist and designer Oscar Mariné. In 2008, she became studio manager for El Ultimo Grito in Berlin, but kept a foot in Madrid, where she returned to live the subsequent couple of years; in 2011, she moved to Boisbuchet, France to direct the summer courses at the esteemed Domaine de Boisbuchet.
Since December 2012, Fernández has divided her time between Mexico City, where she works at Piopio Design Labs in partnership with Berta Roda and ROW Studio, and Madrid, where she still collaborates with Mariné on a variety of projects. In 2013, Fernández helped launch Abierto Mexicano de Diseño (the Mexico City Design Festival), and continues to act as a partner and consultant in the project. She has taught and lectured at numerous institutions, including the Instituto Europeo di Design in Madrid; Faculdade de Arquitectura da Universidade de Lisboa (FAUTL) in Lisbon; NAi Nederland Architectuurinstutuut in Rotterdam; and both the Royal College of Art and Goldsmiths in London.
Website: piopiolabs.com
Instagram: @galacarlota
Twitter: @piopiolabs
Facebook: piopiolabs
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
To be alive and healthy close to your beloved.
What is your current state of mind?
Alive and kicking.
Which talent would you most like to have?
Musical & mathematical mind.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
Often I speak too much...
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Yet to come...
If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?
A stone covered with moss.
Where would you most like to live?
Everywhere! It would be great to have enough time to live in every hidden corner of this beautiful planet.
What is your most treasured possession?
My life.
What is your favorite occupation?
Drawing.
What is your most marked characteristic?
Vitality.
What do you most value in your friends?
Love & joy.
Who are your favorite writers?
Ovidio, Margherite Dumas, Jean Cocteau, Virginia Woolf, Marcel Proust, Cormac McCarthy, Kurt Vonnegut, too many...
Who is your hero of fiction?
Silver Surfer.
What is it that you most dislike?
Cruelty.