After meeting and sleeping on uncomfortable beds at the last edition of Salone del Mobile, Vispring and Tom Dixon decided to get into bed, creatively speaking, with each other. 'It was really important for us to work with someone with a British connection and global resonance to mark this 125th anniversary,' Clare Schifano, global marketing director at Vispring, explains.

'My narrative now is that I couldn't find a hotel room, so I had to build my own hotel,' says self-taught British designer Tom Dixon, reflecting on the inspiration behind the Fuorisalone activation at the Mua Mua Hotel. 'I think it actually resonates with anybody going to Milan because it's become the big nightmare – hotels become a conversation six months before Milan every year.'

Vispring was founded in 1901 and counts royalty among its clients. It famously created a split-tension mattress for Princess Diana and Prince Charles, each side tailored to their individual comfort. The company was especially keen to explore the contemporary twist Tom Dixon could bring to its heritage-brand aesthetic, the feeling was mutual. 'I have always wanted to do more with British manufacturers and the bedroom itself has become somewhat overlooked compared to, say, bathrooms and kitchens,’ Dixon says. ‘And bedrooms need to be rethought and reinvented, there hasn't been a space for truly extravagant design since waterbeds in the 1970s.'

Hotels offer a rich canvas for interior designers, a typology that Dixon's Design Research Studio (DRS) knows well, having completed numerous hospitality projects worldwide. The Mua Mua Hotel is a 12-room property designed by DRS on the Mulino Estate, the latter originally designed in 1929 by Piero Portaluppi Chiodi and Gio Ponti for the Sordelli family. Created for Milan Design Week, but set to remain a permanent hotel, the space hosts new pieces including four headboards and a bed inspired by Dixon's designs, plus bespoke showpieces made exclusively for Milan that will be distributed to Vispring showrooms once the event closes.

The ‘Fat’ chair design becomes a complete bed offering, while the ‘Groove’ headboard is inspired by Tom Dixon's furniture and lighting featuring ridges. 'The use of ridges and grooves results in very good cushioning,' Dixon explains. ‘Rainbow’, ‘Heart’ and ‘Wingback’ headboards are also on view at the hotel, with the collection giving a nod to Vispring's art deco golden years.

Completing the collaboration's debut are three concept pieces created exclusively for Milan Design Week: the ‘Flare’, the ‘Arch’, and ‘Bunny’. Adding a playful nod to Vispring's royal craft credentials, the brand will also present its own interpretation of ‘The Princess and the Pea’ with a Vispring mattress layered with a series of toppers, that showcase its range of fabrics and materials, both current and archival. This activation is more than a Milan moment, the designs check out and Mua Mua Hotel will soon be welcoming guests to stay.

Tom Dixon and Vispring at The Mua Mua Hotel, Via Aosta 2, Milano 2155, 21-26 April 2026, 10am – 7pm

As the days get shorter and the afternoons darker, we seek solace in the warm illumination of small lamps for our tables, desks or bedsides. Compact companions to tide us over the gloomier months, they are new designs from some of our favourite contemporary creatives, or newly reissued classics from design legends. Either way, these expressive new table lamps are on our winter wishlist.

Best new lamps for winter 2025

‘KD28’ by Joe Colombo, for Kartell

‘Hoop’ by John Tree, for Vaarnii

‘Rumee’ portable lamp by Gabriel Tan, for Louis Poulsen

‘Fire’ by Grau

‘Press’ table light by Tom Dixon

‘Cilia’ table lamp by David Pompa

An LDF opener

Bill Prince, editor-in-chief

There is something pleasingly familial about the way in which David Collins Studio has chosen to celebrate its 40th anniversary during London Design Festival. Arranged around the walls of the main exhibition space at The Lavery (4 Cromwell Place) are enlarged details of examples of the celebrated architecture and interior design practice's work, which includes some of the most famous social landmarks in London, from the contemporary grandeur of The Wolseley to the jewel box-like confines of the Connaught Bar. Since 2017 the David Collins Foundation (established after the designer's untimely death in 2013) has partnered with the Arts Foundation on the annual Futures Award, recognising a wide range of creative disciplines, each recipient an artist Collins once met, admired or was simply moved by. Bringing together exhibits across nine distinct mediums, the accompany show, 'Convergence', is a small token of these interactions, curated by Ellen E. Jones as a 'conversation' between practitoners with whom Collins shared the capacity, as the notes suggest, the 'capacity to archive emotion, memory and time'. Not to be missed.

A floating dinner

Ellie Stathaki, architecture and environment director

With the London tube strike in full swing this week, it was all about alternative methods of transport on Tuesday – and, so, fitting that the 2025 London Festival of Architecture's celebratory closing dinner took place on a boat. Set on the Paddington basin, the event, generously hosted by LFA director Rosa Rogina, saw the festival's numerous supporters sharing a meal and chat, taking stock and reflecting on this year's edition – while looking forward to the next, as speculation was thriving as to the 2026 theme, due to be announced in a few weeks.

A week of design appointments

Rosa Bertoli, global design director

I had a soft start to London Design Festival this week with, among other things, a preview of the David Collins Foundation's Convergence exhibition. On Friday morning, Tom Dixon gave us a tour of his Coal Office showroom to discuss some of his current projects and interests – in particular, I was impressed with his oversized take on portable lighting design, and the dichroic filter option you can add to his Melt lights (which he is demonstrating here). Also of note was the Out Of Orifice exhibition, a small display by East London-based design collective Heirloom exploring objects designed to be inserted in the body, a project which I am sure will spark many important conversations around function and pleasure

A 49th birthday

Charlotte Gunn, director of digital content

On Thursday, the Beggars Group – home to Adele, Fontaines DC, Pixies, Pulp and countless others – celebrated its 49th year with a blow-out bash at Old Billingsgate. The party unfolded across multiple levels with immersive performance art from Gideon Reeling, surprise sets (Belle & Sebastian’s Stuart Murdoch assembled a supergroup, while Badly Drawn Boy reminded me how much I adored The Hour of Bewilderbeast) and DJ sessions that ran long into the night. It was a tremendous do of 90s-scale proportions and a clear counter to the argument that there’s no money left in the music industry.

A modernist pilgrimage

Gabriel Annouka, senior designer

During a pilgrimage to the Calanques of Marseille I stopped at Le Corbusier’s uncompromising Unité d’Habitation, La Cité Radieuse. Wallpaper* just devoted twenty-six pages of the October Issue to the modernist housing development, showing the diverse lives and interiors of its residents, and suddenly there I was, in the same lift with one of them: Koubrat and Jocelyne, an elderly couple photographed for the feature, smiled, said Bonjour! and pressed the button when I asked for the third floor. The elevator doors opened to the aftermath of ‘Art-o-rama’, as it was carefully being packed away. It was here, in one of the design shops that line the corridor, that I met Laura, another face from our pages. I’d placed her and her partner’s portrait carefully into the layout, and now there she was, stepping out of print and into real life.

We spoke about Marseille and its everyday rhythms that make the city magnetic, and she warmly invited me back for the gallery’s next opening during the European Heritage Days on 20-21 September. It felt miraculous, like the magazine had folded back on itself and delivered me straight into its pages. Then I climbed to the terrace on the ninth floor, where MAMO, Ora ïto’s gallery, resides. Here two works by Sterling Ruby stood guard, inside the large scale painting WALL (2017); outside Double Candle (2018) a monumental bronze commanding the rooftop, with Marseille stretching endlessly below. The high-rise viewpoint here wasn’t about exhibitionism alone, but scale, proportion and the clarity of standing inside an architectural designer’s measured vision.

British designer Tom Dixon has consistently defied convention over the course of his 40-plus-year career. A sculptor, designer, creative director, businessman and maverick, Dixon has achieved what few in the field manage: turning himself into one of the world’s most prominent designers – and an all-encompassing lifestyle luxury brand. He has channelled his defining characteristics – a renegade spirit, a deadpan sense of humour and a lifelong fascination with materials – into tangible objects that span furniture, lighting, interiors and more.

Punk roots: the story of Tom Dixon

Dixon was born in Tunisia in 1959 to a French-Latvian mother and English father, and moved to England with his family in 1963. After high school, he briefly attended Chelsea School of Art, but music was his first love. At the time, London was fertile ground for youth culture. The punk rock movement had liberated a whole generation from the idea that formal education was essential – it showed that you could be radical and still make a living. It was an attitude that appealed to the young Dixon, and would go on to shape his design philosophy.

He spent two years as a professional musician, but by 1983, a series of motorcycle accidents had brought his music career to an abrupt end. During this time, he developed an interest in repairing motorcycles and cars, teaching himself how to weld. He became enamoured with the process, describing the ability to transform a piece of scrap metal into something interesting and valuable as 'almost like a superpower'.

Inspired by punk’s anti-establishment ethos, he embraced a hands-on, trial-and-error approach, creating sculpture and furniture. Welding offered a quick and intuitive way of working that suited his impatient tendencies, and soon he was selling his rough-and-ready designs – such as the Fish Pan Chair from 1987, composed of frying pans, pots and ladles – before he even knew what a portfolio was. Unconstrained by teachers, syllabuses or commercial pressures, Dixon has described these early works as 'ugly' and 'unfunctional' – but in the best possible way.

From backyard experiments to lifestyle brand

Dixon credits practice and prolific output as the foundations of his design career, believing that he became good at design simply by doing it – over and over again. Although his designs had gained cult status, the UK had little in the way of a design industry in the 1980s. Fortunately for Dixon, his work caught the eye of the Italians. His breakthrough came with the S Chair – a sinuous, sculptural seat originally made from welded steel and rush – which was picked up by Italian design doyenne Giulio Cappellini and later acquired by MoMA.

In 2002, in the middle of a 10-year stint as creative director at UK furniture retailer Habitat – a brand he helped to revitalise – he followed his punk instinct once again and launched his own brand to escape the anonymity of designing under others. Today, his studio operates from a former coal yard in London, producing lighting, furniture, interiors and fragrance – all with a focus on expressive materials and overt mechanisms, in what he describes as a 'heavy industry' aesthetic.

Dixon has shaped a global design identity grounded in structure, storytelling and unapologetically bold form. From the outset, he has championed the idea of structure as decoration – chairs whose strength defines their silhouette, lights whose shadows become part of the space. Polished metals, blown glass, pressed ribs and vacuum-metallised finishes recur throughout his work, though Dixon has also embraced softer, more tactile materials – most notably in his Cork collection, which uses chunky silhouettes and warm, natural texture to striking effect. The result is a distinctive visual language, despite the breadth of his output.

Alongside interiors, he increasingly explores scent, light technology and system design – creating not just standalone objects, but open-ended tools and frameworks. In 2019, he opened The Manzoni in Milan – a permanent restaurant-showroom hybrid where guests can eat, drink and experience his products in use. It reflects his immersive approach to interiors and retail, collapsing the boundary between brand and environment.

A return to the raw: material experiments

In the years following the pandemic, Dixon has turned his attention back to hands-on making. His 2023 'Metalhead' exhibition – staged at Themes & Variations gallery in London – offered a wry, retrospective look at 40 years of metalwork, from early salvage pieces to new sculptural experiments. The show marked a personal return to welding and studio-based production, while also affirming material play as central to the brand’s future.

Dixon has also looked outward – or rather, underwater. In collaboration with marine scientists and the Coral Reef Alliance, Dixon has been experimenting with BIOROCK: a low-energy process that grows mineral accretions on submerged metal structures. Over the past three years, his studio has successfully 'grown' chairs and tables off the coast of the Bahamas, where electrified rebar frameworks accumulate limestone and attract sea life. While Dixon acknowledges it’s unlikely to become a mainstream method of furniture production, he sees it as an effective tool for coral regeneration. The resulting structures are part environmental intervention, part slow-grown design object.

8 Tom Dixon designs to know (and own)

Tom Dixon was inspired by his recent foray into portable lamps for the theme of his London Design Festival 2023 exhibition at Coal Office. Over the years, his Kings' Cross HQ has become a hub for creativity and innovation, often hosting brands that cover the full design spectrum and ignite conversations around the future of creation. 

‘The future is hypermobile’ by Tom Dixon

'Through launching portable lamps, I had the idea of hypermobility, which became an umbrella to cover everything,' said Dixon, citing portability, miniaturisation and rechargeability as key elements of the explorations across his spaces. 'Our music has become portable, businesses become portable through phones and lighting is now portable: portability, flexibility and miniaturisation are all around us, we're just acknowledging it.'

Across 11 arches of Coal Office, Dixon presents new products as well as multidisciplinary spaces that include a broadcast studio, mini cinema (both equipped with sound-absorbing panels made of Kvadrat textiles), a hypermarket, dedicated to the “Portables” and featuring an on-site screen-printing workshop for customised packaging. 

A Techno Lab taking over Arch 9 features a curated series of of innovative brands, including Swedish electronics company Teenage Engineering, London-based tech brand Nothing, British speaker specialist KEF and 3D printer manufacturer Ultimaker. It's a group selected by Dixon to further enhance his visions of portability and flexibility. 

For the week, AI designer Tilly, created by Studio Snoop will be at the venue to interact with visitors, answering questions on design and beyond through an on-screen chat system. A series of early designs created by Tilly, from tapestries to mycelium experiments, will also be on display.

'The frenetic world that we inhabit requires more flexibility and adaptability than ever before – that's why we have adopted the theme of “Hypermobile” for our installation,' says Dixon. 'We focus our attention on the new possibilities that miniaturisation and movement have allowed, introducing our latest ideas in mobile illumination including the “Portables”. Allowing us even more adaptability in how we work, play and entertain. The future, in our view is hypermobile.'

