Lina Oberon + Carolina Galan

Colombia

Lina was born in Colombia in 1972, but she has lived and worked in Milan for over fifteen years. Graduated as Industrial Designer in Medellìn, Colombia at the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana she got a master in Bionics and Design at the Istituto Europeo di Design Milan, Italy in 1997.
In 2000 she started working as Design director for Totaltool studio mainly running concept strategic design projects and product design for important clients such us SVGomma (awarded with a Compasso D'oro selection 2004), Q_Free (Urban Ticket Design, awarded with a Compasso D'oro selection 2007) and Play+ (Intrecci was selected for “D come Design, la mano, la mente, il cuore” show, Museo Nazionale di Scienze Naturali, Turin 2008).
She founded and managed the “Design and Bionics” group at UPB in Colombia, while she worked as a teacher. Back in Italy, she held classes and international workshops about strategic design.
She also have worked for Fragile leading product design projects for the cosmetic industry and she collaborated with Focusdesign, partner of Technogym Brembo in the wellness design field.
She worked for Studio Villa as product designer developing projects for Eutron (USB Smart cart reader. award winner industrial design Smau 2001), Promelit LG (Telephone award winner industrial design Smau 2002).
Since 2009 she has been working as design consultant with Serralunga, DesignMesa ,Tognana Porcellane – Globe Project with the graphic designer Stefano Mandato -, Deborah group Italia, Porcelanosa – Entasi Project with architect Giulio Ceppi - and MDF Italia.
She designed the new modular sofa Thea for MDF Italia together with the fashion designer Carolina Galan. In this creation Lina has expressed her own disciplinary approach – developed over the years and continuously evolving – aimed at an aesthetic, innovative and emotional synthesis.

Carolina Galan, was born in Colombia. She graduated in Architecture in 1994 at UPB - Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana- in Medellin. After experiencing a job as an architect at Arquitectura Interior Studio in Medellin, she attended a Master in Interior Design at Salamanca University in Spain.
Back to Colombia she was asked to join the Architecture School of UPB as assistant professor. She created and directed the Master in Interior Design. At the same time she had been working as partner of an important Architecture studio, collaborating on projects of interior design.
In 2001, she decided to continue her experience in a creative discipline, trying to exploit her passion for fashion and established the sportwear company SKIMA.
From 2002 to 2003 she was Marketing Director of ESPRIT Colombia and South America franchising. In Milan, in 2004-5 she attended the Marangoni Institute and Burgo Institute. Atteding a stage at Vivienne Westwood she improved her sensibility for materials, textures and draping. She brought these values in her own women prêt-à-porter fashion company established in Milan in 2008.
In 2014 she came back to interior designing, working on research and development for the creation, with the industrial designer Lina Obregon, of the THEA sofà for MDF Italia to be presented at the 2015 Salone del Mobile in Milan.