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design quarterly people products parties

45 DQ presents tomorrow’s top ten forces & faces in design

2012 autumn $9.00 AUD $9.00 NZD

marc newson the art of functionality sister act zuster’s fabulous four

DESIGN QUARTERLY ISSUE DQ45 autumn 2012

inside word DQ Editor Alice Blackwood dq@indesign.com.au Art Direction Senior Designers Emma Warfield emma@indesign.com.au Lauren Mickan lauren@indesign.com.au Junior Designers Frances Yeoland frances@indesign.com.au Ben Williams intern@indesign.com.au Advertising Traffic / Office Administrator Lauren Phipps laurenp@indesign.com.au

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Online Manager Rish Raghu rish@indesign.com.au Online Coordinator Ramith Verdheneni ramith@indesign.com.au Web Designer / Developer Radu Enache radu@indesign.com.au Advertising Enquiries / Online Advertising Enquiries Dana Ciaccia (61 2) 9368 0150 dana@indesign.com.au Laura Garro – Southern States (61) 423 774 126 laurag@indesign.com.au design quarterly people products parties

45 dQ presents tomorrow’s top ten forces & faces in design

marc newson the art of functionality sister act zuster’s fabulous four

2012 autumn $9.00 aud $9.00 nZd

hat does it mean to be a future leader? Is it management skills, a visionary approach, good business sense, leadership prowess or perhaps a philanthropic attitude? I’d say it’s all of the above and more. For this issue we’ve searched far and wide (even crossing continents) to bring you a fresh line-up of designers and multi-disciplinary creatives who we think are set to be the leading forces and faces in design, in the next year to come.

This year’s feature, presented as Tomorrow’s Top Ten Forces & Faces in Design, is all about community and personal interactivity. The stories within are bound by common themes of togetherness, shared experience, re-activation of communities through architecture and design, and the cultivation of a living design culture within our cities. And the beauty of this is, these are all synergies which have naturally developed as we’ve brought the Top Ten selection together. You can delve into the many stories and boundary-pushing practices that make up the Top Ten, starting at page 65.

While the Top Ten tends to highlight more established designers, practitioners and studios, our annual pick of outstanding graduate designers is entirely focused on newly qualified designers, fresh out of university and primed for professional service. What I love most about these up-and-coming designers is their conceptual abilities, their strong grasp of design principles and their resolution and refinement of skill at such an early stage in their career. Also their inclination to explore and take on any challenge is quite outstanding, as you will see in their end-of-year graduate projects – or in some cases already established bodies of work; turn to page 83.

And while we’re touching on topics of a highly conceptual and exciting nature, I should mention that the second ever Brisbane Indesign (BID) is almost upon us, taking place in Fortitude Valley, 25 – 26 May. We have a great admiration for the Queensland design scene, and can’t wait to see what our Queensland counterparts have planned for this fashion and design-fused event – especially with The Project making its first-time appearance at BID this year. Be sure to visit the BID Facebook page, and also sign up for BID updates via brisbaneindesign.com.au On a final note, we would like to take the opportunity to express our great fondness for John Clarke (formerly of The Laminex Group), who passed away earlier this year. John was extremely well liked and well respected within the community, and he will be greatly missed by his peers and friends alike.

Oven from the Marc Newson Range for Smeg, Photo: Tim Robinson Photography, Model sits on ‘Day Bed’ by BassamFellows from Living Edge, Model: Samuel Marc Dunn Alice portrait: Michael Gazzola, Studio 11

Alice

Contributing Writers Anna Flanders, Annie Reid, Ben Morgan, Dhiren Bhagwandas, Elana Castle, Giovanna Dunmall, Joan-Maree Hargreaves, Linda Cheng, Lisa Kappel, Mandi Keighran, Marg Hearn, Michele Koh Morollo, Nicky Lobo, Ola Bednarczuk, Patricia Nelson, Paul McGillick, Peter Sackett, Sam Eichblatt CEO / Publisher Raj Nandan raj@indesign.com.au PA to Publisher Leanne Rogers leanne@indesign.com.au Editorial Director Paul McGillick editor@indesign.com.au Operations Manager Adele Troeger adele@indesign.com.au Financial Director Kavita Lala kavita@indesign.com.au Business Manager Darya Churilina darya@indesign.com.au Accounts Gabrielle Regan gabrielle@indesign.com.au Jana Kralikova jana@indesign.com.au

Published under licence by Indesign Publishing Pty Ltd ABN 96 101 789 262 Head Office (Sydney) L1, 50 Marshall Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010 (61 2) 9368 0150, (61 2) 9368 0289 (fax) info@indesign.com.au indesignlive.com Subscriptions subscriptions@indesign.com.au AUSTRALIA $25 (inc GST) 1 year / $50 (inc GST) 2 years INTERNATIONAL $50AUD 1 year / $100AUD 2 years DQ is a wholly owned Australian publication, which is designed and published quarterly in Australia. DQ is available through subscription, at major newsagencies and bookshops nationally.

