Page 61 - 2022-07-01VogueLivingar

VLife

THIS PAGE limited-
edition Felt armchair
by Marc Newson,
originally designed in
1993 then produced
by Cappellini,
enquiries to Cult.

Tour de force

An industrial designer by trade and a creative visionary by nature, Marc Newson has forged

his own path through his polished and provoking pieces without losing that desired Australian
spark. Here, he addresses his career so far and where he sees the design world heading.

lived in Bondi and Tamarama as a teenager and young adult, ability to be able to work on a broad range of things. It’s this range
and they weren’t enviable places to live. Back then I couldn’t that fuels me — perhaps I have a low boredom threshold? I work
have imagined doing what I’m doing now. The fact is that across large transport design, which is very technically challenging
I stumbled into design — I didn’t study it; I studied fine art. and exacting, and at the other end of the spectrum, I have a
IMy ambitions were not those of a person who had always relationship with art galleries including Gagosian and Galerie Kreo.
dreamt of being an industrial designer because that really wasn’t on Then there’s everything else in between, from watches to perfume
my agenda. Now, I’m literally doing (almost) everything that I could bottles to sneakers. The industrial design process is not fast —
ever have dreamt of doing. it’s somewhere between fashion and architecture. I usually have
I would describe what I do now as somewhere between a job and somewhere between 10 and 20 projects on the go, some just
a hobby, although it’s more of a job at this point. I shoehorn in beginning and some nearing their end. PHOTOGRAPHER: FRANÇOIS HALLARD
moments of creativity to the more mundane aspects of having a I am able to work all over the world, and so I witness how different
company and a business. It’s extremely hectic, and some days I am cultures solve problems. I’m always struck by the differences. In
practically an engineer and others I am an artist. When I look back Japan, one can go to a subway and look at the way they design
at my career so far, the highlight has been the opportunity and details like a handrail, light fixture or even a train, and they are ››

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