Sydney Design 2010 Pocketbook Featuring Program & Essays

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‘Tell me a
story, and
tell it from
your heart.’
3
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31st July–15th August 2010
TABLE of Contents
Introduction: Telling Stories
by Dawn Casey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Part 1:
{ At t h e P o w e r h o u s e M u s e u m } . . . . . . . . . 9
Essay: Through the lens of Benini
by Anne-Marie Van De Ven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Essay: The Opinion Junkies

by Prue Gibson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Essay: Clusters of tactility, threads of warmth

and a return to the senses
by Prue Gibson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Interview: Castiglioni: a designed life

by Heidi Dokulil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Part 2:
{ c i t y - w i d e } . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
KEY
After Hours Children & Families Markets
Education Film Talks & Tours

Exhibitions & Live Design Workshops
Installations
introduction
Sydney Design an international festival of design is now in

its 14th year. Introduced by DAWN CASEY, DIRECTOR
POWERHOUSE MuSeUM
TElling Stories
Storytelling is a human act. Stories have always been told through a
multitude of means and devices. Whether it is the faint scratchings on
an ancient terracotta vessel, or the biblical stories told stitch by stitch in
a 17th century needle lace panel or the powerful war imagery depicted
in a Afghani rug, the intense narrative power is the same.
The Powerhouse Museum’s broad range of disciplines and collecting
areas reveal rich stories behind the many objects in the collection. But
there is also a focus on the stories which surround the Museum; the hub
of people who participate, visit, contribute and are connected in some
way to the many threads of thought and ideas that converge within.
What is important is the deeply personal stories and the unfailing hu-
man connections that these stories bring to light. The information and
knowledge form an immense puzzle. And it doesn’t matter where you
come from, who you are or what you do—there is an entry point for
everyone. Stories have the power to move, to inspire change and acti-
vate thinking.
As the museum of applied art and sciences, the Powerhouse Museum
collects objects from the fields of industrial, graphic, fashion and inte-
rior design, decorative and functional art. Elements of architecture and
photography are also represented. Ceramics, textiles, jewellery, glass,
furniture, children’s toys, cars, electric guitars, as well as film posters
and old advertisements are all amassed in the curiosity chamber that
is the Museum.
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Sydney design
As such, Sydney Design is a devoted celebration of these compelling

areas of design interest. Sustainability, the notion of reuse, recycling,
humble materials and limiting our carbon footprint are values which
have long been espoused by the Museum. The Museum has curated
permanent exhibitions such as Ecologic—one of the forerunners of
thinking in this area—through to exhibitions which pay tribute to the
handmade and the one-off, like Smart Works. Many events in the 2010
program highlight creative sustainability and inventive re-use.
Urban redevelopment has long been an area of interest for the Museum.
With a swag of high profile designers and architects now setting their
sights on Sydney, we are re-imagining ourselves as a braver place and
there is fierce and positive debate. Simple projects in Sydney Design
such as the Bike Racks as Art competition ask our designers to rethink
a humble object—again, to do what design is so good at—to take it
into the realm of both the beautiful, the meaningful and at the same
time to address serious functional and social issues.
It’s only natural that story-telling today continues to make use of the
technology which is increasingly part of everyday life—social media.
The Sydney Design program will include many industry discussions,
lectures by leading designers and events to explore new methods of
storytelling through design.
To tell stories is the fundamental role of many of our creative institu-
tions. It offers insights into what it means to be human—now and in
other times and places. Sydney Design straddles the two worlds—aes-
thetic beauty and problem-solving functionality. These stories lead us
down a path we might not have otherwise taken.
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‘To be a
person is to
have a story
to tell.’
Isak Dinesen
Part one:
{At the Powerhouse Museum}
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Sydney design
This mounted gelatine silver photographic print is one of Bruno Benini’s earli-
est nude male portraits. It shows Antonio Rodrigues a dancer who originally
came to Australia with the Katherine Dunham dance company, an early New
York-based African-American modern dance troop. It is one of many photo-
graphic portraits from an archive dominated by fashion photography in print,
negative, transparency and proof print or contact formats. Taken during the
1960s, the photograph features a textured, wall surface with peeling paint as a
key background element. Bruno’s widow Hazel Benini recalls that Bruno always
‘loved a peely’. Anne-Marie Van de Ven, Curator. Photography by Bruno Benini
© Estate of Bruno Benini.
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F E A T UR E
The Creating the look: Benini and fashion photography exhibition

draws on the Bruno Benini photography archive acquired with fund-
ing assistance from the Australian Government through the National
Cultural Heritage Account in 2009. The exhibition presents the fan-
tastical world of fashion captured though Benini’s camera lens, and
invites the visitor into the exciting world of fashion photography by
providing a stimulating, visually arresting and immersive experience.
Anne-Marie Van de Ven, Curator, Visual Communi-
cations, Powerhouse Museum
Through
the lens of Benini
‘It’s ok for you.’ said Bruno Benini’s sister who worked for the Ital-
ian Consulate in Melbourne, earnestly to her younger brother one day
when she was struggling to come to terms with the world in which her
young brother and his artist wife Hazel Benini had decided to make
their life and living, ‘You guys live in fantasy land’. The following
morning, out of hearing range of his sister and with arms flung wide
overhead in a Italianate gesture of joyful defiance, Benini retorted as
he and Hazel Benini entered the studio to begin another day’s work,
‘Fantasy land—here we come!’ In some ways, it’s not surprising that at
times, Ilda Benini struggled to come to terms with her brother’s career
choice, as she would have been fully aware that Hazel and Bruno spent
their days concocting fun stories, meeting and shooting beautiful peo-
ple, and generally immersing themselves enthusiastically into a won-
derfully fanciful, weird and creative craft. Interestingly, like her, they
too were very much a part of Melbourne’s post-WWII cosmopolitan
inner-city scene.
With her other brother a medical doctor, it’s maybe not surprising
that Ilda Benini was concerned about her brother’s choice of occupa-
tion. The world of fashion photography was generally not well known
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Sydney design
or understood at the time. While fashion photographs were familiar

through the press, the process of fashion photography remained mys-
terious, and male photographers were often represented as hedonistic
playboys in films like Blow-up (1966) and media headlines like ‘Bruno
is the darling of the best looking birds’ (Woman’s Day, 1 June 1970).
Also, Bruno Benini never gained professional qualifications or training
as a photographer. Initially he started photography as a hobby and then
learnt on the job, at first in Peter Fox’s large commercial studio of mod-
ern photography on Collins Street, Melbourne, and then from photog-
rapher friends and colleagues who occasionally engaged him as a model.
Printers, like Benini’s close friend Norman Ikin, also helped kick start his
knowledge of printing, though Ikin tragically died in a car accident just
days after Hazel and Bruno Benini’s wedding.
Although Benini initially studied industrial chemistry and worked for

General Motors Holden at Fishermen’s Bend near Geelong, he had opted
to pursue a career as a fashion photographer after a return trip to Italy in
1950. His scientific background no doubt stood him in good stead, and
contributed significantly to his success as a fashion photographer, and to
the sheer pleasure and relaxation he enjoyed while working magic with
his chemicals and time exposures in the darkroom, or the early years in
Kew when he produced contact prints using sunlight exposures.
A Linhof bellow camera which used single 4x5inch colour and black
and white negatives was the camera of preference when Benini began
working in the mid-1950s. He then moved on to shoot with a Rollei-
flex twin lens camera, a Hasselblad rangefinder camera (around 1958),
and then 2¼cm or 6x6 inch and 2¼x 2¾ or 6x7 inch Mamiya cam-
eras from the mid-1960s. He also began experimenting with a 35mm
film Cannon camera around the same time. Each different format film
stock survives in the archive, each with its own distinctive look and
characteristics. The detail found on the original negatives and prints, in
comparison to the graininess of the original tear sheets and newspaper
cuttings, is breathtaking.
Benini met Hazel Craig around 1959 or 1960 and they married in 1962.
They went on to live and work closely together for four decades, genu-
inely complementing, supporting and nurturing each other’s creativity.
‘When I first met Bruno I was working at a big store called Hicks
Atkinson, which ran from Collins Street through to Bourke Street
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F E A T UR E
(Melbourne). So we were getting to know each other then and I

think he was doing a big colour photograph and he was worried he
couldn’t get the right pink background. I organised a big roll of pa-
per, heavy paper that they put under linoleum in those days and de-
livered it to his studio. I mixed up the paint and I painted just the
background for him. So that was my first job helping him out.’
(Hazel Benini, interview with the author, Melbourne 2008)
Finding and making suitable props, backdrops and locations was al-
ways a challenge for both of them, and deciding whether to use natu-
ral or artificial light a daily dilemma, but careful thought and forward
planning ensured most shoots went smoothly. There was no accounting
for bad weather however, and as grey overcast Melbourne days were
common, reflector boards were frequently carried in the back of the
cab or model’s car when venturing out on location. Benini loved work-
ing on location, but he never drove a car, so it’s perhaps not surprising
that many of his outdoor shots have been taken in close proximity to
Melbourne’s CBD, on the streets, in the Carlton Gardens, along the
bayside, in Melbourne’s immediate hinterland, especially at Monsalvat,
or down by the Yarra River in Kew. In these shots Benini often achieves
beautiful low contrast images in which the subject and backgrounds
merge and interact with each other to create romantic and surprising
moods and atmosphere. Today, Bruno is fondly remembered by almost
everyone who knew or worked with him.
I have a lot of respect for Bruno not just as a person. He had a fantastic
personality, extremely generous, kind and soft. He was also a very good
photographer who never really got the accolades he deserved. Athol
Shmith was an absolutely fantastic character too, the Max Dupain of
Melbourne, a chain smoker. For him, everything was always gracious,
a bit like Bruno. They were a certain style of people, which maybe you
don’t see so much these days. The first thing you know about them is
that they’re gentlemen. Bruno with a huge amount of style, probably
Athol a little less, but at the same time, with a huge personality. Bruno’s
personality was softer and quieter. (Phil Quirk, photographer, interview
with author and Jean-Francois Lanzarone, April, 2010. Worked in Be-
nini’s studio, 1969–1970s)
Benini’s outer grace and charm functioned almost as a special device

or tool in the photographer’s tool kit, ensuring his models relaxed into
their poses, making it easier for him to capture seemingly effortless
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Sydney design
fashion photographs. Hazel’s creativity and vivacious enthusiasm on

the other hand, brought drama and dizzying excitement to the job.
One day in 1966, Jan Stewart (1965 Mannequin of the Year and 1967
Model of the Year) was asked to climb up onto a huge cast metal crane
hook and then told to hold on tight to the cable as the crane lifted
the hook incrementally higher—just so Benini could ensure the model,
the crane and building behind could be perfectly framed in the camera
lens. What a performance! This youthful urban drama played out on
the street to sell a youthful urban mood and concept for the Sportsgirl
youth brand in press ads. ‘What could you do’ notes Hazel, ‘you’d go
to any length to get the look.’
Benini had the ability to look through his lens and find beauty in every
detail. It might be the edge of concrete steps, the site line of a sky-
scraper, a pile of leaves or rubble on the ground, or even paint peeling
off a wall. On the other hand, making, sourcing or recycling props and
inventing stories for the press was Hazel Benini’s forte. At the same
time, both frequently referred to international sources for inspiration
in much the same way all Australian creative designers did at the time,
and still do today. Today their inspiration, Benini’s amazing eye for
composing frames and Hazel’s creativity and inventiveness, provide
a rich and enduring legacy which not only documents the fashion of
the day, but also takes the viewer into a land of fashion, fantasy, fic-
tion and storytelling. Urban and rural locations are documented, so is
the process and behind-the-scenes workings of the fashion photogra-
phy studio. Lights, fans, props and other studio devices are revealed
around the edges of some negatives. Uncropped, and many never be-
fore published, these negatives and transparencies remain as little gems
of a past era.
The Beninis’ photographic prints successfully wound their way into

all the major Australian newspapers—partly because of the quality
of the photographs themselves but also because of the many unusual
or unexpected storylines they contained. They were picked up by The
Hobart Mercury, The Perth Independent, The Brisbane Courier Mail,
The Canberra Times, The Adelaide Advertiser, The Sydney Morning
Herald, The Sun Herald, The Australian Women’s Weekly and many
other daily, weekly and weekend newspapers and magazines. There’s
now an urgency to capture and document the stories behind the pho-
tographs before they’re lost as many of the shots were taken half a life-
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F E A T UR E
time ago. The Museum is working hard to capture as many interviews

with the models, photographers and other fashionistas who entered the
lives of this indivisible creative couple.
As the bulk of Benini’s images were designed and constructed to sell

fashion, dress and accessories to Australian consumers, the Benini ar-
chive now provides a vivid record of the Australian fashion industry
over five decades—from the elegant couture of the 1950s, the mod and
hippy modes of the 1960s, through to the confronting funkier styles of
the 1970s, body conscious images from the 1980s and athletic fashion
from the Nike-dominated 1990s.
Haute couture gowns, niche labels and ready-to-wear brands are repre-
sented including Norma Tullo (perhaps the only Australian label with
its own outlet in the Isetan Department store in Tokyo in the 1970s),
Philippa Gowns, Theo Haskin’s Salon Milano, Hall Ludlow, Simona,
Solo, Prue Acton, Mike Treloar, Ninette and its related youth brand
Nutmeg, Gala and its youth label Emma, Sportscraft and Sportsgirl.
We find many top Australian models—Maggie Tabberer, Maggi Eck-

ardt, Helen Homewood, Jan Stewart, Nerida Piggin, Janice Wakely and
Bambi Shmith, formerly Patricia Tuckwell, violinist with the Sydney
Symphony Orchestra and later, Countess of Harewood. International
fashion labels retailed in Australia through small boutiques are also
captured by Benini’s lens—such as Fiorucci from Italy and Laura Ash-
ley from England.
The unusual Australian settings of some of Benini’s shots make them

uniquely memorable—like the shot of Liz Scarborough modelling a Le
Louvre coat in a blackened bushfire landscape in the Dandenong ranges
and another photograph of Di Sweeney modelling Bottega’s newly im-
ported blue Italian gumboots and jip-jacket wet weather suit inside the
car wash on Drummond Street, Carlton. The beautiful composition of
the Benini photographs, and the whimsical stories within and behind
them, will no doubt continue to entrance and captivate viewers for
many years to come. AMVDV
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Sydney design
Publicity shot for Ninette’s youth label Nutmeg featuring model Jackie Holmes.
Photo by Bruno Benini, Melbourne, 1968. © Estate of Bruno Benini. Part of the ex-
hibition Creating the look: Benini and fashion photography. Collection: Powerhouse
Museum. Benini archive purchased with the assistance of the Australian Government
through the National Cultural Heritage Account in 2009.
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Exhibition
Creating the look: Benini and fashion photography

