Tabla de contenidos para Issue 80 September 2022 en Artichoke

Issue 80 September - November 2022 I’ve been following the story of Ace Hotel’s launch in Australia since 2013. In October that year, I attended a hotel design symposium in Sydney at which Alex Calderwood, one of the original founders of the Ace Hotel chain, was a keynote speaker. He spoke about how he’d opened a trendy barber shop in Seattle in the 1990s that soon expanded to more than a dozen locations. Following that success, Alex and two friends moved into the hotel game, transforming a derelict property in Seattle into an affordable boutique hotel. Characterized by its vintage furniture, the hotel aimed to be, in Alex’s words, “a nexus of creative culture.” At the time I met Alex, Ace had five locations, including New York, and had just…

Pietro Franceschini collaboration with Hegi Design House Urania is a collection of avant-garde tubular pieces from New South Wales studio Hegi Design House in collaboration with New York and Florence-based architect Pietro Franceschini. Designed to make a grandiose, playful artistic statement within the home, Urania includes chairs, tables, ottomans and a daybed. The eight pieces in the collection are crafted from luxury fabrics such as bouclé from Dedar, Rubelli velvet and certified timber. Hegi Design House — hegidesignhouse.com Arc Bench by Zachary Frankel The Arc Series is a collection of forward-thinking furniture by Zachary Frankel crafted from post-industrial waste and recycled plastics. Elevating recycled products beyond a secondary object, each piece in this collection is composed of UV-stable and moistureresistant plastic, making it suitable across both indoor and outdoor applications.…

“Four personalities in one venue” is the description given to this new Sydney venture from The Point Group, whose stable features venues such as The Dolphin and Hotel Harry, Attributed to architects Spain and Cosh, Shell House comprises four venues spread through the eponymous oil giant’s former headquarters, a refurbished late 1930s “commercial palazzo” with a striking clocktower and glazed terracotta facade. The building was later absorbed by the adjacent Menzies Hotel; later still, the entire site was redeveloped as Brookfield Place, completed last year. Woods Bagot, under the direction of principal Tracey Wiles, was commissioned to create a multi-faceted hospitality venue set on both the ground and top two floors of the 12-storey building. This hospitality pincer movement starts with the luxe ground-floor Menzies Bar. The bar is accessed…

Profile Marta Figueiredo Marta Figueiredo’s colourful, tactile creations provoke a feeling of joy and delight in viewers, inviting people to interact, engage and play. But beneath the architectural and sometimes anthropomorphic forms, each object is driven by a strong concept as Marta thoroughly and thoughtfully explores topical themes such as sustainability, waste and inclusion. “I’m intrigued by the idea of pushing the boundaries of what an object is traditionally thought to be, and I am particularly interested in elements that contribute to a more rich and layered interaction between the individual and the object,” Marta says. Born in Portugal and living in Melbourne since 2013, Marta has always been interested in making things and recalls the first clay sculpture she made in kindergarten, “to impress my parents,” she says. Marta…

Braddon, a previously industrial area of central Canberra, has in recent years been transformed into a dynamic hub of interesting apartments, eateries, design stores and artisan activities. A new addition is the Adytum Day Spa and Wellness Retreat, a spa beautifully designed by Pattern Studio. Adytum is a young Australian company with a philosophy of encouraging the cultivation of meaningful rituals through a holistic approach to integrating physical, intellectual and experiential aspects of wellness. The brand was bravely launched at the beginning of the Covid pandemic when it first developed the Adytum Library, a semi-permanent library, shop and exhibition space designed by Pattern and located on Braddon’s Lonsdale Street. Renee Douros, Adytum’s owner, had encountered Pattern’s work in Sydnev and recoanized its potential for her new ventures. Pattern Studio principals…

In August, the Design Institute of Australia (DIA), Australia’s peak national design body, presented the highly sought-after Designers Australia Awards 2022. The DIA collaborated with 18 local and international interdisciplinary design leaders, including Cameron Bruhn, Liane Rossler, Dale Hardiman, Kate Goodwin, Shay McMahon and Dr Laura Kostanski. After weeks of group evaluation and revisions, it was beautiful to see design thinking, conversations and exchanges reach new heights. What is valuable is the shift we observe in our approach to the design process—especially respect in design. Designers are listening and developing deep conversations to realize opportunities, enabling society and the industry to see things from a renewed perspective. The final award recipients out of a shortlist of 82 across the country reflect the designers’ ability to improve their working lives and…

If walls could talk, The Imperial at Clifton would have stories to tell. Built in 1911, it was the long-time drinking hole for the local community and visitors until a landslide forced the main road to close in 2003. The Imperial soon followed suit, sitting dormant and neglected for nearly 20 years. It reopened in late 2021 with Welsh and Major rejuvenating the venue to create a community hub and centrepiece and a catalyst to draw visitors to the area. “We wanted to add another chapter to The Imperial’s story. To represent the life that happened in this building over the last century, and give space for more stories to evolve in the future,” says David Welsh, director of Welsh and Major. The Imperial perches on the edge of the…

