Michael Marriott (b. 1963) graduated from the London College of Furniture
in 1985, then worked for a lighting design consultancy, followed by assorted
jobs in areas including carpentry and graphic design. After graduating from
the Royal College of Art (RCA) with an M.A. in furniture in 1993, he set
up his own studio. In addition to tutoring at the RCA in design products,
Marriott works mainly on furniture and products but also on exhibition design.
His recent lighting project for Mathmos was launched in September at the
contemporary design exhibition 100% Design, in London.
Dimensions: Height: 24 in. Width: 19.68 in. Depth: 29.5 in.
After noticing a lack of good modern children's furniture, London-based
Oreka Kids approached Michael Marriott to design something innovative for
them. Marriott teamed up with Simon Maidment, and together they proposed
a whole concept and strategy for a collection of children's furniture. They
gathered a team of leading contemporary British designers (including Jane
Atfield, Matthew Hilton, and Andrew Stafford) whom they felt would
respond to their brief creatively and sensitively. The result is the Biscuit
collection, a collection of nine multifunctional items that stimulate curiosity
and exploration, and enhance children's creativity, understanding, and power
of reasoning through play.
Metropolis asked Marriott to talk about his design for the collection--the
Nice step storage-trolley, which is included in Great Expectations, an exhibition
organized by the British Design Council that features the best of British
design (now touring the United States and Canada).
To get the rise, I just measured some regular steps. They have pretty much
the same dimensions as conventional steps. I like the way people sit on
steps outside a house. Steps are where architecture and furniture meet.
When a kid sits on the steps, it's like they created another room between
two levels in a house.
It's named after a brand of biscuit in England called "Nice."
We decided to call the furniture collection "Biscuit," and we
thought it would be nice to call each piece after a particular biscuit.
It's also a kind of colloquial saying like: "It's a nice bit of furniture."
The round holes are nice details. A little kid sitting inside the trolley
can use the holes for looking out. They are a bit like eyes themselves.
We also wanted the furniture to last beyond early childhood. When furniture
outgrows its usefulness for a child's bedroom, it could become a telephone
stand or a TV/video stand. We wanted each piece of furniture in this collection
to be a useful thing to have around at any age in your life.
Offsite:
The Nice step storage-trolley is part of the Biscuit collection by Oreka
Kids and is available directly from Oreka Kids: 8 South Way, Clavering Industrial
Estate, London N9 0AB, 011-44-208-884-3435,
www.orekakids.com.
All pieces in the collection are manufactured primarily in
the U.K. from birch plywood and are available in four colors
(blue, yellow, orange, or white), and in clear lacquered or
unfinished.
When Simon and I researched children's furniture, we found either miniature
versions of adult furniture with this kind of Victorian reproduction cuteness,
or cartoon furniture designed like large toys. We thought kid's furniture
should be modern, not toylike, and have longevity. When kids are given a
big present, they end up spending more time playing with the cardboard box
than with the toy. We liked the whole idea that in a child's imagination
a cardboard box can be anything--a space rocket, a car, or a small house.
