livia Lee’s longevity-themed
collection of four objects is both a meditation
on the mythology of wellness and a
work of supreme artisanship, courtesy of
Lee’s fabrication partner Nature Squared.
The collection’s marquee piece is the
‘Elixir’ cabinet. Part medicine cabinet, part
room divider, part dresser, it takes its cues
from the traditional Chinese screen. But
Lee’s elaborate design transforms and updates
it with intricate, gorgeously rendered inlays
of brass, pearl and shells, as well as teak and
feather flourishes. It features compartments
for what Lee calls ‘modern-day elixirs’, the
secret serums and potions that promise to
prolong youthful appearance. The collection
also comprises three smaller pieces, including
the ‘Adonis’, a shagreen and pufferfish skin
clutch with a concealed mirror and a
compartment for vitamins and aphrodisiacs;
the ‘Hedonist’, a small box with a hidden
compartment that pops out to serve as an
emergency caviar eating set; and the ‘Dandy’,
a flask featuring an interlocking pattern of
buffalo horn and eggshell and a hidden comb.
‘I’m very interested in rituals, and this
was an opportunity to think about all
the cultural nuances that are embedded in
a discussion about wellness,’ says Lee, one
of a group of Singapore-based designers
who contributed to this year’s Handmade
as part of a partnership between Wallpaper*
and the DesignSingapore Council.
Lee’s collection for us was not her only
one at this year’s Salone del Mobile in Milan.
She also launched Play House, a furniture
range focusing on the intrusion of technology
into the family home. Ever since we first
featured her in our 2015 annual Design
Directory (W*196), the Central Saint Martins
alumnus and Sebastian Bergne protégée has
consistently impressed with the emotionally
intelligent way she approaches design.
‘I layer my work with a light narrative,
whimsy and theatrics,’ Lee says. ‘Sebastian
taught me to have a sense of humour, to
be poetic and refined in my execution. I like
to create a sense of surprise and wonder
so that you get to dig down into the creation.
And each time you come back to it, you
discover something new.’
Lee’s creative approach was tested to its
limits by the fabrication process, which was
both time-consuming and fiendishly difficult
due to the pieces’ intricate interlocking
parts. The cause was helped considerably by
Nature Squared, a Switzerland-based studio
that applies artisanal techniques to natural
sustainable materials – abalone shells, stones,
abandoned termite nests, grass, seeds – to
create new material for use in super-yachts,
luxury boutiques and mega mansions.
Much of the work was executed in Nature
Squared’s factory, in Cebu, the Philippines,the project running through Christmas
and well into February this year. ‘Olivia’s
designs were very cohesive, but they were
also deceptively simple,’ says Lay Koon Tan,
the studio’s co-founder. ‘The mixing and
matching of different skins, stones, shells and
bones that she specified posed very technical
challenges. We had to put in extra shifts.’
In fact, a few days before the pieces were
due to be shipped from Cebu to Singapore,
Lee realised the background to the ‘Elixir’
cabinet was not dark enough. The Filipino
artisans arched their collective eyebrows
and got to work. In any other country, Lee
says, ‘they would have said, “No, it can’t
be done.” The artistry that went into the
marquetry and detailing was mindboggling.’
So much so that both Lee and Nature
Squared have been unable to bid adieu to the
project. ‘We had such a positive experience
working on this together that we’re exploring
ways to commercialise the designs,’ she
says. Against the background of her bijou
studio, piled with sketches and models,
she is the very image of serenity – a state of
being we will be the first to take credit for.^ ∂
olivia-lee.com; naturesquared.com. The project
is on show at Handmade On Tour, an exhibition
by Wallpaper* in partnership with the
DesignSingapore Council, at Gillman Barracks,
Singapore, until 26 AugustRIGHT, LEE AT NATURE
SQUARED’S CEBU
FACTORY, ASSEMBLING
THE ‘ELIXIR’ CABINET
BELOW, THE ‘ADONIS’
CLUTCH IN THE
MAKING, IN SHAGREEN
AND PUFFERFISH SKIN‘I like to create a sense
of surprise and wonder,
so that you get to dig
down into the creation’
O
∑ 093
Making Of...