FRANCIS BITONTI
Principal/Founder (Francis Bitonti Studio)
Francis Bitonti is ushering in a new manufacturing paradigm through his innovative use of computational design techniques and emerging manufacturing technologies. “I see technology as deeply connected to being human.” says Bitonti, the multidisciplinary designer and founder behind Francis Bitonti Studio. Bitonti’s design process is a blend of cutting edge digital design and manufacturing technologies, aimed to transform mass production. Looking instead to the future of manufacturing; mass customization, Bitonti sees computational design, smart materials, and interactive environments as opportunities to create new aesthetic languages for our built environment and he has taken that vision and applied it to a wide range of disciplines ranging from architecture to product design to fashion.
Bitonti founded Francis Bitonti Studio in 2007 after creating a 3D printed bike rack prototype for the New York City Department of Transportation. Since then, Francis Bitonti Studio has continued to produce novel spaces and products for clients around the world. The studio has been published in outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, V Magazine, Wired, and The New York Daily News and continues to garner global recognition.
Bitonti holds a Masters of Architecture from Pratt, where he has also been a visiting instructor, and currently is a researcher at the Digital Arts and Humanities Research Center at Pratt Institute and teaches at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute School of Architecture. His work has been published internationally in many prestigious institutions including the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, and most recently has garnered media coverage collaborating with fashion designer Michael Schmidt on a 3D printed gown for fashion icon Dita Von Teese, which received numerous accolades and a great deal of public attention when it debuted at Ace Hotel in March 2013.
Francis Bitonti currently lives New York where he runs his design practice.
THE STUDIO
“I see the value of the studio not in the objects that we make but in our approach to design. Our most valuable asset is our methodology.”
-Francis Bitonti on Francis Bitonti Studio
Defining the visual and formal language for our generation, Francis Bitonti Studio uses a unique blend of computer driven techniques and cutting edge manufacturing technologies to realize what has been called by the press “alien” objects and spaces. Francis Bitonti Studio, a New York based multidisciplinary design firm, is continuously committed to the application of digital design and computer controlled manufacturing technologies, aimed at transforming the logic of traditional mass production.
Francis Bitonti Studio was created in 2007, when architect/designer Francis Bitonti became involved with a competition held by the New York City Department of Transportation, Google, and the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum. Bitonti was a finalist in the competition creating an eco-friendly and cost-effective bike rack that didn’t sacrifice on design, capable of being reconfigured into over 800 different versions of itself.
Focused on process, Francis Bitonti Studio concentrates on a variety of projects including furniture, utilizing 3D Printing technology to produce intense formal intricacy without human labor, and ranging from flatware to fashion, and commercial spaces.
Today, Francis Bitonti Studio continues to produce novel spaces and products for clients around the world. The studio is still deeply invested in the research and the integration of new technologies in architectural design and construction and manufacturing. Looking towards the future, Francis Bitonti Studio continues to replace repetition with variation, and create spaces and objects designed to invent new lifestyles. Through the use of computer controlled manufacturing and digital design technologies Francis Bitonti Studio is creating the future of design.