31 July 2010–18 April 2011
Powerhouse Museum, free with Museum entry
A major exhibition exploring the creative processes involved in styling,

creating and designing iconic fashion photographs. Drawing on the ar-
chive of Australian fashion photographer Bruno Benini, Creating the
look features vintage and recent photographic prints, original colour
transparencies, black-and-white negatives and biographical material
from the 1950s until the photographer’s death in 2001.
Creating the look unpicks the ideas, props, backdrops, tricks and tech-
nical devices used by Bruno Benini and his wife, stylist Hazel Benini. It
reveals how designers, models, make-up artists, hair stylists and fashion
editors work together. Interviews with Benini's collaborators including
Hazel Benini, former models Jan Stewart, Janice Wakely and others,
help bring the photographs to life.
The exhibition acknowledges how Benini’s photographic techniques

are interpreted in innovative ways by contemporary photographers
and stylists. Four case studies are Australian fashion photographer Juli
Balla, styling by Edward Coutts Davidson, urban street fashion photo-
graphs of Fernando Frisoni and a selection of directional new Austral-
ian fashion film and video for online media.
Exhibition Supporter: Royal Doulton.
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In this 1956 photograph, one of Bruno Benini’s first and favorite fashion shots,
model Pauline Kiernan wears a strapless sheath evening gown by Theo Haskin of
Salon Milano, Melbourne. Pauline Kiernan was a very successful Australian model.
Originally from Armidale in rural northern New South Wales, she worked as a
nurse before being encouraged by Sydney photographer John Hearder to pursue a
modelling career. After attending June Dally-Watkin’s school, Kiernan travelled to
London in October 1956 to model Australian clothes. She then spent the next two
years in Paris, during which time she modelled for Chanel. However, it was in New
York with the Ford Modeling Agency that Kiernan achieved her greatest success,
becoming one of Ford’s most sought after models. Eileen Ford said of Kiernan, ‘In a
world where beauty is just a commonplace, this Australian stands out as having the
quality and elegance that women all over the world ever seek—and can’t buy’. (The
Australian Women’s Weekly, 1960) Alysha Buss, Curatorial intern. Photography by
Bruno Benini. © Estate of Bruno Benini.
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This photograph was taken by Bruno Benini in 1957 in the grounds of the Univer-
sity of Melbourne. Model Patricia Tuckwell, known at this time as Bambi Shmith,
wears a Hall Ludlow designed black and white ‘Magpie’ tweed tunic with black
bows adorning the sides. Described as Australia’s ‘first true couturier’, Ludlow
was known for his fine stitching, high technical skill and unique designs, despite
having no formal training. Prior to her successful career as a model, Patricia Tuck-
well was a violinist with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Here she was given the
moniker Bambi and reportedly attracted concert-goers wanting to see her great
beauty. On 7 July 1948 Tuckwell married fashion photographer Athol Shmith and
in 1951 founded the Mannequin’s Association of Victoria along with other promi-
nent models of the time. After the end of her marriage to Shmith in 1957, Tuckwell
moved to England and in 1967 amidst scandal, married George Lascelles, 7th Earl
of Harewood, becoming Countess of Harewood. Alysha Buss, Curatorial intern.
Photography by Bruno Benini. © Estate of Bruno Benini.
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This striking, dramatically lit portrait photograph is of Lillian Wightman, the found-
er of Melbourne high-class, Parisian-style fashion house Le Louvre. It was taken in
1974 by the distinguished fashion photographer Bruno Benini; at that time Lillian
Wightman was 71 years old. The image stands out from the extensive collection of
Benini’s photographs acquired by the Museum last year, with the vast majority of
them dedicated to capturing models’ youth and beauty. Iwona Hetherington, Rights
and Permissions Officer. Photography by Bruno Benini © Estate of Bruno Benini.
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Australia was the third country in the world (after the UK and the USA) to produce
The Rocky Horror Show play which was adapted into the movie The Rocky Hor-
ror Picture Show in 1975. The model in this photograph is actor Max Phipps who
played the lead role of Dr Frank N. Furter for the play’s 18 month run in Melbourne
from 1975 to 1977. Phipps is also known for playing The Toadie in the Mad Max 2
film released in 1981. The dense black backdrop of this image, used by Bruno Benini
in many of his photographic portraits, is a perfect contrast to the bright spotlight
framing of the actor. This combination, along with the upward angle of the camera,
effectively displays the power and drama of the moment, appropriate for a public-
ity shot for the opening of the play in Melbourne in October 1975. Clare Plascow,
Intern. Photography by Bruno Benini © Estate of Bruno Benini.
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Italian model Carla Baldaracchi wears a bold Post-WWII modernist summer frock
by Ninette of Melbourne. The photograph presents an ambitious scenario, captur-
ing both the fashion, and the orchestra pit and the elaborate operatic stage set of
the Baths of Caracalla, ancient Roman ruins of the lavish thermal baths built for
Emperor Caracalla between AD 212 and 217 which were used for outdoor oper-
atic performances during Spring and Summer. Here Bruno Benini places Australian
fashion centre stage! It’s a remarkable shot as it not only evokes the globetrotting or
‘vacation’ style that became popular in fashion photography during the 1950s, but
also captures the photographer’s Italian heritage and his interest in history and opera.
Furthermore, it hints at the cinematic influence of fashionable films like Funny Face
(1957) and Roman Holiday (1953). Interestingly, Benini’s maternal grandfather was
an Etruscan archaeologist. Perhaps he left a binding youthful impression on Benini
as a boy, as many of the negatives in the Benini photography archive show Australian
fashion shot against ancient settings. This particular shot was taken during Benini’s
‘round the world’ trip in 1958 when he travelled to New York and London, visiting
family in Italy and shooting photographs of Australian fashion in and around Rome
on both Italian and Australian models. Anne-Marie Van de Ven, Curator. Photogra-
phy by Bruno Benini © Estate of Bruno Benini.
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A theme that emerges from the archive Bruno Benini is his use of artworks as back-
drops. In this photograph, used by Henry Haskin on his showroom display card,
we see Catherine Patchell modelling Haskin’s ‘Gown of the Year’ of 1956 in the
National Gallery of Victoria. Italian artist Giambattista Tiepolo’s ‘The banquet of
Cleopatra’ (1743–44) serves as an ideal backdrop here, as it is large in scale and
was hung close to the floor at this time. The scene depicted is from Roman historian
Pliny’s Natural History, where Cleopatra takes one of her priceless pearls, dissolves
it in a glass of vinegar and then drinks it, thus proving to Mark Antony that she
could hold the most extravagant and expensive of banquets. The painting’s sumptu-
ous subject and atmosphere echo the rich embroidered texture and ornate beadwork
(approx. 10,000 beads were used!) of Haskin’s gown, now held in the collection of
the Jewish Museum of Australia. Alysha Buss, Assistant Curator. Photography by
Bruno Benini ©Estate of Bruno Benini.
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Exhibition
Australian International Design Awards

July 2010–June 2011, daily 10am–5pm
The 2010 Australian International Design Awards (a division of Stand-

ards Australia) celebrate the most revolutionary products this year.
A selection of 16 finalists include a lightweight wine bottle, a pocket-
size ultra-sound system and a gaming headset that reads brain signals
and facial expressions, rather than using a joystick.
Also on show are works by the finalists of the James Dyson Award for
concepts designed by Australian university students. Among the short-
listed entries is a heart transplant storage unit, a fire reconnaissance
vehicle and a wireless speaker unit for listening to televised sport
in pubs.
Left: Emotive Epoc. Photo: 4design Pty Ltd and Emotiv Systems Pty Ltd.
Above: AMATOYA, a Fire Reconnaissance Vehicle (model) by Liam Ferguson.
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EVENT
Iron Designer
6 August, Friday 6pm for 6.30pm
Powerhouse Museum, $30 adults/$26 Powerhouse Museum
and students + groups of eight or more
Bookings essential sydneydesign.com.au
Iron Designer, inspired by the legendary Japanese cooking show, intro-

duces a cast of design disciples who battle for the coveted crown. This
live event reveals the concepts and practices of architects and designers.
Hosted by media celebrity Robbie Buck, in conjunction with a panel
of industry-based judges, Iron Designer sees competitors working indi-
vidually or as a team.
Scissors and set-squares at the ready, contenders receive the key ingre-
dient and a range of materials to create a work in 20 minutes! Four
teams compete over two rounds. The winners of each round progress
to the grand final.
Iron Designer is produced by Melbourne’s Studio Binocular

irondesigner.studiobinocular.com
Image right: Studio Binocular
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29
Exhibition
Re-loved—Designer Stories
31 July–10 October, daily 10am–5pm
‘The chair’ has a long and poignant past. Aesthetically, socio-politically

and technologically, this everyday item reflects varied stories. A colour-
ful narrative of nine pre-loved chairs is revealed at this installation. Syd-
ney-based designers reinterpret each piece. Contemporary design and
bespoke beauty merge to transform a tired furniture piece into a work
of art. With their notebooks in hand, the designers have recorded their
inspirations over the course of the project and these diary notes and
sketches reflecting their unexpected design approaches are on display.
Featuring Chris Bose, Architect; Paul Garbett, Graphic Designer;

Adam Goodrum, Industrial Designer; Chris Hardy, Industrial Design-
er, Liesl Hazelton, Jewellery Designer; Cecilia Heffer, Textile Designer,
Trent Jansen, Product Designer; Andrew Simpson, Industrial Designer;
Christina Waterson, Designer/Architect.
Images: Taken from Gorgeous Upholstery
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Sydney design
‘…Dress borrowed from Miu Miu, old curtain made by my mom, miraculously
looking really cool with the naked people print.’
Image: Tavi from thestylerookie.com Photo: Spencer at spencertweedy.com
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Feature
Design, fashion and architecture blogs are self-perpetuating

mythologies, capable of raising bloggers to heroic,
superhuman status. Where once there were soap boxes in the
park, upon which people could voice their opinions on life
and politics, now the blog is the public forum for individual
viewpoints. PRUE GIBSON EXPLORES.
The opinion
junkies
During the short history of the internet, ‘opinion junkies’ have metas-
tasised across the planet. Their blogs are popularity contests, driven
by consumer desire and marketplace obsessions. The big question is
whether the opinions of bloggers exert influence or whether it’s just a
lot of narcissistic hot gas blowing about in cyberspace.
Mike Walsh, author of Futuretainment says on his web site, ‘the world
has been transformed by consumer connectedness.’ We have moved
away from broadcast networks to audience and social networks for
sharing and popularising ideas. Melbourne blogger Patty Huntington
of Frockwriter who has a background in newspaper journalism says,
‘I find blogging cathartic and there are no restrictions. I consider it art.
But does blog traffic equal authority? No. For a small niche market of
opinion, there is a small dedicated audience.’
News of blog triumphs spread like wildfire. Bryanboy is a young Fili-

pino with a penchant for fabulous shoes and bags and has had an os-
trich skin handbag created in his honour by Marc Jacobs. Despite his
self-absorbed diary notes, his eye for style is evident. Scott Shuman’s
blog The Sartorialist continues a tradition of photographic portrai-
ture. He snapped street fashions in Paris, New York and London and
his work has also been published as a coffee table book by Penguin,
in limited editions. His blog offers thoughtful and human stories from
viewers regarding vintage family street-chic photos. Yvan Rodic of
another fashion blog Face Hunter had a book published by Thames
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Sydney design
and Hudson. Judging from Face Hunter’s blog, Rodic’s life as a fash-
ion stakeholder has escalated, with book signings and many a model
competition to judge.
Popularity equals love. In the case of Burberry’s latest social networking

stroke-of-brilliance, Art of the trench, the romance equation is literal.
Established in 2009, The art of the trench was set up to encourage its
670 000 Burberry Facebook fans to submit photos of themselves in
trench coats and to get to know one another. With photos of cute tod-
dlers, street fashionistas or Asian couples getting married in Burberry,
all demanding comments from blog readers, the blog/social site has pro-
liferated quickly.
But nothing is as cute as now fourteen year old Tavi whose blog The
style rookie offers a surprisingly sophisticated standard of quirky style
and teenage angst. Tavi was twelve when she began her blog which has
exploded among young audiences (not to mention thousands of curi-
ous fashion leaders searching for future design tips). This angelic-faced,
gamin-haired girl points to favourite fashion mag pages or dresses up
in her bedroom in downtown Chicago. She also rails against the lunch-
room politics of being a middle-schooler in the US, having to watch
schoolmates ‘grinding’ at the yearly dance and the cruelty of a nasty
pimple on her cheek or grimy glasses. She exudes not so geek-chic, vin-
tage-loving flair and uses her Canon Powershot A590IS with Bogan tri-
pod and self timer to capture her home-spun blog images.
Aside from their snowballing popularity, blogs have an imme-

diacy which standard press can never match. This is their attrac-
tion. Blogs publishing images of self-styled sub-culture DIY outfits
on the streets (away from couture runways) or a designed woven
chair from an unknown artist or photos of the latest architect’s sus-
tainable home prescribe to the notion of alternatives and ‘the latest
and best.’ This immediacy means the progressive influence on print
outlets is undeniable: Lucy Feagins of the blog The design files says,
‘I find magazine writers raiding blogs for content. People I interview,
shops I feature…will be contacted by journalists within days of my post.’
Unfortunately what sometimes accompanies the new rash of opinion

junkie blogs is an annihilation of the English language. Blogs by nature
are often in draft form and consist of truncated stabs of commentary.
Unedited and unabashed, these diatribes on fashion, design and archi-
tecture can sometimes be little more than prehistoric cavemen grunts.
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F E A T UR E
Conversely, it could be argued that audiences don’t want long, aca-

demic, critical essays from blogs. Those kinds of essays and articles are
better read away from the screen. After all blogs are every-day quick
snaps of what’s happening now.
The question of authenticity functions in both directions. Magazines

watch blogs for ideas but there are also bloggers who appropriate and
regurgitate magazine material. However the point of the blog is to fil-
ter information in order to discover ‘true’ talent. Sydney based blog-
ger Dan Hill’s City of sound is one of the best-read most-loved blogs.
While the writing is serious and more long-winded than most, it is a
reduced and concentrated source of information.
Lucy Feagins of The design files updates her information daily and is
highly respected for that dedication. Her blog receives 140 000 page-
views a month. Feagins says, ‘emerging designers now have an incred-
ible opportunity to reach a huge international audience cheaply and eas-
ily. An article posted by The Coolhunter late last year was the launching
pad for Melbourne lighting designer Volker Haug’s current success.’ She
also says her motivation is, ‘keeping an Australian voice out there in the
mix of incredible UK based and US based design blogs.’
However at the risk of sounding like a nay-sayer, there is an attitude

within the blog world that a paucity of on-line image quality is accept-
able. The plethora of substandard images on blogs compromise print
media photographers because, by the time professional photographers
snap and file to magazines, they’re already old news. Magazines will be-
come more difficult to maintain in this environment and the scarcity of
work will trickle down to freelance writers, stylists and photographers.
There is increased pressure on the traditional arbiters of taste, such as
the fashion editors of Vogue, to remain ahead of the fashion trends.
Another advantage of blogs is that each one tells a story, with a distinc-
tive voice and point of view. Blogs are vignettes of lives—personal and
emotional expressions. The edgy voice of fashion blogs such as Fresh
Fruits and Gothic Lolita offer a view of Japanese aesthetic preoccupa-
tions. The industry/news blogs such as stylecourt.blogspot.com, design-
boom.com share photos and information and offer thoughtful, serious
writing and images of strong design. These various stories or mytholo-
gies contribute to a more accessible anti-elitist world, a space of shared
experience, where new artists can find their way to the surface. As Lucy
Feagins says, ‘blogs democratise design commentary.’ PG
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sydney design
‘I took this on my BlackBerry at last year’s Rosemount Australian Fashion

