Last weekend's annual design hunt-and-gather seemed bigger, better & definitely brighter!
Being that it was SiD's 10th anniversary, showrooms throughout Melbourne really turned it on, with interactive design experiences making this event one of the best I've been to in a while.
This is a very, very brief snapshot of my day - I was a busy bee!
While I was expecting to make it to most of the showrooms participating in this event, I found that I spent most of my time waltzing around the Richmond precinct, re-discovering some of my favourite design haunts as well as discovering new ones.
On display were new designs from Walter Knoll, Hermon Miller and BassamFellows (to name a few), but it was the amaze new Missoni collection from Swedish textile flooring company
Bolon that really made the showroom feel like 'home':
This desk was beautiful; a great commercial desk design from
Koleksiyon which are now available through Melbourne based company,
Envoy.
Need. This. DESK!
Further up the road was this banging mini-precinct - '
MAKE it'.
Howwecreate.com promotes industry growth through a program of events and presentations which facilitate the active communication of ideas, technologies and processes between manufacturers, designers and architects. - (InDesign Event Booklet).
It was awesome to see the three manufacturing elements in action - Wood Turning with Evostyle, Metal Spinning with CNC Metal Spinning, and Rotational Moulding with Palamont.
Of course, it started belting down the moment we got there, but luckily Christina Waterson’s white ‘Lilypad’ discs protected us (as much as it could!) and the complimentary umbrellas helped...
I was admiring the crafty work of third-generation wood turner, Luke Ommundson, turning and creating all sorts of timber tricks. What caught my eye especially was his handiwork turning timber into geometric beads that would go on to be a part of Coco Reynolds Bright Beads:
I had the pleasure in meeting Coco herself. She was so super cool, intelligent and totally knows her stuff. We talked for a little while about her new designs, about how great it was to see the design process in real time, how crap the weather was, etc. She then proceeded to give me a big bag full of her freshly turned wooden beads.
Wowsers! thanks Coco! Her work lives
here.
The next showroom and product came in the form of flooring. And all sorts of forms it came!
Interface collaborated with six local designers who contributed to an art installation,
that explores their vision of a world where urban and nature co-exist. The designers manipulated Interface's newest collection, adequately titled Urban Retreat, to turn their ideas and visions into stand alone art forms:
To make the space an interactive one, guests had choose which was their fav installation, pick the corresponding numbered card and take it to the bar. With that, you received a glass of wine (from Raw Wine and Beer) which 'complimented' that particular installation. Clever, huh?
First beverage of the day. Was delicious!
I fell in L.O.V.E with these chairs:
Peeps at Arthur G//Armadillo & Co enjoying the design wine-time
Of course I had to go to
Poliform and
Space (
duh!), but I didn't manage to get any photos inside Poliform. As always, it was crazy in Poliform, putting on the spread that they are so famous for at these gigs. I did however sneak in some pics at Space between sipping sparkling and admiring Moooi.
One of the best, yet one of the simplest showrooms was
Tongue n Groove's new flooring space on Church Street - designed by the firm,
Tobias Partners. If you're a timber and/or flooring nut job like me, then be prepared to
swoon! Its a must-visit.
Oly (via Coco Republic)
Our favourite local sisters-in-design,
Zuster
The day quickly came to and end. On the bus we went, back to have a mulled wine at Living Edge and wind down after a day of design hunting, learning, seeing old friends, drinking Veurve and carting around what seemed like an entire library of new catalogues and reading material.
Then proceeded to enjoy an Aperol at Trunk.
Looking forward to next year - Saturday InDesign Sydney 2013!
All photo are copyright of Baltica Blue unless otherwise stated or sourced.