The Coal Office Hub

The Hypermobile displays are mixed with showcases from guests taking over spaces across Coal Office, including Zaha Hadid Design unveiling new prototypes, as well as collaborations with Slamp and Karimoku. Next door, Porro presents a series of new reissues from Alessandro Mendini, alongside the Italian company's architectural systems. 

zaha-hadid-design.com
porro.com

The curation also includes Cozmo, the modular and customisable sofa brand now launching a series of tables by Raw Edges through an installation created with terrarium experts Botanical Boys.

mycozmo.com

Meanwhile, New Zealand-based Resident, set up by Tom Dixon alumnus Scott Bridgens with Simon James, presents an exhibition titled 'Runway', staying on view for 6 weeks and featuring among others the Sacha Chair, by Philippe Malouin. 

resident.co.nz

Tom Dixon makes his debut at Euroluce, the biennial lighting fair, at Salone del Mobile 2023, participating for the first time since starting his workshop-turned-international design brand two decades ago. 

At Euroluce, the British designer presents several new lighting designs, including his inaugural collection of portable lights. He will also, as he puts it, 'finally try and be business-like at Salone del Mobile’.

Ahead of the fair, we spoke to Dixon about everything from espressos and eelgrass to curiosity and collecting heads, as well as Euroluce.

Tom Dixon interview

Wallpaper*: Where are you as we speak? What can you see from your window?

Tom Dixon: I’m flying over the Tasman Sea, which separates New Zealand and Australia. I can only see some scrappy cloud – there has been flooding and intemperate weather.

W*: Can you tell us about your greenhouse project and how you are using it?

TD: Some friends of mine bought possibly the oldest orchid business in the world, McBean’s Orchids, founded in 1879. It has many empty industrial greenhouses. At the beginning of Covid, I was going mad in lockdown, but you could still work in horticulture and agriculture, so I invited myself in and planted some tomatoes, made some sculptures and products from discarded bamboo sticks and broken glass, bought a kiln and dug up some clay and, as the lockdowns eased, started a restaurant and flower shop.

W*: Coal Office, in London’s King’s Cross, has become such an important location for your brand and studio, and a central hub of design in itself. How has it evolved since you opened it in 2018?

TD: We are slowly trying to evolve it from being a monobrand store with a separate office and restaurant into a more fluid and overlapping space to work, entertain, eat, shop and design. It’s been a bit more difficult to do than I had envisaged, mainly to do with the awkward (but beautiful) shape of the building, as well as all the health and safety, and accessibility, and fire protection that modern standards require but which are difficult to navigate in a Victorian building.

W*: How do you start your day?

TD: Having a restaurant in the building is dangerous as there are multiple espresso machines. I spend far too much time on self-barista training early in the morning.

W*: Where do you find inspiration these days?

TD: Weirdly similar to where it came from in the beginning – from sculpture, from manufacturing methods, from engineering and architecture, from being generally curious about everything apart from design.

W*: What do you do to relax?

TD: I’m generally relaxed anyhow, so I don’t need to do that separately, but I am trying to learn the double bass.

W*: What’s the most interesting thing you’ve read or listened to in the last few weeks?

TD: I listen to the BBC World Service in the car and in the greenhouse. It streams a more global view of the world from correspondents on multiple continents 24 hours a day.

W* What do you collect?

TD: I like to collect busts, full-size heads, from everywhere I go in the world: Tanzania, Varanasi, Geneva, Brighton, Senegal, France.

W* Throughout your career, what has been your motivation to keep designing?

TD: Design is a great profession for the curious and the easily bored – you are always able to poke your nose into other businesses or take deep dives into alternative worlds.

W*: What are your ideal creating conditions?

TD: In the workshop with a glue-gun; in the factory talking to engineers.

W*: What role does humour play in your work?

TD: It is essential for sanity.

W*: Your exhibition at Milan Design Week 2022 showed the breadth of your material exploration. Where will the next step of your research take you?

We, like everybody I hope, are seeking lower environmental impact materials and processes – our exploration of mushrooms, hemp, cork, eelgrass and recycled aluminium should provide us with more progressive products. From a manufacturing point of view, the miniaturisation and digitalisation of machinery allow us to be more flexible and more local in our production and more experimental in our approach.

W* What advice would you give to the next generation of creatives?

TD: Don’t let a digital screen be your only tool.

W*: If you hadn’t become a designer, what would you have been?

TD: I still don’t see myself entirely as a designer! I lead multiple lives when possible – but I would have been happy in any creative environment, and might still have been a musician if it hadn’t been for a bad motorcycle accident when I was 22 [Dixon played bass guitar in a band called Funkapolitan until broken limbs forced him to abandon his music career].

W*: You are making your debut this year at Milan lighting fair Euroluce. What can we expect to see?

TD: You can expect us to finally try and be business-like at Salone del Mobile rather than clowns and entertainers! And, of course, some new ideas in luminosity.

Tom Dixon will be at Euroluce 2023, from 18 to 23 April, Hall 13, Stand 102

tomdixon.net

This interview also appears in the May 2023 issue of Wallpaper*, available in print, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today

With its dramatic cylindrical structure, Herzog & de Meuron’s One Park Drive residential tower in London’s Canary Wharf is a typically monumental landmark from the architecture studio that also designed the jagged upper façade of the AstraZeneca Discovery Centre in Cambridge and the angular form of the Royal College of Art’s Battersea campus. Inside, the new One Park Drive penthouses with interiors by the Swiss architecture firm and furnishings and styling by Tom Dixon’s Design Research Studio sit in calm contrast to the busy, alternating lattices and horizontal platforms of the building’s exterior, while the inner courtyard’s organic tones contribute to a quiet oasis in the bustling hub of London offices.

In curating the homes' furnishings, the team at Design Research Studio ‘decided to imagine the spaces through the persona of an international collector’, remarks Tom Dixon. The rooms have been personalised with bespoke pieces by the brand, which he has formed from scrap metals, wood and ceramics to create sculptural works of art. 

Tranquil textures appear throughout, with a largely concrete and wooden make-up, while timber-framed, floor-to-ceiling windows open up the 56th-floor space. Soft-edged structural pillars and a gracefully curving staircase – a central feature of the residences – are echoed in light fittings by Alvar Aalto and Ingo Maurer, and rounded bathroom and kitchen fittings in white stone.

Design Research Studio has ensured simple forms remain at the fore of the One Park Drive penthouse spaces with the inclusion of Afra and Tobia Scarpa’s ‘Soriana’ armchair and ottoman for Cassina, and chairs by Verner Panton. Bespoke additions continue to punctuate the rooms with a one-of-a-kind desk designed by Belgian architect Frans Vossen and custom-made furniture from Tom Dixon throughout. 

In the 20 years since launching his studio, Tom Dixon hasn’t stopped experimenting, and the latest exhibition, coinciding with London Design Festival 2022, is a testament to his non-stop enthusiasm for design experimentation. The British designer (who also happens to be a maker, entrepreneur and more) celebrated his 20 years in business with an exhibition at Coal Office, the design studio, shop and restaurant he debuted in 2018. 

‘A 20th anniversary provides a moment to review, adapt, upgrade and rethink some of the designs that we have produced but also to introduce some of the latest thinking in materiality, longevity and luminosity for the near future,’ comments Dixon, introducing the show. 

Aptly named ‘Twenty’, the display presents the studio’s recent and current areas of experimentation, ranging from material research to formal compositions and products. These span from the lightweight aluminium chair that Dixon created in collaboration with Hydro, and has expanded into a collection that includes ceiling lamps, to the ‘Underwater Project’, and the ‘Flamecut’ chair, an archive piece made of heavyweight, thick steel plate, almost impossible to lift and promising a 1,000 year warranty. 

The ‘Biorock’ chair, the designer explains, ‘is an experiment in underwater factory production’, essentially a collaboration with nature. The chair features a thin metal frame, charged with a small amount of electricity, allowing for a natural concrete to form on top of the structure over two years under the sea. Conceived by 1970s scientist Wolf Hilbertz, the biorock concept was part of the experimental utopia of building cities under the sea, but, notes Dixon, ‘has a great potential in coral regeneration and stopping beach erosions’.

More pieces on display include the ‘Dichroic’ chandeliers, a new interpretation of Dixon’s ‘Melt’ lamps, and the ‘S-Chair’ (among his most iconic designs and one, he notes, ‘that has been following me around for years’), this time reintroduced in latex, its original material. ‘It’s a natural material, a forest plastic,’ he explains. For this version, he partnered with Dead Lotus Couture to achieve an inflatable version of the chair. ‘It’s a bit kinky,’ he concedes, ‘but it enhances the curves of the chair.’

The exhibition also includes some work-in-progress prototypes, such as an eel grass version of the ‘Bird’ chaise, and perfume towers made with mycelium from the Magic Mushroom Company. ‘It’s about trying new stuff, and sometimes things don't work,’ concludes Dixon, ‘but it’s good to show the mistakes as well.’

INFORMATION

Tom Dixon ‘TWENTY’ is on until 25 September 2022
tomdixon.net

The best of British art, design, and food are gathering under one roof this month thanks to a new event at Sotheby’s.

In conjunction with the auction house’s Modern British & Irish Art Week (17 – 24 November), acclaimed chef Stevie Parle and esteemed designer Tom Dixon will revive their plant-filled pop-up, Joy at Sotheby’s, at its New Bond Street location, but this time with the addition of some very special British artworks decorating the space.

Innovative British cooking 

Visitors to the space will be able to enjoy breakfast, lunch, or one of the five supper club menus designed by Parle and featuring his signature use of locally sourced and exactingly harvested ingredients, such mushrooms he gathers from his own garden, his home-picked elderberries, raw beef from Kent, and giant wild sea bass from Margate. 

Speaking about the menu, Parle says, ‘It’s a really incredible time of year to be cooking some special meals. I want to make the most perfect risotto with a deep, delicious chicken broth, finish it with yellow Kentish jersey butter and three-year-old Parmesan, and cover it with white truffles brought directly from the nose of Fellipe – the Lagotto Romagnolo truffle dog in Umbria – to Sotheby’s.’

With his trademark flair for rarely used ingredients, Parle will also be baking almost extinct apple varieties into delectable desserts, with fragrant quince from the national fruit collections at Brogdale, Kent. ‘I’ve recently found a new egg farmer and his eggs somehow taste even better than those of my own chickens,’ says Parle. ‘They warrant a delicious nutmeg custard tart with some prunes soaked in Julian Timperley’s ten-year-old cider brandy.’

A showcase of British art and design 

Guests can feast on dishes such as creel-caught large Scottish langoustine roasted with butter and seaweed; and venison loin roasted with bacon, chestnuts, sage and barbera. At the same time, they can feast their eyes on work by some of the great icons of British Modernism, including Henry Moore, Howard Hodgkin, and Bridget Riley. 

Visitors will be able to enjoy the food and the view from Dixon’s ‘Hydro Chairs’, a 100 per cent recyclable design created in collaboration with the world’s largest aluminium producer (and featured in our sustainable furniture round-up), and eat off his ultra-sleek ‘Tube’ tables, each topped with a rare, oriental marble named Primavera.

‘Modern British is something both me and Stevie can buy into,’ says Dixon about the collaboration. ‘It exists in contemporary design and food culture right now, so there’s a hook that’s fairly obvious.’ While Sotheby’s promotes ’what is rare, or unique in paintings and sculpture’, he adds, he and Parle do the same ‘in foodstuffs and design’.

‘I think what we do sits really well in the British modern sensibility,’ adds Parle. ‘But I think the point of what we’re doing is the same as always really, we just want to create amazing experiences for people, lift people up, have some fun and maybe give Sotheby's a bit of a jolt!’

INFORMATION

Joy at Sotheby’s, London, 18 – 22 November 2021, sothebys.com

Tom Dixon and his team are planning to make up for lost time after an 18-month travel hiatus, with a grand tour that will see the designer bounce across eight European cities to present his latest designs. Making its first stop in Milan during Salone del Mobile 2021, Dixon’s presentation focuses on the theme of light, with a showcase titled ‘Luminosity’ exploring ‘how optics and light can improve your space’.

Tom Dixon presents ‘Luminosity’ in Milan

The British brand takes over The Manzoni, Tom Dixon’s Milanese hub and restaurant, which will feature his latest pieces of lighting design. Dixon will team up with long-term collaborator Francesca Sarti of Arabeschi di Latte, and with Bompas & Parr, to curate a series of thematic events in the space. Meanwhile, a few doors down, Dixon also curates a lighting installation in the Valextra flagship store, inspired by lighting designs by Milanese masters including Gio Ponti, Ettore Sottsass and Achille Castiglioni, and featuring monumental LED sculptures in collaboration with Austrian specialist Prolicht. 

Among the new collection are ‘Press’ lights, made of ribbed thick glass shaped into precise spheres and cones, their compositions inspired by buoys and children’s toys. The patterned glass surface creates textured light patterns, and the manufacturing process includes pressing large globs of molten glass at 1,200°C in an iron mould, making the lights extra-durable (and also suitable for outdoor use). 

Also on view are the dramatic, oversized ‘Melt Mega Chandeliers’, an addition to the organic forms of the ‘Mega’ series featuring seven orbs exploding from a central hub, creating a dynamic play of reflections.

‘My first encounter with Milan opened my eyes to an immense international design world that had previously been invisible from my British perspective,’ says Dixon. ‘The passion of the Milanese for design and the understanding of its transformative power remains with me to this day.’ 

The next stop after Milan will take Tom Dixon’s Grand Tour to London Design Festival, where he’ll present the theme of ‘materiality’ from his Coal Office HQ (18 – 24 September 2021) before traveling to Paris, Berlin, Kortrijk, Antwerp, Oslo and Copenhagen in the following months. 

‘The Grand Tour was historically the key part of the English gentleman and gentlewoman’s education,’ observes Dixon. ‘A visit to the great capitals of Europe to study classical civilization, to enjoy great works of art and architecture, to study languages and to come home as a fully cultured person. For us, Grand Tour will have some of these features, but the big idea is to get back on the road, to travel once more to the great design capitals of Europe and show our partners, friends and new acquaintances some of the fresh ideas we have been cooking up for the last 18 months and could only share digitally.’ 

INFORMATION

Tom Dixon’s Grand Tour makes its first stop in Milan, 5 – 7 September 2021, at The Manzoni

tomdixon.net

ADDRESS

The Manzoni
Via Alessandro Manzoni 5
Milan 20121

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For much of 2020, social media has resembled a hairdresser’s style book of home haircuts; mostly men, putting clippers to heads, setting grade lengths, and employing various attached guards, in the hopeful achievement of something approaching follicular normality. But the deft art of shears-over-comb, layering, cutting, trimming, thinning? That stuff, it seems, is for the professionals.  

