Supernatural: The Work of Ross Lovegrove [Hardcover]

Ross Lovegrove (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2004

This book is the first monograph on the product designer Ross Lovegrove. Written by the designer himself, with a forward by Paola Antonelli, it presents a complete overview of the designer's career, featuring realized and unrealized project. While the main texts explains Ross Lovegrove's philosophy and way of working, the products descriptions reveal the main feature and characteristic of every project. This book will present the work of Ross Lovegrove, one of the most interesting and fascinating individuals working in contemporary design. His work includes a wide range of products from furniture to high-tech products, from water bottles to airplane seats and explores the possibility of realizing sculptural and organic shapes through modern technology and material. Born in 1958, Lovegrove studied industrial design at Manchester Polytechnic and at the Royal College of Art in London. At the beginning of the eighties he started working for the industrial design consultancy Frogdesign in Germany, where he was assigned to projects for Apple and Sony. After this experience he became an in-house designer for Knoll in Paris where he developed different office systems. He went back to England in 1986 where he established his own practice and started to collaborate with the most important design manufacturers such as Kartell, Luceplan and Cappellini. He is currently working on a number of projects in Japan where he enjoys unparalleled success as a European designer. In recent years Ross Lovegrove has worked on a design concept that he likes to define as organic essentialism, inspired by elements and aesthetics taken from the natural world and reshaped in futuristic forms. His interest in this sort of new naturalism, which he terms supernatural, is accompanied by research into new materials, new applications and new methods of production. This combination of archetypal inspiration and up to date technology makes him one of the most interesting and unusual figures in the design world.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Paola Antonelli is Curator for the Department of Architecture and Design at the New York Museum of Modern Art. She has been a Contributing Editor for Domus magazine and the Design Editor of Abitare. She has lectured at the University of California, Harvard University Graduate School of Design, and has taught across Europe and the United States.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Phaidon Press (July 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0714843679
• ISBN-13: 978-0714843674
• Product Dimensions: 11.6 x 10.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,876,103 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring, July 14, 2004

By 

Manon Kavesky (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Supernatural: The Work of Ross Lovegrove (Hardcover)

Ross Lovegrove Britain's prolific and unique product designer is profiled in a beautifully produced volume called Supernatural: The Work of Ross Lovegrove. Nature and organic shapes influence Lovegrove's designs. His designs come to life and push the boundaries of what is possible with the help of modern materials and technology. He has designed for Knoll, Capellini, Moroso, Kartell and many others. Enriched with 300 photographs Supernatural presents a variety of chairs, house wares, and even a bike.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Supercallifractialladosis, September 12, 2010

By 

Chris Reinewald (Amsterdam, Nederland) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Supernatural: The Work of Ross Lovegrove (Paperback)

Zelf omschrijft de Britse, vroeg-grijze designer Ross Lovegrove (1958) zijn "supernatural" stijl als `organic essentialism.' Hij lijkt zo te willen bewijzen dat de typerend vloeiend-organische vorm van zijn meubels, lampen, brillen, fietsen en bestek een duidelijke oorzakelijkheid heeft.
Ook de mede-auteurs van deze luxe productcatalogus, doen dat.
Natuurlijk is zo'n als een neerkletsende plas water gevormde fles (Ty Nant, 1999) bloedjemooi en past de vorm perfect bij de inhoud: mineraalwater. Maar is de quasi-biomorf gemodelleerde pet-fles beter hanteerbaar? Ben bang van niet.
Een duidelijke kracht van Lovegrove is dat hij kunststoffen op een naakte manier toepast. Hij toont daarbij ook schoonheid van de constructie of structuur (als honingraat in vloertegels voor een kantoor). Verder flirt hij met eerlijke materialen: bamboe (fietsframe) of gevlochten pitriet (fauteuil met geïntegreerd voetenbankje). De Delftse Adriaan Beukers, hoogleraar composite materialen roemt Lovegroves DNA wenteltrap van fiberglas en koolstofvezel (2003), vervaardigd volgens een nieuwe giettechniek en uiteraard naar voorbeeld van de DNA keten.
Ook bij andere projecten inspireert Lovegrove zich op natuurlijke groeiwijzen en botstructuren.
Maar er echt veel meer mee doen: nee. Lovegrove blijft teveel een vormenbakker met retro-invloeden. Hij is daardoor de mindere van zijn generatie auteursdesigners Morrison, Grcic en Newson. Die combineren stijlinvloeden van respectievelijk Pier-Luigi en Achille Castiglioni, Gerrit Rietveld en Joe Colombo, met eigen, frisse inzichten.
In dit boek placeert Lovegrove een magere zwarte dame op zijn Bone Chair (Ceccotti, 1994). Decoratief-functioneel naakt. Een even blote, mollige blondine vlijde zich op de Spin Geo-chair (Driade, 1997-98) Net als de erotomane Italiaanse meubeldesigner/architect Carlo Mollino (1905-73) dat zo graag deed. Mollino's vergelijkbaar wulpse vormgeving bezit inmiddels een vermakelijke cult-status. Lovegroves elegante 90-ties styling prikkelt daarentegen minder.
Hij wil toch niet dezelfde oppervlakkige kant op als de megalomane Duitser Luigi Colani en zijn tot loze decoratie verworden organische stijl?

[as published in ITEMS designmagazine]

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended, April 3, 2009

By 

Jack Yi "J" (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Supernatural: The Work of Ross Lovegrove (Paperback)

The emotional nature of his products are perfectly captured in this photo heavy book about this incredible designer.