Rock Galpin is an established, furniture and product designer from London. With over 30 years of industry experience, Rock’s Dubai studio continues to design furniture for hospitality, the workplace, education, retail and residential.
Passionate about design, Rock’s work has been exhibited in over 40 exhibitions worldwide from Milan, Paris, Cologne, Tokyo, Hong Kong, New York to London. He has also been a tutor at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London for over 23 years and now runs a number of his own short courses there and in Dubai.
After visiting the 2022 edition of INDEX exhibition, here are his picks from the products on show at Dubai World Trade Centre.
Rock Galpin’s thoughts
This year’s INDEX represented a very mixed and eclectic exhibition, with a number of international companies showing, notably from countries like India, Thailand and Portugal.
Here are the products that stood out to me for being unique, relevant to and in line with current trends as well as representing meaningful design.
- Omar by Nigel Fenwick (Bathtub)
Omar by Nigel Fenwick was a show stopper, described as the most expensive bathtub in the world at $1million it’s easy to see why. Made from petrified wood, which effectively is wood that has been compressed and buried in layers of rock for so so long, that it has become fossilised in this case, 180 million years, that it has turned literally into rock, so it also weighs as much at around one ton. This material is immensely compelling and the process fascinating.
- Darono – Portugal (Bean Bag)
Situated at the Inter Wood & Furniture (Associated Design) stall, this bean bag drew my attention, with its course rough exterior knitted design. Apparently from the original recycled fisherman’s nets that you realise on closer inspection. The colour combination also worked really well.
- Stokrotka Mini Armchair by Boho Swing (lounge chair)
This small Polish company always seems to be popular at INDEX, arguable mainly due to the fact that there is no other company here that is in any way similar. I’ve added this piece, mainly to reference the brand as this small, young company with its bohemian collection has quite a unique style that really seems to connect with people emotively. This Stokrotka Mini Armchair with its crafted production and the playful, flower-like design feels fresh but also somehow timeless.
- Decoz Studio – Cubo (Modular seating)
Well, I have certainly seen my fair share of modular seating systems over the years but this design appeared to be more relevant than ever with our user demands on furniture being so varied now, we work and relax now using the same seating, the boundaries have been completely blurred. This system is made of a module of six units with a few additions, from high-density polyurethane, which can be orientated horizontally or on end to create different seating areas.
- Phaka Lounge chair by Ratthee Phaisanchotsiri for Moonler (Thailand) (Lounge Chair)
These pieces feel like a quirky hybrid between period Japanese and Scandinavian typologies which I certainly find intriguing. Particularly in the unique features with sections of wood on either side, creating interesting views through the chair. This chair is clearly about craft, craftsmanship and beautiful Acacia, Raintree, or Monkey Pod wood.
- Reiss Trailo desk by Mr Widule– (Desk)
This desk, called Trailo I found interesting, it uses a rail system underneath which allows for a multitude of accessories to be attached from acoustic panels, trays, and monitor stands which can all be repositioned and in most cases rotated round, very well engineered given the humble minimal domestic typology that the product range has.