Matt Mulhall, a hairdresser and groomer who has styled male heads for Dunhill, Hermès, Fendi, and Paul Smith, disagrees. He advises caution, patience, and a variety of cutting tools. ‘When using clippers don’t go as short as your normal barber would straight away,’ he advises. ‘Leave hair longer and take it shorter in stages, and take your time – your new style will be looking back at you in the mirror for at least four to five weeks…especially painful if all doesn’t go well.'

When it comes to facial hair, Tom Dixon’s latest collaboration with Harry’s offers a high-design take on the traditional razor. The men's care brand’s ultra-sharp German steel razors are paired with Dixon’s sculptural handle, which is ergonomically designed for easy usage and made out of aluminium to avoid corrosion. 

For a multi-functional shaver option, Braun’s newly released Series 9 uses a combination of five synchronized trimmers and skin guards to create a shave that ranges from smooth to trimmed without any irritation. 

When touching up your locks, Mulhall strongly suggests using scissors with straight, sharp blades like those designed by Dentsu London, Ernest Wright and Son, and Jamie McLellan for Wallpaper* Handmade in 2011. ‘Cut a vertical, as opposed to a horizontal line cut, this will soften the edges and minimise ugly mistakes.' Even the most basic pair of hairdressing scissors is preferable to an expensive set of bacon shears purloined from the kitchen drawer, the sharper the better, of course.

For bathroom amateurs, ‘straight' scissors, rather than the more pro, ‘offset scissors' are easier to handle. Configured to a traditional, ergonomic layout with finger and thumb holes set in a straight, level line, straight scissors are popular with barbers. Invest in a pair with a convex edge for the sharpest, crispest and smoothest cut, like those by Milanese menswear brand Larusmiani. The brand's iconic store, once filled with hundreds of brushes, nail clippers and, most notably, scissors, is now closed but a selection of luxury grooming tools can still be purchased online. 

Mulhall is also an advocate of thinning scissors. ‘They can really help to de-bulk hair and blend in lines and possible mistakes.' Japanese brand Y.S Park has been creating high-end professional hairdressing tools since the 1980s and offers the perfect pair of thinning blades for those looking for a natural, lighter look. 

‘Professional hairdressers like to cut from wet to dry. But for novices, I would recommend washing hair then towel drying hair as much as possible so just damp, combing your hair the way it is usually styled and cutting starting there… little by little.'

INFORMATION

store.wallpaper.com
harrys.com
braun.com
larusmiani.it
yspark.co.jp

New neighbourhoods are emerging at Greenwich Peninsula, the 150-acre development in south-east London, transforming this part of the British capital into a new vibrant mixed-use district. So, it seems fitting that this kind of pioneering placemaking should feature a key ‘first' among its offerings. ‘Renew’, the new spa space located at No. 2 Upper Riverside, showcases Tom Dixon's interior design debut within a residential context. 

The spa sits on the rooftop of the second of Upper Riverside's five residential buildings – which also feature striking loft-like domestic interiors by Dixon. It includes a pool, steam room, two state-of-the-art gyms and a terrace for exercising, or sitting back to relax, meditate and reflect, while taking in the long views of the London skyline beyond.

Dixon drew inspiration from raw and industrial materials, which he masterfully juxtaposed with warm timber and colour accents. Focal points add playfulness and include a passivated metal reception desk created through the chemical process of electroplating. The robust materials hint to British craft and the history of the area with stone and metal present, the latter in features such as blackened steel doors. The pool area features a stepped ceiling that reflects the water's outline and helps create a sense of space.

‘With a growing emphasis on wellness, I wanted to create a space that would enhance residents’ day to day lifestyle and motivate them to achieve their goals and feel their best', says Dixon. ‘Renew Floor is a relaxed space where residents can meet likeminded people, creating a wellness community within the neighbourhood.' 

INFORMATION

For more information visit the Tom Dixon website

Tom Dixon and his eponymous brand are particularly busy of late, with the new Kings Cross HQ, plus innovative projects for London Design Festival and the relocation of his New York flagship earlier this year. Now, Dixon's ticked something else off the to-design list, by jumping into a world he's been threatening to enter for years: technology. And its got a touch of old-school discotheque Dixon about it.

For The Stash Collection of charging devices and cables, Dixon sought the help of innovative tech-lifestyle brand Native Union. It's a first for the Hong Kong-based brand too: though Native Union has partnered with brand's before (STAMPD, Berluti and La Boite), this collection marks the first time it has collaborated with a design firm.

The collection is billed as ‘an artisanal statement series of chargers for the home and on the go’. From the wireless charging tray, dome cable, cone cable and coil cable, expect expertly designed efficiency. Textured aluminum casings, stainless steel cable sleeves and glass-finishing work in unison to create an accomplished series of performance-centric designs. What might seem quite an incumbent object, (like a Compact USB-A to Lightning cable) has been turned into an objet d'art.

Inside, everything has the Native Union seal of approval – and these guys know their tech. Founders John Brunner and Igor Duc have been offering personality-filled alternatives to clunky accessories since 2009, to great critical acclaim and a growing global fan base. Outside, the range is slicked with Dixon's design dialect, (think moody colours, sculptural qualities and engineered materials). For inspiration, he opted for a retrospective take on utility, beginning with a study of vintage performance-built analogue equipment. ‘In returning to the core function of the product, The Stash Collection reflects Native Union's simple yet intelligent design philosophy,' comments Duc. The hook? ‘Tom Dixon's effortlessly superior aesthetics.’

Dixon loves to create worlds (like in his new London restaurant, which has his signature all over it, from the cutlery to the hand soap). Similarly, this collection creates a universe of tech products that work in harmony, and chime together aesthetically. We can quite picture avid TD fans buying the job lot.

INFORMATION

Produced in brushed silver and brushed black metal, The Stash Collection will be available to purchase from the Native Union website and the Tom Dixon website and stores from 15 October 2018

When he came up with a new way of digitally printing leather this January, British designer Bill Amberg realised he was on to something. ‘Printed leather is either niche and expensive or has a nasty finish that looks like paint and is not hard wearing. It struck me that no-one had been approaching its creation from the process point of view.’ Together with a tannery in Europe, Amberg spent three years developing a technique that results in the high quality, long-lasting print that had eluded him, and with 30 years’ experience of making bespoke leather products, interiors and furniture, behind him, he knew where to look.

His new technique is complex. ‘The leather has to accept each colour and allow it to penetrate properly, and dark blue and black are the hardest,’ he explains. Each five sq m hide, taken from European bulls, is then finished with a durable dressing that retains the grain and handle of the leather.

Amberg then chose five design pals to create a debut collection. Tom Dixon has created four patterns, and these, along with pieces from Faye Toogood, Timorous Beasties, Alexandra Champalimaud and Natasha Baradaran, will be launched at Dixon’s showroom during the London Design Festival. Dixon will strip down one of his iconic ‘Wingback’ chairs, convert it into a chaise and upholster it with the new leathers.

Others will display their hides on their own furniture. Toogood’s design, with its abstract and painterly brushstrokes is, says Amberg ‘almost a piece of art that works just as well as a wall hanging as it does on upholstery,’ while Baradaran’s pink and white lace pattern in two colourways could almost be mistaken for a textile.

Amberg plans to launch two collections a year, each time with different designers. With each hide costing around £850, leather interiors are about to get a whole lot sexier.

INFORMATION

The new collection will be on view at London Design Festival 15 – 23 September. For more information, visit the Bill Amberg Studio website

ADDRESS

Tom Dixon
The Coal Office
1 Bagley Walk
London
N1C 4PQ

VIEW GOOGLE MAPS

Tom Dixon skipped Milan’s Salone del Mobile  hubbub this year for good reason – the veteran designer and entrepreneur is concurrently throwing the doors open to his new showroom spaces in both New York and London this week, and unveiling his studio’s newest creations to boot

In New York, the studio now calls a generous 6,700 sq ft space in Soho home. Spread out over two floors on Greene Street, in an area known for its furniture stores, the high-ceilinged retail space has been carved into distinctive areas dedicated to fragrance, accessories, lighting and furniture to truly showcase how much the collections have grown.

‘It feels almost a bit too grown-up,’ says Dixon. ‘But it’s also part of what we are doing in London as well, which is moving up to the next level. We’ve now got enough to show off what it is we do.’

He adds, ‘Up until now we’ve mostly been wholesale so this is about a direct connection with customers, whether they are professionals or walk in off the street. I try to make as little distinction as possible. I want to have things available and some action, some activity.’

Taking inspiration from its London relocation to a headquarters in Kings Cross, Tom Dixon’s New York outpost is conceived as a malleable platform. It will host lectures, collection launches, perhaps even a discotheque sometime soon. (‘Why not? That’s my origin after all,’ Dixon demurs.)

This week, the space will present the studio’s newest explorations, including a new range of bathroom lighting, as well as a fresh colour direction for the firm. In a move away from its popular brass and copper tones, the new collection is anchored by stainless steel, glossy black and electric blue to give its signature silhouettes an even stronger futuristic feel.

The showroom will also host a pop-up version of Dixon’s popular ‘Flash Factory’ installation, which was conceived to showcase the manufacturing process behind his flat-packed ‘Etch’ light. Visitors can come watch how a special limited edition version of the light is assembled, which they can then tote home.

Downstairs, cosy environs serve as an ideal area for architects, interior designers and wholesale clients to discuss, debate and make decisions. ‘Soho is a better backdrop for everything to breathe,’ concludes Dixon.’

See more from New York Design Week here

INFORMATION 

For more information, visit Tom Dixon’s website

ADDRESS 

25 Greene Street
New York
NY 10013

VIEW GOOGLE MAPS

Sitting across the table at his showroom in London’s Portobello Dock, Tom Dixon looks nervous. It’s not the prospect of the interview; Dixon is a seasoned interviewee, with over three decades’ worth of design prominence. Any perceived nerves come from the anticipation of what’s to come. His studio is about to embark on a very special – and logistically complicated – project: the full relocation of its office, showroom and restaurant to a new home in King’s Cross.

An especially designed space featuring added functions, key collaborations and the chance to connect even more and better with the wider public make for exciting plans; although, by the designer’s own admission, it’s all a little daunting to organise alongside the day job.

The location is The Coal Office, a long, industrial brick building on the southern edge of Granary Square, running alongside the canal, just off Heatherwick Studio’s upcoming Coal Drops Yard. The existing structure seems larger than it actually is, its lightly curved footprint being fairly narrow, yet it nevertheless boasts some 1,640 sq m, as well as a mix of internal environments.

There are both high and low ceilings, access to the outdoors, and some almost underground spaces, these in the brick arches that once connected the building – constructed in 1851 and home to the area’s coal and fish goods offices – to the city’s waterway transportation system. Here, come April, Dixon will launch his new headquarters, an extensive design hub that will not only house his research and development studio, but also production facilities, and friends of the brand.

The designer searched far and wide to find the right place for this new home. When the studio’s Ladbroke Grove landlord decided to sell, Dixon was faced with a choice; staying, which would actually involve moving out temporarily, while the premises were being redesigned; or permanently relocating. He opted for the latter. A move felt organic, as the studio was fast outgrowing its space. The team had been looking for a second location for a while, for more floorspace and increased visibility for the retail business.

At the same time, Dixon had been picking up signs of a sea change in the retail landscape. ‘It’s now a cliché to say you will merge online and physical retail – this we have to do – but I want to make a visit more engaging, richer and more complete by adding new tastes, new smells and more textures to it.’ So now, part of the design studio and the workshop will be visible to the public.

As a location, King’s Cross ticked all Dixon’s boxes and then some. ‘We go from being on a private estate to a one of the busiest new districts in London – a hundred or a thousand times the footfall – we don’t know!’ he says. So a restaurant will be found on the building’s first floor, spilling out onto a long terrace offering a spectacular overview of King’s Cross, from Coal Drops Yard’s curving roof, to the nearby Gasholders development and further housing beyond, towards the north.

Next to it and beneath, will be the studio’s main workspaces and below those, the arches. Here, the Tom Dixon range will be divided among different retail units, so there will be a lighting shop, a perfumery, and so on. The plan is also for some of the arches to be occupied by collaborators, younger craft studios, and complementary businesses that Dixon will select for cohabitation. ‘We will make a little factory – manufacturing in the middle of London again, like when I first started,’ he says.

There are similarities between the original premises and The Coal Office. ‘Plus ça change,’ jokes Dixon. The new building, like the old, is located along a canal, in a reused historical building. Still, The Coal Office will offer a better connected environment, and that was important for Dixon. There are rail links to the rest of the UK and, of course, the Eurostar. ‘King’s Cross is the centre of a massive web of canals, roads and trains that radiate out from London to the whole country and directly link to the continent; it’s the hub of a massive network. It’s international and local, it’s business and pleasure, futuristic and historic – finding this building with it’s gritty industrial charm sealed the deal.’

The redesigned space will be proudly showcasing many of its original features, along with new elements, such as lighting. The renovation was done with the help of DRS Architects and David Morley Architects, with Dixon designing the interior. As his brand develops, the ambition is to have three or four of these larger outposts worldwide, instead of hundreds of shops, he explains.

‘We get involved in so many activities that are usually invisible – the design process, manufacturing, decorating, foods and perfumes, partnerships, product development, engineering, logistics – so this hub is an attempt to reveal what goes on inside and around a brand rather than just a glossy shop.’ Was he tempted to design his own building?

‘Of course! We are moving in a hurry now so not enough time – but that is definitely the next step.’ For now, Dixon is planning the immediate future. With the move date coinciding with the run up to Milan’s Salone del Mobile, he decided not to have a presence at the furniture fair this year, for the first time in his practice’s history.

Though not showing during Milan design week, Tom Dixon has released a new collection for spring (items from which are pictured above). It sees the designer institute a crisp colour palette with three complementary palettes of glossy black, precise stainless steel and electric blue. Spherical metallic pendant lights have a bowling ball-like glow, while shining metallic furniture has a space-age edge.

