Innehållsförteckning för Issue 38 från Artichoke

Proctologists and dentists have many things in common: they are both health professionals, they wear light blue, use specialized equipment and work on the same tube. Artists and designers have many things in common too: both use creativity, work from studios not offices, and draw a lot. But just like the dentist and the bum-doctor, the differences are profound and you would confuse them at your peril, yet that is exactly what government and business do. Part of the reason is historical, design having grown out of the arts and crafts during the industrial revolution. Muddying the waters today is how crafts people have rebranded themselves designer-makers, and how Design Thinking is being flogged by every ex-sustainability/innovation/management consultant. Design’s role is shouted down, confused and diluted. As long as design…

Among the design luminaries that visited Singapore recently for the opening of the Space Asia Hub was one of the brightest stars in the design world, Marcel Wanders. In the opening days, along with his business partner Casper Vissers, Wanders took up residence in the Moooi enclave, on the top floor of the amazing new superstore. Other Space Asia partners Georgetti, B&B Italia, Flos and Kartell occupied other levels. As the only Dutch design company represented, Moooi brings its inimitable style to the store, with products that are quirky, beautiful and innovative. How did Moooi start? In 1996 I made the Knotted chair, which became an instant icon that took me all over the world. In the beginning, it was difficult because hardly anyone in the world would take up…

The Design Institute of Australia SA Awards were announced on 12 November at a ceremony at the Kerry Packer Civic Gallery at UniSA’s City West Campus in Adelaide. About sixty entries were submitted to the awards program across the categories of built environment, object and communication. Graduate of The Year Awards (GOTYAs) were introduced for the first time in the state. Built Environment Gold: University of Adelaide Learning Hub by Hassell; National Australia Bank South Australia head office by Woods Bagot. Silver: North Adelaide residence by Williams Burton Architecture + Interior Design; Wayville residence by Koush Design. Built Environment – Student Gold and Graduate of the Year (GOTYA): Bite Bakery by Margrethe Johannsen, final-year interior architecture student at UniSA; Hotel 49 by Corina Cannell, final-year interior architecture student at UniSA.…

Contemporary Australia: Women UNTIL 22 JULY 2012 The innovation of Australian women artists and their contribution to contemporary art is explored in this exhibition, which includes the work of more than twenty-five women, including Kirsty Bruce. GALLERY OF MODERN ART, BRISBANE qag.gld.gov.au William Kentridge 8 MARCH – 27 MAY 2012 The work of one of the world’s leading contemporary artists, William Kentridge, will be presented through five themes in this exhibition, exploring issues such as colonial oppression and reconciliation. ACMI, MELBOURNE acmi.net.au Korban/Flaubert 21 MARCH – 28 APRIL 2012 The sculpture and design work of Sydney duo Janos Korban and Stefanie Flaubert is presented in this exhibition that explores their fascination with metal and their creative influences, including concepts of motion, fluidity and pattern in nature. GALLERY OF AUSTRALIAN DESIGN,…

A.A. Milne1 When considering stairs, we have a tendency to focus on the object properties of this most necessary of architectural devices. We are drawn to the skeletal delicacy of Eva Jiricna’s steel and glass confections, Harry Seidler’s muscular spirals or Michaelangelo’s lava-like flow in the vestibule of the Laurentian Library. However, we can also consider stairs not just as exquisite objects or twisting lines that connect different levels, but as highly specific places of poetic potential. In A. A. Milne’s short poem “Halfway Down the Stairs,” Christopher Robin finds himself in a place where he is momentarily free of the limitations of here or there, because he can be somewhere else instead; somewhere, anywhere, undefined and full of possibility. We begin to conceive of stairs not as a thing,…

The London Design Festival grows bigger every year, yet it continues to be engagingly understated, decentralized, intriguing and eclectic. The sprawling and fantastic Victoria and Albert Museum, as the festival’s fulcrum for the third year running, was a real winner with talks, events and exhibitions, as well as installations by Amanda Levete and the Bouroullec brothers (the brothers’ multi-coloured Kvadrat construction in the Raphael cartoon gallery provided a fake landscape to play on in an otherwise quasi-ecclesiastical space). This year, my preferred area was the Brompton Design District in South Kensington, which offered a chance to see the city’s best design boutiques and a variety of small, curated, offbeat shows by emerging designers in empty spaces. Here, in a carpeted ground-floor flat, I saw a quirky exhibition that centred on…

