Tec graduate and professor Miguel Angel Jiménez shares his journey in Mexican design, which has had a national and international impact.
“The responsibility of every designer and architect is to give meaning, to make sense of things, and to avoid banality.”
These were the words of Miguel Ángel Jiménez, a Tec graduate who is now a professor at the School of Architecture, Art, and Design on the Tec’s State of Mexico campus, who has consolidated his career by participating in important forums such as the 10th Biennial of Architecture in Mexico and Salone Satellite.
Salone Satellite features designers under 35 and is part of Salone del Mobile, one of the world’s most important design and furniture exhibitions, held annually during Milan Design Week.
In 2018, Jiménez became the first Mexican to receive the Banca Intesa Sanpaolo award for his sustainable furniture design: Claro.
This award, given by Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo during Salone Satellite in Milan, recognizes projects that highlight creativity, functionality, and commitment to sustainability.
“Being recognized internationally at Salone Satellite in Milan, one of the world’s most important platforms for young designers, is a great honor that I cherish every day,” said Jiménez.
Journey and purpose
Jiménez graduated with a degree in Architecture from the Tec in the State of Mexico in 2006. He first went to Italy in 2013, pursuing a master’s degree in Industrial Design at Milan Polytechnic.
“I consider myself lucky. I have great memories of my years at the Tec, the people I met, and the skills I developed. The journey continues,” he said.
This decision allowed him to work in studios and design offices not only in Mexico, but also in Italy and Slovenia.
Some of the projects he participated in received awards at the 10th Biennial of Architecture in Mexico and the 2015 Red Dot Design Awards.
“The responsibility of the designer and architect is to give meaning and make sense of things.”
In 2017, he founded his own studio under the name MutarQ, a nickname he had used since college. There, he works on architecture and design projects, with Claro marking his debut as an industrial designer.
With this project, he participated in the Satellite Awards in 2018, making history as the first Mexican to receive the Banca Intesa Sanpaolo award.
Currently, he has developed a wide variety of projects with MutarQ, ranging from lighting design and architecture to ceramics, furniture, and home accessories.
Following this achievement, Miguel Angel Jiménez returned to the Tec as a professor at the School of Architecture, Art, and Design on the Tec’s Mexico City campuses, where he has been responsible for design, product, and systems projects.
An unexpected project
Claro emerged as a personal project from a need in his home: a new bookcase. Jiménez began designing with just this idea in mind, not knowing where it would take him.
“It was a personal project, driven by the need to have a bookcase that fit my space, taste, and budget.
“I wanted to use as little material as possible to reduce costs, without knowing that this would involve many technical challenges,” recalls the academic.
Inspired by Japanese assemblies and furniture designed to be assembled by the user, the bookshelf combines tradition with technology, using birch plywood panels and beech crossbars.
This piece of furniture is assembled without the need for adhesives or fasteners such as screws or nails. Its assembly system is precise, almost like a puzzle, giving it great structural strength.
The result was a bookshelf that weighs only 7 kilos but can hold many books and other objects without warping, maintaining, according to Jiménez, an elegant and understated structure.
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