Week. It’s a runway shot, taken—by complete fluke—during Dion Lee’s show.
FYI last year was the first time people were Twittering from the event and a bit of
a stink erupted over the quality of a lot of the cellphone imagery. The new media
contingent jokingly referred to a new art movement called ‘Bluralism’. This im-
age has become representative of my blog (mobile reporting). Patty Huntington,
from frockwriter.blogspot.com (see page 31).
36
F ASHION IN AC T ION
Straight up: on the streets in Sydney online

31 July 2010–April 2011
The rise of photographic portraiture taken on the street has become

nothing short of an addiction for the fashion obsessed. This is ‘the
straight up’ movement made possible by the internet, cheaper digital
photography, and street-fashion blogs, which have sprung up all over
the world (see essay: Opinion Junkies page 31).
The Powerhouse Museum's online project, Straight up: on the streets

in Sydney online invites you to get involved taking photos on the
streets of Sydney, and posting them on the Sydney Design group flicker:
flickr.com/groups/sydneydesign.
Make sure you tag your photos straightup. The images should incor-
porate a short message or story responding to the Sydney Design theme
‘Tell us a Story’. Be creative, impulsive and edgy. By recording the street
trends of your neighbourhood, Straight up: on the streets in Sydney will
be a snapshot of urban style from all corners of our exciting city.
Images can be uploaded at any time and photos will be displayed on

screen at the Museum.
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SYDN E Y D E SIGN
Pages 36–37: Photo of Tavi courtesy Spencer Tweedy from spencertweedy.com

Pages 38–39: Daryl by Alex De Bonis
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FAshion in action
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F a s h i o n i n A c t i o n Wee k e n d
Fashion in Action Weekend

7 and 8 August, Saturday and Sunday 10am–4pm
Fashion photography was once shot at bespoke studios, but with the
proliferation of digital cameras in the 21st century, street style photog-
raphy has become de rigueur. With the emergence of social media and
technological advances, under-the-radar photographers now produce
their works in style blogs—offering instant media to the streetwise
audience. Influential, celebrity bloggers such as Scott Schuman of The
Sartorialist score front-row seats at runway shows.
Meanwhile, the controlled atmosphere of the studio remains the pho-
tographer’s best chance of capturing ‘The Look’ of the fashion portrait.
Sheer beauty and edgy designs may set the scene but it’s the intangible
elements that transform a photographic shoot from unique to unforget-
table. During this special weekend, visitors can experience the stylised
settings of a studio shoot and the spur-of-the-moment immediacy of a
street-style fashion blog.
Framed!
7 August, Saturday 10am–12pm and 12.30pm–3.30pm
Wondering why it takes a full day to get one brilliant photograph?
This all-day shoot explores how to create ‘The Look’. On set are the
photographer, wardrobe stylist, set designers, hair stylist, make-up art-
ist and model. While the model is primped and preened to make her
camera-ready, an unforgettable atmosphere needs to be created in the
studio. Stylist-to-the-stars Megan Morton and designer Benja Harney
of Paperform will create sets using whimsical props. Renowned Syd-
ney-based fashion photographer Hamish Ta-mé will direct proceedings.
Experts in post-production will bring out the full potential of the im-
ages with their creative digital darkroom techniques. Hamish will then
stream his images to large screens and direct to your iPhone.
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Sydney design
An all-day, live photo shoot reveals the many layers involved in creating ‘the look’
in fashion photography Photo: Hamish Ta mé
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Captured!
8 August, Sunday hourly 10am–12.30pm and 1.30pm–4pm
Powerhouse Museum, $80
Limited places, bookings essential sydneydesign.com.au
Lights, camera, lipstick—dress to kill and be ready to pose! Become
an instant supermodel, taking part in a high-end photographic shoot.
You’ll be styled at a hair and make-up bar. Surrounded by props by
celebrity interior specialist Megan Morton and designer Benja Harney,
your every pose, pout and position will be guided by Powerhouse Mu-
seum photographers. Captured! will embrace a more edgy look; this
will be a portrait like no other! These lucky and fearless models can
also select a free favourite image to order. To guarantee your place,
remember to book early.
Screening Fashion
7 August, Saturday 2pm–3pm
In less than five years, bloggers like The Sartorialist, Susie Bubble and
Garance Doré have changed how fashion is captured and critiqued.
Harnessing the DIY charm of new media technologies, the new guard
is documenting ‘the street’. Karl Lagerfeld shows his wit on Twitter;
Marc Jacobs snubs front-row celebrities for live internet streaming of
the catwalk; Chanel woos Scorsese for a new TV commercial; Tom
Ford takes on Hollywood with A Single Man; while Anna Wintour
(The September Issue) and Valentino (The Last Emperor) let the cam-
eras in behind closed doors.
This talk, by Dr Alex Munt and Dr Susie Khamis both lecturers in the
Department of Media, Music and Cultural Studies at Macquarie Uni-
versity, considers how new media technologies are making fashion far
more accessible and voyeuristic.
Image: Alanah Hill runway during Australian Fashion Week.

Photo: William West/Getty Images Entertainment
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Sydney design
Photo of Tavi courtesy Spencer Tweedy from spencertweedy.com
46
Straight up at the Museum

8 August, Sunday 11am–3pm
Bring your urban style into view at the Powerhouse and become part of
a fast-paced photo-shoot that captures the streetwise look. A roaming
team of photographers from the Australian Centre for Photography
will recreate the classic ‘straight up’ style as they photograph people at
the Museum throughout the day.
This hybrid style of documentary/fashion photography pays homage to

the influential magazine, i-D. Coined ‘the straight up’, this social docu-
mentation uses head-to-toe street portraits, asking people on the street a
series of questions about life, love and inspiration. Those photographed
can choose to have their urban portraits appear on The Straight Up: on
the streets in Sydney online Flickr group. Each image will feature per-
sonal, punchy messages and be viewed by a worldwide audience.
flickr.com/groups/sydneydesign (images are tagged straightup)
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E XHIBI T ION
Frock stars: inside Australian Fashion Week

Until 29 August, daily 10am–5pm
Live the dream—and the drama—of Sydney’s most exclusive fashion

event, the Rosemount Australian Fashion Week, at this behind-the-
scenes exhibition. Showcasing what takes place at these industry-only
parades, Frock stars is a collaborative project with IMG Fashion, cel-
ebrating the 15-year anniversary of this dazzling event.
Upon entering, visitors are transported into the exclusive world of Aus-
tralian Fashion Week, where the catwalk comes alive. On the runway,
an array of outfits by über-designers Akira Isogawa, Collette Dinnigan,
Michelle Jank, Easton Pearson, Zimmermann and Ksubi are show-
cased. From the vantage point of the front row, visitors also experience
the inside machinations—where buyers and media commentators can
make or break fashion collections.
Visitors then go backstage to see how models, hair and make-up art-
ists, stylists and show producers collaborate to keep this fast-paced
event running smoothly. In the VIP lounge, watch footage from various
shows and exclusive interviews with designers, models and industry
insiders, and see celebrity snaps from legendary social photographer
Robert Rosen.
Full of lavish gowns and avant-garde creations, Frock stars reveals the
backstage buzz and runway thrills at Powerhouse Museum’s fashion
spectacular.
This exhibition is a collaboration between IMG Fashion and the

Powerhouse Museum. Exhibition Supporter: Sharp
Rosemount Sydney Fashion Festival, 23–28 August.

For further information visit rsff.com.au
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Sydney design
Models backstage in Michelle Jank’s debut collection at Australian Fashion Week.

Photo: Robert Rosen
49
INDUS T RY T A L KS
Industry talks
Limited numbers, bookings essential on sydneydesign.com.au
Join industry experts for a series of talks at the Powerhouse Museum

throughout Sydney Design. Curators, photographers, stylists and crea-
tives from a wide gammut of industries have come together to share
their knowledge and experience on the major exhibitions.
Creating the look: Hazel Benini’s contribution

31 July, Saturday 2pm–3pm
Join Anne-Marie Van de Ven, Powerhouse Museum curator, as she
introduces the remarkable creativity of Melbourne fashionista, Hazel
Benini, who worked as both an independent visual merchandise artist
and alongside her husband, Bruno Benini, as a stylist. For almost five
decades, Hazel Benini shaped and invented an endless string of stories,
themes and up-to-the-minute ideas to promote fashion and design to
the press. This talk will be followed by a very special, one-off oppor-
tunity to walk through the Creating the look exhibition with Hazel
Benini. This tour is only available to booked guests.
Journey of a lifetime: David Mist fashion photographer

1 August, Sunday 2pm–3pm
Capturing fashion and Australian life from the 1960s, David Mist has
been a leader of contemporary photography in Australia in the 20th
century. Born and trained in London, he arrived in Sydney in 1961
with a cosmopolitan outlook. At this talk, David reveals the style and
flavour of life in Sydney in this era with a selection of mod fashion im-
ages. He reflects on his early days at Baron Studios in London and his
fashion shoots during the 1960s and beyond.
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SSy
y ddne
n e y yd edesign
sign
Fernando Frisoni and the art of styling!

4 August, Wednesday 12.30pm–1.30pm
Urban fashion goes under the microscope as a selection of Sydney’s
fashion leaders analyse current design trends. Led by renowned pho-
tographer, stylist and designer Fernando Frisoni, columnist for The
Sun-Herald who documents Sydney’s street fashion. The event is
hosted by Anne-Marie Van de Ven. Following this talk, Brazilian-born
Fernando provides a special one-off tour of the Creating the look exhi-
bition, including a display of his own urban street fashion photography.
The team: Juli Balla captures the look

Discover what really happens at high-end fashion shoots during this
fascinating talk by award-winning photographer, Juli Balla. Based in
Sydney, this artist travels the globe in search of the perfect mix of loca-
tion and light. Here, she shares tales—bringing together creative crews,
exotic locations, stunning outfits and ravishing models. Defined by her
interest in the arts, film and fashion, Juli’s photos have appeared in
local and international magazines such as Vogue, Vanity Fair, Grazia
and Marie Claire. Her work is currently represented in the Creating
the look exhibition. She’s joined by her creative and photographic
team in this small forum, hosted by Anne-Marie Van de Ven.
Workshopped design talk

Designers from Workshopped 10 shed light on the process of product
design and explore how ideas are born, refined, tested and brought to
market. The talk will take a look at production issues such as: What
are the different forms of inspiration that shape design process? How
does Workshopped bring Australian design to the attention of inter-
national audiences?
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De s i g n u n d e r g r o u n d
Design underground
Powerhouse Museum, $30 adult/$26 Powerhouse Members/students/
groups of 8 or more. 12 participants in each tour.
Take an exclusive peek at the Powerhouse Museum’s extraordinary
fashion collection in storage.
In the Fashion Vault

2 August, Monday 2pm–3pm
During this tour of the vault, conservator Suzanne Chee explains how
costumes and accessories—ranging from 18th-century gowns to 21st-
century garments—are preserved and stored. Hats, shoes, bags and
fans need to be immaculately preserved. Documenting the condition,
treating pieces and photographing museum objects are all part of a con-
servator’s job. Visitors also get the chance to make their own padded
coat hanger, which can be taken home as a handy memento.
David Mist fashion photography archive

3 August, Tuesday 2pm–3pm
Join British-born fashion photographer David Mist who arrived in Syd-
ney in 1961 and proceeded to capture the mood of an era for the city’s
newspapers and magazines. He embraced the 1960s lifestyle of short
skirts and mod boots. This is an opportunity to hear the photogra-
pher’s tales through a tour of David’s extensive body of work.
Telling stories about textiles

4 August, Wednesday 2pm–3pm
Join curator Christina Sumner in an up-close encounter with some of
the textiles in the Museum’s collection and hear the inside stories of
embroidery by disadvantaged women in Bangladesh, a flower-strewn
dowry cloth from Uzbekistan, Venetian velvet, a colourful pre-Colum-
bian poncho, a 19th-century Australian ‘Friendship’ quilt, and a West
African embroidered robe. During the tour, Christina will talk about
the circumstances that produced these textiles—why and how they
were made, and who worked on these intricate textiles.
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Sydney design
Bootilicious
9 August, Monday 2pm–3pm
The Powerhouse Museum’s collection of footwear is so large and var-
ied it would turn Imelda Marcos green with envy. Join curator Rebecca
Bower on this quirky tour of the collection as she looks at shoes worn
by strippers, signed by legends, decorated by artists, and worn by ordi-
nary people doing extraordinary things. From the tiny shoes made for
Chinese women’s bound feet to the towering platforms of Australia’s
glam-rocker William Shakespeare in the 1970s, this is a journey reveal-
ing the fascinating stories behind the footwear.
Comfort, control, couture and crochet

