Bio

Rihards Funts sees design as a form of art that unites rational and emotional perception of objects, where aesthetic values of the object have roots in craftsmanship and engineering and become visible through the functionality of objects and highlight the value of the selected material. The useful things should be made beautiful.

He has been running design studio since 2008. The specific character of the studio is formed by combining design, craft, art, science and social responsibility. The studio works in exhibition, environmental, industrial and graphic design.

In 2016 he created MAD International Summer School of Design, an immersive intensive course where artisans, design students, professors, and experts from various fields work and live together for a determined period of time to create design pieces with the purpose. In MAD’s philosophy, new values for design and craftsmanship can only emerge by developing creative works and understanding the two disciplines deeply, blurring the boundaries between the fields of design, art, crafts, and science.