Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 5 i Design Anthology, Australia Edition

And just like that, it seems, another year draws to an end. This is the time of year when we usually reflect on fond memories and all that’s been accomplished over the last twelve months. Given that this entire year has been consumed by concerns about new COVID variants, vaccination rates, ongoing lockdowns, political turbulence, economic downturns, natural disasters and more, reflecting on achievements and what we’re grateful for may be more challenging, but is perhaps more important now than ever. Maybe that’s why there has also been more talk about practising gratitude, and the benefits thankfulness can bring to our lives — particularly a sense of happiness, inner peace and heightened empathy. This state of mind can’t be achieved by drinking pre-bottled negronis (as great as they are!) or…

Between a mountain and the sea, around a nondescript industrial building in Kennedy Town on Hong Kong Island, workers toil, loading heavy pallets from trucks into lifts. Upstairs, design studio Batten and Kamp is in a state of humming industry of its own. For Alexandra Batten and Daniel Kamp, a couple and design duo hailing from New Zealand, the space is an extension of their creative universe. Atop polished steel floors, metal chairs recline like thunderbolts and round stones rest like sleeping cats. Materials line the walls, printed silk hangs eerily, ‘experiments’ are dotted around the space and pieces from their Shelter to Ground collection sit neatly in a row. Produced by combining natural stones with sheet metal, the family of sculptural furniture is an expression of harmony between the…

The Kimberley is Western Australia’s most remote northern region, a natural wonder with a vast geographic spread and subtropical monsoonal climate. Here dusty, arid terrain meets waterfalls and pristine beaches. The Aboriginal history of the Kimberley runs deep and remains strong, and its communities are a dynamic presence. From ancient reefs to rugged gorges and salt flats, the awe-inspiring landscape is breathtaking in its expanse, with some isolated locations only accessible by air. A collision of red dirt, midnight-blue lakes, aquamarine waters and burnt orange cliffs, the land boasts a rich past and is gloriously unspoilt.…

Strolling down Barsden Street in Perth’s beachside suburb of Cottesloe, you’ll likely happen upon a quirky, Spanish Mission-style casa known as the Lewis House. Named for its architect,Thorald Travers ‘Peter’Lewis, the 1940s heritage-listed home is a local jewel, prized for its idiosyncrasies. The house, which features poured concrete walls and beams, was also one of the first residential buildings in Western Australia to use off-form concrete in its construction. For all its architectural significance, however, the building made a challenging modern home with its awkward layout and cumbersome circulation. The ground floor, never intended as living quarters, was dark and cold with low ceilings.The homeowners had tolerated the unconventional floor plan and the claustrophobic lower level for two decades, but in 2019 they felt the time was ripe to give…

Casa Acton, the home of architect Josh FitzGerald and his wife Millie Ashton, is located on spare land surrounding their family’s rural property in Hobart’s remote Acton Park. The compact 53-square-metre cabin was conceived and built by FitzGerald’s practice Archier and was something of an experiment for FitzGerald and Ashton. It’s the couple’s first home, and a prelude to the more formal act of building a full-sized house.There were questions of affordability too — they had enough to build a small home, but their budget didn’t stretch to land purchase. FitzGerald says building something small, modular and transportable would allow them to live comfortably and enjoy their lifestyle while they ‘wait for the next step’. Casa Acton was part research project too, an exploration of ideas that would, he says,…

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MORNING Sarah K’s mornings start with a workout and then a good coffee and breakfast, usually enjoyed sitting on the verandah in the sun. The CEO and creative director of Sarah K Studio, design initiative supercyclers and circular fashion brand The Sustainablist Line works from her home studio in the idyllic Southern Highlands town of Moss Vale. ‘I’ve worked from home my whole life because I’ve always been fiercely independent,’ says the multi-hyphenate, who studied architecture and film. ‘I vowed I’d never work for “The Man”. How could I change the world if I did that?’ MID-MORNING By mid-morning, she’s either in meetings or getting down to business, designing everything from objects and furniture to architecture, events and fashion. She founded supercyclers just over a decade ago, and every one…

