Recognising excellence in Australian design, the Rigg Design Prize is the highest accolade for contemporary design in Australia. The triennial prize is awarded to an Australian design practice displaying outstanding creative achievements in contemporary design.
The shortlist for the Rigg Design Prize 2018 included ten Australian design studios working in the field of interior design and decoration. For the prize exhibition, each studio was invited to design a purpose built interior that responds to the 2018 exhibition theme of Domestic Living. The NGV asked each design studio to produce an interior capable of communicating to audiences how designers create interiors as forms of communication embedded with values, ideas and stories that directly engage with the cultural, historical, material and technological aspects of society.
On 11 October 2018, Melbourne design practice Hecker Guthrie was awarded the prestigious Rigg Design Prize, the highest accolade for Australian contemporary design for their custom-made room The table is the base celebrating the table as a modest yet powerful object, often pulling and binding people together as they gather around it. The prize was judged by Shashi Caan, International Judge of the Rigg Design Prize 2018.
The Rigg Design Prize 2018 shortlist included: Amber Road (NSW), Arent & Pyke (NSW), Danielle Brustman (VIC), Flack Studio (VIC), David Hicks (VIC), Hecker Guthrie (VIC), Martyn Thompson Studio (NYC), Scott Weston Architecture Design (NSW), The Society Inc by Sibella Court (NSW), Richards Stanisich (NSW)
This room celebrates the table as a modest and unassuming object with an invisible gravitational pull that brings people together and binds them in space. Our domestic lives seem, perhaps unintentionally, to be perpetually in orbit around this singular object. The table is where we eat, drink, play, gather, converse, work and create.
For design studio Hecker Guthrie, the table is a ‘subtle muse’ that inspires bustle, encourages stillness and is a place of reflection and assembly – a domestic totem summoning familiarity.
The intent of this installation is to conjure an emotional, and possibly nostalgic, connection to the table as an object. The controlled, minimal palette allows the many interpretations of the table form to become visible. The designers have set out to transcend the idea of the table as merely objectified furniture by stripping the structure back to its most basic and recognisable form so that aesthetics become secondary.
Hecker Guthrie, based in Melbourne, is one of Australia's leading design practices, undertaking projects in the hospitality, residential, retail and commercial sectors.
The directors, Paul Hecker and Hamish Guthrie met at the offices of the architect Darryl Jackson in the mid-1990s and worked on a project together when it was rare for interior designers to be commissioned. They clicked, and subsequently set up a partnership that is now in its fifteenth year. They have forged a distinct approach to their multi-disciplinary practice through a series of closely held beliefs that include the expression of authenticity from the initial idea, through a series of spatial decisions and material choices, to the finished space. Their expertise is in interior design, building design, industrial design, furniture design and styling.
The practice believes in working with the client to develop an overarching concept which drives a project and becomes a shares journey. The aim of the practice is to create spaces that are endearing and beautiful, where the feeling speaks louder than the furnishings and the levels of charm and comfort outweigh instant gratification.
This interior celebrates a domestic space that features in the homes of many cultures – the transitional area between indoor and outdoor living. In Australia, it usually takes the form of a porch or verandah.
The verandah is much more than an extension of living space. It can be a mediator of climate, a protector of privacy, a voyeuristic viewpoint, or a place for homecomings, storytelling, secrets, rest and contemplation. Take it outside playfully explores this ambiguous space and stimulates the senses with colour, texture, sound and light, as seen in the reflective floor and balustrade, which amplifies the rusty tones of the Australian desert and the star-studded, indigo sky.
Take it outside also references the multiple cultural heritages of Amber Road principal designers Yasmine Ghoniem and Katy Svalbe and the time they spent living in the Middle East, Europe and the United States. The room celebrates the sisters’ shared heritage and sets out to encapsulate ‘Australianness’. It alludes to cherished time spent on their family farms in Australia, where they would sit on the porch ‘chewing the fat’ with family after time apart. Their conversations, preserved as quintessential Aussie objects, are the sort one might enjoy on a balmy summer eve.
Join them on their porch and share in the stories to be found there.
Amber Road is a Sydney-based interior design and landscape practice that has developed a unique aesthetic within the design language of Australia.
Founding partners and sisters Yasmine Ghoniem (interior design) and Katy Svalbe (landscape architecture) draw on their multiple heritages and lived experiences – Egyptian, Latvian, Australian, Spanish and US, to produce interior and landscape design that looks to blur the boundaries between the two disciplines. Their work ranges in scope and scale from product design to urban park precincts. Amber Road often collaborate with artisans and craftspeople, creating an artistic element which works to humanise the built environment.
