'It'll make very expensive kindling': iPhone design guru Johnny Ive is slammed by critics after decorating exclusive hotel's lobby... with a Christmas tree with NO LIGHTS
- Sir Jony Ive, one of Apple's design gurus, has unveiled the Claridge's Christmas display in the famous hotel's lobby
- Taken back to basics, trees have no lights, no tinsel, and no decorations
- He said he was inspired by nature and used it as his starting point
He once claimed he would want to design Christmas decorations, if he wasn't creating the latest iPhones.
But Apple's design guru Jony Ive does not seem to have used a commission to create the festive display in Claridge's as an opportunity to showcase his skills.
The designer was asked to decorate the hotel's lobby for the season and decided to strip things back to basics.
The large tree in the main foyer of Claridge's is the key attraction of the display, designed by Apple's Jony Ive
It features no lights, no tinsel and no angel or star on top of the fir tree, having been stripped right back
Rather than the usual lights, tinsel and trimmings associated with this time of year, Mr Ive stopped at the tree.
The imposing fir tree hasn't got a single light, nor scrap of tinsel on it, and there certainly isn't a star or angel topping it off.
The bare fir has still attracted visitors though, with people posing for photos in front of the tree, designed by the guru alongside Marc Newson, and set designer Michael Howells.
The trio said the display would be an 'all-enveloping magical experience' and other pictures reveal there is a walkway of trees, most as plain as the next.
There is a dusting of fake snow on one of their smaller trees, and a canopy of green above visitors' heads. There is also a changing light scheme throughout.
The display includes some fake snow on the floor and a changing light scheme as well as a green canopy
A simple dusting of fake snow is all that decorates one of the smallest trees in the Christmas display
Sir Ive said: 'There are few things more pure and beautiful than nature, so that was our starting point, layering various iterations of organic forms with technology.
'Our aim was to create an all-enveloping magical experience that celebrates our enormous respect for tradition while recognizing our excitement about the future and things to come.'
Every year Claridge's asks a different famous person to adorn the hallway, and in previous winters, John Galliano and Christopher Bailey have turned their hand to it.
The tree's design has received mixed reactions from Twitter users, including one person who thinks its simplicity is a great idea.
Daniel Marsh tweeted: 'A £200 photo book, a MacBook pro with only USB-C, a Claridges Christmas tree with no decs and a Frankenstein Christmas ad. Can only be Apple.'
But Tanya Weaver said: 'I'm so into this. Hate sparkly Christmas tat.'
Daniel Marsh said the design was just one part of the Apple Christmas offering that no other company would put out
Tanya Weaver said the simplicity was a welcome change to 'sparkly Christmas tat'
Juliana Inoue simply declared the tree 'boring' which many others have agreed with online
A Twitter user going by Jammasternate said the hotel must have been 'bummed' when they saw the final design of the tree
A Twitter user going by Jammasternate said the hotel must have been 'bummed' when they saw the final design of the tree, while Jessica Lam pointed out perhaps given the tech company's famed minimalist design, it application to Christmas could be expected.
Jack might not be the only person to believe he would have done a better job at the design work than the man with a knighthood to his name.
Jessica Lam pointed out that the designer had applied his famous minimalism to the lobby display
And Jack might not be the only person thinking he could have done a better job at designing the showcase
Earlier this week, Apple released a hardbound book chronicling 20 years of the tech company's design and 'very few words', according to Sir Ive.
The book, called Designed by Apple in California, is dedicated to Steve Jobs and starts at £160 ($199).
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