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María Sánchez (Mendoza, 1954)

“Design is not just making nice things, it is also an environmental act, a political act, a technological act. It is about human behavior; it means reflecting on the devices we create, either material or digital, and their impact”.

María studied Industrial Design in the Universidad Nacional de Cuyo; she got a scholarship to attend specialization courses taught by Hans Hollein and Carl Auböck at the Hochschule für Angewandte Kunst in Vienna, Austria. Between 1981 and 1982, she attended a class dictated by Italian architect and designer Ettore Sottsass who subsequently invited her to work in his Milan studio where she oversaw the production of objects, jewelry, furniture and interiors for homes, offices and exhibitions. She was also invited to participate in the iconic Memphis Group, where she designed the “Squash” ashtray in a style that fostered the quintessential Memphis aesthetic of the 80, with bold bright colors and asymmetrical geometric shapes.

After this, she became Design Director for the Salton company, and conceived products for various firms, as Ermenegildo Zegna, Alessi, Montedison y Robur (Italy); Max Klein and Republic Moulding (USA) and M+K (Hong Kong), and acted as a consultant for Easy, Essen, Kreo, Lumilagro, Modulor y Neila (Argentina) and Imetec electrodomésticos (Italy). She was a founding member of O2 International, a pioneer organization in ecological design created in Denmark in 1989. Its members researched the effect of materials and technology on the environment, and developed eco-friendly methods for mass production.

Since her return to Argentina in 1994, she has collaborated as an expert in strategic design with several companies and governmental institutions. She directed the Design Area of the National Fund for the Arts, and is an academic researcher and professor at several universities in Argentina, Italy, Mexico, Panama and Chile.
Es consultora de diseño estratégico para muchas empresas y administraciones gubernamentales y dirige el Fondo Nacional de las Artes. Es también investigadora académica y profesora en varias universidades de Argentina, Italia, México, Panamá y Chile.