OSKAR ZIĘTA , Architect, process designer, artist.
The interdisciplinary endeavours of Oskar Zięta seamlessly blend design, art, engineering, and bionics. Each object represents a meticulous study of the properties of metal, techniques for stabilizing it, and optimization of form. They embody the outcomes of complete processes—simultaneously controlled and unrestrained. These are enduring, monomaterial artifacts that are remarkably lightweight. In their artistic forms, they manifest a profound fascination with nature, emerging technologies, and above all, the material itself. He pursued the initial exploration of steel properties at ETH Zurich. Fascinated by constructivism, Zięta posed the question of what the world of bionic metal structures could look like, harnessing the potential of new technologies. Nearly two decades after his first inquiries into steel, he is now hailed as a sculptor 4.0, with his creations proclaimed “furniture of the future.” At the core of Zięta’s achievements lies his proprietary method of internal pressure forming of steel, known as FiDU (Freie Innendruck Umformung). It is thanks to FiDU that the iconic objects of the Plopp stool and Ultraleggera chair have come into existence, as well as public sculptures: Wir (2017) at the Galeria Północna in Warsaw, the Nawa city pavilion on Daliowa Island in Wrocław (2017), Hempel in Wrocław (2024), and Whispers in London (2025).
Oskar Zięta's work has received numerous prestigious awards, including the Red Dot Design Award, the Audi Mentor Preis, the Must Have, and the Schweizer Design Preis. In 2019, the NAWA pavilion was nominated for the prestigious Mies van der Rohe Award. Oskar Zięta has collaborated with brands such as Audi, Architonic, Rado, and Pirelli. His work is found in dozens of museums worldwide, including the Museum für Gestaltung in Zurich, the Pinakothek in Munich, the Jerke Museum, and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Oskar Zięta resides in Wrocław (Poland), where he runs Zieta Studio.
Zieta Studio is an award-winning Process Design Studio experimenting with advanced metal forming. Through a synergy of technology, art and design, they deliver innovative forms to those who are equally fascinated by both the material and its narrative. Their works are the result of years of study of the properties of metal and the proprietary FiDU method of forming steel with an internal pressure to create objects/sculptures that provoke the senses. Normally designers draw up a shape or a particular object and then attempt to adapt the technology to it. Zięta controls the production process and the actual form results from it. They call it “process design”. Driven by minimalism in form, they create mostly mono-material metal objects that are long-lasting and fully recyclable. Never ceasing to challenge themselves and the material for constant progress they are ready to shape the future.
