CNN
—
Influential designer Marc Newson has crafted everything from Apple watches to airplanes. With a seemingly endless ability to innovate, his collaborations and personal projects are as numerous as they are broad.
“My job as a designer really revolves around the fact that I hate most of what’s out there right now. It sounds terrible and negative but being dissatisfied with things is a massive source of inspiration for me,” he explained.
But one of the objects that most fascinates him may surprise you.
Karin Catt
Lockheed Lounge (1988). Made out of riveted aluminum sheets, the Lockheed Lounge gained international fame in 1993 when Madonna used it in the music video for her track Rain. It became the world's most expensive design item in 2015 when it was sold at auction for £2,434,500 ($4.69 million).
Marc Newson/Nike
NikeLab Air Vapormax (2017).
Daniel Adric
Kelvin 40 (2004). This concept jet designed by Marc Newson is named after Lord Kelvin, the nineteenth century physicist and mathematician known for his research in thermodynamics and absolute temperature, and the main character of Andrei Tarkovsky's film Solaris, another source of inspiration.
Fabrice Gousset/ Courtesy of Galerie kreo
Orgone Chair (1994).
Qantas Skybed (2002). In 2001 Qantas engaged Marc to design a business Class seat that would recline to form a fully flatbed. The result features an enveloping cocoon with its own internal lighting system which Marc designed to create passenger privacy and personal security.
Philippe Joner/Courtesy of Jaeger-LeCoultre
The Jaeger-LeCoultre Atmos 568 (2016).
Les Arts Décoratifs/Jean Tholance
Pod of Drawers (1987).
Andrew Zuckerman
(RED) desk (2013). Created for the (RED) Auction in 2013, this desk was made from solid pieces of aluminum.
The 486 shotgun (2014). Marc Newson's reinterpretation of a traditional side-by-side shotgun for Italian firearms brand Beretta featured a new lever design and intricate engraving.
Aikuchi Katana Sword (2014/2015). Marc Newson created a series of 10 katana swords in 2015 in collaboration with design studio WOW, modeled on the traditional weapons used by Japanese samurai warriors.
In addition to a more popular preoccupation with old sports cars, Newson has been collecting knives for as long as he can remember.
“I trained as a silversmith actually, and a jeweler … so I’ve always had an interest in metal and metallurgy.”
He owns several hundred knives, having collected them for around 30 years.
While Newson’s own work may have broken records in the past when sold at auction, the value of these objects for him is not monetary.
“One of the lovely things about collecting these objects is that they can be very valuable or on the other hand they can be relatively inexpensive and accessible.”
He also makes it clear that his interest is not in a knife’s potential for harm, as a weapon, but rather its history as a piece of craft.
“The thing that really fascinates me about knives is that they’re man-made … They’re probably the very first tool that we made, so it’s a little bit like the wheel in a way, it’s a monumental invention and evolution.”