One of the most influential designers and architects of our time, Ron Arad, is often called the Man of steel, as the sheet metal is his trademark.

Throughout his remarkable 30-year career, he has consistently avoided typical architectural canons and clichés while experimenting with diverse shapes and materials. Working primarily with steel, aluminum, and polyamide, he has a wide array of innovative objects, ranging from furniture to futuristic architectural spaces.

“Steel is a very forgiving material: you can bend it, you can weld it, you can drill it, you can cut it, you can change your mind, you can squash it and get amazing stuff. The first pieces were very amateurish and primitive, and then they became like a piece of jewelry.”
– Ron Arad

The “Pressed Flowers” (2013), previously exhibited at Pinacoteca Agnelli in Italy and Design Museum Holon in Israel, is a set of colorful vintage Fiat 500s cars. The title is inspired by dried and pressed flowers, preserving their vibrant colors and unique shapes as beautiful memories for years. Similarly, the cars from the series have been flattened by a 500-ton shipyard press, transforming them into cartoonish art objects. The functional cars have lost their utilitarian value, yet they immortalize the memories they once held and symbolize a new form of art. The cars that were once meant for motion now hang on a wall, compressed into two dimensions.

“Fiat 500 is a national symbol for Italy and our generation, and it’s a very endearing vehicle. Everyone has stories about their first Fiat, or a first kiss in a Fiat. We’re not destroying the cars, we’re immortalising them.” – Ron Arad

“The Last Train” (2013–2016) is an innovative digital canvas that utilizes a glass surface instead of traditional paper and an iPad app to replicate the artist’s movements. With the aid of a ring equipped with a cone-shaped diamond, artists can “scratch out” their designs, transforming the precious stone into a symbol of nature’s power rather than mere luxury. Renowned artists such as Francesco Clemente, Anthony Gormley, Christian Marclay, David Shrigley, Cornelia Parker, and more have collaborated on this project. Their collective efforts have resulted in a unique collection of “sketches,” showcasing the limitless creative potential of this cutting-edge technology. Through “The Last Train”, artists are exploring new avenues of expression and pushing the boundaries of traditional art forms.

“I was trying to catch the last train from Naples and I arrived on the platform just as the doors had closed. The train stood there for just a brief moment, but I managed to notice a guy in the empty train car doing amazing drawings on the glass with his ring. It reminded me of Picasso’s images of drawing in the air. I didn’t know how to get out of Naples that night, but I felt that the unusual behavior I had witnessed was compensation enough for the missed train.” – Ron Arad

“D-Sofa” (1993) is one of Ron Arad’s iconic design objects, embodying his architectural style with undulating flowing forms and inventive design that combines industrial materials into a language of volume and sinuous lines: “If I could steal any piece from my exhibition (at the Museum of Modern Art in New York), it would be this D-Sofa,” – said Arad.

The “New Ping Pong” (2008–2015), with its concave design, perfectly represents Arad’s signature style, featuring a metallic facade that demonstrates strength, malleability, and a spirit of minimalism. The polished high-gloss stainless-steel curved table was specifically designed to decelerate the pace of the game, allowing for longer rallies. This transformation turns the typically high-speed game into a more communicative pastime.

Ron Arad’s selected public projects include: ‘Big Blue’ in Canary Wharf (London), ‘Evergreen!’ (Tokyo), ‘Kesher’ (Tel Aviv), and ‘Vortext’ (Seoul). In 2016, a mobile 16-meter ‘Spyre’ sculpture graced the entrance to the Royal Academy of Arts in London. The works by Ron Arad have been displayed at Centre Pompidou (Paris), MoMA (New York), Barbican Center (London), Pinacoteca Agnelli (Turin) and Design Museum (Holon).