Saturday 31 October 2015

Cohncave bowl - Susan Cohn

‘Memory Containers’ was the project theme set by Alessi for two hundred invited international designers and artisans in 1990. Following the success of her show in Tokyo that year, Susan Cohn, a gold and silversmith from Melbourne, was invited to participate.

Inspired by early Australian colonial meat safes constructed from timber with perforated metal panels, Cohn designed a large diameter twin layer fruit bowl. 

In each unique Cohncave bowl the two perforated layers are offset to produce a moiré pattern. Cohn’s concept for a mass produced artisan piece saw the Cohncave short listed to a final group of nine designs. 

All short listed designers submitted sketches – except for Cohn – who presented an exquisite prototype still prized by Alberto Alessi. The Cohncave was released in 1992 and Cohn would become the first of many Melbourne designers to work with Alessi.

Text from the catalogue for BlackBOX - Design and Innovation | Melbourne Australia  ISBN 978–1–921994–38–8


Cohncave bowl designed by Susan Cohn for Alessi


Moiré pattern created in the Cohncave bowl was inspired by early Australian meat safes.


Cohncave bowl designed in Melbourne by Susan Cohn for Alessi


Alessi Cohncave bowl designed in Melbourne by Susan Cohn


Cohncave bowl designed by Susan Cohn for Alessi



Cohncave bowl designed by Susan Cohn for Alessi


Thursday 29 October 2015

Alberto Alessi - Public Lecture presented by Melbourne Movement

One week to go. Hoping you can squeeze this one in……








Alberto Alessi - Public Lecture 
12.30-2.00pm
Thursday November 5th 2015
Deakin Edge 
Federation Square
Melbourne Australia

General Admission: $15

Design + Industry - BlackBOX Melbourne

Jim Hannon-Tan visited Design + Industry this week while he was in Melbourne for his public lecture at Monash Art Design and Architecture.

Creative director Paul Taylor demonstrated projects including the Signos portable ultrasound project featured in BlackBOX - Design and Innovation | Melbourne Australia.


Jim Hannon-Tan, Paul Taylor and ian Wong at Design + Industry in Melbourne.

Tuesday 27 October 2015

Melbourne Movement - Kjell Grant and Jim Hannon-Tan

Melbourne Movement founder Professor Kjell Grant was delighted to catch up with Jim Hannon-Tan during his recent visit to Melbourne.

In 2001 after seeing the clamp leg table Kjell selected Jim to join Melbourne Movement and invited him to exhibit at Salone Satellite in Milan. Jim bought a one way ticket to Milan that year and this week was one of his rare return visits to Melbourne.


Melbourne Movement founder Professor Kjell Grant and designer Jim Hannon-Tan.


Saturday 24 October 2015

Jim Hannon-Tan - SensiLab Monash University

Professor Jon McCormack provided Jim Hannon-Tan with a guided tour of SensiLab at Monash University this week.

SensiLab is a new concept in research led by Information Technology at Monash University.

Devices like Quad Drones, Oculus Rift and Google Glass are used by researchers at SensiLab.


Jim Hannon-Tan with Google Glass at SensiLab at Monash University


Jim Hannon-Tan with Professor Jon McCormack at SensiLab at Monash University views research utilising the Oculus Rift .


Professor Jon McCormack and Elliot Wilson demonstrate the Visualising Ankor project at SensiLab - Monash University.









Friday 23 October 2015

Jim Hannon-Tan - International Tangible Interaction Lab

Industrial Designer Jim Hannon-Tan visited the International Tangible Interaction Lab at Monash University while visiting Melbourne this week.


Ian Wong, Jim Hannon-Tan and Dr Stephen Wang at the New Horizons Building at Monash University


Dr Stephen Wang demonstrates features of the patent for the Smart Chair to Jim Hannnon-Tan during his visit to the International Tangible Interaction Lab at Monash University.

International Tangible Interaction Lab

Saturday 17 October 2015

Jim Hannon-Tan - Alessi in Melbourne

The upcoming lectures by Jim Hannon-Tan and Alberto Alessi in Melbourne provided material for Ray Edgar in today's copy of The Age and online.

Melbourne Movement founder Professor Kjell Grant is acknowleged by Jim in the article and Melbourne Movement designers Lisa Vincitorio and Adam Cornish also are mentioned.


Jim Hannon-Tan and Alberto Alessi feature in article in The Age by Ray Edgar.



