INDEX – RMIT INTERIOR DESIGN 2011 GRADUATE EXHIBITION
79 Ireland Street, West Melbourne Opening 7pm Friday 11 November Exhibition 11am - 6.30pm, 13 - 17 November www.indexrmit.org.au
WELCOME 11.11.11 – the opening of our graduate exhibition, INDEX 2011! A once-off confluence of time, space, projects, people. And while the numbers will never line up again, each INDEX in its own way is a singular and unique moment when individual projects come together collectively as 1 exhibition to present and celebrate the ideas and interior design propositions of our graduating students. Since 1985, INDEX has happened 27 times; coalescing somewhere in Melbourne to transform a site into an interior event; an evening of celebration and awards; a display and celebration of our graduates’ year-long thesis projects; an encounter with propositions which address the practice of interior design and catapult ideas into the future; a week-long public exhibition; a collective moment to wish our graduates well as they leave to take up their professional lives. INDEX also presents and celebrates our program’s approach to the discipline of interior design. The oldest interior design program in Australia (since 1947), our agenda is to challenge
assumptions and test new ideas through design; through projects, processes, strategies, theories and scenarios. We approach the practice of interior design as an idea-led discipline concerned with the spatial and temporal relations between people and the surrounding environment where ‘interior’ is not limited to the inside of a building but posed as a creative proposition to, and question of, design. Projects range in scale from the intimacy of a finely crafted object to the urban fabric of a city and each year potential trajectories and new practices emerge. INDEX enables us to grasp the present – the now and here – through the current concerns of each student and as a collective expression of that particular year. Their projects respond to, express and shape the contemporary context while giving glimpses of a future interior design practice. On behalf of the program, thank you to the 4th year tutors who have worked closely with the students this year: Roger Kemp (4th year coordinator), Anthony Fryatt (INDEX coordinator), Ross McLeod, Trish Pringle, Caroline Vains and Andrea Mina. Thank you to the sponsors, who through their financial support make each INDEX a reality!
To the 4th year students who, on top of their own projects, also took on the project of INDEX and actually made it happen. Thank you to the rest of the program staff – Phoebe Whitman, Rochus Urban Hinkel, Philippa Murray, Leah Heiss and Yukari Yamaguchi – as well as our committed sessional staff and invited external critics who have so generously offered their expertise and time. The main acknowledgement however goes to our 2011 graduates who make this INDEX unique – each and everyone 1 of them (1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, ….!), who have made the current RMIT Interior Design program what it is and who will shape the future of interior design, locally and globally, through their practice and aspirations. We all wish every 1 of them the very best. Assoc. Professor Suzie Attiwill Program Director, RMIT Interior Design
4TH YEAR COORDINATOR The final year of Interior Design at RMIT University requires students to develop a topic for study and investigate this through a design project, written thesis and supporting technical research. This process involves a significant shift from previous years of more directed study to self-motivated and self-directed design investigation. The 4th year teaching staff offer a critical sounding board to these students who are a step away from working as interior designers in practices that range from commercial interior design firms to film companies. As tutors, we see the individual struggles and elation that comes with this type of endeavour. Over the course of a year, students encounter the transition from the establishing of a significant idea to be implemented through spatial design to the responsibility that comes with these ideas and contribution to the built environment. As tutors we are in the privileged position of engaging in conversations around ideas such as ‘Hosting Confluence’, ‘The Radiant Filter’,
‘Living in Shadow’, ‘Flat pack {healing} Structures’ or ‘Writing Space’ that are activated through the design of interior spaces including libraries, museums, temporary lighting installations, student accommodation, mobile activity vans and retail spaces. On behalf of the 4th Year staff I congratulate our students and wish them success in the next phase of their careers. Roger Kemp 4th Yr Coordinator
THE GRADUATES STUDENT LIST Bianca Baldi Simon Bergman Domesiri Bunnag Fiona Burns Karen Calleja Joey Cheng Hoi Ling Kate Rose Corke Juan Juan Dai Helen Dendrinos Fiona Farody Kate Fisher Katie Green Manishka Gunatilake Jessica Gunawan Christina Halim Kerr He Aron Hemingway Caterina Henshaw Alicia Herlihy Ivan Hooi James Colwell Jenya Itskovich
