Super Design is nearly here! Are you ready to experience the latest evolution of design events – where you will select from two weeks of action-packed activations to curate the design festival of your dreams! Choose from intimate showroom tours, exclusive product launches, insightful design discussions and immersive workshop experiences and pick how you connect and where you watch.
Not sure where to start? Over the next few weeks, we’ll be bringing you our Super Design edits to give curated snapshots into the new design dimension, making sure you’ve got all the information you need to ensure your inaugural Super Design experience is one to remember.
Without further ado, let’s kick things off by introducing you to just some of the local, regional and international speakers that are bringing you some of the best design insights, inspiration and behind the scenes knowledge that you’ve ever seen in one lineup. Covering workplace, residential, hospitality and everything in between, this is your all-access pass to some of the industry’s most interesting people and practices whose insights will help forecast the future of the design world.
Join us for Super Design 16-26 November to meet, engage and hear from this incredible lineup.
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In Conversation with Carla Sozzani & Christian Anresen (presented by Cult Design)
Carla Sozzani is well known as the founder of 10 Corso Como, the Milanese concept store – possibly the world’s first ‘concept store’ – which she founded in 1991. She is also a gallerist and editor, having worked with the likes of Bruce Weber and Herb Ritts and collaborated with Azzedine Alaia and Rei Kawakubo. Carla has put on exhibitions with the likes of Annie Leibovitz, Helmut Newton, David La Chappelle and Steven Meisel and has collaborated with Fritz Hansen on a new palette of 16 colours for iconic Arne Jacobsen designs in 2020.
This new palette will form the basis for Carla’s session where she will be joined by Christian Andresen – Head of Design at Fritz Hansen – to explore the process behind creating a new colour palette for one of Fritz Hansen’s most iconic designs, and dive into the importance of colour in design more broadly.
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Global Game Changer: in Conversation with Kelly Hoppen
Kelly Hoppen MBE is a multi-award winning interior designer with over 40 years of experience. Having changed the face of the design industry, she is one of the most sought-after designers of her generation and proudly creates multi-faceted interior spaces all over the world. Kelly’s ever-evolving style, defined by a subtle fusion of clean lines and neutral tones and intuitively balanced with an opulent warmth, has been honoured with numerous prestigious awards and accolades globally.
Kelly has put her stamp on the homes, yachts and jets of private clients as well as commercial projects including hotels, bars, restaurants, offices, super yachts and apartment block developments of magnitude with private function floors. With thousands of projects spanning the last four decades, Kelly’s portfolio boasts a diverse selection of projects and provides “ideation” for brands and hotels across the world.
In recent years, Kelly’s career has expanded into TV and film and in 2014 she launched e-commerce store, kellyhoppen.com.
A dedicated supporter of numerous good causes, and the championing and nurturing of young entrepreneurs, Kelly is an ambassador for the Prince’s Trust and sits on their committee. She is also a proud ambassador for the Government’s GREAT campaign, avid campaigner for anti-bullying, and supporter of the Diana Awards and a connector for BAFTA. In 2017 and 2018, Kelly collaborated with Tess Daly to launch their limited edition TRUST candle, in aid of the Prince’s Trust.
In this exclusive ‘in conversation’, we hear from Kelly on how she started out, her key influences, and how she came to build her design empire.
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Finding the Light: Q&A with Michael Anastassiades (presented by Euroluce)
Michael Anastassiades founded his studio in London in 1994 followed by his eponymous brand in 2007. His work looks to explore contemporary notions of culture and aesthetics through lighting, furniture, objects and spatial design. Through his practice he aims to provoke dialogue, participation and interaction. His designs are most notable for their honest use of materials, familiarity of form and clarity of function. They are at once disciplined and obsessive with a playfulness that inspires a vitality one might not expect.
Anastassiades trained as a civil engineer at London’s Imperial College of Science Technology and Medicine before taking a masters degree in industrial design at the Royal College of Art. His work is featured in permanent collections at the Museum Of Modern Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, the MAK in Vienna, the Crafts Council in London and the FRAC Centre in Orleans France.