Jim Hannon-Tan - Free Public Lecture


Thursday 15 October 2015

Alberto Alessi - Public Lecture Deakin Edge Melbourne

Celebrating the links between Melbourne designers and his family company Alessi  S.P.A. CEO and President Alberto Alessi will share a lifetime of design at a public lecture in Melbourne on Thursday November 5th at Deakin Edge.



Alberto Alessi - Public Lecture 
12.30-2.00pm
Thursday November 5th 2015
Deakin Edge 
Federation Square
Melbourne Australia

General Admission: $15



Alessandro Mendini's anthropomorphic Anna G corkscrew for Alessi




Monday 12 October 2015

Tom Dixon - Lighting Milan 2015




Tom Dixon performs at The Cinema - Milan Design Week 2015


Tom Dixon - Etch Shade




Friday 9 October 2015

Jim Hannon-Tan - Public Lecture at MADA


Industrial designer Jim Hannon-Tan will share his international career highlights working with global brands such as Tom Dixon, Marcel Wanders, Magis, Moooi, and Alessi. 


Jim Hannon-Tan

Jim Hannon-Tan - Free Public Lecture
5.00pm Thursday October 22nd
Lecture Theatre G1.04
Building G
Monash Art Design and Architecture
Monash Univeristy
900 Dandenong Road Caulfield

Admission Free

Booking essential

Jim Hannon-Tan - Melbourne Movement

Designer Jim Hannon-Tan visited Melbourne this week and returned to RMIT Univeristy where he studied industrial design. Professor Kjell Grant invited Jim in 2001 to exhibit his clamp leg table with Melbourne Movement at Salone Satellite in Milan. Jim bought a one way ticket and began his international career after Salone Satellite in Milan.

Dr Scott Mayson gave Jim a tour of the Design Hub and shared the 3D printed furniture designs of Ryan Pennings.


Dr Scott Mayson, Ryan Pennings and Jim Hannon-Tam at RMIT Industrial Design.

Jim will present a public lecture on Thursday October 22nd featuring work for brands such as Tom Dixon, Marcel Wanders, Moooi, Magis and Alessi. He will share the journey from the Clamp Leg Chair through to the latest designs for Tom Dixon.


Dr Scott Mayson, Ian Wong and Jim Hannon-Tan



Booking essential

See previous post on clamp leg table

Tuesday 6 October 2015

Monash University Suzhou industrial design graduate wins at Beijing Design Week - Roro Zhang

Suzhou industrial design graduate Roro Zhang wins Beijing Design Week CAMP IDEA FACTORY design and innovation hackathon.


Beijing Design Week CAMP IDEAS FACTORY winning team:  Roro Zhang Monash University, Robert Carosi Tsinghua University, and Hester Berndsen Tsinghua University with CAMP Co-founder and CEO Andrea Miles (left) and Vivien Sung, Co-founder and Chief Experience Officer (right).

Face IT was the title of the tool for international collaboration developed during the Beijing Design Week event with team mates Robert Carosi and Hester Berndsen. The team wins a trip to Sydney and a place in the 2016 CAMP IDEA FACTORY in June 2016. (see details below).


Roro Zhang and Hester Berndsen present FACE IT during Beijing Design Week 2015


L-R: Roro Zhang Monash University, Robert Carosi Tsinghua University, and Hester Berndsen Tsinghua University


Australia@BJDW program - Camp Ideas Factory


Australia@BJDW program - Camp Ideas Factory


Australia@BJDW program - Camp Ideas Factory


Australia@BJDW program - Camp Ideas Factory


L-R: Ian Wong Program Director Master of Industrial Design Monash Univerisity with Monash Univesity industrial design students, Alex, Malcolm, Brian and Roro.


Five industrial design students from Suzhou travelled to Beijing to join CAMP IDEAS FACTORY.

Roro recently completed her studies in the Master of Industrial Design program at the Southeast Univerisity-Monash Univeristy Joint Graduate School (Suzhou). Rib seat was the title of her project that proposed an innovative personal restraint system for improved safety in automous vehicles. The Master of Industrial Design program in Suzhou is now in it's third year with graduates gaining employment within companies including Alibaba, Seimens, Huawei and Ford.


Rib Seat - Autonomous vehicle occupant restraint system designed by Roro Zhang from Monash Univerisity. Smart safety belt concept based on biomimicry and squishy robots.



Master of Industrial design student Roro Zhang explains her concept for a smart seat belt to Monash University Vice Chancellor and President Margaret Gardner at the Southeast Univerisity-Monash Univerisity Joint Graduate School (Suzhou).

The CAMP IDEAS FACTORY hackathon was a feature event in the AUSTRALIA@BJDW program for Beijing Design Week 2015.


