What are you working on at the moment’
One of the larger projects is an installation for the Milan City Council in December this year, which involves the public, inciting people to kiss in one of the most beautiful and classic shopping malls of the world. We are also working on some new lamps and other interior objects while doing research for future projects. We are exploring new territories and going through some exciting challenges.
Your company profile states: ‘The Studio explores the limits of technology in order to create unique design experiences. With an interdisciplinary approach and an acute sense of quality, Paul Cocksedge Studio reinvents contemporary design as an event.’
Could you elaborate a little on this interdisciplinary approach’
I find that an interdisciplinary approach is necessary to avoid repeating what has already been done. It started for me at Royal College of Art where we were encouraged to find inspiration in different places and from various sources, be open and feel unconstrained in our work. The studio has carried on in that attitude.
Could you briefly describe how the studio has evolved and how your partnership with Joana Pinho works within the studio’
Initially the studio was born almost by necessity. After graduating I had done some work that was presented in Milan by Ingo Maurer and the exposure created a momentum that had to be channeled for me to move forward. Joana was instrumental in this because she helped found our studio and developed the strategies we needed to make it work. We met at college and started cooperating on the first Milan show. From there on the partnership developed organically. Joana handles the business side and strategy allowing creativity to flourish in the studio.
What attributes do you think you possess that have helped you succeed in this field’
I like to think that my best attribute is the work of the studio. That it is relevant. From a personal view it could be my natural curiosity and will to learn.
How do you manage the pressure to constantly innovate and maintain high market visibility with the inevitable constraints imposed by an ecologically responsible approach to design’
We do not mass-produce yet, so our production carries very little environmental impact. Some of our work has been unique installations, such as ‘Veil’, which we did for Swarovski, making the question of ecology less relevant. However, I do consider appropriate materials when I am designing new work and my work consistently uses technology that is durable and low-energy consuming. If I design a lamp or some other interior object I want it to last forever, or a lifetime at the very least. We are thinking more and more about these things, because we are actually starting to go into mass-production with some of our products. But I don’t see any conflict between innovation and ecological concern, on the contrary it motivates innovation.
In your opinion, what characteristics define contemporary British design’ And how does it fit in a global design economy’
British design has a longer and richer history than many are aware of, which is evident in the current exhibition Super Contemporary at the Design Museum in London, in which we are taking part along with designers such as Ron Arad, Paul Smith and Zaha Hadid. What is also evident is that it cannot be narrowed down to some simple characteristics. It covers all the fields and has many different expressions, ranging from beautiful minimalist interior objects to very conceptual, and even activist, design. In that sense British design is truly international.