9.18.2020 | DIGS.NET 51
(CLOCKWISE FROM TOP) COAL OFFICE
FURNISHINGS AND TEXTILES; PUCK COLLECTION
GLASSWARE; THE MILL GRINDER (SMALL AND
LARGE); THE FOG GIFTSET AND INCENSE.
"It is very
important to
establish your own
point of view and
develop your own
distinctive design
personality and
aesthetic."
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The Coal Office comes as a culmination of Dixon's
astonishing and well-engined run. Inside its historic
edifice is a wondrous world of tomorrow, a space
conceived as "three-dimensional mood board" and
memorably atmospheric—flawlessly lit, of course,
dripping in the designer's lustrous and adventurous
lighting including pendants with reflective surfaces,
wall lights and floor lamps. Among these fixtures
is an array of sculptural furniture and accessories,
all interestingly arranged in a warren of Victorian
rooms, notable with Dixonian overtures to industry
and edge—exposed brick walls paired with patches
of pale and coal-black wooden parquet. "The
infrastructure was in place when we got the building,
but it had been lying fallow for a couple years," Dixon
describes. "We finished it and made it make sense."
It's also electrifying.
The whole concept speaks to Dixon as an
explorer—of shape, of material, of ideas. Does a
thing look good? Does it improve things? The Coal
Office is, in a sense, one massive consideration.
Dixon is above all a designer concerned with how.
"It is very important to establish your own point
of view and develop your own distinctive design
personality and aesthetic," says Dixon, adding that
design "is never a single thing." One should be trying
to improve on something that has existed before, he
adds, "whether that's a better functionality, a life-
changing new invention, or even just a nicer color.
And I never tire of trying." tomdixon.net
-Tom Dixon
