Designer stories: Sam Hecht

Crucially, any Industrial Facility product has certain qualities that make it identifiable as their work. There is their finely distilled aesthetic of course, but more importantly it’s the ethos underpinning their practice. What they call ‘a duty to ensure the project has not just commercial credibility but also usefulness, appropriateness and longevity.’ 

At the 2016 Salone the designers had three new pieces on show, the first, the Tronco chair for Mattiazzi is notable for being a solid wood chair that stacks in large multiples. The duo were inspired by the classic 40/4 Stacking Chair by David Rowland, where Rowland strove to reduce the structure to its barest elements, keeping it light and functional. When interviewed by Disegno recently, Hecht said of the piece “Our idea was that we wanted something humble that could last for a century.” 

We spoke with Sam about their other two releases, the Run Collection for Emeco and also their work with Oral B under the umbrella of Future Facility. 

So tell us about Run, the new collection for Emeco, where did your inspiration come from? Was it a strict brief from Emeco or did you come to them with an idea of what you wanted to do? 

SH: As with a lot of our projects, they are often more about potential rather than problem solving. Emeco is a strong and agile company with an interesting history and not many problems. It means that they can focus on potential. They asked us to simply consider what Emeco furniture might be that is relevant to them and to customers. They already have many chairs - each of which is a character in and of itself. So the conversation naturally led to what a table might be. From there it grew to a bench and a shelf. 

Emeco are an interesting company in terms of how they source materials and operate as manufacturers. What was your design process for the project and how did you find the experience of collaborating with them? 

SH: Certainly they are unlike a traditional manufacturer - they are much more agile. This allows us to consider alternative processes but still to retain their essence of recycled or sustainable materials. They were willing to expand their network and this meant that we could experiment not just with archetypes but also production methods. 

We also spotted your project with Oral B at the Wallpaper* Handmade show, can you you tell us a little more about how this came about and what you wanted to achieve with this? 

SH: We had started a new company ‘Future Facility’ that specifically deals with designing products that involve the internet. I think its a scary concept for any company that produces a product with a button on it - as at some point it will be connected to the internet. Because we are genuinely interested in products as much as furniture, we feel its a duty to cut through much of the silliness that is occuring where products are becoming more complicated when they could become even simpler when they are networked. It doesn’t always have to be an opportunity to gather data, for instance. At the same time as starting this company, Wallpaper asked if we would like to work with Braun/Oral B on a project and we designed a toothbrush - something everyday - that is improved by just a couple of useful interventions. I think this is when Design can be measured most effectively. 

As well as being an RCA graduate yourself, you have a long standing relationship with the school in a teaching capacity, currently as visiting professor. Does this role influence your own practice at all? And where do you feel the focus and future for design products students lies currently? 

SH: I enjoy teaching very much. Kim, my partner and I have taught for the last twenty years in different capacities. And in that time we have always had a student work with us every three months. It’s a short time but it gives them a flavour for the thought we put into our projects and the commitment it takes. On the flip side, we get to understand the nuances of a young mind and what interests them. I would say the future is a different place (obviously) and I can’t say what it is. But what I can say is that most students have almost no capacity to understand design history that is not on the internet. It’s an eye opener for them to see a very concise library we have on design, in that they see an endless repetition of design form and experimentation. Whether its Archigram or Californian modernism - most of these movements have already dealt with many of the struggles we have today in design, yet young people are unaware. 

What were your personal highlights from Milan this year? 

There were two highlights - unfortunately not Salone related. The first was the exhibition at the Triennale on design curated by Kenya Hara and Andrea Branzi. I thought it was superb and refreshing, with a very calculated point of view. The other was a small book produced on the photographs of Sottsass for Poltronova that I discovered. Very impressive.