Step back in time to see the open robes and bustle dresses of the 18th
and 19th century, as well as the first pair of elastic-sided boots from
1837. From the 20th century, haute couture by Christian Dior and hats
by Philip Treacy are on display, while the Museum reveals one of its
most recent acquisitions—a crochet dress designed by Romance Was
Born, and worn by Australia’s fashion-savvy actor, Cate Blanchett. Pre-
sented by curator Glynis Jones.
Dressing in Lace
11 August, Wednesday 2pm–3pm
Dressing in Lace looks at rare lace garments from the basement of
the Powerhouse Museum. Curator Lindie Ward reveals various tac-
tile treats, including an 18th-century silver lace petticoat, a 1940s Irish
crocheted wedding dress and millinery nets used in the 1950s. With
more than 300 pieces of handmade lace stored in the Museum, this
tour embraces the history of lace, uncovering the 19th-century revolu-
tion when manufactured lace overtook bespoke work. Join Lindie to
explore an array of designs that rarely see the light of day.
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fe a t u r e
In this age of global consumerism and of digital and machine

technology, the pendulum of human desire is swinging.
PRUE GIBSON EXPLORES.
Clusters of tactility,
threads of warmth and
a return to the senses
The vintage and the hand-made are experiencing increased popularity.
This playful, positivist attitude towards life may reflect an emergence
from the bleak years of conservative government but it also reflects a
need to be liberated from the anxieties of the world, where natural and
unnatural disasters are affecting the environment, resources and collec-
tive well-being.
A fascination with brutal, mass-produced, machinist aesthetics in archi-
tecture, design and fashion are morphing into a wish for the authentic,
the adaptive, the sustainable and the natural. Warm tones and tactile
surfaces, carved wood and hand-thrown ceramics, recycled and sustain-
able materials, emotional and adaptive creativity: these concepts are
creating new joy.
In direct response to the global super-brands which everyone and an-
yone can access and own, many designers are creating quirky, craft-
inspired, nostalgic works of art. This desire for individualism is a psy-
cho-emotional defence against a mass mentality. Australian designer
Cindy-Lee Davies’ use of old car wheels with macramé or crochet for
seating is the perfect example. She applies the hand-made to the off-cuts
of industry. However, as Karen McCartney author and editor of Inside
Out says, ‘even the manufactured pieces of design are being given an
old-style quality, made to feel like an original.’
A model showcases the Iced VoVo inspired dress by Romance Was Born at Rose-
mount Australian Fashion Week 2009, featured in Frock stars at the Powerhouse.
Photo: Lisa Maree Williams/ Getty Images Entertainment.
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F E A T UR E
Another design tendency is to focus on earthy nostalgic notions of the

past. The untouched landscape, the earthenware pot, the hand-stitched
dress and the collectible. The idea of the collectible reflects an earnest
endeavour to gather objects that are worth saving—the limited edition
book, the artist’s proof or grandma’s macramé. This travels on the tail
end of the anxiety era, where the extinction of species and giant piles of
rubbish at tip sites berate us.
Cloth designer Julie Paterson is nostalgic but is not one to cling to any
one object. She has no heirlooms but her sense of history and of pass-
ing time is crucial to her wallpaper and fabric design. ‘My designs are
a sum of the past and the future,’ she says. For Paterson, her designs
might be as prosaic as visual stimuli gleaned from the everyday activity
of walking to the shops or noticing the lines of electricity wires. ‘I am
interested in a sense of inclusion: designs for everyone, there is some-
thing from everyone’s experience. My designs are very much about or-
dinary life.’
She recently was given bales of knitted natural wool from a greengrocer
friend, who had bought a farm in the Southern Highlands. Paterson
used this pre-loved, pre-knitted wool to make new pieces of upholstered
bespoke furniture. This tale tells the true story of fabric design in
Australia because it is a story of recycling, of a shared history and a
community experience.
Sydney author and stylist Megan Morton says, ‘I believe that this craft-
ier, hand-made look is something that lets a non-art buying customer
in - when everything looks a little more hand-done and familiar, we
are more likely to covet it, rather than fear it.’ Designers Third Drawer
Down responded to this yearning with their range of collectible, edi-
tioned appliquéd tea towels. Designer Nikki Gabriel also creates hand-
dyed garments in fine silk and hand-knitted linen, referencing the craft
of complex lacy knitting techniques.
Liane Rossler, co-founder and designer of Dinosaur Designs organises

knitting workshops to address the idea that ‘the end result is not the
whole objective.’ For Sydney Design, her workshop is called Knitty,
Gritty and Loopy. In it, knitters come together to share time and skills.
Rossler says, ‘We are surrounded by so many choices but when you cre-
ate something or experience something personal, the rewards are richer.
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Sydney design
It is easy to go shopping and buy something that required slave labour

and soon falls apart. But it is better to find something that took time
to make and to look at things with a different understanding of value.
To want to touch and feel is instinctive.’ Rossler’s workshops draw on
those experiences of shared ideas and stories. They make use of ‘plarn’
(yarn made from plastic shopping bags). ‘We take materials and trans-
form them. So we save the oceans and landfills and make something
original that is enjoyable to create.’
Megan Morton also understands the idea of saving resources. She says,
‘At this year’s Milan Furniture Fair, the necessity of producing new work
each and every year was questioned. One of the major players, UK de-
signer Tom Dixon, set up a workshop where his team made the lights
with their own hands and then sold them at the end of the show. This
reduced their footprint and saved on freight carting. It was a complete
directive and a message that I am sure all will follow at next year’s fair.’
Fashion designers are leading the pack in finding the ‘special collectible’
in a sea of the mass-produced. Some are collaborating with artists to
create the effect of ‘the artist’s hand.’ Romance Was Born has consist-
ently used macramé and pom poms in their imagery. They worked with
visual artist Del Kathryn Barton on their ‘Garden of Eden’ series. This
highlighted the urgent need to create a new paradise, a new landscape
to populate. Zimmerman’s unique prints adhere to the cottage industry
concept and Greek designer Mary Katrantzou’s original printed dresses
also mirror individualisation.
In architectural design, the ‘green’ attitude has affected office space

where places of work are new oases; carbon-neutral, free from toxins,
making use of sustainable materials and emulating a natural environ-
ment. Architects world-wide are making use of crafted timber elements,
hand-formed rammed earth walls, sculpted foundry handrails or
carved marble by skilled artisans. ‘And architects are focussing on sus-
tainability,’ says McCartney. ‘Melbourne architect John Wardle works
with artists to integrate creative elements in a natural way.’
In visual art, artists have recently chosen imagery from the wilderness
and the forest, and populated them with cute animals and strange new
animal hybrids (Sharon Green, Kate Rohde, Patricia Piccinini) in order
to filter out harmful signifiers of death and replace them with utopian
57
F E A T UR E
visions for the future. But as Melbourne design curator Kate Rhodes says,
‘these forests and landscapes are benign fairy tale forests.’
This raises an interesting point regarding the reality of these utopian crav-
ings, which are a reaction against the subversive and sceptical satire of
the most modern idiom. The trend towards the warmth of hand-formed
tactile rudiments in art and architecture is part of an urgent and positive
desire for a perfect world in the future which doesn’t (yet) exist. Is it really
possible to achieve a slower, more personal and meaningful experience of
life and art? What is certain is that the collective will is there. PG
Above: Cloth by Julie Paterson. Right: Confetti Systems, by Third Drawer Down.
Following pages: Reticella Lace series by Cecilia Heffer. Photo: Paul Pavlou.
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Sydney design
Above and right: work from Knitty Gritty & Loopy

Workshop, see page 109. Photos courtesy Liane Rossler.
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workshops
Make Lounge Workshop #1: Knitting Construction

with Nikki Gabriel
13, 14 or 15 August, Friday–Sunday 10am–1pm or 2pm–5pm
Powerhouse Museum, $80 Adults/$76 Powerhouse Members
(includes Knitting Construction kit)
Join a hands-on workshop led by knitwear and textile designer Nikki

Gabriel. It’s her skill of mixing old craft practices with new materials
and innovations in knit production that gives her garments a contem-
porary feel. At the workshops, she demonstrates how to knit complex
garments from straightforward designs. Quick shapes are added to each
other to create different items—from a scarf to a bolera to a cardigan.
Collaborating with small farming communities and spinning mills, the
customised fibre used is harvested and spun locally while retaining its nat-
ural colour. A chance to make, construct and discover endless possibilities.
Make Lounge Workshop #2: Felt My Tote (2 day workshop)

14–15 August, Saturday and Sunday 11am–3pm
From Vinnies to designer chic! Bring along an old woollen jumper—

from an op shop or from home—and re-fashion it into a gorgeous tote
bag. Using the ancient process of felting, the old jumper will be decon-
structed and reborn as a brand new accessory. Let your imagination
run wild as you cut, fold, sew and appliqué your tote bag, stamping it
with your own personality. Bring an old woollen knit jumper or wool-
len garment; all other sewing equipment and materials will be supplied.
Photo: Nikki Gabriel
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WORKSHOP & E x h i b i t i o n
Make Lounge Workshop #3: Craving cross stitch with Tamara Maynes
14 or 15 August, Saturday or Sunday 11am–3pm
(includes cross stitch kit) Bookings essential sydneydesign.com.au
One of Sydney’s most respected craft specialists, Tamara Maynes,
blends cutting-edge design and homespun techniques to produce
homeware products, ranging from patchwork cushions to cross-stitch
letters and macramé wall hangings. In this workshop, Tamara teaches
you cross-stitch techniques using one of her original kits included. She
also reveals a simple, inexpensive way to create your own cross-stitch
design charts using graph paper.
Liesl Hazelton Winner 2009 Design NSW: Travelling Scholarship

31 July–15 August
Level 3 installation, free with Museum entry
Liesl Hazelton uses old computers as raw materials for her award-win-
ning jewellery and furniture. She won the 2009 Design NSW: Travel-
ling Scholarship which enabled her to visit Guatemala where she was
involved with local community artisans. For Sydney Design, Liesl will
create an installation that explores traditional craft skills and textile
techniques. The 2010 Design NSW: Travelling Scholarship winner will
be announced on 29 July and is presented by the Powerhouse Museum
and Arts NSW, in partnership with the British Council.
Above: Tamara Maynes cross-stitiching. Right: Brooch by Liesl Hazelton
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m a r k et s
Designboom mart
13, 14 and 15 August, Friday 10am–9pm, weekend 10am–5pm
Powerhouse Museum
$5 entry to both markets; includes Museum entry
With a bazaar-like atmosphere, designboom mart offers a chance to

meet international designers, ask questions and snap up cutting-edge
items. Designers have the opportunity to meet with customers, manu-
facturers, distributors and curators to discuss their work. Curated and
presented by the independent online publication designboom (design-
boom.com), designboom mart is staged at festivals around the world.
Most designs provide one-off small series, available only for the dura-
tion of the mart itself.
Young Blood: Designers Market

13, 14 and 15 August, Friday 10am–9pm, weekend 10am–5pm
Powerhouse Museum
$5 entry to both markets; includes Museum entry
Meet and buy direct from the best new design talent in the country.
Featuring fashion, furniture, jewellery, graphics, industrial design and
more, this curated market is a glimpse into the future, a critical launch
pad for Australia’s talented young designers, as well as a vibrant mar-
ket for the design-savvy shopper. First staged in 2005, Young Blood is
the place to experience the buzz, crave the creativity, spot the trends
and snap up bespoke works at a reasonable price.
Right: Popular designer markets Young Blood and designboom mart return to the
Powerhouse Museum for Sydney Design 2010.
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St u d e n t De s i g n C h a lle n g e
A Workshop with Industry Practitioners

3 and 4 August, Tuesday and Wednesday 10am–1pm
Powerhouse Museum, $15 includes Museum entry and materials
10–30 students. Bookings edserv@phm.gov.au or 9217 0222
In these hands-on workshops students have the opportunity to work

alongside professional industrial designers Kristian Aus and Adam
Goodrum as they research, generate ideas and create a prototype for a
chair inspired by the Museum’s design collection. Kristian and Adam
will provide students with industry insights alongside demonstrations
of techniques and material manipulation. The workshop will conclude
with a showcase of the final designs in a group critique which includes
a stress test on their solution. Students work collaboratively in response
to the design brief which has one unique design parameter—the chair is
not allowed to have four legs!
SCAMPER design for Years 9–12, Design & Technology students

Thursday 5, Tuesday 10 and Wednesday 11 August
Sessions: 10.30am–11am, 11.30am–12pm, 12.30pm–1pm, 1.30pm–2pm
Powerhouse Museum, $7 includes entry and materials
15–30 students. Bookings edserv@phm.gov.au or 9217 0222
A basic water bottle may be an everyday product but once this item
has been reworked by a group of Design & Technology students, it
could become a future designer item in the not-too-distant future.
Students work in groups and will receive various design examples to
stimulate ideas. Students will generate various design improvements
to their water bottle, eventually choosing and sketching a solution to
present to the group. SCAMPER is a design activity, aimed at helping
students generate a multitude of ideas for design improvements to an
everyday product. This workshop is a great preparation for Year 9–12
students before later exploring the various design displays as part
of Sydney Design. This activity will encourage them to think about
ways they can make improvements to the world of design that exists
around them.
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Sydney design
fastBREAK
30 July, Friday 8am–9am, arrive at 7.45am
Powerhouse Museum, Boiler Mezzanine, $8 (includes breakfast)
Bookings powerhousemuseum.com/bookings/fastbreak.php
The 2010 fastBREAK innovation series is an exciting addition to Sydney’s
event calendar that has sent a buzz through local creative and entrepre-
neurial communities. At each fastBREAK session, five sharp young in-
dustry leaders from various sectors tackle big questions with five-minute
responses around themes of creativity, commercialisation, collaboration,
connections and conversation. Innovation is the staple of the fastBREAK
menu. This month’s presenters, responding to the question ‘What’s your
story?’, are Suzanne Boccalatte, Boccalatte design and publishing; Troy
Lum, Hopscotch Films; Faye Maramara, Paro Paro; Kelly Robson, Gaffa;
and Nic Moore, Peter Stutchbury Architects. Produced by Vibewire in
partnership with the Powerhouse Museum.
Beta_Space
Powerhouse Museum and Creativity & Cognition Studios at UTS
31 July–15 August
The Creativity and Cognition Studios at UTS presents selected artists
showing their interactive and time-based work during the international
2010 Computer Graphics, Interaction and Visualisation (CGIV10)
conference. Works selected explore interactive narrative through cut-
ting edge-research. betaspace.org.au and creativityandcognition.com
Wild For Tea Cosies—Heirlooms, Art? and Our Child at Heart

