What is next for the design industry?
Gilles Massé, Curator of Wallpaper* Store, Interviews Tom Dixon
As part of 24 Hours in Milan, Tom Dixon and Gilles Massé discuss highlights of Tom's 17 years in Milan, the new HYDRO chair and the future of the design industry.
Tom and Gilles consider how growing environmental awareness worldwide is shaping the design industry. Tom says that “it is clear that the pandemic has made people focus increasingly on both local and smaller production."
“There’s a moment for introspection and there’s definitely a feeling that there’s a big topic that everyone has to work on collectively.”
“The change has to come from design, it has to come from government legislation and from consumer behaviour as well."
They also discuss how the massive shift towards the online sphere and E-Commerce is particularly interesting for design.
"Interior design was about very localised tastes and distribution for a very long time. It’s one of the few businesses that isn’t international in the same way that fashion is”.
Watch the full conversation below.
HYDRO Chair
HYDRO is a limited-edition chair created in collaboration with HYDRO, the biggest aluminium producer in the world. The HYDRO chair is an innovation in aluminium technology. It has been blow-formed (through a process called Superplastic Forming) at high temperatures and then laser cut by robots. These methods were developed in the automotive industries to make deep and complex forms that were impossible to achieve a few years ago. The ballooned pattern gives strength and rigidity and lends a soft and humorous pop sensibility to the lightweight and shiny metal sheet.
Each chair is marked with a limited edition number and comes with a certificate signed by Tom Dixon.
Globe Burst Chandelier
Globe Burst is an extraordinary large chandelier featuring 12 Globe shades with a gloss black fitting. The shades are designed into a fixed configuration with a single point construction. Featuring our integrated LED module, the spherical orbs are highly mirrored and perfectly reflective during the day, and when switched on reveals a multiplicity of internal reflections.