South Magdalen Laundry at Abbotsford Convent, Abbotsford \/ 14\u201324 May<\/p>\n
A follow-up of sorts to 2025 Melbourne Design Week\u2019s 100 Lights, this exhibition, unexpectedly called 100 Chairs<\/a>, explores the industry\u2019s favourite piece of furniture: the chair. Presented by Friends and Associates, this year\u2019s exhibition will actually feature 120 chairs (I know, I know, but 120 Chairs doesn\u2019t have the same ring to it, does it?), with each submitting creative asked to design and make the piece in Australia.<\/p>\n Some of these creatives have never designed a chair before, while for others, this is their bread and butter. I\u2019m looking forward to seeing the work of some interesting collaborations, most notably Adelaidians Studio Gram and Daniel Emma working together, designer-client collaborators Foolscap and Alpha60 joining forces again, and talented emerging makers Bel Williams and Claire Markwick-Smith coming together to make a chair to call their own.<\/p>\n On at Abbotsford Convent from 14 to 24 May, 100 Chairs looks to be a perfect sit-uation.<\/p>\n Susty Spec<\/a> chosen by Lucia Amies, ArchitectureAu editor<\/p>\n Johnson Street Building at Collingwood Yards, Collingwood \/ 16 May <\/p>\n Hemp, bamboo, cork, mycelium. These are words that get an architect\u2019s pulse racing. Four years ago, they had the same effect on architect Isabella Peppard, who took on the goal of researching locally made biomaterials in order to find out how they could be more readily adopted by the construction industry to reduce carbon emissions.<\/p>\n Through her media platform Susty Spec, Peppard took to interviewing Australian manufacturers on the regenerative nature of their materials and processes. This one-day exhibition (plus launch party!) continues her line of questioning, focussing on practical solutions and how one might go about specifying biomaterials \u2013 many of which will be on display \u2013 and how to coordinate their integration in building projects.<\/p>\n View gallery<\/p>\n Gordon Studio Glassblowers, Red Hill \/ 17 May <\/p>\n God, who doesn\u2019t love glassblowing? I still remember vividly when I first saw a glassblower in action. I was a little kid visiting a vocational college open day (a weird choice of activity for a child, in retrospect), and there was a bloke with a blowtorch making glass swans for anyone who asked.<\/p>\n An utterly transfixing, transforming moment, watching him work. It was a type of alchemy. Sure he had the most burnt fingers you can imagine and was bearing more than one fresh bandaid (it was a college after all) but it was clear that it was a kind of magic that few crafts can touch \u2013 a fact that becomes more apparent as the artform becomes less and less common. <\/p>\n The demos at the highly acclaimed Gordon Studio Glassblowers is a rare opportunity to experience that magic first hand among artists at the top of their field. Not to be missed.<\/p>\n View gallery<\/p>\n Table Manners<\/a> chosen by Alexa Kempton, Houses editor<\/p>\n Florian Home, Carlton North \/ 14\u201317 May <\/p>\n The title Table Manners first brought to my mind the formal dinner setting of Julia Roberts\u2019s scene in Pretty Woman, where using the wrong fork constitutes a social faux pas. \u201cWhere\u2019s the salad?\u201d she whispers anxiously. \u201cThat\u2019s the fork I know.\u201d<\/p>\n Mercifully, this exhibition \u2013 set inside homewares store Florian Home \u2013 shuns such stuffy dinner party etiquette and instead questions why the design of cutlery has remained standardised, when eating itself is so personal.<\/p>\n Curated by Georgia Smedley, Table Manners will comprise one-off sets of cutlery produced by 12 contemporary designers and makers, including Belle Thierry, Hamish Munro, Hamish Donaldson, Julian Leigh May<\/a>, Ryan Mueller, Sebasti\u00e3o Lobo, Snelling Studio<\/a>, Soie Lait, Streifen, Studio Yeodong Yun, Studio Kyss<\/a> and Tai Snaith. They will be set alongside historical and contemporary cutlery pieces restored by Arne and Nicolette from The Kraftsman, and in so doing the exhibition hopes to prompt visitors to consider what dining habits we have inherited, and which of those we might unlearn.<\/p>\n View gallery<\/p>\n Le Space, Collingwood \/ 14\u201324 May <\/p>\n Cane toads are a highly destructive invasive species in Australia. They\u2019re also fascinating, being highly adaptable, about to reproduce at a very fast rate, and very poisonous. Lisa Tabrah who has curated this exhibition creates projects that demonstrate how environmental issues are also cultural issues. Tabrah produced cane toad couture for MONA\u2019s Eat the Problem project which argued that one way to deal with destructive invasive species was to consume them.<\/p>\n I\u2019m intrigued by the alchemic act of transforming something ugly or low-value into something beautiful or high-value. Design is about turning challenges into opportunities \u2013 and this exhibition seems to be aiming to do just that.<\/p>\n View gallery<\/p>\n![\"Hempcrete](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/4314e9ac864cb3d65941f3f8b1690be0.png\")
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