The interior World of Tom Dixon

Materialism Just like cooking, the end result will completely depend on the ingredients used. The world of materials changes with fashion, but just look at the extraordinary possibilities and choice available in the modern world... the rough, the smooth, the natural or the synthetic, the transparent, the coloured, the glowing... 'un embaras de choix', as my mother used to say. Constructivism How you put things together and how things are made, for me, have provided all the inspiration I need. What innovation and what progress has been made, has come through the unstoppable human urge to build, to construct and create. Reductionism In a hyperconsumptionist age where more and more is available at seemingly lower and lower prices, the battle is now on for space. How do you deal with the relentless pressure to acquire more, to collect carefully and to be more selective? Or do we try and avoid having anything at all that is unnecessary? That is the question. Expressionism Our primitive urge to decorate and adorn remains one of the unique features of the human race. Is this something to be repressed or just reassessed in modern times? Is pattern a modern fad or something that is always there even if we pretend it's not? Fundamentalism In the end design doesn't really exist as a thing in itself, it is just a tool that is used to improve processes, objects and spaces. More interesting is to look at how all the domestic functions can work well within spaces; to look at all the intangibles that affect our environments from smells to light and colour. Futurism Are we now living in the future, or were we conned all along into thinking that we would be leading seamless existences in perfect environments? Does technology help or hinder modern life? Or could the future really mean a simpler existence altogether...

Designer, manufacturer, hard-headed business man, visionary thinker, engager and charismatic speaker, O.B.E., sardonic, amusingly off message - the enfant terrible of the design industry, Tom Dixon is a self-educated maverick whose only qualification is a one-day course in plastic bumper repair. These welding skills were soon put to work as Dixon explored the decorative and structural potential of recycled materials and industrial scrap. As Dixon's international reputation grew, he was approached by Italian furniture design company, Cappellini who worked to put some of his designs into major production. The "S" chair made Tom Dixon's name and now has a permanent place in the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Tom was Creative Director of Habitat, and largely credited for turning round their reputation. He designed Habitat's flagship store on Regent Street and still consults for them as non-exec Creative Director. Dixon has now taken ownership of the Finnish furniture brand Artek founded by Alvar Alto. Artek has played a very important role in design history and Finnish national life.