Instead of taking these futuristic flights of fancy to the fair, Dixon is embarking on a world tour, launching his products in different destinations around the world – Cape Town and Casablanca are among the first stops on his list, and a new New York store at 25 Greene Street is due to open in May. ‘We felt it would make much more sense to take our collection on the road and launch in Iceland and Vancouver and Peru, as well as our new shops in New York, London and Sydney, rather than go to the usual Milan bash,’ he explains; it’s the perfect plan to run from his new, hyper-connected HQ.

Additional reporting by Elly Parsons. A version of this article originally appeared in the April 2018 issue of Wallpaper* (W*229)

INFORMATION

The new collection is availalbe from the Tom Dixon website

Tom Dixon has been at the forefront of furniture and interior design for the past three decades. The famously self-taught designer led the creative team at British furniture retailer Habitat before creating his eponymous brand in 2002, which is now featured in showrooms from Reykjavik to Tehran.

Despite being in the throes of preparations for his new HQ at London’s Kings Cross (which you’ll be able to read about in the April 2018 issue of Wallpaper*), Dixon flew to Singapore to tell the Brainstorm Design conference about his unusual start in the design industry and what’s next for his growing empire – doing so while seated on the Delaktig, an open-source, modular seating system he released with Ikea last month.

Addressing his lack of formal design training, Dixon acknowledged that ‘too many people who go to art school don’t encounter commerce early on; it’s very theoretical. But I always had to sell my work on the streets.’

The same entrepreneurial streak motivated him to start his own label. ‘I didn’t want to be in service to a bigger company,’ he said. ‘In fashion design, people tend to have companies under their own names, so they have a degree of control over the way things are made, shown, communicated, and are in direct contact of the customer. I wanted to mimic them.’

The Ikea collaboration came from a similar desire to change the way the furniture industry did things. ‘Instead of perfecting an object, I sent the Delaktig into the world for other people to hack. The shape of the base frame – with an aluminium band around it – is reminiscent of the iPhone 4. Like the iPhone, people can add things on top, turning it into a sofa, adding lamps. I worked with 75 much faster, younger, fresher minds than my own, who added 75 ideas for it.’

Recalls Dixon: ‘I realised that [these young people] seem quite terrified of the modern world. The Japanese raised the bed so they could hide underneath during earthquakes, the Indonesians added inflatable elements so they could float in tsunamis, the Chinese added tents to shield from radiation.’

Lately, he has been taking his furniture to a new environment – specifically the waters of the Bahamas, where he has a sub-aquatic ‘furniture farm.’ Four years ago he submerged ten chairs and two tables so that they would grow a skin of coral (‘natural concrete’) on their surfaces.

‘It’s a furniture project,’ Dixon said, ‘but it also contributes to coral regeneration, and some day I’d like to do this on a more ambitious scale, so that people can pick chairs like fruits in the forest.’

The Brainstorm Design conference is jointly organised by Fortune, TIME and Wallpaper*, bringing together more than 300 top speakers and delegates from 33 countries. See more here

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Brainstorm design website

ADDRESS

Mandarin Oriental Singapore
5 Raffles Avenue
039797
Marina Square
Singapore

VIEW GOOGLE MAPS

It’s that time of year again when quartz specialist Caesarstone pushes the boundaries of their dynamic wares by collaborating with a design big-hitter. Recall last year’s folkloric playground by Jaime Hayon, or 2016’s elemental kitchens by Tom Dixon, each project is first unveiled at Interior Design Show in Toronto, and then evolves throughout the year.

This year’s offering is the brainchild of multi-disciplinary design renegade Snarkitecture. It centres on any self-respecting domestic dreamer’s contemporary kitchen must-have – the island – a space which has become ‘the social hub of the house,’ says Alex Mustonen, Snarkitecture’s partner and co-founder. It’s an idea that aligns with his goal of ‘creating environments and experiences that are designed to be inclusive.’

Using Caesarstone’s surfaces as a jumping off point, Snarkitecture have created four, highly conceptual takes on kitchen islands. Each have their own identities, yet communicate with the same design language, categorised by sinuous, stratified layers that emulate natural topography.

Titled ‘Ice Island’, ‘Water Island’, ‘Steam Island’ and ‘Play Island’, the four-fold installation reflects the kitchen island’s multi-function; a place of preparation, performance, and occasional kitchen-sink drama. Take ‘Steam Island’, for instance, which comprises 28, finely rendered layers of Caesarstone White Attica quartz. Through the layers, an atmospheric emission of water vapour emits from the surface – evoking both earth-shattering volcanic eruptions, and (a little closer to home) the gentle over-boiling of a pan.

More objet d'art than à la carte, the islands are intended to convey the brilliance of Caesarstone surfaces. ‘As architects, we tend to be very material-oriented,’ says Ben Porto, partner at Snarkitecture. ‘This collaboration gives us the opportunity to engage and interact with the Caesarstone material, something we would like to pass on to visitors of the installation, demonstrating its versatility and quality.’

The IDS instalment is just the appetiser for this ongoing island project – look out for the large scale installation during Salone del Mobile in April.

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Caesarstone website and the Snarkitecture website

The autumn fair season kicked off in Paris with Maison et Objet and Paris Design Week, welcoming the European design community back from its summer holidays. It was a well-padded schedule, both at the Parc d'Exposition and around town, where galleries had mounted fresh shows; and at the Cité de la Mode, buzzing with emerging talents showing at the Now! Le Off space.

In the exhibition halls, the ‘Objet’ component of the show was strong. In particular, desktop paraphernalia was imagined in many different ways, with exhibitors from Taiwan and China (Yen Objects, TA&D, Ey Products and Kimu, for example) dominating the offering. Established companies such as Hartô and Pulpo bolstered their collections of furniture with small-scale products – lamps, hooks and trays at Hartô, and glassware and carafes at Pulpo – while Minimalux, specialists in perfectly pared-back small-scale accessories, showcased a host of new items, created since recent investment reinforced their hand.

Tinted glassware seemed popular in launches at Pulpo, Tom Dixon and Ichendorf, while new ceramic offerings seemed to favour mid-century colours and forms – as seen at Rig-Tig, Namhee Kim, Zens and Nicola Tassie, who launched her ceramic lamps at Margaret Howell in town.

The cooking section was on fire, with multiple launches from Merci, who teamed up with Serax to produce tabletop ceramics ideal for bringing a touch of refinement to desk lunches; with Paola Navone on a collection designed for cooking pasta; and with Emile Henry on a set of stoneware cooking pots. While many companies were prosaically exercised in their quests for the perfect take-out lunch and drink containers (see Black+Blum, Eva Solo and Acera), others focused on gilding their table offerings. Almost literally in the case of Alessi, who produced a collection of their iconic bowls, dishes and trays in a special punched brass finish, using an ancient goldsmithing technique called Etruscan granulation. The effect is to transform pieces we know well, giving them deserved new life.

The standout offering at the fair was that of Giobagnara and sister brand Rabitti 1969, which, with Stéphane Parmentier newly at the creative helm, exhibited a whole new collection of leather furniture and accessories, from consoles to poufs, trays of all sizes and a memory card game.

There was plenty to see around town. At Now! Le Off it was an exhibition by Atelier Synapse – a newly merged group of craftsmen, comprising members of design studios Ateliers Seewhy and 13douze – that caught our eye. Sponsored by Laverdure, the collection used epoxy resin as a key material. More fresh talent from around the world was on show at Galerie VIA. Stand-outs included an innovative dimming wall light, dubbed ‘Binomios’, by Mexican design group Comité de Proyectos; and an essential oil distillery by Tiffany Lei.

Staple design/art galleries like Tools Galerie, Gallery Bensimon, Pouenat and Carpenters Workshop were all ready with arresting new collections, with charred wooden pieces at Bensimon courtesy of Roberto Sironi; spraying and stencilling by Katia Jacquet at Tools; and original sculptural pieces by Sybille de Margerie at Pouenat, and ‘Furnification’ by Atelier Van Lieshout at Carpenters.

INFORMATION
For more information, visit the Maison et Objet website

Death is the terrifying ‘elephant in the room’ for many cultures, a topic that no one wants to talk about, let alone design products for. Our obsession with youth has led to an oversupply of objects designed for the early stages of life, yet there is very little in the way of elegant products for its end.

It’s a fact that hasn’t gone unnoticed by one designer in particular, who when asked to consider the spiritual passage for Wallpaper* Handmade, seized upon the chance to broach that taboo. ‘It’s something I’ve been trying to do for quite a long time,’ says trailblazing British designer Tom Dixon of his sustainable sarcophagus. ‘I’ve been thinking about the idea since I was at Habitat (where Dixon served as creative director from 1998 to 2008). So you could say that Wallpaper* has made my dreams come true.’

With its streamlined form, Dixon’s lightweight paper coffin is an elegant overhaul of an outdated design. ‘I bought a coffin to look at the construction, and I put it in the staff room,’ remembers Dixon of the early stages of the project. ‘Everybody in the office freaked out, which is really a reflection of the symbolic grip that coffins have on the popular imagination.

‘Death is weirdly ignored, until it happens,’ he continues. ‘And when it happens, the rituals and the artifacts around it are from another era, and have all kinds of awful connotations. Even the shape of a coffin and the way it’s constructed reeks of horror movies, Victoriana and Gothic and the rest of it. Nothing’s really progressed – there are wicker coffins, and the cardboard ones for eco-warriors – but you don’t get anything that reflects the personality of the person whom you’re celebrating.’

Concluding that the current coffin options were ‘pretty grim’, Dixon began to look further afield for inspiration, researching positive rituals that take place in the cultures of Egypt and sub-Saharan Africa, where the deceased are given celebratory send-offs. It was the natural, rounded shape of Egyptian sarcophagi that particularly appealed to Dixon, and so he set about creating a design for a soft and organic case – the antithesis of the traditional sharpcornered, brass-handled designs.

Dixon and Wallpaper* set off in search of a perfect contemporary material with which to realise this design. The quest led us to new Italian brand Paper Factor, which offered the perfect solution. Similar to papier mâché, Paper Factor’s eponymous cellulose compound is strong, durable, mouldable and extremely light.

In addition, its manufacturing process uses sustainable timber sources, avoids hazardous substances and generates minimal waste, making it an ecologically sound choice to boot.

New York-based architect Riccardo Cavaciocchi is the man behind the micropaper material. Originally invented by his mother, the accomplished Italian art restorer Lidiana Miotto, the material has been produced by Cavaciocchi’s family for over 35 years and used for the restoration of ancient artworks; but it was only last year that Cavaciocchi started to develop it for other applications. Realising that the material could potentially be used in architecture and interior design, he began producing a series of decorative surfaces in a variety of sizes and finishes. Cavaciocchi hopes that the new Paper Factor venture will introduce his family business to a fresh audience.

Production is still based in Cavaciocchi’s home town of Lecce in Apulia, an area with a long-standing history of paper production. ‘A huge part of the restoration work that my mother used to do in the past was related to religion,’ recalls Cavaciocchi. ‘She restored the ceiling of an ancient church here in Lecce, and she’s also made many religious statues and monuments. So being asked to produce a coffin by Wallpaper* didn’t seem out of the ordinary for us, though it was a pleasant surprise. To be honest, I was much happier to produce a big object like this, rather than a chair.’

The process of creating the monolithic sarcophagus began by dyeing rough paper pulp with natural pigments, to create the earthy black and brown shades that Dixon desired. The pulp was applied as square tiles onto a polystyrene mould by hand, and smoothed into a single form. After being left to dry slowly and naturally in a special chamber, the dried paper cast was trimmed, calibrated and polished manually and with CNC machines. The resulting ceremonial casket possesses an organic texture that evokes the return of ashes to ashes.

‘The Paper Factor compound is very easy to adapt to any shape of mould,’ explains Cavaciocchi. ‘So it was very simple to begin the process. The only thing is, when the dimensions are bigger you have to take care because it’s more easily damaged, and we’d never done something like this before. But the design is beautiful, it’s clean, it’s pure, it’s minimal. It looks so solid and heavy but actually it is so light.’

For Dixon, the use of the paper compound was a first. ‘I’ve looked quite a lot previously into paper pulp packaging and things like that, so I know how it works in terms of the moulding process – and I’ve done a bit of papier mâché in my time,’ adds the designer with a smile, ‘but this project was never supposed to be about pushing the boundaries in terms of papier mâché, it was about trying to find a neutral but recognisable form to envelope the body.’

As for the future of the project, Dixon is pragmatic. ‘I’ll definitely try and work with Riccardo again as I love the technique,’ he says, ‘but maybe on something with more consumer appeal. Hopefully people will recognise that we’re able do more than make chairs and lamps and, you never know, perhaps I’ll be getting a few calls from the coffin makers out there.’

As originally featured in the August 2017 issue of Wallpaper* (W*221)

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Tom Dixon website and the Paper Factor website. Available from WallpaperSTORE*

At this year’s Salone del Mobile, that most sacred of design gatherings, we called the Wallpaper* flock to the Mediateca Santa Teresa, a deconsecrated church on Via della Moscova. And there did true believers, as well as the odd agnostic, enjoy intimate communion with spirit-lifting design and craft at its most transcendent.

This issue bears witness to the divine efforts of our various dynamic design duos and hastily assembled bands of brothers and sisters. From genesis to revelation, we pull back the veil on projects from the Bouroullecs, Tom Dixon, Kostas Murkudis, Sabine Marcelis, Conrad Shawcross, Matteo Thun, Doshi Levien and a multitude more. Here are fonts and sarcophagi, tools for meditation and mindfulness, settings for blessed beginnings and suitable send-offs, devotional fixtures and fittings, and simple, elegantly austere sanctuaries for the modern soul.

In all, and rare, seriousness, we hope the spirit of this year’s Handmade exhibition, and this issue, is one of calm reflection and communion, entirely inclusive and strictly non-denominational. Salone and Handmade are truly global events, celebrations of cross-border collaboration and friendships forged in the creative act. They recognise that we can still at least hope to make the world, in small ways perhaps, a more civilised and lovely place to be.

