Ross Lovegrove

Industrial/Product Designer, 1958 Design Museum Collection

"I have a non-linear mind that is stimulated by the rare and the layered. I
assemble ideas from a seemingly unrelated plethora of sources that gel into being
over time and when the moment is right for a concept to materialize. I have few
preconceptions and respond to circumstance. Indeed whatever environment and
whatever culture I am in at the time will totally affect my perception of modernity,
physicality and creativity."
Supernatural: Ross Lovegrove, 2004.
Highly experimental and with a commitment to transcending the boundaries between
science, technology, design and architecture, ROSS LOVEGROVE considers himself
more 'evolutionary biologist' than designer. Born in Cardiff, Wales, from a military
family, Lovegrove's design education began at Manchester Polytechnic where he
studied industrial design before going on to complete the Masters of Design program at
London's Royal College of Art.
Ross Lovegrove
Portrait by John Ross

Post-RCA and during the early 1980's, Lovegrove worked for Frog Design in West
Germany on projects such as Walkmans for Sony and computers for Apple. Later he
moved to Paris, working with Knoll International and authoring the highly successful
Alessandri office system. During this period, Lovegrove was also invited to join the
prestigious Atelier de Nimes along with Jean Nouvel and Philippe Starck, consulting to
amongst others Louis Vuitton, Herms and Dupont.
Since Lovegrove's return to London in 1986, he has completed projects for a diverse
range of clients from nearly every corner of the globe. Highlights within his collective
portfolio include a sensuous water bottle for Ty Nant, an outdoor lighting range for
Luceplan, the Super Natural chair for Moroso, and his more recent research and study
models pursued through the framework of the Aluminium series and recently exhibited
at New York's Philips de Pury gallery.

Rendered image of Ginko Carbon Table, Lovegrove's Notting Hill headquarters reflects this diversity of commission appearing
more as laboratory than studio. The expansive space is strewn with experimental
2007
models and works in progress while dominating the centre of the floor plan is the
Ross Lovegrove
elegant composition of Lovegrove's DNA spiral staircase. Increasingly merging the
boundaries between design and architecture, Lovegrove continues to refine what he
terms 'organic essentialism' and in doing so brings a highly resolved and experimental
quality to his expanding practice.
Q. Can you explain some of the conceptual underpinning surrounding the notion of
'organic essentialism' - how has it progressed through your research?

Ginko Carbon Table, 2007

Ross Lovegrove

A. The concept has been a preoccupation science I was a student. I always had a more
experimental, scientific approach to generating ideas. Even as a foundation year
student, I was more interested in mapping the idea of transition or a state of change. I
traced and documented over three months the decomposition of a tomato as a kind of
scientific document so maybe I am a frustrated researcher! However, I do see these
ideas as highly relevant to design and architecture. All the people that I admire are
rigorously conceptual. They have a commitment to research and an overall
methodology behind what they do. The notion of organic essentialism in simple terms
is the intelligent evolutionary economy of form in unison with what you need nothing
more. I am not interested in trying to push anything further than what is ultimately
essential. I believe that if I spend the time to study the earth, evolution and time, it will
give me something that is organic, biological and where form grows where you need it.
That's what nature does and that's how I design.

Q. How do you balance your research with trying to deal with the more commercialised
world of product design?
A. It's not easy because often I am not autonomous and I'm working with people that
have other motivations. There is often a sense of dislocation between my need to
research and to push ideas and the commercial ideology of the people that manufacture,
distribute and sell what I do. The irony is that this commercialised context is often
completely distanced from the personalised solutions that we are offering.
Supernatural armchair, 2006
Ross Lovegrove

Q. Do you feel that the production process can become too focussed on business
strategies and marketing than on the inherent value of the design itself?
A. I think it's just the reality of the way the industry functions and I am interested in the
concept of industry. If a concept is, from its origins, rigorous and critically thoughtful
and then put into production then you can continue to replicate a very good idea; as is
the case with Apple computers. Equally, if it is something that is done without too
much intellectual investment and then replicated, we end up with a negative situation
which just devours time and energy. We live in a world where we are extremely aware
that we have limited resources. I think we need visionaries, people who live beyond
their own time and project themselves into the future. To stand still and create within
the confines of the day you live in is not enough.

SystemX modular lighting for

Yamagiwa, Japan, 2005
Ross Lovegrove

Q. Your work seems equally engaged with the realm of architecture as it is with design.
Do you perceive any difference in the disciplines or are they simply all part of the
converging whole?
A. There is definitely a convergence between architecture and design right now. I can't
speak for other designers because I think that there are very few designers who are
really interested in participating in architectural discourse but I am and I feel embraced
by the architectural community. I think I'm seen as a designer that can collaborate
effectively with an architect or structural engineer to support a new ambition.
Q. Are there particular artists or architects who hold an influence over your work?

DNA staircase, Ross Lovegrove studio,

2003
Ross Lovegrove

A. From a historical perspective, I have always loved the work of artists who could
effortlessly combine their art with academic writing and public speaking. From a
contemporary perspective, if you look at Norman Foster, Kazuyo Sejima and Zaha
Hadid - they can all do that. In many ways their practice goes beyond design. They are
simply great thinkers and so the debate surrounding their design goes beyond a simple
discussion of aesthetics and taste. The problem with industrial design is that it often
comes down to a discussion of taste. A product can be so perfectly modelled with
digital technology that you risk the client refusing to produce it simply because they
dont like the look of the inanimate model. So there's no debate or dialogue: just a
confrontation of taste. It's very frustrating! I prefer to have a wonderful idea on paper
than a compromised idea realised. I am just not interested in contaminating this planet
with irrelevance.
Q. The notion of limited edition design is very topical right now. Do you have any
reservations about the term?

