is back with its sixth edition from 17-27 March 2022, offering a dynamic program that responds to the theme ‘Design the world you want’. Two pillars—civic good and making good—provide a focused exploration of the main theme, with ‘civic good’ encouraging participants to think beyond the individual to serve the common interest and ‘making good’ exploring the impact of design beyond its functional or aesthetic impact.
For the first time, the retail sector will be significantly activated in a program of brand and showroom presentations that will further bring design week to a broader public. These include Cult Design, Living Edge, Space Furniture, VBOAustralia, Spence & Lyda, Halcyon Lake, Tait, Articolo and Great Dane Furniture, among others.
Another first in 2022 is the debut of the Melbourne Design Fair, which will showcase the best collectible contemporary design from over 100 Australian designers and makers. Presentations will be staged by leading commercial galleries, studios, design organisations and agencies in addition to a highlight exhibition of works for sale curated by the NGV Department of Contemporary Design and Architecture.
Other 2022 program highlights include RMIT Design Hub and RMIT Design Archives—a central location combining several leading exhibitions during Design Week; MPavilion—hosting a range of events that celebrate the civic nature of design by focusing on the spaces and activities that form communities; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led Conversations presented by Agency Projects, providing an enriching experience for audiences to obtain deeper knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander design principles and their direct relationship to sustainable and responsible living, hosted via talks at Collingwood Yards; Zero Footprint Repurposing by Revival Projects x Grimshaw—The world’s first ‘free repurposing hub’ in the heart of Collingwood, a space where initiatives like recycling of materials will be facilitated on an unprecedented scale; NGV Architecture Commission POND[ER]—an installation selected as the winner of the NGV’s 2021 Architecture Commission, designed by Taylor Knights in collaboration with James Carey; not to mention a fairly huge satellite program of some 100 Exhibitions & Group Shows by emerging and established talent.
As always, we’ve done the hard work so you don’t have to as we bring you our ultimate guide to some 25 not-to-be-missed shows at Melbourne Design Week 2022.
We hope to see you there, supporting and cheering on our amazing design community. Go, Australian design, go!
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Plastic Rivers by Álvaro Catalán de Ocón.
Bibendum Sofa by Lucy Kurrein for Molinari Design.
Bibendum Armchair by Lucy Kurrein for Molinari Design.
Innate Desk by Jon Goulder for Spence & Lyda.
The designers and creatives from Futures Collective.
Futures Collective, Presented by Spence & Lyda.
Specially conceived for Melbourne Design Week 2022, Futures Collective at Villa Alba is a multi-faceted Sustainability narrative for our time.
Bringing together award-winning much-loved local designers , , , Authentic Design Alliance, and international mavericks and Lucy Kurrein; are doing what they do best—elevating the mindful spaces we inhabit with crafted pieces of exceptional beauty and meaning. The event will showcase the creators, makers and stories behind them, all with a distinctive view of the preciousness of time, talent and planet.
Futures Collective MDW22 runs from 17th to 26th March 2022 and is free to access during opening hours. Notable highlight events with the designers are ticketed and on limited availability, including a talk by Álvaro himself.
for more information and to secure your spot.
, 44 Walmer St, Kew
Concept sketch of the bespoke installation Light the World You Want at vboaustralia, courtesy of Marsha Golemac.
Light the World You Want: Improving the Human Experience through Viabizzuno’s Lighting Philosophies, Presented by vboaustralia.
An exhibition of ’s lighting philosophies through collaboration with local creatives, Light the world you want presents a series of exhibits demonstrating the brand’s unique ethos, allowing patrons to immerse themselves in the way each lighting principle can help design the world they want.
Applying light to surfaces, spaces and objects in a way that allows us to emotionally connect and attain a sense of wellbeing, ’s laboratory of light is transformed into a gallery-like space to inspire, educate and influence the way we design and use light.
Art directed by the creative powerhouse , the entire showroom will be blacked out during the exhibition with only artworks by nine Australian artists carefully illuminated by Viabizzuno lighting.
The exhibition runs daily from 17th to 26th March. For more information, click .
