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1959 Sfax, Tunisia
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Tom Dixon was born in Sfax, Tunisia in 1959 but moved to the UK at the age of 4. After school he started at the Chelsea Art School, but far from having a predestination to be a designer, Tom wanted to be a musician. He was a professional musician from the age of 21 to 23. He recorded an album with the band “Funkapolitan” in Jimmy Hendrix’s studio in New York. It was in 1982 when hip-hop and rap just started. They made it to No. 39 in the UK chart and had a few minutes on Top of the Pops. During the same period he started to run rap clubs in the London club scene. Unfortunately a motorbike accident stopped him from playing bass guitar, which forced him to leave the band. Instead he spent more time working for various nightclubs doing promotional activities. When Tom had the disco in Berkeley Squares they put on many different events including live welding on stage. This got him back into the craft and design. The visitors were mostly involved in photography or music and other creative industries and the requests for more designs increased quickly. The creative time took over and Tom decided to spend all of his time on that. Very quickly, Tom became one of the most talked about avant-garde designers, always seen trying out new materials or applying industrial ideas to high-end design. Initially Tom created Space in the 1980’s and Eurolounge in 1992. Space was a wholesale company with international business. The more consumer friendly Eurolounge was started to make design and crafted industrialised artefacts more affordable. By using the technique of rotary moulding a range of products could be done cheaper but without loosing style. It is a widely recognised method, but was a complete new concept at the time. The company is still a part of what Tom is doing today. The first object Eurolounge produced was the “Jack” light that has had enormous success worldwide. In addition to receiving a Millennium Mark in the UK, it has been exhibited in modern art museums around the world such as the Tate Modern in London, the Boston Museum of Fine Art, the London Design Museum, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the MOMA in New York, the Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo, the Victorian & Albert Museum and the Vitra Museum in Basle. In 1998 Tom was recruited as Head of UK Design at Habitat. He joined while “Eurolounge” was being established. The position as gave him the opportunity to explore his creativity on a higher level. His ability to speak French gave him an advantage since Habitat often works across that border. In 1999 he was appointed International Head of Design at Habitat
Today, Tom still has the same philosophy as when he started. Focus on new applications of traditional materials and forms. He is after all a craftsman more than anything else. Most of his works starts from an inspiration source and then transforms into possibilities of design. Some of his most famous products include the S chair, birdlounger and the Pylon chair. Tom received an OBE for service to the British design community in June 2000 and was appointed Creative Director at Habitat 2001.
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Courtesy
Tom Dixon
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'S' Chair |
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D E S I G N E R
Tom Dixon
P R O D U C E R
Cappellini, Italy
1988
M A T E R I A L
A N D
D I M E N S I O N S
mixed media
100x52x42 cm
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Courtesy
Tom Dixon
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'Link Easy' Chair |
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D E S I G N E R
Tom Dixon
P R O D U C E R
Tom Dixon, United Kingdom
2006
M A T E R I A L
A N D
D I M E N S I O N S
welded steel
H: 100 cm - w: 115 cm - d: 70 cm
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