4 everyone’s talking about... TOM DIXON
The innovative designer takes a dramatic approach to furnishing our abodes
With his distinctive style of theatrical furniture and accessories, Tom Dixon has convinced us that hallucinogenic molten glass pendant lights, high-shine gold furniture and iridescent accessories should play a key part in domestic spaces. His recent collaboration with Vitra is a collection of playfully formed bathroom accessories.
How do you imagine your dramatic designs in homes?
We do use materials in unexpected ways and for me the best way to use iridescence or gold is as a contrast to perhaps a more subdued backdrop. These finishes are intended to surprise, but we also use earthy materials like cork, which still delight but blend into modern homes. For me, the exciting thing is to make surprising juxtapositions, such as my molten glass Melt pendant over a farmhouse kitchen table or my futuristic HYDRO aluminium chair in a garden setting.
Tell us about the power of lighting in the home.
Lighting still is the place in the home that people are prepared to be more daring, which liberates a designer to experiment more. We are passionate about the power of lighting as it has such an impact on our mood. We’ve been exploring how it can induce specific emotional states according to its intensity and saturation, which allows us to create more sensory-driven and astonishing interior spaces.
What was the thought process behind your unusual new bathroom collection with Vitra?
For many years the obsession in porcelain was skinny and reduced, but we wanted fat and expressed. I don’t want my taps to vanish into minimalism and not know how to use them – I want generous and expressed handles and easy to understand controls in the bathroom.
Do you have a favourite example of clever use of material?
I always liked the hill fort of Fatehpur Sikri near Agra, where in 1570 they used red sandstone to build walls designed to hide water channels inside with occasional holes where you could insert roses, which acted as diffusers for cooling the room with scented evaporating air.
What material do you think will be popular this year?
We’ve recently been experimenting a lot with cork, which is the most amazing traditional material, and with alternative leathers made from pineapple. It’s a very exciting time for investigating new materials but also new methods of processing traditional materials.