Melbourne International Design Festival

Image from the 'INDEX : design to improve life' award exhibition in Copenhagen 2007 - these acrylic bubbles will be on display in and around Federation Square as part of the Melbourne International Design Festival 2008. Photos by Jessica Haye and Clark Hsiao. Found on the INDEX Flickr site.

It's the calm before the storm this week... in just over a weeks time Design Festival overload will descend on Melbourne in the form of the Melbourne International Design Festival (hosted by the National Design Centre at Federation Square), which runs simultaneously with the State Government funded State of Design Festival.

There is seriously SO MUCH fantastic stuff scheduled for both of these concurrent festivals that I'm not sure quite how I will cover it all! July looks set to be a really exciting, exhausting month!

One thing I'm really excited about this year is that I'll be writing for the Melbourne International Design Festival blog! Yes I am an official contributer - how professional :) So bookmark the MIDF blog for daily updates of all design-related happenings leading up to and during the festival.

...and because it's almost impossible to decide what to go and see, I've put together a bit of a short-list of my top picks for the 2008 Melbourne International Design Festival... See my suggestions below, but be sure to check out the National Design Centre website for detailed info on all MIDF events.

Patrick Blanc's Vertical Garden in the Melbourne CBD
I mentioned this a few days ago... it's the most anticipated event of the festival for me! If you can't get along to the Patrick Blanc lecture at Fed Square on July 18th (only $10 - book here!)... be SURE to check out his vertical garden installation at Melbourne Central from July 17.


Melbourne Design Market
Always popular, always busy, this year's Melbourne Design Market is set to explode as usual... the usual mix of emerging and established designers join forces to present a design market of spectacular proportions. Jewellery, homewares, fashion, and lighting will be amongst the wares on offer. This year the market takes place on Sunday 20th July, 10am-5pm at the Federation Square undercover carpark. Entry is free. My advice - get there early, and bring cash!

Melbourne Open House
Melbourne Open House is a free of charge event on Sunday, July 20th, 10am – 5pm (again!), giving Melburnians a rare opportunity to discover the hidden architectural details of the CBD not often visible to the public.

Melbourne Open House will be opening a selection of inspiring buildings within walking distance of Federation Square and the Melbourne International Design Festival. Taking part in the event are many prominent Melbourne buildings, including the beautiful art deco Manchester Unity building, the ever-popular Nicholas Building and the new Council House 2 on Flinders Lane - that's the one with the 6-star sustainability rating and those fantastic timber slatted shutters on the facade? You know the one. I am really excited about that one.

The incredible facade of 'Council House 2' in Melbourne - images via Picasa

INDEX award exhibition - Design to Improve Life
The international design award INDEX will stage its first major exhibition outside Denmark for MIDF, encircling Federation Square with 70+ acrylic bubbles, each one a showcase for products and projects from all disciplines of design, with the theme of 'design to improve life'.

As an installaton, the 'bubbles' look fantastic en masse... the shots below are from the INDEX award exhibition in Copenhagen last year. These bubbles will be installed all over Fed Square and surrounding areas this week, and will be in place until the end of the month... can't wait to see them!

Image from the 'INDEX : design to improve life' award exhibition in Copenhagen 2007 - Photos by Jessica Haye and Clark Hsiao. Found on the INDEX Flickr site.

So those are my picks for MIDF.... but there are so many more! I haven't even touched on the always popular 'pop-up' events around town... or the 'studio open' events which allow the curious (like me!) to snoop behind the scenes at some of Melbourne's most innovative design studios from all disciplines. Aagggh. too. much. to. see.

(Tomorrow I'll balance things out with a short-list for the equally anticipated State of Design festival.)

Patrick Blanc in Melbourne

Hotel du Département [government headquarters] in Hauts-de-Seine, France

Marché des Halles in Avignon

In case you missed it, the incredible green-thumbed Patrick Blanc (of 'Vertical Garden' fame) is coming to Melbourne. It would be highly unlikely that anyone could have missed this actually, as his visit is getting more publicity than you'd expect if the Pope were coming to town. (Although, I for one, am waaaay more excited about Monsieur Blanc's imminent arrival than I would be about a Papal visit).

Patrick Blanc's incredible soil-less, sustainable and often permanent Vertical Gardens are famous for injecting biodiversity into built-up environments across the globe. The results are always spectacular.

We're very lucky that someone clever at the Melbourne International Design Festival (or, probably more likely, someone clever from the Melbourne Central marketing dept.) has coaxed Mr Blanc out here, and that the Melbourne CBD will host one of his incredible installations. Melbourne Central will proudly display a living, breathing vertical garden from July 17.

