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shifterarc Newsons uturistic designs point to a manwho lets his imagination run wild and reuses toconorm to the norm. And why should he whenthe world is his design stage and we can all

benet rom the beauty o his unique v ision.

A design critic once quipped that the designerhad used his career to live out his Boys Ownantasies o speed and travel. This statementseems particularly apt when you consider thatthe boy who grew up on Sydneys north shore,and spent his time pulling apart watches,radios and bicycles to learn more about theirmechanics, has since added his golden touchto Qantas aircrat interiors, a concept vehicle

or Ford and a jet-sized Space Plane or EADSAstrium, a global leader in space transportation.

Marcs signature aesthetic is based around theuse o biomorphism, epitomised by ergonomicand fowing lines that are ree o sharp edgesand oten call on the beauty o translucencyand transparency. He also uses bright colours tomake bold design statements orange, greenand yellow are avoured hues.

One o his most amous creations, the Embryo

chair, which he conjured up back in 1988, is aperect example o Marcs biomorphic orms.He once described the chair to The New YorkTimes as one o the rst pieces where I hitupon a discernible style.

Along with urniture, product and aircrat design,that discernilbe style has since been appliedto the ashion arena he has put his stampon Nike running shoes, G-Star clothing, Lanvinsunglasses, Samsonite luggage and a Parisian

shoe boutique or Azzedine Alaia.

H bn tggd on o th globgtt ndutldgn nd h

hd vythngom glw nduntu to cln nd luggg.Josie Gagliano gtht th autlndgn mto lly n cl o h own.

In terms o carving a career out o his naturalcuriosity or the way things work, it seemsthose boyhood antasies have gone wayabove and beyond anything even Marc himselcould have imagined. Its unlikely he would

have ever dreamed that the venerated Timemagazine would name him as one o its 100most infuential people in the world, an honourbestowed to him back in 2005.

TAKING FLIGHT

Marc Newson was born in Sydney in 1963 toa mother o Greek heritage and an Australianather he hasnt seen since the age o two.Raised in the north-shore suburb o Gordonby his mother, Carol Conomos, who had a

strong interest in architecture and art,Marcs childhood was punctuated with stintsin Europe and then Seoul, where his stepatherwas transerred (Carol remarried when Marcwas aged 12).

At age 14, he headed back to Sydney on hisown to board at Trinity Grammar, in the citysinner west. His rst stop post high-school wasthe Sydney College o the Arts, which rarelyaccepted students straight rom school butobviously spotted something special.

I studied jewellery and silversmithing at college,he recalls. Instead o designing a piece ojewellery as my nal project, I designed a chair,says Marc, who was clearly busting throughboundaries and redening the rules even then.I thought it was the same as a piece o jewellery

M

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marc newsons

futuristic

designs point to a

man who lets his

imagination runwild and refuses

to conform to

the norm.

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it is worn by the body, ater all. The tutorsagreed. I proceeded to design other pieces ourniture and travelled to Japan, which I oundincredibly inspirational.

It was in Japan that Marcs career really tooko. A chance meeting with Teruo Kurosaki,owner o cool design company Ide, soon led tohis Embryo chair originally commissioned bySydneys Powerhouse Museum in 1988 beingput into production.

The chair proudly stood alongside theoutstanding works o renowned French product

designer Philippe Starck. Italian companiessuch as Alessi, Cappellini and Flos were dulyimpressed and had the young designer addinghis fourish to everything rom cutlery andchairs to lighting.

Further good ortune avoured Newson when just a year out o college he received a$10,000 Australian Council grant to showcasehis talent in an exhibition at Sydneys well-knownRoslyn Oxley9 Gallery in Paddington.

One o the six pieces he came up with was thenow inamous aluminium Lockheed lounge one o which recently sold at Phillips de Puryin London or over one million pounds.

I had this image o a fuid aluminium orm.The shape was sculpted out o a piece o oam exactly the same way you would create asurboard, Marc says o his original creation.The only way I could get the aluminium on wasby hammering out little pieces o metal and usingrivets to attach them. Thats where the airplanemetaphor came rom, so I called it the Lockheedlounge [in a nod to the American aerospacecompany, Lockheed Corporation].

The lounge created a serious stir and eventuallya total o 15 (including prototypes and anartists proo) were produced. Philippe Starckacknowledged his admiration or his young peerby purchasing one o the Lockheeds or thelobby o New Yorks Paramount Hotel.

Following the exhibition, Marcs career went romstrength to strength. One company the designeris thrilled to be associated with is Qantas. Ascreative director o Qantas Airways, I havedesigned aircrat seats and interiors, includingthe complete interiors o their entire A380 feet ,he says with pride.