Onwards and upwards!

Tony Chambers, Editor-in-Chief

As originally featured in the August 2017 issue of Wallpaper* (W*221)

INFORMATION

The August 2017 issue of Wallpaper* is out now. Subscribe here

Stumble into Le Drugstore after a few Martinis and you’ll wonder if, when you walked through its doors, you didn’t also step back to the early 1960s, so period-perfect is the interior.
 
A Parisian staple since 1958, the sprawling Drugstore Publicis sits at the Place de l’Étoile end of the Champs-Élysées and was the brainchild of Publicis founder, Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet, who drew inspiration from similar venues he frequented as a young Madison Avenue advertising executive. Restaurant, shop, cinema and bar, it was Paris’ first all-hours venue.

This makeover is not Le Drugstore’s first but it is truer to the building’s original spirit than Michele Saee’s bold but frigid Gehry-esque intervention of 2004. Thanks go to Tom Dixon, whose graceful re-interpretation reveals the more interesting aspects of architect Pierre Dufau’s original design and whose use of rich, tactile materials and clever juxtaposition of glossy wood and marble with soft leather, velvet and brushed brass lends the restaurant its Don Draper appeal.

The menu is the work of Eric Fréchon, the triple-starred chef of Épicure at Le Bristol and offers everything from finger-foods to main meals, with counter service at the bar and the open kitchen for those requiring entertainment.

INFORMATION

Website

ADDRESS

133 Avenue des Champs-Elysées 

VIEW GOOGLE MAPS

‘Who’s the skinhead with the beard, tight suit and tattoos?’ A few years ago, a distinctive looking chap appeared on the front row of the fashion shows and caught the attention of other regular attendees. ‘He’s the buying director for MyTheresa,’ replied one sage. This particular tattooed gentleman was Justin O’Shea and he was definitely rocking a ‘Thing’. And he was getting noticed. O’Shea came from a humble background. Prior to his Thingness, young Justin grew up in a remote village in Queensland, Australia, working in mines with his dad and shifting boxes at supermarkets. Now he was an unmistakeable feature on the fashion circuit with an exploding social media profile boosted by numerous half naked selfies. Some dismissed him as a bit of a joke. Others said he was a smart guy who knew his fashion retail and also knew how to project himself as a brand – as a Thing.

Fast forward to July 2016 and O’Shea is no longer on the front row but on the catwalk, taking a John Galliano-style bow for his debut collection for Brioni. His appointment as creative director a few months earlier raised eyebrows as he had no formal training or experience as a designer. But it was a reflection of the changing responsibilities of such a role and of the industry and society more widely. It’s no longer just about being able to design or oversee a collection, it’s about communicating a style and a vision. It’s about being an ambassador who projects that vision. It’s about being noticed and talked about. It’s about having a Thing!

I wish I had a Thing. I realised some years ago that anybody who is really successful, who has really made it, has a Thing. I’m doing all right, but if I had a Thing I’d be big. I’d be someone. A Thing gets you noticed and remembered. ‘Do you know Tony Chambers, the editor of Wallpaper*?’ ‘I don’t think I do… oh, hang on, is he the xxx guy with the xxx? Yes, sure I know him.’ Being noticed and  remembered seems to make you better.

Think of Le Corbusier. Would he have been as successful without those black, thick-framed round spectacles? Richard Rogers has his brightly coloured collarless shirts, while Jean Nouvel keeps it monochrome. Peter Marino’s career took off after he adopted the Tom of Finland look. John Pawson keeps it minimal, of course – he has his NOthing.

Steve Jobs had his black polo-neck and 
dad jeans – the low-key thing. While Italian industrialist Gianni Agnelli always wore his wristwatch over his shirt cuff. A bling thing!

Fashion designers are undoubtedly kings of the Thing. Alber Elbaz ‘owns’ the big bow tie and Rick Owens ‘owns’ elegant goth, while John Galliano has borrowed just about everything – currently settling on a sober Savile Row gent Thing. Karl Lagerfeld has about five Things. The greedy Kaiser has his powdered ponytail, his high-necked starched shirts, ever-present dark glasses and fingerless gloves, and his celebrity pussy, Choupette.

Although copper is his big Thing, designer Tom Dixon also had a pet Thing. Until her recent sad passing, Dixon would always be seen at cocktail events with his pet poodle, Molly. Even Molly had a Thing – she had to be carried as she was deaf, blind and 120 in dog years. Dixon also proudly sports artfully dishevelled curly hair, rides a vintage motorbike, and was apparently the first person in London to go sockless.

Ron Arad has his ever-present trademark hat, gallerist Rossana Orlandi her oversized eyewear, and Marcel Wanders has his 1970s playboy Thing. Karim Rashid, Jack Mama and Nina Tolstrup are the undisputed bright things. And the younger generation of designers are not to be outdone. Bethan Laura Wood does her Boy George Thing, while Philippe Malouin and the Formafantasma boys have made facial topiary their favoured chin Thing.

Photographers naturally understand the power of image. Terry Richardson has his retro porn star Thing and thumbs-up Thing. Juergen Teller is unvaryingly in the shortest of short, sporty, short shorts. And the late, great Bill Cunningham was never without his bright blue French worker’s jacket.

Successful magazine editors are inveterate thingsters. Graydon Carter’s sweeping patrician pelt, Anna Wintour’s bob, Suzy Menkes’ pompadour and Grace Coddington’s fiery red locks are their mane Things. The follicly challenged have to take another tack. British GQ’s Dylan Jones resorted to wearing comically large shirt collars. It may look preposterous, but at least it’s his Thing. He’s got a Thing. I haven’t. Even our Bespoke art director Aneel has developed a personal way of wrapping his shoelaces behind his ankle. ‘It’s my Thing,’ he answered proudly when quizzed by puzzled colleagues.

What could be my Thing? A monocle? Nah – too old fogey. A single bright, block-coloured outfit? Nah – too Rashid. A hat? A cane? A polka-dot bow tie? Deerstalker and pipe? Pants outside my trousers? Not right! I was about to give up when, lo and behold, I had a Thing bestowed upon me. Last year I contracted vertigo, an inner ear condition resulting in room-spinning, nausea, loss of balance and, subsequently, deafness in my right ear. All rather unpleasant and irritating, but at least I now have my Thing. ‘Tony Chambers? Oh, is he the wobbly guy with the ear trumpet who vomits involuntarily? I know him, he’s a legend!’

As originally featured in the October 2016 issue of Wallpaper* (W*211)

Interestingly enough, Tom Dixon has never been in Barneys – no, no not to shop, but sold in the shop. The British studio, however, is finally having its big day out on the ninth floor of the OG Barneys on Madison Avenue, a pop-up open until 29 May with a curated selection that mimics an exhibition.

Nodding to the pop-up’s title ‘Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow’, the wares are laid out in a chronological path, beginning with Dixon’s more signature furniture pieces that have become iconic to the brand: the instantly recognisable ‘S’ chair; the ‘Bird’ chaise, in a grey flannel that is far more comfortable than it looks; and the ‘Pylon’ chair, a metal wire sculptural high-back with its spindly legs and outstretched ears that’s still the lightest chair ever to be produced. There’s even a furry chair, zealously hirsute of tendrils from Icelandic sheep.

But according to Dixon, he wants to be everywhere in the house. And this encompassing capsule offers an extension into all rooms and functions of the home. Of course, there are his ‘Melt’ lamps, including the 2015 tripod version laden with those bulbous glass explosions (taken form as shades), and the Tom Dixon cocktail sets, primed right for the American market, including new barware in rosy copper and sumptuously smoked copper.

The Barneys pop-up also includes an entirely exclusive foray for the studio – textiles – which the man himself has joked is a sign of ‘getting soft’. And in this case, quite literally. These pillows are in plush fabrics, in colours of blush, cobalt, gold and grey. Expect new textile rollouts in the coming months, especially as the studio’s new store opens in Hong Kong at the end of May. Perhaps Dixon is signalling a jump into a fashion collaboration (you heard it here first).

The pop-up also includes a whole slew of unexpected finds – for one, the oversized hand-hammered brass trays from India, where each piece is unique. Dixon now too makes candles, a product suprising turn for his studio, but that they sell out regularly is still more of a revelation. His signature conceptual scents, too, will waft through the air in Publicis Drugstore, his Design Research Studio’s latest restaurant on the Champs-Elysées in Paris, opening on 23 May.

INFORMATION

The pop-up store is open until 29 May. For more information, visit the Barneys website and the Tom Dixon website

ADDRESS

660 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10065

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We invite you to fall down on your knees and worship at the altar of Holy Handmade!, our showcase of creativity and collaboration, at Mediateca Santa Teresa, a former church on Via della Moscova, Milan. Our pilgrimage to Salone del Mobile promises to be a truly elevating experience. A non-denominational temple to design, Holy Handmade! leads a ritual celebration of divine inspiration, high craft and the sacred union of miraculous materials, the maker’s mark and the odd infernal machine. Mindful of mindfulness and the collective spiritual quest, we’ve tasked a host of design talent to reimagine ritual, rework worship and reconsider the communal.

Visitors will be invited to confess behind Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec and Lesage Intérieurs’ ‘Veil’, rest in pieces in Tom Dixon and Paper Factor’s sustainable sarcophagus, store their cassocks in Paul Helbers and Smallbone’s wardrobe, light a candle to Martin Brudnizki’s votive holder, and drop a couple of Kostas Murkudis and Gustav van Treeck’s meditation tablets. Elsewhere, they can practice contemplation with Conrad Shawcross’ crystal titanium piece, be mindful with Matteo Thun’s care case, get an olfactory high with Bloc Studios and Haeckels’ scent diffuser, follow Yves Béhar’s Ten Commandments, and dip into Cutler and Gross and Doshi Levien’s time-capsule clutch when Jamie Fobert’s offertory bag is passed round.

The Wallpaper* Holy Handmade! temple also features...

The People’s Religion: A spectacular, vestibule entrance devoted to the design and deity of the people’s religion of football where Juventus will depict how it sees the future of football through its new brand proposition.

Planet Gufram: Offering a credible alternative to creationism, Gufram proves its products are out of this world. ‘A meteorite from Planet Gufram has crashed into the courtyard of Mediateca, spreading its fragments into the Handmade exhibition and recreating an alien ecosystem.’

Le Refuge: Presented by The Invisible Collection and designed by Marc Ange, ‘Le Refuge’ is a contemplative, palm-shaded daybed installation in a lush fantasy setting, by the Green Gallery, in the Mediateca garden.

We look forward to welcoming followers and disciples to Holy Handmade! during Salone del Mobile 2017. And may your god/shaman/other spirit guide travel with you.

INFORMATION

Holy Handmade! is open on 4 April 12 – 4pm; 5 – 8 April, 10am – 7pm, and 9 April, 10am – 5pm. For more information, contact us

ADDRESS

Mediateca Santa Teresa
Via della Moscova 28
20121 Milan

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Picture the mighty Rafael Viñoly-designed 432 Park Avenue, and walking into a 92nd floor apartment peppered with modern pieces by the likes of Tom Dixon, Lindsey Adelman, and Luca Nichetto. That fantasy can now become reality in one of the New York tower’s penthouses, courtesy of interior designer Kelly Behun who is giving discerning Manhattanites a taste of luxury living in the big city.

The apartment has been coined a ‘living gallery’, furnished by Behun in collaboration with online art portal Artsy and which features some of her own studio designs, along with bespoke pieces, artworks and contemporary furnishings.

‘What was different about this project, and any model apartment of course, is that the client is unknown,’ explains Behun. ‘The fun was imagining who that might be, and imbuing the space with a point of view that I thought would be appealing.’

Behun has kept the space fresh and minimal, instilling it with warmth through a careful curation of art and accessories. Big-ticket pieces like the bespoke bed and sofa have been realised in neutral shades, while products from the likes of The Future Perfect and the Haas Brothers inject personality into the space.

‘When you are working with a view this gobsmacking, there is no reason to even try to upstage them, it isn’t possible,’ Behun says. Still, the interior designer did not shy away from lavish accents; gold accessories by Tom Dixon and New York studio Apparatus glisten in the apartment's natural light, while Calico Wallpaper's embellished ‘Satori’ drip print has been realised in a striking bespoke blue.

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Kelly Behun website, Artsy website and 432 Park Avenue website

Swedish furniture behemoth IKEA is set to edge its way further into the design world with a micro-festival opening during Salone del Mobile in Milan in early April.

Having upped the ante via collaborations with the likes of Ilse Crawford (which won a Wallpaper* Design Award last year), Form Us With Love, Tom Dixon and Hay, the company is now set to take on the most important event of the design calendar with a dedicated multidisciplinary event.

The staging, titled ‘Let’s Make Room for Life’, was inspired by the brand’s fascination with home-life and living spaces. ‘For many people, the living room is the most important room in the home. It's a room that is both public and personal where you can show who you are and who you want to be,' says IKEA design manager Marcus Engman, who is curating the showcase. ‘But the functions and furniture people need in the living room is rapidly changing. As a curious company, it’s our job to accept the challenge of these new needs and redefine the living room.’

Housed in a warehouse in Milan’s Lambrate district, the show will transform the venue into an emporium of design, architecture, lifestyle, sustainability and food (what IKEA describes as the ‘future living room’).

As well as a host of workshops, installations, interviews, music and live prototyping, the brand will also be debuting six new collections including Tom Dixon’s ‘Delaktig’ daybed and furniture by Hay. IKEA will also be popping up at Dixon’s own show at Teatro Manzoni with a film festival, sharing the ideas behind the ‘Delaktig’ project.

INFORMATION

The festival will run from  4–9 April at Salone del Mobile in Milan. For more information, visit the IKEA website

Esteemed or not, a quartz company doesn't seem the obvious choice of publisher for a boundary-pushing cookbook. But Caesarstone isn't any old stone-cutter, and A Material Menu: Designs for the Culinary Aesthetic isn't any old cookbook.