Arunothai Jungjaroensuk Li Ting Khoo Lois Kwan Iin Natalia Lesmana Michelle Lim Simone Ling Alison Loader Yizhou Ma Jacqui Manson Srishti Mehta Alia Eilena Mohd Yusof Cicero Thien Lynda Nguyen Tuyen Nguyen Thi My Alistair Obliubek Adrian Preman Emily Ong Lily Orfanides Rahul Pereira Anna Peterson Lucinda Pottage Justin Rogers Shlomit Rubinstein Martine Scott Katherine Spencer
Bich-Phuong Tran Mellisa Wiredja Kae Jye Wong Hannah Wratten Wenying Yao
Bianca Baldi
Simon Bergman
Domesiri Bunnag
Fiona Burns
Karen Calleja
Joey Cheng Hoi Ling
Kate Rose Corke
Juan Juan Dai
Helen Dendrinos
Fiona Farody
Kate Fisher
Katie Green
Manishka Gunatilake
Jessica Gunawan
Christina Halim
Kerr He
Aron Hemingway
Caterina Henshaw
Alicia Herlihy
Ivan Hooi
James Colwell
Jenya Itskovich
Arunothai Jungjaroensuk
Li Ting Khoo
Lois Kwan
Iin Natalia Lesmana
Michelle Lim
Simone Ling
Alison Loader
Michael Yizhou Ma
Jacqui Manson
Srishti Mehta
Alia Eilena Mohd Yusof
Lynda Nguyen
Tuyen Nguyen Thi My
Jesper Bo Nyborg
Alistair Obliubek
Emily Ong
Lily Orfanides
Rahul Pereira
Anna Peterson
Adrian Preman
Lucinda Pottage
Justin Rogers
Shlomit Rubinstein
Martine Scott
Katherine Spencer
Cicero Thien
Bich-Phuong Tran
Mellisa Wiredja
Kae Jye Wong
Hannah Wratten
Wenying Yao
BIANCA BALDI bianca.baldi@live.com.au Visual Play: A Journey of Engagement As we move through the city, how can design complement the activity within transitional spaces to offer up a more experiential moment and determine these marginal spaces as a new destination for the future. This project is situated within the transitional Collins Street bridge that connect Docklands to the CBD; it aims to shift these current voids to a new destination for Docklands. This thesis exploration is about how we perceive the world through visual influences. Using the notion of play to lure the participants into space, I am creating social interactions by connecting space with people emotionally and physically. Ultimately it is about developing playful engagements within an urban environment.
Urban. Transitional. Destination. Interaction. Playful.
SIMON BERGMAN bergs89@hotmail.com Systemized Control My project is sited at the intersection of a freeway and commuter train line that crosses over it by bridge. Through the site a series of points are identified where design interventions engineer a particular interruption into the journey of the everyday commuter that pass through it. The use of diagramming allows the expansion of the site to consider the systematic space that affects these journeys.
Control. System. Diagram. Journey.
My thesis looks at how control can influence systemized space. I propose that almost every space has varying levels of controlling factors, be they visible or discreet functions that target people’s roles and particular journeys. These factors are layered throughout and influence how space is experienced and interacted with.
DOMESIRI BUNNAG dom_j11@yahoo.com The Space of Belonging My thesis examines how spaces can be designed to be conducive to social cohesion by facilitating an engagement that builds relationships among communities. Ideas of connectivity, belonging and ownership are all central concerns influencing the production of community-nurturing spaces. My final project proposes a community studio and events space situated in the Collingwood Underground. It is my intention that by providing flexible spaces, residential communities are empowered and encouraged to interact with and influence their environment.
Community. Belonging. Connectivity. Relations.
FIONA BURNS fiona.burns@live.com Participatory Relations This thesis explores participatory designed space as a method towards creating stronger relationships between people and the space they occupy. Through gaining a greater understanding of an individual’s needs and desires, a more personal design can develop their ownership and belonging within the environment. Specially designed interactive objects to stimulate thinking are used in the design process, these help participants gain an understanding of the various design elements and to deepen their awareness of how they relate to the interior space. Through workshops and activities utilising these objects, participants are asked to examine and reevaluate their everyday environment. Relate. Exchange. Ownership. Interact.
KAREN CALLEJA k_calleja@hotmail.com Wear or Weather Using strategies of wear and weather I have designed a social performance space for the Maltese community within an existing derelict building in Albion. The project explores how layering, subtraction and addition may evidence an interior’s past and present life. The metabolism of an organism has also been used as a design metaphor where interior is considered the organism and occupants the metabolism.
Transformation. Layering. Change. Metabolism. Threshold.
Wear suggests change and transformation. Often the consequence of human inhabitation I am intrigued by these marks left on interior surfaces by life. Weathering differs insofar as it is driven by nature. Commonly affecting the exterior of a building and contributes aesthetically in either a positive or negative way.
