Marc Newson’s Ithacan home

The headline to a 2012 New York Times article “Is there anything Marc Newson hasn’t designed?” was purely rhetorical.

Marc Newson is one of the most important designers in the world: some of his works are preserved in the Museum of Modern Art in New York and at the Pompidou Center in Paris.

But Newson has made his name and his fortune challenging convention: over a career spanning more than three decades, he has turned his extraordinary skills in designing in various fields: objects, furniture, luxury means of transport, appliances, interior design, fashion (you will probably have his Apple Watch on your wrist!).

The design guru has blended modernist ideas and traditional architecture to create a family idyll in Ithaca.

“I’m surrounded with modernity,” says Newson. “I live in a world where I’m constantly designing new things. This was an opportunity for me to try something different. It is a theatrical project, because I really played on the notion that I was trying to create something that looked like it had been here forever.” It is an act of architectural legerdemain.

There has been an in-depth, close and obsessive research on materials and technological and architectural solutions suitable for his project. Newson wanted to preserve as much as possible by inserting the building into the hillside without removing an extra stone or plant than necessary. It's only a slight exaggeration to say that he considered every blade of grass and every leaf before making a decision.

When asked if he is not taking things a bit far, he shrugs. “I’ve come to the realisation that if I don’t do it well now, it’ll bug the hell out of me for the rest of my life".

So Marc Newson chose Fabbio Design windows.

We have collaborated very closely, making every exchange of opinions on every detail profitable, from the design to the realization of 100% customized windows, in Sapele wood. He visited us several times to view some mock-up and scrupulously analyze them together.

"Marc was at the forefront of all decisions on the case, often drawing sketches himself to 100% customize the product, or to approve our designs." says Luigino Fabbio, CEO of Fabbio Design. "I can say with great admiration that he's the most detail-minded person I have ever dealt with. I'm honored to have worked closely with Marc and his entire demanding team, especially project manager architect Avraam Vairaktaris: essential figure in the long months of collaboration."

Our technical and production departments worked with great synergy creating the mock-ups according to the project: we didn't limit ourselves to producing the windows in full scale, but we also reproduced their own wall structure so that it was exactly like being on site.

After several inspections in Ithaca, and the approval of every single detail, we started making the windows.

Here is a gallery with some shots of the production phases:

In addition to the design and construction of the windows, we took care of the installation on site in Ithaca at different times together with the progress of the site.

"It was a project for which we have reserved a great deal of commitment given the high level required by Marc and Avraam," explains Matteo Zanin, sales director of Fabbio Design and site manager, "starting from design and production up to logistics and installation on site. "