Melbourne’s relentless lockdowns have been a sobering pause for citizens of the usually thriving cultural hub. And although creativity, productivity and sanity may all be tested when we’re confined to our homes, limited parameters may also invite unexpected opportunities. For Melbourne-based British designer Dean Norton, the physically distanced reality led him to experiment with new, self-sufficient ways to create furniture and lighting. One result is the diaphanous FLOAT series of tables, each crafted from panes of rare textured glass sourced in a warehouse rummage, then cut and bonded with resin in his studio. ‘I was going off my emotions, I think. For me it was a very transparent time, and I wanted to try and reflect that in a collection,’ the designer says. ‘It meant I had to strip down…

When the owners of this single-storey brick house in Sydney’s Upper North Shore engaged architecture firm Studio Prineas to redesign their home, the brief was as much about form and function as it was about the intangible quality of feeling. The couple, who lived in the Netherlands before moving to Sydney, have a great appreciation for design and architecture, and had amassed a collection of fine art and treasured pieces from around the world. Charmed by the concept of gezellig, the Dutch word for a sensation of shared cosiness, conviviality and wellbeing, they wanted a home that would reflect this philosophy. ‘Achieving this feeling was key to the overall brief and design outcome of the project,’ says Eva-Marie Prineas, principal of Studio Prineas. This involved taking inspiration from the original…

design anthology: How did the idea for this project come about? Jack Lovel: I’d been working commercially and was looking to do a personal project. I knew it had to have an architectural connection, and I was interested in the isolation and eeriness of Perth’s suburbs, which eventually led me to Iwan Iwanoff. I was surprised that his work hadn’t been published or archived. He was a secret hiding in plain sight. Iwanoff was a trained European modernist when he came to Perth in 1950. What was the reception to his work like? Because his accreditation wasn’t recognised in Australia, Iwanoff spent years working as a drafter and in a concrete factory — the material came to define his style. When he started The Studio of Iwanoff in 1963, many…

Fairweather and China by Claire Roberts Melbourne University Publishing Ian Fairweather, one of the most important Australian artists of the 20th century, is exceptional for several reasons. The Scottish-born painter led a remarkably peripatetic life, spending much of it travelling and working across Australia, China, Indonesia and the Philippines before finally settling on Queensland’s Bribie Island. Perhaps the most outstanding period of his life was the time spent living and working in China, learning the language and translating texts. This new volume beautifully emphasises the evolution of Fairweather’s work and the obvious influence of the Chinese written language, traditional ink paintings and the country’s distinctive landscapes in his own work, in addition to illustrating the artist’s unique use of colour. Tamsin Johnson: Spaces for Living Rizzoli This new monograph on…

Art is at the nexus of Alana Kushnir’s weighty resume, but not as you know it. The ultimate polymath, she started her career as a corporate lawyer in Australia before a passion for art history lured her to the prestigious Goldsmiths, University of London where she graduated with a Master of Fine Arts in curating. In the two years she spent in London, Kushnir was immersed in the art world and worked closely with a specialist lawyer, an experience that sowed the seeds for her Melbourne-based business, Guest Work Agency. Launched in 2015, the art law and advisory firm allows Kushnir to represent clients, build collections, and facilitate and initiate collaborations, projects, exhibitions and art initiatives. ‘The experiences I had in London gave me the confidence to start my own…

The trust between client and designer is what makes a project successful — in terms of both aesthetics and function. But when the bond goes beyond trust to true understanding, the result is magical. ‘We shared the same views on heritage houses as our clients,’ says interior designer Alex Cerny of Melbourne-based design practice Hecker Guthrie. This wasn’t the only commonality: the Australian couple — who have two older teenagers — have Dutch heritage, and studio co-director Paul Hecker once lived in Amsterdam. ‘Paul and the client would chat about their love of Dutch living,’ Cerny recalls. Located in the leafy, family-friendly neighbourhood of Malvern East in Melbourne and built in the interwar period with elements of Californian bungalow and Old English styles, the double-storey house features eclectic influences and…