, 176 Wellington Parade, East Melbourne
Concept sketch of the bespoke installation Light the World You Want at vboaustralia, courtesy of Marsha Golemac.
Forest by Halcyon Lake, features collections by Iranian rug maker Edelgrund. Photo: Jonas Von Der Hude. Styling: Irina Graewe.
Edelgrund ‘Forest’ was originally presented during Milan Design Week 2021 at Palazzo Lita.
Forest, Presented by Halcyon Lake.
’s Forest invites visitors to explore the woven textiles of Iranian rug maker Edelgrund through an evocative, visual and tactile experience. Conceptually designed by Italian architect Paolo Giordano and the late Chinese product designer Ouwen Mori, the installation was originally presented during Milan Design Week 2021 at Palazzo Lita.
Forest explores original Edelgrund designs expressed through a series of eighteen suspended vertical panels. Characterised by geometric compositions and warm colours, the poetic arrangement of pattern play is a sublime example of the power of ‘simple’.
Entirely handmade following age-old traditions, Edelgrund’s kilim rugs are woven by a small community of female artisans from the village of Alasht in the Mazandaran province of Iran. The exhibition highlights traditional Persian craftsmanship, sustainable production and ethical weaving practices: A world where inherited knowledge that has been passed down for generations is preserved; where traditional crafts coexist and merge with innovative interpretations and experimentations.
Forest runs daily from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm from 17th to 27th March. For more information, click .
, 420 Brunswick St, Fitzroy
Afternoon view of ‘Shaping our future’, features products from the Space collection as follows: B&B Italia Camaleonda sofa; Edra Cicladi side tables; Acerbis Storet drawers; Roll & Hill Atlas table lamp; Living Divani Offcut bookshelf; SP01 x Rometti accessories range; Gebrüder Thonet Vienna GMBH Around colours rug. Digital art by Tom Hancocks.
‘Shaping our future’, Presented by Space Furniture.
The value of design is not only judged through its functional or aesthetic impact, but on its environmental and social impact on the planet.
explores the Melbourne Design Week 2022 theme of ‘Design the world you want’ by taking a closer look at their design collection through the lens of ethical and sustainable practices. It’s the start of a journey that focuses on the role the company plays in business and as individuals in shaping the world we want.
Visitors are invited to explore a fictional apartment, with three curated rooms demonstrating current and future directions for brand partners B&B Italia and Kartell, who are developing materials and processes to transform their products, along with the steps Space is taking to review its own business systems on the path to becoming carbon neutral.
The apartment is accompanied by a photography series inspired by nature, with each room featuring a dreamscape that blurs the boundaries between fantasy and reality. From an endless meadow of flowers, the beauty of the universe lit up in the night sky and the calm meditation of the ocean, the optimism of each interior draws a parallel with new innovative technologies helping to shape a circular design future.
The exhibition runs daily from 17th to 27th March with the following opening times: Mon – Fri 9:30am – 5:30pm / Saturday 10am – 5pm / Sunday 11am – 5pm.
Space Melbourne, 629 Church Street, Richmond
James Lemon. Photo: Annika Kafcaloudisa.
Cordon Salon. Photo: Annika Kafcaloudis.
Brud Studia. Photo: Annika Kafcaloudis.
Vanity Screen by Christopher Boots. Photo: Christine Francis.
Parts Chandelier by Dale Hardiman. Photo: Andre Piguet.
Specchio 2022 by Luca Lettieri. Photo: Dean Toepfer.
Melbourne Design Fair.
The inaugural Melbourne Design Fair is a commercial showcase of limited edition, rare and one-of-a-kind collectable designs by 100 of Australia’s leading emerging and established contemporary designers and designer-makers. An initiative of the NGV in collaboration with the Melbourne Art Foundation, the Fair breaks new ground in the presentation, promotion and sale of collectible contemporary design in Australia and will offer audiences a unique cultural experience with all the design works presented available for purchase.
