Known for his Cracked Light Log, Tasmanian furniture and lighting designer Duncan Meerding combines light with wood again in his latest design, a whiskey cabinet called ‘Light from Shadows’.
Light from Shadows whiskey cabinet designed by Duncan Meerding, installed at Salamanca Arts Centre: Photo: Chris Crerar.
Duncan Meerding’s unique approach to design originates from his eyesight: “I am ‘legally blind’ with less than 5% vision, concentrated around the periphery. My vision showcases over all forms and light dispersing around the outside of objects and forms,” he says. “If you look at a lot of my work, it is reflective of this.”
Sydney-based furniture maker Nick Pedulla made this record cabinet from Black Oak with a contrasting Natural Oak with brass grilles for a couple who wanted a cabinet with custom measurements to house their record player, speakers and record collection.
The couple found Pedulla via a google search for Sydney custom furniture makers, and, as well as having specific measurements in mind, they also asked that the record cabinet be designed for ventilation. “The most important detail was having enough space for record storage as well as making it a piece to enhance the space, to provide a comfortable area while listening to music,” says Pedulla.
The Milan Furniture Fair (or Salone del Mobile) may have been cancelled last year, and in 2021 been moved to September from its usual April spot on the calendar, but there’s plenty of new designs on show, from the latest product releases to experimental objects, exhibitions, installations and more. Here’s some that caught my eye from afar.
The latest products from Hermés Home including textiles, ceramics, leather and more are this year displayed in an installation incorporating scenography and sound design with patterns painted on architectural elements in an array of colours. The shapes and colours echo the brand’s furniture centrepiece this year, the ‘Organic Curves’ Chair designed by Studio Mumbai, a wide-seated wooden chair coated in a cellulose material that gives the chair a slightly uneven finish, then hand painted in bold red stripes.
Contemplating Materials Installation, Hermés. Photo: Hermés.Organic Curves, Studio Mumbai for Hermés. Photo: Hermés.Read more →
‘Future Remains’ is an exhibition at Craft Victoria in Melbourne that presents the work of seven female designer/makers whose principle material is wood. Works include furniture, sculpture and jewellery, each made with a different timber and technique.
Makiko Ryujin, LOOP 2021, River Red Gum, dimensions variable. Photo: Michael Pham.
Melbourne-based artist Makiko Ryujin draws on her Japanese heritage in the sculptural work LOOP, a series of wood-turned objects inspired by Tōrō; traditional Japanese lanterns found in Buddhist temples. The timber is blackened by fire, a reference to the Japanese cultural burning ritual ‘Otakiage’.
The Melt series of furniture and objects by Japanese designer Oki Sato from Nendo has been extended with a new green edition for Venice Glass Week 2021. The Glass to Glass exhibition at Fondazione Berengo’s Art Space in Murano also includes a chandelier-like installation made of the Melt pieces as part of the show, which is presented by WonderGlass and Berengo Studio.
Melt Chandelier (detail) by nendo at Fondazione Berengo Art Space (Murano). Photo: Leonardo Duggento
Nendo’s series Melt, launched in 2019, originally included an armchair, a chaise longue, a dining table, a side table, a partition and a vase, all in clear glass and all with curved shapes created by forming molten glass over a pipe or mould. The idea was to let gravity do the work of stretching the glass to its final design.
This 40 square metre home in Hobart designed by Josh FitzGerald, Director of architecture studio Archier for himself and his wife Millie was always meant to be moveable.
Casa Acton by Archier. Photo: Adam Gibson.
Casa Acton was only made possible thanks to Millie’s father, who suggested that the couple design a small home on some land he owned, with a view to moving the house to new land owned by Josh and Millie when they were ready.
We asked Anna Grassham from Melbourne auction house Leonard Joel for her take on design at auction in Australia.
Over the last 10 years I have seen significant growth in all areas of mid-century design across Australian auction houses. In the early days, collectors and dealers were able to pick up bargains at auction, and flip items on to secondhand stores or ebay and make a good profit.
Antonio Citterio ‘Baisity’ Chaise for B&B Italia
It was evident around the early 2000s when the Scandinavian wave took over, all things 1960s just went nuts. Prices at auction were doubling and tripling for teak sideboards, chests of drawers, sofas and armchairs. Australian brands that produced 1960s furniture such as Parker and Fler started becoming expensive and collectable.
This new interior by design studio Sans-Arc has transformed an old tram shed on the Karrawirra Parri (River Torrens) in Adelaide’s Thebarton into a relaxed cafe space with natural materials and a rustic flavour. Bloom Cafe offers a contemporary fusion menu and also makes use of its riverside location for functions and outdoor dining.
The central wood fired oven with arches, Bloom Cafe by Sans-Arc. Photo: Jonathan VDK.
Even though the clients took on a 10 year lease, Sans-Arc wanted to take a light approach, preserving the shell of the building so it can be transformed again for future tenants. “In a world of venues being demolished and re-fit regularly, we dream of coming into spaces where our process is simplified by the existing building, a beautiful envelope, where a few simple moves inside create a space perfect for the offering,” says the design statement.
Most architecture responds to site, taking into account the rise and fall of the land, exposure to wind and sun, and consideration of neighbours and views, but in some cases, the location is so unusual that it becomes an overriding factor in every design decision. Such is the case for Sam Crawford Architects who have completed their second house on Scotland Island, a small island with only 600 inhabitants and only accessed by boat in Sydney, Australia.
Scotland Island House II by Sam Crawford Architects. Photo: Brett Boardman.
This part of Sydney is pretty remote anyway – situated between the northernmost part of the Northern Beaches and Pittwater – but its inaccessibility by road makes every house build a complex proposition. Luckily, with this house, Sam Crawford Architects were doing it for the second time and had already troubleshooted many of the issues. They also understand the beauty of the island: “Middens, containing remnants of shells and fish gathered and cooked by Guringai*, have been found on the northern and western parts of the Island and there are numerous rock engravings carved by the Guringai people on the surrounding hills,” says the architect statement.
Adelaide-based ceramicist Kirsten Coelho has a new solo show at UNSW Galleries called ‘The Return’ that explores the concept of a journey and how it changes us, inspired by Homer’s Odyssey and a recent trip she took to Greece and Italy to explore ancient ruins.
Kirsten Coelho, ‘Passages’ 2019. Image courtesy: the artist, Sullivan+Strumpf, Sydney and Philip Bacon Galleries, Brisbane. Photograph: Grant Hancock.
It all started with an audiobook of The Odyssey read by Ian McKellen that Coelho and her husband listened to on a road trip from Alice Springs to Adelaide. The idea of a journey and of how we can change and how home can change resonated with her, especially having moved home from the US to Australia as a five year old child. “[The Odyssey] ignited something in me about home and journeys, and how you change on a journey and what the idea of home is,” she says.