The studio has designed products with various manufacturers including Flos, B&B Italia, Herman Miller, Cassina, Bang & Olufsen, Puiforcat, Fratelli Fantini SpA, Lobmeyr, Salvatori, Svenskt Tenn, Carl Auböck/ Sigmar, Coedition and SCP. He has designed signature limited edition collections for Nilufar Gallery, Milan, Dansk Mobelkunst, Copenhagen and Taka Ishii Gallery, Japan.
In this session, Michael will discuss his inspirations and processes when designing. He will also share exclusive insights into his latest collection for Flos – Coordinates.
Register for Michael’s session.
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John Wardle has an international reputation as a design architect. The founder of John Wardle Architects, John is attuned to the importance of detail – it is through the detail that the nature of material, the fit to function and the experience of occupation is expressed. The work of JWA is tailored to place and highly experiential in nature. Diverse in scale and typology, the firm’s portfolio spans domestic dwellings, university buildings, museums and large commercial offices.
The practice has won coveted national and international awards for education, residential and civic design. John was honoured in 2020 with the Gold Medal, the Australian Institute of Architects highest individual distinction. In 2018, the practice was recognised with the RIBA Award for International Excellence. In 2018, JWA’s Somewhere Other was the first Australian work to be presented in the Arsenale at La Biennale di Venezia.
In his session, John will be joined by Camilla and Neil from Durbach Block Jaggers to discuss Sydney’s new Phoenix Central Park. This extraordinary gallery and performance space originated with a flexible, open-ended brief. In this intimate one-hour session, we gain rare insight from both architect and client, as they discuss the inception and fruition of this once-in-a-lifetime project.
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Kitchen Confidential: New Directions in Productions and Design (presented by Winning Appliances)
Kirsten co-founded Richards Stanisich with Jonathan Richards in 2018 after working together for 10 years.
Kirsten enjoys the development of design by innovating and pushing our experience with materials and detailing. She is restless in her pursuit of originality and will imbue a project with a sophisticated palette. She has a wealth of experience across the residential and hospitality sectors and works regularly with large corporate clients on CBD projects.
Kirsten regularly participates in industry events and award systems with her public speaking, participation on judging panels and has held prominent positions in the Design Institute of Australia and was inducted into their Hall of Fame in 2019.
Kirsten will be joined by fellow panelists Carol Whiting (Carol Whiting Design), Dominic Cerantonio (Cera Stribley), Deanna Tambassis (Winnings Appliances) and Aleks Efeian (Gaggenau) to share new intel on the appliances and design innovations leading the kitchen evolution and uncover how design and consumer culture are influencing change.
Register for Kirstin’s session.
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Global Designer Collaborations, by Offect of Sweden (presented by Flokk)
David Trubridge has built his studio and its operation on a profound environmentally-conscious philosophy, which informs all aspects of the studio’s design and production. A true lover of nature and the outdoors, concern for the environment has always come before profit for David Trubridge. This ethos is demonstrated in the studio’s dedication to sourcing environmentally sustainable materials. David Trubridge graduated from Newcastle University in England in 1972 with a degree in Naval architecture. Working briefly as a forester, David Trubridge taught himself to make furniture. He sailed around the world with his family before settling in New Zealand in 1985. His fortunes changed in 2001 when his Body Raft was taken to Milan and launched into production by Cappellini. This transformed a small-scale operation into a design studio with a strong presence in the global lighting and furniture markets.
In his session, David will be joined by Andrea Ruggerio and Jin Kuramoto to share insights into the design processes of their newly released Flokk products, Waka, Soundsticks and Maki.
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The Rebirth of the Kitchen (presented by Sub-Zero Wolf)
Meryl Hare is Principal and Design Director of interior design practice Hare + Klein formed in Sydney in 1989. Hare + Klein is a five-time winner of the prestigious Australian Interior Design Awards, has won an Australian Timber Award, the inaugural Future Home Green Interiors Award, H&G’s Top 50 Rooms, was shortlisted for the international 2017 WIN Awards and has been selected for the prestigious Andrew Martin International Design Review in eleven volumes.
