Thomas Heatherwick
Thomas Heatherwick
Thomas Alexander Heatherwick, CBE, RDIis an English designer and the founder of London-based design practice Heatherwick Studio. Since the late 1990s Heatherwick has emerged as one of Britain’s most gifted and imaginative designers. His innovative approach to design has earned him a reputation as an "ideas engine"...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionDesigner
Date of Birth17 February 1970
creators felt love people sterile studied stuff time
I studied at a time when buildings were sterile things, and their creators were hands-off people - super-intelligent people, but you felt they didn't love the stuff buildings are made from.
built environment imagination milton places seemed shows took
As a teenager, my father took me to the shows at the Architectural Association and to places like Milton Keynes back when it was first being built. But I couldn't find anything for me. There seemed to be despair at the possibility of the built environment possessing any imagination in the real world.
fascinated future human interest life people sign
An interest in ideas is a sign of human life. People are fascinated by what the future is going to be - and the future is going to be an accumulation of ideas.
architecture massive value
To make architecture with any real value is a massive challenge.
break chance designs finally human large people sculptures structures work
I am finally getting the chance to build large structures and break preconceptions that my designs are just sculptures for people to be in. But my work always comes down to the human scale.
art people trying
I don't feel I'm trying to make art. I'm trying to make interesting things. People can relate to that.
inventing linked psyche wary
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.
great
One great building does not make a great city.
architects bringing criticise devote people taste themselves whether
It's important for people who criticise architects - whether what they build is or isn't to your taste - to appreciate how they devote themselves and put everything into bringing a building into existence.