Turn It On
Sydney Morning Herald
Thursday July 31, 2008
Sydney Design 08 is about to take innovation out of the workshop and into the spotlight.
The flashbulb inspiration for designer David Knott's pendant light came when he was staying with his wife's parents in Lindfield in March. "I was walking through the garden when I spotted a dracaena - they're a drought-resistant plant with a beautiful shape - and thought it would be a great shape for a light," Knott recalls. The 31-year-old stayed back nights working on the project in the Botany studio he occupies as an in-house designer for Sunbeam. By June, he had a prototype. A coiled bulb in the grip of long, pointed, metal leaves, the Dracaena looks less like a desert plant than something taken from the ceiling of the Death Star. Knott's light is one of 30 objects on display at Workshopped 08, a highlight of Sydney Design 08 festival. Founded by Leanne Gibson and Jytte Lauland in 2001, the exhibition showcases new works from Australian designers. Since 2003, it has exhibited in shopping centres - The Strand Arcade and the QVB; this year, with a theme of Why Design Matters, it fills the foyer and shopping area of Chifley Plaza. "People can interact with design, not as something foreign, but can see it on their way to work," explains Gibson.The notion of bringing design to the masses is a major focus of Design 08, which runs from August 8-24. Now in its 12th year, it features events across Sydney, ranging from tours of the Powerhouse Museum's secret collections to markets of innovative products from around the world. The common thread? Design - be it wallpaper or teapots. Stroll through Workshopped 08 and you'll find cylindrical lamps, chairs of all shapes and a wooden credenza that looks like a sawn-off canoe. Of the 32 designers exhibiting, 20 have shown in Workshopped before, including David Knott. "It's a brilliant way of being able to exhibit new work and network with all the other designers, manufacturers and retailers." Since being runner-up in The Sydney Morning Herald Young Designer of the Year awards in 2001 with an innovative set of storage cubes, Knott has entered as many design exhibitions and competitions as possible. And it has paid off. During the 2004 Workshopped, for example, he met the owner of furniture retailer Corporate Culture. He liked Knott's Paperclip tables so much he stocks them with a price tag of $1331. Mostly though, for Knott and other designers at Workshopped, design is about creating things that people walking through Chifley Plaza might one day happily use. "I want to make something that's used, something that's well made with quality materials," Knott says. "There's a throwaway culture and I don't like the idea of contributing to that landfill."Workshopped 08, August 13-23, 9.30am-5.30pm. Chifley Plaza, 2 Chifley Square, city. www.workshopped.com.au.For highlights of Sydney Design 08 visit page 115.
© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald
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