Subscriptions – never miss an issue by subscribing online at indesignlive.com, faxing us at (61 2) 9368 0289, or emailing subscriptions@indesign.com.au. Design Quarterly is a quarterly publication fed by who is doing what in the design industry, championing the personality behind design. It aims to promote and create the next generation of design as well as supporting those designers who are more established. The Editor accepts submissions from writers/photographers/illustrators for editorial consideration. We encourage those working in the design industry to submit news and announcements, so we can keep readers abreast of your new developments. Editorial submissions should be made out to the Editor alice@indesign.com.au. Any digital images should be supplied on CD at 300dpi with a minimum width of 15cm. Please also supply full contact details and captions with images. Contributions are submitted at the sender’s risk, and DQ cannot accept any loss or damage. Please retain duplicates of text and images. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any other means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise. The publishers assume no responsibility for errors or omissions or any consequences of reliance on this publication. The opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent the views of the editor, the publisher or the publication. Magazine Stock Our printer is Environmental Management System ISO14001:2004 accredited and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) chain of custody certified. Printing inks are vegetable based. Paper is environmentally friendly ECF (elemental chlorine free) and recyclable.

Printed in Singapore.

Online Editor Ola Bednarczuk ola@indesign.com.au Events and Marketing Kylie Turner kylie@indesign.com.au Laura Sue-San laura@indesign.com.au Tegan Richardson tegan@indesign.com.au Hannah Kurzke hannah@indesign.com.au

DESIGN QUARTERLY ISSUE DQ45 autumn 2012

contents

36

24

REGULARS

49 BUSINESS

12 Open Forum 14 News 16 News Bites 20 Products

Report – Sign Language

In conversation – Marc Newson Smeg

Space Furniture

Robert Plumb

Customer Focused Solutions

FEATURES

29 PEOPLE

Zuster

83 class of their own

– 10 top design graduates

Jake Dyson Studio Lawrence Gregor Jenkin Eleven Eleven

DQ presents tomorrow’s design refiner pro-activist influencer art-chitect orchestrator artisan design leader storyteller mad men conceptualist page 65

86

89 PARTIES

41 EVENTS

Indesign Smeg

Corporate Culture Sixhands Viabizzuno

Living Edge Skheme

Table & Chair

102 ON THE MOVE 104 DIARY

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Business of Design Week BMW Guggenheim Lab The Design Files Open House

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Art work: Yellow on Green with Red (2011) by Andrew O’Brien

NEWS

01 01 danish design

Corporate Culture’s Richard Munao speaks with Marg Hearn on Danish design in Australia.

Reflecting on being awarded The Diploma of the Danish Export Association and His Royal Highness Prince Henrik’s Medal of Honour for efforts in flying the flag for Danish design in Australia, Richard Munao, managing director of Corporate Culture, believes that the accessibility of Danish brand partners to the Australian industry has been a key factor in product take-up.

On the flipside, Munao’s wellhoned eye for good design has facilitated many an introduction between Australian designers and his swag of global supplier connections since he founded the business in 1997.

His philosophy of “putting back into industry” can range from pointing people in the right direction, to product representation and, at times, financial investment.

“Corporate Culture is not a manufacturer, but if we see a good product, we do work with some designers to make it happen, rather than wait for the finished product to come to us.”

While the company distributes David Knott’s ‘Paperclip’ table, Munao identified in his ‘Cantilabra’ a synergy and wider distribution network for the designer with Danish partner, Mater, which is now tooling the product. Globalhaus’s ‘Sticks’ screen was sighted by Extremis on a visit to the Corporate Culture showroom.

02 02 FURNITURE DESIGN

With the launch of its range with Living Edge, BassamFellows brings new vision to the design scene.

The rest is history, with the screen having become one of the Belgium company’s biggest sellers.

Emerging designer Adam Cornish, whose work impressed Munao, won an introduction to Jacob Holm, CEO Fritz Hansen, who was in Melbourne to celebrate the Danish award last November, and a subsequent invitation for Cornish to run his concepts by the makers of some of the world’s best known furniture pieces.

Taking a leaf from his Danish counterparts, Munao explains, ”What we refer to as competitors in Australia are colleagues to the Danes.”

Prince Frederik and Princess Mary of Denmark pictured above. See more images from the event on page 94.

Corporate Culture (61 2) 9690 0077 corporateculture.com.au

Recovering from their Sydney launch event while simultaneously gearing up for the Melbourne edition, Craig Bassam and Scott Fellows of BassamFellows seem refreshingly lucid and laid back. Their furniture range – a distinctive yet graceful collection of furniture pieces developed in a very natural as-needed way, has already received a fantastic reception in Australia.

