Ambra Medda

Ambra Medda (born 1982)^[1][2] is a London based design consultant who is the co-founder and director of Design Miami. She also co-founded the design website L’ArcoBaleno and headed a department at Christie's auction house.

Ambra Medda
Born	1982 Rhodes, Greece
Nationality	British, Italian, Greek, Austrian
Occupation	Design consultant
Known for	Design Miami
Website	http://www.ambrameddaoffice.com

Career

In 2005, Medda co-founded Design Miami with real estate developer Craig Robins and was the fair's director until 2010.^[3][4] The annual event began as a salon for Italian design.^[5] A sister show, Design Miami Basel, was launched in Switzerland.^[3] As director, Medda created partnerships with notable galleries, collectors and companies. After stepping down, she continued to sit on committees as a creative consultant for the fair.^[6]

In 2013, Medda co-founded an e-commerce design website named L’ArcoBaleno.^[7][8] The site included collaborations with David Adjaye, Tom Dixon and Reed Krakoff.^[5][9] In 2015, she became Global Creative Director of the "20/21 Design" department at Christie's.^[7][8] Her department focused on auctioning design objects from the 20th and 21st century.^[7][8] In 2016, she founded Ambra Medda Office (AMO), a design consultancy firm where she advises clients such as Airbnb and Louis Vuitton.^[10][11] Medda is also involved with the Design Museum in London as a committee and trustee member.^[10][12]

Medda's other projects include curating an exhibit for Madrid artist, José María Cano in 2004^[13][14] and writing the book "Destination: Limited-Edition Design" in 2008.^[15][16] She collaborated with Fendi in 2009 for the project Craft Punk^[17] and helped design a collection of handbags for Roger Vivier in 2014.^[18][19][20] In 2018, she organized visits to the Villa Borsani for the Milan Furniture Fair in Italy.^[21][22]

Medda has been described as being an "icon of the style" by Madame Figaro.^[23] Her design aesthetic has been interpreted by Alix Browne as "creating tension with unexpected combinations by mixing old and new".^[17]

Background

Medda was born in Greece, to a Sardinian mother and Austrian father, and later lived in London and Milan.^{[5][17][24][23]} Growing up, she attended auctions with her mother, who was a design dealer and co-founder of the Themes and Variations gallery in London.^[25][26] She studied Chinese Language and Culture and Asian Art at University of London,^[27][26] and was previously married to American singer Damian Kulash.^[28][29] She currently lives in London with Edward Barber and their two daughters.^[24]