Table of contents for INDESIGN #94 in INDESIGN

Hello! It is with absolute pleasure that I have joined forces with the creative drive of Indesign to craft the 25 Year Anniversary issue. Congratulations! Exploring the Issue theme of “Celebration”, we asked some of the very first architects, designers, and artists the magazine covered to share a recent project and a few words. The most compelling discovery was the simple fact that great creatives continue to make great work (In Focus p.86), and, that Indesign has been right there supporting them from the start. Celebrating 25 years of Indesign, we pushed the issue deep into the world of celebration, with joy a deciding factor for every project or person selected for this incredible issue. How we celebrate, the hotels we love, the bars that spark trysts, chefs and artists…

Proudly partnered by Andrew Tu’inukuafe Chairman and Principal, Warren and Mahoney | Aotearoa / New Zealand Barrington Gohns Principal and Sydney Studio Head of Design, Warren and Mahoney | Australia John Wardle Founder and Partner, Wardle I Australia Joyce Wang Founder and Principal, Joyce Wang Studio | London & Hong Kong Ong Tze Boon Group Executive Chairman, ONG&ONG Architecture | Singapore…

An early bloomer in the interiors world, David Hicks has persevered through a three-decade tenure within the industry, twenty-five of those under the weight and freedom of his eponymous studio. He now speaks with a calibrated self-awareness. “I see in all my past projects the attention to detail and craftsmanship that I always imbue,” he comments. “Some of the finishes and detailing may be different. However, the core of what I create is there.” While Hicks’ design identity cannot be confined to an era or style, he describes his influences as layered rather than linear: French modernism, Japanese detailing, Italian vintage, antiquities, and Persian rugs – the list goes on. “I do not feel I am designing between identities, rather amalgamating them into a new one: mine.” For Hicks, design…

DISSH Armadale Brahman Perera Wurundjeri Country/Armadale, Victoria Brick-and-mortar retail has been undergoing a quiet but significant reinvention. After years of online outlets promoting ease, a successful store is no longer just a place to transact, it is a spatial extension and signifier of the brand. In this context, retail offers a chance to foster belonging, invite pause, and heighten connection. For interior designer Brahman Perera, these evolving expectations shaped every decision for the fit-out of DISSH Armadale – the first Melbourne standalone flagship for the Australian fashion label. The original site was rich in character but worn down by time. “It was an old, dilapidated dry cleaner with equipment, clothing, even vintage sewing machines left behind,” Perera says, noting that, “The place had spirit.” With plenty of history and a…

TAOA 798 Studio TAOA Beijing Two significant elements drove the site selection for TAOA’s new studio. The first is the location in Beijing’s 798 Art District. The second was the condition of the existing building. To understand the context, Beijing’s 798 Art District is home to both the 798 Photo Gallery and the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art. With open air cafés and art installations lining the streets, the district, also known as Dashanzi, is Beijing’s go-to area for a hipster lifestyle. It is also an industrial heritage park with decommissioned military factories (including the eponymous Factory 798, which produced electronics), housing an assortment of art-centric spaces that have continued to evolve. “The entire area pulses with a raw vitality and freedom, standing in stark contrast to the surrounding commercial…

Surry Hills Village + Wunderlich Lane SJB, ASPECT Studios + Studio Prineas Gadigal Country/Surry Hills Making a precinct is the epitome of collaboration, with thinkers starting early and interiors giving depth. Surry Hills Village is the dream project of SJB, ASPECT Studios and Studio Prineas, who worked together from inception. Approaching the project from a local perspective, with all three practices having a close relationship with Surry Hills, the aim was to create a precinct that would be used and useful for the exiting residents, but sufficiently of scale and breadth to support a changing demographic and act as a drawcard for the area now, and into the years to come. Spanning some 12,244 square metres and technically in Redfern, the multi-use precinct occupies the block bordered by Baptist, Cleveland,…

The Standard Singapore Interior Designer Ministry of Design Design Team Colin Seah, Joyce Low, Damien Saive, Kevin Leong, Fon Lertrattanakit, Zhang Hang, Karyl Tan, Ahlina Ismail, Lisa Koswara, Chan Mingli, Richard Herman, Tasminah Ali, Rais Rahman, Iqbal Yusof, Azilawanti Wati Architect Consultant DP Architects Builder Sanchoon Builders Landscape Consultant DP Green MEP + Structural Engineer DP Engineers Lighting Consultant KLAASEN Lighting Design QS Consultant OHA Global MINISTRY OF DESIGN modonline.com Finishes Timber veneer + tiles + terrazzo + paint + heat-transfer metal + mesh + vinyl wallpaper, Sunray Woodcraft. Green & gold mosaic tiles, Sonite Innovative Surfaces. Limewashed special finish paint, Paints 101. Agglotech terrazzo, Surface Stone. Silestone, calypso + royal reef, Cosentino. Nature Proxi haze grey sheer fabric, Bodhi Fabrics. Custom pattern Axminster rugs + carpet, Royal Thai. Lifts,…

