From a well-used Ercol chair to her daily wake-up call with a Braun alarm clock, the British designer talks to Port about the ten things that inspire her
1. Ercol Chair, designed by Lucian Ercolani, 1956
Lucian Ercolani set up the Ercol factory in 1920 in Britain’s traditional furniture-making district near High Wycombe. He designed a number of chairs in the 1950s that are still in production. “This was the first chair I owned. It’s very special to me. My mother gave it to me when I was a student. When I started making shirts in my flat, Doris my machinist used it while she was sewing buttons on. It still has the marks made by the ties she used to secure the cushion that she made for it.”
2. Anglepoise 1227 Desk Lamp, designed by George Carwardine, 1931
“I have always lived with an Anglepoise. My parents had one, and I have still got it, with the original square base.”
3. LC4 Chaise Longue, designed by Le Corbusier, Charlotte Perriand, and Pierre Jeanneret for Le Corbusier, 1928
“I would love to have met Charlotte Perriand. I know I’d have liked her. There is a famous photograph of her in the mountains and snow, with her back to the camera, her arms high in the air, wearing only a pair of trousers and a necklace. It’s the kind of feeling I get when I am at my house in Suffolk and enter the North Sea. It’s where I have my chaise lounge. I sit on it last thing at night.”
4. Leonardo Table, manufactured by Zanotta, designed by Achille Castiglioni, 1969
“After I left Goldsmiths, it became clear that I wasn’t going to be a painter, and I started to make shirts at home. I sold them in Joseph Ettedgui’s shop, who was a designer and retailer. He was very instrumental and generous, and he allowed me to put my label on the shirts. I had the Zanotta table at home and used it for pattern cutting. It was so useful because you could raise and lower it as needed. Now we have lots of them in the design studio.”
5. E-1027 House at Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, designed by Eileen Gray for her own use, completed in 1929
“I loved the house when I went to see it. The guide showed our group a side table Eileen Gray had designed and asked us why we thought the surface was made of cork. I knew immediately that it was so it wouldn’t make a loud noise when she put a glass down on it. Her designs are so practical.”
6. S33 Tubular Steel Cantilever Chair, designed by Mart Stam, 1926
After a protracted lawsuit over copyright to decide if it was Stam or Marcel Breuer who originated the Cantilever Chair, the court decided in Stam’s favour. “I have this at home. It sits in the corner, but it often goes out on photoshoots for models to sit on.”
7. Church of Santa Maria Assunta, Riola di Vergato, near Bologna, designed by Alvar Aalto, 1965
Construction began in 1975, the year of Aalto’s death. The campanile was completed in 1993. “I went to see this church, designed by Alvar Aalto, with my daughter. It was a kind of pilgrimage. The church is wonderful; instead of a spire, it has a tower made of concrete blocks. Inside, all of the light comes through the roof; it’s so bright and lovely. At the end of our visit, the heavens opened and it teemed with rain, with water gushing down over the church. We were lucky; somebody took pity on us and drove us back to the station to catch our train.”
8. Braun AB1 Alarm Clock, designed by Dietrich Lubs and Dieter Rams, 1987
“It wakes me up every morning.”
9. Polyprop Chair, manufactured by Hille, designed by Robin Day, 1963
Britain’s universal low-cost chair, with an estimated 50 million sold. “Mine is a tan colour with chrome legs. Because it’s light, I take it into the garden.”
10. Alveston Stainless Steel Cutlery, designed by Robert Welch, 196. Made in Sheffield by Harrison Fisher and Co, distributed by Old Hall Tableware
“If things are made well, and the materials are good, they work for you. I like holding this cutlery, even when I am washing up.”
Illustrations by Pablo Delcan, founder of Prompt Brush, the first non-AI Generative Art Model
This article is taken from Port Issue 35. To continue reading, buy the issue or subscribe here
