Innehållsförteckning för Issue 61 December från Artichoke

Melbourne’s hospitality offerings just keep getting better and better, and it’s no surprise from the world’s most liveable city for the seventh year in a row. While its chefs are world-class and the food is some of the finest in Australia, the one thing truly distinguishing most of the Victorian capital’s newly opened restaurants and cafes is a high-quality dining experience. Service is important, as is an inviting interior and savvy restaurateurs have been quick to realise the value good design adds to their business. Consequently, many are working with some of the country’s best designers and architects to deliver fitouts nothing short of memorable. This includes Joe La and brothers Nolan and Brian Taing, who recently opened Workshop Brothers in Glen Waverley. The co-owners already operate three other locations…

Winner Best Bar Design Designer George Livissianis Location Surry Hills, New South Wales Jury comment — The Dolphin Hotel is a treat. Both temporary and permanent, anarchic and cogent, this bar interior balances diametric opposites in exquisite tension. Originally a series of rooms for a series of art projects, the spaces work seamlessly together, united by a light-coloured palette. The Dolphin Hotel is successful both day and night, an achievement that is unusual in itself. The effect of the interior has been achieved in an economical and parsimonious way, and the overall impression is of an interior that doesn’t take itself or anything too seriously. Perhaps one of the most important outcomes of the creation of The Dolphin Hotel is that it has inserted itself provocatively into the conversation about Sydney’s…

Winner Best Cafe Design Designer Ritz&Ghougassian Location Hoppers Crossing, Victoria Jury comment — Morris and Heath is a holistically considered interior, bringing high-end design to Melbourne’s western suburbs. The interior successfully creates its own moment, its own place, warm and comfortable with its disciplined palette of wood and strat-egically placed lighting. All is understated, nothing in this interior is extraneous, and it is one of the most remarkable outcomes seen among this year’s entrants. The timber panels and battens may not be an original idea, but they have been finely detailed and executed in this application, with such details as the “fingertip” scale of the battens giving tactility and a “must touch” aspect to the interior. The operable screen further multiplies the space – a detail that could have been omitted,…

Winner Best Installation Design Designer Foolscap Studio Location Barangaroo, New South Wales Jury comment — Noma Australia managed to tread that fine line between representative materiality and realization that never descends into “featurism” or mawkishness. With a shelf life of only ten weeks, Noma Australia, through its collaborating creators, managed to embody the best the nation has to offer in terms of “ingredients,” both at the table and in the physical environment. The decision to create rammed earth counters is inspired. This is a material that is not suited to long-term hospitality use, but ideal for the short-term embodiment of the “earth beneath our feet” concept that reflects this great brown land – materially rich and satisfying, and highly evocative. “Fusion” is a word that’s been used practically to the extinction…

Forming an enduring and successful creative partnership is not easy, but when it works, it truly works. In the combination of perspectives a brilliance is found with the culminating work perceived as one. Layering that creative relationship with one of a more personal nature requires respect and a cohesive way of thinking, enabling each party to speak their own voice while standing side-by-side. Meet Joel and Kate Booy, better known as Studio Truly Truly – partners in life and profession – who joined forces in their hometown of Brisbane and now reside in the Netherlands. Their industrial design practice is enticing the eye of design-led manufacturers on either side of the equator. Starting their careers in graphic design working with legendary Brisbane-based studio Inkahoots, they were invited by one of…

Images courtesy of — Caroline Simpson Library & Research Collection, Sydney Living Museums Marion Hall Best: Interiors — 5 August – 12 November 2017 Museum of SydneyPhillip Street & Bridge Street Sydney NSW 2000 Modern art, design and contemporary life were closely related in the 1930s when Marion Hall Best became one of Australia’s first independent interior decorators, and it would prove to be influential throughout her career. With a penchant for bright, bold colour and credited with introducing modern furnishings and fabrics to Australia, Best believed colour could inspire creativity and good design could improve people’s lives. In 2017, Sydney Living Museum looked back at the visionary designer’s work as part of its Modernist season. Marion Hall Best: Interiors, curated by Michael Lech, featured furniture, fabric, objects and ephemera…

QT Hotels are some of Australia’s hippest hospitality hotspots, putting art and design front and centre while reflecting their unique locations and neighbourhoods. Leading Sydney architect Nic Graham has been responsible for designing the interiors of QT Sydney, Canberra, Gold Coast and Melbourne, and in doing so has created a growing furniture collection that is finding broader appeal in hospitality venues around the world. The resulting QT/Chillax collection, which is produced in partnership with Stellar Works, is now available at Living Edge. QT/Chillax is Graham’s modern-day tribute to the mid-century movement, embodying the laid-back spirit of Australian life with a nod to the pragmatism of Scandinavian design. “The stud work, turned walnut armrests and bent metalwork are a wink to vintage Australian design,” Graham explains. The collection evolves as Graham…

