Born in Lugano, Switzerland in 1952, designer Mattia Bonetti trained at the Centro Scolastico per l’Industria Artistica in Lugano. He moved to Paris in 1973, starting out as a photographer and textile designer before shifting his focus in 1989 to furniture and interior design. Since then, he has created limited-edition and one-off furniture and objects; designs for private and public environments in France and abroad; and a selection of industrial products. His work is characterized by its fantastic and dramatic nature, always beginning as freehand sketches, which are then realized by the same craftsmen Bonetti has worked with for decades. Notable projects include the liturgical furniture for Metz Saint-Etienne Cathedral in France (2007), furniture for decorator Jacques Grange for the Mark Hotel in New York (2009), and the global design of the Hotel Cristal Champs Elysées in Paris (2009).
Between 1980 and 2002, Bonetti collaborated with French designer Elisabeth Garouste on furniture and interior decoration projects. Described as “new-Baroque” or “neo-Barbaric,” their work was notable for the unusual material choices - including rocks, leather, skin, and logs - as well as a variety of references spanning the Middle Ages, Africa and the Venetian Baroque.
Bonetti’s work is included in numerous public collections, including the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, and the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York.
He lives and works in Paris.
