Contextual Research

I chose these designers because of their interest in sustainable practise and biophilic design.

Phillippe Starck

Phillippe Starck is a French-Canadian designer known for his sustainable approach to design. An early pioneer of plastic furniture he has made it his responsibility to commute his designs into a more ethical world which is constantly developing. He has experimented with different plant based products with a variety of results. One notable example is the Zartan chair which combines bamboo and hemp to yield very different but attractive chair nonetheless.  He has a predominantly very unconventional style with a few exceptions and some of his work has achieved cult status because of this, notably his hotels such as the M Social in Singapore and the Ian Schrager’s Hotels. These hotels boast sleek and stylish furniture, artwork and fittings, all designed and overseen by him. He is also very well known for bathroom design.

Phillip designed two chairs called ‘la Marie’ and ‘Louis Fantôme’ or The Marie and Louis Ghost. These two chairs are great examples of industrial design, focussed on using as little materials as possible and streamlining the production process as much as possible. Throughout Phillippe’s work, there are a few constants; his fluid lines, organic forms and subtle details often laced with playful humor. He saw humor as an essential part of human lives and believed as designer it was his responsibility to stimulate this as much as possible. The Delano Hotel (1995) in the South Beach area of Miami Beach, Florida, for example. In each room a metal apple holder is fixed to the wall that reads the phrase “An apple a day keeps the doctor away” promising a daily replenishment of apples.

Marc Newson

Marc Newson from Sydney, Australia is known mostly for his design of household goods, furniture, and interior spaces, a lot of the time he does this using unusual materials. After graduating in 1984 with a degree in Jewellery and Sculpture from the Sydney college of Arts he won a grant from the Crafts board of Australia Council which he used to design the Lockheed Lounge which proved to be his breakthrough piece. The Lockheed Lounge was a riveted aluminium and fibreglass piece of obscure furniture which is almost like a bubble writing chaise lounge. It has a very “retro form variously described as biomorphic or zoomorphic” (Britannica, 2021).

He has worked all around the globe with big designers like Phillippe Starck with whom he designed household goods. He launched s watch company named Ikepod with businessman Oliver Ikepod from Switzerland. These watches and the sleek watch case counterparts have become some of the most sought after pieces of jewellery in the world. He has also designed vehicles and parts of aeroplanes interiors. His wide span of design knowledge and material landed him the 2006 title for Royal Designer for Industry in Britain.