Expert insight - Stephanie Hornig
“We wanted to make an aluminium chair with the highest possible recycled content, while at the same time keeping it light, affordable, comfortable and beautiful,” says Stephanie Hornig, Lead Furniture Designer at Tom Dixon Studio.
Crafting beauty through sustainability
She is the mind behind all interior pieces and furniture at the design studio in London and handles the partnerships on behalf of the man himself, Tom Dixon.
There aren’t a lot of all aluminium chairs out there, which presented us with an interesting opportunity.”
–Stephanie Hornig, Tom Dixon Studio
Staying true to the nature of aluminium
The design team wanted to retain a sense of respect for the delicacy of the metal and enhance its qualities through the design.
“We’ve emphasized the lightness, the formability and the fact that it’s recyclable. And by producing it locally in the UK we were able to reduce the carbon footprint of the chair even further,” Hornig says.
“Our collaboration with Hydro shows how a designer and the industry can work together and learn from each other.”
Changing the rules
Every first comes with its challenges, such as finding ways to make all the aluminium components work together without compromising the design.
“Nothing good ever comes easy, and the same can be said about the chair. The Dixon team thrives on challenges like this and it’s been great to have back to back discussions with people that have a lot of experience in their field, whether it’s regarding extrusions, sheets or bending,” Hornig says.
“Hydro’s experts truly are extraordinary at what they do, and I was amazed to see the solutions they came up with.”
A labor of love
The result of the collaboration is a timeless piece of furniture. Beautiful, simple and true to its aluminium roots.
“It consists of three pieces: a comfortable lightweight shell in pressed aluminium and two legs that are bent with a custom extrusion. The chair is stackable so it can be used efficiently, both indoors and outdoors.”
“To me the chair symbolizes a new archetype for an aluminium chair, showing off some of the possibilities you have when working with this material. Hopefully, it will also inspire other designers to work with aluminium,” Hornig says.