The Ministry of Culture has awarded industrial designer André Ricard the 2025 Gold Medal for Merit in the Fine Arts, one of the country’s most prestigious cultural distinctions. This award recognises individuals and institutions that have excelled in artistic and cultural creation or have made significant contributions to the dissemination, development or preservation of culture.
Ricard, regarded as a pioneer of industrial design in Spain, has enjoyed a distinguished professional career combining creative practice with teaching and the promotion of design as an academic discipline. He was a lecturer and driving force behind the Product Design department at Eina, which he founded and directed between 1993 and 1999, and he is also the founder and former president of ADI-FAD, as well as Vice-President of the International Council of Design (ICSID).
Throughout his career, Ricard has developed emblematic projects that have shaped the aesthetics of modern industrial design in Spain, including the torch for the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games, the Tatu lamp and the Copenhagen ashtray, among many other contributions that successfully combine functionality with formal sensitivity.
The 2025 Gold Medal for Merit in the Fine Arts was approved at the meeting of the Council of Ministers held on 16 December, during which a total of 35 creators, performers and institutions from Spain’s cultural sphere were honoured, including figures such as Estrella Morente, Luis Tosar, Irene Vallejo and the Primavera Sound festival.