For a start, the tome has been created in collaboration with Francesca Sarti of outré food/design studio Arabeschi di Latte. Secondly, Caesarstone has no little experience in these intersecting worlds, largely down to its work with designer du decade Tom Dixon – specifically, the Salone del Mobile-inaugurated project it created with him earlier this year based around the four elements, titled The Restaurant and on which this large-format book is based.

A sage-smoked and roasted cauliflower comprises The Dark Trophy, from 'Fire' (against Caesarstone 6003 Coastal Grey, 5100 Vanilla Noir)

Therein, eight conceptual recipes and and a series of food stories constructed around the concepts of air, wind, fire and earth are styled by Sarti, illustrated with photography by Tom Mannion and set on the page by Micha Weidmann Studio (and all against Caesarstone's austere quartz backgrounds, naturally).

Sarti herself has devised the book's recipes; riffing on traditional dishes and conspicuously integrating each of the elements in their ingredients and cooking methods. 'The book gave me the chance to develop our Milan menu and work on eight new recipes to represent the elements that would not only delight and provoke the taste buds but tantalise the eyes and echo Caesarstone’s work surfaces in a way that would further explore the boundaries between food and design,' she explains.

Icefish Fritters, from 'Ice' (against Caesarstone 6131 Bianco Drift)

The results are varied, and endlessly eye-catching: from the Stone Sandwiches and Testaroli pesto pancakes of 'Earth', and the Salty Lemonade and Icefish Fritters of 'Ice'; to a cauliflower-based Dark Trophy and goat's cheese Torteau Fromager for 'Fire', and a torrone and meringue Egg Tower and tropical Snow Soup for 'Air'.

We helped Caesarstone launch A Material Menu in Miami last week, at Mr Chow on W South Beach. The auspicious dinner saw the imposing Egg Tower whipped up for diners and served on Caesarstone quartz plates. All in all, A Material Menu looks good enough to eat – quite literally.

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Caesarstone website

The 20th anniversary of Wallpaper* this year has called for celebrations of all kinds – among them a staff knees-up for everyone who had ever worked for the brand, a pop-up gallery on Mayfair’s Cork Street, and a panel discussion at the V&A. But best of all was an intimate dinner at Claridge’s recently. Joining forces with Dom Pérignon and its chef de cave Richard Geoffroy, we gathered some of our closest friends, representing all the creative disciplines we cover – design, architecture, art, fashion, food and, of course, fine wine.

Wallpaper* was founded in 1996. And as we washed down food by chef Simon Rogan with successive glasses of Dom ’96, we realised that, as Francis Albert Sinatra would say, it was a very good year – for all present.

Barber & Osgerby founded their studio in 1996 and created the ‘Loop’ table, which would attract the attention of their first major patron, Giulio Cappellini. John Pawson, who designed our subscribers’ cover this month, published his seminal book Minimum in 1996. And Amanda Levete, then at Future Systems, brought architectural finesse to London’s Docklands with her West India Quay Bridge.

1996 also saw Ron Arad reinvent the wheel. Not literally, but with his rolling circular bookcase, while Tom Dixon conceived his iconic ‘Jack’ light. Peter Saville, being Peter Saville, moved into his outlandishly louche Mayfair flat. ‘The Apartment’, as it was known, was perhaps a prototype for the Wallpaper* aesthetic. ‘I should have bought it,’ he quipped.

A young Ben Evans, now director of LDF, was working behind the scenes in 1996 to propel a similarly young Tony Blair to 10 Downing Street. Gregor Muir, now director of Tate’s international art collection, was laying the groundwork for his book of record on the YBAs. Lucky Kunst! That’s the title of the book – not a comment on Gregor’s fortunate double decade. Conceptualist artist Joseph Kosuth put the finishing touches on The Boundaries of the Limitless, which remains one of Japan’s largest works of public art.

Our younger friends were well on their way to success in 1996. Artist Conrad Shawcross finished his foundation course at the Chelsea School of Art. Simon Fujiwara was a boarder at Harrow, where he would be mentored by his eventual muse Joanne Salley – now the subject of his video installation at London’s Photographers’ Gallery. Designer Beatrix Ong was interning at Harper’s Bazaar and hot British fashion talent Simone Rocha was just celebrating her tenth birthday.

Finally, 1996 was also a very good year for Dom Pérignon. It was the year that Richard Geoffroy took the helm, and produced one of the brand’s best vintages. So it was fitting that we toasted its newest release, the P2, an exceptional champagne in its second Plénitude (stage of maturation).

It’s hard to improve on a classic, but whether among champagnes or creatives, maturity clearly has its perks.

As originally featured in the December 2016 issue of Wallpaper* (W*213)

INFORMATION
The December 2016 issue of Wallpaper* is out now! Subscribe here

Among Hong Kong’s many dining establishments, there are surprisingly few restaurants with unimpeded harbour views.

So this, along with glamorous interiors by Tom Dixon’s Design Research Studio, might explain the excitement around Alto, a new restaurant on the 31st floor of the newly developed V Point skyscraper. Inspired by the four classical elements of earth, air, fire and water with – according to Dixon – a touch of alchemy, subtle materials from the Shou Sugi Ban-style blackened timber, green marble and terrazzo stone are offset with polished brass fittings and fixtures.

Taking centre stage in the main dining room, is a gleaming cloud comprising 230 of Dixon’s gold mini ‘Melt’ lights while, separated by brass rod sliding doors, the 12-seater VIP room is furnished with a full-length marble topped-table and the designer’s wingback chairs in shocking pink. Food by chef Michael Boyle keeps carnivores happy with a robust menu of the usual suspects including a sublime Japanese A5 Wagyu beef, although the crispy pig’s ears with Thai-spiced dipping sauce is usually the first to sell out. 

ADDRESS

18 Tang Lung Street

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Vancouver’s Interior Design Show (IDS) is the perfect setting for the big North American reveal of Tom Dixon’s 'Fire Kitchen'. One of a set of interiors created in collaboration with Caesarstone called 'the Restaurant' – inspired by the four elements – that debuted at Milan's Salone del Mobile this summer, it takes centre stage in the sprawling Vancouver Convention Center. Across the way sits its sister display of the 'Ice Kitchen' that debuted at the IDS Toronto in January.

As a beleaguered but still buoyant Dixon, just arrived from Tel Aviv, shouts design details over an enthusiastic cover band rehearsing their version of Psycho Killer, he pauses briefly to sing along. The former musician does not miss a beat, noting that the singer is a little flat.

But his pitch-perfect design here does not fall short. The 'Fire Kitchen' is pure theatre. In fact, it’s culinary theatre in the round. 'It’s about the cook and the eater,' says Dixon. 'Everyone wants to be invited into the experience – so there is no front or back.'

Indeed, the ensemble of quartz tables and cooking stations reveals its American BBQ inspiration as design writers descend, devouring tandoori chicken skewers and quaffing Cava under warm, lava-lamp inspired lighting. This is more than merely a kitchen – it is both installation and gathering space.

Working with Caesarstone quartz, says Dixon, 'became interesting when I stopped thinking of it as marble. Unlike stone it has different qualities.' Advantages included a more seamless bonding process as well as 'laying panel vertically and cutting into it – which you couldn’t do with natural marble'.

In this kitchen, Dixon exploits both the sculptural quality and sophisticated finish of the quartz, as well as revealing its materiality and structural gravitas, while luminous red-tinged lighting brings out its inner fire.

INFORMATION
IDS West ran from 22–25 September. For more information, visit the IDS West website

Photography courtesy Caesarstone

The Soho House group has long since dispensed with the services of external designers – Tom Dixon, Martin Brudnizki and Ilse Crawford among them – establishing an in-house design studio in New York (though Tadao Ando is working with the group on a new Tokyo branch of the members' club empire). Headed up by Vicky Charles, the studio – kept busy by the group’s accelerating ambition, outfitting new houses in Chicago, Istanbul and LA, and working on openings in Amsterdam, Barcelona and Mumbai – has developed a house style heavy on the vintage and reclaimed. This is based around entirely bespoke furniture and fittings, ensuring that every new club feels distinctive and locally-sourced.

It was while working on the fit-out and furnishing of Soho House Chicago, opened in 2014, that Charles decided that all that snuffling and sourcing could serve a bigger purpose and sold the idea to Soho House founder Nick Jones.

Soft-launched to the houses’ 56,000 members earlier this year and now to the general public (33,000 of whom are currently on the waiting list to become members) Soho Home, the group's new e-commerce venture, lets you take bits of the houses away with you. Or at least have exactly alike bits of tableware, textiles, accessories, art prints, soft furnishing and furniture – including vintage pieces – delivered to your door.

‘We started Soho Home because members always ask us where they can buy things in the houses,’ says Jones. ‘So we created a range to bring the house home, from the Chesterfield sofa you sit on at Soho House Chicago to the Barwell Crystal you drink your Negroni from at 76 Dean Street.'

Sofas and armchairs are made by George Smith in Cramlington, Northumberland, pottery comes from Burleigh in Staffordshire and glassware is hand-blown at the Rogaška glassworks in Slovenia. And visitors to the site can view the collection by function or house of origin. Chicago, New York, Babington House, Soho Farmhouse and High Road House comprise the current list, but more will be added.

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Soho Home website

The Culver City enclave of Los Angeles has recently welcomed a mixed-use development with everything from food to fashion. The upscale Platform, by The Runyon Group, is now serving as an open-air mecca for cool finds while waiting for the Metro line to take you downtown or to Santa Monica.

This is also the landing pad for British designer/brand Tom Dixon’s expansion in the US which encompass his first (and largest) outpost in LA, followed by a new warehouse space in New York’s Soho. The collaboration with fashion boutique Curve – founded by Nevena Borissova and which has two other stores in LA – provides a total lifestyle hub under one roof.

The industrial loft size space was inspired by London's Dover Street Market. The interiors feature polished concrete walls and exposed black pipes mixed in with the designer’s signature iridescent walls of corrugated iron and passivated zinc. The polycarbonate bubbles of Dixon’s famous 'Melt' ceiling lamps glisten next to mysterious oblong smoky 'Fade' lamps that appear to have multiple bulbs at work. Mannequins wearing sparking sequin skirts paired with crisp white blouses flank oversized 'Wingback' chairs and furry footstools made out of sheepskin from Denmark.

Towards the back, handmade brass 'Beat' lights from India hover over a marble Champagne bar and cafe space that will be launching in September. Stand out home accessories include a phallic copper and stone mortar and pestle, massive wooden cutting boards and 'Elements' candles in four scents.

Fashion ranges from runway chic to California casual and is displayed up a dramatic marble staircase and on metal racks that include wares by Raquel Allegra, Alberta Ferretti, Balmain, Thierry Mugler and AOTC - the latter designed by Nevena Borissova and exclusive to the LA store. Men's lines include clothes by Alexander McQueen and Rick Owens, and a Levi’s recycle bar is also in the works.

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Tom Dixon website

Change is afoot for Swedish furniture giant Ikea. Not only have they enlisted Danish design company Hay to redesign their iconic Frakta bags, but they have also partnered with British designer Tom Dixon to create their next collection of modern seating.

First and foremost though, the reinvention of the blue and yellow Frakta bags: Wallpaper* Power Listers Rolf and Mette Hay’s versatile version of holdalls will take a more ‘long-lasting’ approach. Gone will be the bold colours, replaced instead by forest green straps and a chequered white and green woven fabric.

Set to be released in 2017, the muted bags will accompany a ‘new collection for socialising in the living room.’ The line of furniture and accessories—including a chair, bench, table and desk lamp—will have ‘a classic Scandinavian feel, with light colours, high quality and clean design.’

Tom Dixon has also been revealed to be working with the furniture giant, creating a range that promises to ‘explore comfortable, modular, flexible and lightweight seating for the modern home.’

‘We are in the midst of a huge revolution in how people create, manufacture and consume,’ Tom Dixon said in a statement, revealing that he hopes his aluminium-framed sofa may overtake the brand’s best-selling Klippan sofa in popularity.

Both collaborations were made at Ikea’s Democratic Design Day in Sweden last week, the firm's annual conference where the Wallpaper* Design Award-winning collection by Ilse Crawford was announced last year. 

INFORMATION

Photography: Courtesy of IKEA

Every year, London’s design pilgrims flock to Clerkenwell for the area's annual Design Week. Set over three days, this year marks the seventh edition of the ever-growing event, that took on a broader area of the East-Central London location, hosting talks, new releases, installations and workshops.

Big changes were brought to the usual festival format this year due to the Farmiloe building no longer hosting the central contemporary design hub that is Design Fields. The move sent it to a pop-up location, set on the green Spa Fields; and while some may argue that isn't Clerkenwell proper, we appreciated the green repose in the sunshine, witnessing designs arriving fresh from Salone del Mobile by the likes of Petite Friture, Dedon and H Furniture, as well as noteworthy new releases from +Halle and Another Brand.

Icon's House of Culture returned for a second year, and though hopes were high for the re-location to nightclub Fabric, it didn't have the show stopping quality of the Old Sessions house from last year. The range of brands on view, however, made it worth the trip, with Expormim, & Tradition and Stellar Works displaying their eloquent new pieces.

Tom Dixon put on a ceremonial show of his Milan releases. Settling inside the Grade I listed St James Church, just off Clerkenwell Green, the 17th century space was a grand backdrop for the glistening wares. Taking centre stage in the nave was an enchanting chandelier made out of the brand's 'Curve Pendants', set to stay as a permanent design fixture.

A wealth of new spaces showed for the first time, including newcomer BD Barcelona, who opened its  inaugural London space to coincide with the release of a Salvador Dalí-inspired chair. Meanwhile, design emporium Clerkenwell London played host to 'Go' – a new 3D printed wheelchair by Benjamin Hubert, alongside a crafted exhibition titled ‘Design Undefined’ that included a plethora of experimental works such as geometric cakes by Kia Utzon-Frank, a materials installation by Matter and handmade oak pieces by Tree Couture in the forest escape basement space.

