Object Stories: 1 Hour Bag by Dowel Jones

By Penny Craswell

Fabric waste is a huge contributor to landfill and, while textiles can be recycled, it doesn’t happen as much as it could or should. Enter Adam Lynch and Dale Hardiman of Melbourne design studio Dowel Jones and their concept, New Model, a zero-waste approach to design. The first project for New Model, the 1 Hour Bag designed by Soft Serve Studio, utilises surplus, remnant and waste materials.

Blue bag, New Model by Adam Lynch and Dale Hardiman

The 1 Hour Bag is made from pieces of upholstery fabric that are too small to be used for upholstery and would otherwise go to waste. The majority of the bag is made from this recycled material, with any small parts made from new material coloured bright green to provide maximum transparency on which parts of the bag are recycled.

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Invisible women in graphic design

The 2019 Design Census has just been published in the United States, showing important insights into who makes up the design industry but raises important questions about their visibility. In Australia, there is little comparable or consistent information about gender in design. Guest contributor Jane Connory reflects on the invisibility of women in graphic design.

Who are the people who work in the design industry? Photo: Carmen Holder and Deborah Jane Carruthers, 2016.
Who are the people who work in the design industry? Photo: Carmen Holder and Deborah Jane Carruthers, 2016.

The 2019 Design Census survey was run by Google, the AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts) and global research firm Accurat, and widely collected data across the United States. This data set is progressive because it was collected and analysed through a gendered lens—something rare in the design industry and in most surveys in general (Caroline Criado Perez, Invisible Women). As well as female and male genders, respondents had eight non-binary options (non-binary, gender nonconforming, gender fluid, trans, gender questioning, a-gender, bi-gender and pan-gender) to choose from. There were also the options of ‘other’ and ‘prefer not to say’.

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Review: New Greg Natale Flagship store

By Penny Craswell

Interior designer Greg Natale has made his name through bold yet elegant colours and geometries, gradually augmenting his interiors with ranges of his own designed objects, homewares, textiles and more. Now, for the first time, you can browse the entire collection at the new Greg Natale Flagship store in Sydney’s Potts Point.

Greg Natale Shop, Sydney. Photo: Anson Smart

The shop itself is also designed by Natale, with floors in his own Rubato tile made with Jurassic marble, teamed with pale grey wall and ceiling finishes and elegant high arches to a wall niche and doorway.

Custom-made visual merchandising tables and round plinths in the same Jurassic marble and in a grey fluted finish create sculptural stands for the display of goods on sale.

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Uncovering Australian Architecture at WAF 2019

Nic Granleese, Eszter Riga, Celeste Bolte and Ben G Morgan from BowerBird report on the World Architecture Festival in Amsterdam, held from 4 – 6 December 2019.

The World Architecture Festival (WAF) has been a fixture of the global design and architecture calendar for over 10 years. The event includes speakers from across the globe, as well as presentations to juries of the WAF Awards each year. It is an opportunity for architects to meet, learn, and to teach. In 2019, the team behind BowerBird.io attended the festival in Amsterdam as Media Partners, uncovering stories of architecture from international and Australian architects.

Welcome to the Jungle House by CplusC. Photo: Murray Fredericks

We had previously attended the World Architecture Festival in Singapore, so we knew it was an exciting event that acts as an annual gathering place for architects. What we had underestimated was the sheer scale of the interaction. WAF (as it is affectionately known) is close to the hearts of many architecture practices, and the annual awards program is highly regarded internationally. 

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Interview: Rina Bernabei on ceramics

By Penny Craswell

Sydney industrial designer and UNSW academic Rina Bernabei has turned her hand to ceramics in a new range. So what’s the difference between designing for production and making by hand? We asked her to find out.

Ceramics by Rina Bernabei. Image: Supplied

Tell us about your industrial design work. And why the move to ceramics?

While, I have always loved ceramics from afar, I actually got into ceramics when I received a grant to do a 3D ceramic printing project. I felt I needed to understand the material more so signed up to a four-week course, which included wheel throwing.

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Top 10: Ethical Gift Guide

By Penny Craswell

It’s that time of year again, when we spend up big to give presents to friends and loved ones, with many gifts ending up surplus to requirements and just so much extra landfill. One option is to donate to charity in lieu of a gift. If this approach appeals to you, Care Australia is offering Christmas Gifts that Save Lives and the Australian Red Cross has Real Good Gifts. If you still want to buy something tangible, make an ethical choice that puts profit in the right people’s pockets without doing harm to the environment. Here’s ten options to get you started in your hunt.

Haigh’s Chocolates Leadlight Gift Bon Bon

1.This Christmas Bon Bon features graphics inspired by leadlight windows and is filled with delicious chocolate. According to the Shop Ethical! App, Haigh’s Chocolate is a Member of the World Cocoa Foundation committed to creating a sustainable cocoa economy and signatory to the Australian Packaging Covenant, a voluntary agreement to encourage waste minimisation. Only $19.90 from Haigh’s.

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Review: MPavilion 2019 by Glenn Murcutt

By Penny Craswell

Australia’s only Pritzker Prize-winning architect Glenn Murcutt is best known for his long, horizontal, climate-responsive architecture; shed-like residential buildings made for viewing the Australian landscape.

MPavilion 2019 by Glenn Murcutt
MPavilion 2019 by Glenn Murcutt. Photo:

This year, Murcutt has been commissioned by the Naomi Milgrom Foundation to design the sixth annual MPavilion, a project that brings temporary architecture to Queen Victoria Gardens in the heart of Melbourne. His response has been to create a long, horizontal shed-like structure – but this is where the similarities to his other projects end.

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Object Stories: Broached Goulder Collection

By Penny Craswell

Working from a studio set up inside the Adelaide office of Norwegian architecture firm Snohetta, Jon Goulderhas crested his latest collection, Broached Goulder, for Broached Commissions, bringing his work full circle to the boy in Bowral who worked in the family furniture factory.

Broached Goulder Chaise Lounge. Image: supplied
Broached Goulder Chaise Lounge. Image: supplied

Goulder left school at 16 to join his grandfather, father and uncles in the family furniture factory, reupholstering Victorian antiques. But four years later, he turned away from this practice and its chaise lounges towards a new path, inspired by his mother’s belief in the importance of education.

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Review: Royal Nut Company

By Penny Craswell

Breathe Architecture has transformed a vacant warehouse into the new home of the Royal Nut Company, a family business that has been selling wholesale nuts in Melbourne’s Brunswick for more than 30 years.

Royal Nut Company by Breathe Architecture. Image: supplied

Breathe Architecture’s approach to the adaptive reuse of the building was to maintain the industrial aspects of the existing architecture, including exposed roof trusses, high-level steel windows, existing brickwork and concrete floors, while creating a functional space for the production, packaging and retail sale of nuts.

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