Thomas Heatherwick

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Thomas Heatherwick
Born February 17, 1970 (1970-02-17) (age 42)
London
Nationality English
Alma mater Manchester Metropolitan University
Work
Practice Heatherwick Studio
Buildings Longchamp store in SoHo, East Beach Cafe in Littlehampton
Projects B of the Bang, UK pavilion at Expo 2010 (Seed Cathedral)
Design The Rolling Bridge

Thomas Heatherwick (born 17 February 1970) is an English designer known for innovative use of engineering and materials in public monuments and sculptures. He heads Heatherwick Studio, a design and architecture studio, which he founded in 1994.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Born in London, he went to Sevenoaks School[1] and then studied three dimensional design at Manchester Polytechnic and at the Royal College of Art, winning several prizes. Shortly after graduating from the Royal College of Art after a two-year furniture MA course in 1994, he was commissioned by Harvey Nichols department store in Knightsbridge to design a temporary structure for the shop's facade. His design was a ribbon of laminated wood that wound through the storefront windows. The design was widely acclaimed and won him a D&AD yellow pencil (the gold award) in 1997.

He founded Thomas Heatherwick Studio (now called just Heatherwick Studio) in 1994 with his aim being "to bring architecture, design and sculpture together within a single practice". Originally based at Camden Mews, the studio moved to larger premises in Kings Cross in 2000. It presently has a team of over sixty which includes architects, landscape architects, designers and engineers. Work is carried out from a combined studio and workshop where concept development, detailing, prototyping and small scale fabrication take place. The studio's work spans commercial and residential building projects, masterplanning and infrastructure schemes as well as high profile works of public art.

Heatherwick is a Senior Fellow and external examiner at the Royal College of Art, a Senior Research Fellow at the Victoria & Albert Museum; a fellow of the Royal Academy and was recently chosen to become a Royal Designer for Industry. He has served on numerous judging and advisory panels and has given talks at various institutions including the RIBA, Bartlett School of Architecture, the South Africa Design Indaba conference, the Royal Academy and TED2011.

In 2004 he curated an exhibition at the Design Museum consisting of 1,000 "every day" design objects that he had collected.

[edit] Key works

The Seed Cathedral at Shanghai, 2010 World Expo.

The New Bus for London for TFL.

"Extrusions" at Haunch of Venison.

The "East Beach Café" is a building on Littlehampton Sea Front, West Sussex, UK created by Heatherwick. Commissioned in 2005 the large steel structure houses a café by daytime and restaurant in the evening. The concept allowed the steel to rust and the colours to develop over time before being fixed in a transparent oil. It won the 2008 RIBA Award in the South East region.[2]

B of the Bang, Manchester

The B of the Bang was a £1.42 million 56m-high sculpture of 180 giant spikes, erected outside the City of Manchester Stadium to commemorate the 2002 Commonwealth Games. Safety problems emerged soon after it was completed in 2004 when one spike was dislodged and eventually 22 more were removed as a safety measure. The object was rewelded and fenced off, but continued to cause concern and debate over its future. Finally Manchester City Council took legal action against Heatherwick studio and their subcontractors, who in November 2008 agreed to pay £1.7 million in damages. The installation was removed in 2009.[3]

[edit] Notable works

[edit] Awards

Thomas Heatherwick has been awarded honorary doctorates from four British universities – Sheffield Hallam, Brighton, Dundee and Manchester Metropolitan University - his alma mater - on 21 July 2007 in recognition of his design work across a broad spectrum of architecture, engineering and public art, achieving national and international acclaim for his innovative use of materials, his eclectic range of projects, and the resolution of them in new and exciting ways.

[edit] Gallery

  • Longchamp storefront Spring Street, NYC

  • Detail of the east end of the East Beach Café in Littlehampton

  • The Sitooterie II of Barnards Farm Gardens, West Horndon, Essex

  • Rolling Bridge, London. Inset (top) midway position

[edit] References

  1. ^ Sevenoaks School
  2. ^ e-architect, Royal Institute of British Architects Awards
  3. ^ Grant, Len (2 September 2009). "Last Legs". East. http://www.thisiseast.com/2009/09/02/last-legs/. Retrieved 30 March 2010. 
  4. ^ "Carpet" provokes different shades of opinion, Maev Kennedy article on the opening of the Blue Carpet, the Guardian, 26 January 2002
  5. ^ Aberystwyth Arts Centre: History
  6. ^ bdolnine, 22 May 2009, Heatherwick’s shining start-ups open in Aberystwyth
  7. ^ The Guardian, 27 May 2009, Spikes, curls and crinkles

[edit] External links

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