Konstantin Grcic was born in Munich, Germany in 1965. After training as a cabinet maker at Parnham College in England he studied Design at the Royal College of Art in London from 1988-1990. Since setting up his own design practice Konstantin Grcic Industrial Design in Munich in 1991 he has developed furniture, products and lighting for some of Europe’s leading design companies. Grcic’s most well-known designs include the Chair One for Magis and the Diana series of sheet metal side tables for ClassiCon, all of which Aram Store stock.

Among contemporary furniture manufacturers, Mattiazzi, a family owned producer of wooden furniture in Udine, Italy, is uncommon. While many producers in that region rely on third party factories and work in diverse materials, Mattiazzi operates with their own machines and hands, and has developed a healthy obsession for woodworking. Since 1978, when brothers Nevio and Fabiano Mattiazzi founded the company, Mattiazzi has steadily cultivated its local manufacturing culture. Each of their network of wood shops has its own focus, from milling to lacquering, and a particular process always belongs to a specific part of town. Their highly specialized craftsmen operate the most sophisticated machinery available to the wood industry. An eight-axis CNC milling machine allows wood to take the complex shapes associated with injection-molded plastic. Operating such a machine is an art and Mattiazzi disproves the modern myth that mechanized manufacturing is not a craft.