Words: Mark Busse
CreativeMornings/Vancouver's August 2012 edition showcased renowned Vancouver designer Omer Arbel. The event was again hosted by W2 Media Café & GDC/BC, with breakfast provided with the support of the Interior Design Show West (IDSwest), which happens Sept 27–30, 2012 at the Vancouver Convention Centre.
The first time I heard about Omer Arbel was when my late friend Leo Obstbaum, then design director for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, told me in his hilarious Spanish accent “Joo haf to meet zees guy Omerrr (rolling the r of course)! Heez designs of zee medalz are crazy—they’re eenspired man!” He was right of course.
Originally from Jerusalem, Omer is the founder of OAO, an award winning design practice, and the creative director of Bocci, an innovative manufacturer of industrial design objects, furniture, lighting, and building technologies. His diverse works include everything from the designs for the 2010 Winter Olympics medals to award-winning buildings, interiors for luxurious public and private spaces. Arbel’s many projects also include the 23.2 house outside of Vancouver, bespoke lighting installations like the 28 chandelier, and the innovative yet accessibly priced electrical wall units of the 22 series.
In his speaker interview, Omer said he is horrified when people used the term “creativity” and that he found his inspiration in process, yet claimed he never learns from failures. Instead he keeps on trying "like an autistic child" until something happens. Ironically, he obsesses over numbers, numbering each project in the sequence in which they were designed, naturally creating a numeric catalog of his design history, yet says he sucks as math.
During his CMVan talk, Arbel showed a revealing series of short videos that exposed the process behind the 41.1 project that his team worked hard only to ultimately fail. But along the way Arbel discovered aspects of the material's properties that led to new methods he uses in his fabrication process today. Arbel's talk was as poignant as it was to the point, with an impressive degree of honesty and humility for someone with his credentials, awards and international acclaim.
Arbel admitted that he often has no idea how to make something and seeks helps from others, crediting much of his success on collaboration with his team. He spoke about topics such ego's role in the design process and the way materials like concrete are typically used, and engaged the audience in a compelling dialogue about inspiration, process, the definition of creativity, architects' being hung up on form, and his pursuit of the best cantaloupe for making ice cream. The morning ended with IDSwest and Inform giving away one of Bocci's gorgeous, Arbel-designed "28" chandeliers.
http://vimeo.com/creativemorningsvan/omerarbel
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