tom dixon interview

tom dixon© designboom

this interview took place on the 5th of october 2000 in his’ office at the furnishing house ‘habitat’ in london.

what is the best moment of the day?oh oh oh mornings

what kind of music do you listen to at the moment?music? west coast jazz.

hand formed extruded chair, 2002. manufacturer tom dixon

do you listen to the radio?yeah, radio 4.

pylon chair for cappellini 1992

what books do you have on your bedside table?I haven’t got a bedside table

do you read design magazines?I flick through them.

s-chair for cappellini 1991

where do you get news from?news? radio. in the car.

do you notice how women are dressing? do you have any preferences?variety

what kind of clothes do you avoid wearing?labels.

‘jack’ lamp for eurolounge 1997

do you have any pets?no, I just have some stick insects.

where do you work on your designs and projects?mainly when I’m walking. I have to be moving, so when the radio’s broken down in thecar, or if I take a bicycle or when I’m walking. transport related…

who would you like to design something for?for the international space station orbiting around the world at the moment.

left: products for eurolounge

center: ‘star light’, floor lamp for eurolounge, 1998

right: ‘bubble vase’ for eurolounge 1999

when you are working, do you discuss or exchange ideas with your colleagues?no I keep very quite

describe your style, like a good friend of yours would describe it.my style of design I was told I was a vertebrate as opposed to an invertebrate.vertebrates are animals with a spine…(laughs)

is there any designer from past you appreciate a lot?hundreds. the really obvious ones, like buckminster fuller, people who were partlyengineers.

‘bird’, seater for cappellini 1990

what about your younger colleagues, are there any particular ones youappreciate?many again.

do you believe in sharing knowledge via internet?or do you think that the internet has more negative effects on us?the same negative effects as anything that has to do with mass communication.just a flattening of the world, everything becoming too similar….but we share our knowledge on the internet as well…

‘hoop’, 1998chaise longue for scp

last week on the news broadcast they said that italians are afraid ofunemployment, criminality and pollution. what are you afraid of regardingthe future ?violence. man’s violence to fellow men and other species…(he had a really bad expression)