JOEY CHENG HOI LING joey08092003@hotmail.com Interactive With “Recycle� My thesis focuses on recycling and public awareness. And on how issues concerning recycling may be propagated through design. Coming from Hong Kong, as I do, I am keenly aware just of how critical this issue can become if it is not addressed. For my final project I have redesigned a double decker bus into a mobile interactive exhibition. The redesigned bus is intended to be based at Ceres (Centre for Education and Research in Environmental Strategies) and travel out to schools from there. It is designed to open out, expand and transform in a variety of ways. And will house a range of interactive exhibits aimed at educating school children about recycling.
Recycling. Awareness. Interactive. Transformative. Mapping.
KATE ROSE CORKE katerose.corke@gmail.com The Inside, Outside, and Moment Between.
Frame. Motion. Moment. Construct. Rhythm.
This year I established that the ‘frame’ denotes an inside and an outside; but does not necessarily equate to an interior. An examination of the dialogue between the inside, outside, and horizon between led me to recognise that it is the engagement that ultimately creates an interior. My thesis asks: How can ‘frames’ be utilised in the production of interior spaces. My project explored an interior design future within a fashion retail context. The ‘interior’ is situated amongst fluid zones of body, garment, architecture, www, media and space. Using the body as site, where predominate perceptual meaning is produced; I created a series of ‘framed thresholds’ highlighting that the construct of an interior space is fluid, always changing.
SANDY JUAN JUAN DAI Sandy7758258@hotmail.com Immersive space My thesis explores spatial immersion. It considers how we engage with our surrounding. It attempts to convince people that they are really �there� and that the simulated world looks and feels surreal. My final project is situated in the central thoroughfare of the NAB building in Dockland, Melbourne. The design will engage our five senses - vision, hearing, touch, smell, and to some extent taste. The intended immersive space will present a spatial transition from city to the waters edge.
Immersion. Surreal. Senses. Simulated.
HELEN DENDRINOS helendendrinos@gmail.com Capturing Reections I am looking at reflections in a retail environment. By reflections, I mean every element from physical reflections to branding and identity projection. Specifically I use reflective materials such as mirror, glass, tile etc. I will use these materials to frame reflections and capture the environment of the surrounding retail store. This will be achieved by allowing the customers to see themselves in another way, allowing the reflective material to capture their reflections onto different surface’s and in different scales. The identity and branding will be derived from the customer experience within the space, thus allowing reflection to be the key design feature for the overall design. Reflection. Capturing. Mirrored. Journey.
FIONA FARODY fionafarody@hotmail.com Delight of Wrapping and Unwrapping The project is sited in a highrise apartment will examine the various situations where layering is evident. The analogy of wrapping and unwrapping will be illustrated by the journey from the lift to the individual apartment and to the more private spaces within it. This thesis is about the different layers of space that occur in the body or an object; these layers typically move outwards from the inner core. In a housing context, these layers are the transitional spaces between the most private public zones. The bedrooms transition to the living room, and then to the foyer, the veranda, the garden, the public walkways and finally to the main street. Layers. Transition. Wrapping. Unwrapping. Apartment.
KATE FISHER katey_8@hotmail.com Connection
Connection. Emotional. Spatial. Layering. Nesting.
My thesis project began with investigations into qualities of home. My interest in the topic of home came from an interest in identifying with qualities of home, what they might be and how they could be translated into space. I have explored an experience of home through the relationships and connections that are built up over space and time, using the tools of memory and time, engagement and imagination. My approach has been to test ideas through materiality, imagination, timber, thread, paper and card which has revealed that an interplay of emotional, spatial and sensorial connections allow one to experience a sense of home. This outcome was further strengthened by a comparative investigation into the qualities of homelessness, which gave it a stronger context to work within.
KATIE GREEN krgreen88@hotmail.com Hosting Conuence The State Library of Victoria provides an environment appropriate for learning and exploring. It caters to a variety of demographics, housing a multitude of resources, accessible via the vertical and horizontal spanning of the library.
Confluence. Interaction. Landscape. Library. Learning.
Within the state library there is opportunity for a renewed programmatic experience to facilitate interaction between users. I intend to implement a program for incorporating the trend towards a digitised library environment while respecting the heritage of the library as an institution. Throughout this site I intend to design various zones that have the ability to facilitate group interaction or individual study. The final design being a series of undulating landscapes that provide opportunities for shared interaction.
MANISHKA GUNATILAKE manishka_@hotmail.com PlastiCity My thesis project will look to re-invent the plastic bag by working with the unique aesthetic qualities such as weaving, fusing, melting, moulding and stitching of this material. Plastic bags have an array of material qualities that can be utilized to design objects/ a space that can be re-usable, durable and functional in everyday life whilst exploring and promoting awareness about the design potential of the humble plastic bag. For my final thesis project I’m predominantly using the recycled plastic bags to design refuges in unused spaces within the city. The various locations allow for several activities to take place at different times of the day.
