José Martinez-Medina

He started work in the family workshop in Valencia (Spain) at the age of 14, alternating work with evening drawing classes at the Valencia School of Fine Arts. At the age of 15, he designed his first line of furniture inspired by Art Deco. His keen sense of observation and analysis of the transformation that was taking place in the furniture design field for interior decoration projects all over the world enabled him to develop his own criteria and sensitiveness in the 1950s, in addition to his distinctive project development methodology. For over 30 years he worked together with his brothers Juan and Vicente, and one of his finest moments was the rise of the brand Martinez-Medina, where he was the creative master behind the business. In the early 80s he decided to continue his activities alone, forging his own strategies while maintaining his former creative capacity, and began establishing relationships with international design personalities. As a designer, he always seemed to be ahead of current market needs, producing designs that eventually became timeless and highly regarded: the M66 bookcase and the Soria armchair (1966), the Oikos armchair and the Cáceres line (1967), the Lloyd and Fórmula chairs (1970), and the MT programme (also in 1970), to name just a few.