Flip the switch: Design Week starts with lights on show

The Advertiser

14-05-2025

Of more than 350 events and exhibitions for Melbourne Design Week, it's easy to pick which one shines brightest.
At North Melbourne's Meat Market Stables, the free exhibition 100 LIGHTS illuminates the work of more than 100 Australian designers, from moody bar lighting, to chandeliers worthy of a concert hall.
One standout is Seven Flowers and a Tall Vase, by Moroccan-born and Melbourne-based designer Abdé Nouamani.
On top of a walnut plinth in a polished cast aluminium vase sits a display of lights on stems.
Just like the blooms in a real bunch of flowers, they can be rearranged, because each light has been designed to be moveable.
The lights are housed in aluminium cups that were cut out from a Dutch pancake pan, explained Nouamani.
"I chopped them up and polished them to bring them that shine... they were the perfect lamp holder for the lamps that I was using," he said.
Sundown Lighting's Ripple Chandelier is made from timber shaped into waves, while Ross Gardam's Aeris light is constructed from mouth-blown glass "clouds" fixed to brass bars.
It all shines a light on the inventiveness of local designers, and the variety of materials in play.
There are attractions on a smaller scale too, such as an Igloo sconce from Giffin Design, which shines through a solid block of clear glass, highlighting tiny bubbles of air trapped inside.
And there are quirky pieces on show, like the Wavy Lamp from Luke James, made for a vintage clothing store using vintage Levi's denim.
Issues around lighting - or the lack of it - are a feature of the Design Week program in other ways also.
Illuminating Darkness: Shining a Light on Women's Safety in Running looks at how urban design impacts on safety for female runners.
A discussion session at Collingwood Yards with Katherine Newton and Tom Robertson of V1 Studios will be followed by a 5km run, with participants wearing headlamps to light the way.
More than 195,000 people work in design fields in Victoria, adding $6 billion to the state's economy each year.
The sixth annual Melbourne Design Week Award went to lighting designer Volker Haug, who has staged an exhibition of his studio's groundbreaking work over the past 20 years.
"Having a retrospective exhibition as well getting this award, that was a really beautiful piece of recognition from the Australian and Melbourne design market," said Haug.
Melbourne Design Week runs from Thursday until May 25, while 100 LIGHTS runs until Sunday.
Of more than 350 events and exhibitions for Melbourne Design Week, it's easy to pick which one shines brightest.
At North Melbourne's Meat Market Stables, the free exhibition 100 LIGHTS illuminates the work of more than 100 Australian designers, from moody bar lighting, to chandeliers worthy of a concert hall.
One standout is Seven Flowers and a Tall Vase, by Moroccan-born and Melbourne-based designer Abdé Nouamani.
On top of a walnut plinth in a polished cast aluminium vase sits a display of lights on stems.
Just like the blooms in a real bunch of flowers, they can be rearranged, because each light has been designed to be moveable.
The lights are housed in aluminium cups that were cut out from a Dutch pancake pan, explained Nouamani.
"I chopped them up and polished them to bring them that shine... they were the perfect lamp holder for the lamps that I was using," he said.
Sundown Lighting's Ripple Chandelier is made from timber shaped into waves, while Ross Gardam's Aeris light is constructed from mouth-blown glass "clouds" fixed to brass bars.
It all shines a light on the inventiveness of local designers, and the variety of materials in play.
There are attractions on a smaller scale too, such as an Igloo sconce from Giffin Design, which shines through a solid block of clear glass, highlighting tiny bubbles of air trapped inside.
And there are quirky pieces on show, like the Wavy Lamp from Luke James, made for a vintage clothing store using vintage Levi's denim.
Issues around lighting - or the lack of it - are a feature of the Design Week program in other ways also.
Illuminating Darkness: Shining a Light on Women's Safety in Running looks at how urban design impacts on safety for female runners.
A discussion session at Collingwood Yards with Katherine Newton and Tom Robertson of V1 Studios will be followed by a 5km run, with participants wearing headlamps to light the way.
More than 195,000 people work in design fields in Victoria, adding $6 billion to the state's economy each year.
The sixth annual Melbourne Design Week Award went to lighting designer Volker Haug, who has staged an exhibition of his studio's groundbreaking work over the past 20 years.
"Having a retrospective exhibition as well getting this award, that was a really beautiful piece of recognition from the Australian and Melbourne design market," said Haug.
Melbourne Design Week runs from Thursday until May 25, while 100 LIGHTS runs until Sunday.