14 August, Saturday 11.00am
Powerhouse Discovery Centre, 172 Showground Road, Castle Hill
$8/$5/$25 family. Details castlehill.powerhousemuseum.com/events
Join the Grand Purl Baa, and Queen of the Tea Cosy, Loani Prior for an
insightful ‘cosy’ talk and a display of six of her ‘Really Wild Tea Cosies’
including ‘Carmen Miranda’, ‘Party Girl’ and ‘Coral Punk’. Everybody
has a tea cosy story. It is in the Australian psyche, an object of social his-
tory, or an evocation of sweet memories of grandmothers? Tea cosies have
a woolly thread to our heart and they tug it lovingly.
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Sydney design
Paper Plane Academy

31 July and 1 August, Saturday and Sunday,
45 mins sessions: 10.15am, 11.30am and 1pm
A hands-on creative workshop where little (and big) kids explore their
creativity and practicality through the use of the paper plane. Young
designers experiment with their planes in the aerial playground, a pur-
pose-built obstacle course in the ‘sky’. Best for ages 3 years+.
Above: Paper engineer Benja Harney hosts a Pop-Up Book workshop for kids
during Sydney Design 2010.
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K i d s d e s i g n w ee k e n d
Pop-Up Book Workshop

31 July and 1 August, Saturday and Sunday 12noon–3pm
Powerhouse Museum ,
$40 adults/$30 Powerhouse members/$25 child/$15 child member
Families are encouraged to create cards with a story! Apply designs and
artwork to a pre-designed base and explore basic paper engineering
mechanisms. Presented by Benja Harney, a Paper Engineering designer
from Paperform. Best for ages 10 years+.
Mini tours
31 July and 1 August, 11am, 12noon, 1pm and 2pm
Illustrated by Sonny Day from We Buy Your Kids, these little design
tales are based on the Japanese Kamishibai form of storytelling and
linked to the origins of manga and anime. Take a family tour over
three levels of the Museum considering three objects on display from
a design perspective for children. Listen for the sound of the Kam-
ishibai’s two wooden clappers at the entrance to Inspired! exhibition
announcing the arrival of the storyteller. Best for ages 3+.
Backstage Fashion Workshop

1 August, Sunday 2pm–3.15pm
Powerhouse Museum, $10 child/$5 child member
The Easton Pearson activity centre in Frock stars: inside Australian

Fashion Week gives young visitors hands-on activities, discovering the
creativity of fashion and design behind the catwalk glamour. Young
hands can make a wardrobe of paper outfits for their paper dolls, mix-
ing and matching patterns, shapes and outfit designs inspired by pieces
from the designers’ collections. For this special kids’ weekend only, the
Museum’s Fashion Curator gives an introduction to each activity and
an insight into the fashion world. Best for ages 10–15.
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K i d s d e s i g n w ee k e n d
Bending Benini: fashion mash-up workshop

1 August, Sunday 2pm–3.15pm
Powerhouse Museum, $10 child/$5 child member
Hands-on activity where participants can let their imagination run wild
to create surrealist images by cutting up, mounting and reframing Bru-
no and Hazel Benini’s photographs to create new looks. This workshop
will also include an introductory talk about the new exhibition, Creat-
ing the look: Benini and fashion photography. Best for ages 10–15.
The Tinytoreum: In The Palace of Blossums

31 July and 1 August, Saturday and Sunday 10.30am and 3pm
The Palace of Blossums activity centre, within The Tinytoreum exhibi-

tion, provides hands-on activity for very young theatre designers. Tiny
hands can make or colour a character for a reproduction 19th century
German paper theatre scene. For this special kids weekend, the exhibi-
tion producer will give an introduction to this charming exhibition and
discuss design as a problem-solving activity. The Tinytoreum features a
very inventive goanna called Gunna. Words and illustrations by award-
winning author Jackie French and illustrator Bruce Whatley of Diary
of a Wombat. The Tinytoreum is next in the Powerhouse Museum’s
Odditoreum series of collection-based displays for families, featuring
Australian artists and authors. For ages 5–8 years.
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Sydney design
Above: Illustration by Bruce Whatley
75
Above: Achille Castiglioni in his studio. Photo: Hugh Findletar
76
F E A T UR E
‘At Studio Castiglioni in Milan, Giovanna Castiglioni and her

mother have opened up the doors to her father’s studio allow-
ing the public into rooms overflowing with drawings, models,
prototypes and objects…’ Heidi Dokulil interviews
Giovanna CASTIGLIONI
Castiglioni:
a designed life
The origin of a design, its impact on the environment, and the social
conditions under which it is created are increasingly the questions that
enlighted individuals and companies are asking about the objects that
make up our surroundings. A hundred or more years ago, people would
have likely known the local cabinet maker, blacksmith and tailor person-
ally. Today the maker is mostly an anonymous author designing for an
anonymous consumer, but it is the provenance of a piece—its connection
to the past or its relevance to the present—that determines whether we
connect to it or not.
At face value, a piece of furniture can be beautiful, although we seldom
understand its own unique story: the skill of the craftsman in working
the materials and form, the adventure of trial and error—the research
that goes into developing an idea and often, the process to make it. It
is these stories that are an important part of determining the value of a
design today, beyond its aesthetic beauty.
The work of Italian architect and designer Achille Castiglioni goes far be-
yond what you first see in a chair, a table, a light, or a building. At Studio
Castiglioni in Milan, Giovanna Castiglioni and her mother have opened
up the doors to her fathers’s studio, allowing the public into rooms over-
flowing with drawings, models, prototypes and objects that inspired and
amused his inquisitive nature, and are the blueprint to a man now con-
sidered one of the most important designers in post-war Italy.
77
F E A T UR E
On the ringroad around Milan’s Castelle, is the studio of Achille Cas-

tiglioni. A neo-classical facade, courtyard and steep stairs lead you
up to a series of rooms overflowing with surprises. Walls are lined in
labelled archive boxes and tubes for plans. Prototypes sit on tables
with models and material samples, notes and photographs, and a huge
glass cabinet—almost bursting open—is filled with objects, each one
linked to an idea or a project.
It’s too much to take in at first, but as your eyes focus you become
aware of how many things Achille Castiglioni was interested in, and
his heightened sense of curiosity about objects that he famously de-
scribed as ‘anonymous’.
Achille worked in these five rooms for more than 60 years, first with
his brother Pier Giacomo, and from 1968 with assistants, two of
whom still work there today. Following Achille’s death in 2002, an
agreement between the Castiglioni family and the Triennale Milano
resulted in the studio being opened to the public in January 2006 for
tours, as well as to help archive the entire collection of 287 industrial
design projects, 201 architecture projects, and 486 exhibition projects
—with sketches, technical drawings, articles, invoices, contracts, letters,
and every link to each project.
‘Achille never thought about opening the studio’, remarks Giovanna
Castiglioni. ‘But it was a natural step when we decided with my moth-
er, my brother and my sister to share Achille’s way of thinking and his
work. He told me that if I enjoy my job I can enjoy my life, so I decided
to start three years ago when my mother asked me to help her run the
studio. We have to say thank you to my mother for her good character
and generosity because she allowed this place to open. It is very hard
for her to remain here because she had a wonderful relationship with
my father.’
Giovanna is Achille’s youngest daughter and a geologist who has
shifted careers to manage the studio with Dianella Gobbato, who be-
gan working there as Achille’s assistant in 1986, and Antonella, who
began working in 1981. Together, over the past three years, they have
welcomed more than 13,000 visitors. ‘I think every tour is special and
for me every one is different’, she enthuses. ‘I try to tell different stories
each time, so it depends on the curiosity of visitors. I love to talk with
people. It’s also very nice for me to receive different designers like Ingo
Maurer, Mario Bellini, Jasper Morrison, and a lot of younger design-
ers. Students who have a young mind interest me.’
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Sydney design
Every tour starts with the prototypes and the workshop, with explana-
tions of the process right from the beginning. ‘Achille was so careful
with process and ideas and he loved to follow every project from the
beginning to the end, so he had a wonderful relationship with the
workers. Curiosity was so important for him so I always try to share
with students and others that if you are not curious you can forget it.’
‘We also like to explain through anonymous objects. When visitors
come to the meeting room I can show them the slinky coil or a special
bottle from Japan, so they can feel the wonderful stories behind them.
Anonymous objects are also very important.’ The studio is a place of
surprises. ‘For some people who come they never knew they had an
object designed by Castiglioni, so for me it is really wonderful when
they discover something in the studio that they have at home. I love
this,’ smiles Giovanna.
The Castiglioni family supports the day to day running of the studio,
working closely with different companies who produce projects de-
signed by Castiglioni. ‘Flos helps us every time and we have collabora-
tions with Alessi, Bonacina, Cassina, Zanotta and others. So between
the family, the companies and the Triennale Milano we can continue
to open the studio,’ Giovanna enthuses. ‘We hope to work with com-
panies who want to believe in these projects again. In a few months
we would like to show the last projects that Castiglioni designed with
a collaborator of his. It is a little piece that you put on the desk ... a
secret so don’t ask me yet!’. HD
Above and following pages: In Achille Castiglioni's studio. Photos: Hugh Findletar
79
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I n te r n a t i o n a l S p e a k e r
Inside the Studio of Achille Castiglioni

12 August, Thursday 6pm for 6.30pm
Powerhouse Museum $20/$16 Powerhouse Members
An influential architect, designer, inventor and dreamer, the late Achille

Castiglioni is celebrated at Sydney Design with an intimate talk by his
daughter Giovanna. He was a leading light among industrial designers
of the 20th century, producing iconic furniture and lighting pieces and
modernist accessories. If there is one linking philosophy in Castiglioni’s
work it is the element of whimsy. He once said, ‘I see around me a pro-
fessional disease of taking everything too seriously. One of my secrets
is to joke all the time.’
For many years, Castiglioni worked with his two brothers Livio and
Pier Giacomo as a design team that was innovative, sleek and very suc-
cessful. The brothers believed that design must restructure an object's
function, form and production process. The majority of Castiglioni’s
products are still in production today, a testament to the elegance and
functionality of his designs.
On display from the Powerhouse Museum collection will be the mid-

century Radiofonografo ‘RR126’ hi-fi stereo set. A digital media pres-
entation on the main screen of the theatre will feature content from the
Castiglioni archives. It will also take you inside Studio Castiglioni in
Milan which is managed by Giovanna.
This international tour is supported by Space Furniture, Studio

Castiglioni and La Triennale di Milano.
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85
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Sydney design
Image: Gemma O'Brien
88
i n s t a ll a t i o n + M e d i a Ce n t r e
th(e)INK TANK
31 July–15 August
th(e)INK TANK is a live, site-specific installation and event which cre-

ates a space for critical dialogue and exchange. Reporting on Sydney
Design as it happens th(e)INK TANK will generate and promote new
narratives around critical design, design philosophy, sustainable futures
and emerging design paradigms and models of practice.
The installation hosts an editorial team of young writers and think-

ers who will collaboratively produce a mini publication—either print,
online or experimental combinations of the two—to be made available
at the close of Sydney Design. Content such as essays, interviews and
stories will be commissioned or gleaned from key design (re)thinkers,
and used as the critical framework for a series of events and discussions
held during Sydney Design, examining ideas, practices and contexts
from within the festival and beyond.
Keep your eyes peeled for th(e)INK TANK’s mobile office making itself
at home in and around the Museum, and at theinktank.org
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c o m p et i t i o n
The Bike Rack As Art

Details from 10 August at powerhousemuseum.com/bikeracks
Here’s your chance to elevate the humble bike rack into a glorious work
of urban art. This design competition invites street-savvy designers to
re-imagine the bike rack as a thing of beauty. Functionality is another
key element in this competition, making the piece long-lasting and easy
to use. After being manufactured, the winning design will be installed
through the subregional bike networks along the Parramatta, Georges
and Nepean rivers in Western Sydney. Your design will be viewed and
utilised by thousands of people as you play your part in making NSW
one of the world’s great places to ride a bike. Whether it’s for work,
exercise or fun, cycling is an increasingly popular and important mode
of travel in Sydney.
A joint project of the Powerhouse Museum and the RTA, as part of

the NSW BikePlan.
Photo: Surry Hills Association Inc.
90
‘The difference
between good
design and great
design is
intelligence.’
Tibor Kalman
Part two:
Sydney Design {city-wide}
91
Sydney design
SY DNEY D E S I G N 2 0 1 0
Concept to reality, presented
by Alchemy Innovation
Powerhouse Museum, free
Bookings ausinvent.com/events
Discover how to turn ideas and

inventions into viable, market-
able products. This seminar will
provide a step-by-step guide
on how to avoid the pitfalls of
developing an idea and dem-
onstrate the key principals for
building a value proposition.
Andrew Dowe from the NSW
Innovation Advisory Service will
discuss design commercialisation
issues that will help budding
inventors turn that product
into reality.
92
CI T Y - WID E
Why we love making books: ideas Pecha Kucha Night

about unfettered self-expression 10 August, Tuesday 7.30pm
2 August, Monday 7.30pm For venue details and dates check
Berta, 17 Alberta St, Sydney, sydneydesign.com.au
$25 (includes tasting plate and
glass of wine) Bookings essential Pecha Kucha is the Sydney leg of
info@berta.com.au the Tokyo-based phenomenon.
Pecha Kucha is an open forum of
What do you think when you ideas, a slide night for architects,
hear the word ‘book’? An object designers, students, and anyone
made of pages, ink and glue or with something creative to share.
the smooth screen of an iPad? To keep things snappy, approxi-
While online books are sold to the mately 20 presenters on the night
public as the future of publishing, are given 20 seconds to present
there has been a growth in sensual, 20 slides. Presenters will be
seductive and handmade publica-
announced closer to the event.
tions. Think McSweeneys (USA)
and Fuel (UK). Hear publishers pecha-kucha.org/night/sydney
talk about their love of printing
beautiful publications and luxuri-
ate over the feel, smell and tactility
of these old-school methods.
The forum includes Joseph Allen
Shea (Izrock / Monster Children
Gallery), Suzanne Boccalatte (Boc-
calatte / Trunk Books), Kernow
Craig (Blood & Thunder Publish-
ing Concern / The Rizzeria), Rob-
ert Milne and Sinisa Markovic
(Rainoff Publishing) and Johanna
Featherstone (The Red Room co.)
Rainoff Publishing pop-up store Photo: Pecha Kucha, Sydney
93
C i t y- w i d e
Workshopped 10: Habitus Conversation Series

