EXHIBITION: Maison & Objet Paris
AWARD: Rising Stars of Asia
LOCATION: Paris, France
YEAR: 2017
CITY OF LIGHT
Designer Alex Fitzpatrick has been hiding his lights under a bushel, Or, at least, in his tiny ADesignStudio in Sydney’s Watsons Bay. But as the recipient of a Masion&Objet Rising Talent Award, his time has come to shine. From September 8 to 12, the lanky Canadian-born creative will be manning his stand at one of the world’s buzziest interior design fairs, just outside of Paris.
Fitzpatrick, 33, emigrated to Australia as a pre-schooler, but returned to Study Industrial Design at the University of Alberta, graduating in 2008. Back in Sydney, in 2010 he consulted for architectural lighting firms while developing his own designs. His Light Garden of 2011 – a modular wall-mounted system of triangular petals – struck a nerve with the design zeitgeist and garnered praise for innovative use of LEDs.
Last year’s Greenway range is named in honour of convict architect Francis Greenway, who designed the nation’s first lighthouse on South Head, not far from Fitzpatrick’s Watsons Bay HQ. Like Greenway’s lighthouse, the designer’s pendant lights are robust with a heady dose of antipodean whimsy. The latest iteration, in crazed glass, is compelling in its complexity. “It’s so exciting to be able to showcase my work to a whole new audience,” Fitzpatrick says of his first visit to France. “I’m intrigued to learn how people overseas perceive my designs.”
For the Mainson&Objet fair, as well as showing his existing portfolio of work, Fitzpatrick is developing a limited – edition series of wall lights in homage to Pierre Chareau, architect of the iconic 1932 Maison de Verre (Glass House) in the 7th arrondissement. Think variegated blades of luscious alabaster emitting a soft, golden glow. You read it here first.
Written by Stephen Todd / The AFR Magazine / September 2017