Also The National Design Centre is hosting a lecture with Patrick Blanc on Friday July 18 at Fed Square as part of the festival. Tickets are only $10 - so book early!

ps) There's a great article with more info on Patrick Blanc's incredible work at PingMag here. (all images here from PingMag)

Musée Du Quai Branly

'organic wallpaper' in a private home

DMY International Design Festival, Berlin

I am so excited to post The Design Files' very first contribution from an international correspondent! James Conway is a Sydney-born writer currently based in Berlin. James attended Berlin's new DMY international design festival just over a week ago, and here he shares his finds with us.

James' very thorough coverage of the festival is split into 2 parts - today we've got a detailed round-up of 7 varied events at different venues across Berlin, and tomorrow James focuses on the DMY Youngsters exhibition, showcasing emerging design talent from all corners of the globe.

Coverage of international design events always reminds me how far I am from all the action! I love browsing through the image galleries at Core 77, Designboom and Inhabitat etc... but I never thought I'd have first-hand coverage of an international design festival on my very own blog (without getting on an plane myself!). Anyway, suffice to say it's very exciting to be able to share first-hand original coverage of a major international event on this site. A very big thankyou goes to James for all his hard work!

Read on for the first of this two-part round-up of DMY Berlin 2008!

As innumerable blogs, newspapers and glossy magazines tell us, Berlin is the place to be, with its reputation as a creative centre higher than at any time since the 1920’s. But although we hear a lot about the artists who take advantage of the city’s low rents and free spirit, what about the designers? How are they getting on in a city described by its own mayor as “poor but sexy”? A cynic might say there are a lot of people with the time and talent to create 300 euro fruit bowls, but very few who can afford them. Indeed this mismatch of funds and enthusiasm has already claimed a victim in Designmai, 2007’s design festival.

Undeterred, DMY Berlin has stepped in with a new five-day event hosted by venues all over the city. And the good news is that as with the annual Berlinale film festival, the public is not just tolerated but actively encouraged to see as much as possible, with no velvet ropes and few industry-only events.

DMY encapsulates the low budget, high concept creativity which in this city is as ubiquitous as oxygen. Everywhere you have the sense of ideas given time and space to grow without being rushed to market, and indeed at times it’s not easy to tell where concept becomes commerce. Typical for Berlin is a ground-floor shop front which may be a studio, a gallery, a boutique, a bar, someone’s lounge room or all of the above. Sure they look like they were decorated out of petty cash, but always with a resourcefulness which makes the most of minimal means, and without the off-putting arrogance on offer in other cities.

Stumbling across these ambiguous enterprises is one of the joys of living in a city which becomes stranger and more fascinating the longer you get to know it. DMY’s decentralised approach combines this same thrill of discovery with the dawning realisation that you just can’t get to everything.

But it’s worth a try. Starting in Mitte, down the road from the Australian Embassy (itself a design classic), Bell Magazine was flying the flag for thought-provoking publishing. The self-described “exhibition in a box” took the more conventional route of an exhibition in a gallery, with displays including lengths of wallpaper in vivid orange. Next door in Galerie Tristesse, feather-light polyester vellum lampshades and room dividers by Israel’s FAF Design fluttered becomingly.

Lampshade and room divider by FAF design

Among the other invited talent, a group of contemporary Turkish designers presented remixes of their own traditions amongst the antiquities of the Museum of Islamic Art under the banner of Turkish Delight. Their interpretations of iconic designs, such as the sensual curve of a rug seemingly held in the air by a spell to become a bench, were often witty and always elegant. A traditional prayer cap was turned on its head to serve as a filigreed bread basket, the fez reappeared with a Bronx twist and the classic tea glass was given a respectful makeover.

Bench (left) and Fescap (right) both by Erdem Akan

More from Turkish Delight - a traditional prayer cap is turned on its head to serve as a filigreed bread basket (left),and vessels by Alev Ebüzziya Siesbye (right)

In the Appel Design Gallery, acclaimed London-based Spaniards El Ultimo Grito showed one-off pieces in shrill fluorescents, the standout being a gorgeous dining table made of nothing more than cardboard and masking tape in deafening orange, which was fast becoming the signature colour of the festival. In a Friedrichshain showroom, local designer Susanne Philippson offered restrained pieces which all featured a slight kink in the surface, but in case you were misled by the Nordic aesthetic, the show was defiantly labelled Not Swedish.

(left) - oversized alphabet letters made from recycled packaging by El Ultimo Grito (follow the link for a great video of these soft sculptures in action), and lamps by Susanne Phillippson (right)

In Kreuzberg, traditionally the city’s counter-cultural centre, the wonderful Museum der Dinge (Museum of Things) put design in historical context, literally shining a spotlight on humble domestic items and mapping their evolution since the dawn of mass production. At Radialsystem V, talks on everything from “developing authorship and the search for new typologies” to “how to be a real Korean designer” carried this spirit of inquiry to the present day and on into the future. This is Berlin after all; you can’t get away with just showing a handsome sideboard, you need to able to talk up a whole theory around it.

