Name: Emma Maxwell
Company: Emma Maxwell Design
Designer since:
I could pick up a pencil
Favourite place in my house/office: The library
Most inspirational place in the world: Sammezzano Palazzo, the Peacock Room
Why did you choose TATUM and Kirkby Design for your project at Café Melba?
I love the people at Tatum that makes all the difference. Helene is just as passionate as I am about design. She really gets stuck in and looks and thinks about the design with you. Kirkby was an easy choice. Great colours, great texture, sustainable as well as being brilliantly priced for commercial projects. I look forwards to working with them again.
How would you describe the atmosphere at Café Melba?
Easy and relaxed.
What is the craziest/funniest/most interesting thing you ever been inspired by?
There are many. But I will give you the G rated inspiration. I was inspired by a true story about Kim Jong Il from North Korea eating the world’s largest rabbit. I made a sculpture and it became part of the interior of a project called 83 Club St. A bar in Singapore. It then took on a life of its own, and last year a play was written and produced in Australia about my sculpture. That was a pretty mad cycle of inspiration which led to an interior and then a play.
Then in March there was that 24 hours in Tokyo where I just went out for 20 minutes ate a simple bowl of Ramen and discovered parts of Tokyo that most Japanese people never see.
Last week staying at a notable 80’s pop stars house in the Hollywood Hills with a panoramic view of LA swimming with a Michelin chef in the pool at 3 am with a bottle of champagne. No better way to find out what they are thinking in terms of creative direction and menus etc.
And the 500 year old heavily frescoed Palazzo I worked out of last year in Balogna, running into a wolf in Denmark last month - he had yellow eyes! Being put up in a suite last month at the Hotel de Paris by the GM and waking up to the most amazing view of Place de Casino as the sun was rising.
I get inspired every day. I don’t sit in my studio and wait for things to happen. Inspiration never happens looking at fluro lights and grey carpet. It’s a designers’ responsibility to fling themselves into the world and absorb every point of inspiration that life has to give like a sponge. The final result is the work.
How would the interior of your dream house look?
Sammezzano Palazzo, the Peacock Room.
What currently is your favourite collection - your brand?
I’m pretty happy with a lighting collection called Flume I’ve done.
What would you consider as your master piece - your brand?
A designer shouldn’t have a ‘Master piece’ if they do its time to retire. A designer should keep working for perfection. It’s a life time pursuit.
