The green chair in the window is especially good for a coffee.

Including me. Anyway, this seems like a perfect example of the way you work.

Which is radical. Most designers want to have a recognisable style, to become a brand and be marketable. In that sense, your practice is quite anti-commercial, I think.

Well, from the beginning I was making furniture that was quite odd. It was extremely utilitarian and looked like it was made in a shed. I was trying to make things that were human and engaging and real, as well as useful and functional, and was definitely Well, from the beginning I was making furniture that was quite odd. It was extremely utilitarian and looked like it was made in anti the slippery slope of trends. There’s the world of Ross Love grove and Marc New son and lots of people who love all that. And I think changes in commerce and industrial production and 3 D capability—computers in general—have made it so much more accessible. But it’s meant that machines can churn out an ugly wastepaper bin that’s the same shape as another ugly pencil pot, for every Sal one and every trade fair, and people keep buying them.

The green chair in the window is especially good for a coffee.

It’s a prime spot, isn’t it? But if you notice, it’s sitting on a little wooden box, something that the gas pipe people did. We ended up with this thing, and I remember saying, ‘Don’t worry, we’ll mount a seat on there’. I’d had one of those old IKEA tractor stools for five years or so. Have you seen them? They’re really horrible, but the seat’s nice. And I’d found one thrown out on the street, thinking, ‘I’ll do something with that one day’. We knocked something together quickly, and it’s perfect! It’s so funny that quite often people see it as their seat.

Including me. Anyway, this seems like a perfect example of the way you work.

That chair was really about planning and problem-solving. I always say I try to make things that don’t feel too designed. Most design is too much design. I want to make things that feel normal and just a bit special, at the same time. Objects that you don’t even really notice.

Which is radical. Most designers want to have a recognisable style, to become a brand and be marketable. In that sense, your practice is quite anti-commercial, I think.

Well, from the beginning I was making furniture that was quite odd. It was extremely utilitarian and looked like it was made in a shed. I was trying to make things that were human and engaging and real, as well as useful and functional, and was definitely Well, from the beginning I was making furniture that was quite odd. It was extremely utilitarian and looked like it was made in anti the slippery slope of trends.

There’s the world of Ross Lovegrove and Marc Newson and lots of people who love all that. And I think changes in commerce and industrial production and 3D capability—computers in general—have made it so much more accessible. But it’s meant that machines can churn out an ugly wastepaper bin that’s the same shape as another ugly pencil pot, for every Salone and every trade fair, and people keep buying them.

The green chair in the window is especially good for a coffee.

It’s a prime spot, isn’t it? But if you notice, it’s sitting on a little wooden box, something that the gas pipe people did. We ended up with this thing, and I remember saying, ‘Don’t worry, we’ll mount a seat on there’. I’d had one of those old IKEA tractor stools for five years or so. Have you seen them? They’re really horrible, but the seat’s nice. And I’d found one thrown out on the street, thinking, ‘I’ll do something with that one day’. We knocked something together quickly, and it’s perfect! It’s so funny that quite often people see it as their seat.

Including me. Anyway, this seems like a perfect example of the way you work.

That chair was really about planning and problem-solving. I always say I try to make things that don’t feel too designed. Most design is too much design. I want to make things that feel normal and just a bit special, at the same time. Objects that you don’t even really notice.

Which is radical. Most designers want to have a recognisable style, to become a brand and be marketable. In that sense, your practice is quite anti-commercial, I think.

Well, from the beginning I was making furniture that was quite odd. It was extremely utilitarian and looked like it was made in a shed. I was trying to make things that were human and engaging and real, as well as useful and functional, and was definitely Well, from the beginning I was making furniture that was quite odd. It was extremely utilitarian and looked like it was made in anti the slippery slope of trends.

There’s the world of Ross Lovegrove and Marc Newson and lots of people who love all that. And I think changes in commerce and industrial production and 3D capability—computers in general—have made it so much more accessible. But it’s meant that machines can churn out an ugly wastepaper bin that’s the same shape as another ugly pencil pot, for every Salone and every trade fair, and people keep buying them.