As always, site-specific installations took up the outdoor spaces. A transfixing tiled installation, 'Billboards' by Giles Miller and British Ceramics Tile, guided guests along the exhibition route, and a flowing plywood pavilion by GCSE students titled 'Future of Design' in the garden of St John's Square marked the show's first educational project.

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Clerkenwell Design Week website

Once regarded as London’s epicentre of alternative fashion and music, Camden Town is hoping to form a new alliance with the capital's business communities with the addition of Interchange’s new flagship space, the Atrium. Situated in the heart of Camden Stables – and the third property in the firm’s portfolio of coworking office locations – the Atrium was designed by Barr Gazetas Architects, with interiors courtesy of Tom Dixon’s Design Research Studio.

It seems that co-op working spaces quickly became the answer for flourishing businesses trying to find their feet, providing a desk, facilities and a network to nurture growth and innovation. But these coworking communities soon evolved and have now become pivotal hubs for even fully-fledged businesses wanting the flexibility and benefits that come with a shared office environment.

'Since the opening of our first Camden-based coworking space, Triangle, at the end of last year, Interchange has experienced high demand from both new and more established businesses and has had some fantastic tenants move in across a variety of sectors, including retail, healthcare, fintech and design,’ explains Vanessa Butz, Interchange’s managing director, reflecting on the Atrium's promising future.

The new 84,000 sq ft complex offers up a wide range of facilities spread over four floors, with space intended to initiate communal productivity with its intricately designed floor plan and interior layout. Gazetas and Dixon drew inspiration from a variety of social spaces such as hotels and clubs to envision an atmosphere which would enhance creativity.

Outfitted with Dixon’s furnishings and fixtures, the Atrium includes an on-site restaurant and bar, vertical gardens, numerous roof terraces and a variety of relaxation areas to cater to its 600 work stations.

INFORMATION

For more information on the Atrium, visit Interchange's website

Artisanal craft is becoming increasingly big business, a fact reflected in the stellar line-up for this year's London Craft Week. A highlight promises to be a collaborative workshop/dinner, between woodmakers Robin Wood MBE and Barn the Spoon, and Stevie Parle's Tom Dixon-designed Craft London restaurant. Pictured: bowls and a plate created by Robin Wood. 

The popular resurgence of artisanal craft might indicate a more simmering ennui in contemporary design, but you'd be hard pressed to criticise the ethics and ethos of its many proponents. The umbrella term of 'making' might still encompass a wealth of folksy hokum, but an increasing number of practitioners are creating meticulous, handcrafted work across a wealth of disciplines, with a level of skill and dedication the wider design world can only dream of.

It seems only right, then, that London – for the second year running – is playing host to a dedicated Craft Week, exploring the practices of myriad artists and artisans in locations across the city; from pop up Wedgwood demos and silversmithing workshops at the V&A, to bike making at the Design Museum, glassblowing at Michael Ruh's south London studio, behind the scenes tours at Walthamstow's William Morris Gallery and an exhibition of Ramón Puig Cuyàs brooches at Loewe's Mount Street store (among many others).

One forthcoming event that is particularly turning our lathes is 'Wood, Fire & Food', an evening exploring the disciplines of wood turning and whittling at Stevie Parle's acclaimed Craft restaurant in Greenwich (being held this Saturday, 7 May). Designed by Tom Dixon, the restaurant's interiors will sit in neat juxtaposition to the archaic work of the fortuitously named Robin Wood MBE – a respected bowl-maker – and Barn the Spoon, a spoon carver more commonly seen operating from his shopfront hub on Hackney Road.

The evening will see Wood and Barn discuss their practices with practical demonstrations, while Parle and his team create a five course menu, cooked exclusively over wood, eschewing gas and electricity completely.

Wallpaper* spoke to Wood and Barn about the event's genesis, their parallel practices and the sensory advantages of eating with wood...

W*: How did the collaboration between yourselves and Stevie Parle/Craft come about?
BTS: Stevie is a customer of mine, having bought spoons from me. We got chatting and I think we bonded over a mutual respect for nutmeg and what that spice can bring to food.

RW: I met Stevie through Barn and was instantly excited to find a kindred spirit, passionate about the provenance of our raw materials.

Why is the Tom Dixon-designed restaurant a suitable venue for the exploration of your artisanal and 'ancient' craft?
BTS: London is an incredible hub for craft and food, and this restaurant has got to be the best place to celebrate that. 'Ancient' often gets bandied around – I guess for me it is useful only in respect to getting to the bottom of things. I love my smartphone and everything but using an axe makes me feel real in a deeper sense. However forward looking my craft is, I would never deny that I am flesh and blood, and I love that I use my hands to shape wood using basic tools like axes and knives. I think Tom and Stevie mirror this approach in their design and cooking,

RW: The essence of my love affair with both craft and food is provenance. Before I turned my first wooden bowl I forged my own tools; to forge my tools I made my own charcoal from the same ancient woodland that yielded the wood for the bowl. This quest for authenticity and provenance feels like the same ethos that pervades Tom’s design and Stevie’s food.

Do your approaches to craft have a shared remit? What are the conceptual bases of your particular practices?
BTS: I think we have a shared ethos. For, me it is a form of 'tree worship' and, although Robin may not describe his work that way, I think we both have a love of trees and 'wood culture' – and we have both dedicated ourselves to a specific craft. The essence of my work is using basic tools to shape fresh wood into functional spoons. When you go through the same process over and over again it becomes a meditation that is very enabling – you can then impart a beauty and empathy into your work that is very rare.

RW: We are both deeply passionate about the making process. It is a process that transcends and is far more important than conceptual ideas and words. The skilled work of the hand and eye with simple tools is what made us human and led to the development of our large brains. It is increasingly relevant today, an antidote to ever more digitised, conceptual lives. Humans need to use their hands.

It's interesting that the dinner will explore how wood affects taste. Have you previously explored elements of sensory perception in your work?
BTS: Of course! It really pains me to eat with a metal spoon nowadays but it is always good to be reminded quite how awful it is compared to a wooden one! Using and exploring my products on a daily basis is essential to my craft.

RW: I have spent 25 years eating every day from wood. Every meal for me is a joyful exploration of multiple senses: touch, sound, taste and smell. Wood is a natural insulator so your food remains warm, while the vessel remains neither too hot nor too cold, just nice to the touch. With a wooden spoon there is no scratchy metal on ceramic sound – once alerted to this noise, even the best restaurants can sound like school canteens. Wood is peaceful. People do not realise the current – and in historical terms, quite recent – fad for metal and ceramic tableware has nothing to do with it being the best; with the coming of the industrial revolution it was cheap and easy to mass manufacture. Excellent tableware should be quiet and neither hot nor cold.

How important to the annual arts/culture calendar is London Craft Week?
BTS: London surely is the craft capital of the world – by celebrating it we can consolidate what we have and give it further momentum by making connections and spreading the word.

RW: Britain has an incredible wealth of knowledge and heritage of making. As heritage crafts become ever more in vogue, London Craft Week provides the stage to highlight the very best work of a nation of makers. As many lead increasingly digitised lives the simple act of making something well becomes ever more important and links us to a magnificent heritage.

The evening will see Wood and Barn discuss their practices with practical demonstrations, while Parle and his team create a five course menu, cooked exclusively over wood, eschewing gas and electricity completely. Pictured: a spoon whittled by Barn

'The essence of my love affair with both craft and food is provenance. Before I turned my first wooden bowl I forged my own tools; to forge my tools I made my own charcoal from the same ancient woodland that yielded the wood for the bowl,' says Wood. Pictured: Wood at work and more of his wares. 

INFORMATION

’Wood, Fire & Food’ takes place on 7 May. For more information and tickets, visit the London Craft Week website

ADDRESS

Craft London
Peninsula Square
Greenwich Peninsula
London, SE10 0SQ

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London Design Festival is set to join the crazy golf craze as it and curator Sir Paul Smith launch a Kickstarter campaign to bring their Visionary Crazy Golf to Trafalgar Square.

If their bid to raise £120,000 is successful, the designer golf course will take over the London landmark from 16–22 September to coincide with the Festival itself. 

Among the acclaimed and emerging designers and architects Smith called upon to participate in the Landmark Project are British artist Mark Wallinger, famed designer Tom Dixon and Japanese studio Atelier Bow-Wow, among others. The late Zaha Hadid also designed a golf course of her own – a sinuous course undulating across two levels and elegantly snaking between the Square's lions – which will be overseen by her practice in her memory. 

'All of the designers I have invited to take part have been given free reign to be playful, original and have fun,' explains Smith. His own hole will transform the steps of the National Gallery into a riot of coloured stripes, with a turf-topped, neo-classical clubhouse echoing the museum behind.

Equally vivid will be Camille Walala's course, which will bear her trademark tribal pop prints. Other stand out designs include Ordinary Architecture's cross-section of a pigeon, designed to 'digest' golf balls; Atelier Bow-Wow's netted driving range; and Tom Dixon's funnel and pneumatic tube contraption.

As of today (25 April) members of the public are invited to pledge funds through Kickstarter, in turn receiving a 'reward' by one of the designers involved. (Smith, as curator and ambassador of the scheme, has created a line of limited edition accessories including socks and scarves.) And, of course, the opportunity to have a go on what is sure to be the most entertaining golf course of all time come September….

INFORMATION
The Visionary Crazy Golf campaign is LIVE on Kickstarter

A flat synthetic stone surface is not the easiest of products to present imaginatively at a trade show. So it’s a testament to the talent of the team at quartz surface manufacturer Caesarstone that the global company’s recent series of impressively scaled exhibitions in Milan have all been showstoppers.

‘Engagement with architects and interior design is a major growth channel for Caesarstone,’ explains the brand’s CEO, Yos Shiran. ‘We need to create opportunities for them to experience and use the product in new and creative ways.’ Last year, Philippe Malouin installed a playful series of swings and planters made from the material within the neoclassical Palazzo Serbelloni; in 2014, Raw-Edges’ whimsical ‘Islands’ kitchen served up canapés and candyfloss to guests in Palazzo Clerici; and in 2013, Nendo created two large-scale installations, including a peaceful ‘stone garden’ in the courtyard at Palazzo Crivelli.

Now, promising to top all of these performances is Tom Dixon, who has partnered with the brand for this year’s Salone on a series of four kitchens that will be serving up themed cuisine at Rotonda della Besana, a deconsecrated church surrounded by a peaceful cloistered garden behind Milan’s Tribunale. ‘As it’s Eurocucina this year, I thought we might as well get cooking,’ says Dixon, who is no stranger to throwing ambitious culinary events; his own restaurant, Dock Kitchen, at his London HQ, has been running since 2009. ‘I’ve taken the restaurant a couple of times to Milan and it takes a lot of energy, so it’s good to have a partner who’s going to do it with us.’ 

Having already debuted one of the four Caesarstone kitchens at the Interior Design Show in Toronto, Dixon’s Salone showcase will see all four kitchens serving a temporary restaurant in the church’s domed centre. Made using Caesarstone quartz, each kitchen will boast an experimental design based around one of the four elements associated with medieval alchemy – water, fire, earth and air. ‘I like the idea of alchemy as a metaphor for design – where you’re turning base materials into gold – but in a kitchen it’s particularly relevant,’ he says, reflecting on his elemental theme. ‘You’re boiling stuff, charring stuff, there’s extraction going on, air’s being pumped into egg whites to make meringues, and everything ultimately comes from the earth. I like multiple reasons for using analogies.’

Four kitchens, four courses and four dining rooms spread out across the church’s cruciform layout will create a format that Dixon likens to a ‘global speed dating’ exercise, encouraging guests of all nationalities to mingle. ‘Each course will be served by a different kitchen in a different dining room, so you’ll have one course in one dining room before moving on to the next, where you’ll be confronted with a new guest,’ he explains. The menu comes courtesy of Francesca Sarti, of food design studio Arabeschi di Latte, and will feature dishes in keeping with the elemental theme. Planned delicacies include shaved ice drinks prepared in the water kitchen, marshmallows and candyfloss in the air kitchen, chicken cooked under a brick in the earth kitchen, and charred breads toasted in the fire kitchen. ‘Although, we’ve got to be a bit careful with flames inside a listed building,’ says Dixon.

Fitted out with Electrolux’s Grand Cuisine cooking systems, the monumental kitchens will be realised in colour palettes that match their individual theme, much like giant Caesarstone sample boards, each with their own ‘little quirks’, as Dixon puts it. The grey  and white water kitchen, for instance, has jagged edges inspired by frozen ice, while the earth kitchen recalls ancient Roman aqueducts in earthy tones. In the fire kitchen, blackened beams and hints of gold are paired with black and dark grey quartz surfaces, and in the air kitchen, thin, vertically placed Caesarstone slabs and cut-outs will serve as cooking counters.

‘Caesarstone is usually just used to top things off, but by using it as structure and support material, we’ve come up with some slightly different conclusions,’ says Dixon. ‘They’re quite confident interventions in the room. I think all too often kitchens are kind of ghettoised to the corner with just a little breakfast bar – I don’t like the way kitchens always hug the walls.’ 

The new 2016 Tom Dixon collection of furniture and accessories will also be displayed across the space. This year’s pieces, spread across five ranges, have a special focus on raw materials, something that’s always been at the heart of Dixon’s design work. ‘What made me do design in the first place was that direct contact with stuff, and the idea of being able to transform something that’s formless into something desirable, something I still enjoy doing. It never loses its magic.’ 

The creation of a complete immersive experience in order to exhibit new work is, of course, nothing new for Dixon – Multiplex, his recent multi-sensory temporary department store at the Old Selfridges Hotel in London, was a great success, as was his series of shoppable installations and light shows built within an abandoned theatre during last year’s Salone. This natural knack for showmanship, he says, can be traced back to his love of music and performance.‘I love the idea that you’re demonstrating the stuff in action rather than it just sitting on a pedestal,’ he adds.

‘People travel a long way to Milan and they’re looking for sensation and excitement. A lot of people say how much better it used to be, but you’ve got to look on the positive side and what it means for our business; which is that because there’s more general interest and because people are seeing our stage as a place they can market a car or face cream, it’s good for all designers. So why not pander to that sensation-seeking and do something which will test out a few theories, a few ideas and entertain people? Maybe in the long run, facing up to the fact that this has partly become an entertainment industry is something worth looking at.’

