Design and architecture - News and events

Events | Featured projects | Call for entries | Announcements

Events

Furnitex - Melbourne

16–19 July 2009

Furnitex and the co-located Decoration + Design Melbourne present more than 600 key industry manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors and suppliers who will display the latest and best of Australian furniture & furnishings. Furnitex is a key satellite event of the State of Design Festival, incorporating more than 50 design events in and around Melbourne and regional Victoria. Melbourne Exhibition Centre.

Baking Architecture - Melbourne

15–25 July 2009

Baking Architecture is an exhibition of architectural 'food' models 'constructed' by architects and chefs in unison to create their vision of the future by cooking unbuilt works of architecture. Australian Institute of Architects, Victorian Chapter.

State of Design Festival - Victoria

15–25 July 2009

The State of Design Festival showcases Victoria's best designers and creative teams, and businesses using innovative design. Its aim is to demonstrate how design can lead business, industry and society towards a better future. The festival holds four major programs in metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria, focused around the 2009 theme 'Sampling the Future'. Various locations.

Saturday in Design - Sydney

31 July – 1 August 2009

Saturday in Design is an annual trade event for the design community, taking place on alternative years in Sydney and Melbourne. It involves Australia's premier designer furniture, finishes, fixtures and lighting showrooms opening their doors on a Saturday to allow architects, designers, students and design-savvy members of the public to enjoy the product they specify, in a showroom environment.

Sydney Design 09 - Sydney

1–16 August 2009

In its 13th year, Sydney Design 09 has an extensive and creative program of markets, late night events, discussions, exhibitions and workshops around the city. Various locations.

WORKSHOPPED 09 - Sydney

5–16 August 2009

WORKSHOPPED 09 will be one of the single largest events of Sydney Design 09 and is co-presented by the Powerhouse Museum. Chifley Plaza will host WORKSHOPPED 09 with approximately 1,000 invited guests from design, architecture, manufacture and media attending the VIP Opening Night, Tuesday 4 August, 2009. WORKSHOPPED looks for designers that have identified and considered the issues relating to production, whether limited or mass production and irrespective of the production method. Chifley Plaza.

Cicely & Colin Rigg Contemporary Design Award 2009 - Melbourne

12 March – 30 August 2009

In 2009, the Cicely and Colin Rigg Contemporary Design Award has a focus on seat furniture design. The works on display are informed by a broad range of social, environmental, material, and aesthetic concerns. Elegant simplicity remains a central concern for some while others explore the possibilities inherent in innovative materials. Every work included in this exhibition embodies the potential to become a design classic of the future. National Gallery of Victoria.

International Urban Design Conference - Gold Coast, Queensland

2–4 September 2009

The 2nd International Urban Design Conference, Survival: Implementing Tomorrow's City, will identify and address ways to implement best practice sustainable actions and showcase exemplar projects for leaders, designers and communities to understand the complex issues involved and how to apply these to meet individual urban design challenges. Conrad Jupiters Hotel.

Girls Night Out - Gold Coast and Brisbane, Queensland

24–25 September 2009

Touring Australia, Girls Night Out is a shopping experience for women, with dates for Melbourne and Sydney to be announced soon. Shop the latest trends in emerging fashions and accessories, taste a range of wines, sample beauty products and services, and get a Deluxe Goody Bag on entry. Various locations.

Glenn Murcutt: architecture for place - Sydney

13 June – 5 October 2009

Architecture for place is a special exhibition that reveals the way Glenn Murcutt crafts his projects, with a selection of ideas presented from initial sketch to detailed construction drawings and the final built work. A series of photographs by Anthony Browell capture the essence of Murcutt’s architecture in constructed form. Murcutt's groundbreaking designs are internationally recognised as being at the forefront of contemporary architecture. His work is celebrated for its sustainability, harmony with the natural world, and resonance and unity with Australia’s diverse climate and topography. Museum of Sydney.

Featured projects

The Project - Sydney

July 2009

Similar to the Milan fair, design locations during Saturday in Design will be transformed for the occasion with the designers taking inspiration from product to create installations of every kind, shape and colour, as part of The Project in 2009. Members of Australia's best architecture, design and creative firms will partner up with participating SiD showrooms, and will be creating installations and innovations, using and inspired by showroom product.

HEAT - Queensland

April 2009

Queensland's new wave of environmental architects has a very simple objective—to promote and highlight the creative talent of Queensland's architects and to facilitate the export of this talent to the rest of the world. HEAT is a Queensland Government initiative through the Department of Tourism, Regional Development and Industry Creative Industries Unit. The Australian Institute of Architects is a key partner of the HEAT initiative.

New Art Education Space and Art Gallery - Lake Macquarie, New South Wales

February 2009

Lake Macquarie City visual arts workshops and community events are thriving thanks to the new extension to Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery. Designed by Colin Still, the main feature of the renovation is a purpose-built art education room with state-of-the-art seminar facilities and equipment for practical arts-based workshops. This new space accommodates adult and children's workshops, as well as lectures, masterclasses and residencies by visiting artists. The expansion of in-house programs has made the gallery buzz with activity.

Call for entries

mecu travel bursary

Entries by 31 July 2009

The mecu travel bursary identifies aspects of good subtropical design and policy making, and promotes the value that built environment professionals bring to the subtropical urban realm. The winner will receive a $10,000 bursary to be used for travelling internationally in 2010 to study sustainable design in subtropical urban locations. This may include travel to an international design event nominated by the applicant.

Announcements

Australian International Design Awards 2009 winners

29 May 2009

An economy airline seat topped this year's Australian International Design Awards. The Qantas A380 Economy Seat, designed by Qantas Airways and Marc Newson Ltd and built by Recaro Aircraft Seating won the 2009 Australian International Design Award of the Year. Judges were impressed by the level of innovation and flawless attention to detail applied to all aspects of the design.

State memorial service for Jørn Utzon

25 March 2009

Thousands of people gathered for a memorial service for Jørn Utzon. The Danish architect of the Sydney Opera House, Jørn Utzon, died aged 90, on 29 November 2008. Environment Minister Peter Garrett represented Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to pay tribute to the designer of the iconic, heritage listed opera house.

For more on Australian Design, see our Australian Stories on Design and Architecture.

Key online resources

• architecture.com.au projects
• The Twentieth Century Heritage Society of NSW
• Review of the National Innovation System

Collection resources and online publications

• Art Deco Buildings of Australia
• Federation houses
• Architecture Media, incorporating Architecture Australia, Artichoke and Landscape Architecture
• Monument
• Headspace - ABC's online monthly arts and culture magazine
• Indesign
• Powerhouse Museum
• Collections Australia Network
• National Library of Australia Pictorial Collection

Institutions and government organisations

• NSW Government Architects Office - Government architects since 1816
• University of Sydney
• University of Melbourne
• RMIT University
• University of Technology, Sydney
• University of NSW
• University of South Australia
• Newcastle University
• University of Adelaide
• University of Queensland
• Curtin University
• University of Tasmania

Peak bodies and associations

• The Australian Institute of Architects
• Australian Architecture Association
• Australian Institute of Landscape Architects
• Historic Houses Trust

People

• Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate 2002 - Glenn Murcutt
• Submissions from Australia to the Venice Biennale

Featured websites/projects

• Macquarie Lighthouse