From the editor

It would be only natural, and a little too easy, to feel overwhelmed and pessimistic about the state of the world right now. Global warming, war and natural disasters seem to dominate the headlines and it can feel like good news is harder to come by.

Providing a welcome relief from the mental anguish that many of us have experienced over the last two years, Melbourne Design Week, presented by the NGV, was once again curated around the theme ‘Design the world you want’, with two core pillars: civic good and making good. The program was as broad and diverse as previous years, with one of the more exciting additions being the new Melbourne Design Fair, a showcase of collectable design by more than 100 established and emerging designers and makers from across our island nation. Australia’s largest design event, Melbourne Design Week is a platform for creativity and ingenuity, a showcase of the country’s immense talent, and above all a reminder that design, by its very nature, is about finding solutions.

Events like these aren’t just an occasion to see beautiful and clever objects, they also create opportunities for meaningful dialogue. A number of conversations throughout the week left me feeling inspired and optimistic about our collective future. It’s certainly encouraging to witness a new generation of creatives who have, unfortunately, inherited a raft of challenges but who are hell-bent on overcoming them and making the world a better place for us all.

We’ve dedicated the pages of this issue’s News section to but a few of the highlights we saw over the event’s ten-day program. The remaining pages are, as usual, dedicated to showcasing some of the products, homes, art, buildings and people that are leading the way in the region.

As always, stay safe and well.

Inside the issue

Dossier

News
Our picks from Melbourne Design Week and Melbourne Design Fair 2022

Profile
Melburnian Zachary Frankel’s ethos of constant exploration sees him working at the crossroads of furniture design and sculpture

A Day in the Life
From their Melbourne studio, Clare Scanlan and her team create artisanal, nature-derived decorative finishes

Profile
Kirby Bourke’s Two Lines Studio harmoniously blends conventions to create objects with soul and meaning

Studio Culture
Lost Profile Studio founder Oliver Wilcox talks about his eclectic influences and process

Wanderlust

Art Museum, Illaroo
A new subterranean museum pays respect to one of Australia’s great artists and to the landscape in which he worked

Vernissage

Profile
Melbourne-based Marta Figueiredo’s practice combines playfulness with conscious design principles

Profile
Aotearoa New Zealand artist Areez Katki’s Mumbai odyssey has connected him with his roots and given rise to a new focus in his work

Home

Melbourne
Interior designer Simone Haag transformed this historic home to be tonal and audacious yet cosy and homely

Sydney
A landmark home by Australian modernist Reuben Lane gets a renovation that brings it back to the spirit of the original

Melbourne
Kennedy Nolan tenderly transformed part of this home’s garden to create a handsome living space linked by landscape and familial ties

Sydney
Arts patron Judith Neilson’s beach house eschews the ordinary and champions the bespoke

Canberra
Collins Pennington Architects transformed an unassuming cottage into a sleek sanctuary built around heritage-listed trees

Architectonics

Public Commission, Melbourne
Kicking off a landmark project recognising female designers, Tatiana Bilbao’s MECCA × NGV Women in Design Commission will see a large-scale installation that demonstrates the themes in her work

The Flâneur

Moving Mountains
A flâneur is an urban explorer — a connoisseur of the street. In our rotating column, guests share their musings, observations and critiques of the urban environment in cities around the world. In this issue, Queenstown transplant Camille Khouri discusses the changing community in the context of the unchanging landscape