Juliette Arent and Sarah-Jane Pyke from design studio Arent&Pyke believe that humans are increasingly searching for restorative spaces to call home as populations increase and cities engineer themselves upwards and outwards. In response, they have expressed the domestic interior as the ultimate manifestation of soulful wellbeing.
Within the room, the connection between domestic living and emotional and physical wellbeing is explored by looking into what the designers say are the essential needs of the human soul: to replenish (feast), to restore (bathe) and to retreat (rest).
Each area features a contemporary Australian artwork and a bespoke furniture piece that speaks to the archetypal imagery of the space it inhabits. One informs the other, reminding the viewer that a home is a place in which we should find comfort in familiarity and inspiration, and delight in beauty.
Interior design studio Arent&Pyke was formed in 2007 by principals Juliette Arent and Sarah Jane Pyke. It has since grown into an award-winning design practice with a distinctive style and approach to living in the home, underpinned by the belief that clients should connect emotionally with the spaces they live in. They work collaboratively, creating carefully considered, functional and beautiful spaces.
Arent&Pyke's passion is the residential space. Underpinning their design philosophy is a need for interior design to nurture the human condition. Sarah-Jane's meticulous attention to detail, coupled with an eye for beautiful and unexpected combinations, has been finely honed through her work with respected architectural firms. Meanwhile, Juliette's is a very particular skill set that is able to facilitate and nurture individual and layered interiors. Her's is a philosophy of 'emotional design' that supports an honest connection with the client, whereby a shared vision is appropriately manifest as a beautiful and liveable result.
Designer Danielle Brustman’s Inner-Terior proposes an alternative domestic living space that asks if the home can be a more fantastical place. It provides a place of comfort, rest and refuge but also explores new possibilities that transcend conventional domestic confines.
Inner-Terior is part conversation pit, part lounge room and part stage. It takes its design cues from the cult-classic film Xanadu (1980), Art Deco bandshells of the 1920s, European retrofuturistic design of the 1960s, and rollerskating rinks and amusement rides of the 1980s. The thread running through these seemingly disparate references is the designer’s own psychological ‘inner terior’, where the aesthetics of performance and stage provide a rich and idiosyncratic source of inspiration.
Inner-Terior draws from theatrical references and inserts them within a contemporary living room. The non-domestic references and elements of stage and spectacle grant the occupant freedom to behave outside the conventions usually dictated by domestic spaces. Through these design strategies, the domestic space is exalted and emphasised.
Danielle Brustman's Melbourne-based studio encompasses a broad spectrum of practice, from residential interiors and commercial design for the hospitality and retail sectors through to set design for performance and exhibitions.
Danielle obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Interior Design from RMIT Melbourne.
Danielle began her design career working as a set designer for theatre and performance, collaborating with some of Australia's most celebrated theatre makers, companies and artists. In 2012, she established her interior design studio focusing on hospitality, retail and residential projects. Her background as a set designer is evident in her work where colour, light and spectacle play a vital role. From 2014-2016 Danielle worked in collaboration with Michelle Boyde on a series of interdisciplinary interior design and fashion projects under the name Brustman + Boyde. Danielle was recently nominated as a finalist in the Dulux Colour Award in the 'Single residential category' for her design work on the Matlock House.
This emotionally charged room by Flack Studio is saturated in a gold hue. Its opulence highlights that while parts of the world are in crisis, many Australians are living in a ‘golden age’ with enough wealth to create custom interiors and architecture.
The multilayered interior acknowledges Australia’s Indigenous history, while simultaneously celebrating the diverse cultures drawn together by migration to make Australia what it is today – a culture of shared identity. According to Flack, design is an act of collaboration and generosity. We’ve boundless plains to share draws from verses in the Australian national anthem – ‘We’ve golden soil and wealth for toil’ and ‘For those who’ve come across the sea, we’ve boundless plains to share’ – to discuss contemporary Australia through the lens of domesticity.
The room reflects on the notion of inclusion and asks us to look away from the screens that dominate our interiors, and outwards to the world. The project draws into focus the importance of diversity and tolerance in the creation of a successful society and asks Australians to question the modern meaning of ‘we’ve boundless plains to share’.
Established in 2014, Flack Studio is an interior architecture and design practice based in Melbourne. Its work traverses residential, hospitality and commercial environments and both Australian and International projects. It is inspired by the architecture and design of bygone eras, a thirst for travel and adventure, and the delight of discovering unusual and beautiful things. Holding craftsmanship in high regard, they combine warm materials with clean lines, textural palettes and fine detailing.
With a strong interest in materiality and a keen eye for detailing, the Flack Studio design approach is bold and elegantly masculine, with a nod to restrained, classic stateliness and offset by unexpected, light-hearted elements.
