It has been billed as the greatest fireworks show on earth, and the event which kicks off New Year celebrations around the world.
Last week internationally renowned industrial designer Marc Newson took over as creative director for Sydney’s New Years Eve festivities, to be watched live by an estimated 1.5 million people.
Mr Newson, who made himself famous designing clocks, clothing and furniture, will work to ensure the 2011/12 party is just as spectacular as those of previous years.
He will join a luminous league of personalities to have sat in the director’s chair, which includes Olympics’ maetsro Ric Birch and broadcaster Rhoda Roberts.
Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore said she was looking forward to working with Mr Newson over the next six months.
“A renowned designer who started at Sydney College of the Arts in the 1980s, Marc made his name with the striking Lockheed chair in 1986, a chaise longue made from hundreds of aluminium panels,” Ms Moore said in her weekly eNews letter.
“He’s since designed chairs, cars, boats, planes, chairs, appliances and clocks for a string of small and very large companies.”
Mr Newson was named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people of the year in 2005.
His Lockheed chairs have set three consecutive world records at auction, fetching more than $1 million each.
Now based in the United Kingdom, Mr Newson has work displayed at the MoMA in New York, London’s Design Museum, the Centre Georges Pompidou and the Vitra Design Museum.
He said he was “honoured and thrilled” to be involved in creating Sydney’s 2011 New Year’s Eve experience back in his home town.
“It is a tremendous opportunity to design an amazing display in front of arguably the most sensational backdrop in the world,” he said.
“Together with the City of Sydney, and the talented Imagination Creative Team, we will deliver an unforgettable New Year’s Eve.”