Plastic Bag. Weaving. Transformative.
JESSICA GUNAWAN polkadotgunawan@gmail.com Fragmented Layers The thesis is an investigation into the relationship between subject and object. It asks how a space might initiate motion through the use of fragmented reflection, layered perspective and repetition of form. The site for the final project is David Jones at Bourke St. The design reconfigures the circulation spaces of the store in such a way that the customer engages with the space through a system of layered opacities and transparencies that helps to organise the journey through the store.
Reflection. Layered. Repetition. Retail. Circulation.
CHRISTINA HALIM christina_h86@yahoo.com.sg The Radiant Filter The thesis explored the manipulation of natural light within space through the development of a series of ‘radiant filter’ designs. The final project extended these discoveries by adapting the potentials of the filtering of natural light in relation to the spatial program, function and atmosphere that is desirable within a Community Hub and Library Space. The approach to the design dissected the site into several different light zones and the associated activities that could occur within them. Through capturing and channeling the light within the building, the design defined the occupation of the space relative to it’s relationship with the shifting natural light.
Filter. Sun-Light. Circulation. Occupation.
KERR HE k.dash.a@gmail.com Di:[Section] Di:[Section] is an investigation into the sectioning of spaces as a design strategy. ‘Di’ is a suffix to mean ‘through’ as well as a division of two entities. My final project proposes the redesign of the GPO Retail Complex, located in the heart of Melbourne. The strategy of Di:[section] allows for the space to be experienced in a way that emphasises the continued encounter of thresholds within space and through this emphasis give more depth and layers to the space.
Sections. Di. Layers. Thresholds.
ARON HEMINGWAY aronhemingway@gmail.com Slow MacGyvering: A Holistic Method of Making This thesis project aims to find a practice for making and designing that not only uses found or discarded materials in a creative way, but does so with the aim of connecting people through the sharing of skills, information, and experiences. Referencing the ‘slow movement’ and innovative designers such as Gamper Martino, the investigation takes place through small individual projects in collaboration with a client, each with a different set of problems, materials, and tools. Through this practice, I have been led to the idea that design is not a solitary pursuit, but should be opened to a wider discourse within a broader community through the use of web based knowledge sharing and interaction. Designing. Making. Connection. Community. Media.
CATERINA HENSHAW caterina_henshaw@hotmail.com The Mapping Process This mapping process investigates the qualities of space and movement through forms of maps and physical interventions in the urban landscape. The purpose of investigating methods of mapping is to better understand what happens within and around spaces. How does the abstraction or manipulation of space, the gathering, controlling and movement reveal and create spaces of interaction and observation? I propose to design a mapped journey intervention that reveals space through a collection of mapped outcomes and collected organised objects that occupy space within an existing environment. This intervention will aim to create a thought provoking experience that can provide multiple routes for interaction and journey. Mapping. Movement. Intervention. Collection. Journey.
ALICIA HERLIHY aliciaherlihy@yahoo.com.au ID: Constructing Identity The investigations I have undertaken this semester explore the role identity can play in shaping space. This design project aims to demonstrate a detailed understanding of the complex and often esoteric nature of identity. During my research I concentrated on what is meant by identity and how these meanings are demonstrated. I chose to situate the design project in a selected historic building within Flinders Lane. Focusing on the identity concepts of culture, environment and memory to draw and exhibit the identity of the past, present and future.
Identity. Culture. Melbourne. Rag Trade. Layering.
IVAN HOOI id.ivanhooi@gmail.com Depth Of Horizon The complexities of the vertical city have led me to look to the horizon line as an escape route. Through perception and observation, I have investigated the possibilities of dimensions that may lie beyond the horizon and open up a depth of horizon; for an interior space that may exist within or beyond it. This study began with a series of modeled observations that aimed at an unfolding of the horizon line. I have taken these studies into redesigning the international cruise ship terminal at Station Pier. The intention is for the terminal to act as a transitional point between the unfolding horizon at sea and the vertical city of Melbourne.
Transition. Depth. Horizon. Unfolding. Journey.
JAMES COLWELL HOULIHAN jmcolwell@live.com.au With or With Out Light Light is significant factor in the way we perceive our environment. It enables us to see our surroundings through conditions of reflection. My work investigates how light can be used as a design tool and medium to bring elements of existing environments to the forefront of peoples perception/ attention. It attempts to make the ‘unnoted’ present. My final project is formed through the production of a series of light installations located within Little Bourke St, From Exhibition to Swanston St. I will apply a reflective technique that will use the sites materials to enhance the space.