Colin Seah Founder and Design Director, Ministry of Design Undeniably one of the nicest people in the design world, the Singapore-based founder and design director of the Ministry of Design (MOD), Colin Seah, is an acknowledged expert in the world of creatives. Named as Luminary award winner in the INDE.Awards 2024, he has twice been the recipient of Singapore’s highest design accolade, the President’s Design Award. He is also a three-time Grand Prize Winner of the Gold Key Award, the highest international hospitality accolade. Founding MOD in 2004 with life partner Joy Chan Seah, the practice has gone from strength to strength with 140 projects realised across 30 cities. Moreover, since 2020 Colin has worked with the Singapore Tourism Board to redefine Singapore as a destination. Architecturally trained in the…

While food is integral to life and work for Darren Teoh, it is also the conduit for touching people’s lives, creating connection and changing perceptions of local cuisine, and marks this chef as a trailblazer. Growing up in Malyasia, food was central to celebrations, as in most families, and Teoh enjoyed an idyllic childhood with thoughts of becoming an astronaut or conquering the world – the latter he has achieved, but perhaps not as he might have imagined. While academia was not Teoh’s forte, his father recognised his intellect and was determined to help find the best professional path for his son. Attending an educational fair, the idea of hospitality management appealed to the young Teoh and, at his father’s insistence, there was study ahead, first with a diploma and…

The established, Indian-born Melbourne based artist and curator is widely known for his emboldened studies of colour and form. His fashion performance pieces extend this passionate language. Form from the Formless, made with gouache and pencil on paper and mounted on collapsible music stands, is a silent tribute to both idioms and one of four bodies of work installed in Sequeira’s solo exhibition The Shape of Music. The work’s colour applications are reminiscent of modernist Josef Albers’ endlessly pleasing tonal squares. It is a dialogue Sequeira has cultivated throughout his artistic life. He is happy to speak of passionate affinities with the work of Sonia Delaunay and Sol LeWitt, among others. The artist’s candour is engaging and authentic, it is also a critical step in understanding what drives his intricately…

Lane 23 K2LD Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia From sequined short-shorts and sneakers to Balenciaga and Gucci, Lane 23 is an extravaganza of nightclubbing hospitality that caters with precision. Dreamt up by close friends following an amazing night out in Kuala Lumpur (KL), the dream shifted to reality, with Melbourne- and KL-based practice, K2LD taking on the project. The clients had recently moved to KL from Shanghai and were witnessing the emergence of the Tun Razak Exchange (TRX), the international business and financial district of KL. To give a sense of scale, the 28-hectare Lendlease mixed-use development will include 3,800 apartments and 28,300 car spaces. This is big, and Lane 23 is the first multi-level hospitality venue within the precinct, which has already attracted around 400 big names in retail with a…

Bundarra Smart Design Studio + Those Architects Gadigal Country/Sydney At the bustling corner of South Dowling and Fitzroy Streets stands Bundarra, a striking architectural intervention that has transformed a prominent site into Sydney’s eastern gateway to Surry Hills. Named after the site’s original Victorian terrace, the project marries an extraordinary contemporary addition with heritage in a seamless dialogue between Smart Design Studio’s exterior architecture and Those Architects’ interior response. What commenced as a speculative commercial development for five separate tenancies, evolved into the single-occupant headquarters for leading creative agency Howatson+Company. William Smart, founder of Smart Design Studio, approached the site with a deliberate urban study. “We identified this as the entrance to Surry Hills. Our thinking evolved to – perhaps this could be a gateway and how best to celebrate…

The extraordinary French architect, Manuelle Gautrand, was the first woman to receive the European Prize for Architecture in 2017, and was named commander in the French Order of Arts and Letters in 2023. She has recently completed PHIVE, a major civic project in Paramatta, NSW, and we took the opportunity to speak with her about architecture. Sylvia Weimer What are the main turning points in your life that led you to architecture? Manuelle Gautrand Ever since I was a child, I’ve been strongly attracted to art, and I’ve always believed that architecture has a profoundly artistic dimension. Architecture is not only created to provide shelter, it must also give emotion. Our famous French writer Victor Hugo wrote, “The cities of humans need monuments, otherwise where would be the difference between…

Celebrating INDE.Awards 2025 In late May, the incredible 2025 INDE.Awards jury gathered digitally and in person to deliberate the extraordinary shortlist and determine the Best of the Best. Assessing the submissions was indeed a challenge, however, the 34-strong jury made their decision, and the winning projects were chosen. At a stunning celebration in Sydney, the talent within the Indo-Pacific region was recognised, with an evening of announcements at the VIP Gala event at the end of July. This year, entries came from across the Indo-Pacific and speak of diversity and passion. With a calibre of excellence across all categories, the INDE.Awards is the go-to program for determining those architects, designers, interiors specialists, and product designers at the forefront of the architecture and design industry today. We congratulate the shortlisted, honourable…