Marcs impressive contribution to Qantas recentlysaw him take out top prize at the AustralianInternational Design Awards (AIDA). O hiswork, AIDA said: When it comes to style, MarcNewsons retro-uturist approach and superbvision showcases a very unique aesthetic, with asculpted carbon bre backshell to give a visuallystunning appearance representing a Qantasdesign rst. It also brings a unique naturalelement to the overall appearance, as [Marc has

used] a material that is not normally exposed butrather is used in the aircrat airrame.

Proving AIDAs observation that a ascinationwith aircrat is a common thread or Newson,the designer recently ormed a second companyentitled MN Aerospace to tackle all the designwork or private jets and boats that I have beencommissioned to do in recent years.

As Marc sees it, There is no doubt that theaeronautics industry is behind the technologicaldevelopment o design, in terms o materials,sotware and engineering.

FUTURE FANTASTIC

As well as aeronautics, Marc gets red upby people, places and things. Generally I aminspired by the new technologies, materials andprocesses I meet in the course o my work. I am

also inspired by popular culture wherever Ihappen to be in the world, he explains. And Iminspired by those designers/artists who wentbeore people like Enzo Mari, Ettore Sottsass,Bruno Munari and Achille Castiglioni. And Ihave great admiration or the work o JonathanIve [head o Apples creative team and the manbehind the iPhone] and Jasper Morrison [creatoro the Air-Chair] in the eld o industrial design.

One has to ask when he actually gets time to

dream up his designs. It s usually when there istotal quiet and the phone cant reach me. I otennd the environment o an aircrat cabin is aperect place or me to think and let the ideasrun ree, he laughs, adding that jobs currently onthe drawing board include private jets and boats,high-end jewellery, continuing work or Qantasand many more condential projects.

i am inspired

by the new

technologies,

materials andprocesses i meet

in the course

of my work. i am

also inspired by

popular culture

wherever ihappen to be

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Clockwise from top

left: ind by thgoldn o tvl,

Mc dgnd Qntu-tylh ft-clloung n Mlbounnd sydny; honwth Nwon dg;th Hmod HDp33ltnum/gy goldwtch; mt lt nd hk.

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Above: Mc dgndth unqu nto oTokyo pod B n 1989.

Right: Th bght ndunky TV Ch & Tbl01.Opposite page: Thnthoomohc Bucky iiCh01 w dgnd n1995 o th p-bdFoundton Ct.

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MASTER STROKES

som o Mc Nwon motcclmd dgn nclud:

IKEPOD WATCHES: Designingtimepieces since the 1980s, Marcdesigned a watch collection or theSwiss-made Ikepod brand, whichshowcases the notion o duality viatwo time zones one watch ace isvisible and the other obscured.

THE LOCKHEED LOUNGE:There are only 15 in existence andthis lounge recently cemented Marcsicon status by achieving the recordsale price o 1.1m (AU$2.2m) thehighest price paid or a work by aliving designer.

THE EMBRYO CHAIR: The Embryochairs beautiully fuid design is wellrecognised now, but was considered

avant-garde when Marc rst presentedit 20 years ago.

THE ATMOS 561 CLOCK: Marcslong-held ascination with theJaeger-LeCoultres Atmos Clock an 85-year-old design masterpiecepowered by minute changes intemperature was rewarded when hewas commissioned to design his veryown version.

THE SKYBED: Marcs rst task ascreative director or Qantas was todesign the Skybed the airlinesBusiness Class sleeper seat. Thiswas ollowed by the award-winninginterior o the Qantas A380 economy-class seat, with more work on Qantasfeets to ollow.

SMEG OVENS: Marcs range oovens, cooktops and hobs or Smeg

marked the rst time the Italiankitchen specialist had collaboratedwith a non-Italian. The concept ovenresult was, typically o the designer,an explosion o colour and style.

FORDS 012c CONCEPT CAR:

Commissioned by Ford in 1999 torethink the car, Marc developed the021c concept car based on box-likechildhood sketching he named it

ater his avourite Pantone colour.

Among all o the work demands, the globe-trotting designer is also busy raising a amilybetween homes in London and Paris. He recentlymarried British stylist Charlotte Stockdale, andthe pair has a two-year-old daughter, Imogen.As much as he would like his amily to spendmore time in Australia, Marc says he onlymanages to get home once a year: I tend tostick around Sydney to be with my amily and

riends as much as I can anywhere whereI can see the ocean is okay with me!

Its clear that Marc Newson is hugely ullled.Asked about passions outside o work, hecites classic sports car and is somewhat o anacionado on the subject he and Stockdalehave even entered two o his our vintage sportscars (a Lamborghini, a Ferrari, an Aston Martinand a Cisitalia) in Italys Mille Miglia annualvintage car rally. I am also crazy about my knie

collection and my collection o Samurai gures,he adds. And I am passionate about sleeping.

This talented, on-the-go man could probably dowith the rest, but its doubtul that hell be puttinghis creative energies to bed any time soon.

as much as he would like to

spend more time in australia,

marc only manages to get

home once a year.