(1) Spun Lamp by Evie Group Scattered about the floor, silent and still but brilliantly aglow, Spun lamp, the latest offering by emerging Sydney design duo Alex Gilmour and Dominic Chong of Evie Group, looks like the aftermath of playtime at a kindergarten for giant toddlers. Playfulness is key to this floor/pendant/table lamp inspired by a child’s spinning top. The power cord, so often the unavoidable ugliness of electrical appliances, can be artfully arranged to look like the pull string of the humble toy. The way the lamp lingers on the floor asking to be played with is sort of bittersweet. The classic toy has been adult-ified with sleek gold or silver polished mirror casing without visible screws or fasteners. The spinning days are over: you can look but don’t…

Australia has one of the most diverse cuisines in the world. Taking off from the basic staple of meat and three veg, successive waves of migrants from Italy, Greece, China, Vietnam, Thailand and now the Middle East have provided our palates with an incredible mix of different flavours. Likewise, the number and types of venues in which we eat and drink has developed significantly, even in the last few decades. And in turn, architects and interior designers have been inspired to create delicious designs of their own in the built environment. Restaurants and bars are now less reliant on “type,” meaning interiors are more creative and sophisticated. In this issue we explore some of the best new places in Australia to eat and drink.…

It is not news that different cities inspire different eating habits among their people. New York City is the city where everyone eats out – its restaurants, cafes and street kiosks are the dining rooms of its populace. Melburnians, with their Mediterranean/British heritage, drink tea and coffee with equal fervour and would never let a cold winter deter them from al fresco dining and beer-garden socializing. But what of Perth, that booming city on the edge of the Indian Ocean? How would one describe Perth’s culinary psyche? It boasts sunny climes and an outdoorsy culture, yet these qualities alone are not enough to carry the identity of a city – cultural, culinary or otherwise. Australia’s westernmost city has long been home to a handful of restaurant gems, from local institution…

With Melbourne’s Stokehouse restaurant practically a St Kilda institution, any little sister offshoot elsewhere would always have to make her own mark or suffer the fate of the copycat label. However, Brisbane’s new Stokehouse has a clear sense of identity and a strong presence that enhances the brand, and indeed offers a fresh take on it. Arkhefield architects designed a sleek new building that was intended for two tenants. When Stokehouse owner and restaurateur Frank van Haandel saw it, he was immediately beguiled by what he refers to as its “stealth-like roof,” and decided to take over the whole place. Arkhefield’s Angela Layton was then charged with designing the fitout, and went through the interesting exercise of reinterpreting her own firm’s architecture for a new purpose. “It was such an…

At 11.30 on a Friday morning, a small crowd is forming outside Jamie’s Italian on Pitt Street, Sydney. The restaurant isn’t quite open for lunch, but through the curved glass facade, mum, dad, granny and a couple of kids are watching fettucine ooze out of the fire-engine-red pasta makers and get bundled up into wicker baskets on the wall behind. Above the machines they can’t miss the custom-made chandelier (aged copper rings and slump glass), big enough for the Villa Borghese and flamboyant enough for Studio 54. Beyond the baskets of pasta, they may notice shelves of cookbooks – for sale and all by Jamie Oliver – and beyond that, with marine Davey lights overhead, the bar, its zinc top secured with industrial rivets and wine bottles prominently displayed, its…

ISSUE 38. QUT KELVIN GROVE LIBRARY/STOKEHOUSE MARGIE FRASER is a Brisbane-based writer and editor specializing in design, art and architecture. She also promotes emerging designers through consultancies, board directorships and publicity work. WORDS DIA WA FORUM LYNN CHURCHILL is principal at Rad Architecture and an academic at Curtin University. Her work questions shifting ideas about inhabiting space, reconfiguring cities, the things we build and the consequences. She is also a national director of the Design Institute of Australia. AS MODERN AS TOMORROW COLIN MARTIN is a London-based Australian freelance writer and critic. He is an arts and science graduate of the University of Melbourne. AECOM SYDNEY/ESSAY: ON STAIRS DARRAGH O’BRIEN is the principal of DOBA and is currently establishing a trans-disciplinary research consultancy dedicated to mapping the relationships between occupants…

