From 8th February to 17th March 2024, Madrid Design Festival presents the Miguel Milá show, curated by Gonzalo Milá and Claudia Oliva houses more than 200 pieces, prototypes, plans and original drawings.

The exhibition Miguel Milá, Diseñador (pre)industrial, marks the peak of the exceptional career of this pioneering figure in the creation and development of design in Spain, also recognised internationally (Compasso d'Oro 2008). The exhibition interweaves the personal trajectory and creations of Miguel Milá (Barcelona, 1931) through eight rooms that house more than 200 pieces - from prototypes to his most recent works - plans and original drawings. It is his largest retrospective to date and heads the programme of the Madrid Design Festival. It can be visited at the Fernán Gómez cultural centre (Pl. de Colón, 4) until 17 March.

The exhibition has been curated by Claudia Oliva and Gonzalo Milá, son of Miguel Milá and also an industrial designer. Both curators affirm that not only will the largest number of pieces be exhibited, but that "they will be accompanied by a very personal voice about who Miguel Milá is". The idea is to "thread the journey through his life and work" with pieces but also with drawings and images of his beginnings.

With the support of Santa&Cole and the collaboration of FINSA, the exhibition invites you to immerse yourself in the creative mind of Milá, revealing how his influence has left a distinctive mark on the evolution of our everyday environment. A tribute to Miguel Milá's creative vision and enduring contribution to the world of design.

His career

Throughout his extensive career, Miguel Milá has maintained a constant search for simplicity. His approach is based on economy of resources and a rejection of ostentation and waste. To design, according to Miguel Milá, is to simplify the complex in order to make it beautiful. Each piece, apparently simple in its image, harbours a wealth of ingenious resources that reveal the depth of his creative thinking.

Moreover, aesthetics is not something deliberately sought after, but a genuine result of the process of refining forms. "In good designs there is a meeting point between form, design, material and economy that tells you that it could only be like this," says the designer.

Miguel Milá's work is built on the fundamental triad of function, ingenuity and technology, creating timeless designs that stand the test of time and continue to sell. Examples include the TMM lamp, or the Cesta, both published by Santa & Cole; the Salvador chair, a reissue of Trenat; the Altar table recently published by Kettal or the Porciones table published by Kendo.

Miguel Milá maintains that the key lies in a good idea and simple execution. His work stands as a testimony to timelessness and durability. His designs transcend passing fashions and remain current, fusing the innovative with the everyday and have the capacity to rise and become classics.

Initiatory context

The exhibition tour begins by exploring the life of Miguel Milá, a young man with a talent for drawing, brought up in a bourgeois family in the war and post-war period.   

From 1950, during his university years, he worked as an interior designer with the architects Alfonso Milá (brother) and Federico Correa, a partnership that marked the beginning of his career at a time of transformation when everything was to be designed. Later, his main mentor was the architect Jose Antonio Coderch, who left an indelible mark on him.       

In 1957 he founded the Tramo platform and began the independent production of his creations. Subsequently, he immersed himself in pioneering business initiatives such as Polinax, founded by his brother Leopoldo, and the furniture publishing company GRES, a daring project led by the businesswomen Montserrat Tayà, Montserrat Tort and Mª Rosa Ventós.

The workshop
Miguel Milá not only practices design as a craft, but elevates it to the status of a profession through his commitment to the workshop. This workshop is a sacred space where craftsmanship and the ability to experiment in design converge to give shape to exceptional creations. Milá understands that the atelier is a dynamic place of production, which adapts and evolves according to the changing demands of the environment and the moment. 

He worked closely with small industries and semi-craft workshops that still worked by hand. He adopted a unique approach in revaluing existing craft traditions, fusing them with Mediterranean culture and way of life, interpreted from a modern perspective.

“My defence of craftsmanship and the craft process has no other purpose than to defend man's desire to participate in the processes of things."

Miguel Milá

From the domestic environment to the urban space
For Miguel Milá, the domestic space is a canvas where every detail is carefully considered. His philosophy is clear: "To design is to see life with a magnifying glass". This meticulous approach is reflected in his deep understanding of how design can profoundly influence people's lifestyles. It is innovative precisely because it focuses on the user. The aesthetic and pleasurable experience of use is also a fundamental component of his designs.         

In moving into the design of urban space, Miguel Milá embraces comfort and friendliness as criteria for populating public space. Again, his approach is not limited to aesthetics alone, but is immersed in the importance of creating environments that promote wellbeing and is committed to improving the quality of life in cities. Thus, comfort goes beyond ergonomics; it involves creating pleasant places for people. Friendliness, on the other hand, translates into the design of spaces that foster social interaction and a sense of community. 

Milá's meticulous research on urban benches and seating reveals his dedication to improving street furniture and leads to the redefinition of the standards that existed in Spain up to that point.





"A design professional must maintain a rational stance based on an absolutely humanistic training. Intuition must be enriched by cultivating it and then solving problems in the most rational way possible because in this way the solutions will be spontaneous and human."

Miguel Milá



Address  Fernán Gómez Centro Cultural de la Villa, Plaza de Colón 4 - Madrid, Spain