JLL continues to shine as the go-to resource for an all-inclusive solution. Each JLL project, while unique, is underpinned by the core focus of location, purpose and context. Effectively this approach forms the foundation of JLL’s project and development services (PDS); offering bespoke solutions informed by the research and data that JLL has become renowned for. One of the world’s largest and most diverse commercial real estate firms, notably recognised amongst the top 200 companies on the prestigious Fortune 500 list, JLL has been delivering projects in Australia for over 25 years. The PDS offering has evolved with the market, and their inhouse team is now celebrated for creating high functioning workspaces that are precisely aligned to end user needs. This begins with the collaboration of JLL’s Design and Advisory…

This year’s Milan Salone was exceptional, with some outstanding pieces and collections on offer from all the world’s greatest designers. In particular, we were impressed by the new collections from Maruni Wood Industry. With wood as the foundational material for each piece, the designs from Naoto Fukasawa, Jasper Morrison, and Cecilie Manz had a natural elegance that immediately caught our attention. We were so impressed, in fact, that we followed up Milan with a trip to Tokyo to experience the new collections in full. The collection from Naoto Fukasawa, comprising the Meguro lounge chair and ottoman, feature a beautiful and softly contoured backrest and seat. The organic shape is synonymous with Natoto Fukasawa’s design, and for this range he worked closely with a craftsman to create the subtle curves. With…

EDITORS Raj Nandan, Siobhan O’Brien, Paul McGillick, Penelope Barker, Mandi Keighran, Jan Henderson, Sophia Watson, Alice Blackwood, Gillian Serisier. GUEST EDITORS Patrick McGillick, Leanne Amodeo, Caroline Clements, Tracey Ingram, Adam Haddow, William Smart, Rachel Nolan & Patrick Kennedy, Colin Seah. ART DIRECTION Wishart Design, Sylvia Weimer – Spacelab Design, Marcus Piper, Jo Morley, Louise Gault, Olga Okun, Sarah King, Lauren Babula, Christopher Holt, Julia Gee, Kaysan Collins. SATELLITE Design Quarterly, Scene magazine, Saturday Indesign, Indesign Live, Indesign luminary, Milan Indesign, Habitus brand, Habitusliving, Habitus House of The Year, CPD Live, INDE.Awards, Launch Pad, Careers Indesign. DESIGN FAIRS Milan, Spain, Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Shanghai, Japan, Udine, London, Copenhagen, Philippines, Cologne. LAUNCHING Intensify - Clipsal. Brush Out - Wattyl. Boiling Point – Zip Water. Cult - Cult.…

Dawn Ng wants to experience time beyond — or deep within —the ticking dial of a clock, and her artworks are invitations for us to join her. Throughout a body of work that moves between film, photography, painting, sculpture, light boxes, and performance, Ng’s obsession with time has been a constant for the last fifteen years. Its tendrils even extend to her website, which gently arrests pace through text-driven loading animations, and in annual playlists that time-capsule each year in Ng’s studio (these also serve as source material for artwork titles —photographs and paintings are named using song lyrics from that year’s playlist). Over the years, Ng has replaced numerical time with other rhythms and experiences of temporality: a year-long daily ritual of question-and-answer between artist and therapist; immersing audiences…

The Standard, Singapore Ministry of Design Every space is unique, but extensive detailing and excellent resolution is the continuum throughout that results in a refined and layered design. There is a new hotel on the block in the Lion City that is making waves across the globe and it is anything but standard. With the opening of the much anticipated The Standard, Singapore, this latest iteration of the iconic brand is a standout in a city that knows its hotels and expects only the best. Centrally located on the delightfully named Orange Grove Road, The Standard, Singapore, sits between the Singapore Botanic Gardens and the Orchard Road shopping district. As a destination, the hotel offers true Standard style with innovative and cutting-edge design. The interiors have been created by Ministry…

TuBu Studio Renesa Chandigarh, India Chandigarh is easily the greatest attempt at an architectural utopia the world has ever seen and is now a must-see destination for architects and their contemporaries the world over. Forming the capital city of the northern Indian states of Punjab and Haryana, Chandigarh was dreamt up by India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, who, in 1949 engaged the Swiss-French modernist architect Le Corbusier to design his vision. Buildings designed by Le Corbusier of note include the Capitol Complex with its High Court, Secretariat and Legislative Assembly, and the Open Hand Monument, but more than that, Chandigarh is acknowledged as one of the boldest experiments in urban planning and modern architecture of twentieth century India. But Chandigarh fell from grace, as more people moved in and…

Singapore-based artist and creator Alicia C. Kirwan is working at the threshold of art and design with sumptuous installations, bespoke artworks and set dressing all part of her visual language. Working in mediums as diverse as tulle, terracotta, steel, leather, cotton, yarn, and preserved hydrangeas, her work takes its aesthetic inspiration from the lush garden city of Singapore. Guest editor Colin Seah greatly admires her work and gets to the heart of her working practice. Colin Seah Tell me about your mediums, what do you like working with and why? Alicia C. Kirwan As a fibre artist, yarn is my primary medium — not only for its tactile and expressive qualities but also for its deep symbolic resonance. Inspired by the very name of my brand, Beeyarnd (a playful nod…