Tabla de contenidos para Issue 52 en Artichoke

The doctor’s waiting room can be a dull place; a room where the sick and injured await their diagnosis accompanied by decade-old copies of Reader’s Digest. It’s not typically a place one looks forward to visiting. But at Holdsworth House Medical Practice in Brisbane (page 58), Twohill and James has brought delight to visiting patients through custom-made furniture, bold colour and artworks. The clients, keen collectors of contemporary art, conceived the waiting room and hallways as galleries. The artworks serve as an expression of the client, but also as distraction and therapy for patients. The directors at Bresic Whitney’s Hunters Hill office (page 28) also have an enviable art collection, including pieces by Bill Henson and Tracey Moffatt. Chenchow Little Architects has combined two unexpected and unconnected uses – that…

(1) Natural Elements by Rogerseller Inspired by the colours of the environment, Rogerseller has launched a new range of metal plate finishes called Natural Elements. The collection of finishes captures the textures and hues of raw, organic materials. The new Graphite, Rose Copper and Burnished Brass (pictured) finishes will complement any style, from the masculine raw industrial look, to warm, earthy relaxed styles or soft, refined elegant looks. The finishes are available across a comprehensive portfolio of Rogerseller’s tapware, showers and accessories. — Rogerseller rogerseller.com.au (2) Wallpapers by Mairead Murphy Artist Mairead Murphy has created her first illustrative series entitled Great & Small, which Miltan and King has turned into a wallpaper range suited for residential and commercial applications. The Great & Small collection consists of hand-drawn animal characters, drawing…

If the Google office style represents an haute couture moment in commercial interiors – inspirational and extravagant, yet unbearably self-conscious – then the new Medibank headquarters in Melbourne’s Docklands shares some of its playful flare, yet represents a rather more grounded evolution in workplace design. As seasoned designers in this field, Hassell has carefully calibrated a balance between step-change innovation and common sense. In doing so, it has created a rare hybrid of social interaction, business innovation and space efficiency. This is rare in a world of office default settings – beige felt dividers and grey carpet tiles, ceilings dropped to minimum heights and a Hobson’s choice of cellular coops or noisy barns. This, despite the many heroic twentieth-century attempts to rethink the office, from Frank Lloyd Wright’s early open-plan…

Holdsworth House Medical Practice,first established in Darlinghurst, Sydney, has recently extended its health services to Brisbane. Local architects David Twohill and Emma James, of practice Twohill and James, have translated the progressive approach of the medical practice’s directors, Dr Mark Bloch and Dr Dick Quan, through a refurbishment of an existing commercial premises in Fortitude Valley. The project is a physical manifestation of a corporate ethos based on delivering exceptional care with design objectives focused on celebrating the “small moments.” The reception and waiting area, positioned at the heart of the practice, is a place of calm and respite. Florescent light has been replaced by the warm candescence emanating from the soft curves of a bespoke ceiling “veil.” This element is both the visual centrepiece of the practice and the…

Dylan White, a graduate of object and industrial design from University of Canberra, has been named the overall winner of the 2015 Australasian Graduate of the Year Awards (AGOTYA). White outperformed graduates from five design disciplines and was unanimously awarded by the judges, who included Geoff Fitzpatrick (design ambassador, Design Institute of Australia), Dan Cox (Carr Design Group) and Cassie Hansen (editor, Artichoke magazine). White’s designs for a three-wheeled car, an aerodynamic cycling helmet and a manual espresso machine demonstrated a “high level of capability, knowledge and creative skill, and an ability to find the balance between art and science,” the judges said. “The judges were all impressed with the exceptionally high level of research and development that had gone into each project, especially considering that each project belongs to…

In recent months two significant and related events have altered the Australian intellectual property (IP) landscape and the interests of all who either produce or consume Australian creative content. The first of these is the Federal Court of Australia’s decision in Dallas Buyers Club LLC v. iiNet Limited. The other is the federal government’s review of the Designs Act 2003. In the former, a David and Goliath-like encounter, it became clear that companies will use litigious measures to take action to protect their commercial interests from copyright infringement and that the courts will assist them in doing so. The court’s landmark directive that iiNet surrender the details of its customers perhaps foreshadows a tougher approach, compared to the blasé attitudes of members of the public to illegal downloads, cybersquatting and…

A workspace can act as a powerful ingredient in the image of a business and it is perhaps no more pertinent than for those working in property. Wolfdene, a business concerned with multiple aspects of the built environment including design and construct, landscaping and real estate, has seized this opportunity for its new Prahran office. The fitout, designed by young practice Larritt-Evans, creates a memorable impression – one that communicates that Wolfdene is serious about good design. Wolfdene has an in-house design team but commonly works with other architects and designers. In the case of its own office, Wolfdene invited Larritt-Evans creative director Claire Larritt-Evans to collaborate with its design team. The collaboration was significant in the early stages of the project. Wolfdene’s director of planning and design, Karina Sunk,…

