MEET TOM DIXON | Tom Dixon is a restless innovator who works mainly in lighting, accessories and furniture. From his departure point in the early eighties welding salvaged steel into radical furniture, he has constantly reinvented himself through a series of different design lives. We invite you to explore his extraordinary design objects.
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It’s hard to believe that a humble, self-taught designer born in Tunisia should go on to international fame, with products in every major design collection around the globe. But Tom Dixon has always been full of surprises. Dixon spent the first four years of his life in Northern Africa, where his father was a teacher.
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In the early 1960s, young Tom moved back to England and went to school in Huddersfield, where he spent most of his time in the art department messing about with clay. Later, he enrolled in art school, but didn’t enjoy it, and so he dropped out to play bass in an indie band.
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By the late 1980s Dixon was working with Italian furniture giant Cappellini for whom he created the famous ‘S Chair’. However, his big breakthrough came in 1994 with Jack; a moulded plastic ‘sitting, stacking, lighting thing’ that became an instant design icon.
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DESIGN RESEARCH STUDIO was launched in 2007, to focus on interior architecture, under the Tom Dixon banner. They have designed many Although Tom Dixon has worked in Australia previously – his spectacular ‘Melt’ lamps were specified for the Bennelong Restaurant at the Sydney Opera House in 2015 – the recently completed Quay Quarter Tower in Sydney is his first major Australian interior architecture project .
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In 1998 Dixon was enlisted to help rejuvenate the ailing Habitat brand. Four years later, he left to start his own eponymous company. Over the past 20 years, Dixon has earned a reputation as one of the world’s great designers and entrepreneurs, with a wide range of products, ranging from candles to table lamps. In 2001, Dixon was appointed an O.B.E. for services to British Design.
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MELT is a beautifully distorted pendant in a modern finish and matching ceiling rose. Featuring an integrated LED module, this ceiling light creates a mesmerising melting hot-blown glass effect when on and a mirror-finish effect when off. Made in Germany using a high tech manufacturing technique to achieve the perfect melted orb.
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SPRING is a series of three pendant lamps made up of stainless-steel strips. Pliant ribbons of stainless steel have been arranged like a whisk around a custom-made LED ring. The semi-transparent shape thus created can be adjusted to a variety of silhouettes - from a flat arrangement reminiscent of a spirograph drawing and on to a fuller shape.
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MIRROR BALL The aim was to produce a completely spherical, highly mirrored object that would disappear into its surroundings. Instead it does the opposite and is an ultra visible, highly reflective object. Blown like bubble gum into a mould, these plastic spheres are metallisised internally to give a mirrored finish.
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FAT Designed to hug the body and allowing 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.
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FAN is a modern take on the classical Windsor chair. A British archetype converted to a contemporary silhouette, creating an exclamation mark in the home with a semi-transparent structure that takes up minimal visual mass.
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WINGBACK was inspired by traditional 17th century Wingback and balloon-back archetypes, and was developed for Shoreditch House Members Club. Its expressive sweeping curves allows it as a sculptural intervention rather than merely a piece of seating. The wings provide acoustic protection for mobile phone use and a headrest for quick snoozes.
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SLAB Celebrating the natural beauty of oak, the Slab collection is a robust piece constructed in angular forms of inviting simplicity. Each piece has generous proportions, solid materiality and is softened with a gently radius edge. The Slab family is made from solid oak, sourced from sustainably managed forests.
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CLOUD is a sculptural vessel made of highly reflective polished aluminium. Handmade in India by skilled artisans, each vessel has unique qualities with every hammer and indentation from stretching and warping the metal being preserved, reflecting the amount of work that has gone into the design.
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TANK The Tank collection takes its sculptural cue from the functional shapes and volumes of scientific glassware. Minimal yet decorative for a multiplicity of purposes, the range forms bold building blocks of table-top architecture.
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MILL The Mill grinder has expressive handles and a sleek conical silhouette made of stainless steel. Created with longevity in mind, the vessel is designed with a robust mechanism that has been developed by experts.
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SPIN An industrial-strength piece of table-top engineering designed to act as a kinetic centrepiece and produce infinite arrangements. Able to hold tea lights and taper candles with equal elegance, the cast iron contraption takes cues from the heavyweight cantilever mechanisms of dockside cranes and the mechanical elegance of 1950s mobiles.
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PRESS The Press series is designed and engineered to catch and refract light, and to last for ever. These heavyweight grooved pieces are made of fat, chunky coils of pure and clear transparent glass. Bold in silhouette and simple in function, they are manufactured by dropping big globs of molten glass at 1200 degrees centigrade and pressed in two or three part iron moulds to create the immediately familiar silhouette.
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ELEMENTS Tom Dixon took inspiration from the medieval alchemist and eastern philosopher's quest to reduce all matter to four simple elements. His minimalist attitude has delivered four scents of extreme simplicity and individual character that reflect their elemental names of Fire, Air, Earth and Water.
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ROCK is a collection of interactive, playful and stackable sculptures, which act as architecture for your dining table. The range displays the natural and uniquely solid materiality that Tom Dixon Studio has long been associated with.
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STONE is a collection of interactive, playful and stackable sculptures, which act as architecture for your dining table. The range displays the natural and uniquely solid materiality that Tom Dixon Studio has long been associated with.
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Top3 founder, Terri Winter (left) and Lauren Page met up with Tom Dixon on his recent visit to Sydney. Always inspiring to hear about his visionary ideas and ventures.
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Phone enquiries: 1300 867 333
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