Eddie Olin's furniture that merges heavy metal with a side of playfulness

In the five years since launching his eponymous studio, London-based designer and fabricator Eddie Olin’s practice has become synonymous with pieces that balance heavy metal with a sense of playfulness and visual lightness.

After studying Graphic Design at Kingston University, he completed several years of metal work and machining apprenticeships that allowed him to explore and experiment with machine tooling and engineering techniques, and eventually led to the creation of his eponymous furniture design studio in 2020.

Eddie Olin: precision and balance

His work celebrates the often overlooked aesthetic value of engineering processes and techniques – the precisely machined elements that are typically consigned to structural parts of a project, hidden from view. His work brings these techniques into the spotlight, using them to create furniture with precise, clean forms and angles that hint at his background in typography. Olin prefers not to overanalyse his aesthetic choices too much, instead focusing on making what he finds interesting. ‘I don’t spend too much time considering these things,’ he tells Wallpaper*. ‘The work is precise because I enjoy working to a high tolerance, and I’m probably a bit fussy in general. The playful appearance I guess is just naturally what my eye draws.’

For example, his CNC-machined aluminium Snoopy table – where a chunky cylindrical trunk is counter balanced by a circular top – stemmed from a simple observation. ‘I was working on a job making a day bed which had a large diameter hole cut through and connected with an angled tube,’ he recalls. ‘Before the tube got welded inside I had it sitting around and found the angled but balanced visual quite enjoyable.’

At first he considered making a side table out of the single angled tube, but after a little experimentation, he found that an overhung counterbalanced table top made the design feel much more considered. ‘The Snoopy name was a nod to the lamp by Achille Castiglioni which also uses a similar counterbalanced visual,’ he explains.

Although Olin’s pieces are made in Manchester at his private engineering workshop – where he says keeping heavy industrial equipment is ‘more financially realistic’ – his studio is based in London. ‘Being in the same city as the majority of interesting studios, galleries and architects where you can, even by chance, meet them is invaluable,’ he says. ‘I think as a designer you could be anywhere, but certainly for trying to make your design into a career and income, London is a very good place to be.’

As Olin’s star ascends, he stresses there is no grand masterplan or tick list of goals. Instead he is content to let his practice grow organically and enjoy observing how the scale of projects is increasing – from vases to hospitality and retail interiors. It’s nice to see my practice grow like that,’ he reflects. ‘But no big ambitions - happy to keep pace up.’