designbriefs
Furniture

Lockheed Lounge

Marc Newson's Lockheed Lounge puts riveted aluminium over a curved fibreglass body.

Marc Newson's Lockheed Lounge is a limited-edition furniture design. The National Gallery of Victoria's example combines fibreglass, aluminium and rubber. Riveted aluminium sheets cover its curved fibreglass body, establishing an explicit visual connection with aerospace construction.

Subject
Work
Materials
Fibreglass, aluminium and rubber
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Selectively. Start with the brief, then study the parts we point at.

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          The design analysis1 min read

          An engineered-looking surface

          Marc Newson’s Lockheed Lounge is a limited-edition furniture design. The National Gallery of Victoria’s example combines fibreglass, aluminium and rubber. Riveted aluminium sheets cover its curved fibreglass body, establishing an explicit visual connection with aerospace construction.

          Body and skin

          The surface divides a continuous volume into smaller joined pieces. That distinction between underlying body and assembled covering is central to understanding the object. Its appearance in Madonna’s 1993 Rain music video also became part of the design’s public visibility.

          What to examine

          Study the lounge first as a reclining form, then as a pattern of sheets and fastenings. Ask where the joints follow the body’s curves and where they introduce their own rhythm. The comparison keeps construction in view beside the object’s reputation as a collectible. It is a productive way to examine how industrial references can be applied to a furniture object with a very different production context.

          Same discipline · Furniture4 of 47
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