Unbiased design

WORDS: Chrizane van Zyl

There were few things in life that could have enticed Neil MacQueen to leave the beautiful Durban weather and waves, but becoming an internationally acclaimed designer was one of them. Thankfully his decision has been justified and his dream is on the brink of being realised.

Neil was born in Windhoek, but grew up in Durban. After matriculating in 2004 he left South Africa to study Product Design and Innovation at the University of the West of England (UWE).

“I came to the UK to study at a University that would provide me with the skills and a degree that would be set me up for an international career,” Neil says.

It didn’t take long before his talent was noticed and Neil has had the opportunity to work on big projects – like a collaborative £51 million redesign of the Grand Pier in Weston-super-Mare in the South West of England. Together with architect Simon Robers, he now runs the UnoFuori Studio in Bristol.

His latest piece caused quite a stir at the London Design Festival. The Diviso Stool (“diviso” being Italian for “section”) was featured at Designers’ Block 2010, and has also been drawing a lot of attention online. The stool is made up of a single repeating plywood profile, housed by two similar aluminium sheets on the outside. The design is made up of only three repeating parts and comes in a flat box for easy assembly. All that it requires is a few support rods and a spacer, turned on a lathe. Do not be fooled by its lightweight structure; the Diviso Stool can withstand an impressive 120 kilograms.

“The Diviso Stool came from a place of wanting to come up with a piece of furniture that was a synthesis between manufacturing awareness and making an aesthetic statement,” Neil says. “Often furniture is overtly biased towards one or the other. The Diviso stool does both by being very easy to manufacture, efficient in its use of material, and making a bold aesthetic statement.”

Neil prefers to work with plywood and aluminium, since these materials can be cut easily and help him to quickly develop his ideas. From his stool, an entire collection based upon the Diviso aesthetic was born. The Divisone Collection is set to be launched early next year and will include a stool, coffee table, lamp shade and wine rack. “I would describe the aesthetic as my hypnosis of design intent: to use a single simple profile to create seeming complexity and depth by repetition,” Neil says.

E-Creative named Neil as one of the 300 upcoming designers to watch in 2010/2011, and 2012 is expected to bring even more exciting opportunities for him. “I’m aiming to exhibit at the London Design Festival again,” Neil says. He modestly revealed to us that he’s received invites to exhibit in Milan, at the Design Indaba, and at ICFF in New York.

His love for South Africa inspires Neil to seize opportunities to work with top UK designers. “I feel I have a lot of reference material and inspiration being a South African,” Neil says. “Although it isn’t very apparent in the Divisione Collection, I feel inspired to use design to better the lives of people in South Africa particularly, and Africa on a wider scale.”

Neil is naturally very excited about the World Design Capital 2014 title that Cape Town has received, and plans to set up some projects for the build-up or running during WDC 2014.

“I will definitely be back at some stage in the near future. I am keen to set up in Cape Town for a while. I’m so happy to see how South Africa is being represented on the international stage, and hopefully I can be part of that.”

More information: http://unofuori.tumblr.com/ and http://neilmacqueen.com/