Turning Scrap Metal Into Gold: The Dazzling Designs of Tom Dixon
British designer Tom Dixon approaches furniture and lighting with a self-confessed naive attitude to design, but with gold-star results
Rebecca Gross
15 August 2016
Design writer and historian. I write about contemporary architecture and design, and I study cultural history through the lens of architecture, design and visual culture. I have a Masters in the History of Decorative Arts and Design from Parsons The New School for Design, New York. My latest book is called "Ornament is not a crime: Contemporary Interiors with a postmodern twist."
Design writer and historian. I write about contemporary architecture and design,... More
In the first of this series on the contemporary ‘masters’ of design, we look at the work of British designer Tom Dixon. He is the self-taught maverick of British design, achieving star status when the Queen awarded him an OBE in 2000.
Dixon was an art school drop-out and fell into design by accident, becoming a designer-maker in the early 1980s when he learnt the skill of welding. He describes his foray into the world of design – with no formal training – as being unhindered by commercial concerns. Dixon made things just for the pleasure of making them. It was only when people started to buy them that he realised he had made a foray into alchemy. Indeed, he has often been quoted as saying: “I could turn a pile of scrap metal into gold.”
Here’s what you need to about Tom Dixon and the outstanding pieces of contemporary design he’s created.
Dixon was an art school drop-out and fell into design by accident, becoming a designer-maker in the early 1980s when he learnt the skill of welding. He describes his foray into the world of design – with no formal training – as being unhindered by commercial concerns. Dixon made things just for the pleasure of making them. It was only when people started to buy them that he realised he had made a foray into alchemy. Indeed, he has often been quoted as saying: “I could turn a pile of scrap metal into gold.”
Here’s what you need to about Tom Dixon and the outstanding pieces of contemporary design he’s created.
Making furniture designed to stand out from the crowd, Dixon hopes to stick out like a proverbial sore thumb in what he believes in an increasingly oversubscribed field. His S-Chair and Pylon Chair, manufactured by Italian company Cappellini, were the first of Dixon’s designs to establish his notoriety in the early 1990s. From his own retail store, Space, to his own manufacturing company, Eurolounge, Dixon’s designs continued to embrace a functional beauty.
After heading up Sir Terence Conran’s Habitat design department, Dixon founded his own brand ‘Tom Dixon‘. Specialising in lighting, furniture and accessories, the Tom Dixon brand launches new collections of lighting and furniture bi-annually at the Milan International Furniture Fair, and at the London Design Festival.
Let’s take a look at some of Dixon’s key pieces, as featured in the interiors on Houzz.
Let’s take a look at some of Dixon’s key pieces, as featured in the interiors on Houzz.
Wingback Chair
Dixon has said that a designer needs plenty of personality to survive in the competitive world of product design, and his Wingback Chairs do indeed ooze personality. An update of a 17th-century archetypal English chair, Dixon’s Wingback has, like many of his most successful products, a strong and distinctive sculptural silhouette.
Dixon has said that a designer needs plenty of personality to survive in the competitive world of product design, and his Wingback Chairs do indeed ooze personality. An update of a 17th-century archetypal English chair, Dixon’s Wingback has, like many of his most successful products, a strong and distinctive sculptural silhouette.
Spun Table
Glimmering in gold, the Spun Table, in both the short and tall versions, is hand polished to a mirror finish. Embodying glamour and elegance, the tables draw on the beauty and glitz of the Art Deco era and fluid forms of Space Age design.
Glimmering in gold, the Spun Table, in both the short and tall versions, is hand polished to a mirror finish. Embodying glamour and elegance, the tables draw on the beauty and glitz of the Art Deco era and fluid forms of Space Age design.
Mass Dining Table
The Mass Dining Table is appropriately named for its chunky, heavy form. The wooden frame is clad in bronze foil and here it’s surrounded by the Wingback Dining Chair.
The Mass Dining Table is appropriately named for its chunky, heavy form. The wooden frame is clad in bronze foil and here it’s surrounded by the Wingback Dining Chair.
Slab Dining Table and Chairs
Dixon’s Slab Dining Table and Dining Chairs are pieces of furniture that contrast long lines with curving forms. The chairs almost appear to recline, as if preparing to welcome sitters, while the table has a smooth and linear aesthetic.
Designer dining chairs you need to know about
Dixon’s Slab Dining Table and Dining Chairs are pieces of furniture that contrast long lines with curving forms. The chairs almost appear to recline, as if preparing to welcome sitters, while the table has a smooth and linear aesthetic.
Designer dining chairs you need to know about
Gem Side Table
Dixon has a knack for naming his furniture pieces after their form, and his Gem Side Table is no exception. The angular and hexagonal form is derived from the shape of a cut gemstone. Made from nickel-plated aluminium, the Gem Side Table has a rough, textured look and feel that reflects the process of its making.
