People

The company, Swarovski specialises in luxury glass and crystal for the home style and jewellery business. Its website even boasts that one of its chandeliers makes an appearance in the movie 'Ocean's 13'.

But it was Richard Sweeney’s paper structure that caught the eye of Swarovski's design team at an exhibition in London showcasing the work of Britain's best young designers.

Richard Sweeney's creation Tetrahedron.

His creation 'Tetrahedron' landed the the top prize - the chance to design a Swarovski chandelier using £1,000 of crystals.

"I was approached by representatives from the company who presented themselves as design journalists," says Richard. "What I didn’t realise was that they were also the judges! They were quite excited about my work and wanted to take it away immediately."

Tetrahedron was produced as part of a year-long study into the use of paper folding as a means of generating form. But judges from the company said Richard's design fitted the award criteria perfectly.

"Tetrahedron was innovative, showed an awareness of the environment and was a superb execution of the design vision."

Challenge

Overwhelmed by winning the award, Richard is looking forward to creating his structure.

"Designing and creating a chandelier will be a real challenge for me, as it is so different from my paper sculptures, but it's great to have the opportunity to experiment with a different medium."

And he's also had work featured in a top fashion designer’s store in Old Bond Street, London and has just been shortlisted in the International Paper Festival competition, Cartasia, which takes place in Italy this September.

Not certain where his work will lead him next, Richard hopes to study a Masters in design.

 "I am on a year out at the moment but I'd like to enrol at the Royal College of Art and Design. I am not sure what I will end up doing, but it's been exciting to work on so many projects."