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Sottsass Plus Bauhaus

It all adds up in the furniture of San Francisco talent Rick Lee

Edie Cohen -- Interior Design, 6/1/2003 12:00:00 AM

Take a multicultural background, an education and apprenticeship in diametrically opposed aesthetic schools, and a die-hard dedication to design's significance, and what do you get? Rick Lee, a San Francisco furniture designer who displays originality and practicality in pieces that push the limits of form and material. Raised in South Korea by Chinese parents, Lee emigrated to the U.S. at age 13. He earned a degree in industrial design from the University of Illinois—the temple of Bauhaus principles—before setting off for Milan. From 1990 to 1992, he says, he lived as a "design gypsy," working for architectural firms Maurizio Morgantini and Studio Alchimia as well as furniture manufacturers. Homesick for the U.S., he moved to San Francisco to design production-line furniture for American Leather and Design Institute America. Two years ago, he branched out to create his own limited-edition items under the name Rick Lee Design. Lee's lipstick-pink felt-covered Colleen chair pays homage to his fashion-designer wife, Colleen Quen. A sofa with moving parts gets the name Swiss Knife. And just try to guess what he calls a steel floor lamp topped by a playful shade of humble plastic-tube lighting. Mardi Gras—what else?

What is design for you?

The main mission of my work is to put a smile on peoples' faces.

What's the mission of design in general?

To improve, enlighten, and inspire, because almost everything we touch or see is designed.

If you hadn't become a designer?

I'd have been an archaeologist, since I like to travel and find things. Or a rock star—I performed for my parents as a child.

Can you describe your experience in Milan?

It cultivated my eye. Being in Milan made me realize that art, culture, and design are part of daily life. There was always some kind of exhibition going on. Design was inescapable.

And how did this affect your outlook?

It counterbalanced my Bauhaus training and gave me the freedom to be more playful and more poetic.

Describe your process.

It begins with researching materials and tooling. Then I sketch and make models. I also have to find resources and suppliers. Independent work requires more time and energy—for less financial return.

Where can we find your pieces?

Most are made to order. I'm hoping to develop marketing and distribution in New York, Los Angeles, and possibly Chicago.

What are you working on now?

A lamp called Achille, which combines a stainless-steel base with a ready-made blue bottle. It's for a blue-themed group show called "Launchpad" at the Den gallery in San Francisco.

What are some of your other design endeavors?

I've designed events for the San Francisco Opera and stands at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan and the International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York. I've also had a solo exhibit at Den and a fashion-furniture show with my wife at our studio.

Which images are etched in your memory?

In terms of man-made design, it's the work of Ettore Sottsass, especially his use of color. For natural design, it's the Pacific Ocean behind my house.

Whom do you admire?

George Nelson as a designer, Karim Rashid as a marketer, Philippe Starck as a designer and a marketer. And Sottsass, of course. He's my favorite designer of all time. Outside of design, it's Mother Teresa and Bruce Lee, my childhood idol.

Name five favorite pieces.

George Nelson's Coconut chair, the Walkman, the new Mini Cooper, anything Comme des Garçons, and Nike's Presto Cee watch. I wear mine all the time.

Cultural preferences?

I listen to any kind of music—usually classical in the morning, rock in the afternoon, jazz in the evening. And I've just read two books about the Dalai Lama to learn more about peace and enrich my own life.

Designer Rick Lee on his wool-upholstered Swiss Knife sofa, which has movable parts like its namesake.

The felt-covered aluminum Colleen chair, a tribute to Lee's wife, Colleen Quen.

His cast-aluminum Liquid tables.

Polycarbonate tubes give Lee's Amnesia screen strength and transparency.

The Mardi Gras lamp's steel base is topped by a shade of plastic-tube lighting.

The Mask chair is sand-cast aluminum.

Lee and Quen's show of fashion and furniture addressed the five elements of Chinese cosmology; his Step fountain, made of stainless-steel sheets and molded glass, represents water.