Light. Reflection. Colour. Shadow. Interactive.
JENYA ITSKOVICH jenyaitskovich@gmail.com Body Informing Space The way the body moves through its surroundings is primarily triggered by our memory of knowing how to do so. Once we have accumulated this knowledge, we have the ability to react towards an environment in a more improvised way. My final project is an array of installations situated in the Birrarung Marr Park, which are tactfully designed as subtle visual moirĂŠ effects.
Improvisation. Physicality. Choreography. Continuum.
The focus of the project lies in the question of how an individual moves to experience the installations. The improvised choreography that forms throughout the process of the experience is conclusive of my findings of body being able to inform our surrounds, in order to experience them.
BOAT ARUNOTHAI JUNGJAROENSUK e_ducky1217@hotmail.com Fitting In Fitting In - How people fit themselves into a place. I am interested in how international students who first arrive in Melbourne fit themselves into Melbourne in particular the place where they live. The project will focus on three main issues: Interactivity between neighbours, flexibility and practicality of spaces. The project is located in an international student apartment building, Unilodge on Swanston. My intention is to reorganise the whole floor. This is to improve the level of interactivity between people by blurring the lines between private and shared spaces.
Place. Home. Neighbours. Flexibility. Interactivity.
LI TING KHOO khooliting@gmail.com Heightening The Senses Many people do not pay attention when encountering a familiar environment. My thesis study explores daily engagement within familiar contexts by accentuating the human senses, thus creating a different experience. The methods were explored through experiments on the potential of materials in their existing condition. My intention is to engage people’s bodies and senses to encourage physical movements that will then enhance their surroundings and their senses.
Heightening. Senses. Awareness. Stimulating.
LOIS KWAN loiskwan@gmail.com Haptic Negotiation Haptic Negotiation investigates the formation and components that constitute a haptic spatial environment. Beyond a visual stimulation the thesis challenges the lack of human participation in the sensorial, emotive and imaginative senses within the design of space. Existing interior spaces were dissected to understand the methods and techniques used to manipulate materials. From this a series of hand crafted textile manipulations were created with different tactile textures. These together with bodily sensation diagrams and storyboards of anticipated behaviours, emotive responses and spatial programs allow the design of haptic scenarios. This process is now used to create a new retail space that brings consumerism to a physical experiential level. Haptic. Sensorial. Emotional. Tactility. Manipulation.
IIN NATALIA LESMANA inatalia.lesmana@hotmail.com Being Out In Space My thesis project explores the threshold of inside and (or) outside. By expanding the inter-relationships of internal and external factors, conditions of the ‘in-between’ are heightened therefore questioning the predominant understanding of interior being defined as enclosed space. My project introduces a central void space into Curtin House, located on Swanston St Melbourne. A new curated journey through the levels of the building is designed, emphasising transparency & reflection, and the manipulation of geometries to re-define the interior spaces.
Internal. External. In-between. Transparency. Reflection.
MICHELLE LIM michelle.llj@gmail.com Verb of Eating I am interested in the ritual of eating and the performative actions, meanings and opportunities embedded in it. To explore this I have designed a configurable kiosk that transforms in choreographed response to seasons and weather. I have also designed a range of food packaging that provides opportunity for sharing food. The kiosk is designed as a grid that can be opened up and pulled apart in various configurations along reused tram tracks. A range of ‘eating units’ are embedded in the kiosk. They are designed to suit different social behaviours associated with eating. It is conceived as a flexible dynamic space.
Kiosk. Eating. Performative. Choreographed. Social.
SIMONE LING simone@paralleldistortion.com www.paralleldistortion.com Folded Touch FOLDED TOUCH is a concept for an interior space that houses a fashion brand for two weeks. An initial study in origami and the philosophies of Gottfried Leibnitz and Giles Deleuze inspired the possibility of depicting folding as a process of continuous development of form. A multifaceted, moveable framework, designed to evoke a feeling of synchronicity between the client, interior and the garments is examined by engaging the body to fold both the interior and also itself as it navigates through the space.
Folding. Fashion. Continuous. Synchronicity. Body.
ALISON LOADER alisonloader@gmail.com Living in Shadow A shadow of the body is like a visible echo in space. Existing only as the event of light, space and form, a shadow encompasses a sense of living presence. This project investigates the poetic, symbolic and spiritual qualities of shadow. By amplifying our awareness of the ‘holes in the light’ that permeate our environments, a connection can be made to our own unacknowledged characteristics. This performing arts arena will invite a space where dark impulses can be drawn into the light.
Shadow. Presence. Liveness. Transience. Performance.
