Fascinated by the social and cultural dimensions of objects, Stathis’ work seeks to foster meaningful relationships through today's sophisticated, mass-produced environment. He executes this goal by working in both the high-minded and popular realms, having designed for brands ranging from the Museum of Modern Art to Lava Lite. Stathis’ original 2006 Tube Top lamp represents one of several contributions to Pablo. Stathis is the principal leading Virtual Studio, a San Francisco-based design, development and licensing-venture studio with an emphasis in furnishings and products for both home and office. He has earned over 35 international awards within the past three years for his innovative designs featuring advanced aesthetics combined with cutting-edge technology. They have been widely featured within design and business press, including The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, and Inc. and Fast Company magazines. Works are included in the permanent collections of several major museums including The Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, The Denver Art Museum, and New York's Museum of Modern Art. Recent awards include Interior Design magazine Best of Year Award, New York’s International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) Editors Award, the International Design Excellence Award (IDEA), and the prestigious Red Dot Design Award. Michael McCoy is the first recipient of the Smithsonian’s Design Minds National Design Award with Katherine McCoy for, in the words of the museum “affecting a paradigm shift in the design profession”. His influential designs include the Horizon Light for Humanscale (with Peter Stathis), the million-selling “Bulldog Chair” for Knoll, the Place Airport Seating for Arconas (with Curt Fentress) and the Corner Office for Pablo Designs (with Peter Stathis). His many awards include Germany’s Red Dot Award, the IDSA Gold Award, The Spark Award, London’s FX Award, the ID Magazine Best of Category, Europe’s ERGODESIGN Award, the Chrysler Innovation Award and The Interiors Magazine Best Office Design. His designs are in the permanent collections of New York’s Museum of Modern Art, The Smithsonian’s Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum,The Denver Art Museum, The Cranbrook Art Museum and The Kirkland Museum, among others. He is formerly the Director of the 3D Design Department at Cranbrook Academy of Art, Distinguished Visiting Professor at London’s Royal College of Art and Senior Lecturer at IIT’s Institute of Design,Chicago. He is the recipient of both the IDSA and ACD Educators awards for his contribution to design education. His theories on the meaning of design form have been widely published. He co-authored “ Cranbrook Design: The New Discourse” by Rizzoli and holds an honorary Doctorate from Kansas City Art Institute.