Italian and Austrian by heritage and living and working in cultures from Europe to Asia, Mario Gagliardi's work carries the cadence of Central European precision, Mediterranean emotion, and Asian sensibility.
In the studios of the University of Applied Arts in Vienna, Mario studied under Alessandro Mendini and Richard Sapper, two true legends of design.
From Mendini he learned that objects are never merely objects, but carriers of emotion, memory, and cultural meaning. From Sapper came a counterbalancing discipline: structural intelligence and an engineer's respect for how things are made. Mario's own approach is based on the concept of the hermeneutic spiral, where inquiry, experimentation and continuous improvement shape the creative process.
Hermeneutic Spiral
Early works such as award-winning digital textiles for Somma 1867 and concept-driven luxury objects for Bergdorf Goodman in New York and Takashimaya in Tokyo already hinted at a designer less interested in superfluous styling than in systems of experience.
But it was his move into Asia that truly expanded his design language. In South Korea, as advisor to the Korea Institute of Design Promotion, professor at Hongik University, and later Chief Designer at Korean multinational LG, Mario learned to think at multiple scales simultaneously: from the intimate ritual of a cosmetics jar to the strategic architecture of a global brand.
His creation of The Whoo did more than build a successful product line: it reframed Korean heritage as a contemporary luxury narrative, helping ignite the global K-beauty movement. Here, design became culture, storytelling, and identity in motion.
Culture, Narrative and Identity
In Qatar, as CEO of Design at Qatar Foundation, Gagliardi translated this thinking into urban form, shaping the conceptual foundations of Msheireb Downtown Doha.
Sustainability, tradition, and future living converged in a single vision. Cities, like objects, were no longer containers but living systems. Design was revealed as a tool for shaping how people feel and connect.
Returning to Europe, his work with the Austrian digital education system further reinforced a conviction that design operates beyond products: it organizes experiences, relationships, and environments. Teaching as professor in Denmark and writing influential essays on experience design, Mario articulated what his career had already proven: that the designer's true material is context.
Context
Today, Mario runs his own design practice in Vienna, focused on crafting ways of living.
Mario is interested in how objects and environments shape space and movement, how they interact and choreograph lifestyles.
It is from these interests that the Mario Gagliardi, Mario & Casa and De Caldes labels emerged in the 2020s.
lifestyle
Mario sees the material world - whether it is fashion, electronics, vehicles, handbags, rugs, furniture or interiors - as chapters of developing narratives. Each piece is conceived as a character, a sculptural agent that shapes how an experience unfolds.
Lived Experience
His work embodies the spirit of the mise-en-scene: A handbag is a portable architectural statement. A rug becomes a landscape. A chair becomes a sculptural protagonist on the domestic stage.
Mise-en-Scene
Mario's continued engagement with the international design discourse - through exhibitions at Vienna Art Week, Downtown Design Dubai, and the Venice Design Biennial; publications with institutions like the European Academy of Design and Design Management Institute; and keynotes from London to Beijing - ensures that the studio remains in dialogue with contemporary practice while maintaining its singular vision.
Dialogue
Through his labels, Mario asserts his central belief: that true luxury today is not accumulation, but congruity. Not decoration, but alignment. Here, design is a quiet revolution that reshapes how we inhabit the world, one considered object, one composed space, one lived experience at a time.
Congruity
Mario Gagliardi Design
Live.
Better.
Designed.
We give shape to ideas and character to the things people live with.
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