Of more than 350 events and exhibitions for Melbourne Design Week, it's easy to pick which one shines brightest.
At North Melbourne's Meat Market Stables, the free exhibition 100 LIGHTS illuminates the work of more than 100 Australian designers, from moody bar lighting, to chandeliers worthy of a concert hall.
One standout is Seven Flowers and a Tall Vase, by Moroccan-born and Melbourne-based designer Abdé Nouamani.
On top of a walnut plinth in a polished cast aluminium vase sits a display of lights on stems.
Just like the blooms in a real bunch of flowers, they can be rearranged, because each light has been designed to be moveable.
The lights are housed in aluminium cups that were cut out from a Dutch pancake pan, explained Nouamani.
"I chopped them up and polished them to bring them that shine... they were the perfect lamp holder for the lamps that I was using," he said.
Sundown Lighting's Ripple Chandelier is made from timber shaped into waves, while Ross Gardam's Aeris light is constructed from mouth-blown glass "clouds" fixed to brass bars.
It all shines a light on the inventiveness of local designers, and the variety of materials in play.
There are attractions on a smaller scale too, such as an Igloo sconce from Giffin Design, which shines through a solid block of clear glass, highlighting tiny bubbles of air trapped inside.
And there are quirky pieces on show, like the Wavy Lamp from Luke James, made for a vintage clothing store using vintage Levi's denim.
Issues around lighting - or the lack of it - are a feature of the Design Week program in other ways also.
Illuminating Darkness: Shining a Light on Women's Safety in Running looks at how urban design impacts on safety for female runners.
A discussion session at Collingwood Yards with Katherine Newton and Tom Robertson of V1 Studios will be followed by a 5km run, with participants wearing headlamps to light the way.
More than 195,000 people work in design fields in Victoria, adding $6 billion to the state's economy each year.
The sixth annual Melbourne Design Week Award went to lighting designer Volker Haug, who has staged an exhibition of his studio's groundbreaking work over the past 20 years.
"Having a retrospective exhibition as well getting this award, that was a really beautiful piece of recognition from the Australian and Melbourne design market," said Haug.
Melbourne Design Week runs from Thursday until May 25, while 100 LIGHTS runs until Sunday.
Of more than 350 events and exhibitions for Melbourne Design Week, it's easy to pick which one shines brightest.
At North Melbourne's Meat Market Stables, the free exhibition 100 LIGHTS illuminates the work of more than 100 Australian designers, from moody bar lighting, to chandeliers worthy of a concert hall.
One standout is Seven Flowers and a Tall Vase, by Moroccan-born and Melbourne-based designer Abdé Nouamani.
On top of a walnut plinth in a polished cast aluminium vase sits a display of lights on stems.
Just like the blooms in a real bunch of flowers, they can be rearranged, because each light has been designed to be moveable.
The lights are housed in aluminium cups that were cut out from a Dutch pancake pan, explained Nouamani.
"I chopped them up and polished them to bring them that shine... they were the perfect lamp holder for the lamps that I was using," he said.
Sundown Lighting's Ripple Chandelier is made from timber shaped into waves, while Ross Gardam's Aeris light is constructed from mouth-blown glass "clouds" fixed to brass bars.
It all shines a light on the inventiveness of local designers, and the variety of materials in play.
There are attractions on a smaller scale too, such as an Igloo sconce from Giffin Design, which shines through a solid block of clear glass, highlighting tiny bubbles of air trapped inside.
And there are quirky pieces on show, like the Wavy Lamp from Luke James, made for a vintage clothing store using vintage Levi's denim.
Issues around lighting - or the lack of it - are a feature of the Design Week program in other ways also.
Illuminating Darkness: Shining a Light on Women's Safety in Running looks at how urban design impacts on safety for female runners.
A discussion session at Collingwood Yards with Katherine Newton and Tom Robertson of V1 Studios will be followed by a 5km run, with participants wearing headlamps to light the way.
More than 195,000 people work in design fields in Victoria, adding $6 billion to the state's economy each year.
The sixth annual Melbourne Design Week Award went to lighting designer Volker Haug, who has staged an exhibition of his studio's groundbreaking work over the past 20 years.
"Having a retrospective exhibition as well getting this award, that was a really beautiful piece of recognition from the Australian and Melbourne design market," said Haug.
Melbourne Design Week runs from Thursday until May 25, while 100 LIGHTS runs until Sunday.