“Pretty much everything in the collection has come out of a need,” Bassam explains. “All the pieces were designed from a project with specific requirements.” The ‘Circular’ table series, for example, was developed to service a need for an elegant indooroutdoor table, “which we couldn’t find,” Bassam says.

While continuing to develop their own range, Bassam and Fellows have taken on the new and exciting role of consulting Creative Directors for Herman Miller (HM), leading an effort to refresh classics like the Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman.

They are also working on a new

division called the Herman Miller Collection, which consists of HM classics and will form the basis for a much larger collection encompassing work by contemporary designers.

“We are authoring new designs that will be marketed under the Herman Miller Collection,” explains Fellows. “Our first authored design is the ‘Tuxedo’ component lounge sofa” – a handsomely well proportioned, and immaculately finished piece.

As part of the development of this collection, the two designers are “leading the product development, going back to the archive and deciding what to bring back, what finishes to add and working with contemporary designers – including ourselves – to do new products.”

Already they have released a “refreshed” outdoor version of the Eames Aluminium Group chairs, this new version in an outdoor mesh with a powdercoat frame.

With Living Edge being the exclusive Australian stockist for BassamFellows, as well as Herman Miller, it seems a rather nice synergy that we need only make one stop to view the tangible outcomes of what is surely a visionary approach to classic and contemporary furniture design.

Living Edge (61 3) 9009 3940 livingedge.com.au

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03 INDUSTRIAL DESIGN

Japanese design enthusiasts will find new fulfilment in the work of Taku Kumazawa.

A celebrated recipient of 11 Japanese Good Design Awards, Japanese designer Taku Kumazawa designs furniture to help create relaxing spaces in educational and public facilities.

His work is recognised globally for its architectural integrity, including two of his best-known works, the ‘Tipo’ stacking chair/stool range and ‘CTZ’ tilt-top table (pictured above).

Both award-winning designs feature clean lines and simple functionality, and are available from furniture retailer KE-ZU, in Alexandria, Sydney.

First and foremost, Kumazawa enjoys creating products where he says the user can, “feel air flowing and see light and shadow, because furniture is a kind of monument.”

An industrial design graduate from the Nagoya University of Arts, he has followed in the footsteps of his father, who is also a product designer.

Kumazawa joined the R&D division of AICHI after graduating in 1994, and is currently head of new product development, and associate director for the Design Development Group.

Kumazawa’s latest product is the lecture hall seating system ‘SCF5105’, which customises space, storage and comfort for users during long lectures.

We hear whispers that a new meeting chair is on the cards too.

KE-ZU (61 2) 9669 1788 kezu.com.au

04 “ Kumazawa enjoys

04 FURNITURE DESIGN

A rich history in cabinet making and where the user can sustainable timber growth underpins the ethos of Team 7. feel air flowing creating products

and see light and shadow, because furniture is a kind of monument” Taku Kumazawa

This Austrian furniture brand was established in 1959, founded as a cabinet-making workshop. During the 1980s, the company broke with tradition to pursue the age-old practices of its forebears, as Team 7’s international sales manager, Oliver Bayerl, explains.

At the time, this involved a more authentic, hand-hewn approach (rather than over-manufactured), with

the use of oil and beeswax finishes rather than lacquer – “just like our grandfathers,” Bayerl says.

Nowadays, Team 7 is renowned for its genuine, sustainable approach, supplying a large portion of the timber it uses from company-owned sustainably managed forests. Aiding operations is a sawmill and panel production facility, allowing Team 7, Bayerl says, to “customise our panels – which is something unique to our furniture business.”

Full interior fit-outs can be made to size – from kitchen benchtops, to tables, desks and joinery for living spaces and more. One of Team 7’s biggest clients is piano company Steinway and Sons, as well as bathware and tableware brand Villeroy and Boch. “We’re a subsupplier for expensive industries requiring stable solid wood panels.”

Having launched its product range into the Australian market late last year, Team 7 is now supplying local A&D with custom-sized and made furniture pieces across the areas of dining, living and kitchen.

Channelling its unique ethos back into the industry, Team 7 supply some of the best Austrian universities with woodworking material, free of charge. These activities go a long way in cultivating a new generation of cabinet-makers and designers who are, as we speak, developing new furniture concepts for Team 7, while also honing their hands-on skills in their workshops.

Team 7 is available in Australia through Popcorn Interiors.

Popcorn Interiors (61 3) 9421 1000 popcorninteriors.com.au

PRODUCTS 02 01 Mademoiselle A modern classic, this lounge chair from Artek (designed in 1956) is available in black-stained or whitepainted solid birch. It’s a beautiful addition to any interior setting.

Anibou (61 2) 9319 0655 anibou.com.au

04 Tiki With a mouth-like footrest, this bar stool is suitable for interiors and exteriors and comes in two heights and a variety of colours.

Derlot Editions (61 7) 3129 4379 derloteditions.com

02 Cloud Originally designed for a residential project, the ‘Cloud’ table by Autoban looks skyward for inspiration. Made from Oak, Walnut or Rosewood, it is indeed whimsical in form.