Let’s face it: too much of the context of our lives (in Perth and elsewhere in Australia) is bland, non-specific and overly cautious. “Design Cannot Wait” – the provocation for the twentieth anniversary of the Design Institute of Australia (DIA) Western Australian Chapter’s Forum – produced speakers who demonstrated some design moves that are effectively shifting people’s mindscapes. Think of Gaudi. So few truly invest heavily in high-risk creativity that actually redefines and rethinks how we design the world we inhabit. Then there is the idea of more nuanced and pleasurable places derived from working differently with the energy created by building smaller, more immediate relationships, including connecting to the specifics of site and to the liberalization of “ideas.” Emma Williamson is director of CODA, a Fremantle-based architectural practice with…

There is a lot to consider when designing a restaurant. There’s the look and feel of the interiors, which must relate to the restaurant’s cuisine or ethos. There’s the comfort of diners – how they are positioned as well as the surrounding lighting and acoustics. And there’s the function of the space for the staff – how the waiters move through the space, how easy is it to get orders to, and food and drinks from, the kitchen. These topics and more were discussed during the most recent Artichoke Night School in Brisbane, with three speakers taking on the topic: Rowena Cornwell of Coop Creative, Geoff Bainbridge of Fabio Ongarato Design and Grill’d Healthy Hamburgers and Byron George of Russell & George. Rowena Cornwell began by talking about the relationship…

(1) Where They Create BY P. BARBERA (FRAME, 2011) 288 PP $80 Step inside the working spaces of the world’s creative set. From Melbourne to Amsterdam to Tribeca, this book takes you inside the studios, offices and headquarters of top creative companies and individuals. Photographer Paul Barbera started his blog Where They Create in 2009 and has since turned it into this book of the same name. Thirty-two workplaces are chosen here, from the cluttered-but-cool space of Wallpaper* magazine, to the taxidermy-filled studio of designer Kelly McCallum. In Melbourne’s Sneaker Freaker magazine offices, a collection of one thousand-plus sneakers cramps a storage area and a Shaquille O’Neal cardboard cut-out encourages the team to make magazines. The insider photos are accompanied with Q&As, asking such questions as “Is smoking banned?” “Where’s…

The Queensland University of Technology’s Kelvin Grove campus library caters to many social phenomena within campus life. The design team that collaborated on its refurbishment – Peddle Thorp Architects (PTA) and James Cubitt Architects (JCA) – was quick to recognize that libraries, more than ever before, have a significant role as social meeting places for students. “The library has become a de facto cafe and student lounge,” notes project architect Mark Tendys of JCA. “With the evaporation of much non-communal space for students to simply hang out, the library is the alternative social hub to the food court.” Alarm bells about noise start to ring, but the QUT fitout has it all under control. The original 1970s building was designed by John Simpson and John Andrews, who earned an Australian…

Unlike most hotel spas that are hidden away on lower floors or in uninviting windowless basements that receive little or no natural light, the new spa at the Four Seasons hotel on London’s Park Lane is located on a the top floor in a specially created glazed extension. “What I wanted to do was create an aerial spa, a spa that was above the hubbub of the everyday below,” says its designer, UK architect Eric Parry. “The concept was that of a spa in the clouds.” The hotel, dating from 1970, was previously considered a visually “unfinished” building, with only a plant room adorning its flat roof. Parry’s task in the first instance was to create a lightweight structure that could be put on top of the hotel and that…

The Artichoke Magazine Prize for design communication is awarded to one final year student in each of the interior design/interior architecture degree courses in Australia and New Zealand. The Artichoke Magazine Prize for design communication is awarded to one final-year student in each of the interior design/interior architecture degree courses in Australia and New Zealand. Awarded for excellence in the visual and written presentation of an interior design proposition, the prize-winning student is selected by each institution’s head of interior design or interior architecture. (1) Johnny Angelino, University of South Australia Live Element is a “walk-in movie” experience that allows viewers to feel like they are a part of the film. The project, which includes shadows of visitors projected throughout the space, premieres Australian movies and offers recreational spaces in…

In recent years, there has been a food explosion in Australia. Our cosmopolitan cities have been treated to new kinds of restaurants, from sushi trains to boutique burger bars, plus a plethora of markets and specialist shops full of every foodstuff you can imagine, with new types emerging all the time. In this spirit of experimentation, Sydney’s latest foodie hot spot, the new Zumbo at Star City in Pyrmont, is a patisserie/cafe that combines our love of tasty treats, shopping and the sushi train in a retail-hospitality hybrid. The project, which is situated on the ground floor of the complex on a prime corner site, is open to the outside and has great street presence. On one side is a not-so-traditional patisserie where customers can view the desserts (which are…

