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Ingo Maurer was born on the island of Reichenau in the Lake of Constance, Germany. After an apprenticeship as a typesetter, Maurer studied graphic design in Munich then moved to the U.S. as a freelance graphic designer. Only three years past before Ingo returned to Germany and opened his own studio named Design M where he developed and manufactured lighting concepts and systems. In 1973 Design M became and still is Ingo Maurer Lighting GmbH.
His first design, simply titled “Bulb” can now be seen in the permanent collection at MoMA in New York. 
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Besides the design of lamps for serial production, Maurer creates and plans lighting installations for public or private spaces. In Munich, 1998, he created a light installation at Westfriedhof subway station and the renovation and lighting concept for Muenchner Freiheit subway station which opened this last December. In 2006 he created lighting objects and installations for the interior of the Atomium in Brussels.