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Spence & Lyda (61 2) 9212 6747 spenceandlyda.com.au

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03 Ray A playful take on tubular lighting (TL), ‘Ray’ utilises warm TLs and a remotecontrolled dimmer. TL connectors are integrated into Bakelite balls of black, blue, yellow and pink.

Sylvain Willenz Shop 32 (0)2 611 2917 shop.sylvainwillenz.com

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05

05 G3 Tambour A flexible, stylish storage solution, available in numerous sizes, colours, and with accessories including a planter box. ‘G3’ comes in multiple configurations with optional environmentally friendly ABS slats.

DEXION 1300 180 358 dexionoffice.com.au

06 06 Gabion Raw, yet refined, ‘Gabion’ is an Ash pedestal dining table with granite ballast, which balances the table in a cantilever fashion. It’s designed by Benjamin Hubert.

De La Espada 1 (310) 494 0205 delaespada.com

07 Casso Safari Inspired by 20th Century Cubism, ‘Casso’ is a nine-colour print investigating bold geometrics in a small-scale context. ‘Casso Safari’ is one of five colourways in this range.

Sparkk (61 2) 9313 8759 sparkk.com.au

08 Orbita This light by Simon Busse features 16 fins encircling a central luminaire. It emits a clear, direct downward light, while its fins refract a geometrically patterned light upwards.

Almerich (34) 961 343 230 almerich.com

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13

14 11 tablita e tablito Become the master of time with these kooky blackboard clocks from Diamantini & Domeniconi. Add a graphic, add numbers, or leave it plain. Made from multi-layered Birch and slate.

Space Furniture (61 2) 8339 7588 spacefurniture.com.au

08 09 BLUES CONSOLE Jazz up your bathroom with Devon&Devon’s ‘Blues Console’.

Its sturdy metal strips reflect the chrome-plated grills of vintage cars.

Chrome-finished, it comes in light gold and polished nickel.

Studio Bagno (61 2) 9316 5588 studiobagno.com.au

10 LED MiniStar A low-profile cabinet light that stays cool and merges with its surrounds, the ‘LED MiniStar’ comes as a pack of three modules, pre-wired with a wall transformer.

Hotbeam (61 3) 9899 9411 hotbeam.com

12 folded The ‘Folded’ series of porcelain tiles features a subtle, textural tactility.

Imitating white folded paper, the 600mm2 tiles are suitable for floor and wall applications.

Academy Tiles (61 2) 9436 3566 academytiles.com.au

13 LiquidLEDs Bulbs using Liquid Immersed Thermal Management Solution technology generate multi-directional lighting and use up to 90 per cent less energy, with a 30,000-hour lifespan.

LiquidLEDs Lighting 1800 744 706 liquidleds.com.au

14 Frame Volume meets minimalism with the ‘Frame’ table lamp by Arnaud Lapierre. Here, table becomes lampshade as LEDs come to life, delineating the graphic folds of the bent, painted metal.

Triode Design 33 (0)1 4329 4005 triodedesign.com

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PEOPLE studio lawrence

Dutch, but not Bart Eijking and Patrick de Louwere discuss their multi-disciplinary practice, Studio Lawrence, and explain to Ben Morgan why they migrated the award-winning business to London.

I

meet Bart Eijking and Patrick de Louwere in a small café-bar in London’s Notting Hill. It’s just a stone’s throw from where the pair relocated their design studio, Studio Lawrence. But, it’s not just the nice food and trendy shops that have lured them across the North Sea. “We think there’s a lot more potential for our work here, and on a bigger platform,” Eijking explains.

“Say you’re in a trade fair in Holland with your furniture: there aren’t that many people stopping over from Saudi Arabia [for example] that want a huge quantity of lamps – but those things happen here. We were in a pretty comfortable position in Holland, but we thought ‘maybe we should try this on a bigger stage.’ ”

From top » Bart Eijking & Patrick de Louwere » 'To Gather' sofa » 'Wonky' chairs

Eijking and de Louwere are keen to explore the power of interior products to create interaction and individualism within spaces. With the recent ‘To Gather’ seating range, they wanted to create “furniture that makes people interact”, and started with an angle that encourages people to enter into an exchange.

Despite being devised a world away, a spirit of individuality and customisation means Studio Lawrence’s products are perfect for the Australian setting. “Our pieces leave a lot of freedom to the end user. With the ‘Wonky’ [chair] you can choose your favourite [models], with 'Along These Lines' you can choose your own stripes and rearrange the composition, and with the ‘Last

Supper’ table, you can also mix and match the colours you want.”

“Our designs are very Dutch.