Classic domestic furniture and household items on display
at Museum der Dinge ('Museum of Things')

But questioning form and function all day is thirsty work, so festival-goers drank away their ennui in a series of club nights which shook the double glazing in locations from a converted Kreuzberg factory to 15 storeys above Alexanderplatz. And then? Up again the next morning to do it all over again of course. Five days starts to seem like a very long time…

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post from Berlin - James Conway covers the DMY Youngsters design exhibition, and shares lots more photos...!

Stanley Ruiz and Designboom Mart 08

bowl by Stanley Ruiz

Stanley Ruiz is a designer originally from the Phillipines, but currently based in Brooklyn, NY. He just sent me these images of the interesting work he is launching this week at ICFF in New York as part of the Designboom Mart.

Ruiz' latest range is The New Organic, and is inspired by the fusion of craft and industry... He examines this concept by striking a balance between organic material and powder-coated steel, which forms the skeleton of his designs.

Ring by Stanley Ruiz

Designboom Mart is a really great concept... they take submissions from designers all over the world, and select a group to exhibit their work at ICFF each year. The focus is on small, affordable designed pieces which can be sold at the fair for a reasonable price (is under $100). They call these 'design souvenirs'... A great example from last year's show are these fantastic concrete rings by Taiwanese outfit 22 Design Studio... (you can buy them right here on the Designboom website).

image - designboom

It's a great opportunity for young designers to exhibit their work on an international stage, and make valuable contacts within the design industry. It also gives festival-goers an opportunity to meet the new generation of design professionals, and potentially to purchase a 'design souvenir' that could become a classic one day!

Milan 2008 favourites

Lampara by Rodolfa Gracia Yus for Cafe Bistro - seen at the Remade in Italy exhibit - via DesignBoom

As I mentioned the other day, Milan Design Week came and went this year with lightening speed... I'm still catching up on all the photo galleries, and can't understand how the lucky Salone-goers get to everything in 5 days... and still party all night! It seems to me like you'd need at least 2 weeks to see it all!

Core 77 has the best coverage of Milan Design Week 08, in my opinion. Features include a comprehensive photo gallery (306 images) and a great little collection of 'drive by' videos of individual exhibits (the closest you can get to being there without being there!). Core 77 coverage always maintains a great balance between all the big-name important stuff, and the fun stuff - parties, kooky satellite events and, of course, a fair chunk of all-important people watching! This year they've also got a round up of ALL their Milan posts in one place, listed by category and content. No more wading through advertisements to get to the good stuff. Love it.

Other great round-ups at Inhabitat, DesignBoom (massive photo collection here grouped into categories by designer) and MocoLoco.... some more of my fave pics from all over below.

Urchin hand knitted woolen poufs by Christien Meindertsma - shown at TuttoBeNe - top image via inhabitat, bottom image from Core 77

Bouquet Chair by Tokujin Yoshioka for Moroso - via Inhabitat

Guerrilla Containers by Stone Designs - from the Spanish design exhibit - via Core 77

Layers by Richard Hutten - via DesignBoom (look familiar??)

Merijn Van Essen’s Grow Sphere encourages human interactions with plants by lighting up when you approach the sphere - via inhabitat

corian loves missoni - via designboom

Veneer Bag by Cecilie Manz for Japanese company E & Y - via Core 77

Plaited Fence (those are plastic bags...!) by Martin Azua for Droog - via Inhabitat

Saving Grace glass light shades (designed around energy saving light globes) by Adrian Rovero for Droog - via Inhabitat

George - oak three tiered chest of drawers by Gareth Neal

Milan 2008 - Anouk Omlo

Helica Carnea by Anouk Omlo (profile view)

Helica Carnea by Anouk Omlo (top view)

All images via Inhabitat

ooooh another year of Milan Design Week has already been and gone, and once again I haven't made it there! Maybe next year. Luckily there's so much coverage on the net, you can get your annual fix of international design without the jet lag (or price tag).

Inhabitat's 2008 Milan coverage started with the gorgeous ceramic work of Dutch designer, Anouk Omlo. Her ‘Helica Series’ reflects the shift in high end design towards handcrafted, decorative flourishes, and a gradual move away from the minimalism that has saturated the market in recent years.

The Helica Series is inspired by the mathematical repeating patterns found in nature. I love the soft pink/brown hues, and the delicate shapes of each pointed petal... gorgeous stuff. What do you do with it? I don't know. Does it matter?

Omlo's work is exhibited as part of the Dutch collective Design Factory Brainport Eindhoven, and can be found in the Zona Tortona area. (actually the Design Factory website is worth a browse for more kooky dutch designs...)