How did the EOQ collaboration come about? “It started after a talk at Hong Kong’s Business of Design Week [in 2009]. A guy from a factory came up to me and said, ‘We’re looking for something to do and we like what you do.’ Honestly, I don’t really look for work. I probably scare clients most of the time, so we work with people who seek us out. It takes a certain mentality.”
What is the essence of EOQ? “Our partner is a big industrialist in China that manufactures computers, telephones and fridges. The product we launched recently is called the Bramah lamp, an extruded [aluminium] light, and [business is] just starting to go crazy now. There’s a lot of interest.”
Wasn’t Joseph Bramah the guy who invented the extrusion process, when a material is pushed through a die, or mould, to create a specific shape? “Yes, exactly. The Latin term deus ex machina, ‘God from the machine’, is the name of our show in Milan. What we are doing is praising all these industrialists who never get mentioned. All of the pieces in our collection are named after people responsible for these industrial processes. The furniture industry is not very rock ‘n’ roll so it’s nice to idolise the people who invented metal plating or anodising.”
What is involved in manufacturing the Chair 4A? “The chair involves quite a few processes in one piece of metal. It’s an extrusion, and then it’s sort of folded and curved. You normally find that sort of thing in the bike industry.