Igor Bragado
Having lived in Barcelona, New York, Tokyo, Seoul, Beijing, and now, Madrid, I know that the people you encounter are as impactful as the vibrant cultures you are immersed in. My experiences interacting with the world around me informs my own design and how I teach my students. As a Princeton University graduate, I co-founded my own design company that now counts companies like Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy as clients—something that even a few years ago seemed impossible. I’m lucky enough to call my career my hobby, and everything I love to do—from visiting art galleries to sculpting—informs my passion as a designer.
"The people you encounter on the way will transform you."
Thinking outside the box
To Igor, the most powerful entrepreneurs in the world today think of themselves as designers—and it’s no coincidence why. For the Spain-born professor and designer, curiosity was his first motivator before he realized it was the pursuit of aesthetics that inspired him all along.
Though his career has spanned years and countries, he’s still in search for what “success” really means in the world of design and architecture. But he knows it should engage people and transform the world—building more desirable, equitable and fairer futures—and this is what he hopes his students ultimately recognize.
At the heart of Igor’s teaching style is making sure his students have a wide range of skills, and this is something he’s been advocating for. Instead of teaching hyper-specialized skills that can be learned by watching a YouTube tutorial, Igor teaches his students to critically assess realities by applying design thinking. This methodology allows students to develop skills that transcend disciplines, media and scale. Ultimately, the skills he teaches helps diversify his students’ future experiences, whether professionally or personally. In his view, this pursuit is much more than just an education.
Professor Bragado brings his worldly vision and diverse work experience to the table as an adjunct professor in the Bachelor of Design program at IE University. Born in Gernika, Igor’s passion for design has taken him to Tokyo, New York, Beijing, Barcelona, Seoul and Princeton before he settled in Madrid. The people he encountered on his journeys, along with the vibrant cultures he experienced, have informed how he understands design.
In class, Igor encourages his students to engage in “obsession-based” design, which he says produces the most interesting results. The technique has students study micro-realities, making them experts in a matter of months on their tiny, focused project. It challenges them to transform the way they think about design, soon discovering that many realities affect design and resonate well beyond what they initially see. It’s the ultimate lesson in thinking outside of the box, realizing that even the tiniest design projects have a ripple effect.
The award-winning designer takes these lessons into his own conceptualist design company, Common Accounts, founded in 2015 at Princeton. Together with his business partner Miles Gertler, they build architecture, furniture, art installations, augmented reality pieces, online audience engagement and more for clients like Louis Vuitton, Moët, Hennessey and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Korea.
Igor describes himself as a “good old average millennial,” counting traveling, learning languages and hitting the gym as some of his main hobbies outside of working and seeing his family. He’s lucky, too, having made his hobby a career. When he tires of designing buildings, he turns to visual art, like painting or sculpting, archival research, reading, writing and visiting museums and art galleries. Ultimately, his day-to-day passions feed back into his professional life.
Check out in detail Igor Bragado's academic and corporate experience
