How were you influenced by Italian design before starting your career?
My mother was a single parent and when I was really young, in the early 1970s, she was the manager of a cool new hotel up the coast from Sydney – where we lived for a while, and I remember that I was impressed by the modern styling and furniture in the hotel. Most of it was of Italian design. Designers then used bright colors. Things were not extravagant, but objects and furniture were interesting, less ordinary. Being in Australia at the time, was interesting, because it was, as a country, still isolated from the creative effervescence that was gripping cities like New York, London, Milan and Paris. So I had to make a determined effort to understand what was going on elsewhere. I read all the Italian design magazines I could get hold of (without actually purchasing!) in my after-school job on a Sydney newspaper stand.
These images left a lasting impression on me. Now, with hindsight, I can’t say that I liked the particular shapes, colors, plastics etc. that were used, but the spirit of those years made a definite impression on the adolescent that I was. As a kid obsessed with designing and making things, post-war Italian design was a huge source of inspiration. I was amazed by the seamless ability of designers and industry to produce every conceivable type of industrial product, from furniture to automobiles. My own career has undoubtedly been influenced by the Italians’ impact on so many areas of design.
Which was the Italian designer you were more influenced by and why?
Of course the old school – people like Achille Castiglioni, Ettore Sottsass, Enzo Mari, and sometimes artists, rather than designers… people like Bruno Munari.
When did start your design relation with marble?
Marble is a material that most people would think anachronistic, out of context in modern product design. I wanted to do something different with this noble material. It is classic and has been with us for thousands of years and in my projects I am always thinking about how to create timeless objects, and marble is totally synonymous with classicism. In all aspects of my work, I am thinking about the perceived value, and although marble is not inherently expensive, it has a huge perceived value.
I have always loved marble. It has both mythical and sensual properties. It is very present, both physically and in terms of how it is worked.
Either in some of your interior design (e.g. the two Qantas Lounges, the Alaia Showroom) and in the Gagosian collection of chairs, tables and shelves you extensively used Carrara marble. Why just this kind of stone?
Simply that it is classically beautiful, timeless and pure.
How came the idea to use marble as a plastic and ductile material to extrude in the Gagosian collection?
I have used it in various architectural projects, where I learned a lot about it as a material, in terms of how far I could push it technically and logistically. But it was when I was planning a major exhibition of my own work for the Gagosian gallery in New York that I decided that I wanted to explore the possibilities with marble further – as fully as possible. I wanted to work out whether what I had designed could actually be made in a single piece. The extruded works are two dimensional, like drawings. I came up with a two dimensional shape and extruded it into three dimensions. I knew that a machine to do this existed and I was pretty sure that, in theory, it could be done in marble. I started to think about what else excited me about marble, apart from being able to create impossible shapes with it. It is the sheer monumental bulk of the material, its weight and robustness. When I discovered there existed a lathe big enough to turn a huge chunk of marble – that really blew me away and I used it in the production of the Lathed Tables.
Have you ever been to Carrara to visit the historical quarries?
Absolutely. Many times.
Which was your impression?
Humbling, tremendous, exciting, awe-inspiring.
Have you in mind any other kind of stone to use in next projects?
Watch this space…
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