One of the most fulfilling aspects of making Houses magazine and writing about architecture is the insight into the creative that is gathered before putting pen to paper. Visiting homes across Australia to talk with architects and clients about the homes they’ve imagined together provides an unparalleled education in Australian residential design. For this issue, I was invited into two wonderful homes designed by inventive architects with meaningful input from their artist clients.
Both Beaconsfield House by Simon Pendal Architect (page 38), and Brunswick Apartment by Murray Barker and Esther Stewart (page 76) show the magic of creative collaborations. At Beaconsfield House, sculptural ceilings and washes of ultramarine create distinct atmospheres across spaces, while the geometry and pared-back details of Brunswick Apartment’s kitchen have the confidence of a graphic artwork. These two homes are distinctly different but, like many of the houses featured on the pages of this issue, they are shaped by a desire to explore social and spatial ideas.
Gemma Savio, editor
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01 01 Immerse yourself in the
NGV Triennial, a thoughtprovoking expression of art, design and architecture encompassing 86 projects from more than 30 countries. The Triennial will include an architectural pavilion (pictured), by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma and Melbourne artist Geoff Nees, constructed with timber harvested from trees that died during the Millennium Drought at Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens.
Image: Botanical Pavilion 2020, Kengo Kuma and Associates, Kengo Kuma (designer), Geoff Nees (artist), commissioned by the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne (foreground); Dialogue 2017, Lee Ufan, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne (background). ngv.vic.gov.au
03 03 Enjoy live music, dance and storytelling in the iconic setting of Heide Museum of Modern Art’s much-loved sculpture park. A nine-week outdoor event series running until 7 March 2021, the inaugural Heide Summer Festival is designed to support local performing artists, youth bands and cultural festivals who have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The free and ticketed program features contributions from Songlines Music Aboriginal Corporation, Midsumma and the Melbourne International Jazz Festival. heide.com.au
02 Explore “objects for future homes” at the Powerhouse Museum’s Hybrid exhibition.
Open until 28 February 2021, the exhibition showcases new collaborative works by designers, researchers and practitioners from diverse industries, who explore our changing global landscape and the role of the home in 2030. Pictured is Tide, a table made from recycled ocean plastic by Adam Goodrum and Ella Williams. Photograph: Zan Wimberley, courtesy the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences. maas.museum