You may not know of Thomas Heatherwick, but you may know some of his work.
He’s an architect and designer responsible for some of the more stunning new buildings and developments around the world. Heatherwick Studios has created everything from chairs that look like spinning tops and bridges that roll themselves up like a bug, to lush, tropical malls for deserts, garden bridges, and more. The Olympic torches in London? That was his studio.
His studio’s work gets attention. It’s a mixture of form and function, combined with new uses for materials, and simplicity. The projects are impressive and inspirational.
This is talk by Thomas Heatherwick at the Business of Design Week event in Hong Kong, talking about culture, design, and cities.
And here are some of the designers at the studio talking about materials, process, mock-ups, testing, computers, and more.
A friend from FIT turned me
A friend from FIT turned me on about Heatherwick work. Pretty cool.
Nice
We got to see an exhibit of the studio’s work at Cooper-Hewitt in NY. The company had built a special machine to print and press a guide to the rooms, so the first thing anyone did was crank a contraption and get a printed guide.
Inside where drawings and models of projects, along with photos and films of final work.
One of the main things they do that others don’t is play and experiment before deciding on a design. Many of their projects appear to be toy-like on some level.
NYC might be getting an installation
On the West side at Hudson Yards… a staircase to nowhere:
“Thomas Heatherwick’s design of a giant, free-standing collection of multi-level staircases that will give the public fresh views of the city was unveiled in New York on Wednesday and is currently under construction in Italy.”