A design decade 11 August
5–14 August, 8.30am–6.30pm Wednesday 6.30pm–8.30pm
Chifley Plaza, Sydney, free $15 (includes refreshments
and a copy of Habitus)
Showcasing a stellar range of For further details
Australian furniture, lighting sydneydesign.com.au
and product design conceived by
emerging young designers, Work- The Habitus Conversation Series
shopped 10 focuses on the work brings the content of Habitus
of designers that are ‘creating the magazine to life, providing an
future, inspiring, enhancing and opportunity to get up close with
making a difference’. prominent design personalities for
an insight into how design affects
Co-presented by the Powerhouse and inspires their way of life. In
Museum. a relaxed and casual format, the
presenter discusses their influ-
ences, design processes, inspiration
and thoughts on ‘living in design’.
Presented by Indesign Group.
Vases by Adam Goodrum Brianna Pike, Alecia Jensen, Anna Harves
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Sydney design
Specific Merchandise x Metamorphoses

Third Drawer Down 5–28 August
24 July–13 August Tuesday–Saturday 11am–5pm
Blank Space Gallery, Tin Sheds Gallery, 48 City Road,
374 Crown Street, University of Sydney, free
Surry Hills, free
The mythic stories of Ovid’s
Third Drawer Down and the The Metamorphoses are a song
Museum of Art Souvenirs Store to transformation and change.
join forces to open a whimsical This exhibition represents the
gallery and shop in Surry Hills— 15 books as 15 superbly crafted
a 21-day emporium like no other. architectural models. Master of
It will work as a showroom, Architecture students have used
museum and retail space full of rich materials—ceramics, timber,
hand-picked objects that embrace metal and fabrics—and trans-
popular culture and handmade formed them using mechanical or
design. There is no telling what industrial processes.
may be on offer—crayon rocks,
chocolate pie charts, giant This is architecture like you
corn cob stools, limited-edition have never seen it before—raw,
textiles. Move over, MoMA—the vital and brutal. The works are
best museum store on the planet installed in sequence with little
happens to be in Surry Hills this explanation. There is, however,
month! a well-illustrated exhibition
catalogue in which the pieces are
discussed and reviewed.
Shield of wings, 2010 Third Drawer Down x Book XIII- Memnon, 2010
Vík Prjónsdóttir. Photo: Gulli Már Photo: Ross Anderson
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Sydney design
Weaving Yarns Mr Salmon and Mrs Sparrow

11 August, Wednesday —remapping Sydney
University of Technology (UTS) 3–28 August
UTS Gallery, Monday–Friday 10am–5pm
702 Harris Street, Ultimo Talk: 10 August 12pm
2hr string making workshop $50 UTS Gallery DAB LAB Research
4hr fibre sculpture workshop $80 Gallery, Faculty of Design Archi-
Limited 15 per workshop tecture and Building Ultimo, free
Bookings essential 9514 1902
or Alisa.Duff@uts.edu.au A flock of citizens with avian
surnames—real-life Sydneysid-
Join a yarning circle and let ers with names like Mrs Eagle,
expert weavers guide you in Mr Duck and Miss Wren—have
creating a beautiful object using spent all their life explaining their
native grasses and fibres. Indig- quirky monikers. An unconven-
enous master weavers and an tional map exhibition re-maps
elder storyteller will connect you Sydney via different surname
with your handiwork through groupings—this includes the
their stories of the South Coast city’s 938 avian inhabitants,
of New South Wales from where 845 different fish species.
all the natural materials were col-
lected. Organised by Jumbunna To plot this work and to compile
Indigenous House of Learning, a narrative, Kate Sweetapple, a
the master weavers and elder visual communication lecturer
storyteller are all members of the from the University of Technology,
Boolarng Nangamai Aboriginal -33.5 Sydney, has meticulously cross-
Art and Culture Studio. checked all these surnames against
online telephone directory listings.
Her work challenges the ideas of
-33.6
neutrality and anonymity.

-33.7
Map of Sydney—Avian Surnames,(detail)
Photo: South coast style magazine 2008 2009 Kate Sweetapple
-33.8
-33.9
-34.0
-34.1
-34.2
© Kate Sweetapple 2009
0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9

+1.505
96 Map of Sydney
-
AVIAN SURNAMES
Booby.................... 2 Duck......................17 Knot......................1 Robin.................... 23 Swift...................... 82 Each bird represents the residential location of an individual, The most northern resident with an avian surname is
Bulbul.................... 2 Eagle..................... 33 Miner.................... 12 Seagull................... 1 Thrush................... 7 couple or family with an avian surname. R.S. Crane (Richmond); the most southern is J.N. Sparrow
Chat...................... 1 Falcon.................... 6 Parrot.................... 1 Snipe..................... 1 Whistler.................. 1 (Campbelltown); the most western is P. Heron (Penrith
Crake..................... 1 Finch..................... 134 Petrel..................... 2 Sparrow.................. 16 Wren..................... 40 The surnames of Sydney residents represent 36 species of birds. South); the most eastern is D.E. Swallow (Avalon).
Crane.................... 113 Gull.......................2 Pigeon....................1 Starling.................. 43 The most common avian surname is Swan (213) followed by
Crow..................... 36 Hawk..................... 4 Plover.................... 1 Stork..................... 4 Finch (134). There is only one listing for Chat, Crake, Curlew, Information sourced from the Sydney Residential White Pages
Curlew................... 1 Heron.................... 49 Quail..................... 10 Swallow.................. 11 Knot, Pigeon, Plover, Seagull, Snipe, Parrot and Whistler. 2008/09 and www.whitepages.com.au
Dove...................... 23 Kite....................... 26 Raven..................... 18 Swan...................... 213 There are 938 listings in total.
C i t y- w i d e
Graphic Material Poetic machines—the interaction

3 August–3 September between tools & creative practice
Monday–Friday 12pm–6pm 4 August, Wednesday 2–4pm
UTS Gallery, free UTS Gallery, free
Floors talks: 4 August 6.30– bookings recommended
7.30pm & 10 August 1–2pm utsgallery.uts.edu.au
Today’s graphic designers are uti- Exploring the boundaries be-
lising unconventional materials tween media and modes of prac-
and technologies. Graphic Mate- tices, this panel discussion uses
rial displays robotic drawing the current exhibition, Graphic
machines, spot-welded posters Material, to look at new tech-
and visuals that grow over time. nologies and processes that are
Traversing contemporary design, shifting the material and concep-
art and technology, the exhibi- tual frontiers of visual communi-
tion is an exploration of graphic cations. The availability of tools
design freed from the constraints such as rapid-prototyping and
of paper and ink. physical computing encourages
designers to reappraise machine/
Featuring work by Graphic user relationships.
Thought Facility, 3Deep Design, Join fellow design practitioners
Toko, Design by Pidgeon, Bert and cultural theorists to analyse
Simons, Collider, Mark Gowing, and embrace the future in tech-
Jeremy Wood, Karsten Schmidt, nology and graphic design.
Seymour Design, Frost* and
Trigger.
Meridians (detail) GPS Drawing, 2006 Jeremy

Wood. GPS unit used to ‘draw’ 40-mile path
across London with text from Moby Dick, ‘It is
Karsten Schmidt, 2008 not down in any map; true places never are.’
97
C i t y- w i d e
Design for Tomorrow’s World

2–6 August, Monday to Friday 6pm
UTS Courtyard, Peter Johnson Building, free
A series of courtyard talks by creative practitioners who take a fresh
look at the future through fashion, innovation, movies, and the city.
The talks are hosted by UrbanAid—a pioneering architecture, innova-
tion, and design group at the UTS. For this event, UrbanAid will be
rolling out their sheltered outdoor heated theatre and movie screen.
Monday: Smartypants Thursday: The Vampire Dandy

—Stretching Fashion’s Horizon Sexuality, power and bounda-
Taking a look at smart and intel- ries: the fashionably dressed evil
ligent materials in fashion and dead in movies and literature. By
textiles. By Marie O’Mahony, Vicki Karaminas, UTS Associate
UTS professor of Advanced Professor of Fashion.
Textiles.
Friday: Walk Don’t Walk
Tuesday: How to Invent —Will Sydney always be
Turning brilliant ideas into suc- Gridlocked?
cessful new products. By Ashley Using advanced information
Hall, Royal College of Art’s architecture to keep the wheels
Experimental Design, London. of the bus going round and
round. By Dr Hank Haeusler,
Wednesday: Do Androids Dream UTS UrbanAid.
of Electric Sheep? Or, 9 out of
10 robots will kill you.
This presentation is in 3D. An
entertaining look at robots
in movies to speculate on our
future. By Tom Barker, UTS
UrbanAid Professor. A fashionably dressed Nosferatu
98
Sydney design
DIGIFACTURE OpenHAUS:
31 July–15 August, Advertisements for Architecture
Monday–Friday 9am–5pm 31 July–15 August,
Fraser Studio, Chippendale, free Monday–Saturday
10am–4pm, daily, free
One of the most exciting develop-
Talk: 3 August
ments in manufacturing in recent
6.30pm–8.30pm, $10
times has been the process called
Tusculum, 3 Manning Street,
selective laser sintering (SLS).
Potts Point. Bookings 9246 4055
This process allows designers
to create solid complex objects When architects, design profes-
quickly and with no tooling. It sionals and students were invited
utilises a computer-controlled to create Advertisements for Ar-
laser beam that fuses together chitecture, the results included
plastic or metallic powder—one an array of tongue-in-cheek ads,
cross-sectional layer at a time. ranging from a cigarette pack
This exhibition highlights the poster saying ‘Architecture is Ad-
remarkable flexibility, complexity dictive’ to a heavy-metal inspired
and joyous creativity unleashed t-shirt. Even the world’s most
by SLS. On display is a series famous fictional architect, Mike
of SLS design projects by the from The Brady Bunch, gets a
industrial design program at the guernsey in one of the ads. The
UTS, Sydney, in collaboration ‘mad men’—and women—who
with Advanced Manufacturing have created these faux advertising
Services, Australia. The exhibi- gems will discuss their work at a
tion proposes future directions in lively talk for architects, designers
industrial design and its relation- and the public.
ship with manufacturing.
Urchin, Berto Pandolfo A Vision for Tomorrow, (detail) Adrian Lo
99
sydney design
Small Stories Big Pictures, Surry Designer Sushi

Hills Association Inc. (SHAI) 5–28 August
31 July, 7 and 14 August, Wednesday–Friday 11am–6pm;
Saturdays, free Saturday 11am–5pm
Start: Metalab or Cloth, accord- Check sydneydesign.com.au for
ing to your booking. Register at details
smallstoriesbigpicture.com
Metalab and cloth, in collabora-
Unleash the photographer within tion with mmmh!designer sushi
and capture a slice of Sydney on (Germany), invites designers
this cycling tour with a differ- from all disciplines to participate
ence. To add a design flavour, the in Designer Sushi, an exciting
bike-riding guides are designer collaborative project where you
Julie Paterson, cloth and Nina get to create a fresh and original
Cueva of Metalab. work from the contents of a pre-
Participants will be provided packaged sushi box (filled with
with a camera, map and ‘pass- an eclectic mix of everyday bits
port’ to explore and document and pieces).
the design and cafe culture in The works will be displayed at
Surry Hills. Stories are to be col- Metalab and cloth throughout
lected from participating retailers, August 2010.
cafe owners and designers who
will, in turn, stamp passports for
discounts on products. Cyclists
hand in their documents and
cameras at the end of the tour.
The results of their work will be
used to create a large photo-
graphic montage.
Julie Paterson Cloth bike.
Photo: Surry Hills Association Incorporated Photo: Surry Hills Association Incorporated
100
C i t y- w i d e
Design in Motion, Collective Conversations

presented by Eskimo 4 August, Wednesday
5 August, Thursday 6.30pm for 7pm start
6 for 6.30pm start Vampt Vintage Design,
On a rooftop, Level 6, 480 Elizabeth Street, Surry Hills
122 Kippax Street, Surry Hills Free, register by emailing
$35, includes drinks and snacks events@vamptvintagedesign.com
One feature documentary, and
a reel of shorts. Four prominent guest speakers
from the fields of architecture,
Eskimo is hosting a screening journalism, academia and design,
of graphic design film, titles and share their common passion
shorts on their rooftop in Surry for collecting ‘objects of desire
Hills. Bask in the spectacular and design’. Each collector tells
view of the city night lights and the story of their career, crea-
settle in to watch a curated, tive influences and inspiration
playful selection of work that behind their personal collec-
will inspire and spark discussion tions. Selected objects from these
about design on screen. Share a collections will be on display on
drink with like-minded, design- the night and for the duration of
and film-loving souls. Sydney Design.
The feature is the Sydney pre- Guests are also invited to bring
miere of the documentary Type- a favourite piece of design they
face, a Kartemquin film directed have collected, for display and
by Justine Nagan. Also screening discussion on the night.
will be a selection of shorts from
around the world. Drinks and
snacks included, BYO rug!
Guest Speaker, Alex Ritchie, Creative Director
Eskimo studio rooftop, 2010 E2 Experiential Environment and AGDA NSW
Photo: Daniel Freytag President. Photo: Nicole Ritchie
101
Sydney design
Workshops @ The Sewing Room Studio 20/17 exhibitions

The Sewing Room, Level 1, Tuesday–Saturday 11am–6pm
8 Hill Street, Surry Hills Sunday 11am–4pm
Bookings 9360 0585 or Unit 6b/2 Danks Street, Waterloo
bookings@thesewingroom.com.au
The World is a Circle we Live
Whether a beginner or an expert, in—excerpts from experience
these sewing workshops will in- 27 July–8 August
spire you to push the boundaries Rosanne Bartley creates jewel-
of your creativity. lery from materials left behind,
Tambour beading discarded and dismantled. Plastic
14 August, 10am–4pm, $200 spoons, tennis balls, tin lids, pull
rings and bottle lids inform her
Fashion design & colour theory recent works that respond to the
1 August, 11am–4pm & concept of mass and amassing.
13 August, 10am–2.30pm, $100
This Place—changing landscape
Fashion illustration 10–29 August
31 July, 10am–4pm, $125 Abstract and sculptural wearable
Introductory embroidery works by Sydney-based jewel-
stitches & beading techniques lery designer Vanessa Samuels.
4 & 7 August, 10am–4pm, $125 Forged rings, neckpieces and
pendants map a journey, per-
Pleating in fashion sonal encounter and exploration
4 August, 10am–3pm of the changing Greek landscape.
& 8 August, 11am–4pm, $125
Chic t–shirt manipulations
6 & 14 August, 11am–4pm,
$150
Tambour beading, 2006 Samaria Gorge, Vanessa Samuels

Photo: Karen Torrisi Photo: John Lee
102
C i t y- w i d e
Green with Envy: The Five Minute Rule

