Iconoclast
Celebrating 25 years of partnership, Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby’s collaborative style has made them two of the world’s most sought-after designers
British designers Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby celebrate 25 years of collaboration
Invited to imagine the torch of the London 2012 Olympic Games, Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby represented a new generation of British designers ready to take over the reins from the likes of Jasper Morrison and Tom Dixon. To create a torch for their time, the design duo also made the most of pioneering production technologies while demonstrating the industrial excellence available in the UK. Jay Osgerby recalls: “It was a really challenging project producing a torch on time, on budget and in such quantities, and also to have something that functioned flawlessly in front of four billion people on TV.” The designers love reinventing everyday objects, and are known for their ingenious solutions whose simplicity of use belies their extreme difficulty of making. “Our objects sit well in a room and also sit well together,” says Osgerby. “I think that’s partly because of our architectural training that we’ve considered space much more than purely the object.” Sustainability is a crucial part of their design ethos: “More than anything, we seek to create objects that will be fit for future generations, in terms of aesthetics, functionality and wear and tear, and become collectibles in the future instead of landfill.”
THE BEGINNING
Both born in England in 1969, the design duo founded their London-based studio Barber Osgerby in 1996, after graduating from London’s Royal College of Art, where they had first met as architecture students. “We grew up in Oxfordshire; we spent a lot of time drawing, making things, experimenting, and cycling around the countryside,” recounts Osgerby. “My mother was very interested in the arts, so we were exposed to art and design at an early age.” Osgerby also lived close to a Royal Air Force base and had a passion for making model planes. “I was always fascinated by the way that things were made,” he explains. “It was certainly something that started my curiosity in forms that perform and lightweight structures that have volume.” Working on residential and hospitality projects before they had even graduated, the pair depended on their architectural work to support their furniture design business in the early years. Their big break came in the
form of the minimalist Isokon Plus Loop table—the first piece of furniture they designed together in 1996—which was quickly taken up by Italian furniture brand Cappellini. Independent from the start, they have never worked for others. “When we left college, we didn’t really ever have a job,” Osgerby remarks. “We just carried on working, we never had a plan; it was a happy coincidence that we had the opportunity and found an ability to work together.” He quips: “Both Ed and I have two brothers, so we are used to being in a fraternal relationship. We’re more like brothers than colleagues really.” The duo often begin drawing and discussing a project together, and eventually an idea will take shape. This is followed by their team’s input and within the same day, they’ll produce a one-to-one scale model to start testing. They would then leave it for up to a week before proceeding to make a prototype. “Very often, you can fall in love with an idea, but you need to make sure that the design will last,” says Osgerby. “When you look at it again, if you feel happy about it, it’s generally a good idea. If not, you start again.” He adds: “We feel that design is very much about a conversation and sharing ideas. It’s not about having a manifesto for how something should be.”
MULTIDISCIPLINARY PRACTICE
Barber and Osgerby run three firms with a team of 80 in Shoreditch, London. Their eponymous firm specialises in product design; Universal Design Studio focuses on architecture, interiors and exhibition design; MAP is an industrial design consultancy that translates new technologies into useful objects. The multidisciplinary approach is more productive for them, although the majority of their creative effort is within Barber Osgerby. This separation allows them to retain their design integrity, while providing clients with the total package; the firm works with less than 10 brands at any given moment. The tireless duo is currently working on products with Mutina and Glas Italia, and an upcoming project with Vitra that redefines how people work. Additionally, Universal and MAP are looking to expand into the US and Asia with new offices, possibly in New York, Hong Kong, and Singapore. So what keeps them motivated? “I think the thing Ed and I share is a very short memory,” Osgerby replies. “We never really look to the past or look back at things we’ve done. There’s nothing more satisfying than the feeling that you’ve made something new that has answered a problem or made life a bit simpler or more joyful for people.”
“DESIGN IS VERY MUCH ABOUT A CONVERSATION AND SHARING IDEAS. IT’S NOT ABOUT HAVING A MANIFESTO FOR HOW SOMETHING SHOULD BE”