I spent some time this week in Melbourne at the Decoration + Design, Furnitex and Design:Made:Trade expo. Talked with some great suppliers and designers and gathered tons of information on new products. I will enjoy spending next week going through my finds.
The Design:Made:Trade expo was excellent. The booths were made out of recycled cardboard. Some of the booths looked like funky igloos. Cardboard stools and tables were available for visitors to rest and have a cup of coffee.
The cardboard stools reminded me of a sculpture project I did when I was studying art. The project brief stated we had to create a sculpture from paper. The sculpture had to be strong enough to stand on. We were only allowed to use paper and glue. This seemed an impossible task to most of us.
My fellow students came up with some brilliant designs. My sculpture turned out really well and I achieved top marks for this project I surprised myself. It is amazing how strong paper and cardboard can be. Unfortunately I lost the sculpture in one of our many house moves. But seeing the wonderful cardboard structures at the design expo brought it all back into my mind. Maybe I could use the sculpture idea to create an eco friendly stool of my own. It’s an interesting idea.
When we visit Melbourne we usually go to Lygon Street. This time we found a terrific restaurant zone within walking distance of our apartment. It was delightful to find this gem in Hardware Lane. Melbourne is a great city, with brilliant food and wonderful people.
The Victorian State of Design Festival certainly had the city buzzing. The theme for this year Change by Design. The focus; on three key themes, the built environment, mobility systems and digital strategies. Events are being held throughout the state. The Design for Everyone program has free design events including Melbourne Open House, Vision Broadmeadows 2030 and the Anno Student Design Comp. Unfortunately two days did not allow enough time to do justice to the treasures on offer. Next year I will try to plan a longer visit.
One of the highlights of the festival will be the announcement of the Premier’s Design Awards on the 21st July. My favorite designs in the running are the Fitzroy High School and the Bendigo Centre. If you are interested in looking at some of the finalists see the links below.
‘Good design can deliver economic,
social and environment value
by improving living conditions,
generating innovative products and
services and creating sustainable
development opportunities’
Gavin Jennings Victorian Minister for Innovation (Sunday Hearld 11th July 2010)
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