They are bold, we try to make them comfortable and tactile, and they are simple and very ideas-based,” Eijking says. And yet: “In another way, it’s not so Dutch: we have timber chairs (the 'Wonky') that are very lyrical, and strangely shaped. We also have a felt wall covering made in hand-drawn shapes. Our architecture also is a mix between the strict and rectangular with a more lyrical tendency.”

The award-winning Studio Lawrence itself grew ‘lyrically’ from the duo’s architectural firm, eijkingdelouwere. Working on a number of architectural and interior projects – from residential to

commercial and civic – they began designing tailored seating and tables.

“People asked where they could buy the table,” de Louwere says. “We thought, ‘wait a second’, and it sank in that [producing products] might be quite interesting.”

They’ve since created an exciting collection of wall coverings, chairs, breakout furniture, lighting, rugs and tables. “There’s so much more precision in our architecture since we began designing furniture,” de Louwere says. “In that sense, maybe furniture helps the architecture.”

‘Raising’ lantern and ‘To Gather’ sofa were awarded Interior Innovation Awards at imm Cologne in January. studio lawrence 44 (0)20 8354 2667 studiolawrence.com

AD

EVENTS business of design week

a new sense of purpose W

hile the Business of Design Week (BODW) in Hong Kong is now long-passed, there is a currency to the discussions that took place at the four-day event that remains as relevant today as it was some four months ago.

The 2011 BODW attracted a slew of architects and practitioners from the global design community. Hoping to get a better understanding of both Western and Eastern perspectives, I spoke to the pragmatic Manfred Dorn from Germany and the mysterious Nosigner – real name Eisuke Tachikawa – from Japan.

Dorn, managing director of product and interface design firm Phoenix Design, a Stuttgart company whose clients include global electronic giants LG, Siemens and Sharp, says his philosophy is to keep things simple and let less essential

elements fade into the background.

He says, “People live in a world that is getting more and more complex, so what they really want are simple solutions. They are looking to anchor their lives, so we try to offer them products which are well made and well thought-out.”

Dorn tells me that German designers still follow the Bauhaus tradition of “less is more”. Although the designs coming out of Germany today don’t look like they did 40 years ago, they are still rooted in simplicity.

But less being more is not strictly a German ideal. Founder of Japanese multi-disciplinary design studio Nosigner, Tachikawa was also hot on the lips of many attendees at BODW. The 30-year-old Nosigner, as he prefers to be called, has attracted as much attention for using unexpected

materials, such as rice noodles and eggshells, in his products as he has for starting OLIVE, a web project that served as a platform for open designs to help victims of the 2011 Sendai earthquake and tsunami.

Like Dorn, finding purity and precision in objects drives Nosigner, who believes good design lies simply in finding the right relationships between object, user and setting.

“Form is not to be made, but to be found. For example, think about the shape of a tree. Trees are not trying to make themselves beautiful. But in order to be efficient, to have the best relationship with the soil, wind and sun, they developed the way they did to adapt. Beauty is our instinct to find something that relates to our life; it is about right relations. Design should be like that,” he says.

The OLIVE web project Nosigner initiated, which yielded masks made out of T-shirts, shoes composed of plastic bottles, and rubber bands derived from bicycle tyres, caused him to rethink product design in terms of multi-functionality.

“In emergencies, real efficiency is of higher worth than quality or aesthetics. After the earthquake, design changed in Japan. The Japanese always preferred sophisticated, well-made products – what’s considered ‘high design’.

But, after the tsunami, it’s become important for products to have more than one function. It is what’s called smart design. For example, a light would have higher value if it can be used as a torch in an emergency situation, and a drinking glass that can also be a vase or a lamp would

be seen as a better product.

This kind of diversity will become more important to the development of design.”

Dorn is concerned with the effect that products have on the environment in the long term.

Phoenix Design’s motto of “Logic, morality and magic” means making products that are precise, purposeful and responsible.

“Moral” involves thinking about the resources going into the production of an object, and how much waste it generates at end of life.

The question that continues to vex him is whether to make a product that requires much energy and resources in its creation stage, but that can be easily recycled, or to make something with less material and energy, which is not easily recyclable.

“Designers can’t do it alone, the whole society has to be involved.

Manufacturers and clients have to be involved. But designers can help push things in the right direction. When you start thinking about the afterlife of a product, you realise that you are facing a very complicated problem with huge ramifications.”

Both designers report that they gained much from attending BODW. “We so easily forget that there are so many ways of solving problems in the world. So, when you come to a conference like this, you realise, wow, there are seven other ways to do this; it opens your mind and gets you out of your comfort zone,” Dorn says.

