Ron Arad is a designer rebel who speaks "you" with metal

/ A person /

"I fear boredom, fundamentalists and philistines. I fear the dark and death. I work to avoid all this," says today's birthday boy, English-Israeli designer Ron Arad. He always tried to avoid stereotypes, which earned him the reputation of a rebel who constantly questions the established methods and rules of design.

From early childhood, he was surrounded by an atmosphere of creativity. His parents are Tel Aviv artists who sent young Ron to the Jerusalem Academy of Arts. He then moved to London, where he studied at the Architectural Association under Peter Cook himself. The non-traditional method of teaching, in which many colleagues in the workshop were brought up, contributed to the expansion of the future designer's range of interests, and in the end he went beyond the topic of architecture.

In 2010, the Design Museum opened in Holon, Israel, designed by Arad. Monumental metal bands decorate the central part of the building

Back in the 1980s, Ron Arad established himself as a leader of post-industrial design and a creator of sculptural furniture. His main merit is working with sheet metal - it was Ron who showed his plastic abilities and made the material turn into real works of art.

In 1997, the designer developed the laconic design of the TomVac chair, which became the bestseller of the Swiss company Vitra. The object is one of the most counterfeited chairs in the world

"Art begins when the problems of survival are solved and the time of excesses arrives. The more design goes beyond real needs, the closer it is to art. Very rarely do I create something that is truly necessary. And from this point of view, I am an artist. My iron furniture has a strong aesthetic, but I believe it is functional. Do these chairs scream, “Look at us, we are a sculpture!? In my opinion, they are simply comfortable to sit on. The main thing for me is not to repeat myself. That's what I'm afraid of like fire..." says Arad, who at one time was part of a whole generation of designers of the early 80s who created from improvised materials due to economic necessity. However, these enthusiasts became the favorite creators of wealthy Britons, which enabled young designers to dictate the prices of their objects.

The Pressed Flower art installation, created by the designer in 2013, consists of a pressed recycled Fiat 500 car

The first piece of furniture that Ron Arad produced in 1981 was the Rower chair, consisting of the front seat of the car of the same name and a scaffolding frame. The author commented on his work as a reflection of the mood of London at that time - flourishing individualism and post-punk nihilism, which developed against the background of urban decline.

Rover chair, created in 1981

The series of voluminous chairs made of metal opened in 1986 with the popular Well-Tempered Chair. At the request of the Swiss furniture brand VITRA, Arad came up with a chair whose softness was due to the natural properties of "springy" sheets of steel fastened together with bolts.

Well Tempered chair

The Well-Tempered Chair then metamorphosed into a new model, which Arad upholstered in fabric and called the Big Easy. At the Milan Furniture Fair, the object was noticed by one of Moroso's specialists, who suggested that Ron put Soft Big Easy and Soft Little Heavy into series production.

Big Easy chair, created in 1988

"I like to do things that have never happened before," says the famous designer and architect. And continues to create and develop new objects that are perceived exclusively with the prefix "art-".