sustainability Archives - The Design Writer

Object Stories: 1 Hour Bag by Dowel Jones

February 18, 2020January 1, 2023despc

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.

Review: MPavilion 2019 by Glenn Murcutt

November 18, 2019January 1, 2023despc

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.

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.

Review: Marrickville Library by BVN

October 4, 2019January 1, 2023despc

By Penny Craswell

The new Marrickville Library by BVN is a strikingly beautiful adaptive reuse of an existing hospital building, which was originally built in 1871 and is heritage listed. BVN won an invited design competition for their scheme, which favours a community-first approach with a heavy emphasis on sustainable building practices.

Marrickville Library entrance by BVN. Photo: Brett Boardman

“Incorporating a building as historically rich as the old Marrickville Hospital, and developing it into a piece of contemporary architecture, to meet the needs of Marrickville’s diverse community, was a truly rewarding project for us,” says BVN Project Director Brian Clohessy.

Review: ‘Broken Nature’ Triennale in Milan

July 13, 2019January 1, 2023despc

By Penny Craswell

There is no question that the world is in climate crisis, with school children on strike and increasing numbers of governments around the world declaring a climate emergency, so the theme of the XXII edition of the Triennale di Milano this year is particularly apt. Broken Nature: Design Takes on Human Survival is an exhibition and series of international installations that explores what designers are doing to tackle the problem.

Totems, Neri Oxman and the Mediated Matter Group at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Triennale Milano. Photo: Gianluca Di Ioia

Broken Nature takes as its starting point the inevitable extinction of humans and explores the myriad ways that designers are attempting to tackle the problem. “Humanity is in peril… the strain we are placing on environmental bonds is significant, the needle measuring the tension is already in the critical zone, and the pressure is mounting,” writes Italian-born NY-based curator Paola Antonelli in the catalogue essay.

Ethics in Practice: Fashion design with High Tea with Mrs Woo

March 3, 2019January 1, 2023despc

By Penny Craswell

High Tea with Mrs Woo was a proponent of slow fashion before the term was even invented. The label is run by three sisters from Newcastle – Rowena, Juliana and Angela Foong – who began their careers in fashion running a second-hand clothing store while they were at university. Right from the beginning, the trio were all about recycling, remaking and making the most of existing fashion. “We were upcycling pre-loved garments, sourcing vintage fabrics and using deadstock fabrics from a remnant warehouse,” explains Rowena Foong, “but we weren’t making enough money to pay the rent!”

Rowena, Juliana and Angela Foong from High Tea with Mrs Woo. Photo: Alexander McIntyre

The next step was to create their own fashion label, High Tea with Mrs Woo, which was launched in 2004. And it’s fair to say that it has been a remarkable success – not only has the brand received awards and acclaim, it has achieved longevity in a field that’s all about what’s new. All three sisters are still based in Newcastle, still in the same retail store and manufacturing from their studio workshop 15–18 years on. They are also still producing garments by their own hands using high quality natural fibre fabrics.

Objects reborn from demolished house in Christchurch

August 24, 2015January 1, 2023despc

By Penny Craswell

What would happen if you took all the waste from one demolished house and used it to create new objects? This question is the foundation of a new exhibition, book and auction called “Whole House Reuse” in Christchurch, New Zealand. An initiative of social enterprise Rekindle, the project highlights the huge amount of landfill created by the construction industry each year, particularly in Christchurch which is still demolishing and rebuilding after the Christchurch Earthquake in 2011.

Reading station by David Trubridge Design Studio (David Trubridge, Marion Courtille, Mathilde Polmard, Mat Stott)

It took seven days for a professional salvage crew and team of volunteers to fully deconstruct the single storey house in the Christchurch suburb of New Brighton, leaving behind only the concrete ring foundation.