With Panic room, designer David Hicks explores how our constant exposure to media, both traditional and social, and the dominance of information culture has changed the world. Hicks wants us to think about how the media overload running alongside events in our lives creates a personal ‘reality feed’ that sculpts individuals into who they are and how they live. He speculates that the evolution of technology, media and advertising have modified our reality in favour of an aspirational image of a ‘perfect life’. The quest for this perfection becomes increasingly voyeuristic as people craft their own images and willingly put themselves on a stage. This pursuit paradoxically results in overload, ubiquity and banality, not the individuality most are seeking. The personal consequence is that people become socially paranoid and emotionally vulnerable, living a life of fear and anxiety.
Panic room is a satire that explores how this paradigm impacts on private lives and the places people retreat to. Have homes become fortresses, inner sanctums and containers of consumerist ideals? Is attention directed outward to the potential risk of others that may invade our personal space? Are homes now solely for psychological comfort and self-protection?
David Hicks Studio employs a holistic design philosophy that regards the built environment, architecture, and interior design and decoration as one, combining space and form, materials, finishes and furnishings combine to create a harmonious whole.
Known for his attention to detail and love of craftsmanship, David Hicks himself provides creative direction on every project while a management team supports and facilitates the studio's design work. With an already expansive and diverse portfolio, the practice accepts commissions both locally and globally for private homes, residential developments, hotels, restaurants, retail outlets and corporate offices.
The David Hicks head office in Melbourne services clients nationally as well as in New Zealand, Asia and the Middle East, while the Los Angeles office caters for clients further afield, in the US and Europe. This comprehensive network provides ready access to design expertise, products, materials and furniture worldwide.
This installation explores the somewhat old-fashioned notion of the atelier and how in the present, when the line between work and home life is blurred, this type of space takes on a new relevance and becomes an arena for complete creative expression.
Most pieces in this display were designed or created by Martyn Thompson himself. His rugs, ceramics, textiles, art and ottomans are shown alongside collaborative pieces as a Gesamtkunstwerk (a ‘total work of art’). Thompson’s philosophy is that creative spaces are always evolving and should have flexibility embedded in their design so they can adapt to shifts in function or mood.
Atelier is layered and textural, and woven throughout are intriguing pieces which demonstrate that interiors are intensely personal. Clothes are hung like artworks to give the sense of a moment captured in time, and discarded apple boxes act as bedside tables. These are offset by a vintage chair, a hand-crafted lamp and a luxurious rug to convey the importance of both ‘high’ and ‘low’ material culture, or the perceived value of pieces. Thompson designed the room to engage the senses and generate an emotional response through the movement and play of light as well as ambient music commissioned specially for the installation.
Photographer Martyn Thompson began his career making clothes before deciding to document them instead. He worked as a fashion photographer in Sydney and Paris, then in London, where his scope broadened into the world of interiors and still life.
The 1990s saw the development of his idiosyncratic lifestyle photography – illustrating a string of magazine editorials, Ilse Crawfords first book, the best-selling "Sensual Home" and the highly successful River Cafe cook books. He has also worked with leading global brands such as Hermés, Tiffany, Ralph Lauren and Jo Malone while also authoring his own two books, Interiors and Working Space: An insight into the Creative Heart. A resident of New York since 1999, Thompson founded Martyn Thompson Studio in 2013, which has since evolved to include textile and wallpaper design, homewares and limited-edition art.
The human essentials of shelter, sanctuary, hygiene and intimacy have remained largely unchanged for thousands of years, but technology is rapidly altering how we respond to those needs. Digital devices and the Internet of Things have evolved to be integrated into our lives. Their presence is pervasive within our living environments and is changing our sensory responses to the physical and emotional spaces we dwell in. Exposure to blue light from screens, the isolation of sound by headphones and continued exposure to new imagery have changed the way we interact with objects, and our rituals and relationships.
The outer layer of this installation is wrapped in black gloss tiles edged with blue light, representing the intangible dimensions of the digital world. Meanwhile, in the centre of the space, the kitchen, living and sleeping zones are handmade, tactile and textural, their earthy qualities representing our natural needs. The contrast between these two realms represents the convergence of and tension between two fundamental aspects of our domestic lives and question whether the digital age, fuelled by a human desire for complexity and innovation, is in turn leading us to yearn for uncomplicated natural simplicity in our physical spaces.
Richards Stanisich is a Sydney-based design practice that works across large and small projects in retail, residential, hospitality and commercial sectors. Their approach to design is simple. They want to create space that make you feel something and believe every project is an opportunity to build on existing ideas and to re-think new possibilities. They aim to do this with intention and integrity, without compromising on craft and beauty.
Jonathan Richards and Kirsten Stanisich have worked together for decades, leading their studio SJB for ten years. Formally SJB, Kirsten and Jonathan established Richards Stanisich in 2018, as a studio that continues their ‘inside out’ approach to interior design and architecture. Put simply, this means we look beyond the inside space and take cues from the building, history, people, and natural environment. This leads to spaces that are crafted with integrity and intention.
