Russell Pinch
MY LIFE IN TEN...
THE CELEBRATED FURNITURE DESIGNER SHARES SOME OF THE THINGS HE LOVES
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My design heroine is Mother Nature. We can’t beat the extraordinary complexity of colour, form and material observed in the natural world.
The design rule I promote is to understand the way simplicity involves complexity. It takes time and refinement to create perfect simplicity, be it in furniture or an interior.
My small luxury is Bose headphones. Music while I work is essential.
Jasper Morrison’s shop in London is one I love visiting for the selection of well-designed objects – homeware, tableware, furniture and design books I don’t see elsewhere.
A piece of furniture I’m very attached to is a red aluminium chair by Charles and Ray Eames. My father bought it when I was 12, I ‘stole’ it for my bedroom, then my student room and it’s been with me ever since.
Niwaki.com is a website I often visit for its Japanese garden tools, beautifully designed and utterly functional.
A building I’ll never forget is Sarabhai House in India, designed by Le Corbusier. I stayed in this house in my early 20s and was overwhelmed by its quiet, elegant and outrageous personality.
The garden at Endsleigh House in Devon designed by Humphry Repton in 1814 captivates me for the enormity of his vision.
I bought a copy of Collections Typologie’s The Wine Bottle. Each of these iterations delves into the history of an everyday object of beauty, from the cork to the wooden crate.
My most memorable restaurant meal was in the River Cafe 17 years ago. The food was wonderful and it’s where I asked Oona to marry me.