Tabla de contenidos para Habitus #64 en Habitus

Please, call me Brem. As Guest Editor for this issue of Habitus, I’ve taken the opportunity to create a deeply personal exploration of design — how it’s shifting, who’s shaping it, and what’s coming next. For me, design is always about relationships. It’s intuitive, a bit alchemical — understanding needs and desires and quietly nudging them toward enduring beauty. I approached this issue, number five in this incredible series of six, in much the same way I approach a new project: leaning into what inspires, what stirs curiosity, and what simply feels right. I’ve looked toward people and practices that make me glad to be a designer. Some have become friends, others collaborators, all of them wildly different — and each possesses a kind of irresistible clarity that stays with…

Since launching the Mineral collection with 33 designs, Caesarstone has recognised a shift towards an appreciation of the veining, striation and complex colouring of marble. Also noting a new-found love for warm, earthy tones, Caesarstone has responded, with six new designs added to the collection this year, and four more on the way. Showcasing distinctive striations, earthy greys and browns, the expanded collection is highly attuned to current design preferences. Natural inclusions such as subtle organic sediments and mineral deposits have also come into play, with natural and raw aesthetics expanding the range. Committed to producing sustainable surfaces that use natural materials and as much recycled content as possible, the Caesarstone ICON collection is the only mineral surface to offer a lifetime warranty. Recognised for its superior resistance to staining…

Sri Lankan architecture has a long and complex history, with both India and China playing foundational roles, while the Dutch, English, and Portuguese brought change and in particular, the introduction of the verandah. Last century saw Geoffrey Bawa develop a style of architecture that posited a new era of Sri Lankan architecture, and with it a modernist approach that suited the climate. This century, however, has seen the extraordinary Palinda Kannangara take centre stage with an architectural language that imagines a new national identity of contemporary, sustainable living for Sri Lanka. “I don’t want to fit into any ism, whether it’s a modernism or minimalism or brutalism or any other ism that defines your boundaries… There are no boundaries in good architecture,” says Kannangara, adding, “I’m controlling my architecture to…

Floria Tosca’s new exhibition, My Littoral Zone, is an ode to her psychoanalytic therapist who guided her into safe states of being over several decades. For this new installation at Nanda\Hobbs Gallery, she has created an entire consultation room as a Wunderkammer or cabinet of curiosities. Wunderkammer were 11–19th century cabinets or rooms in which rare and exotic objects were collected and displayed to represent the status, wealth, and scientific knowledge of the owner. Designing her Wunderkammer as a Freud-like room to represent the littoral zone between her conscious and subconscious mind, the room includes armchairs and Victorian cabinets, wallpaper, paintings, and objects of interest. It not only creates a space of introspection and self-knowledge, but reclaims the Wunderkammer as a space of order. Tosca loves collecting and classifying. The…

EK ONKAR BRAHMAN PERERA WURUNDJERI COUNTRY /KOOYONG, VICTORIA Spatial generosity and formal restraint define this multigenerational residence in inner-city Melbourne. The homeowners have named the house ‘Ek Onkar’, which comes from the first line of the Mool Mantar in Sikhism, meaning ‘There is only one God’. For the family, it expresses the sentiment that everyone is equal. Within the architectural framework, interior designer Brahman Perera was invited to craft a furniture and material response that could hold complexity and comfort in equal measure. Perera’s role focused on specification and furniture curation, working closely with the client – a fashion designer with a sharp eye for detail – and the architect. “The bones of the house were already there. It was about pulling it into alignment with how the family actually…

EULABURY SPIRITLEVEL KAMILAROI COUNTRY /NEW ENGLAND NSW These kinds of sheds are secret places, especially when they are empty. They are usually wooden structures with gaping holes and creaking floorboards. Filtered shafts of light tend to knife through the ceilings, showing multiple specks of dust. They smell of animals and lanolin and, when inactive, they are quiet refuges. Now the director of landscape practice Spirit Level, Main’s early understanding of quiet stillness and architectural spaces, both inside and outside, have influenced his creative approach to landscape design. Space, horizon lines, distant hills, plains of grass and the granite boulders of New England continue to appear as elements in his ongoing design. “Creating a garden is like coming home,” says Main, “It has to make you feel something.” Main’s design is…

Having moved to Melbourne from Nebraska in 2005, the collection, which started incrementally, has flourished as Kallie became more engaged with the art world. The current collection sits at around 500 pieces, with the majority being Australian. With non-executive roles across the arts and sciences, Kallie is currently the deputy chair of the Melbourne Fashion Festival, the former Chair of the Museum of Australian Photography, and is both a board trustee and board member of St Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research. She sat down with Guest Editor Brahman Perera to explore her world of collecting. Brahman Perera What moves you about art collecting? Kallie Blauhorn Let me start by answering what moves me about art as this is the foundation of why I collect and curate our collection. I think…

Taking the Australian Natives Collection to heart, Tom Mark Henry has designed a kitchen for a young family based in Queensland: The Family Kitchen. With an active coastal lifestyle and a passion for entertaining, functionality played a key role in the design. “Durable and sustainable materials are really important when selecting for any project, but in particular when it’s for a very busy part of a family home. Functionality really leads the design,” says Cushla McFadden, co-founder and director (with Jade Nottage) at Tom Mark Henry. Taking advantage of Laminex’s innovative TrueScale technology that allows large-scale designs with no repeats, Tom Mark Henry have paired large swathes of Victorian Ash with the organic form of the custom-designed pantry handles and the large benchtop in the slightly darker and slightly warmer…

