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Steve Lidbury’s impact on the design world began with his award winning schemes for the IDDA contemporary spatial design competition in 1998 whilst still a student on the BA [hons] degree course in IDEA (Interior Design Environment Architecture) at Ravensbourne College of Design & Communication in London; he followed this success with a Masters degree at UCE in Birmingham and an extended sojourn at Fabrica in Italy becoming an atelier master.

Whilst at Fabrica, his preoccupation with the raised and rotated tectonic revealed itself in a number of conceptual projects, most notably the Benetton future concept store, this interest has been repeated and refined in subsequent theoretical works, and has thence been distilled into a series of dynamic cutting edge projects for blue chip clients. Steve’s arrival on the Tokyo design scene was marked by a stunning series of installations for Tokyo Designer’s Week 2002, Perrier Wonderland event space, to name but one over subsequent years; bringing him to the attention of a wider public with TV interviews and the press, his startling rise to demi-icon status among the Japanese design cognoscenti has been hailed as a remarkable feat for a designer at this stage in his career, and has been due to the way in which he has shown a mature assimilation, and respect for his host culture; but the breadth of his work and the torrent of international publications in which he has been featured, with a number of built projects in China, XMLS fashion brand stores, and Japan, Addition select shop, ranging from new build projects and exhibitions, to furniture and product design has established his design studio as a leading player in ‘thinking design’; the thoughtful and provocative in commercial design. This mature studio’s portfolio includes the, Sunao Kuwahara flagship store in Harajuku (nominated finalist for ‘The Great Indoors Award’), Obi Supper Lounge in Shibuya, Addition select shop in Omotesando, Rubyrivet and Smacky Glam stores across all Japan, Eat creative agency office, Arti high-end contract furniture for retail and restaurant; is sure to grow and as one of the flagships of British design in Japan is set to press for a new agenda for polycultural design and even greater international acclaim.

by Layton Reid
BA(hons), DArchUrbDes, MA, MCSD, FRSA.
Head of IDEA (Interior Design Environment Architecture) at Ravensbourne College of Design & Communication