The Carafe table has a visual and structural complexity to it that is characteristic of the work of Charles Wilson, a Sydney-based designer who worked in close collaboration with Herman Miller over a period of years to complete the project.
Carafe table with drawer designed by Charles Wilson for Herman Miller
The underside features a series of compartments in moulded plywood including open shelves as well as a closed, sliding drawer that opens both ways, sloping inwards to create a geometry that is tucked in under the tabletop. The leg structure spans to the corners of the table, supporting the shelves but visually forming a third layer underneath that is drawn together at the centre in a distinctive T cross-section which Wilson says references industrial structures. Read more →
The Old Clare Hotel is part of a wider development happening in Kensington Street, Chippendale and across the old Carlton Brewery site which now features several new apartment buildings, the most famous of which are the Jean Nouvel Central Park apartment buildings with vertical green facades by Patrick Blanc. In Kensington Street itself, several of the existing buildings – some of them heritage – have been retained, providing a layering effect of old and new, bringing the area a richness in texture, typology and a variety of form that is a pleasure to inhabit. The incredible Spice Alley – a Shanghai-style eating laneway designed by Tonkin Zulaikha Greer – is part of the charm of the precinct but I will save that project for another post.
The Old Clare Hotel lobby glass structure designed by Tonkin Zulaikha Greer. Photo: supplied
Sydney-based architects Tonkin Zulaikha Greer are also behind the design of The Old Clare Hotel, transforming what was a run-down, if charming, old pub and the Carlton and United Breweries Administration Building into a boutique hotel and bar. The character of these existing heritage buildings has been retained and additional architectural elements are distinctive but unintrusive. For example, the glass structure that links the two buildings touch the buildings lightly, instead allowing the existing brick facades to dominate the space, while the glass forms an uneven grid-like geometry that ties in with the layering of the surrounds. Read more →
Melbourne designer Nick Rennie was recently in Paris where French design brand Ligne Roset launched his latest design at Maison & Objet – the Softly sofa. For Nick, the sofa is really about comfort, creating a compact shape with high cushions that provide effective support while being extremely comfortable.
Softly sofa by Melbourne designer Nick Rennie for Ligne Roset. Photo: supplied
“The idea came from placing a number of cushions together vertically to form the sides and the back of the sofa,” says Rennie. “It has quite a high seat level as well, so its super easy to get up from. And the higher back and sides also have a little flex to them and yet retain their stiffness, which allows great support.” Because of its compact size, the sofa is much more flexible than many other options. Read more →
In the Perth suburb of Mt Lawley, a sculptural form pops out above the houses, an irregular tower made of red clay shingles that seems to wrap in on itself in an unusual architectural shape that is also strangely familiar. This is the Camino House, a Perth house extension designed by Bosske and inspired by the shape of a kiln or oast (a traditional building where hops is dried as part of the brewing process).
View from the street, Camino House, designed by Bosske. Photo: Peter Bennetts
“We initially envisaged the extension as a distinct object, as different to the existing house,” explains Caroline Hickey of Bosske. “It could be something which might ‘sit’ behind it, lean against it, looming above it from the street view, creating a casual relationship between these two elements.” Read more →
As a designer there are many ways to be ethical (or unethical) in daily practice. A growing number of designers are experimenting with waste, using often complex industrial methods to transform garbage and industrial by-products into new materials to be used in products and objects. This has a two-pronged benefit, not only reducing landfill and pollution, but also providing an alternative to mining or producing new materials that might be harmful to the environment.
In Australia, a number of designers have turned to this task over the years. The first names that spring to mind include Brisbane designer Marc Harrison who created the Husque bowls out of macadamia shells and Melbourne designer Simone LeAmon who created the Bowling Arm jewellery out of discarded cricket ball leather off-cuts. In Sydney, Liane Rossler and Sarah K created Supercyclers, working in collaboration with other designers to reuse all sorts of materials, including plastic bags, drinking straws and plastic ocean debris, into functional design pieces. One of the most recent examples from Supercyclers is the Bento Box by Sarah K and Andrew Simpson which is made of ocean plastic bakelite.
Bento Box by Sarah K and Andrew Simpson is made from recycled marine debris bakelite.
Other more recent examples of Australians using recycled materials include Sydney-born, Tasmanian-trained designer and now Jam Factory Associate Matt Pearson of MJP Designed Objects who has designed a pendant light out of fly ash resin composite, a waste material that is generated by coal combustion and is a major by-product of the coal industry.
