Sicily

1989 - 09

Turin

2009 - 15

London

2015 - present

Through narratives, I propose futures built on synergies, interactions fostered by storytelling, empathy through strong aesthetics.

Born and raised in Sicily, I’ve grown with and being influenced by the intense presence of natural, historical, folkloristic and mystical elements.
A primordial tacit culture, made of symbols, subtexts and unspoken emotions, permeated and shaped my creative sensibility.

With my designs I try to investigate and envision a world built on tangible materiality and delicate symbolic messages.

Despite the tendency of civilization to structure and regulate, instinctual emotions, irrational impulses, entropic attitudes to chaos and wilderness shape the most sincere traits of our world.
As the daughter of a rural culture profoundly connected with the land, I believe human intelligence and sensibility have a crucial role to play in the generation of a superorganic natural world, with fundamental responsibilities to embrace in order to reach the greater ecological and ecosystemic balance.

I try to materialise the outcome of my research into something that is not purely functional, that has a hidden, latent purpose with a leverage on instinctive feelings, active at a second intellectual level of the user’s consciousness.
Cultural and contextual awareness is what I try to build before and after any design exercise.

My approach to design is holistic, and emerges from a background that combines a range of disciplines, from energy engineering to product design. My work and training gravitate towards the necessity to find a compromise and a fluid dialogue between knowledge, humanity and the environment.

I consider myself a multipotential creative.
My design language aims to generate visceral behavioural and ethical reactions.

EXHIBITIONS

(Check the Exhibitions Page HERE)

• ARTE LAGUNA PRIZE 2020 - UPCOMING
(21 Mar- 13 Apr 2020, Venice)

- ARSENALE DI VENEZIA -
Sestiere Castello
Campo della Tana 2169/F
30122, Venice

• LONDON DESIGN FESTIVAL 2019
(14 - 22 Sep 2019, London)

- MINT -
RAW Exhibition
2 North Terrace
Alexander Square
SW3 2BA, London

- OPENCELL -
#Biodesign Here Now
Shepherds Bush
Old Laundry Yard
W12 8EZ, London

• Royal College of Art DEGREE SHOW 2019
(29 Jun – 7 Jul 2019, London)

- KENSINGTON CAMPUS -
Kensington Gore
South Kensington
SW7 2EU, London

• MILAN DESIGN WEEK 2019
(9 - 14 Apr 2019, Milan)

- VENTURAFUTURE -

BASE Milano (2 entrances)
Via Tortona 54, 20144, Milan, Italy
Via Bergognone 34, 20144, Milan, Italy

• LONDON DESIGN FESTIVAL 2018
(15 - 23 Sep 2018, London)

- RADO starPRIZE UK 2018 -
Rado Exhibition @ designjunction
The Barge House
Oxo Tower Wharf
Barge House Street
SE1 9PH, London

- ONELESS FELLOWSHIP -
Brompton Design District
1st Floor, 3 Yeoman’s Row
SW3 2AL, London

• ROYAL COLLEGE OF ART : ‘The Future is_______’
(25 - 27 May 2018, London)

Design Products Y1 final exhibition
Royal College of Art
Kensington Gore, SW7 2EU,
London, UK

• MILAN DESIGN WEEK 2018
(17 - 21 April 2018, Milan)

- BLEND-HOUSE -
Floristeria, 4th Floor
Via Giovanni Ventura, 15
20134 Milano MI, Italy

AWARDS

2020 - ARTE LAGUNA PRIZE - FINALIST (Resoults announced in April 2020)

2019 - VIADUCT MATERIAL FUND

2018 - RADO STAR PRIZE UK

2018-19 - BURBERRY DESIGN SCOLARSHIP

2017 - A’ DESIGN AWARD WINNER - SILVER for LA SMILZA

2014 - AURONIA CONTEST, Operae Torino, 1 st place

2012 - ENRICO CIRIO TALENT AWARD #1, 6th place

PUBLICATIONS

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2020 - DESIGN INSIDER: https://www.designinsiderlive.com/hosting-life-by-jim-biddulph/

2019 - DIS-UP!: https://www.disup.com/martina-taranto-relativistic-objects-objetos-relativistas/

2019 - STUDENT DESIGN: https://www.instagram.com/p/B0S15CFA7F_/

2019 - TASARLAYANLAR: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bw1Ed13gxCZ/

2018 - DESIGN HUNTER: : http://www.designhunter.co.uk/home/2018/10/9/the-rado-star-prize

2018 - RADO: https://radostarprize.rado.com/uk/winners-2018

2017 - WE HEART: https://www.we-heart.com/2019/08/14/the-top-20-a-design-award-winners/
https://www.we-heart.com/2017/04/21/design-awards-competition-2017-winners/

COLLABORATIONS

2020 - Room On The Roof at De Bijenkorf (Amsterdam) - ‘Together Twenty-Twenty’ (Window design)

2019 - Hypersuper + Store Project for Nike - ‘Inflatable (Chair) making Workshop’ ( Tutoring)

2015 - Fondazione Achille Castiglioni - ‘Creatori Creativi’ (Graduation Project)

2015 - Redivivus - ‘Gli specchi di Baudelaire’ Graduation Project

THESIS PROJECTS

2019 - Superorganicity. Ecobiont; how design can convince humans to join the biosphere in a superorganism. (PhD proposal)

2018 - A Criminal Trinity. A study of criminal objects, criminal people, criminal circumstances.

2015 - Creative Creators. Design democratization and design responsibilities in the age of digital fabrication.

CONTACTS

martina.taranto@network.rca.ac.uk
+44 (0) 7 93 998 3316
Instagram: @martina.taranto

Martina Taranto

is an Italian designer, artist and innovator.

Her work and research try to build a fluid dialogue between different brenches of knowledge,human challenges and environmental causes.