Why do furniture designers keep designing new chairs? We know it's not to solve the problem of "sitting." The chair is simply the medium. The true goal is something bigger: to inspire, to broaden our understanding of what's possible, or express something unique about what it means to be alive today.

A book I really like is Stuff Matters (2013) by Mark Miodownik. It’s about materials. Mark opens with an incredible anecdote of how he got into material science: he was stabbed by a mugger with a razor shiv, and he found himself marvelling at the power of that little bit of steel that tore through layers of clothing and skin. He then uses a conceit... See more

I realized that the craftsmen of yore had elevated weaponry, a category of merely utilitarian objects, into some of the most exquisite things I had ever seen. They had taken objects of ubiquitous, vital importance in their respective eras and made them beautiful. My initial aesthetic shock was quickly replaced by jealousy — no one was lifting the... See more