08/09/2006 05:36:00 PM 
He doesn't appear to be limited by the "box" of a specific creative discipline.
Only in his mid-30s, he already has an impressive range of projects under his belt.
Heatherwick is important because of the sheer breadth of his creative thinking.
Engineering projects- a rolling bridge in London
Architecture- a temple in Japan
Store Design- Longchamp store in New Yory
Product Design a bag for Longchamp, a glass chair and objects for Salviati of Murano
Urban Planning-Shortlisted to re-model an underpass
Art- lead artist for the city of Milton Keynes
Sculpture- B of the Bang, Manchester
He describes himself simply as a "three-dimensional designer" and believes invention is a neglected and under appreciated skill.
In a Ping Magazine interview, he gives us a little insight into his creative process when he describes how he came up with the design for the Japanese temple.
"I was working very physically on large lumps of clay. It was cohesive but somehow ugly. Then there was a moment when I suddenly realized that this actually looked like fabric. This synced with the garments the priest often wears, which are awesome in the forms that they make by themselves.
About the same time someone said: "Did you know the Buddha sits on fabric, on a cushion?which seemed like a good fortune within the design process, but it was not to simulate anything.
When we were trying to find out how we could laser scan the fabric so that we caught the exact shape, we found a hospital right around the corner which generously allowed us to use their laser scanner.
The final design is one scanned piece of fabric, which we selected from a lot of different models. We had to change very, very little in the computer."
Influx wonders if Heatherwick is a one-off or the leader of a new movement of multi-disciplinary designers?
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