I was born in Oxford in 1953 and studied at Winchester College and at the Architectural Association in London, obtaining the AA Diploma in 1978.  I then worked in the architectural milieu until the end of the 90s in various studios and workshops, initially in a partnership of which I was co-founder and, later on, independently.

I collaborated closely and extensively with architects, designers, engineers, museums and galleries providing an industrial backup in the form of models, prototypes and furniture as well as full-scale exhibition installations. In 1989 my reconstruction of Leonardo da Vinci’s Flying Machine received international attention when it was displayed at the Hayward Gallery. Today the machine is part of the permanent collection of the Chateau du Clos Lucé at Amboise, the last home of Leonardo da Vinci.

During my college years and professional life in London, I came into contact with a multitude of architectural ideas, influences and movements.  The earliest of these was with the avant-garde, utopian vision of Archigram, of which two of its founders, Dennis Crompton and Ron Herron, were my first tutors. Soon afterwards, I was introduced to Sacred Geometry and the platonic polyhedra, through the lectures and writings of Keith Critchlow – an interest which has remained with me ever since. The architect John Outram, another tutor, became a personal friend and major influence for me.

In the years that followed, I worked with all sorts of architectural styles, mostly with names ending in « ism  ».  Working hands-on with real materials gave me a first hand, core experience of what is essential and what is superfluous and quickly I developed a preference for design that has no need to be dressed up. In the workshop, moreover,  the pressure of working against the clock, as was almost always the case, translated into a way of thinking, expressed by an economy of gesture and procedure in all stages of production.

In a sense, all styles enrich the language and vocabulary of design, but for me stylistic « isms » are all, finally, passing trends and, inevitably, become quickly outdated. Rare are the movements that endure, like Modernism and Mies van der Rohe’s « less is more » and I must admit to have found the greatest inspiration through engineering and mechanics, two disciplines where function and efficiency determine appearance. After four decades of immersion in the world of architecture and design, I remain attached as ever to my own very first intuitions about the notion of quality in design, due in part, when I was a schoolboy, to having read Vitruvius, whose motto was « utilitas, firmitas, voluptas » – utility, solidity, beauty.

I left England in 2000 to live in France. From my workshop in the heart of the countryside in the Lot, I intervene mostly in the renovation of houses. I design and make furniture, either as one-off pieces or in small series, bespoke staircases, outdoor furniture and other installations to order. I take particular pleasure in using traditional woodworking techniques whenever possible and pay special attention to detail and how components are put together. For me this is where aesthetic potential is. Indeed I find that any piece, designed with an understanding and respect for materials and their end use, requires no further embellishment. My work is therefore lean and without  imposed style.