This anodized aluminum desk is a collaboration between Marc Newson and Jony Ive for the (RED) Auction. Image: Andrew Zuckerman
It may look thin, but the desk, which measures 102 inches in length and 38 inches in depth, actually is made from 2,600 lbs. of aluminum. Image: Andrew Zuckerman
The desk marks a rare collaborative moment for the two famous designers. Image: Andrew Zuckerman
The Leica camera that Newson and Ive designed together. Image: Andrew Zuckerman
Customized rose gold earbuds. Image: Andrew Zuckerman
Ive and Newson designed a custom stand for this U.S. Space Shuttle thermal window, which was produced by Corning Incorporated, USA, and is inscribed: “Space shuttle thermal pane.” It’s made of Corning glass and 7980 high-purity-fused silica. Image: Andrew Zuckerman
This Olivetti Valentine portable typewriter comes in its original red carry case. Image: Andrew Zuckerman
A set of deep red LAMY 2000 Pens. Image: Andrew Zuckerman
A white Steinway Parlor Grand 'Model A' piano. Newson says they aimed to make the design tweaks subtle. Image: Andrew Zuckerman
A one-of-a-kind version of Hermés’ iconic Cavale saddle that has been created in red leather and custom red stitching. Image: Andrew Zuckerman
This Laser Nostra bike was signed by Cinelli President and bicycle designer Antonio Colombo. Image: Andrew Zuckerman
This "Zveda" cosmonaut suit was worn on a Soviet space agency mission in 1990. Newson says he and Ive chose items whose designers were not immediately known. In the case of this suit, a whole team was tasked with designing it. Image: Andrew Zuckerman
Newson and Ive transformed this Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni “Snoopy” Lamp into a brilliant red. Image: Andrew Zuckerman
A RiLA 400 Astrograph Telescope with a custom stand is engraved with "Curated by Jony Ive & Marc Newson for (RED) 2013." Image: Andrew Zuckerman
Ask Marc Newson about the desk he collaboratively designed with Jony Ive, and he’ll give you a simple answer: “We basically wanted to create a desk that looked like Jony and Marc designed it.” Coming from anyone else, this answer would be frustratingly vague. But in this case, that’s all that really needs to be said. We are, after all, talking about two extremely well-known designers, whose influence you’re probably looking at right now.
“We’re such great friends that frankly it was kind of a no-brainer.”
The piece of furniture in question is the (RED) Desk, an industrial 1.5 ton anodized aluminum number that Sotheby’s will auction off on Nov. 2 to raise money for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. We’ve already shown you the gorgeous Leica camera that the duo teamed up on, which was arguably more Ive than Newson. But the aluminum desk is, as Newson puts it, “a graceful and meaningful fusion of our respective aesthetics.” Meaning it’s streamlined and luxe with gentle curves CNC machined out of both designers’ preferred metal: aluminum. “It feels like a really modern material,” explains Newson. “It’s certainly one of the areas where we share a lot of common ground.”
Neal Feay manufactured the desk, machining 2,600 pounds of aluminum into a sleek final product with razor-thin edges that echo those of the iMac. Which totally makes sense considering the ultra-precise CNC machining process used to make the (RED) Desk is similar to the way your unibody MacBook came to be. The top of the desk is made from more than 100 hand-polished tiles, an added bit of luxury, which is no doubt a bid to rake in as much money as possible. Newson estimates that the desk should sell for at least $300,000, potentially half a million, or even better yet, “I’d be pleasantly surprised if it got more than that,” he says. “All it takes is a bidding war between two enormously wealthy people.”
The desk’s top is made from more than 100 hand-polished tiles. Image: Andrew Zuckerman
Newson and Ive have been friends for over 15 years, but this was the first time the designers, who are notoriously collaboration-shy, have worked together. “We’re such great friends that frankly it was kind of a no-brainer,” he says. “It’s a bit like collaborating without having to collaborate.” They worked mostly remotely since Ive leads the Apple design team in California, and Newson’s studio is based in London, but the distance wasn’t a problem. “It’s very very easy for us to talk on the phone and design something more or less verbally,” Newson explains. “We’ve both been doing our jobs for more than 20 years—it’s what we do day in and day out; we speak each other’s language completely fluently.”
Though there are only two custom-built pieces in the auction, Newson and Ive curated all 40 items and tweaked around half of them to add extra design flair, including a red leather Hermes saddle, a white Steinway with a blood-red inside lid and a set of rose gold earbuds. Newson doesn’t plan to bid on anything himself, though if he were going to he says he’d lay claim to the Space Shuttle window he and Ive designed a mount for. “It’s a pretty stunning object that defies your preconceptions of how big it should be,” he says. Interestingly, when curating for the auction, the designers shied away from the very thing that has catapulted them into fame. “We didn’t want this to be a survey on contemporary design; I don’t think either of us are particularly obsessed with the world of contemporary design,” says Newson. “A lot of the objects that we chose for us in some ways represent the antithesis of personality-driven design.”
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