Our Melbourne Design Week Recap
We were so excited to see the vibrant Melbourne Design Week return to our city last week, bringing culture, art, and community back to Australia’s design capital. In 2022, the program continued the theme ‘Design the world you want’, celebrating the diverse ways design can work towards a better future for us all.
Separated into two pillars – civic good and making good – the main theme provokes creative opportunities that aim to tackle important societal issues.
‘Civic Good’ encouraged participants to think beyond the individual and look to the objects, buildings, designs, and services that make people feel part of a community. ‘Making Good’, asked designers to consider the many ways in which creative ideas and experiments can be developed through the lens of ethical and sustainable practices.
Hubs were dispersed across the Victorian region, spanning out to Castlemaine and circling back to Melbourne’s home of art and culture, the National Gallery of Victoria. The Principle Design Studio is in close proximity to the Collingwood Yards, which housed many Design Week exhibitions.
In our practice of ‘Civic Good’, we are choosing to celebrate the Collingwood community, showcasing a highlights reel of our favourite local presentations.
We were welcomed to the DIY Neighbourhood by community members and urbanists, discussing the possibilities of community-led town plans and how proactively mapping out the future of our neighbourhood is the first step in achieving ‘Civic Good’.
Guided by volunteer urbanists and artists, the parents, teachers and students of Collingwood College curated an exhibition to showcase their workshopped discoveries. Bold statements were spread across black and white imagery of the Collingwood area, demanding change in various facets of the community space.
‘We want to see more greenery, birds love trees!’
‘We think community hangout spaces would be great, It would encourage bonding’
‘More lights to flood the park at night would make us feel more safe’
This fantastic representation of a ‘collective effort’ aimed to inspire town planners and council affiliates, to work harmoniously with community members and integrate sustainable neighbourhood changes.
Collingwood public housing estates are known for their diverse community, including migrants, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and its traditional owners.
Inspired by this notion, The RMIT Industrial Design team presented, Collingwood Makes, a look into the relationships and networks within the housing estates and broader community to inform furniture design that reflects community values.
The furniture design – while highly functional – expresses the stories, values and history embedded within the Collingwood community.
We look forward to the continuation of the Collingwood Makes Project, as it progresses into future stages.
This exhibition paid homage to Australia’s native grasslands and indigenous plants that are becoming increasingly vulnerable through industrialisation. Reculivate is an agricultural project that seeks to promote the importance of preserving these indigenous ecological sites, and how integrating them into our urban spaces can help in sustaining these vital ecosystems.
The Recultivate space now acts as a central hub for the Collingwood Yards, offering functional seating and a serene setting, our new go-to lunch break hangout!
This year’s Melbourne Design week has reinspired our studio, emphasising the true purpose of our work. For us, the exhibition highlighted those tangible design solutions community-led organisations can offer, helping to foster their growth and promote strong initiatives that make a difference.
We can’t wait to see what 2023 Melbourne Design Week has to offer!