MICHAEL YIZHOU MA michaelmyz@gmail.com (De)(Re)Construction Through a process of constructing, deconstructing and then re-construction photographic images this thesis discusses the collective experience of photographic space and the ability of photography to offer specific experiences of places and time. The work asks you to look beyond the surface of the photograph, by doing so it offers up an awareness of how spaces are perceived and encountered, both in photographic and actual realms.
Construction. Photographic space. Reality. Time.Unexpected.
JACQUI MANSON jacqui@globaltrendz.com.au Fl채tp채ck {Healing} Structures Institutional space is conventionally neutral in design, neutral to better treat en masse. But is this always beneficial? Could the concept of UNneutral design, through the use of space, tone, acoustics, light and texture be potent enough to positively affect mental health and the human condition of persons suffering from acute anxiety and depression disorders within private psychiatric facilities? Through use of these healing structures, made from natural materials, and offering elements of design control and choice to the patient, variables may be altered to better assist their own treatment process & find a sanctuary outside the confines of their clinically designed institutional space. UNneutral. Institution. Healing. Self-treatment. Variables.
SRISHTI MEHTA srishti.mehta@gmail.com Connecting: Design exploration to encourage social cohesion and a sense of community My project focuses on the creation of a stronger community in Melbourne, a diverse multicultural city where there is a need for all of us to be more culturally aware. The motivation for my thesis was my interest in the concept of home. I studied the home as a place to share, a place of comfort, and most importantly where you belong. My design - the Culture Garden takes inspiration from food rituals and traditions from different cultures to create an environment that promotes a sense of place and identity. The site is the Melbourne Docklands a highly developed inner city area that lacks activation and engagement. Culture. Home. Community. Experience. Garden.
ALIA EILENA MOHD YUSOF yusaliaeilena@gmail.com Making the Invisible (emotions) Visible Emotions are often associated with mood, temperament, personality and motivation. People often behave in certain ways as a direct result of their emotional state. If one can have an emotion without corresponding behaviour, then we may consider the behaviour not to be essential to the emotion. My project is about investigating the unseen spaces around us, spaces that cannot be seen but can be felt or understood emotionally. This thesis challenges the conventional notion of the public space within the city. Concerned with boundaries this thesis is about acknowledging and celebrating the difference in public through social encounters and amplifying the tangibility of the invisible emotions in public space. Emotion. Behaviour. Public Space. Invisible. Tangible.
LYNDA TRANG NGUYEN lynde.nguyen@gmail.com Writing Space My thesis uses the analogy of the written language as a way of designing interior journeys. When we read, there is a spatial synergy between the concept of word to the abstract formation of letters. This is the manifestation of writing systems and how they are used in order to control the dissemination of information. The project is a museum and exhibition space for writers and graphic designers to exhibit their work at the Goods Shed in Docklands. The first exhibition ‘The Life of the Argus Newspaper’ adopts the language of layouts, application of imagery, expressions of typography and the assemblage of information to extrude the graphic interface and create a series of spatial experiences. Graphic. Writing. Text . Exhibition. Spatial.
TUYEN NGUYEN THI MY jenny_nguyen2006@yahoo.com.au Versatility. Mobility. Exchange. Generosity. Theatricality. Personality Way of transforming interior My final project is inspired by Vietnamese street food spaces where spatial qualities and experiences such as versatility, mobility, exchange, generosity, theatricality and personality are integral ways of connecting people and engaging with the social context.
Versatility. Mobility. Exchange. Generosity. Personality.
I propose to design a hostel for backpackers on Elizabeth Street, Melbourne. The space deliveries their basic needs in a way to encourage interaction and exchange between backpackers through a more generous and versatile environment. My thesis reveals new approaches to design that should reflect their full potential without being determined by static function and purpose.
JESPER NYBORG nyborgjesper@gmail.com Remote Intimacy The purpose of this project is to move skin from the world of representation to the world of connection. It questions the spatial relations between bodies and the inside and outside of human space. The project approaches the human body and its movement in space both as a tool for spatial production and as a “site” for implementation of operative spatial constructs. These architectural systems evolve into body architecture and become spatial devices that extend the body’s capacities and desires within space.
Body. Intimacy. Sensory. Connectivity. Communication.
ALISTAIR OBLIUBEK ao@barstudio.com Between the Lines: Navigating Reality My thesis explores navigation using movement and energy flows in a sporting context in Melbourne CBD. Understanding the elements behind sports is integral to my redesign of the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre in order to capture the freedom of an athlete. The essence of sport is created through the movement of plays, which have influenced my design. The design balances the freedom of the space with a coherent navigational system, through flexible design and the pathways that inhabit the main interior lobby and its entrances ; it acts as a gateway from everyday reality into the athletic ‘zone’.