Rocco's Bologna Discoteca by Studio Co & Co Studio Co and Co serves up a contemporary take on creature comforts with its design for this Italian restaurant in Melbourne’s inner north-east. Inspired by nostalgia for old-world trattorias and childhood holidays, the cosy two-storey interior gives the impression that Rocco’s has long made this space its home. But the former pop-up establishment is new to the venue, which has been fitted out with amber-coloured timber, bespoke locally made furniture and unique artwork. The design team - Ineke Hutter, Tahlia Kossen and Amy Stafford - chose hues of ginger and army green to evoke memories of family gatherings and visits to doting grandparents. Similarly, curtain-separated booths bring to mind the warmth and welcome of Italian restaurants past. European design influences continue through…

Education FEIT Academics and post-graduate students are an interesting bunch to design for. Different disciplines have different predilections and needs. The interior of the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology (FEIT) by Hassell is evidence of what happens when thoughtful designers respond with specific solutions for a client type that has seen constant evolution in recent years. Along with many other Australian universities, the University of Melbourne continues to invest in good design and the work of skilled designers to improve its campuses. This expertise is needed now more than ever, particularly considering the transformational pressures forced on the tertiary sector by the COVID-19 pandemic. Arguably, this epochal event only accelerated and crystallized trends emerging for decades, but new problems require new solutions, and here we are in 2022. The…

Circles of Hair is a tour de force. Beating with music and riotous colour, the Perth salon is not one for your twilight wind-down; it’s the emphatic start to your Friday night, to your weekend, and to the rest of your life. Forgive the hyperbole it’s in the playfully energetic spirit of a business whose doors remained open throughout a month-long construction period, tirelessly catering to the devout clientele it has garnered over the past 27 years. “I’ve had the salon for such a long time, I wanted to give a beautiful space and experience to my clients as a ‘thank you,”’ says Circles owner and founder Sharlene Lee, who enlisted State of Kin to give life to the project. “I wanted to do everything, not just a lick of…

Contemporary craft and design is as much about traditional techniques as it is about new approaches. Craft Victoria’s 2022 Fresh Awards and exhibition celebrated the state’s recent graduates in contemporary craft and design, with Nae Tanakorn winning the inaugural Artichoke Emerging Maker Prize for his playful yet bold Five lounge chair and Haute nested tables. Tanakorn came to furniture design via a career in digital animation and interactive design, and now he transforms his 3D visualizations into physical form by hand. Tanakorn worked in digital arts after graduating from Monash University with a bachelor in Multimedia and Digital Arts in 2004. In 2008, he started doing 3D visualization for architecture and interior projects, arranging and designing furniture for large commercial fitouts. Tanakorn was also building his own house at the…

Marcus Baumgart is a designer and writer, and a founding director of Baumgart Clark Architects with longtime collaborator John A. Clark. You can read about their adventures at their website, help. design. FEIT (page 64) Cameron Bruhn is the Dean and Head of School at The University of Queensland’s School of Architecture. Prior to this appointment, he was the editorial director of Architecture Media. Ace Hotel Sydney (page 46) Rebecca Gross is a freelance writer and design historian. She has a master’s degree from Parsons School of Design and writes about cultural history through the lens of architecture and design. The Imperial (page 18) Tobias Horrocks is an architect who designs with cardboard to minimize waste in temporary events (foldtheory.com). He recently returned to his childhood home of Ballarat, in…

No Vacancy Gallery is one of Melbourne’s most prominent “for-hire” galleries and a mainstay in the city’s contemporary art and design scene. First established in 2008, the independent gallery has offered countless young artists and creatives a platform on which to launch their careers and provided creative organizations an accessible CBD space for small- to mid-sized events. Not long after COVID-19 lockdowns first struck the country in the first half of 2020, owners Matthew Naturani and Hayley Haynes saw an opportunity to grow the small cafe operating in the space (previously a purely takeaway affair) to diversify their business in the expectation that the arts would not suffer the pandemic well - and how right they were. As much an exercise in subtraction as addition, the design by Ware Architects…

Contemporary interior design practice can, and perhaps should, be a risky business. Advantageous risk-taking can take several forms - from an impecunious designer quitting a stable job in a high-profile firm to hang out their shingle and go it alone, to a director hiring an enthusiastic young staff member with plenty more potential than experience on a well-judged hunch. The risk-taking that truly advances the discipline is a critical practice that sees the interior designer (and its clients) embark on a journey. This requires them to leave the stable ground of the profession’s established tropes and styles (or even canonical tendencies) and venture forth with a vision that prioritizes innovation. To succeed in this mode of practice, interior designers must simultaneously embrace originality, acknowledge traditions, and deliver on function and…

Dali dyalgala fabrics from Koskela A Sydney furniture and lifestyle company Koskela has launched a range of fabrics featuring designs by female First Nations artists from across Australia, including Penny Evans, Jacinta Lorenzo, Raylene Miller, Lucy Simpson, Regina Wilson and members of Jilamara Arts, The collection is titled “dali dyalgala,” a Darug phrase meaning “to embrace.” The designs translate artworks in disciplines like weaving, sculpture and painting into cloths that can be used to transform Koskela’s cushions, chairs, beanbags and more. Koskela — koskela.com.au Bamboo Silk Blend Stripe from Nodi Rugs Crafted with an approach to adding colour to your home in a way that enhances emotion and lifts the spirit, Bamboo Silk Blend Stripe builds on the success of the unique and luxurious Bamboo Silk Blend collection. Combining a…