With My Mexican Cousin, Six Degrees has created an inviting hospitality venue in a disused space within the Melbourne Recital Centre (MRC). Rather than trying to echo the large-scale language of the MRC facade, or to compete by designing a big, austere showstopper, the project team opted for a pocket that was “jewel-like and welcoming,” says Six Degrees director Mark Healy. As an all-day eatery and bar, My Mexican Cousin wears a number of hats. Situated in the midst of the Melbourne Arts Precinct, the venue caters to the “coffee break brigade” as well as breakfast and lunch destination seekers, and is a before, interval and post-show meeting spot for MRC patrons. “We wanted to create an inclusive space that enhances the whole building in which it resides, to demystify…

The choice facing Sydneysiders when deciding where to go for a drink has recently become more difficult – and what a great thing. Those in Sydney now have options aside from the large, traditional pub – they can now venture somewhere that’s more intimate, less casino-like, and, well, a bit more Melbourne. In 2007, John Thorpe, former president of the Australian Hotels Association, said of people living in Sydney: “… we don’t want to sit in a hole and drink chardonnay and read a book.” But it seems he was wrong and there are now new bars popping up all over Sydney that allow just this. So who should we be toasting? Clover Moore, New South Wales MP and Lord Mayor of Sydney, it seems. Clover Moore pushed for liberalized…

What work does your design studio do? Residential, retail, commercial and hospitality. We create fresh, engaging interiors with a sensitivity to the human experience of a space. In retail, we meet client briefs with our own Doherty Lynch signature of bespoke detailing, playful elements, a strong use of colour and richness of materials. In residential projects, we understand a client’s lifestyle needs and interpret this into a personalized interior, using all our design strengths. How big is your team? We have a core team of six and a broader team of professionals, including architects, structural engineers, planners and builders, who we collaborate with on many projects. Where are your design projects located? Most of our projects are in Melbourne. However, we do quite a lot of work in Sydney too…

(1) Skin collection, leather offcuts by Pepe Heykoop Dutch designer Pepe Heykoop has used scraps of leather to create a collection of furniture that makes a statement about the industry’s wastage of the material. The Skin collection is made up of existing furniture that is modified and covered in these leather leftovers. Each piece is unique, with the leather scraps turned into random skin patterns, a reference to cell structures and growth in nature. Heykoop’s work features at a new space in Perth called Portal + Zekka, which aims to promote projects and collaborations from the art, design, fashion and film worlds. Pepe Heykoop pepeheykoop.nl Portal + Zekka +61 8 9384 1787 portal.zekka.com (2) Awkward Beauty marries jewellery and fashion The complex notion of beauty was explored in an exhibition…

Western Australia’s leading designers were recognized at the 2011 Design Institute of Australia WA Awards, held on Friday 2 September 2011 at the WA Museum Hackett Hall foyer, in James Street Mall, Perth. Design practitioners and students were presented with twenty-one awards in the categories of interior spaces (including retail, residential, corporate, public/institutional and hospitality) and product design (industrial design and furniture design). An exhibition of all 2011 entries was on display from 2 September to 16 September 2011 at the same venue. Interior Spaces – Professional – Retail Best in State and Award of Merit: Venn by Matthews Architecture in conjunction with Geyer. Interior Spaces – Professional – Hospitality Award of Merit: Venn by Matthews Architecture in conjunction with Geyer. Commendation: La Lola Trattoria by Mata Design Studio; Sentinel…

“Sunrise, 6.15 am – meet me on Collins Street” was typical of architect and writer Robin Boyd’s assignments for the émigré photographer Mark Strizic. Now, his 1960 photographs of Boyd’s Walsh Street house dominate an exhibition of mid-twentieth-century works by Strizic and seven other Melbourne-based photographers. Their stylish compositions capture changes in the city’s architecture, industry and society. “Modern photography” – characterized by its clean lines, sharp focus, pronounced camera angles and an emphasis on geometric shapes and patterns – was founded in Germany and the USSR in the 1920s. Scenes of modern and industrial life predominated, and the modern style suited product illustration and advertising. Following Bauhaus principles, modern photographers did not distinguish between their commercial practice and fine art, and their images were used promotionally. Only two of…

Upon exiting the lift at AECOM’s new offices in Sydney, it is immediately apparent that we have not yet arrived. Although the reception desk is folded into the material elements of wall, floor and ceiling, it seems the entire purpose of this black, compressed vestibule is to frame an expansive volume of light beyond and to the left. What first appears to be a conventional dog-leg stairway is revealed as an elaborate network of cranked stairs, set within offset voids that connect four levels of open-plan workspace. In many ways, the foyer feels like an expansion of the staircase at the midpoint between floors. The staircase itself is an elegantly detailed series of folded timber plates, supported by an expressive central beam. The sinuous, Escher-like trajectory of the stairs suggests…