Text by Michele Koh Morollo

2A/2 Whiting Street, Artarmon NSW 2064, Australia +61 2 9906 1705 www.forestftt.com.au

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Clockwise from top left » ‘The Moon’ by Nosigner, Photo: Nosigner » ‘DL20 LED’ city and park light, by Phoenix Design for Siteco » ‘Tr/Sq/Rh’ by Nosigner, Photo: Hatta » Nosigner presenting at Business of Design Week, Photo courtesy of BODW

Business of Design Week What: Annual conference When: Every December Where: Hong Kong » bodw.com

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BUS INE SS

Staircase in The Villa, Space Asia Hub, Photo courtesy of Space Furniture

designquarterly.com.au

business

DQ explores signage and space with a series of breathtaking case studies from australia and asia.

business REPORT: sign language • In conversation: marc newson • smeg • Space furniture robert plumb • customer-focuSsed solutions

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SPACES space furniture

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room to move I

keep saying to friends in Australia who shop at Space, ‘Wait until you see Singapore. Get on a plane and have a look at Singapore – this is how our business is evolving.’ ” There is no mistaking Space director Katie Page’s enthusiasm for her new showroom in Singapore. And why not? It is the ultimate showcase in the perfect location – Singapore’s arts and education precinct, just round the corner from the sensational School of Arts building designed by WOHA, the architects Page selected to realise her dream.

Previously in the Millennia Walk shopping mall, the move to a streetfront showroom was deliberate.

Space Singapore general manager Syddal Wee says, “We think a more effective model for us is a good location – not necessarily high traffic – [but] an attractive destination store for those who want to come.”

And this is some destination, with two beautifully restored and internally adapted heritage buildings and a highly contemporary transparent, glass, four-level “box” inserted into the middle, linking all three buildings.

Page says, “At this level, you had better know what you’re doing. You had better walk the walk. When a customer is talking to me, they want to know that I live this. They’re investing a lot of money in design, and they want to know that you know about that product.”

Certainly, from the outside the showroom sends a clear signal that this product is a blend of the historical (craftsmanship and experience) with the contemporary.

Inside, there is an exhilarating and seemingly never-ending succession of different spaces which give each of the 20-plus brands an opportunity to present themselves in a unique way.

Wee speaks of Space having a portfolio of premium brands. “It is,” he says, “almost like a synergistic collection, because the concept of having a monobrand store is something we resisted. It doesn’t work, because if I have $100,000 to spend, would I go to a monobrand store and buy everything from one brand? I don’t want my house to be an extension of the brand showroom.”

Having multiple premium brands, Wee says, gives clients the opportunity to mix and match, and to personalise their preferences.

That ingredient is mixed in with the idea of a “lifestyle” showroom which embodies the experience of living with these brands.

Space already saw how its clients were prepared to come to Singapore from around the region.

That, and the fact that its brand partners sought to establish a platform to launch products into Asia, proved the “trigger”, he says, to creating a hub in a showroom which is, well, irresistible.

Text by Paul McGillick

Artwork: First Journey by David Bromley Photography: Partrick Bingham-Hall, courtesy of Space Furniture

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Space Asia Hub Address: 77 Bencoolen Street, Singapore Phone: (65) 6415 0000 Showroom Opened: November 2011 Designer: WOHA Architects Size: Approximately 3716m² » spacefurniture.com.sg

FEA TUR ES

Soho nightclub, Kings Cross, Sydney, by MAKE Creative, Photo courtesy of MAKE Creative

designquarterly.com.au

features

DQ connects with the design community to find our future leaders in architecture and design.

tomorrow's top ten forces & faces in design • class of their own – 10 top design graduates

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features tomorrow’s top ten

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tomorrow’s top ten

C

urating the Top Ten is a real exercise in rigorous control.

There are so many talented Australian designers, each with a unique story, a different approach, a striking aesthetic and inspiring work ethic. It takes great restraint to limit our selection to just 10.

And while amassed their collective clout can be a lot to absorb, there is much that makes each Top Tenner quite distinctive. It’s their personality, their resolve, their refinement, their goals, their ability to touch people through the medium of their work.

It’s very much their outward focus, their engagement with the here and now and their connection with their community – whether it be through design, architecture, art or other.

Each of our Top Ten has a different story, and together they form a picture of Australia’s contemporary design community. Drawing their narratives together is a series of common threads, addressing and finding ways to activate and integrate communities through architecture and design, as well as improving interactivity at a personal level and finding resources to empower people to do great things.

Before you dive in, let us give you a quick introduction. There’s Earl Pinto, who produce all their work from their Melbourne studio; Nick Harding, who is interested in engaging with communities through architecture; Sam Fazzari is committed to fostering Australian design and manufacturing in Australia; Jen Berean, whose exciting practice encompasses dual fields of art and architecture; MAKE Creative draws on their diverse backgrounds to design inspiring interiors; Phil Cuttance, who is re-engaging with craftmanship through design; William Wilding empowers people with great ideas to achieve outstanding results; Eoghan Lewis cultivates active discourses around cities and urban living; Motherbird just does really cool stuff! And then, Jordana Maisie, a new media and electronic artist harnesses her knowledge of design with memorable results.

These are your Top Ten and they form the face of our community and the future of Australian design.