Dixon has a knack for naming his furniture pieces after their form, and his Gem Side Table is no exception. The angular and hexagonal form is derived from the shape of a cut gemstone. Made from nickel-plated aluminium, the Gem Side Table has a rough, textured look and feel that reflects the process of its making.
Y Chair
The injection-moulded Y Chair is a striking and expressive dining chair with a back that takes on a Y shape.
Lens Pendant
Over the Y Chairs, the Lens Pendant is a prismatic polycarbonate globe designed to project light in all directions.
The injection-moulded Y Chair is a striking and expressive dining chair with a back that takes on a Y shape.
Lens Pendant
Over the Y Chairs, the Lens Pendant is a prismatic polycarbonate globe designed to project light in all directions.
Beat Light
The sculptural simplicity of Dixon’s range of Beat Lights is inspired by the brass cooking pots and traditional water vessels of India. Each is hand-spun and hand-beaten by skilled craftsmen of Moradabad in northern India. Available in a variety of shapes and sizes, they work beautifully on their own; in pairs or trios of the same size and shape; or as a collection of differing Beat Lights, as pictured.
When to bring in statement pendant lighting
The sculptural simplicity of Dixon’s range of Beat Lights is inspired by the brass cooking pots and traditional water vessels of India. Each is hand-spun and hand-beaten by skilled craftsmen of Moradabad in northern India. Available in a variety of shapes and sizes, they work beautifully on their own; in pairs or trios of the same size and shape; or as a collection of differing Beat Lights, as pictured.
When to bring in statement pendant lighting
Copper Shade
Dixon had several goals to achieve for the design of his Copper Shade. He wanted to obtain a perfect reflective surface; make an over-scaled, basic yet extravagant spotlight; and to concentrate a bulb’s output into a soft but narrow beam. Using a process called thin film vapour deposition (or vacuum metallisation, commonly used in sunglasses), an immense electrical charge vaporises a small strip of copper foil into a mist of particles that settle on the polycarbonate lamp. In his book Dixonary, Dixon remarks: “If the object is free of dust, this creates a perfect mirror and a beautiful optical effect.”
Dixon had several goals to achieve for the design of his Copper Shade. He wanted to obtain a perfect reflective surface; make an over-scaled, basic yet extravagant spotlight; and to concentrate a bulb’s output into a soft but narrow beam. Using a process called thin film vapour deposition (or vacuum metallisation, commonly used in sunglasses), an immense electrical charge vaporises a small strip of copper foil into a mist of particles that settle on the polycarbonate lamp. In his book Dixonary, Dixon remarks: “If the object is free of dust, this creates a perfect mirror and a beautiful optical effect.”
Etch Shade Pendant
Using precision acid photo-etching, the Etch Shade is a complete product of digital design. The geodesic structure is inspired by the logic of pure mathematics, and each panel has a detailed pattern which casts interesting and intricate shadows when lit.
Using precision acid photo-etching, the Etch Shade is a complete product of digital design. The geodesic structure is inspired by the logic of pure mathematics, and each panel has a detailed pattern which casts interesting and intricate shadows when lit.
Pressed Glass Pendant
Dixon’s Pressed Glass Pendants are made in plants more commonly used to manufacturing industrial products, such as car head-lamps or glass insulators, which is reflected in the shape of the pendants.
10 kitchen pendant lighting ideas
Dixon’s Pressed Glass Pendants are made in plants more commonly used to manufacturing industrial products, such as car head-lamps or glass insulators, which is reflected in the shape of the pendants.
10 kitchen pendant lighting ideas
Felt Shade Pendant
Dixon uses a rare form of production (when it comes to lighting or furniture, at least) for his Felt Shades. A double layer of material is heat pressed and then sculpted into shape resulting in a shade with a tactile grey exterior and white interior.
TELL US
Do you have Tom Dixon lighting or furniture in your home? Upload a picture to the Comments section below to show it off.
MORE
Browse a gallery of lighting design products
Dixon uses a rare form of production (when it comes to lighting or furniture, at least) for his Felt Shades. A double layer of material is heat pressed and then sculpted into shape resulting in a shade with a tactile grey exterior and white interior.
TELL US
Do you have Tom Dixon lighting or furniture in your home? Upload a picture to the Comments section below to show it off.
MORE
Browse a gallery of lighting design products
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No formal training, excellent, beautifully formed designs
Love him but if I was going to invest, I'd wait and see what he does next, just because his current (and past) designs have become so ubiquitous.
Yes, I have recommended his work. I think he's a very good designer.