Guest Designer at MonBlari
Designing Beyond the Object
Aldo Cibic is an Italian designer and founder of Cibicworkshop. His practice spans objects, interiors and the environments of everyday life. His collaboration with MonBlari brings this broad perspective to the bathroom through the ARMCHAIR collection.
THE DESIGNER
Born in Schio, Italy, in 1955, Aldo Cibic emerged within a period of experimentation in Italian design. In 1981, while a partner at Sottsass Associati, he became a founding member of Memphis.
That early experience forms part of a career that has continued across disciplines. Through Cibicworkshop, his practice brings together design and research, considering individual objects alongside interiors and the wider settings in which people live.
For MonBlari, this perspective provides a meaningful starting point for collaboration: considering the bathtub as an object with a place in the home, a relationship to its surroundings and a role in everyday routines.
1981
Memphis, Milan
As a partner at Sottsass Associati, Cibic became a founding member of Memphis, participating in a formative chapter of experimental Italian design.
2004
Venice Architecture Biennale
Presented at the Venice Architecture Biennale, Microrealities explored the relationship between people, places and the possibilities of everyday life.
2010
Venice Architecture Biennale
Rethinking Happiness continued this investigation through proposals for communities and environments that could create opportunities for meeting, exchange and shared experience.
DESIGN APPROACH
Cibic’s work encourages a wider view of an object’s surroundings. A piece of furniture belongs within a room, while a room takes its character from the activities and relationships it accommodates.
Seen through this perspective, design involves more than the outline of a finished piece. It also concerns how people approach it, spend time around it and make it part of their lives.
This provides a useful way to understand his collaboration with MonBlari. The bathroom becomes part of a broader domestic setting, where an object’s visual character can contribute to the atmosphere of a familiar routine.
DESIGN APPROACH
Alongside his design practice, Cibic has developed a longstanding involvement in teaching. Tongji University’s College of Design and Innovation identifies him as a Professor of Practice, and his teaching experience also includes Politecnico di Milano, IUAV in Venice and Domus Academy.
His works and drawings are represented in institutional collections including the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam and the Centre Pompidou in Paris.
These connections place his practice within an ongoing exchange between making, research and education.
2022
Italian Republic
Aldo Cibic was awarded the rank of Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic on December 27, 2022.
Aldo Cibic’s collaboration with MonBlari takes shape in the ARMCHAIR collection. Its furniture-like character introduces a different visual language to the freestanding bathtub.
The raised back, rounded contours and sculptural feet recall the presence of a lounge chair. These details give the bathtub a recognizable profile and establish a connection with the furniture and textures around it.
The collection offers a way to consider the bathroom as part of the home’s wider design vocabulary, bringing a familiar reference into a different setting.
A Familiar Form, Reconsidered
ARMCHAIR brings a furniture-inspired silhouette to the bathroom. Its elevated back and softly rounded body create a distinctive outline, while the sculptural feet give the form a sense of lift.
The collection’s character can be appreciated both on its own and in relation to surrounding furnishings. Its curves offer a point of connection with upholstered seating, rounded tables and other softer elements in an interior.
