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Issue 62 - Living in the Environment Issue

Issue 62

Living in the Environment Issue

Issue 62 is the first issue of the year and always a great time to put our best foot forward. With Adam Goodrum, the loveliest man in design, as Guest Editor, we draw on his insights as a furniture designer, artist and educator to look at the makers shaping our design world. Sustainability has never been more important, and increasingly this is a consideration from the start with projects designed to address their immediate environment as well as the longevity of the planet. From the coldest winters to the most tropical of summers, addressing how we live in the environment is crucial to creating the perfect home.

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Tom Dixon’s Church of Design
Design StoriesAndrew McDonald

Tom Dixon’s Church of Design

At Clerkenwell Design Week this year, British designer Tom Dixon forged an unlikely partnership with Vicar Andrew Baughen, presenting his latest lighting collections within the halls of the St James’ Church.


The extraordinary volumes, the nooks and crannies of the classic 18th century church provided a perfect, dramatic backdrop for Dixon’s newest pendant lamps and chandeliers Fade, Flask Oil, and Curve.

Pictured below, Curve is a new geometrical light that pushes the boundaries of thin sheet etched metal fabrication. With its microscopic precision-pierced surface and soft nickel silver coating Curve internally reflects and emits a filtered glow of ethereal light. Flask is a series of three pendant lights inspired by the sharp and functional geometry of chemical laboratory glassware. A cylinder, a sphere and a cone that work in mixed groups or more formal arrangements. Each comprises two components – a clear rippled glass lens which produces a series of concentric, luminous rings, and a black glass shade finished in the latest oily iridescent colour. Unfamiliar in contemporary interiors, lustre and iridescence were much prized by the ceramicists and glassmakers of the arts and crafts period. The Fade light is a blow moulded polycarbonate light cannon. Its teardrop shape focusses the lightbulb’s output into a satisfyingly round and luminous circle, acting as the ultimate oversized spotlight. The metalized finish is unusual as it graduates from completely reflective to transparent in an even fade along the body of the lamp.

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For Vicar Baughen, there was great potential to remake a unique, historic building for the local residents of Clerkenwell, and the creative workforce, and to make a place for the residential community to use as a resource. The Vicar also gave talks on the relationship between design and spirituality throughout the week. At the close of the festival, Dixon donated a Curve chandelier in the main space, the co working environment and a kitchen as permanent fixtures for the community church.

Tom Dixon
tomdixon.net/uk/

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About the Author

Andrew McDonald


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Issue 62 - Living in the Environment Issue

Issue 62

Living in the Environment Issue

Issue 62 is the first issue of the year and always a great time to put our best foot forward. With Adam Goodrum, the loveliest man in design, as Guest Editor, we draw on his insights as a furniture designer, artist and educator to look at the makers shaping our design world. Sustainability has never been more important, and increasingly this is a consideration from the start with projects designed to address their immediate environment as well as the longevity of the planet. From the coldest winters to the most tropical of summers, addressing how we live in the environment is crucial to creating the perfect home.

Order Issue