Australia@BJDW - Beijing Design Week 2015


Australia@BJDW - Beijing Design Week 2015




Australia @ BJDW
CAMP IDEAS FACTORY
September 27th 2015
Beijing Design Week 2015
http://www.australiachina.org

We are looking for the brightest minds aged 18-35 years old to collaborate at CAMP IDEA FACTORY , the premier China-Australia hackathon at BJDW. Your mission is to join us at BJDW and within a team, collaborate and design a new approach to building international collaborations. The winning team will win a scholarship place within CAMP 2016 and be flown to Sydney to participate (including return flights, accommodation and CAMP 2016 registration fee). We invite the cultural, creative, entrepreneurial and innovation/maker community to the CAMP IDEA FACTORY as well as invite other Beijing-based entrepreneurs and innovators with an interest in international or Australian collaboration and markets to participate or mentor a team. Each year in Sydney, Australia, the China Australia Millennial Project unites over 130 highly-talented emerging leaders from China and Australia from all disciplines for a 10 week innovation incubator (9 weeks online and 5 days in Sydney) to co-create new business and social approaches to some of the world’s largest challenges. We build real relationships for awesome global positive impact, skill building and we have a lot of fun while we do it. Join us!

Monday 5 October 2015

Paola Antonelli - MOMA Museum of Modern Art

The publishing online of files for a 3D printed gun in May 2013 not only challenged security services the world over it also caught the attention of MOMA Senior Curator of Design Paola Antonelli. At first Design and Violence was proposed to MOMA as an exhibition but somewhat akin to the open source ideas behind the 3D printed gun 'Design and Violence' has developed online through contributions and debates across the internet. #desviolenz


Museum of Modern Art Senior Curator of Design Paola Antonelli presents the Design and Violence public lecture at the National Gallery of Victoria Melbourne Australia.

The lecture topic at first might inspire those of us interested in design history in Melbourne to look at our history with military weapons. The work perhaps of a young architectural modeller from Carlton, Lance Corporal William Charles Scurry who invented the Drip (or 'pop off') rifles used to save thousands of ANZAC's at Gallipoli, or the work of Louis Brennan who invented the steerable torpedo in 1874. However Antonelli's powerful lecture inspired a more forward looking perspective, so instead, I left seeking to explore the open source ideas of colleagues Mark Richardson and Matthew Bird in their recent upcycling project Hydonaut at Monash University.


Drip rifle - invented by Lance Corporal William Charles Scurry from Carlton, Melbourne, Australia.


Hydonaut by Studiobird with Mark Richardson and Matthew Bird. IMAGE: Peter Bennetts

Antonelli was refreshing in her candid views on "design thinking' and how the sales of "post it" notes are up. The audience came alive with Antonelli's insights into the debate and controversy surrounding SPUTNIKO's menstruation machine.


Museum of Modern Art Senior Curator of Design Paola Antonelli presents the Design and Violence public lecture at the National Gallery of Victoria Melbourne Australia.

Mutant Material in Contemporary Design also got a mention. This was Antonelli's first exhibition at MOMA in 1995 and featured the work of Melbourne designers Christopher Connell, Celina Clarke and Simon Christopher.


Madam Ruby - ISM Objects. Designed by Celina Clarke and Simon Christopher featured in Mutant Materials in Contemporary Design curated by Paola Antonelli Senior Curator MONA Museum of Modern Art New York.


It is indeed a fact that in this era of open source and 'Ted' Lectures, yesterday at 5pm I could have lazed in the beautiful sunshine on the banks of the Yarra river……. but I am so glad I didn't. 


Design and Violence - Paola Antonelli Senior Curator of Design at the Museum of Modern Art MOMA New York.


Friday 2 October 2015

Ben Landau - La Petite Fabrique de Brunswick

A visit to the Finders Keepers Market tonight was a chance to catch up with industrial designer Ben Landau and Lucile from the  La Petite Fabrique de Brunswick stall. Ben was a student at RMIT industrial design in my upperpool studio 72%WATER back in 2007 and went on to study a Masters degree in Eindhoven. Ben and Lucile formed the studio Alterfact based in Melbourne in 2014.




3D printed ceramic vases by Alterfact  - Ben Landau
IMAGE: La Petite Fabrique de Brunswick


3D printed vases by Alterfact  - Ben Landau
IMAGE: La Petite Fabrique de Brunswick


The 3D printer at Alterfact  - Ben Landau
IMAGE: La Petite Fabrique de Brunswick