Upstairs in the Taschen store from the Parisian Left Bank, the interviews follow one after the other. It must be said that Marc Newson is one of these design stars. In front of the Australian based in London, in a striped jacket and Vichy checked shirt, piles of his new XXL book in a sky blue, await their signature. Time to exchange a few words before the start of the marathon.
Also read: Icon: Marc Newson’s Felt chair
IDEAT: Are you happy to be back in Paris?
Marc Newson: Finding yourself in the City of Lights is always a pleasure! I have lived there, in different neighborhoods. My favorite is surely the Butte Bergeyre, near the Place Colonel Fabien, in the 19th. There are some very beautiful little houses there, including the Villa Zilveli of Jean-Paul Goude, my neighbor at the time.
Marc Newson
IDEAT: Who has influenced you the most as a designer?
Marc Newson: I was very far from this world, having grown up in Australia, but I fed on European magazines, especially Italian ones. Obviously, it was often about the same actors, the same influences. It must be said that after the Second World War, Italy experienced an incredible creative surge in the field of industrial design. I was deeply inspired by this period, as were many designers of my generation.
IDEAT: Have you always wanted to become a designer?
Marc Newson: Not at all. I didn’t become aware of the profession until my late teens. I trained as a goldsmith and jewellery maker at the Sydney College of the Arts, sort of by default – I didn’t know what to do. I was naturally creative and I started building things, furniture, learning on the job, in the school’s workshops.
The fun Dish Docteur drainer, designed for Magis in 1997. © Marc Newson
IDEAT: What was the first object you made?
Marc Newson: I couldn’t say! As a child, I spent my free time in my grandfather’s garage, which was full of tools, tinkering with all sorts of objects. Back then, we didn’t have smartphones or modern distractions, you had to keep yourself busy and make your own things. So I built my own world.
IDEAT: Today, thanks to 3D printing, it seems that manufacturing objects is even more simplified.
Marc Newson: 3D printing is a great tool. I use it primarily as a way to prototype and test ideas. However, I think young designers need to be aware of the limitations that these technologies impose. It is crucial not to let these limitations limit you and to overcome them by using other methods. Technology, whatever it may be, should remain a tool, not an end in itself.
Study drawings of objects by the bottle opener Stavros, 1997. © Marc Newson
IDEAT: You designed your first watch in 1986, at the age of 23, before launching your own brand in 1994 and participating in the design of the Apple Watch. How did you experience this?
Marc Newson: I had achieved a certain expertise in the sector. This project allowed a perfect fusion between my knowledge and this new technology, which thus became very “human”, anthropomorphic, only being able to really function in harmony with the body.
IDEAT: Do you think smartwatches have revolutionized watch design?
Marc Newson: Absolutely. 200 years ago, when pocket watches became wristwatches, it was a major change. Even today, we still wear our watches on our wrists – the location is ideal. I understood this while working on this project.
The Atmos 568 watch in Baccarat crystal for Jaeger Lecoultre, 2016. © Marc Newson
In addition, the wrist remains one of the best places to take your pulse and other data. Nobody thought the Apple Watch would be a success. And ultimately, it reintroduced the watch to a new generation who had stopped wearing them, as they were all content with their cell phones.
IDEAT: How did you feel when you discovered your Lockheed Lounge chair in the clip? Rain by Madonna, in 1993?
Marc Newson: It was quite surreal because at that time, being barely 30 years old, I had no team, no way of being officially informed. I discovered it – like everyone else – by watching the video on MTV, which was a real institution at the time. But seeing it through the screen, I had the feeling that I was not the author.
I designed the Lockheed Lounge In 1986, she had since had her own life, her own career. She had evolved on her own. I always had this detached view of my creations. I didn’t even think about the potential benefits to my reputation, my credibility, my career or whatever, I was obsessed with the future and the next project.
> “Marc Newson. Works 84-24”, Marc Newson & Alison Castle, Taschen, 496 pages, €150. Available here.
Also read: From Vuitton to Apple, luxury according to Marc Newson
