Thomas Heatherwick in Bali and around the world

I was invited to the Heatherwick studio one afternoon in London and Thomas showed me things that blew my mind. He showed me a process that is so unusual in the architectural world, where creativity reigns rather than practicality and financial ability. I’d always been aware of his work, but I’d never plugged the name into the man, and the man is wonderful. We’ve been having a WhatsApp conversation ever since and he’s a very special person. He came to Bali and to bring his magic into the world of bamboo would be a dream of all dreams. He truly is a creative mastermind of great things.

Recently I traveled to China and was able to see two of his creations in person- one completed and one under construction.

The Bund Finance Center

I also had a great visit to the Heatherwick designed museum in South Africa.  An amazing exhibition was on featuring African artists that made the Penestanan Young Artists movement look a little slow.

Watch the story of The Seed Cathedral here:

About Thomas Heatherwick

Thomas Heatherwick is a British designer whose prolific and varied work over two decades is characterised by its ingenuity, inventiveness and originality. Defying the conventional classification of design disciplines, Thomas founded Heatherwick studio in 1994 to bring the practices of design, architecture and urban planning together in a single workspace.

Thomas leads the design of all Heatherwick Studio projects, working in collaboration with a team of 200 highly-skilled architects, designers, and makers. Thomas’ unusual approach applies artistic thinking to the needs of each project, resulting in some of the most acclaimed designs of our time. Based in London, Heatherwick studio is currently working in four continents on projects valued at over £2 billion.

Following the success of the UK Pavilion for the Shanghai World Expo in 2010, Heatherwick studio has gone on to win exciting design briefs including the Learning Hub at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, and the new Google Campus in Silicon Valley. Thomas has been appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, a Royal Academician and in 2004 became the youngest Royal Designer for Industry.