The Victorian government has formally opened a new ferry terminal at Queenscliff on the western side of Port Phillip Bay. Designed by F2 Architecture with landscape design by Tract, the new facility improves safety and amenity for the pedestrians and motorists who use the ferry service. The ferry operates between Queenscliff to the west and […] More
No House Style, part of the National Gallery of Victoria’s Melbourne Now exhibition, presents an assortment of work by leading and emerging Melbourne-based furniture designers and architects. Located on the ground floor of The Ian Potter Centre, the exhibition celebrates the city’s creative talent and unique design approach – one that is cross-disciplinary and does not conform to any “house style.” Challenging mainstream design trends, this group of local designers and architects are helping to frame Melbourne architecture and design in a way that is expressive of contemporary issues and values and “creative pluralism.”
“This growth in creative pluralism has been matched by the exponential growth in Melbourne residential property prices over the past decade. House prices in Victoria have increased by an annual percentage change of nearly six per cent since 2011,” said NGV curators Timothy Moore and Simone LeAmon. “This has seen the accumulation of wealth for many existing homeowners and in tandem a growing appreciation for contemporary design. This has also seen many designers and architects in Melbourne rise to the challenge of providing quality affordable housing and furniture design.”
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TL61 (2021–12) by Thomas Lentini (left) and Ton tall (2021-22) by Fiona Lynch Office and Volker Haug with Hawthorn House (2019) by Edition Office. Image:
Tom Ross
The collection, arranged as a tableaux of small rooms, showcases experimental furniture pieces with artistic intensity alongside images of residential architecture in Victoria.
On display at No House Style is Fiona Lynch Office’s collaboration with lighting design practice, Volker Haug Studio. Titled “Ton Tall,” the lamp reflects Fiona Lynch Office’s commitment to designing with sustainable materials and local fabricators. With sustainability in mind, Lynch has used an existing Volker Haug Studio cast to produce a brutalist-inspired floor lamp made with raw aluminium.
Dale Hardiman, co-founder of furniture and object brand Dowel Jones, and ceramic artist James Lemon have worked together to create the piece “Deep Fake Chair.” Originally presented for Melbourne Design Week in 2021, the chair is part of an eleven-piece furniture collection imagined for a chaotic near-future where “deep fakes” could have an impact the design industry.
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Deep fake chair (2021) by Dale Hardiman and James Lemon (left), and Only if you have enough (2022) by Steven John Clark for Den Holm (right) with Milkbar House (2020) by Kennedy Nolan Architects. Image:
Tom Ross
Combining traditional craftmanship with an exploratory process, “Only if you have enough” is a tactile and expressive table made from Australian limestone by Steven John Clark for Den Holm. A trained stonemason, Clark is guided by instinct and an experimental style to create his sculptural furniture pieces that blur the line between art and design.
Kennedy Nolan’s Milkbar House, Studio Bright’s Older Women’s Housing Project and Edition Office’s Hawthorn House are amongst some of the Victorian-based dwellings featured in the exhibition – referencing a contemporary domestic interior and demonstrating exploration of material, form and spatial practice.
“If you think of Melbourne as a brand, there is no one standard that dominates the output of its creative practitioners,” Moore and LeAmon said. “This is exemplary in contemporary furniture design and residential architecture, where no house style dominates. Designers can produce a work that stems from a personal expression to evoke emotion, continues a cultural tradition or experiments with materials to explore possible futures.”
Melbourne Now is on display until 20 August 2023 at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia at Federation Square. More
The Victorian government has appointed Grimshaw and Aspect Studios to design the Visitor Experience Centre as part of the $108 million Twelve Apostles Precinct Redevelopment.
The team will partner with the Eastern Marr Aboriginal Corporation and the Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority on the design process for the centre.
The project will also include a park-and-ride facility, a temporary event space, a visitor shuttle shelter, landscaping, gardens, walking trails, new access roads, and better parking at Secret Apostles Lookout.
The Grimshaw and Aspect Studios team is also designing the Coastal Works part of the precinct redevelopment, which includes upgrades to visitor lookouts at Twelve Apostles and Gibson Steps, new bike and walking trails, a new transit pod at Loch Ard Gorge, and an amphitheatre.
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Concept design for Twelve Apostles Visitor Experience Centre by Grimshaw and Aspect Studios. Image:
Grimshaw and Aspect Studios
“With the ambition to protect and enhance one of Victoria’s significant cultural and environmental regions, we’re delighted to continue working in partnership with the Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation, and in collaboration with our expert team, to design the new Visitor Experience Centre and help realize the vision for the Twelve Apostles Precinct,” said Andrew Perez, managing partner of Grimshaw.
Matthew Mackay, studio director at Aspect Studios, added, “Our ongoing co-design approach with the Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation has been critical in planning the precinct, and [the co-design approach] will be key in realizing a remarkable, enriched experience of the Twelve Apostles and Loch Ard Gorge in the future.”
The Twelve Apostles Precinct Redevelopment also includes a number of private sector projects, including an eco-lodge at Princetown and a hot springs and resort facility designed by Neil Architecture. More
ACT heritage minister Rebecca Vassarotti has appointed nine new members to the territory’s Heritage Council, which was entirely dissolved in December 2022. Heritage architect Duncan Marshall has been appointed chair of a new interim council while the government completes a “large-scale” review of Heritage Council. The nine-member council also includes two others with expertise in […] More
National Trust (NSW) has announced the shortlist for its twenty-ninth Heritage Awards, recognizing more than 40 built, natural and cultural projects. The annual awards celebrate excellence and outstanding practice across more than a dozen categories, including Adaptive Re-Use and Conservation – Built Heritage. Shortlisted projects include Cobar Sound Chapel, which was designed by Glenn Murcutt […] More
The Architecture Symposium: Brisbane returns on 9 June 2023 with a fresh line-up of speakers to explore how architecture celebrates and amplifies the Asia Pacific region’s rich collage of cultures. In this one-day conference, 10 speakers with ties across the region will share processes, research and ideas related to regional traditions, Indigenous peoples, contextually sensitive […] More
Architect-led developer Nightingale has submitted a planning application to the City of Merri-bek for a new five-building apartment complex opposite the existing Nightingale Village. Neeson Murcutt and Neille, Kennedy Nolan, Wowowa, Hayball and Lian have each designed separate eight-storey buildings for the new complex proposed for 17–19 Hope Street, Brunswick, directly opposite Nightingale Urban Coup […] More
The Western Australian government has abandoned plans to build a $1.8 billion maternity hospital at the Queen Elizabeth II Medical Centre site in Nedlands. Instead, the hospital will be built at the Fiona Stanley Hospital precinct in Murdoch. The project was first initiated in December 2020, and concept designs by Hassell were released in February […] More
