The announcement of the annual Houses Awards is a celebration of Australia’s remarkable residential architecture and design. The shortlisted, commended and winning homes in this year’s awards demonstrate experimentation and ingenuity in design, and yet each one also remains responsive and sympathetic to the everyday patterns of domestic life.
On the cover of this issue is the Australian House of the Year, Three House by John Ellway. This resourceful home in Brisbane consists of three living pavilions that can be adapted in future into three compact residences. The house is informal but also elegant, rambling but also contained; an understated and inventive suburban house.
Congratulations to all of the architecture and design practices recognized in this year’s awards program, and thank you to our generous Houses Awards supporters: Cult, Artedomus, the Australian Institute of Horticulture, Blum, Bosch, Brickworks, the Heritage Council of Victoria, Sussex, Taubmans and Latitude.
Alexa Kempton, editor
01 A demolished early house designed by celebrated Perth architect Iwan Iwanoff is the subject of a new film, produced as part of a series re-creating forgotten parts of Western Australia’s history. Plans and drawings of the lost Harrison House (1953), kept in the Iwanoff archive at the State Library of Western Australia, have been brought to life through virtual reality. Produced by Frame Labs and Stuart Harrison, Reflections of Iwanoff will be screened at The Playhouse Theatre in Perth on 9 September.
Image: Harrison House visualization courtesy of Frame Labs and the State Library of Western Australia. slwa.wa.gov.au
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03 This year’s Sydney Design Week delves into the ties that bind us, from the Internet of Things to fundamental ideas that define communities. The program includes Graphic Identities at the Powerhouse Museum, exploring how visual communication has shaped contemporary Australian culture. Sydney Design Week is curated by creative director Stephen Todd and runs from 14 to 20 September; Graphic Identities runs until 27 February 2022. Artwork: Currency magazine covers, Reserve Bank of Australia, designed by Alistair Morrison, 1960–66, Powerhouse Collection. maas.museum
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02 How can art and design influence change and contribute to a positive future? This question is explored in We Change the World at the Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia. More than 60 works of Australian and international contemporary art are organized by theme – activism, the environment, the everyday and the future – to encourage critical thinking and personal reflection. Until 19 September.
Artwork: Puli murpu – Mountain range 2010 by Ruby Tjangawa Williamson and Nita Williamson. ngv.vic.gov.au