(1) Enzie spiral Designed by Bryan and William Mackenzie of Enzie, this column-less spiral staircase is Enzie’s first of this design, and also features their widest ever spiral. Treads in black Comcork. Enzie Stairs +61 3 9481 2255 enzie.com (2) Glass balustrades Connect Systems’ contemporary handrail brackets feature a stainless steel handrail mounted on 12 mm toughened glass with 50 mm satin-finished patch fittings. Photography Andrew Iser Connect Systems +61 3 9314 0505 connectsystems.com.au (3) Velieris carpet Velieris is a pioneer in Alpaca carpets. Alpaca fleece is one of the world’s rare exotic fibres, and is soft yet extremely durable. Here, architecture and interiors are by Robert Mills Architects & Interior Designers. Photography Trevor Mein Velieris +61 3 9496 8000 velieris.com (4) Curved glass Bent and Curved Glass is a…

The shower is more than an object on a wall that delivers water. For some it’s a crucial part of a ritual to start or finish the day. For others it’s a way to relax after exercise or strenuous activity. No matter its use, the shower is personal and Raymor have accommodated for the tastes of many with their updated rail and overhead range. As with any bathroom product, the shower must elude style and character. Raymor have achieved this on all shower upgrades with stunning chrome finishes, contemporary fittings and modern braided hose configurations for shower on rail options, Academy and Boston. Academy With origins stemming from an installation in Canberra’s Australian Defence Force Academy, this shower is bold and captivating with two head options – a streamline wand…

One of the earliest known artworks in a hospital is William Hogarth’s 1736 mural Christ at the Pool of Bethesda, housed in St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London. Not intended for public eyes, this work was instead instructive – diagnostic even – with the figures standing about the healing waters of Bethesda depicting symptoms of diseases that were common at the time. However bold and radical this was in the eighteenth century, the positioning and deployment of art within hospitals has come a long way. Melbourne-based sound artist Philip Samartzis has worked with Dr Tracey Weiland in initiating a groundbreaking study into the effects that sound and recorded compositions have on the anxiety levels of patients in emergency departments. Through presenting a sample of patients admitted to St Vincent’s Hospital in…

Australia’s cultural maturity is seldom more apparent than when we are eating. Back in the 1980s – when my biggest culinary dilemma was “Bubble O’ Bill or Golden Gaytime?” – going out to tea (sic) demanded one simple decision: “down the pub for a countery” or, for something adventurous, a trip to the local Chinese? I’m exaggerating for the sake of an editorial gambit, but you get my point: in a very short space of time, the number of options for dining and food shopping in this country exploded from a handful of earnest archetypes to an anxiety-inducing plethora of formats and fusions. Accordingly, our expectations for restaurant, cafe and food retail fitouts changed too. Literal representations – Chinese lanterns, fiascos of chianti strung from walls, fishing nets and buoys…

The Birdcage marquees at the annual Melbourne Cup Carnival are a design typology that is hard to define. On a functional level they are a branch of hospitality design. Marquees can be as genteel as a country club and as pumped-up as a nightclub – and sometimes the one marquee can be both, depending on the time of day you visit. These carefully orchestrated interiors for the theatre of social exchange are temporary, which also makes them a type of installation design. Like visual merchandising or event styling, maximum effect and impact is privileged over longevity. At the Loft marquee by emerging architectural design office Joyce + Made, a finely crafted interior sat behind a robust architectural grid. Layers of white-painted reinforcing mesh were used to create a three-dimensional frame…

In most circles, the mention of reincarnation causes eyebrows to rise skywards. While unbelief may be the norm when it comes to the spiritual meaning of the word, in the realm of interior refurbishment we accept reincarnation as a given. In this instance, Woods Bagot has transformed one of Sydney’s most significant heritage sites into what aims to be the hospitality hub of The Rocks district. Bar 100, the latest venture by property developers the Kazal family, occupies the Mariners’ Church building in George Street, which was completed in 1859. The original mission of this institution was to provide spiritual support and wholesome social, entertainment and recreational activities to the throngs of mariners who passed through Sydney’s burgeoning port. Drawing from the inherent contradictions in the site’s complex past, in…