Navigation. Energy Flows. Flexibility. Movement. Freedom.
EMILY ONG i-lin@hotmail.com Small Worlds Small Worlds is an exploration into the miniature, it deals with the connection between viewer and intimate spaces that are relatable to both children and adults alike. The fascination with the miniature comes from its ability to take us a different place, in which logic and sense are rendered irrelevant. The thesis is interested in the inhabitation, versus spectatorship of miniature space. The design proposal is an installation of changing scenes that plays with scale and perception. Situated on the Melbourne Central Bridge, it is a temporary landmark installation that captures the universal quality of the miniature and offers it up to the curious consumer.
Scale. Perception. Miniature. Immerse.
LILY ORFANIDES lily.orfanides@hotmail.com Stairs As? My thesis investigates the potential of stairs. Within the Latrobe Reading Room of the State Library the proposed stairs inform the location, arrangement and boundary of various study platforms within the void. The sinuous form of the stair also informs the pace of inhabitants and allows one to absorb the historical character of the room. The design also seeks to reinforce 21st century study methods.
Stairs. Movement. Activity. Library. Study.
ANNA PETERSON annapeterson1@bigpond.com Supportive Sensory WayďŹ nding My thesis project, located within the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital in East Melbourne, aims to explore how an interior can support individuals on their journey within an unfamiliar environment through the inclusive use of the body’s sensory system. My research to date suggests relying solely on visual modes of communication leaves some members of our community feeling isolated and frustrated. With an emphasis on inclusiveness, this design endeavors to provide the body with multiple points of contact with the interior, enabling increased visitor comfort, enjoyment and confidence.
Inclusive. Sensory. Empathetic. Contact. Independance.
RAHUL PEREIRA rahul_per2@yahoo.com Encounter Everything is an encounter. As we go through our daily life we are constantly encountering new scenarios and new people. In contemporary society urbanisation has seen the radical increase in social exchanges and mobility through the development of rail, road and telecommunication networks. With these issues in mind, the project investigated the encounters transpiring within Southern Cross Station in order to create a space that could integrate the nature of human interaction with the time based mechanisms and communication of information inherent within the functioning of the station.
Encounter. Interaction. Social. Movement.
ADRIAN PREMAN adrianpreman@gmail.com Urban Trace This project investigates the roles of human trace and imprints upon our urban environment. I was interested in how trace and physical imprints in our inner city urban environment could impact the experiential qualities of these spaces if left to amalgamate and evolve. I identified Melbourne’s network of laneways as modern day urban caves that are layered with trace and imprints. This led to an exploration of laneways and the notion of making marks upon space. My final project involved designing an installation to exist within Union Lane that facilitated acts of leaving traces and imprints to allow the space continually to contort and change itself through human engagement. Trace. Imprint. Marking.
LUCINDA POTTAGE loopilucinda@yahoo.com.au Delight in Transition: Crafting Spatial Thresholds Thresholds are places that separate the outside from the inside, the public from the private, the visible from the invisible. What happens when these boundaries begin to dissolve, and the space of the threshold becomes a space of inhabitation? This thesis investigates ways to articulate, exaggerate, blur and smooth the physical boundaries that separate places and craft thresholds that exist as liminal spaces. I have used this concept as a framework to work within, allowing for the occupation or positioning of individuals at, or on, both sides of the many boundaries and thresholds within a boutique hotel.
Crafted. Threshold. Liminal space. Materiality.
JUSTIN ROGERS justin.peter.rogers@gmail.com The Department of the Temporary The urban environment has become the dominant landscape all around the world. Increasing concentrations of people living in our cities mean that the space within cities is becoming increasingly regulated and controlled.
Temporal. Urban. Regulation. Expanded Interior.
My project negotiates between the regulation and fixed infrastructure of a local authority and the short-term grass roots activities that spring up in communities, by creating a ‘Department of the Temporary’. A kit of parts and a modular, mobile structure encourages users to experiment with the city, confront the city and challenge their daily living space. Through their own individual interpretation of the parts of the kit they create new uses and programs that enrich public space.
SHLOMIT RUBINSTEIN Shlompa@gmail.com Interactions, Emotions and the Unseen We express ourselves spatially through our movements. ‘Interactions, emotions and the unseen’ investigates how space and emotions are interlinked by connecting the body to its surroundings. While in everyday life these connections are only fleeting and unnoticed, this project exaggerates the relationship between these elements to investigate a different perspective on spatial relationships. A direct link between emotions and space, through an installation that offers a constantly changing environment to the occupant, has been created. By being attached to the project, which is constantly changing according to the occupant’s movements and responses, the occupant is in a unique relationship of both controlling and being controlled. Movement. Emotion. Control. Interaction.
