Concrete Playground

Design in Australia is exciting and enlightening for the myriad of forms it takes. From functional furniture to meticulous modelling and innovative ideas, all manner of contemporary design is on show this month in DesignNow! 2010 at Sydney’s Object Gallery. This year’s exhibition brings together graduate students from design schools across New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory and is impeccably displayed in the main gallery space.

Emi Fukuda, for her playful jewellery, and Zaki Arif, for his geographically relevant firefighter’s mask, received the Object Award for Creative Innovation, while Amy Carr-Bottomley received the Living Edge Travelling Scholarship for her dynamic Origamic Textiles. Other striking entries to the competition are Jessica Benhar’s Behind the Stuff, Michaela Bruton’s delicate filigree jewellery, Alina McConnochie and Erik Escalante’s hypothetical extension of Beirut and Hannah Ritchie Young’s quirky exploration into how humans react to built environments. Broaden your definition of design this month with DesignNow!

Emi Fukuda, ring from the Childhood Habitat series, 2009. Image by Saskia Wilson.