This page » Brand campaign for Billy Blue School of Design,

by Motherbird

This year, we've taken the Top Ten online, and you’ll find loads of extra images and stories posted on: » designquarterly.com.au » indesignlive.com

For the ambitious there are no limits – at least not on this cooktop.

The new CX 480 full surface induction cooktop.

Gaggenau presents a unique cooktop that transforms the entire surface into one large cooking zone.

The 48 microinductors below its surface allow you to arrange your cookware as you wish - the cookware is automatically recognised and heated where it stands.

The intuitive TFT touch display shows the position, sizes and shapes of cookware and provides optimum convenience by allowing you to keep settings constant when you’re moving your cookware around on the surface. Constantly creating innovative ideas – so you can create the truly exceptional.

The difference is Gaggenau.

Visit one of our Gaggenau experience centres, located nationally. To arrange an appliance demonstration or locate your nearest retailer, phone 1300 727 421, or visit: www.gaggenau.com.au

designquarterly.com.au

features class of their own

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class of their own The latest round of graduate design exhibitions revealed a plentiful offering of emerging Australian designers, whose adventurous spirit shows a propensity for highly conceptual and well resolved work.

Kacey Devlin

This page » ‘Inception’, graduate collection by Kacey Devlin, Photo courtesy of Kacey Devlin

Discipline: Fashion design Study: Bachelor of Design in Fashion & Textiles, University of Technology, Sydney Completed: 2011 Graduate collection: ‘Inception’ “ ‘Inception’ is about exposing the fallacies and fictions that clothing and the act of dressing have adopted over time.

The conceptual foundation of the collection is raw and honest, with inspiration grounded in self-directed films of blindfolded models dressing in unfamiliar and deconstructed pieces.

Using the methods, movements and interactions taken directly from these films to inform drape, form and function, ‘Inception’ is about awakening the body through the act of dressing.

With garments taking a soft, tailored and highly abstracted drape, each piece allows for transformation and textural layering.”

Kacey plans to launch her label this year, with mentoring, PR and marketing support from her current employer, Cav Con. Kacey Devlin (61) 409 077 741 kaceydevlin.com

PARTIES corporate culture

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royal entrance corporate culture What: Presentation of The Diploma of the Danish Export Association & His Royal Highness Prince Henrik's Medal of Honour to Richard Munao Where: Melbourne showroom When: November 2011 Guests: Prince Frederik & Princess Mary of Denmark, Jacob Holm, president & CEO of Fritz Hansen, select VIP guests Contact: (61 3) 9066 1177

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» corporateculture.com.au

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04 01 Nadia Teeuwsen, Yosi Tal, Shareen Joel 02 Chris Correll, Valerie Mack, Anna Drummond, Brianna Scarlet, Gabriella Gulacsi 03 Princess Mary, Jacob Holm, Richard Munao, Prince Frederick 04 Kate Anderson, Jane Holmes, Liz Schofield 05 Geraldine Maher, Nicole

Johnson, Marc Dietrich, Wuff Keebie 06 Beatrix Rowe, Hamish Gutherie, Cassie James 07 Katherine Bennett, Lucy Marczyk, Joseph Antonios, Narelle Cuthbert 08 Julia Sutterby, Alfred Debruyne, Agie Duda, Felicity Dendle

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Efficient Lighting Systems

The Wheeler Centre – State Library of Victoria Featuring Ligman Duomo wall light

Australian and New Zealand distributor of Ligman exterior lighting products

39 TINNING ST BRUNSWICK VIC 3056 PO BOX 5084 MORELAND WEST VIC 3055 PHONE: 03 9222 5522 EMAIL: info@elslighting.com.au underwater lights, inground lights, wall lights, downlights, bollards, pendants, floodlights, post tops, street lights

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www.elslighting.com.au

15/02/12 9:08 AM

PARTIES sixhands

designquarterly.com.au

95

01 Patricia Castagnet & partner 02 Lucy Mee, Michelle Schryber, Karen Brown 03 Nikki Donald 04 Kara Neville 05 Smiling for the camera 06 Justine Brabant, Dani Griffin 07 Team from Tanner Architects with Brianna Pike 08 All smiles on the night 09 Justine Mantel, Jason Parry

soirÉe after six 01

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sixhands What: Sixhands collection launch Where: Emily Ziz Style Studio, Redfern, Sydney When: February 2012 Guests: Clients, designers, media Contact: (61 2) 9310 5225

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Âť sixhands.com.au

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ExclusivE distributors

Furniture options perth tel +61 8 9228 4878 e info @furnitureoptions.com.au furnitureoptions.com.au

EuropEan dEsigns madE in portugal

EuropEan bEEch timbEr

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prototype commercial Furniture brisbane tel +61 7 3010 4363

Karen

sydney tel +61 2 8394 8205 e info @ prototype.net.au prototype.net.au

15/02/12 9:08 AM

OTM Australian Workstation Manufacturers Commercial furniture experts, AWM, welcome two new Business Development Managers to their company. Laraine Brown joins as National Representative, while Michael D’Andrea will focus on Western Australia. Both Laraine and Michael have extensive experience in the commercial furniture market. » ( 61 2) 9700 7403 awm.net.au

» people on the move

Classique

Cosentino

Customer Focused Solutions

Classique welcomes Linda Ovelgonne to the Sydney concept showroom. Linda has been studying interior design at Enmore TAFE and has a background in event and hospitality management.