This key event is the first of its kind in Australia, and will showcase collectible contemporary design works across two platforms: PRESENT where galleries, design organisations, agencies and studios mount dedicated displays by the design creatives they represent, and SELECT, a curated exhibition featuring the best works by emerging and established designers and designer-makers from across Australia.
Melbourne Design Fair 2022 is a ticketed event, and runs for five days, from 16th to 20th March. For more information, and to book your ticket click .
Warehouse 16, 28 Duke Street, Abbotsford
Self Portrait, Presented by Friends & Associates.
Focuses on the camaraderie in the Australian contemporary design discipline, Friends & Associates is an ongoing process-based project formed by and in 2017. This year the collective will present 22 self-portraits by Australian creatives, telling us who they are in this moment. Creatives were encouraged to think about their personal and professional selves, representing themselves in a single object.
Contributors include Jonathan Ben-Tovim, Kristin Burgham, Andrew Carvolth, Rosanna Ceravolo, Dale Hardiman and Mark Dineen, Danielle Brustman and Jonathon Ellery, Tom Fereday, Jordan Fleming, Ross Gardam, Jon Goulder and Henry Williams, Tom Hancocks, Den Holm, Claudia Lau, James Lemon, P.A.M. (Perks and Mini), Elliat Rich, Makiko Ryujin, Cordon Salon, Skeehan Studio, Simon Tops, ACV Studio, and Damien Wright.
For more information, click .
RMIT Design Hub Gallery, Building 100, Victoria St, Carlton
Material Culture BTS. Photos: by Annika Kafcaloudis.
Material Culture, Presented by Marsha Golemac.
Curated by , this exhibition dedicated to ‘material culture’ attempts to expand on conversations surrounding why and how things are made, and what social, functional, or symbolic needs they satisfy.
Featuring the work of seventeen designers, makers and artists, the exhibition encourages participants to embrace traditional and ultra-modern techniques in object design. Each participant has created an object using a natural or cultural resource with a focus on tactility and materiality. Purposeful in nature, as defined by the participant, the object is a representation of the world they want to live in.
Participants include Abdé Nouamani, Peter D Cole, Fletcher Barns, Bianca Chang, Gabriel Aries Setiadi, Anna Pogossova, Jeremy Blincoe, Nicole Lawrence, Anke Kindle, Jacqueline Stojanović, Olivia Bossy, Tamara Maynes, Second Edition, Kasia Tons, Thomas Coward, Livio Tobler, and Marissa Ziesing.
For more information, click .
At The Above, 198 Gertrude St, Fitzroy
Showcase Presented by New Assemblage. Photo: Annika Kafcaloudis.
Showcase Presented by New Assemblage. Photo: Annika Kafcaloudis.
Folk Costumes, Indo-Pacific Air by Guillermo Fernández-Abascal, Urtzi Grau, Copy nature office and Umi Graham.
Oigåll Projects, Presents Multiple Shows.
Evolving from MDW21, Oigåll MDW22 transforms into a design hub, with multiple activations celebrating local and international designers running across an 18-day program and three gallery spaces that transform into 3 alternate realities.
The largest show will take place in Room One — Showcase, Presented by New Assemblage, presenting emerging and established designers, artists and craftspeople from around Australia with their developed and experimental work. Participants include Elizabeth Lewis, SOZOU studio, Bobby Corica, Queena Grot, Belle Thierry, Marlo Lyda, Bel Williams, Livio Lucca Tobler, Jill Stevenson, Ryan Hoffmann Studio, Misseu, Drew Abrahamson, Georgia Weitenberg, Pirrie Studio, Josee Vesely-Manning, Dalton Stewart, Dalton Stewart, Billie Civello, and Julian Leigh May.
On show in Room Two is Folk Costumes, Indo-Pacific Air by Guillermo Fernández-Abascal, Urtzi Grau, Copy nature office and Umi Graham in Room Two. Room Three hosts BRICKS by THOMAS MAXAM Studio.
For more information head to and .
Oigåll Projects, 122 Gertrude St, Fitzroy
Veiled and Column by Annie Paxton Studio. Photo: Annie Paxton.
Studio Abacus Lamp by Old Four Legs. Photo: Misha Duktova.
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