In their ongoing work to assist artists and the creative industries in finding space, the City of Sydney today announced that it has become the first licensee of the Creative Spaces. This unique portal is designed to help artists and … Continue reading
When it came time to launch their new colour range of Dino Stripe textiles – designed in collaboration with Dinosaur Designs – Woven Image invited artist Liesl Hazleton, to let her imagination go. Known for her work with objects sourced … Continue reading
Continuing on with a Scandinavian theme we are excited to announce Marimekko’s strong investments in internationalisation continues with the opening of the first company-owned stores in Australia. Marimekko products have been sold in Australia since the 1960s, but now the … Continue reading
Recently I had the pleasure of visiting Helsinki during Helsinki Design Week . The city is also host to the 2012 World Design Capital so there was plenty to see and do. My visit was hosted by the Helsinki Design Week … Continue reading
In the past few years we’ve heard much about “3D printing” and the many uses of this emerging technology. But how does 3D printing work? How is it different from other manufacturing processes? And what else can the technology be … Continue reading
Six of Australia’s most prominent Indigenous arts workers set sail for London last week, following a moving farewell event, held at the Australia Council for the Arts. Preceding a musical performance by Gina Williams, this year’s awardees of the British … Continue reading
UTS Business School is taking the initiative to become the home for the most creative, innovative, responsible and integrative thinking minds in business through a collision of progressive curriculum and the architecture of world-renowned architect Frank Gehry. The revamped Business School, to be housed … Continue reading
Those of you who subscribe to design festivals around the world will know that September was a cracker for design! With Helsinki Design Week from 6 – 16 September and the London Design Festival quickly following from 14 – 23 … Continue reading
When the Boulevard Hotel opened in Sydney in May 1973, it was promoted ‘as one of the world’s great hotels’ (1). With its distinctive arch-pattern topped façade, and ‘sculptured’street-level colonnade, the Boulevard quickly established itself as a city landmark. It … Continue reading
Powerhouse curator Charles Pickett and former curator Judith O’Callaghan preview their new book about Australian architects’ attempts to make suburban houses cheap, liveable and appealing. The ‘Australian dream’ of suburban living is under threat, assailed from all sides by crises … Continue reading
Earlier this year the well-known German designer, Konstantin Grcic, designer of such iconic pieces as the Chair One for Magis and the Mayday light for Flos, released a new chair for Italian timber furniture manufacturer Mattiazzi. Not such earth shattering … Continue reading
The Sea Chair designed by Studio Swine and Kieren Jones with co-authors Azusa Murakami and Alexander Groves, has won the BIO Gold Medal, the highest ranked award, as well as the BIO Green Award for environmentally friendly projects at the … Continue reading
For the first time in the awards history the jury for the Australian Institute of Architects’ 2012 National Architecture Awards has unveiled the shortlisted projects. Continue reading
As Arts funding in Australia continues to shrink so does the hope that the nation will promote creative thinkers who will shape our future and lead us to developing a better one with improved outcomes. Funding creative thinking may seem extravagant and financially risky … Continue reading
Kids’ playgrounds have come a long way from the days of the humble swing and slippery slide in a park. Today’s modern playgrounds feature sand diggers, water slides and giant climbing nets and landscape architects and designers are leading the … Continue reading
It’s nearly 10 years since Thomas Heatherwick’s ‘Plank’ first featured in the Great Expectations: new British design stories exhibition at the Powerhouse Museum. Alongside his work were also works by Tom Dixon, Stella McCartney and Marc Newson. I recently met … Continue reading
The 2012 instalment of the Australian International Design Awards (AIDA) was launched recently without a parbuckle, or should I say hitch? For those who don’t know about AIDA, each year, since 1992, the Powerhouse Museum has made a selection of … Continue reading
When I was 18 I witnessed something truly fabulous: the removal of pastel furniture from my family home. The eighties were over, bring on the final decade of the 20th Century I thought. What I didn’t know at the time … Continue reading
Design is one of those words, it means many things to many people. It’s been defined, deconstructed, damned and deified. Architect William McDonough famously stated that design is the first signal of human intention but for most people it is decoration, mere … Continue reading