As originally featured in the May 2016 edition of Wallpaper* (W*206)

Dixon's restaurant is split into four zones. Pictured clockwise from top-left:

Air: Thin, vertically placed Caesarstone slabs and cut-outs will act as cooking counters for the dessert bar, where treats include meringue, whipped cream, marshmallows and candyfloss.

Fire: Blackened beams and hints of gold are paired with black and dark grey quartz surfaces, and food served will include charred breads and smoked cheese. 

Earth: The earth kitchen recalls ancient Roman aqueducts in earthy tones, with ingredients – largely pulled from the ground – cooked under bricks or in hay boxes. 

Water: The grey and white water kitchen has jagged edges inspired by frozen ice, and delicacies include shaved ice drinks, hot steaming broths and frozen vegetables

INFORMATION

’The Restaurant’ by Caesarstone & Tom Dixon will be at MUBA from 12–17 April. For more information, visit Ceasarstone’s website and Tom Dixon’s website

Photography: Danilo Scarpati

ADDRESS

MUBA
via Enrico Besana 12
Milan

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Italian tile brand Bisazza only launched its new Cementiles collections in September last year but it has already racked up an impressive line of collaborators, with Jaime Hayon, Carlo Dal Bianco, Paola Navone and India Mahdavi all having conjured their own distinctive Cementiles collections for the brand. And now, to mark the tenth anniversary of Bisazza's London showroom, British designer Tom Dixon joins the stable with a collection inspired by London’s red clay bricks, cracked pavements and pebble dash walls.

'London – our home city – provides all the inspiration we need for this new collection of surfaces; the building blocks and the textures of this thousand-year-old city are imprinted in this designer's mind,' says Dixon. 'Bricks of red clay, cracked pavements and pebble dash walls, the signatures of a crumbling capital in constant re-invention are reworked in a graphic, pop art style to suit the simplicity demanded by the century-old tile manufacturing process.'

A diversification from the tile brand's traditional glass mosaics, the Cementiles are a contemporary interpretation of the cement tiles that were typically used in the palaces and mansions of nobility during the second half of the 1800s and early 1900s. Bisazza's contemporary versions are all handmade in Tunisia using a cement mix that has been rigorously developed to create tiles with a soft and silky texture.

In addition to Dixon's new offerings, Bisazza will also launch a new mosaic collection with Studio Job, expand upon existing ranges with Patricia Urquiola, Marcel Wanders and Carlo Dal Bianco, and debut its ‘Wood’ collection – a new line of oak tiles, available in four colours: naturale, cuoio, marron glacè and moka.

INFORMATION

For more information, visit Bisazza

The effects of political, social and digital changes on the world are always being observed. How these factors affect our interiors and design is a new research sector which trend analyst Susanna Björklund explored in an inaugural installation, ‘Signals’, at Habitare in Helsinki.

Björklund has taken her journalistic skills to Enne – a Finnish agency looking to the future of trends in both design and society. Enne gave Wallpaper* a peek into their vast research in a themed display of modern interiors at the fair. The ‘Signals’ exhibition showed four distinctly different styled spaces: ‘Inbetween’, ‘Simplify’, ‘Positive Psychology’ and ‘Deep’. All conceived with colour themed products and fabrics provided by tonal experts Pantone, viewers were invited to connect cultural influences and design through these homely sets ups.

Upon entering the elaborate ‘Deep’ room interiors, the rich colours and patterned fabrics created a sense of luxury and warmth. The wondrous Zarro marble tables sat with products including Tom Dixon gold candles, dark Gubi shelves, and rust- and navy-coloured Thonet chairs. Björklund wished to present an anti-minimalist setting, a space for cultures in economic struggle who seek comfort in darker colours and busier spaces. The opposite is expressed in ‘Simplified’, a pared back, pastel hued set which felt more organic, with a moss rug by Finnish designer Minna Siltala and Piia Ouri, and an outdoor day bed from Ilse Crawford’s collection for Ikea amid the Rimowa suitcase and B&O speakers. Here, Björklund is touching on themes of urbanisation – more houses, less space – and therefore fewer possessions.

The other two set-ups explored slightly more confusing territory which could be seen as anti-trend. ‘Inbetween’ is the most playful of the four. A burst of pop colour seen in the Muuto modular shelves lined up against the wall and the vintage Artek rocking chairs created a Memphis-style atmosphere, evoking a limbo between design and craft. ‘Positive Psychology’, the most controversial set up, was more of a mismatch of items designed in disarray with no particular theme, mixing a selection of plant life with rattan chairs and printed curtains designed by Björklund herself. This was the only set up we were unable to walk through, suggesting a sense of personal and private space. Perhaps we shouldn't judge why someone places a chair in a certain space and just appreciate it.

Using modern design, ‘Signals’ shows social changes or ‘megatrends’ in a unique way. ‘Everything in the design world is happening in such a fast cycles that it actually mirrors and shows signals of what is going to happen in society,’ Björklund says. Habitare are keeping the installation as a permanent section of the fair, to see how these trends change from year to year.

INFORMATION

Photography: Martti Järvi

The department store of the future just opened its doors. Located at the back of London’s Selfridges, Multiplex is the brainchild of designer Tom Dixon, who gathered an impressive list of friends, companies and colleagues (Wallpaper* included) to present his alternative retail concept.

Dixon took residence at the Old Selfridges Hotel, a disused and derelict venue that he cleverly made over with shiny foil in the style of Andy Warhol’s factory (Dixon admitted owing a huge debt to Warhol for aesthetic inspiration). The department store will be a one-month pop-up covering London’s creative calendar: making its debut with London Fashion Week, it will stay open during London Design Festival and the British Film Festival, closing its doors right after Frieze Art Fair in mid-October.

The store is part immersive installation, part multi-sensory experience, visually inspired by a 1970s adventure playground and a space station, and featuring all the expected store departments, selling design, fashion, beauty and technology, with a food hall curated by Milan-based Arabeschi di Latte. ‘London [retail] history is not much the big international luxury flagships,’ explains Dixon, ‘it is more Kensington Market or Portobello Road, and there is something about that energy that still exists in London, mainly in the East End and in south London. What was amazing was to try to think of something that mixes up the different creative tribes in London. I wanted to do something that has many layers – that’s why we call it Multiplex.’

Over an inception period of eight weeks (although conversations with Selfridges began two years ago), Dixon congregated the diverse family of 30 brands which are now part of this ambitious project. From big-ticket backers Sony and Aston Martin, to independent entities such as natural fragrance company Haeckels and Swedish music technology brand Teenage Engineering, each collaborator brought something intriguing to the conversation, creating a multi-layered network that encompasses art, design, technology and fashion under one dynamic roof. The London/New York-based Spring Studios have also set up a photographic space at the back of the store, available to companies and magazines for photoshoots, while Wallpaper’s own 8,000-year-old oak bar, designed by architect Sally Mackereth for this year’s Wallpaper* Handmade exhibition, will offer Royal Salute whisky tastings throughout the month.

‘Keeping a brand as an island is an old-fashioned concept,’ said Dixon, talking about the vast list of companies collaborating with him on Multiplex, but also alluding to the lauded furniture, lighting and accessories label he launched 12 years ago. ‘The modern world is really about the network, and about how broad and deep that is,’ he continues. ‘Here, we have made a whole network of new and old friends coming from different worlds – how they overlap, how they work together and the new connection they make will make them more powerful.’

INFORMATION

Multiplex is open until 15 October

ADDRESS

Multiplex
The Old Selfridges Hotel
1 Orchard street
London, W1U 1QZ

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London-based designer Tom Dixon is known for using resilient metals like copper as the centrepiece of his projects. Earlier this year he released a range of stationery made of copper-plated zinc alloy, and back in 2014 he finished off the interior of the Mondrian London hotel at South Bank's Sea Containers with a dramatic 68-metre copper hull.

His latest metallic project pays homage to the social ritual of coffee making, and much like the designer's six-piece spun brass tea set, Brew has been designed with these processional aspects in mind. The minimally designed set includes products for every stage of the ceremony, from cafetiere to biscuit tin, and is made from stainless steel finished with a film of vapourised copper to give it a sleek high-gloss finish. Explains Dixon, the set acknowledges 'coffee making as a form of art and coffee drinking as an elevated occasion, a ceremonial performance that merits time and reverence'.

'Brew is a celebration of the coming together of heat, steam, water and coffee grounds – a tribute to the mysteries of modern-day coffee ceremony,' adds the designer, who has also recently teamed up with Maison Pierre Marcolini to design the brick-inspired packaging for a new range of chocolates and macarons, which will go on sale in September.

Ever restless, Wallpaper* Handmade upped its perfectly proportioned sticks again this year, installing itself (well, we helped) in a semi-retired stretch of Milanese store fronts to create the Wallpaper* Arcade. We were determined that this year's Handmade event be the biggest, best and most bountiful yet. And so it was; not least our opening bash, now well established as Salone's swingingest party.

This year we were joined by Tom Dixon, Patricia Urquiola, Konstantin Grcic, Philippe Malouin, Maurizio Cattelan and many other luminaries who enjoyed the more interactive elements of this year's exhibition: including the Wallpaper* nail bar; live hair styling by the legendary Jimo Salako; and the remarkable 'Rotunda Seronita' snack bar, dispensing not only savoury treats but their own handmade cherry wood trays.

Of course, such scale and ambition does not come easy and we again have to thank the many friends, old and new, who provided invaluable assistance and supplies. The champagne flowed freely thanks to Veuve Clicquot, whose Re-creation Awards installation of re-imagined mail boxes proved a particular favourite, while Royal Salute served wonderful whisky at their remarkable 'Neolithic' bar, designed by Studio Mackereth and crafted by Jack Badger. The highest-grade grappa came courtesy of Nonino (try saying that after a few glasses) whilst beer was supplied by San Miguel (summer in a bottle as far we're concerned).

Given this year's culinary theme, the catering had to impress and we served up a monumental stretch of Italian favourites, including generous dollops of organic panettone gelato from local favourites, Grom. We also flew in St John sous chef Arnold Hoeksma who cooked up bone marrow pizza at the Emeco space while the young craftsmen Josh Fisher bent, beat and shaped metal into unique editions of Jasper Morrison's 'Alfi' chair.

The Wallpaper* Arcade – a collaborative effort in the best tradition of Handmade – was brightened by Kvadrat's spectacular multi-colour colonnade as well as the multidisciplinary delights of d3 Dubai Design District; the contemporary crafted carpets of AfghanMade; and Gufram's prickly pop-up lounge.

Finally, a huge thank you to the event sponsors, Veuve Clicquot, Hästens and Monoqi Business, and, of course, Leclettico's Claudio Loria, whose ambition and drive matches our own.

A slice of lush green garden has emerged from the grey construction site on London's Greenwich Peninsula, where developers Knight Dragon are currently in the daunting process of constructing a new urban village on this formerly industrial stretch of the Thames. The Peninsula Garden, which sits alongside the soon-to-be-built No.2 Riverside apartments by SOM architects and Tom Dixon's Design Research Studio, is part of a much bigger Manhattan-style masterplan comprising five districts of homes, shops, art, entertainment and culture.

Originally an area of tidal marshes, the Peninsula was decimated by pollution from Victorian shipyards and factories in the late 1800s. It wasn't until the early 90s that the Peninsula began its slow-moving regeneration that peaked with the arrival of North Greenwich tube and the O2 Arena in 1999. It's current phase of redevelopment is expected to take even longer - an estimated 25 years - and the new garden, designed by Tom Dixon’s Design Research Studio together with landscape gardeners Alys Fowler and Thomas Hoblyn, is a stepping stone in this process.

'The design of the garden peels back the layers of history,' says Dixon, 'exposing the forms of the original mud flats, reintroducing apples from the market gardens and a palette of material from its industrial and nautical past.
'We tried to find the correct trees and the correct plants not only to reflect the history of the peninsula but also to start nourishing the restaurant,' he continues, referring to Stevie Parle’s adjoining restaurant, Craft London, which opened in April 2015.

In order to provide the garden with the proper attention that it needs, a gardener's hut has also been built so that a dedicated full-time gardener can tend to the plants year-round. In addition, market stools and seating will be positioned to form meeting points so visitors and residents can gather and relax; while an amphitheatre made up of jutting honeycomb plinths inspired by the geometry of the Giant’s Causeway will host a diverse calendar of events and a year-round programme for theatre, music, cinema and performance.

Now open to the public, just in time for the summer season, the Garden marks the start of a new greener chapter in the Peninsula's industrial history.

The humble sandwich has been elevated - by designer Tom Dixon, no less. Led by a thoroughly comprehensive menu, which spans simple ham, cheese and pickle combos to decidedly more decadent poached lobster with mango relish fillings, Tom Dixon Sandwich sits on the third floor of luxury department store, Harrods. Dressed by Design Research Studio, the dedicated interiors arm of Tom Dixon’s firm, the 152 sq m café has obvious influences from London clubhouses by way of a palette of deep, rich emerald greens, burgundies and dark blues. Dixon’s hand is most visible in his signature brass lighting fixtures, which overlook marble topped tables, punctured mental screens and club chairs.

INFORMATION

Website

ADDRESS

Third Floor, Harrods
87-135 Brompton Road
London
SW1X 7XL

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The conjoined Ottoman-era stone buildings that now form the Efendi were restored and converted into a 12-room hotel in northern Israel by local entrepreneur Uri Jeremias. Boutique architecture firm Arstudio restored the intricately painted ceilings, wood friezes and carved cornices, and an interior by Orit Kolonimos features armchairs by Moroso and Tom Dixon's cast-glass chandeliers, which cling to vaulted sandstone arches above an imposing six-metre dining room table. Public spaces, including a wine cellar converted from Crusader and Byzantine ruins, can be found in the hotel's southern structure, while a 400-year old hammam was transformed into the spa. Covered terraces overlook the rooftops of this Unesco heritage city.

ADDRESS

Louis IX Street
Old Acre
Akko

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