The Bite Magazine - Spring 2019 - Issue 24

bite lifestyle real lamp and sparked off an enduring passion and interest in lighting objects.” It may just look like a coil of copper just hanging from the ceiling but you’ll find it has an inter- esting contrast to it. Other notable creations included the Pylon Chair, an experiment with lightweight structures inspired by early 3D wire-frame computer programs and bridge engineering, and the Jack Light, the first iteration of Dixon’s industrial ambitions. “Many geometrics were explored, but the six- sided constellation of the cube was the winner: just about simple enough to tool up, but complex enough to look like no other rotomoulding. It looked more like a Japanese con- crete sea defence or a model of a molecule with a fat and jolly personality.” In 1998, he got a ‘proper day job’ at Habitat, then owned by IKEA, as Head of Design and was quickly promoted to Creative Direc- tor. During his time there, commissioning designs came from the likes of the Bour- oullec Brothers, Achille Castigli- oni, Verner P a n t o n Images courtesy of Tom Dixon and Ingvar Kamprad. Two years later he received an OBE for services to Innovation and Design and in 2002, he established his namesake company in London where production started on a line of extruded plastic products called ‘Fresh Fat’. “Now, with a fresh and eponymous company, I start on a new phase and the main challenges remain the same: balancing risk and ambition in design with economics of production and sales; searching from the new and learning from the old; tackling all the usual questions that come up like aesthetic pleasure versus utility and sustainability, durability versus disposability, best practice with advanced technologies and unorthodox materials, and, most unpre- dictably of all, what people might actually like enough to spend their hard-earned cash on.” Under his established company, Dixon went on to design the Mirror Ball, a spherical, highly mirrored object that was meant to reflect its surroundings, chameleon-like and be virtually invisible but instead it was ultra-visible, showy and bling-bling, thus “in the flashy part of the noughties, it became a big success, despite betraying its original concept.” He also created the Copper Shade following his fascination with the high-tech process of vacuum metal- lisation commonly used in sunglasses. He then collaborated with specific venues to upgrade their décor such as Shoreditch House which incorporated a roof top pool, a formal space bar, a domestic dining hall and a lounge filled with rich upholstery. Dock Kitchen, once the restaurant home to the internationally acclaimed chef Steve Parle, and an extensive of the designer’s showroom featured a host of Tom Dixon products. Likewise, Mon- drian London Hotel had all its interiors created by Dixon’s Design Research Studio which will totally and utterly blow your mind. Not one to call himself a fashion designer, because all his collaborations are about “entering a new universe without any preconception”, Dixon collaborated with Adidas in 2013 to create a unisex capsule collection of apparel, footwear and luggage that encapsulated the idea of “everything you can fit in a bag for a week away.” The Spring/Summer 2014 collection which was unveiled at MOST during Milan’s Salone Del Mobile was multifunc- tional and adaptable to suit any location, eventuality or weather forecast. Having moved from Portobello Docks to the Coal Office in Coal Drops Yard, Kings Cross, the designer’s headquarters and shop can be found here. More than just a designing hub, Dixon is utilising the space as a platform to broadcast their latest ideas in interior design, product innovation and experiments in food, functionality and future living. The Coal Office Restaurant, the collaboration between Dixon and Chef Assaf Granit is their food and design playground where they can infuse the studio with positive energy and delicious food. www.tomdixon.net