MARTINE SCOTT martine.scott.design@gmail.com Accumulating Phenomena As we encounter the world, our eyes and minds attempt to make sense of what we are experiencing. Over time we accumulate experiences that enlighten one another, creating an overall cognition. This body of work explores projection, colour and light as ways to design spatial experiences. Cinema is a catalyst for these elements to amalgamate; stimulating perception and the senses. This project intends to entice audiences through a series of evolving cinematic experiences, creating events of wonder and fascination.
Accumulate. Phenomena. Perception. Experience. Duration.
KATHERINE SPENCER katherinejspencer@hotmail.com Into Community This thesis investigates ways to initiate a community inside a shared residence. The context of the project is within Victoria’s Residential Care System. By redesigning an existing residential house the project speculates on a propositional model for residential care units that could be introduced in multiple locations throughout Victoria. A main focus of the design has been the creation of ecologic interventions in the house; this has been influenced by Félix Guattari’s philosophy of ‘The Three Ecologies.’ The space has been designed to deal with the social, mental and environmental needs of the occupants.
Community. Interaction. Ecosystems.
CICERO THIEN www.cicerothien.com Gymnasion Gymnasion pertains to the moral dimension of the ‘exercise space’ used as a framework for social development of disadvantaged youth. It questions “what is exercise”? Does it only exist in the realm of exercise machines, weights and sports spaces such as the boxing ring, or is there something more to it than that? Embedded into the exercise space are social values. Gymnasion cultivates these values through design mechanisms external from the gym environment – such as the garden as a playground. The ‘exercise space’, not the gym becomes the vehicle for social development. This thesis explores such a space.
Exercise. Space. Social. Cultivation.
PHUONG TRAN s3200658@student.rmit.edu.au Activating the Ambiguous The drive for my thesis project stems from my fascination with forms that offer more than one meaning. This uncertainty offers an opportunity for viewers to think beyond their initial perceptions, challenging their readiness to cross the boundaries of what they see as normal. Exploring various forms of ambiguity through a range of investigations revealed the conditions and context required to create an ambiguous environment. They also informed a common strategy, which was identifying the expected or normal aspect and challenging it through evoking a certain level of uncertainty.
Ambiguous. Perception. Uncertainty.
MELLISA WIREDJA Mellisa_wiredja@hotmail.com Act // React The thesis explores playful interaction and the design of inclusive participatory experiences in retail space. My re-design of the Target department store, Bourke St, encourages interactions that are instinctive while at the same time being enjoyable and engaging. The manipulation of form, sound, texture, materiality and vision supports and extends the programmatic organisation of the Target Store. My design considers the simple dialogue between the object(s) to be displayed and the space in which they are presented. In this design, I heighten the role of the occupant as performer, tailoring the experience to the individual.
Interaction. Play. Tangible. Intangible. Retail.
KAE JYE WONG kaejyewong@gmail.com Isolation in Density Population growth has made Melbourne a high density urban city where we are forced to share spaces during our daily lives. The moments of isolation that balance out the busy and dense environment are slowly being lost to our senses, which I think is a critical issue for a healthy lifestyle. I believe even while sharing spaces we must also be able to achieve reasonable isolation to provide privacy, mental meditation and less disturbance. By experimenting with diagrams, photography and models, I concentrate on using our visual sense to generate a feeling of isolation, even within highly dense environments.
Urban. Density. Isolation. Visual Sense.
HANNAH WRATTEN overherehannah@hotmail.com Poetics of Air This investigation explores how a space can transform through the understanding and manipulation of airflow. My fascination for this exploration began with a long time attraction to the sheer beauty of air and its interaction with space. The project involved the visualising of the poetic relationships between air movement and the built environment and it’s potential to enrich a space ultimately enhancing a space’s purpose and usage.
Air. Flow. Interaction. Visualisation. Poetic.
WENYING YAO wenyingyao.design@gmail.com Liminality Within Interior Spaces My design re-exhibits the mineral exhibition of Melbourne Museum, proposing an alternative learning experience of ”behind the scene/seen”. I propose to locate this alternate space in the Royal Exhibition Building. This liminal space attempts to evoke memories of the subject and therefore recontextualise the encounter according to the audiences’ needs. This project seeks to challenge the more conventional approach to museum routines and actions by allowing the participants to reflect and think of the subject in ways that are particular to them.
(In)determincy. Engagement. Narrative. Threshold. Memory.
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INDEX – RMIT INTERIOR DESIGN 2011 GRADUATE EXHIBITION
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