“When looking at this project one can’t help but be reminded of the bold patterns and shapes of the Memphis Group and the playfulness that comes along with it.” Good-quality design in accessible environments can be difficult to get right. Often it seems the two are mutually exclusive, with the “design” component prioritized as less important than the function, resulting in impersonal, utilitarian spaces that do not reflect or engage with the people who use them. Sibling Architecture challenges this idea with its project Frenches Interior, instead realizing a series of fun and dynamic interior insertions that are pleasing to everyone, regardless of their ability. Project architect Jane Caught says, “Our motivation was to try to look at accessibility in a way that was desirable, rather than a strict interpretation…

Winner Best Restaurant Design Designer Genesin Studio Location Pennington, South Australia Jury comment — Viet Next Door represents a pinnacle of artisanal crafting and an instance where a great deal of thought has clearly been invested in every detail. It is an impressive and strangely atmospheric interior for all its simplicity. All elements of the interior have been crafted from scratch and exist in delicate suspension with each other, even down to the alignment of the flex and the tension wire supporting the handmade light fittings. Adelaide has a long history of excellent Vietnamese food and this family-owned business has been taken in a unique and thoughtful direction by its interior. This space is something of a departure from the usual run of family-owned restaurants – it is a place where…

Winner Best Retail Design Designer Woods Bagot Location Barangaroo, New South Wales Jury comment — Campos Barangaroo is one of those rare insertions that manages to complete, and thus make sense of, the space it occupies. It stands in rich, and some what glamorous, contrast to the bold sandstone wall nearby, and in harmony with the glass and steel detailing around it, Campos is a glittering “jewellery box” installation, positioned and at home exactly where it should be. Primarily providing coffee, this brass- finished boxed venue, with woven brass mesh panels, puts a bold foot forward in a setting where some might have opted for a more neutral black, or something similar. More than equal to its materially rich setting, this exquisitely detailed cafe also occupies its chosen space asymmetrically, sitting…

Winner Hall of Fame Designer Designed by Mike Murphy with later additions by Mike Hanna and Don Cameron Location Potts Point, New South Wales Jury reflection — Where does one begin with Fratelli Paradiso? Established in 2001 in what was then a distinctly un-gentrified and rather seedy Potts Point, this institution sees so many key ingredients come together to give it its continuing and seemingly never-ending moment in the sun. Fratelli Paradiso, the creation of the lyrically named Paradiso brothers Giovanni and Enrico and their business partner Marco Ambrosino, brought a distinctly “Melbourne” style of service and dining to the Sydney scene. From day one it was the differences to the typical local experience that made it both distinctive and a much-valued contribution to food culture in the city. The three…

“... This hotel successfully delivers an experience for its guests that feels at one with the real world just outside its doors.” French anthropologist Marc Augé famously coined the term “non-places” to describe the transient, generic spaces of the modern globalized world – railway stations, airports, motorways, big-box retail and hotels. Places where we feel “at home” because of the homogenized familiarity of the surroundings, and that yet are never truly home. Putting aside philosophical questions about what kind of world we want to live in, and how big business might contribute to this, it raises a pragmatic question for international hotel operators like Starwood Hotels and Resorts, which owns the new Four Points by Sheraton in Melbourne’s Docklands: is there valuable competitive advantage to be gained from differentiating its…

MAISON&OBJET (M&O) is a major trade event for professionals working in the art of living. The lifestyle trade fair brings together a 360-degree product offering, including decoration, design, furniture, accessories, textiles, fragrances, children’s items and tableware. The inventive show design enlivens the space, allowing different styles to coexist in a multifaceted way. This extraordinary diversity falls in line with the varied expectations of global markets. The show’s lifestyle platform, at the intersection of business and creativity, gives solutions to the visitors that come from around the world in search of uniqueness. Keep on top of evolving consumer trends, inspiring experiences and brand offers, with a show that takes visitors to three major sections. The three sections are: Maison for interior decoration; Objet for concept and retail; and Influences for showcasing…

Whether it’s that our expectations of hotels have shifted or that the likes of Airbnb have altered the accommodation landscape, it seems that hotels have really upped the ante in recent years. A quick Google search for “boutique hotels Melbourne” will unveil a raft of possibilities, including luxurious rooftop glamping. Interestingly, it is not just the smaller boutique hotels that are going out of their way to provide guests with character rooms and “Instagram-able” experiences – it is the larger hotel groups too. This could be seen as a shift in design direction from an international viewpoint, with its star ratings and standardization of branding, toward more individualized responses to place. The twenty-fourth iteration of Artichoke Night School, held in Melbourne on 24 August, explored the value of hotel design.…

