It seems there is nothing British design wonderboy Thomas Heatherwick cannot do. While his large-scale commissions are out-of-pocket to most private individuals, his “smaller” designs are slightly more accessible and equally imaginative, radical and stellar.

The Spun chair, which reminds me of a toy top, is brilliant and though it may not look awfully comfortable, his studio assures me it was only brought to market after extensive research and experimentation.  Imagine an ergonomic chair whose seat can also be the back support and vice versa? FUN.

His Plank stool or side table is equally incredible.  From 1 plank of wood, Heatherwick made it possible to make a furniture piece.  Just fold and twist and voila!  It’s very easy to overlook the complex engineering that went into this, but I swear, it was not the result of a high school science project!

The beautiful public commissions are both artistic and functional. Look at the gorg new redesign of the iconic London double-decker bus; his imaginative design for the London 2012 Olympic cauldron; the wonderfully wavy staircase of the Longchamp store in SoHo, NY and his British Pavilion for the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai.