The former Apple creative director’s new rostrum for Christie’s uses oak from the same forests that supplied the rebuilt Notre Dame.
When the global auction house company Christie’s decided it needed new rostrums for all its galleries around the world, it knew it had to be something special. Enter Jony Ive, who now heads up his LoveFrom design studio, but is best known as the designer of such iconic Apple products as the iPhone, the Apple Watch and numerous iterations of its Macintosh computers. He turned to an oak that was more than two centuries old to create his latest products.
Ive told the online design newsletter Dezeen that replacing something designed by Chippendale, the legendary furniture maker, was “rather intimidating.” Because of the nature of the rostrum as the raised platform used by the auctioneer, it is often the most visible symbol of the auction house, Dezeen said.
“As a team, we have a robust research discipline,” he said. “I often think our understanding of the future and our approach to design is absolutely based on how well we understand the past.
The original Thomas Chippendale design is masterful and remains rather intimidating,” he continued.
Dezeen reported that the rounded rostrum was made by Benchmark, a UK studio, from 200-year-old oak, which was sourced from the same forest used to restore the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.
“It’s a beautiful thing that you can take a modest material – such as oak – and that with the expertise of the design and craftspeople involved, value is added in the process,” said Ive. “I find that magical.”
“We were struck by Benchmark’s biological understanding of trees and the ethical sourcing of the timber we used, as well as the machining and creating of prototypes and the finished product,” he continued.
Christie’s told Dezeen that Chippendale’s original rostrum was first used when the auction house opened in 1776. It was destroyed in 1941 by bombing during World War II and the auction house has used reproductions since then.
“The purpose of the rostrum is to literally and figuratively elevate the auctioneer, providing a stage for their authority and expertise that proudly carries Christie’s mark,” said Ive.
The new rostrums are now in place at Christie’s major galleries in ten cities around the world.
Images: Christie’s