Ro two-seater sofa by Fritz Hansen The Ro chair, designed by Jaime Hayon for Fritz Hansen, has been given a new look with the introduction of the Ro two-seater sofa. Showcasing the curvy characteristics and playful, colourful expression characteristic of Jaime Hayon’s design, the Ro two-seater is suitable for a hallway, living room or any other setting that is in need of a small “shelter.” The sofa comes fully upholstered in a selection of unique colours and a wide range of fabrics. Cult — cultdesign.com.au The Bonnie and Neil × Byzantine Design collection Independent textile design studio Bonnie and Neil has launched its new vinyl rugs and porcelain tile collection, a collaboration with Byzantine Design. Celebrating colour and pattern, The Bonnie and Neil × Byzantine Design collection includes five distinct…

Nat Cheshire — Director, Cheshire Architects Nat works on development strategy, architecture, branding and product design. Nat works daily on everything from apron buttons, web design and light fittings, to basement cocktail dens, luxury retreats and the creation and transformation of huge chunks of the city. Among this work, Nat has built or fitout much of the nine-city-block Britomart in downtown Auckland, and he invented the four-hectare City Works Depot. Vanessa Crichton — General manager, Rockpool Dining Group Regarded as one of the best hospitality professionals in Australia, Vanessa started her career in 1990 as a waiter in Adelaide. She went on to work in senior management positions at Lloyd’s Brasserie in Dublin, Magill Estate Restaurant in Adelaide, and Langton’s Restaurant and Taxi Dining Room in Melbourne. When Neil Perry decided to…

Ume Burger — Designer: Amber Road Location: Barangaroo, New South Wales Photography: Christopher Morris Fred’s — Designer: ACME&Co. Location: Potts Point, New South Wales Photography: Felix Forest 12-Micron — Designer: SJB Location: Barangaroo, New South Wales Photography: Felix Forest Cutler & Co. — Designer: IF Architecture Location: Fitzroy, Victoria Photography: Earl Carter The George on Collins — Designer: Hecker Guthrie Location: Melbourne, Victoria Photography: Earl Carter Workshop Brothers, Glen Waverley — Designer: Studio Esteta Location: Glen Waverley, Victoria Photography: Tessa Ross- Phelan…

Winner Best Identity Design Designer Fabio Ongarato Design Location Mornington Peninsula, Victoria Jury comment — With overtones and undertones of Donnie Darko hovering inevitably around the design, the identity collateral of Jackalope represents an ambitious and boldly coordinated, highly integrated relationship to the interior and venue it supports. The designers have managed to marshal and occupy multiple channels of attack to create an identity that cascades from supergraphics, environmental wayfinding, door signs and other placards, to menus, paper collateral, typography and uniforms. The supergraphics in particular highlight the main building, creating a moment of intensity. As the identity reveals itself through the visitor’s experience, it’s evident there is an overall inventiveness to each layer of the graphics. As a highly integrated, carefully considered overall experience, Jackalope is a singular achievement and…

Peter Clarke’s affiliation with the built form and appreciation for design has gained him a reputation as one Australia’s leading architectural photographers. His work spans more than twenty-five years in industry, working alongside some of Australia’s most progressive designers, landmark projects and natural and man-made landscapes. Clarke’s work successfully combines his passion for photography, architecture and design, working collectively to create a vision of the finished form. His collaborative approach and strong vision have seen his unique graphic style applied to a wide range of industries, including architecture, construction, mining and aviation. Like many photographers, Clarke is always looking for the next piece, which has led him to develop a limited-edition series of architectural landscape series prints. These prints have found their way into a number of commercial foyers and…

Imaginative and creative play is important for children’s cognitive development. By manipulating materials, experimenting with ideas, testing their abilities, contemplating different resolutions and trying different roles, children can develop critical thinking skills and problem-solving abilities. Imagination and creativity are also important for good architecture and design as Hong Kong firm PAL Design Group and local studio Frost Collective prove at Nubo in Alexandria, Sydney. Nubo is a new indoor playground where children are encouraged to “exercise [their] imagination,” and it required the design team to exercise their imagination to create a space that would stimulate children’s creativity and resourcefulness. Nubo opened in March 2017 as a space for children to engage in “pure play,” an experience intended to inspire curiosity, exploration and invention and to encourage parents to be present…