Sustainable design tours 31 July–15 August
31 July, 3–7 & 10–14 August 20th Century Modern
Tuesday–Saturday 10am–1pm 138 Darlinghurst Road,
Surry Hills, Paddington, Water- Darlinghurst, free
loo, $119 (includes tour, refresh-
ments, gift bag, maps and guide) When old, battered and unloved
Bookings essential 1300 951 138 furniture pieces and objects
or mytinerary.com.au end up on the kerbside to be
‘recycled’, they are invariably
Join us on this walking tour in snaffled up in just a few minutes’
Sydney’s design precincts and get time. It’s often a perceptive and
inspired by designers and store resourceful artist who sees the
owners who follow sustainable vision and runs with it.
principles in homewares, ceram- Ruth McDermott and Ben
ics, stationery, textiles, accesso- Baxter have coined this recycling
ries and jewellery. phenomenon as ‘the five minute
Retailers and artists responsible rule’. For this lighting exhibition,
for this green wave of design items have been painted black
will discuss their passion for with shapes outlined in thin
quality items and sustainable optic fibre—transforming each
design, as well as giving tips on piece into an eerily brilliant light
green living. The three-hour tour work, honouring both the past of
is guided by Mytinerary and each original object and its new
limited to 10 per group. incarnation.
I Ran the Wrong Way, Surry Hills, 2010

Photo: Alina Gozin’a Photo: Ruth McDermott and Ben Baxter
103
sydney design
AAA Architecture Tours

Fans of architecture and design can discover the stories behind the
skyscrapers, apartments and city bars in this series of fascinating
walking tours, run by Australian Architecture Association.
Sydney City Architecture Walks City Bar Tour

31 July, 7 August, 14 August 2 August, Monday 6pm–8pm
Saturdays 10am–12pm Customs House main entrance
Customs House Circular Quay $30/ $15/AAA members free
$30/ $15/AAA members free With the recent emergence of
Explore some of Sydney’s sky- laneway bars and intimate clubs,
scrapers, tracing the development Sydney’s nightlife has been
of modernism and the high-rise revitalised with an abundance
tower over the past 60 years. of hotspots popping up all
Designed by architects from around the city. Discover the
Australia and around the globe, design of these venues, kicking
the buildings range from Harry off with Customs House—the
Seidler’s iconic Australia Square place where liquor licensing first
tower in 1970 to the recent started in the colony.
Deutsche Bank Place by British
architect, Sir Norman Foster. Walk Through Time
14 August, Saturday 10am–12pm
Surry Hills Walk Hyde Park Barrack, main gate
31 July, Saturday 2pm–4pm $30/ $15/AAA members free
Cnr Belvoir & Buckingham St, This is a journey of Sydney
$30/ $15/AAA members free architecture from 1788 through
This inner-city precinct is an ar- to 2010, telling the stories about
chitectural cornucopia, boasting how changes in technology and
tiny terraces, funky warehouse design shaped our city.
conversions and designer apart- Australia Square 1967, Harry Seidler
& Associates. Photo: Vincent Lam
ments. The tour showcases
its most innovative structures,
including the gothic-inspired
Reader’s Digest building
(don’t miss the roof garden!)
and the chic redevelopment of
St Margaret’s hospital.
Bookings essential for all tours

architecture.org.au
104
C i t y- w i d e
Live Futures 2020 ID20: 20 Years of Industrial

—FutureStory Design at UNSW
14 August 11am–6pm 2–11 August
College of Fine Arts (COFA) Weekdays 9am–6pm
UNSW Corner of Oxford Street Saturday-Sunday 9am–5pm
and Greens Road, Paddington Free lecture: 11 August 6.30pm
Utzon 2010 Lecture Series,
A major feature of Live Futures UNSW Red Centre Gallery,
2020, FutureStory is a docu- Kensington. Bookings 9385 4800
mentary, of sorts, which brings
together scientists, futurists, Experience 20 years of indus-
engineers, social innovators, trial design work by students.
architects and artists, to share From the earliest days of CAD
their vision of the future. Com- to recent developments in rapid
munity participation in the prototyping and embedded tech-
project has been recorded via nologies, the collection of stories
social networks such as YouTube provides an insight into the evo-
and Facebook, and purpose-built lution of presentation techniques
vox-pop booths. See the culmina- and design practice.
tion of this gathering of stories Past graduates—who now work
at the Live Futures 2020 one-day with leading Australian and in-
event at COFA, where live action ternational firms—are profiled at
will be uploaded in real time, various stages in their careers. A
with commentary. selection of pieces from designers
livefutures2020.com Dieter Rams, Mario Bellini and
futurestory.com.au Walter Dorwin Teague. Looking
back over the past two decades,
this collection documents the
evolution of industrial design.
Photo: Wong Sze Fei D:Scribe Digital fountain pen, 2007 Reuben Png
105
C i t y- w i d e
Brook Andrew: The Cell Design Lovers Tour, Surry Hills

9 July–18 September 31 July–15 August
Wednesday–Saturday 11am–5pm Monday–Friday 10am–12pm
Sherman Contemporary Art Meet at the Triple Ace Bar
Foundation, Paddington, free Elizabeth Street & Wentworth
Avenue, Surry Hills, $75 (includes
Brook Andrew is a multimedia tour, drinks, gift bag, maps and
artist working in photography, VIP discounts) Bookings essential
neon, screen print, mixed media, 1300 660 624, email bookings@
installation and public art. urbanwalkabouttours.com
The Cell is an immersive instal-
lation, featuring a 13-metre-by- For some serious shopping
six-metre inflatable rectangle that therapy, join the Design Lov-
requires the audience to don a ers Tour in Surry Hills. This
costume, designed by Andrew, tour takes you to homeware
before crawling via a tunnel into and furniture stores with local
a striped cell. products, quality designer works,
bespoke wares and vintage gems.
Newly commissioned by the Cutting-edge designers are there
Sherman Contemporary Art to explain their craft. Discover
Foundation, the inflatable cell irresistible furniture, ceramics,
draws on themes concerning glassware, jewellery; meet artists,
cultural identity, colonial experi- curators, interior designers and
ence and consumerism. Immerse retailers, and pop in at local
yourself in this thought-provok- cafes and galleries to relax and
ing installation. recharge. The two-hour walking
tour by Urban Walkabout Tours
is limited to 12 per group.
Sample of pattern from The Cell. Brook Andrew Victoria at Planet in Surry Hills, June 2009
Photo: Tolarno Galleries Photo: Urban Walkabout
106
sydney design
Design with a Hat Lace Narratives

31 July–8 August, daily, 9am–5pm 27 July–14August, Wednesday–
Splinter Workshop, 75 Mary Saturday, 11am–6pm
Street, St Peters, free Talk: 14 August, Saturday 2–4pm
Damien Minton Gallery, Redfern
A Sydney-based furniture design For talk bookings 9699 7551
firm Splinter Workshop has
created a quirky exhibition that In this exhibition, Sydney-based
pays homage to the milliner’s art. textile designer Cecilia Heffer
Splinter Workshop, which spe- tells her own lace travel story.
cialises in contemporary bespoke Taking the beauty of traditional
furniture and objects in wood, lace, she has translated it into
has joined forces with Jean Car- the 21st century with new textile
roll AOM, an internationally technologies. Her materials—
renowned milliner who has been rust, natural dyeing, digital print-
making hats for over 70 years. ing, laser cutting and machine
Splinter Workshop’s exhibition embroidery—evoke both the
items may take the form of a past and present. Discover the
cabinet, a decorative box, a chest intricacy and strength of Heffer’s
or a table but they are linked work, which tell the story of both
by one motif—Jean Carroll’s connection and belonging.
exquisite hats. Floor talk with Lindie Ward,
Splinter Workshop consists of Powerhouse Museum curator,
nine designer/makers who design Dr Zoë Sadokierski, illustrator,
furniture in wood. designer and academic and poets
Astrid L’Orange and Tom Lee use
a piece from the exhibition as in-
spiration for an impromptu and
evocative poetry performance.
Drinks Cabinet and Sofa Table, 2009 Ian Monty
Photo: Julia Charles June, 2010 Cecilia Heffer
107
sydney design
Urban/Suburban Society for

2–14 August Responsible Design
Monday–Friday 2–15 August, open daily
9.30am–6.30pm pyd. 197 Young Street,
Panel discussion: Waterloo, free
10 August, Tuesday 6pm
Design Centre Enmore and The Society for Responsible
a street location, free Design (SRD) believes the future
is in safe hands. This exhibi-
In this exhibition and panel tion features new concepts in
discussion, design students and sustainable design by students
professionals explore the key from tertiary-level design
elements of design, such as space, courses at Sydney’s colleges and
light and materials, and consider universities. Fresh water, clean
the full impact of design on the air, recyclable products, urban
environment. renewal are all addressed in vari-
The exhibition showcases work ous mediums, including visual
by students of graphic and and 3D works, multimedia and
interior design at Design Centre fashion garments.
Enmore. In the fields of architecture,
visual communications, and
industrial, fashion, landscape and
interior design, these students
have created an exhibition that
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C i t y- w i d e
Historic Houses Trust of NSW Historic Houses Trust of NSW

NEW IDEAS Exhibition NEW IDEAS Forum
28 July–1 August, 4–8 August 5 August, Thursday 6pm–8pm
Wednesday–Sunday 10am–4pm Government House, 35/$30/$20
Government House, free
During this forum industry
The NEW IDEAS exhibition ex- experts discuss technology in
plores the history of Government heritage interpretation and future
House and the themes of heritage opportunities for emerging artists
conservation and historic inte- and designers in this field. The
riors, through the work of new discussion will also cover new
media artists. media and the relevant roles of
Five artists from School of Media artist and designers.
Arts, COFA, UNSW and five Chaired by ABC Innovation’s
emerging artists represented by Chris Winter, speakers include
d/Lux/Media Arts have col- Dr. Caroline Butler-Bowdon
laborated to develop site-specific, Historic Houses Trust of NSW,
new media works that tell stories Tim Hart, Museum Victoria,
about Government House and Sarah Barns, Creative Industries
explore its collections, building Innovation Centre, Kate Arm-
and environment. strong, Museum of Australian
Democracy, Neil Jenkins,
d/Lux/MediaArts and Prof. Ross
Harley, UNSW College of Fine
Arts School of Media Arts.
Vinlon wallpaper, Australian Wallcovering

Manufacturers Pty Ltd, c.1970. Photo: Caroline Government House exterior
Simpson Library & Research Collection Photo: Jody Pachniuk
109
C i t y- w i d e
Gaffa Gallery Exhibitions Open day at Gaffa Gallery

281 Clarence Street, Sydney, free 31 July, Saturday 2pm–3.30pm
Monday–Friday 12–6pm Gaffa, Level 2, 281 Clarence
Saturday–Sunday 11am–5pm Street, Sydney, free
First and last Located in a beautiful heritage-
29 July–10 August listed building, Gaffa is an art and
Twenty jewellers from Australia design precinct in the heart of the
and New Zealand reminisce city—offering a treasure trove of
about the early days and contem- fresh, intelligent design pieces to
plate future directions. Including discover.
work by Jasmine Matus, Melinda During the open day, take a peek
Young and Sonya Scott. at Gaffa’s three diverse levels,
consisting of four gallery spaces,
See-saw—A collection a jewellery studio, a contemporary
of short stories jewellery and object store, design
29 July–7 August project spaces and a cafe. It’s a
Five groups of five student chance to meet resident jewellery
designers focus on different makers and object designers who
aspects of design—colour, bal- are creating some of Australia’s
ance, typography and semantics, most innovative and desirable
unity and hierarchy, working col- collections.
laboratively with a professional
mentor. You are invited to watch
the work evolve in the gallery
over two days.
Resident artist and tutor, Alida Cappelletta, at her

Poster See Saw bench 2009. Photo: Gaffa
110
sydney design
Sarah and Emma Knitty Gritty & Loopy

Elizabeth Go Boating Transformation
3–10 August Workshops: 31 July, 7 & 14
Euroluce Light Studio August, Saturdays 11am–3pm
2 Hill Street, Surry Hills The Sewing Room,
8 Hill Street Surry Hills
In the 1974 classic french film, Display: 14–15 August, Hill Street
Celine and Julie Go Boating, an Precinct, Surry Hills
alternate reality is accessed by
the heroines, through eating a Knitty Gritty & Loopy seek to
white candy. They are then able inspire and educate about creative
to reconstruct a misdemeanor re-use, using design to transform
that has occurred in a past era, everyday waste items into by-
in the same location. products of love. This series of
Sarah K (Blakebrough + King) workshops encourages waste-
and Emma Elizabeth Coffey awareness by telling the story of
(Emma Elizabeth Designs) have the life-cycle of everyday items
collaborated to produce a tear such as paper, magazines, egg-
in the fabric of Euroluce’s Surry shells, plastic containers and bags,
Hill’s Light Studio to reveal their and then inviting participants to
most recent work, captured at a collaborate on a giant mandala
sinister moment. made from discarded fabric, wo-
ven fans, puppets, jewellery and
baskets. A large woven cane house
will be used as the central story-
telling feature of the project.
knittygrittyandloopy.blogspot.com
Blakebrough + King, Emma Elizabeth Designs Knitty Gritty & Loopy
111
sydney design
Johannes Kuhnen: Utility? untold

a survey of innovation 4–28 August
4–28 August Monday–Friday 11am–5pm
Monday–Friday 11am–5pm Sydney College of the Arts
Sydney College of the Arts Galleries, Rozelle, free
Galleries, Rozelle, free
Showcasing student work from
Johannes Kuhnen, born and the Object Art and Design
trained in Germany, is a Canber- area of Sydney College of the
ra-based metal craftsman who Arts, this exhibition reveals
fearlessly combines traditional the potential for telling stories
methods with contemporary with objects. The students have
industrial materials. attempted to respond to the
This exhibition charts Kuhnen’s questions—what is a narrative,
body of work from 1970–2009, how do we express it, and how
tracing its evolution over the is it recognised, through material
years. Whether it is his jewel- and form.
lery, spectacles, tableware, trays,
pendants or boxes, each piece
displays a poetic appreciation of
form and design.
Vessel, 2009 Johannes Kuhnen Untitled, 2009 Petra Svoboda
112
C i t y- w i d e
From little things big How to Apply Design

things grow: Paperclay flower- Symposium
making workshops 13 August 8.30am–5.30pm
4 August, 5.30pm–7.30pm; Billy Blue College of Design,
5–6 August, 11am–3pm; North Sydney, $20/$10
7 August 11am–4pm Bookings billyblue.edu.au
Sydney College of the Arts,
Rozelle This symposium brings together
educators, industry professionals
In supervised workshops, visitors and businesspeople to exchange
are invited to make ‘flowers’ and challenge ideas about contem-
from chickpea-sized pieces of pa- porary design practice.
perclay. These will then be added How to Apply Design symposium
to the space around a chair. discusses the education of young
The chair and its growing drift designers in Australia.
of flowers will be photographed Four practitioners and four
regularly and documented educators speak on different
through the course of the exhibi- perspectives of design and design
tion, culminating in a short education.
animation.
The symposium also explores
the potential for innovation in
Australia and the world by using
Design (Thinking)—a creative
process with a positive resolution
through collecting ideas.
The Seed Hunters’ Broom, 2009, Helen Earl

