Ron Arad (born 1951 in Tel Aviv, Israel) studied at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem as well as at the Architectural Association of London where he studied under Peter Cook, the founder of Archigram; Nigel Coates, Peter Wilson, and Zaha Hadid were his classmates. He quickly developed artistic and cultural interests outside architecture, and his work became increasingly oriented towards design and non-rhetorical artistic uses of materials. In 1981, with Dennis Groves and Caroline Thorman, he set up One Off, the design agency that made its successful debut with steel furniture. As a sculptor and craftsman who has taught himself to cut sheet steel, he has produced furniture that is both emotional and sensual as well as aggressively light and practical. He has collaborated with several important design manufacturers such as Alessi, Artemide, Bonaldo, Cappellini, Cassina, Draenert, Driade, Fiam, Ingo Maurer, Kartell, Magis, Moroso, Rosenthal, Serralunga, Vitra, and Zeus Noto.