The ambient temperature of a Passive House cannot be underestimated. It is a stable quality that reduces the need for heating and cooling, while always feeling just right. That said, it is not a set-and-forget constant temperature, but in accord with an understanding of alliesthesia (the way the body and mind respond to sudden environmental changes). The home provides a comfortable environment, ranging between 20 and 25 degrees to reflect the outside world. “Living in one of our homes feels calm, fresh, and consistently comfortable—no drafts, no cold spots, no stuffiness. Just clean, filtered air, cosy warmth, and a mouldfree environment all year round,” says Klaus Herrmann, director of Alpine PassivHaus, who is reducing costs through serial production. Air quality has long been understood as a contributing factor to wellness,…

TREE CHANGE HOUSE STUDIO ZAWA DHARAWAL COUNTRY/SOUTH COAST NSW Having moved from their last home to an unrenovated house surrounded by scrubland, there was no immediate plan to renovate. As they settled in, however, there were elements of the previous home that they missed, a good kitchen for example. “It was actually quite a good house already, but once you start, you just keep going and I thought, ‘Well, one thing is just as much work as the lot’, so I demolished the middle of the house,” says Brian Zulaikha. In doing so, what had been three pavilions joined by verandahs has been reimagined as a living space where the verandah is the heart of the home. Rather than the usual connecting and transitional space, the verandah occupies the central…

THE LAKE HOUSE WUTOPIA LAB SHANGHAI, CHINA Taking just 40 days from design concept to completion, The Lake House (Life Experience Pavilion), is effectively a pair of shells overlaying existing structures, but in its simplicity, a new energy is realised. When first apprising the site, a former water plant in Daning Park, Shanghai, Wutopia Lab chief architect Yu Ting felt an immediate architectural connection that traversed culture. “Standing on the bridge and seeing the site, Frank Lloyd Wright and Mies van der Rohe reawakened in my mind. It was the horizontal line — like a Chinese scroll unrolling. In our aesthetic tradition, a beautiful life is framed through landscapes, gently unfolding across the horizon. Even when the scroll ends, the scene continues in our imagination.” Extrapolating these ideals, the architecture…

Delivering spectacular cooking results, Wolf M Series ovens bring a refined aesthetic and design versatility to any project. Ranging from the bold design profile of the Professional, through to the modernity of Transitional and on to the sleek profile of the Contemporary, each M Series oven is intended to effortlessly integrate into any kitchen design. Moreover, the precise temperature control and chef-tested cooking modes ensure an elevated cooking experience. Comprising Wolf’s most advanced dual convection ovens, the M Series of ovens feature the pinnacle of dual convection technology: Wolf’s Dual VertiFlow system. Effectively, the oven uses two fans and heating elements to evenly circulate hot air throughout the oven cavity. This results in faster preheating and more consistent cooking with minimal hot and cold spots, allowing for even cooking on…

As Alan Nasrallah, founder of Indulge Renovations points out, most clients start by asking for boiling and chilled filtered water. And while these are essential for daily use, with instant boiling water making cooking so much faster and pure filtered water making rinsed vegetables and fruit even healthier, on-tap sparkling water is a game changer. “I always encourage them to consider the Sparkling function. The upgrade cost is minimal, but the payoff is huge: imagine serving a crisp glass of sparkling water at a dinner party straight from the tap. It’s those effortless luxuries that leave guests impressed.” Crafting a kitchen that invites joy, harmonises with your lifestyle and makes both day-to-day living and entertaining a breeze are the ultimate goals with any kitchen renovation. It is also an opportunity…

Hello and welcome to the future! Once we looked to the future from a lens of science-fiction, where space travel and individual rockets were the norm. That Jetsons’ lifestyle never materialised, and nor should it – think of the emissions from all those flying cars! Instead, when we look at the future we are informed by the past. We have seen what wasted resources and burning fossil fuels leads to. We have seen climate change in real time. We have also seen the enduring nature of good design and have honed our understanding of what sustainable actually means. As such, when we look to the future we are looking at ways to make it comfortable without using resources. How to make things beautiful without an environmental cost. We are using…

CRUISE COURTESY CRYSTAL SYMPHONY These days, travel seems to be on everyone’s mind, whether it’s a short break, an extended overseas trip, or simply cruising the oceans for a week or more. Along with simply thinking about a holiday, preparing for a trip is now more complex, with visas and arrival documents compounded by bookings, connections, transits, and the sheer volume of information. So, it’s no wonder that many people are deciding to streamline the experience, opting to have someone else do the hard yards and tailor holidays just for them. Enter, Abercrombie and Kent (A&K), an established travel consultancy business that has been devising bespoke holidays for the discerning traveller for six decades. While it was once a badge of honour to create your own itinerary, navigating the options…

CUL-DE-SAC HOUSE SJB WURUNDJERI WOI-WURRUNG COUNTRY /MELBOURNE, VICTORIA The joy of SJB founding director Michael Bialek’s affirmative response, and what has become an SJB signature, of “correct”, speaks volumes for this project, which Bialek and SJB director Andrew Parr have been working on for the past 15 years. To start at the start, the project first came to SJB 15 years ago in 2009, when the client was looking to renovate a pair of 1930s duplexes on separate titles into a single home, to meet the needs of a growing family. At the time, the three children were small, but each was given their own room. This point is important, as these three rooms remain the domain of each of the children, though a new entry point and garage gives…