His Fly Light is made of 50% fly ash in combination with resin, forming a material that allows a strong but thin light shade. For designers like Matt, the process of transforming a waste material into a completely new material is difficult, time consuming and requires patience as well as technical knowledge. Read more →
Unlike other parts of Australia, the South West coast of Victoria does not get very hot – summer maximum averages are around 23º (73ºF) while winter minimum averages are around 6º (42ºF). Architecture firm Jackson Clements Burrows have designed a small holiday cabin along the coast here as an experiment in small living as well as a way to test the best architecture to suit the climate.
Small footprint living at the Moonlight Cabin by JCB. Photo: Jeremy Weihrauch of Gollings Studio
Called Moonlight Cabin, the structure has a small footprint at only 60sqm (645sqft), an intentional choice to challenge what size is necessary for a holiday house. Inside, the cabin is one large space, with the kitchen, bathroom and utilities clustered in a central “pod”. Read more →
South Korean-born, Cardiff-based ceramicist Jin Eui Kim has created a series of ceramics using a layering technique that results in patterns with an optical illusion effect. I discovered his work at the Contemporary Ceramics Centre in London and was immediately impressed by the precision of the pieces, and balance of form and patternation.
OPject Instability no.9, D: 30.8 cm × H: 6.7 cm, 2015, Jin Eui Kim
Jin throws the pots on the wheel and then applies paint in 18 tonal bands from black through to grey and white to create a distinct stripe that deceives the eye, playing with concave and convex shapes. The occasional red or pink band serves as a highlight, while the finish is matte rather than gloss, providing a muted effect that is subtle and beautiful. Read more →
Lyn Balzer and Tony Perkins are a Sydney-based photography and designer/maker duo with an international sensibility, whose works are nevertheless deeply rooted in Australia. Their new exhibition at Sydney’s Australian Design Centre, called Scented Intoxication, features works made from a range of materials in two simple colours: black and white. But it is scent that is the most extraordinary feature of this exhibition.
Gallery view, Scented Intoxication. Photo: Supplied by Australian Design Centre
When you enter the exhibition space, it hits you right away, a beautiful, heady perfume that is not sweet or perfume-like in the traditional sense, but is reminiscent of burnt wood or native Australian vegetation or both. Lyn and Tony worked with French-born Australian-based Elise Pioch Balzac of Maison Balzac to create two scents for two scented candles: L’Obscurite (darkness) is a black candle with a scent inspired by one of Lyn and Tony’s photographs of a sea cave in Kiama NSW. Elise interpreted the image in a scent inspired by volcanic rocks using tree resin, birch tar and red cedar. The other scent is L’Etrangete (strangeness), a white candle with a scent inspired by another photograph by Lyn and Tony, this time of a waterfall in a lush rainforest. Elise interpreted this image of sunlight in greenery as a scent with lemon myrtle, native ginger and hemp. Read more →
As a fan of multi-disciplinary design as well as experimental projects, I was pleased to see so many design installations at this year’s London Design Festival. I have already covered three of the best installations in this blog: Heartbeat, an installation of 100,000 white balloons by French photographer Charles Pétillon, and two Faye Toogood installations (The Cloakroom and The Drawing Room) incorporating fashion, curatorship, making and sculpture. Here are five more and why they are interesting.
Curiosity Cloud by Mischler Traxler. Photo: Penny CraswellCuriosity Cloud by Mischler Traxler. Photo: PC
You enter an ornate room of the V&A filled with 264 suspended blown-glass bulbs hanging from the ceiling. In each bulb, a small insect hand-made out of transparent foil flutters against the side of the glass when it senses your movement. Katharina Mischer (1982) and Thomas Traxler (1981) met while studying at the Design Academy Eindhoven and started their practice in Vienna in 2009. Curiosity Cloud is part of their ongoing collaboration with champagne brand Perrier-Jouët exploring “small discoveries.” Read more →
The London Design Festival is a museum-focused design event, rather than a commercial fair, and this is evident in the number of installations, talks and object exhibitions included. Two of the most amazing installations this year were by London-based designer Faye Toogood: The Cloakroom at the V&A Museum and The Drawing Room at Somerset House.
Coats are made of Kvadrat fabric at The Cloakroom by Faye Toogood. Photo: suppliedI first met Faye when she visited Sydney for The Blocks, a multi-sensory installation she created for Penfolds Wine at Sydney’s Walsh Bay in 2012 (read my article here). At The Blocks, Faye reinterpreted five flavours of wine grapes using the sommelier’s notes, working with sculptors, perfumiers and artists to create the installation inspired by the description of the scent. This is typical of her approach, which is not only focused on making objects, but also includes a conceptual and curatorial element. Read more →