She brings new energy for coordinating bookings and the ever-changing display of new designs distributed by Classique.

Donna Ciric recently joined Cosentino as NSW State Sales Manager. Her new position draws on 13 years’ worth of skills, passion and knowledge in the stone industry. She is moving from WK Marble and Granite/Quantum Quartz, where she was Senior Business Development Manager Architects & Designers for the past four years.

Answering the needs of the commercial fit-out market, Customer Focused Solutions (CFS), has appointed Hellen Magaris to represent the company as the NSW and ACT Sales Manager.

Hellen has many years’ experience as a sales consultant of repute and has delivered several high-profile projects.

» ( 61 2) 4372 1672 classique.net.au

» ( 61 2) 8707 2500 silestone.com/oceania

» ( 61 2) 9698 8244 cfsol.net

Design Institute of Australia

designoffice

Electrolux

HBO+EMTB

Valerie Mack joins the DIA National Board. As Associate at Woods Bagot, Valerie has been involved in numerous projects across the public and private sectors. As part of the DIA Victorian State Chapter, Valerie hopes to, “promote the role that design plays in enhancing business and people’s lives.”

Mark Simpson and Damien Mulvihill of Universal Design Studio announce the acquisition of its Australian office.

The Melbourne studio now operates under the name DesignOffice. Mark and Damien continue as joint Creative Directors while counterparts in the UK, Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby, continue as non-executive Directors.

Electrolux announces the appointment of design luminary Stefano Marzano as the new Chief Design Officer at the Electrolux headquarters in Stockholm.

Meanwhile, Lyndon Craig, has been appointed as Senior Design Manager in Sydney, Australia.

HBO+EMTB appoints Alex Baker as Associate Director in its Brisbane studio. Alex will play a major role in marketing the firm’s architecture and interior design services in Queensland.

Most recently, he was State Manager for Corporate Culture and Australian Brand Manager for Poltrona Frau.

» 1 300 888 056 dia.org.au

» ( 61 2) 9317 9500 electrolux.com

» ( 61 3) 94 17 0001 design-office.com.au

» (61 7) 3234 2900 hboemtb.com

Interstudio

Katon Redgen Mathieson

Ontera

Siren

Kirsten Brown joins interior specialists, Interstudio, as its new Managing Director. Kirsten’s past experience with architectural product suppliers combined with her training in consultancy and business strategy makes her an ideal candidate for the role.

Kirsten will be responsible for its supply, logistics and daily management.

Three well-known names unite to represent new architecture firm, KRM: David Katon, Harlan Redgen and Phillip Mathieson. With extensive experience in their individual practices, the trio combined to build on the principles of modernism and timeless architecture in their Sydney studio.

Ontera introduces three new employees to its team, which aptly reflects the company’s strategic growth. Kevin Harkin takes on the role of Marketing Manager, with Ian Wood and Kevin Grime as State Representatives of NSW and WA, respectively.

To meet the growing needs of its clients, Siren Design has appointed Kate McCann as Projects Director. With over 17 years in her field, Kate brings Siren’s clientele her experience, and will work to ensure Siren’s talented design team continue to be well supported.

» ( 61 2) 8838 2500 ontera.com.au

» ( 61 2) 9252 9441 sirendesign.com.au

» 1 300 785 199 interstudio.com.au

» ( 61 2) 9280 4100 krm.net.au

SixHands

Stylecraft

Woodhead

Textile agency Emily Ziz Studio will represent Australian interior textile specialists Sixhands this year. Both Emily and the team at Sixhands share a passion for vibrant colour and textiles, which means beautiful works by Sixhands will now be made available throughout New South Wales.

Bringing original, contemporary design to commercial and residential spaces, Stylecraft continues to focus on customer relations. Two newly appointed Sales Consultants, Craig Madgwick (Sydney) and Louise Courtice (Perth) will bring expert knowledge from their tertiary studies in interior design.

Bringing over 15 years of service to architectural firm Woodhead, Angelo Di Marco has been rewarded with the position of CEO and Managing Director.

Angelo not only has the underlying practical design skills but also brings a global view to the position.

» ( 61 2) 9310 5225 sixhands.com.au

» ( 61 3) 9666 4300 stylecraft.com.au

» ( 61 2) 9964 9500 woodhead.com.au

Directing design professionals to the right jobs All the latest jobs for the Australasian architecture and design community.

careersindesign.com.au

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