- NV What’s the first thing that came to mind when you got the brief?
- NR First up, it was just pure excitement to be involved in such a project. When Thomas and I decided that I would develop a series of proposals for a dining table, my initial thought was of a table with a round shaped top. Through early design sketches however, we saw that this more rectangular form had such a powerful language and was the direction we should take.
- NV What do you think about Elba as a material for product design?
- NR It’s a beautiful material. But knowing that you are using a material that has been formed over thousands or millions of years comes with a huge amount of responsibility. It was very much at the front of our mind that we had to create an object that was worthy of using it. Something that had a strong presence and spoke of the true value of the stone.
- NV Were there any key challenges in working with it?
- NR The most important aspect of the project was in exploring the material’s characteristics in terms of strength and weight. With a constant dialogue between the team at New Volumes and my studio, we were able to achieve the optimal thickness for an attractively sleek top that was strong enough not to require any ribbing or support material.
- NV What have you learnt from this project?
- NR With every project you always travel on a journey with the manufacturer, learning from each other through shared expertise. I hope potential clients will love the design simply for its raw materiality and form. It is also incredibly interesting to see what the other designers have submitted and how they interpreted the brief.
Melbourne-based designer Nick Rennie takes inspiration from our interaction with everyday items to develop products that are precise, simple and made to be enjoyed. For Rennie, design is a shared process, the finished product owing equally to the vision of a manufacturer and the needs of a user. His designs breathe new life in to the repetition of domesticity in a way that engages the user and elicits an emotional reaction.
Not only does Rennie enjoy a comprehensive knowledge of materials and technology, but he continually strives to explore their limitations.