Tom Dixon marks his studio’s 20 years with a present of design experiments
Mushroom, cork, metal coral and extra: Tom Dixon showcases an outline of his design experiments as he celebrates his observe’s 20 years
Within the 20 years since launching his studio, Tom Dixon hasn’t stopped experimenting, and the most recent exhibition, coinciding with London Design Competition 2022, is a testomony to his continuous enthusiasm for design experimentation. The British designer (who additionally occurs to be a maker, entrepreneur and extra) celebrated his 20 years in enterprise with an exhibition at Coal Workplace, the design studio, store and restaurant he debuted in 2018.
‘A twentieth anniversary offers a second to overview, adapt, improve and rethink among the designs that we now have produced but in addition to introduce among the newest pondering in materiality, longevity and luminosity for the close to future,’ feedback Dixon, introducing the present.
The ‘Hen’ chaise in eel grass, the ‘Flamecut’ chair and mycelium fragrance towers
Aptly named ‘Twenty’, the show presents the studio’s latest and present areas of experimentation, starting from materials analysis to formal compositions and merchandise. These span from the light-weight aluminium chair that Dixon created in collaboration with Hydro, and has expanded into a set that features ceiling lamps, to the ‘Underwater Mission’, and the ‘Flamecut’ chair, an archive piece product of heavyweight, thick metal plate, virtually unattainable to carry and promising a 1,000 12 months guarantee.
The ‘Biorock’ chair, the designer explains, ‘is an experiment in underwater manufacturing facility manufacturing’, primarily a collaboration with nature. The chair includes a skinny metallic body, charged with a small quantity of electrical energy, permitting for a pure concrete to kind on high of the construction over two years beneath the ocean. Conceived by Seventies scientist Wolf Hilbertz, the biorock idea was a part of the experimental utopia of constructing cities beneath the ocean, however, notes Dixon, ‘has an incredible potential in coral regeneration and stopping seashore erosions’.
‘Biorock’ chair
Extra items on show embody the ‘Dichroic’ chandeliers, a brand new interpretation of Dixon’s ‘Soften’ lamps, and the ‘S-Chair’ (amongst his most iconic designs and one, he notes, ‘that has been following me round for years’), this time reintroduced in latex, its authentic materials. ‘It’s a pure materials, a forest plastic,’ he explains. For this model, he partnered with Lifeless Lotus Couture to realize an inflatable model of the chair. ‘It’s a bit kinky,’ he concedes, ‘however it enhances the curves of the chair.’
The exhibition additionally consists of some work-in-progress prototypes, similar to an eel grass model of the ‘Hen’ chaise, and fragrance towers made with mycelium from the Magic Mushroom Firm. ‘It’s about making an attempt new stuff, and generally issues don’t work,’ concludes Dixon, ‘however it’s good to point out the errors as effectively.’ §
‘Hydro’ chair and lamp
‘Soften’ chandelier with dichroic filter
Cork furnishings prototypes
Supply: Wallpaper
