Design duo Jonathan Biet and Sophie Bain from So Watt in Sydney’s Marrickville have put out a beautiful timber Christmas tree decoration this year that also supports a good cause.
So Watt Smith Family Christmas Tree. Image: Supplied
The So Watt Smith Family Plywood Christmas Tree features a simple slot-together design paired with the quality of a beautifully-finished Birch Plywood. It works well as an ornament to complement your main tree, or can serve as a small Christmas tree with lights for those of us who sometimes prefer a more minimal Christmas. Read more →
If the purpose of architectural installations is to explore ideas, experiment with new materials and test new forms, then the installation “Somewhere Other” currently on show in Venice has well and truly achieved its brief. John Wardle Architects was one of only two Australian architecture studios (along with Room 11) selected to show as part of the 16th International Architecture Exhibition at the Venice Biennale of Architecture and worked with a range of collaborators on this work.
Somewhere Other by John Wardle Architects and collaborators. Image: Peter Bennetts
The exhibition theme this year, across both this exhibition and the whole biennale, is “Freespace”, through which curators Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara of Irish studio Grafton Architects raise questions about how people relate to buildings and vice versa, what is private and what is public space, and what is the architect’s role in this equation. Read more →
Designed by Bruce Rowe from Melbourne’s Anchor Ceramics, the Potter DS is a series of lights made by hand in the studio using traditional pottery techniques.
Potter DS wall light designed by Bruce Rowe of Anchor Ceramics. Photos: Haydn Cattach taken for Rakumba Lighting
A simple vertical cylinder of clay forms the wall format of the Potter DS, with a subtle indentation in its body giving it the appearance of having two segments. A slit provides an opening to the light source within that glows against the wall behind. Read more →
Singapore-based designer Pamm Hong spoke at the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences as part of the Sydney Design Festival earlier this month.
Watermelon Sugar by Pamm Hong, Sydney Design Festival
A digital artist whose work spans design, technology and science, Hong’s latest work, Watermelon Sugar, is a digital artwork created through a scientific approach to data collection. Read more →
This unusual design replaces traditional table legs with three large balls that allow the table to roll across the floor. Perth furniture designer Jack Flanagan was inspired by ball bearings, and in particular by the spherical stones that make up the gravel roads in Western Australia and create a slippery surface for rally car drivers.
Beraking table by Jack Flanagan. Photo: Toby Peet
“[These stones are] completely unique to the south west of Western Australia,” Flanagan explains. “I was interested in the way in which, when driven on, it becomes very slippery due to the spherical stones rolling over the hard compact base. I became well experienced with this sensation in my past as a rally driver.” Read more →
January is an excellent time of year to catch up on reading, including those design and architecture books you accumulated during the year but didn’t have time to read, or those you were given for Christmas. Here’s my list.
At 288 pages, this is a book that can be read straight through like a novel, or dipped into as you like. With chapters like “What is design?” and “Why design is not – and should never be confused with – art”, the book addresses the basics of design in a style that is both straightforward and instantly engaging, but Rawsthorn’s examples are its true strength. Her journalism background means she draws from every element of life, describing, for example, how the pirate flag was an example of early communication design (page 29-30). Thought-provoking reading. Also don’t forget, her new book Design as an Attitude is out this year. Read more →
It seems that us city-dwellers have gone crazy for all things green over the last couple of years, and Melbourne designer Helen Kontouris has responded with an inspired take on the screen that also acts as a planter, creating curtains of vertical greenery that will suit the smallest interior space or balcony.
Wattle, Acacia and Banksia Botanical planter screens by Helen Kontouris for LEN Furniture. Image: supplied
Designed for LEN Furniture, the Botanical Planter Screen is self-watering and suits climbing plants, with only one plant per screen required for the full effect – you can even plant climbing vegetables like tomatoes, passionfruit or snow peas. Read more →
Based in Florence, Italy, ex.t has always pushed boundaries when it comes to bathroom design, striving for simplicity and elegance while thinking outside the basics of bath, basin and bowl. This year, they launched two new ranges, in both cases commissioning a non-bathroom designer to create something different to go alongside their bathroom products.
Plateau and Raso designed by Sebastian Herkner for ex.t. Image: supplied
In the case of the new Plataeu and Raso collection, German furniture designer Sebastian Herkner was approached to design a range that includes mirrors and pendant lights in addition to washbasin, console and bathtub. An architectural language is created through the use of a shelf that sits just behind and below the rim of the basin, console and bath, creating a functional space to rest bathroom items, while also adding the illusion of a shadow or extra dimension. The mirror features the same shadow, an extension to the oval shape by way of a transparent frame on one side only. Meanwhile, the Raso lighting pendants in pink, grey, white and transparent glass offer a complementary design object that softens the bathroom interior. Read more →
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 →
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 →
