Marc Newson began his Orgone works as a continuation of his explorations into the material possibilities of aluminum furniture that he began with his iconic Lockheed Lounge. The Orgone pieces varied in their object type and form, but they share a similar visual language, specifically an hourglass motif. The name Orgone comes from the early-twentieth century doctor and psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich’s concept to describe certain esoteric energies in the world.
“Marc [Newson] is the best of designers: conscious of the past, alive to the present, and boldly futuristic.”
—Sir Jonathan Ive, former Chief Design Officer at Apple
The present Orgone Chop Top coffee table brings to mind the streamlined designs of cars and trains of the 1930s. This influence is hardly a secret, as Newson has remained fascinated with not only the aesthetics of cars but also their manufacture throughout his life. The title Chop Top also refers to the act of transforming a car into a convertible by sawing the top off. In Newson’s Chop Top versions of his Orgone works, he “cuts” the tabletop in half and places glass on the top so that one can peer into the interior of the table.
The aluminum and enameled surfaces of the table take on an almost life-like sense of motion, with ductile surfaces and curvilinear edges. Just like the polished aluminum exterior of the table, the saturated pop of red in the table’s interior is shiny and sleek. Four holes in the table’s interior—which look like vortexes—form the coffee table’s legs. This aspect of the design is similar to many of Newson’s works that play with dimensionality, revealing voids and centers. In Newson's words, these exposed cores are “a good way of revealing some high-quality manufacturing!”