#HTE

Tom Dixon Launches New Office Line of Furniture and Products

“A more domestic, more human aesthetic,” says Tom Dixon, “is fast becoming the required backdrop for the newly blurred distinctions between work, home and entertainment spaces.” To that end, Dixon has designed a new line of office furniture and products. But while the word “office” may conjure up images of staid Staples catalog staples, Dixon has instead created “versatile, hardwearing and functional objects for work that are attractive enough to be used in domestic and decorative situations.

Dixon’s solid wood (oak or birch) SLAB School Desk was inspired by what pupils of yore sat at, and here the inkwell has cheekily been replaced with a hole for cables.

The SLAB line also includes a larger desk and tables going up to conference-sized.

On the lighting front, the BOOM lamp is a chunky, substantial, Machine-Age-looking task light made from aluminum.

The objects I’m most drawn to are his CUBE ALLOY line of desk accessories. Not just for their looks, but for the philosophy behind them:

The paperless office was an interesting dream, as was the idea that everything would move online and life would be lived through the screen—but we know that people still cherish an analogue life—the papers, the pens, the keys and physical objects that continue to give us manual satisfaction.

These solid cast zinc alloy desk accessories have a reassuringly solid, minimal and indestructible presence that give a sense of authority and permanence to any work situation, and will live on way beyond the lifetime of your latest electronic fripperies and gadgets.