Perth Design Week 2025 features more than 75 events and activities, each highlighting a range of design firms and disciplines. One program highlight is a conversation between architects Joel Benichou from Spacemrkt and Archive Office, alongside Craig Nener from Grotto Studio, who will together explore the evolution of Australian home design, touching on both historical influences and innovative advancements. Titled Pre-Designed Homes: A New Vision Rooted in Tradition, this discussion will additionally introduce Benichou and Nener’s new initiative, Project_Home, which aims to redefine housing with a focus on efficiency and creativity. Another highlight is a tour of a zero-waste retail space designed by Foolscap Studio, which will feature restored historical furniture from Cultivated, as well as recycled timber pieces from Mark Tuckey.
Australian designer Dean Toepfer is bringing his evocative design vision to Melbourne with his first solo exhibition, Death and Life, presented by Useful Objects. The show features a new collection of objects, lighting, and mirrors crafted from reclaimed synthetic silk parachutes, materials that Toepfer transforms into striking, functional sculptures. The exhibition explores the life cycles of materials and their potential for reinvention. Parachute silk, once used to save lives in freefall, is now a discarded waste product. Toepfer breathes new life into this once-vital fabric, using it to create luminous pieces that blend art and function. Each object is imbued with a sense of narrative – inviting reflection on the history of its material and the people it once served. This exhibition is running until 5 April 2025.
The Regional Architecture Association presents a three-day event between 20–22 March that considers Canberra’s progression as a regional centre to its current status as the nation’s capital. Curated by co-creative directors Hal Guida of Guida Moseley Brown and Regional Architecture Association president Tim Lee, the event will examine the city’s planning journey and the growing pains that have been experienced along the way. Featured speakers include: Julian Raxworthy, landscape architect and academic; Nikos Kalogeropoulos, director of property developer Molonglo; Rob Stefanic, formerly Department of Parliamentary Services for the Parliament of Australia; Adam Wigg, lecturer of architecture at the University of Canberra; Joanna Nelson, architect and founder of Joanna Nelson Architect, and Thurston Empson, architectural photographer.
On 27 March, audiences will have the opportunity to hear from architects as they share the defining moments that have shaped their lives and careers in architecture. Established in Germany, the Architects, not Architecture (AnA) event series has shared the personal journeys of architects for more than a decade, hosting 75 events across 12 countries. Featured speakers at this particular event include Abbie Galvin, NSW government architect; Emma Williamson, government architect of Western Australia, and John Choi, founding partner at Chrofi.
Source: Architecture - architectureau