(1) Flutes lights by Brokis Flutes were created as suspension lights that could be used in projects such as hotel spaces, but their range of potential applications goes far beyond hotels. As the name indicates, inspiration for the new collection was found in the flute. The four stylized openings in the body of the light not only embrace that source of inspiration, but also allow for an even greater degree of variation – the angle at which the light hangs is dependent upon which opening the suspension cable is passed through. — Luke luke.com.au (2) Sam Son armchair by Magis Designed by Konstantin Grcic, Sam Son is an easy armchair with a hint of a cartoon character. Supported on four legs, the armchair features a softly suspended seat shell between…

The interior experience at Napoleon Perdis Chapel is as much about personality as it is about identity. Unlike Aesop store interiors that exude material formalism or MAC Cosmetics’s polished precision, the Napoleon Perdis concept store is a performance of personality – the personality of the man behind the business and the personality of the multidisciplinary design practice Studiobird. As Perdis builds his cosmetics brand around himself, Studiobird builds the Chapel Street store around Napoleon Perdis. Inspired by the personality of consummate showman Perdis, Matthew Bird, director of Studiobird, draws on the theatrical otherworldly glamour that accompanies the cult of celebrity. Part showmanship and part show, Napoleon Perdis Chapel is a telescopic sequence of staged experiences that draw you deep into the interior space – through the cosmetics section, past the…

“Beauty” in design is often contested. For some, architecture moved beyond having to recognize beauty as an independent tool in the designer’s kit long ago – such qualities should be an inherent by-product of design rather than achieved through the application of charming things. And when beauty is under debate, its poor cousin “decoration” is often the target of direct attack. It is intriguing then to see the work of Adelaide’s Studio-Gram, formed in January 2014, not just play with the decorative and the spectacular, but to also aggressively pursue them. And it does so through collaboration with others, such as art director Mash, whose graphic richness brings high ornamentation to Studio-Gram’s projects. But this is not to say the studio relies only on the visually stimulating in its work.…

Leanne Amodeo is a freelance architecture and design writer, currently based in Adelaide. She has contributed to both national and international publications and is the former editor of Monument and Inside magazines. — Sean’s Kitchen (page 108) Sharyn Cairns is at the forefront of commercial photography in Australia, with a specialist portfolio spanning interiors, food, travel and lifestyle. She creates beautiful images that capture a mood and an emotion, playing with light and shadows to create distinctive, memorable scenes. — L’Hôtel Gitan (page 92) Tania Davidge is an architect, writer, educator and co-director of the design research practice OpenHAUS Architecture. She holds a master’s degree in Advanced Architectural Design from Columbia University and is a PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne. — Napoleon Perdis Chapel (page 64) Ella Leoncio…

design statement Great cities provide a framework for their citizens to thrive. They provide spaces and structures that facilitate human interaction and offer places for contemplation. They provide a foundation for debate and the exploration of ideas. They foster independence and community while promoting openness and mental wellbeing. Ultimately, great cities generate a healthy respect for diversity. The premise behind civility is that a population is at its best when empowered and given the opportunities and amenities to connect with others. This was the inspiration for this project. The Could is designed to house the IT help desks and a range of collaborative meeting spaces. It’s a green cityscape on the lower level, with a super-reflective dreaming collaboration space above. Russell & George project Medibank Thrive – The Cloud Medibank…

Created by developer Meriton and designed by DBI Design, Infinity is Brisbane’s tallest building and its tallest residential tower. At 249 metres in height, the building is the fourth tallest in Australia with 549 apartments over 81 levels. Such a momentous project came with equally momentous challenges. The design team had to meet Meriton’s requirements for a luxury tower expressive at the “city” scale, while working with the plan’s inherited octagonal footprint. Infinity was designed to be a graphic form on the Brisbane skyline. “The impact on the city was important. The tower needed a poetic dimension, allowing us to play sculptural games from a great distance,” says Barry Lee, director of design at DBI Design. The tower skin is punctuated by a series of expressive marks or striations that…

(1) Wall hangings by Nickersanne Nickersanne is a Melbourne-based fibre art label by interior designer and former cafe owner Nicole Pollock. Each piece is either handwoven or knotted by Pollock, meaning no two pieces are the same. Made from natural fibres, each piece is carefully considered, with scale and proportion given equal weight as colour and design. “Although I only take on limited interior design projects these days, those skills have really helped me with scale, colour, balance, composition, rhythm and repetition in my wall hangings,” says Pollock. — Nicole Pollock Design +61 411 875 552 (2) Monte Collection rugs from Pampa Indigenous Argentinian weavers have used sheep’s wool to create monochromatical and neutral-coloured rugs, inspired by the dry, sunbaked forest and desert landscapes their ancestors have lived among for…