The project for the Rigg Design Prize 2018 is the first project launched under the new studio title.
According to architect Scott Weston, the interior of a space is equally as important as the built form it sits within. Weston is currently renovating his own home, a grand 1889 Victorian Italianate terrace called Villa Carmelina, as a showcase of his passion for colour, pattern, texture, light and art.
The sequence of six rooms in this installation is an abstract representation of Villa Carmelina set up as monochromatic dioramas with coloured highlights. The artworks, sculptures, objects and collectables featured in the wallpaper vignettes are items Weston has gathered throughout his life.
Each of the six rooms features a ‘wunderkammer’, a repository of wondrous and exotic ornaments, materials and finishes. Within each of these cabinets, Weston has displayed prized ‘jewels’ created in miniature form by six of his most admired artists. Weston describes them as things that provide him with wonder and delight: the macabrely beautiful forms created from tiny bones by Linde Ivimey; the exquisite intricacy of Benja Harney’s paper sculptures; Reuben Paterson’s light-refracting glitter artworks; Di Holdsworth’s extraordinary automata assemblages; the tactile pleasures of Kirsten Frederick’s knitted Angora wool work; and Maris Cummins’s intricate Japanese glass beading.
Recognised for its award-winning architectural, interior and graphic design projects, Simon Weston's design practice was established in 1997. Weston graduated from the UTS Sydney with first-class honours and the University gold medal; he spent the next two years travelling abroad. While on scholarships in Rome and the United Kingdom, he studied at the Royal College of Art in London.
The mutli-disciplinary office has tackled a diverse range of projects, including the Royal Children's Hospital Entertainment Complex in Brisbane, shop fitouts for Brad Nagata Hair Direction, and an award-winning house for former Vogue editor Kirstie Clements, as well as an Art Deco apartment for Deborah Thomas, former editor of The Australian Women’s Weekly. The practice has also won a number of awards in exhibition design from James Hardie, Vogue Living, Abet Laminati, and Art park which exhibited in Heimtextil, Frankfurt.
Scott has created fascinating spaces for education facilities including Bankstown Girl's High School and Capricorn childcare centre and is renowned for his innovative use of colour. As an architect, Scott believes the interior of a space is just as important as the built form it sits within.
Welcome to the Imaginarium by designer Sibella Court. This redefined room in the home is steeped in history and is inspired by sixteenth-century ‘cabinets of curiosity’. These small ‘wonder rooms’ housed collections of objects and invited show and tell, speculation, storytelling and long discussion.
The room is inhabited by a family whose library of life’s souvenirs is displayed on a large feature wall, which acts as the family’s own cabinet of curiosity. The various spaces offer glimpses of the family’s lifestyle and activities: the steel-framed curved-glass wall of an alchemy workshop, a whimsical crow’s nest from a ship, a bar, a playful dress-up cupboard, a pot-belly stove, a custom dining table that doubles as a research station, and a transitional bed and lounge.
The Imaginarium is a place to wonder, imagine, interact, research and create. An entire home is distilled into a room whose elements are part real and part imagined. Its foundation materials are from the natural world and are layered with textures and colours that are both ancient and modern. The space celebrates the craftsmen that created everything within it. Every object – whether found, new or fantastical – is a catalyst for memory and imagination.
Originally embarking on her career path as a stylist in Sydney, Sibella Court began her career in editorial and advertising during ten years she spent in New York. On returning to Sydney, Sibella founded The Society inc, showcasing treasures and curiosities sourced from around the globe. Former clients include Palmer & Co, Mr Wong, Hotel Palisade, Ms. G's, The Oaks, Upstairs at The Beresford, The Blue Room Bondi, Old Joe's, El Loco and The Fish Shop. Her most recent project is Bullo River Station, a remote luxury cattle station stay that will see its new chapter guided by Sibella’s creative direction.
Sibella has also written award-winning and best-selling books including Etcetera, The Stylist's Guide to NYC, Nomad, Bowerbird and Gypsy, with her sixth book IMAGINARIUM released in July 2018. In 2015 she hosted ABC's Restoration Australia.
An interior stylist, historian, creative director, product designer and globetrotter, Sibella is never happy to sit still and always on the move gaining fresh ideas and experiences. She claims to be part Gypsy, part Pirate; a theory yet to be disproved.
The intent of this installation is to conjure an emotional, and possibly nostalgic, connection to the table as an object. The controlled, minimal palette allows the many interpretations of the table form to become visible. The designers have set out to transcend the idea of the table as merely objectified furniture by stripping the structure back to its most basic and recognisable form so that aesthetics become secondary.
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