Started 14 years ago by Marva Griffin, Satellite, part of Milan’s famous Salon Internazionale del Mobile has grown from just 55 stands and 101 designers in it’s first year to one of the world’s most important platforms for young furniture and lighting designers. … Continue reading
What is good design? Award winning film maker James Cameron says: “it’s an elegant solution to a design problem”. Cameron was recently honoured with Australia’s most prestigious design accolade for his work on the Deep Sea Explorer, a single occupant … Continue reading
In today’s design world, a raft of celebrity designers are regularly feted at furniture fairs, in exhibitions and on the pages of magazines, but this has not always been the case. In the history of design, particular individuals were trailblazers … Continue reading
Say hello to some of the hot designers from the 2012 Young Blood Designers Markets. Continue reading
Millions have sat in them, few know their history. Yet like just about everything connected with the Sydney Opera House the theatre chairs, indispensable to audiences’ experience of the building, have their own intriguing story. When the young Sydney architect … Continue reading
Complex, intricate work in less time and with less errors – that’s the promise of rapid prototyping, a relatively new design paradigm that allows concepts to be visualised, tested and realised via three-dimensional (3D) printing technology. “Rapid prototyping enables ideas … Continue reading
I first thought about the idea of an edible interior when I came across ‘printed food’ a material designed by American chef Homaro Cantu providing menus for his patrons they could also eat as part of the meal. As I thought … Continue reading
Welcome to D*Hub’s ‘Loves’ column. We’ve invited design lovers to share their favourite object in the Powerhouse Museum Collection. Trent Jansen is an award winning Australian designer. Trent Jansen loves … I really like Ragnar Hansen’s Tea and Coffee set because … Continue reading
There may not be a design solution for winter but as the temperature starts to drop, I can’t help but covet cosy designs like Patricia Urquiola’s Mangas rugs produced by Spanish company, Gandia Blasco. Inspired by a knitted sleeve, Ms … Continue reading
“Design is the purposeful, technical, imaginative, thought process that shapes our country, helps our lives and fills our GDP. It is, in short, a life-enhancing activity.” His Excellency Michael Bryce AM AE Design is in everything we do and come … Continue reading
State Library creates a new online home for design thinking State Library of Queensland has launched Design Online, a new public web space for exchanging ideas and generating knowledge around design in the Asia Pacific. State Librarian Janette Wright said design … Continue reading
This September MUD Australia will open their first international store, founder Shelley Simpson talks about retail, the hand made and the business of creativity. Continue reading
Designer Tom Skeehan talks about what inspires him, his love of Japanese design and creating playful functional objects. Continue reading
Three designers from Workshopped 2012 dicuss their work, design influences and Powerhouse Museum favourites. Continue reading
Having returned from the agIDEAS conference in Melbourne, it is one phrase that resonates – ‘the future of civilisation is a common design problem’. Of course, I’m quoting David Berman, the Canadian graphic designer and author of Do Good Design. … Continue reading
The British Council has announced the 14 shortlisted participants, who will take part in the third year of ACCELERATE – a unique career-building experience for Indigenous Australians working in the creative industries. This year, judges from Australia’s arts funding bodies joined … Continue reading
Design critic, Alice Rawsthorn, believes design is one of the most powerful tools at our disposal to empower ourselves and other people by changing the way we live. Last week, Rawsthorn gave the keynote lecture at the event ‘7 Kinds … Continue reading
What better place than the Powerhouse Museum to contemplate our future. The Museum’s vast collection has archived over 200 years of Australian related history. By looking to our collection and exhibitions we are able to determine where we have come … Continue reading
This question will be at the heart of discussions at an upcoming symposium in Sydney. The event titled ‘7 Kinds of Happiness: Conversations on Design and Emotion’ is curated by Melbourne-based design studio, The Office for Good Design and will … Continue reading
Nostalgic, elegant, tacky, cheerful, tasteless, complex and superficial, it was everything and nothing. It was far more an attitude than an aesthetic searching to disrupt. Today postmodernism has become the movement we love to hate. Yet postmodernism gave us the … Continue reading
A few brightly lit, vinyl stencilled shopfronts give a small hint of the design momentum developing inside a few council owned buildings on Sydney’s once vital Oxford Street. In October 2011 the City of Sydney called for Expressions of Interest … Continue reading
