Saturday Indesign dazzled Sydney on Saturday 21 May, 2022. Set in the best design showrooms right across the city, Saturday Indesign literally, and figuratively, transported thousands of designers, architects and design enthusiasts across town to the best design showrooms who opened their doors to create an unforgettable design experience. 

Part of this transformation of the harbour city included  never before seen collaborative installations between exhibiting brands and creative partners as part of ‘The Project’. The Project is one of the most highly anticipated features of Saturday Indesign. A jewel in the crown of the SID program, providing architects, designers and other creatives the ability to work in conjunction with exhibiting companies and their products to create installations, visual displays and interactive experiences within showroom spaces. 

This year, The Project was themed around regeneration, prompting exhibitors, creatives and attendees alike to consider their role in a society which is reawakening after a pandemic-induced slumber. As we re-emerge, the stark realities of climate destruction, mass wastage, and a lack of true human connection are issues we as an industry need to address.

Every installation at SID provided attendees with the opportunity to interact with some of the country’s foremost design organisations and experience never before seen installations. Visitors had the chance to vote for their favourite The Project installation, and we are excited to officially announce the winner of The Project people’s choice: Kaolin Tiles in collaboration with ARM Architecture!!

People’s Choice winner of 2022 The Project Kaolin Tiles x ARM Architecture 

Cleverly designed by ARM Architecture and crafted by Kaolin, a circular patterned installation spoke to the visitor, where Regeneration became fully realised at a given point or moment in time. As a permanent fixture in Kaolin’s impressive new showroom, the scale, detail, interactivity and depth of meaning of the creation amazed attendees.

Mark Raggatt, Director of ARM Architecture, provided the following words on the project’s meaning and it’s response to the brief:

“To REGENERATE is to grow again, or bring new life and vigour, to be reborn. What more perfect theme could we be given after all we’ve been through.

How can we reflect on this recent past and see a new future? Can we hope to be reborn?

We are not the first to ask these questions. Hans Holbein the Younger painted The Ambassadors in 1533. At the base of the painting is a dark smudge, an incomprehensible blemish it would seem but standing in just the right spot, looking from the perfect vantage point we would see a skull emerging from the painting. The skull is a perspectival anamorph a distorted image revealed only through the foreshortening of perspective created by our viewing.

The word anamorph is derived from the Greek prefix -ana meaning ‘again’ and the word morphe meaning shape or form – literally again-form or to shape again, or perhaps to REGENERATE.

Here, we placed a mirrored cone on the contorted Kaolin tiles, the reflection in the mirror reveals an undistorted checkerboard, this anamorph is called a conical catoptic or mirrored anamorph. But in this mirror is something else what seems like a white streak across the tile is regenerated as the word Eternity in the conical mirror.

Eternity is part of the folklore of Sydney. Arthur Stace woke at 4am most mornings to chalk Eternity on the streets of Sydney. Surely this Eternity is the hope of regeneration for the world – that this time it will all last forever. A hope that this regenerated reflection will linger in the mirror.”

Voting was tight, with seven other authentic and exceptional installations across the event footprint, The Project was an absolute star along the extensive design trail laid out by Saturday Indesign 2022. Here are some of the highlights: 

1. Stormtech x Squillace

Visitors were guided through the exhibition space by illuminated cubes containing Stormtech’s product off cuts, showcasing Stormtech’s practice of recycling and sustainability. Renewing and re-using products to reduce the environmental footprint is leading to growth and new versions of what has been. At the end of the path experience an immersive display was reached demonstrating growth, renewal and flexibility.

2. Anterior XL x Plus Architecture

Through various iterations, Plus Architecture and Anterior XL were able to develop a demountable structural system that is easily used to stack stone slabs, creating a piece that restores its sculptural qualities. It is a prototype that involves cutting up a stone slab, with the concept that after the exhibition, it can be taken apart and reused for other purposes if required.

3. Porter’s Paints x PTW

To replicate the psychological transformation of being “reborn”, Porter’s Paints and PTW decided to reference colour strategies from a variety of influences such as Johannes Itten, Joseph Albers, Sanzo Wada, experimenting with colour action, layering and in turn creating a journey of colour interaction.

4. Wilkhahn x Geyer

Geyer and Wilkhahn took visitors through a journey of the evolution of the workplace, a transcendental and experiential installation that connected past, present and future. Anchored in the exploration of Wilkhahn’s iconic FS line, which has seen iterations and regenerations since its launch in 1980, the project brought a mix of physical, visual and augmented reality mediums to represent the workplace multiverse.

5. SeehoSu x Hammond Studio

SeehoSu’s approach to “regeneration” demonstrated how effortlessly good design and sustainability can be achieved when nature, knowledge and craftsmanship is inherently embedded in each and every piece of their furniture.

Collaborating with the talented team at Hammond Studio, this The Project installation invited visitors to come and reconnect with industry peers in the iconic Molo lounge. 

6. Maker&Son x Liv Green 

This collaboration created an Indoor Forest at the Maker&Son Alexandria Showroom transforming the space into another world including an indoor forest experience complete with trees and bracken throughout. 

7. Ignite Fireplace x Billy Blue

Teaming with Ignite, the students of Billy Blue College of Design at Torrens University regenerated the fireside experience with the best of Australian design and crafting.

Utilising the concept of DAY/NIGHT, they looked to challenge the role of the fireplace in the contemporary home by igniting the senses.

With Saturday Indesign returning to Melbourne in 2023, now is the time to express your interest in getting involved! Register your interest in participating in The Project here.