At just 44 years of age, Sydney-born designer and longtime Wallpaper* favourite Marc Newson, has worked fast to achieve his superstar status, creating a vast and eclectic body of work in the process. His CV includes iconic furniture pieces, kitchen and household items, watches, footwear, commercial interior design, the Qantas ‘Skybed’ business class seat, a concept car for Ford, and even the lighting scheme for the Sydney Opera House during the 2000 Olympic Games. Three of his newest works are currently on display at London’s Gagosian Gallery until April 19. The show is the second for the designer at the Gagosian following a three-month exhibition of limited edition pieces last January in New York. Marc Newson ‘Extruded Table 3’ by Marc Newson Keen observers might find the sight oddly reminiscent; the sleek, seamless marble of ‘Extruded Table 3’, the honeycomb latticework of ‘Low Voronoi Shelf’, and the dark, almost viscous shell of ‘Carbon Fibre Chair’ are all variations on established themes, and reveal the designer’s evolutionary thought process at work. Newson, who has lived in London since 1997 and has a studio in Paris, currently serves as Adjunct Professor in Design at Sydney College of the Arts and is also the Creative Director for Qantas. His sumptuous redesign of the airline’s first class lounges in Sydney and Melbourne were unveiled last year and he has additionally been charged with the design of the fleet’s new Airbus A380 interiors. Spending 22 hours strapped into a flying seat never sounded so good. 12 March 2008 | Interiors
via Wallpaper*)