Ty Nant waterbottle, Ty Nant, Wales,

UK, 1999-2001
Ross Lovegrove

A. I don't even like the idea of limited edition; it immediately grounds it in something
saleable. Often you become simply a portal for a brand to sell an object and that makes
my skin crawl. The objects I create are a by-product of me, not the other way around.
The production of limited editions is a very emotive subject right now and it seems to
have inflamed itself within months. The pieces that I exhibited in New York recently at
the Phillips de Pury gallery are derived from research that I have been doing for years.
Its absolutely not something that I have produced in order to make large amounts of

money but I do think there are some designers that do that. That's unfortunate.
However, if we try to forget about those few for a moment and look specifically at
someone like Zaha Hadid who creates incredible paintings and models to inform her
work that are predominantly self funded. This is research work and a genuine
investment in order to promote and evolve her message and philosophy. So its a bit
simplistic to simply call that work limited edition.
Q. Tell me a little more about the research pieces within the Endurance range?
Solar Bud Outdoor Light, Luceplan,
Italy, 1995-8
Ross Lovegrove

A. I think that the pieces are absolutely pushing the limit of what I am capable of at the
moment. For example, the Ginko carbon table totally conforms to my belief in organic
essentialism. One of the reasons I am committed to producing my own work is because
I am interested in permanence and yet, as a designer, I am often working on products
that by definition are impermanent because our throwaway culture and thats a source
of frustration for me. Its certainly true in the case of electronics where theres an
inbuilt obsolescence because the technology changes so rapidly. So the New York
exhibition was called Endurance to allow me to challenge disposability in design.
Q. Your work seems to be increasingly extending into the realm of civic built form
beyond product design - can you describe the street lighting project youre doing with
the MAK in Vienna?

Solar Tree
Ross Lovegrove

Eye Digital Camera, study, 1992

Ross Lovegrove

A. The Director of the MAK, Peter Noever invited me to present a concept that would
to bring art and light to Viennas Ringstrasse and invited me to come up with some
speculative concepts that fulfilled both a community and environmental agenda. So
Ive come up with a concept for a kind of solar tree which is made with a progressive
technology for pipe bending - a technology which Ive developed recently for a project
with Knoll. The tree can be either independent of the city power grid through the use
of solar power that means you can literally plant them in different situations. The
language is derived from plant life and gives a sense of beauty to the urban landscape
by being both a functional street light and a piece of sculpture. The secondary idea is
that you will be able to recharge your phone between the tubes or power up a laptop.
Give back some power to the people if you like. I am not an architect but I am trying to
penetrate the built realm with ideas on transportation or lighting. I'm interested in the
things that human beings interact with which are micro or macro in scale. Its like the
DNA staircase in my studio; it's not architecture but it's not design either its a
moment between the two.
Q. If you had to sum up your overall personal agenda and ambition, how would you
describe it?
A. My personal objective is about defining a language for our times that is derived
from my particular philosophy my design language is a product of conceptual
thinking not a product of the design process. I think sometimes its important to isolate
yourself from the commercial reality of design and focus on examining your own
intent. Thats what all the great thinkers did. I don't go to trade fairs and I don't go to
shows. I prefer to look to other sources for inspiration so Ill go and look at dinosaurs
within a natural history museum to better understand how time and context can
influence evolutionary form.
A few years ago, I pulled out an obituary column from the paper that I think is the most
clearly defined image that I have ever seen of a person and their life work. The simple
yet beautiful image illustrated a white-haired elderly man standing in front of a glass
case with a small whale skeleton and it stated: Earnest Mayor, 100 years old,
Evolutionary Biologist'. I have never known of such a clear definition of anybody. I
kept it and framed it because I think that is absolutely at the core of what I do. There is
something in that simple image that I find incredibly resonant and it continues to

inform my work.
Design Museum, 2007
FURTHER READING
Visit Ross Lovegrove's website
Supernatural: The Work of Ross Lovegrove, Phaidon, London, 2004.
BIOGRAPHY
1958 Born Cardiff, Wales
1980 Graduated Manchester Polytechnic, 1st Class BA Hons Industrial Design
1983 Master of Design of Royal College of Art, London
1997 "Ross Lovegrove Objects", exhibition Stockholm
1998 "Ross Lovegrove Design", exhibition at Danish Museum of Decorative Art,
Copenhagen. Awarded George Nelson Prize. USA. Receives Medaille de la Ville de
Paris.
1999 "Organic Dreams" exhibition at IDEE Gallery, Tokyo
2000 ID magazine Good Design award. "Sensual Organic Design" exhibition at
Yamagiwa in Tokyo.
2001 Designer of the Year by the magazine Architektur & Wohnen, Germany. "Material
Transition" exhibition at Rheinauen Space, Cologne
2002 "G" Mark Federal Design Prize, Japan. D&AD Silver Medalist. "Expanding the
Gap" exhibition with Greg Lynn and Tokujin Yoshioka at Rendel&Spitz Gallery in
Koln. Editor of The International Design Yearbook.
2003 "Delighted" exhibition by Corian with Marc Newson and James Irvine at Milan
Salone and "Latent Utopia" exhibition curated by Zaha Hadid and Patrik Schumacher at
the Steirischer Herbst, Graz
2004 Royal Designer for Industry by RSA, UK. "Designosaurs" installation At
Segheria Gallery, Milan
2005 World Technology Award, USA. "Superliquidity" installation at Le Bain Gallery,
Tokyo
2007 "Endurance" limited edition art pieces at the Phillips de Pury & Company's,
Gallery in Chelsea, NYC
Design Museum, 2007
For more information on British design and architecture go to Design in Britain, the
online archive run as a collaboration between the Design Museum and British Council,

at designmuseum.org/designinbritain