Design the world you want

Returning to Melbourne Design Week is the Waterfront series, curated by the Centre for Architecture Victoria | Open House Melbourne. There are nearly twenty talks, workshops and exhibitions on offer which focus on Melbourne’s water sources and how the city might further embrace these through an enhanced role for design and architecture.

This walking tour takes visitors through the Bolin Bolin Billabong with the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation and Melbourne Water. Walkers will learn how Bolin Bolin have been able to restore the water’s ecological integrity while also maintaining its cultural significance, and how this has improved the habitat for local wildlife as well as the community.

In 2021 the Waterfront series has expanded beyond Melbourne and into East Gippsland. One of the standout programs hosted in Lakes Entrance is Rethinking Regional Recovery. Here, Monash University Master of Architecture students share their visions of how we can improve long-term design processes for the future by better incorporating local knowledge and deconstructing sectoral silos. In light of the devastating impact the 2019/20 bushfires had on the area, many of the projects focus on questioning the moral role of architects in recovery building.

We find ourselves surrounded by the beauty of nature on the island of Dauar in Eastern Torres Strait, depicted by Meriam Elder, Segar Passi. Tracks from a great nam (turtle) are seen in the foreground, as recently hatched baby turtles begin their journey into the ocean. Pictured in the background of the painting is Mer, also known as Murray Island, Passi’s home. Mer is known for its fertile oceans that mark the beginning of the Great Barrier Reef, known in Meriam Mir language as Opnor. Fewer than 500 people live on this small volcanic island, which is home to an extraordinary abundance of plants and animals. Here, sardines form massive shoals along the shoreline, and a wide variety of fish and birds come and go, marking the change of the seasons.

Another must-see of this year’s program is a series of events, installations and talks by some of Australia’s leading architectural practices under the umbrella project called A New Normal, which challenges Melbourne to become an entirely self-sufficient city by 2030.

Ha Architecture, for example, has envisioned a greenhouse that demonstrates how land can be simultaneously and symbiotically used for both agriculture and solar energy production. Grimshaw X Greenshoot X Greenaway is live streaming their vision for an electric vehicle ‘pit-stop’ of the future, where cars will be charged, serviced and their parts repurposed. In addition, a beautiful  Rooftop Solar Pavilion has been created by John Wardle Architects, which marries Melbourne’s love of rooftop experiences with architecture that meets our need for solar-generated power.

Another must-see of this year’s program is a series of events, installations and talks by some of Australia’s leading architectural practices under the umbrella project called A New Normal, which challenges Melbourne to become an entirely self-sufficient city by 2030.

Ha Architecture, for example, has envisioned a greenhouse that demonstrates how land can be simultaneously and symbiotically used for both agriculture and solar energy production. Grimshaw X Greenshoot X Greenaway is live streaming their vision for an electric vehicle ‘pit-stop’ of the future, where cars will be charged, serviced and their parts repurposed. In addition, a beautiful  Rooftop Solar Pavilion has been created by John Wardle Architects, which marries Melbourne’s love of rooftop experiences with architecture that meets our need for solar-generated power.

For those looking for a new cafe this weekend, I suggest putting jam café at the top of your list. Created by JamFactory Australian Made, the space celebrates uniquely Australian designed and made furniture, lighting and objects. Whilst enjoying a coffee, visitors are invited to test out design wares created by JamFactory and other local designers and makers including Rolf Barfoed, Rowsaan, Ashlee Hopkins and Andrew Carvolth.

A trip to jam café is also an opportunity to visit new design exhibitions like Broached Recall, which shares twelve applied arts-objects, created in a collaboration between Broached Commissions and Elton Group. Each work brings into dialogue both the past and the present by combining eight heritage timber species with contemporary reconstructed veneer and comments on the design industry’s contribution to a world full of products that are devoid of life.

Visitors may find themselves escaping reality for just a moment as they wander through Wonderstruck. This exhibition asked designers and artists to imagine a happy place, and then bring it to life. Filled with colour, adventure and fantasy, this collection of works embrace design as a way to bring happiness and hope.

I look forward to when we can journey through art together again in the Gallery.After the many challenges we have faced in the last twelve months, there is no greater time than now to envision our future and explore the ideas fuelling the work of design leaders, innovators and makers.

I hope you can join us at one of the many thought-provoking Melbourne Design Week programs across the next week.

Best wishes,

Tony Ellwood AM
Director, National Gallery of Victoria

I look forward to when we can journey through art together again in the Gallery.After the many challenges we have faced in the last twelve months, there is no greater time than now to envision our future and explore the ideas fuelling the work of design leaders, innovators and makers.

I hope you can join us at one of the many thought-provoking Melbourne Design Week programs across the next week.

Best wishes,

Tony Ellwood AM
Director, National Gallery of Victoria