INTRODUCING MELT, FAT AND TANK

INTRODUCING MELT, FAT AND TANK

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Introducing MELT, FAT and TANK

24 Hours in Shanghai 

We celebrate Tom Dixon’s extraordinary objects and best-selling families.

Obsessed with the idea of creating an imperfect, organic and naturalistic lighting object, MELT was created. Made from a process of blow-moulding and vacuum metallisation, it creates a mesmerizing hot blown glass effect when on and transforms into a mirrored asymmetric orb when off.

Our FAT upholstery chair range is designed to hug the body and allows for multiple sitting positions. The extreme simplicity of the components is a testament to form following function, whilst maintaining a humorous silhouette and a reductionist aesthetic. Quite a balancing act!

TANK takes its sculptural cue from the functional shapes and volumes of scientific glassware. Minimal yet decorative for a multiplicity of purposes of drinking, pouring, storing and displaying food and drink, the range forms bold building blocks of table-top architecture.

story.tomdixon.net/24shanghai

 

MELT: We found a misshapen, white plastic lamp moulding in the factory. We decided to get that moulding metallised and we were shocked at how extraordinary it looked, particularly when we tried a new technique of semi-transparent mirror coating. You could see through the reflective surface and view the amazing patterns created by the light bouncing off the internal curved surfaces. Our factory told us that we couldn’t use this shape as it belonged to some Swedish designers, but luckily it turned out that those designers were friends of mine called FRONT, so I got in touch with them, licensed the shape and the result is our most successful lamp ever. And the moral of this story is that sometimes not designing is the best design of all. – Tom Dixon

FAT: I do think that ‘Fatness’ has become a negative word, but in the world of upholstery it has to be a positive. So when we were looking for a series of pieces of furniture for our new headquarters restaurant – The Coal Office – in London, it felt like a good moment to celebrate plumpness, generosity and comfort, so we started with the most fattest, simplest and most reduced of basic shapes inspired by Frankfurters, inspired by balloon art and inspired by just general cuddliness. – Tom Dixon

TANK: So the cone, the cylinder and the sphere have been recognised for thousands of years - alongside the cube - as the building blocks that allowed most other shapes to be constructed. Even Archimedes demanded that these shapes be placed on his tomb. Now I don’t really want that on my grave, but these shapes have been really good to me and we use them in as un-complicated a way as possible on the Tank collection of glassware, and despite the basic shapes being so common, it still feels like you can re-organise them in a way that is fresh and contemporary. – Tom Dixon