Tom Vaughan
Founded by designer-maker Tom Vaughan, Object Studio is a London-based studio and workshop dedicated to taking Tom’s visionary designs from concept to reality. What sets Object Studio apart from conventional furniture workshops is its commitment to traditional hand skills alongside its exploration of fast-moving digital technologies. By bridging both worlds, it is able to create works that sit on the cusp of function and fine art.
Object Studio creates one-off pieces and limited editions for private collectors, design professionals, galleries and institutions globally. The studio has evolved with a heavy focus on experimentation, research and development that continually pushes the boundaries of both heritage craft and contemporary design.
More about Tom
Ethos
It is said that designers are rarely great craftspeople and craftspeople are rarely great designers, but Tom Vaughan has proved there are exceptions to every rule. Having trained in both traditional furniture-making techniques and in contemporary design, he combines a designer’s eye with a deep understanding of making.
His unique approach lies in the way he takes large-scale industrial processes and reworks them so as to integrate them into his ‘modern craft’ techniques. This heavy focus on experimentation has resulted in a process that embraces traditional skills with emerging digital technologies. Tom is not interested in following current trends that speak only of a limited moment in history, but creates designs that will be as treasured and sought-after in the future as they are today.
Form
Tom Vaughan’s design signature is elegant, tactile and fluid. He envisions organic, natural forms that capture movement and momentum. Imagine the flowing lines of a calligraphic brush moving across the page or a piece of silk blowing in the breeze and you have a sense of what he aims to achieve in his ground-breaking collections of furniture and sculpture.
These smooth, tactile shapes may appear simple, but are immensely complicated to construct, requiring the combined skills of the studio’s master craftspeople. Each design is the culmination of a meticulous balance of curve, line, flow, proportion and positive/negative mass. As well as intriguing the eye, they invite the viewer to connect through touch and so enjoy them on a deeper, more sensory level.
Material
The studio is the antithesis of throw-away culture, instead aiming to create works of quality and permanence that will stand the test of time and be passed down through the generations. Tom Vaughan personally selects materials that mature with age and use, so that the finished piece becomes a part of the story of their lives. He looks for patina and character, be it timber or metal, encapsulating a quality that is pleasing both to the eye and to the touch. Many of the collections offer a choice of timbers, including natural or ebonished finishes. He also loves to work with bronze, an ancient material that is as relevant today as thousands of years ago. Tom’s deep understanding of individual materials allows him to manipulate their unique properties, enhancing the beauty and functionality of each piece.
IN THE PRESS
