Can you pinpoint the thought, whether yours or someone else’s that led you to a career in design?
I had finished art school and couldn’t get a job anywhere. I tried everything. This was the 1980s – with mass unemployment – and after gaining fine art degrees I had no commercial skills. I couldn’t type, a prerequisite for the female labour force, but I got a job from the job centre with Hille (thanks to Cherrill Scheer) for a few days to sort out its design library [with] millions of transparencies and prints documenting post-war industrial design. I stayed there ten years. Robin Day and Fred Scott were regular visitors as were the leading architects of the day for not just offices but for public institutions, healthcare and civic buildings worldwide. I could see the evolution of furniture designed with compassion for the public in the volume sales of contract design. They were cheap as chips. But then good design seemed a philanthropic profession by today’s standards. It was for the good of the people; the everyday. Designers were part of a shared vision to build a better world for everyone. Nothing Need be Ugly was the book title for the Design and Industries Association by Raymond Plummer. It was an age of recycling, sustainability, utility, and experimentation with materials, when there was a new era and imagination of manufacturing – very different from now, when a design label can mean an extra nought on the price. Manufacturers are the forgotten relation of contract design success, who invest so very much in new designs. And take the risk. It is a huge commitment for them. Where would we be without the scientist Mr Goodyear of yesteryear who brought vulcanised rubber through manufacturing to the masses.
In terms of the design and architecture industry, what do you consider the most radical era or pivotal moment?
The Renaissance, with the freedom to be an architect, inventor, interior designer, product designer and artist. The polymaths of the day are staggering – so many skills to make them masters of all trades.
Which radical thinkers have been inspirations to you in your career?
Monty Roberts, the orginal horse whisperer. Whilst lots of radical thinkers are enabled by tech and culture, this cowboy carefully observed horse language in their herds to gain trust and train horses on their own terms without fear or violence. He challenged conventional thinking of 6,000 years and was hated for it. He is now in demand worldwide and has established charities to promote non-violent and peaceful harmony of training horses, including racehorses, Olympic horses and non-competitive animals. He’s still hated for challenging the status quo! That’s the price you pay for speaking out. And why it takes courage to be a radical thinker.
Who are the radical thinkers who inspire you now?
My Dad.
Who outside the industry can architects and designers learn from?
Goodness, there are so many people – and from so many different disciplines. I’d nominate historians (Mary Beard, Simon Schama), the Francis Crick Institute (the unknown person who dreamt up a magnificent global scientific resource for the world 50 years ago), scientists who invent new materials, engineers who pioneer new ways of implementing that science, and just ordinary people who achieve extraordinary things in adverse circumstances. It doesn’t cost much to think differently. In fact, it usually saves money. It’s the effort of thinking that takes a certain person, and the politics of delivering it.
I think best with …
Space around me.
I think best …
At 5am and earlier, for serious thinking.
I think best when…
Walking, travelling to and from meetings, and riding horses. Actually, anywhere, but never, ever in the office. I hate them. They kill original thinking!
The thought that keeps me up at night is…
Letting people down.
The thought that gets me out of bed daily is…
‘Hope triumphing over experience.’ I’m always optimistic that the day can bring excitement in achieving something good.
Do you like to think with, or think against?
Against. Always.
If you weren’t a designer/architect, where do you think your way of thinking would have led you?
I would love to be a polymath with all those skills from the Renaissance – artist, engineer, architect, designer et al. What a variety of skills, knowledge and experience you’d have at your disposal for every problem-cracking design issue. Otherwise, and more practically, I’d certainly be a full-time artist. But also either a wildlife conservationist, animal welfare person, gardener or historian.
Could you describe radical thinking in three words?
Challenging, demanding and controversial – they were my choice of words to launch the FX Talks!
