Aged 11, when Luca first asked himself the question "what will I do when I am older?" he told himself "I want to design cars". Life then took many turns and whilst today he doesn't even own a car, he certainly hasn't lost his appetite for design.
Born in Milan in 1981, Luca soaked in his parents' careers (engineer and interior designer) by shaping his interests and building an awareness for both design aesthetics and technical drawing. After a scientific secondary education, he drifted towards media studies at university until, in 2006, he moved to the United Kingdom.
Between London, Lincoln and Leeds, over 10 years, he had several careers, from video game tester to digital project manager but it's only when back in London in 2011 that Luca started growing a new interest for furniture.
In London, he purchased several pieces from local designers and makers, and when he moved to Barcelona in 2017 he met Gastón Gil who introduced him further into furniture making.
After co-founding Hoioh Design in 2019 and following Gastón's disappearance later that year, Luca decided to pick up the sketching board and developed his own collections in collaboration with his business partner Roger Llimós and producer Marc Whitelaw.
]]>Gastón Gil, born in Olavarría, Argentina in 1972, was a photographer and carpenter but most of all an artist. He studied Industrial Design at the U.B.A University of Buenos Aires, where he dropped out after 3 years, in 1995.
Following the Argentinian crisis in 2001, he left his motherland to move to Europe, to pursue a career in photography. After 2 years travelling between Italy and Paris, he finally found in Barcelona his home away from home, where he started studying photography at the IEFC.
After getting married and divorced, he decided to channel his creativity in a project about rebirth, collecting furniture and abandoned wood from the streets of Barcelona and giving them new life in a beautifully crafted collection he called rE.
After struggling to make a living out of his art, he started working as a carpenter in Poble Sec (a borough of Barcelona), near Montjuic, where in his atelier he created several bespoke furniture pieces for local people and friends.
Working with Zulema Josa, in 2017, he designed and built IN, a family of objects created to take part in the Aldo Morelato Foundation international competition at the FuoriSalone of Milan, where they won the Aldo Morelato Foundation Award for the Professionals category.
In 2018, together with Luca Castiglioni and Roger Llimós, he started Hoioh Design with the aim to produce and sell his and others' designs via the online portal www.hoiohdesign.com.
Unfortunately, Gastón tragically passed away in October 2019, just a few weeks before the company launch.
Luca and Roger decided to honour his memory and great talent by continuing the Hoioh Design project to allow people in Spain and Europe to discover his work and passion for design.
]]>Zulema Josa, born in Barcelona, 1983, is an architect, designer and teacher. She finished her studies at the Escola Tècnica Superior d’Arquitectura del Vallès UPC in 2010 with a project about “Transformation of the Cebeci Han around the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul”.
In 2011, she co-founded the architecture studio Rehab-me with some classmates and friends, focusing their practice on mindful refurbishment of buildings and spaces, in order to reuse and highlight their historical features and memory.
Rehab-me is located at the co-working Ca l’Agustí, in Poble Sec, where she met Gastón Gil. Working with Gastón Gil, in 2017, she designed IN, a family of objects created to take part in the XIII edition of the Aldo Morelato Foundation international competition “Il mobile significante”, where they won the Aldo Morelato Foundation Award for the Professionals category during the Milano Design Week 2018.
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