Thomas Heatherwick’s work demonstrates an inclusive and collaborative approach that primarily focuses on human engagement and building around it. The studio envisions a multi-disciplinary goal of covering a wide range such as Architecture, furniture, infrastructure, fashion, product design, engineering, 3D design, sculpture in a variety of scales, and volumes.
Born into an artistic & design-oriented family, Thomas Hetherwick discovered his praxis and founded Heatherwick Studio in 1994 after graduating from Royal college of Art. Since then his studio has been implementing prolific work with revolutionary designs.
“You can make people feel valued or cared for by design alone. It’s not purely about money. It’s about how we choose to value human experience. I don’t feel like I’m trying to make art. I’m trying to make interesting things, people can relate to that. When I was little, I was very tuned in to the functionality and aesthetics of things around me. I’m wary of the word ‘inventing,’ because in the British psyche the word ‘inventor’ is immediately linked with ‘mad’. For me, inventing is problem-solving. I try to be a positive person, but I’m also always looking and wondering, ‘Maybe this could be done differently.’ As soon as your mind is in a critical mode, you’re halfway through designing; as soon as you start thinking about whether something could be better, you’re already halfway through a solution.”
– Thomas Hetherwick
Vessel, New York, 2019, photograph © Michael Moran
Drawing inspiration from the ancient bowli i.e. stepwells of India, the studio sought to evoke the powerful effect of their repeating steps to design the Vessel. It developed the idea of a new landmark that could be climbed and explored. Through a complex architectural framework, the studio developed the idea of a new landmark and created a structure that visitors could use, touch and relate to. Immersed in materials and making, Heatherwick’s curiosity and passion for problem-solving gradually matured into the design process where every architect, designer, landscape architect and maker in his studio is encouraged to challenge and contribute ideas.
Thomas Heatherwick’s intention to make spaces bringing out the best human connections between people led the studio to design and build noticeable landmarks such as the world’s largest aviaries Towers of Silence, Little Island, Rolling Bridge, Guy’s hospital and many more.
What is most unusual about the prolific designer, however, is not his pervasiveness, which is recent, or the significant appeal he has to the global opulents, which is even more recent. The nature of what he does is disparate from what most designers do. Aspired by the beauty like any other designer, Heatherwick intends to perceive contemporary solutions the world has never witnessed before.
Heatherwick Studio has won more than 100 international awards for design excellence, including the Prix Versailles and the RIBA National Awards. Some of the most recent include Civic Trust Award 2021, World Architectural Festival 2019 and others.
Heatherwick’s curiosity and passion for problem-solving matured into the studio’s current design. Where every architect, designer, landscape architect and maker is encouraged to challenge and contribute ideas driven by an approach lead from human experience rather than any fixed design dogma.
Text By Davangi Pathak
Images courtesy: Heatherwick Studio, Timothy Schenk, Michael Moran, Hufton+Crow
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