Photo: Greg Piper Photo: Billy Blue School of Design
113
C i t y- w i d e
Object: Australian Centre for Ride-on-dinner

Craft and Design Exhibitions presented by Object
31 July–29 August 14 August, Saturday 4pm
Bourke Street, Surry Hills, free Cycling tour with dinner, begins at
Object Gallery, 417 Bourke Street,
Big: Sydney’s small studios Surry Hills, $20 includes food
Big uncovers independent stu- Bookings object.com.au/spring-
dios. Quirky, cramped, elegant series
but always inspiring, Sydney’s
small studios are full of ideas Dinner is served! Following on
and spirit. Designer Stephen from successful events held in
Goddard and photographer Melbourne, ride-on-dinner is
Keith Saunders have captured the partnering with Object: Australia
studios and designers, together Centre for Craft and Design to
with the stories and philosophies host their first Sydney event.
that drive them. Anthony Hamilton-Smith (Design
Blue Now 2009 winner and member of
An exhibition about percep- the Cultural Transports Collective)
tion, interpretation and meaning leads a swarm of cyclists on an
explored through a range of me- urban meal adventure.
diums. Nine contemporary Aus- BYO bike and join your hosts in
tralian artists drilled down into a tour that takes you around the
the colour and found a symbol inner-city, experiencing a world
rich in social, cultural, political of food, history, transport and
and psychological significance. architecture through storytelling
Featuring Emma Davies, Brenda and skills sharing. The audi-
Factor, Honor Freeman, Brenden ence become participants in this
Scott French, Lucille Martin, Ni- mobile, pedal-powered kitchen,
cholas Jones, Mel Robson, Gerry sharing a meal along the way.
Wedd and Melinda Young.
Illustrator Daniel Malecki, 2010. Photo: Keith Slow meal, 2008. Designed by Ride On Dinner
Saunders Art Direction: Stephen Goddard Photo: Peter Baird
114
sydney design
Audio Design Museum If these walls could talk

31 July–15 August, 24/7 31 July–15 August
around Sydney, free Various buildings in the city,
locations on sydneydesign.com.au
Time to hit the streets, see the
city and take in some great Created by the interior design stu-
design in situ! Object: Australian dio Imperial Nesting in collabora-
Centre for Craft and Design is tion with local artists, writers and
letting the city be the exhibition craftspeople, If these walls could
space. Object has found Sydney’s talk introduces heartbeat and soul
most exciting designers and their to elements of buildings, new and
work to present to you in inspir- old, around Sydney. By injecting
ing audio tours. life through various mediums, this
Go to audiodesignmuseum.com series of public installations en-
to download the audio files and courages us to view our surround-
maps straight to your own iPod ings with fresh eyes and reflect
or mp3 player. We’ll guide you upon our relationship with the
towards great design and its sto- city and the built environment.
ries as you immerse yourself in
the glorious city of Sydney. We’ll
even suggest where to rest your
feet and get lunch as well.
Photo: Imperial Nesting
115
sydney design
Future Classic & Australian Food for Thought

In Front Designer Disco At the Powerhouse Museum and
14 August, Saturday 10pm–late other events, check website for
The Civic Hotel & laneway Pitt St details sydneydesign.com.au
$15 admission
Food for thought is a migratory
Dancing and design—does it get experience and a cross between a
any better? Make your way to burger van, ticket booth, puppet
the Civic Hotel for a night of cool theatre and the Tardis. Soup is
beats at Designer Disco. This off- on offer but beware—every visi-
shoot of Future Classic’s insanely tor must submit a 140-character
popular underground clubnight answer to a query about the
Adult Disco burns the disco flame location and Sydney Design event
until late, late, late. Meanwhile, in where the kiosk is situated.
the laneway behind the venue, an The collected ideas will then be
exhibition of lightbox artworks shared with other patrons via
illuminate and enlighten. The projections, scrolling signage,
array of cutting-edge Sydney website and Twitter. Some mes-
designers involved include Alter, sages will be printed on cups for
Future Classic, Greedy Hen, Leif subsequent days’ soup.
Podhajsky, Like Minded Studio,
Miricro/Maricar, Sensory, Sopp Food For Thought will appear
Collective, String Theory, Toko randomly in urban spaces where
and We Buy Your Kids. other Sydney Design activities are
taking place. At times, the soup
will be served by notable artists,
activists, designers, business and
community leaders.
Food for Thought poster, June 2009

Design: Thomas Rivard & Michael Lewarne
Image: Future Classic Photo: Thomas Rivard
116
C i t y- w i d e
New territory—discussions The Riversdale Story—Arthur

on design research and Yvonne Boyd Education
5, 12, 19, 26 August, Centre architecture tours
2 September, Thursdays 6–8pm 15 August, Sunday 2pm & 3pm
UNSW College of Fine Arts, Boyd Education Centre,
Paddington, free. Bookings 9385 Riversdale, 170 Riversdale Road,
0643 design@cofa.unsw.edu.au Cambewarra West NSW
$15/$25 with Bundanon Tour
On designing 5 August Chair: Jacquie
Bookings 4422 2100
Clayton. Panel: Karina Clark,Trent
Jansen, Zoe Veness, AnnaLise de Designed by Pritzker Prize win-
Lorenzo, Katherine Moline ner Glenn Murcutt with Wendy
On drawing 12 August Chair: Lewin and Reg Lark, the Arthur
Vaughan Rees. Panel: Sue Field, and Yvonne Boyd Centre serves
Associate Professor Emma Robert- as a retreat for resident artists of
son, Peter Dwyer art, theatre and music.
Design context 19 August Chair: These guided tours of the Bun-
Rick Bennett Panel: Katherine danon Trust site at Riversdale
Moline, Rod Bamford, Bruce highlights sustainable design
Carnie,Tessa Rapaport, Karl Logge principles. The Centre was
On objects 26 August Chair: Liz nominated by the architectural
Williamson. Panel: Mark Ian profession in Architectural
Jones, Lynda Draper, Brook Mor- Review as one of Australia’s
gan, Wendy Parker. most influential buildings of the
On space, location and collabora- past 25 years. There’s an op-
tion 2 September Chair: Richard portunity to view intricate plans,
Goodwin Panel: Joni Taylor, Nikki films and evocative photographs
di Falco, Michael Garbutt, Fang at the centre.
Xu, Josh Harle, Hannah Young.
Kissing Pendants, 2009. Designed by Trent View of Boyd Education Centre from northerly
Jansen. Photo: Trent Jansen aspect. Photo: Bundanon Trust
117
C i t y- w i d e
DIA presents Barangaroo display and

6x6 Form to Formless
11 August,Wednesday 6.30pm Customs House, Circular Quay
Powerhouse Museum, $35/$15 Check sydneydesign.com.au for
DIA members details and dates
Bookings trybooking.com/6x6 Form to Formless tells the story of
Six leading design practitioners, four decades of Australian design-
ers working at the forefront of 3-D
from six different decades, drawn
spatial exploration, and marks a
from a mix of design disciplines
celebration of the advent of space
will share their invaluable insights.
travel, science fiction and the study
An annual event not to be missed, of dynamic systems and advancing
presented by the Design Institute technological capacity in architec-
of Australia. ture and design. The selected de-
signers have taken these discoveries
Portfolio Review— and interpreted them ambitiously,
Make your portfolio stand expressing the aspiration of these
out from the crowd: questions, technologies to create endless
answers and insights spaces, unknown boundaries and
14 August, Saturday 1pm–4pm a sense of the infinite; melding sci-
Check website dia.org.au ence fiction and reality.
Features digital projections, ani-
Spend an afternoon with industry
mation, time lapse photography,
professionals from industrial, models, drawings and photo-
graphic, interior, multimedia and graphs of previously unpublished
textile design and take the fear works and projects by a diverse
and question marks out of creat- group of future space age thinkers.
ing your own unique portfolio.
View a range of professional
portfolios and presentation styles,
ask questions, receive feedback
and focus on what you would
like your work to say about you.
Meet and connect with design
professionals by booking in for a
15 minute session to discuss your
own portfolio.
118
sydney design
DESIGN/WARS Creative Industries Innovation

Designers vs. copycats Centre (CIIC): Smart Design,
5 August, Thursday 6pm Smart Business
Powerhouse Museum, free 10 August, Tuesday 6pm
Bookings essential Powerhouse Museum, free
mail@designawards.com.au Bookings essential
creativeinnovation.net.au
In the world of design, the line
between inspiration and copying This workshop explains the
can often be blurred. Designers process of identifying, generating
commonly reference and build on and monetising new intellectual
the work of others, but blatant property products and business
copying is also rife! So how can models. Includes a panel discus-
designers effectively prevent oth- sion with Tony Shannon, Busi-
ers from exploiting their original ness Adviser CIIC, Heidi Dokulil,
ideas and creative expressions? co-director Australian Design
DESIGN/WARS will attack some Unit and Parcel, Alex Ritchie,
of these questions, exploring Creative Director E2 and Liane
the opportunities available for Rossler, designer and co-founder
designers to protect and defend of Dinosaur Designs. Followed
their intellectual property, illus- by a Q&A.
trated by the experience of major CIIC provides support to small
players in the industry. and medium creative businesses
Presented by IP Australia and the through competitiveness, ef-
Australian International Design ficiency and innovation. There
Awards. will be an opportunity to meet a
CIIC business advisors to discuss
growing your business.
Mainline B Series Adapter System, 2009

Photo: Australian International Design Awards Photo: Getty images
119
© Trustees of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences
Copyright in the text is held by the authors/ artist and/or rights holder. All
rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electrical,
mechanical or otherwise, without first seeking the permission of the copyright
owners and the publishers. Every effort has been made to locate the owners of
copyright for the images in this publication. Any inquiries should be directed to
the Marketing and Communications department, Powerhouse Museum.
The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not
necessarily those of Powerhouse Museum.
Published by Powerhouse Museum, June 2010
Campaign Concept & Creative Direction: Boccalatte
Printer: McPherson’s Printing Group
Events, exhibitions and costs are correct at time of printing,
but are subject to change.
121
SUPPOR T eRS
P a r t n e r s I n De s i g n
Australian Architecture Association

Australian Graphic Design Association
Australian Institute of Architects
Australian International Design Awards (Standards Australia)
Design Institute of Australia
Interior Design/Interior Architecture Educators Association
Object: Australian Centre for Craft and Design
Every design has a story. As part of a design process, symbiotic
conversations take place between the designer and the audience—
connecting ideas.
Through its dynamic events, activities, discussions and lectures,
Sydney Design creates a platform for the convergence of design
lovers with respected photographers, stylists, craftspeople, de-
signers, curators and artists.
sydneydesign.com.au
free iPhone app from iTunes
Cover design by Boccalatte

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Groups discounts apply for groups of 10 or more

TELL us what you think

Essay: The Opinion Junkies

Essay: Clusters of tactility, threads of warmth

Interview: Castiglioni: a designed life

After Hours Children & Families Markets

Education Film Talks & Tours

Sydney Design an international festival of design is now in

As such, Sydney Design is a devoted celebration of these compelling

The Creating the look: Benini and fashion photography exhibition

or understood at the time. While fashion photographs were familiar

Although Benini initially studied industrial chemistry and worked for

(Melbourne). So we were getting to know each other then and I

Benini’s outer grace and charm functioned almost as a special device

fashion photographs. Hazel’s creativity and vivacious enthusiasm on

The Beninis’ photographic prints successfully wound their way into

time ago. The Museum is working hard to capture as many interviews

As the bulk of Benini’s images were designed and constructed to sell

We find many top Australian models—Maggie Tabberer, Maggi Eck-

The unusual Australian settings of some of Benini’s shots make them

Creating the look: Benini and fashion photography

A major exhibition exploring the creative processes involved in styling,

The exhibition acknowledges how Benini’s photographic techniques

Exhibition Supporter: Royal Doulton.

Australian International Design Awards

The 2010 Australian International Design Awards (a division of Stand-

Iron Designer, inspired by the legendary Japanese cooking show, intro-

Iron Designer is produced by Melbourne’s Studio Binocular

Image right: Studio Binocular

‘The chair’ has a long and poignant past. Aesthetically, socio-politically

Featuring Chris Bose, Architect; Paul Garbett, Graphic Designer;

Images: Taken from Gorgeous Upholstery

Design, fashion and architecture blogs are self-perpetuating

News of blog triumphs spread like wildfire. Bryanboy is a young Fili-

Popularity equals love. In the case of Burberry’s latest social networking

Aside from their snowballing popularity, blogs have an imme-

Unfortunately what sometimes accompanies the new rash of opinion

Conversely, it could be argued that audiences don’t want long, aca-

The question of authenticity functions in both directions. Magazines

However at the risk of sounding like a nay-sayer, there is an attitude

‘I took this on my BlackBerry at last year’s Rosemount Australian Fashion

Straight up: on the streets in Sydney online

The rise of photographic portraiture taken on the street has become

The Powerhouse Museum's online project, Straight up: on the streets

Images can be uploaded at any time and photos will be displayed on

Pages 36–37: Photo of Tavi courtesy Spencer Tweedy from spencertweedy.com

Fashion in Action Weekend

Image: Alanah Hill runway during Australian Fashion Week.

Photo of Tavi courtesy Spencer Tweedy from spencertweedy.com

Straight up at the Museum

This hybrid style of documentary/fashion photography pays homage to

flickr.com/groups/sydneydesign (images are tagged straightup)

Frock stars: inside Australian Fashion Week

Live the dream—and the drama—of Sydney’s most exclusive fashion

This exhibition is a collaboration between IMG Fashion and the

Rosemount Sydney Fashion Festival, 23–28 August.

Models backstage in Michelle Jank’s debut collection at Australian Fashion Week.

Join industry experts for a series of talks at the Powerhouse Museum

Creating the look: Hazel Benini’s contribution

Journey of a lifetime: David Mist fashion photographer

Fernando Frisoni and the art of styling!

The team: Juli Balla captures the look