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By Nicholas Carolan

Melbourne Design Week celebrates the infinite possibilities of living in a material world

The second annual celebration of design turns the city into a canvas for the curious

In My Canvas, leading textile design studio Kvadrat Maharam and Italian designer Giulio Ridolfo will showcase a series of unique works using Ridolfo’s distinctive ‘Canvas’ upholstery textile created in collaboration with 19 designers from around the world

Supplied/Courtesy of Kvadrat and Melbourne Design Week

Sci-fi artist Lucy McRae will join a panel conversation that interrogates how design is redefining the dynamic between our bodies and the technologies that they use

Supplied/Courtesy of Lucy McRae and Melbourne Design Week

The award-winning UK-based architect Stephanie Macdonald of 6a architects will discuss her firm’s to designing for the spheres of education, leisure and the arts. Included amongst 6a’s recent projects is their redesign of the German photographer Juergen Teller’s London studio

Supplied/Johan Dehlin courtesy of 6a architects and Melbourne Design Week

In another keynote lecture, Chilean architect Sofia von Ellrichshausen, a founding member of Pezo von Ellrichshausen, will explore her firm’s desire to conflate the worlds of art and architecture through a multidisciplinary practice

Supplied/Courtesy of Pezo von Ellrichshausen and Melbourne Design Week

As part of Open State, the state and city’s design innovators will welcome the public into their showrooms, studios and factories. Participating names include the Australian Islamic Centre, designed by Pritzker Prize winning architect Glenn Murcutt, as well as the furniture makers Tait and Jardan, pictured above

Supplied/Courtesy of Jardan and Melbourne Design Week

Jihan Zencirli, a Turkish-American visual artist who practices under the moniker GERONIMO, creates vast installations using compostable, biodegradable balloons ranging in size. For Melbourne Design Week, she will cover the façade of Hub Furniture in Collingwood in balloons as part of her exploration into how works of design have the power to impart positivity and curiosity on viewers

Supplied/Courtesy of Geronimo and Melbourne Design Week

Ben Landau and Lucile Sciallano of Alterfact will explore the ornamental effects and possibilities of ceramic 3D printing in their exhibition Ornament is fine. The duo use a custom built 3D printer to create ornate decorative forms that double as interior fixtures including doorknobs, taps, vases, mugs and teapots

Supplied/Courters of Alterfact and Melbourne Design Week

Ladies of Leisure will present panel discussion KEEP THE FIRE BURNING as part of Melbourne Art Book Fair 2018

Supplied/Courtesy of Ladies of Leisure and Melbourne Design Week

At Designwork 02, at Sophie Gannon Gallery, the designers Dale Hardiman (pictured above) and Elliat Rich will unveil solo exhibitions exploring the potential of discarded objects and unassuming materials respectively

Supplied/Courtesy of Dale Hardiman and Melbourne Design Week

Artefacts, presented at SPACE@COLLINS, will survey the work of 11 Australian object makers whose work tests the limits of design beyond utility

Courtesy of Melbourne Design Week

In Design Loop, the team behind Denfair, a boutique trade event for contemporary design, will stage a program of instore exhibitions curated from the city’s best design showrooms. Participants in Design Loop will be responding to the theme ‘Celebration of Material’

Supplied/Courtesy of Denfair and Melbourne Design Week

In Blak Is The New Black: Australian First Nations Women in Fashion, Kristy Dickenson of Haus of Dizzy, pictured above, will join other First Nations female designers on a panel discussing how to sensitively incorporate a legacy of Indigenous cultural design and design principles into fashion

Supplied/Courtesy of Haus of Dizzy and Melbourne Design Week

Now in its second year, Melbourne Design Week returns next month and its exhaustive program, released this week, features contributions from both local and international innovators whose work explores the infinite possibilities of life in the material world and beyond.

The comprehensive program contains over 160 events, with focus on local makers disrupting their spheres, sustainability and its role in design to craft a more tenable future and the confluence of the analogue and digital worlds in design practice.

Included amongst the program are a litany of exhibitions celebrating the work of acclaimed Australian designers including Ben Landau, Lucile Sciallano, Elliat Rich and Dale Hardiman. Industry stalwarts working in diverse corners of the international design community will also deliver must-see keynote speakers, including Marcus Fairs, editor-in-chief of Dezeen and Kongjian Yu, founder of acclaimed Chinese landscape architecture firm Turenscape.

Then there’s the return of the beloved Melbourne Art Book Fair, which opens the official Melbourne Design Week program. It’s the fourth annual iteration of the event, which has been expanded this year to include 60 stalls exhibiting works from over 150 publishers, artists and designers who for three free days will showcase some of the world’s best publications documenting the worlds of art, architecture, photography and design. It’s a major component of Melbourne Design Week; one which regularly draws crowds in their thousands and one that isn’t to be missed.

Start swiping above for a look at dozen design highlights appearing as part of the festivities. More information on Melbourne Design Week is available here; further information on the Melbourne Art Book Fair is available here.

Melbourne Design Week exhibitions, events, talks and workshops will be held at NGV International, NGV Australia and at partner venues across the city from March 15 until March 25, 2018.

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topics: NEWS, In Design, CULTURE NEWS, Melbourne Design Week, NGV, National Gallery of Victoria, Design, ART, Events, Ben Landau, Lucile Sciallano, Elliat Rich, Dale Hardiman