Meryl is an Accredited Designer and a Fellow of the Design Institute of Australia, she has received a citation for services to the Design Industry and was inducted to the DIA Hall of Fame in 2011 and House & Garden Hall of Fame in 2018.
In 2014 Meryl co-authored with David Clark, a book of Hare + Klein’s work titled ‘Hare + Klein: Texture Colour Comfort’. Her second book, titled ‘Interior’, was released in 2020. Hare + Klein has launched two rug collections of hand-knotted rugs from Nepal through Designer Rugs in 2014 and 2018, with a new collection due for release in 2020. In 2019 she launched HK Edit – a concept store showcasing furniture designed by Hare + Klein and made in Australia as well as rugs and an edit of favourite furniture and objects.
For The Rebirth of the Kitchen, Meryl Hare (Hare & Klein), Simona Castagna (Minosa), Joanne Lawless (Lawless & Meyerson) and Greg Natale (Greg Natale Design) will look at how the kitchen has come to hero everything from sustainability to technological innovation, family life and the new work-from-home wave.
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Cocktail Hour! Four Pillars Gin x Cult (presented by Cult Design)
Born to an Egyptian father and Australian mother, Yasmine’s projects are birthed from a nomadic childhood that provided the well-spring for her visionary flair as staging and storytelling inform her immersive approach to design. Her formative years were spent in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia before studying interior design at the Savannah College of Art and Design in America, after which her star rose in the offices of Architropolis in Portland, OR, designing boutique hotel interiors and high end residences.
Her intrepid instinct brought her to Sydney where in 2013 Yasmine founded the multi award-winning Sydney-based design collective, Amber Road, with her sister, landscape architect, Katy Svalbe. In the span of just six years, it won and/or was shortlisted for over 40 design accolades including the Belle Coco Republic Interior Design Awards Emerging Design Star (winner, 2017) and the Editor’s Medal at the prestigious Interior Design Excellence Awards (winner, 2017), bolstering its reputation as one of Australia’s most directional and respected design studios.
Yasmine established YSG in February 2020 as a multidisciplinary initiative encompassing her existing interior design practice and custom-designed ranges for the home. Her hybrid residential and hospitality projects have been lauded for their gutsy instinctual approach to design, where daring palette-plays, organic shapes and unexpected textural pairings elicit experiential outcomes with lasting impact. Within its inaugural year, YSG garnered myriad design accolades including: Best Residential Design, Best Residential Decoration and Best of NSW state at the 2020 Australian Interior Design Awards.
This session will feature a 45-minute panel discussion between Yasmine, Matt Jones (Four Pillars), Richard Munao (Cult Design) and Tom Fereday followed by an exclusive cocktail masterclass. Over a cocktail (or three) our leading panel of experts will debrief on the unique and immersive design of the gin bar and the custom-made, Australian-designed furniture inside.
Register for Yasmine’s session.
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The Rebirth of the Kitchen (presented by Sub-Zero Wolf)
Multi-award-winning Australian designer Greg Natale is known for his masterly use of pattern and colour, and his bold application of both in creating tailored, curated and sophisticated spaces.
Greg has released two books on interior design showcasing his unique style and his designs have featured in numerous local and international publications. Among the many awards to his name are International Luxury Designer of the Year for 2016 at High Point Market in North Carolina and, locally, Belle Interior Designer of the Year for both 2011 and 2014.
He has collaborated with local and global brands such as leading Australian firm Designer Rugs, classic French furniture label Grange, and Italian tile experts Bisazza, with whom he launched The Mosaico Collection during Milan Design Week 2017. Latest projects include a furniture range with American company Kindel and a new Greco-Roman wallpaper collection with Sydney-based Signature Prints. Greg continues to expand his business and currently has his own line of products available in Bergdorf Goodman, as well as a new flagship store in Sydney.
For The Rebirth of the Kitchen, Meryl Hare (Hare & Klein), Simona Castagna (Minosa), Joanne Lawless (Lawless & Meyerson) and Greg Natale (Greg Natale Design) will look at how the kitchen has come to hero everything from sustainability to technological innovation, family life and the new work-from-home wave.
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Out of Office: the New Working Culture (presented by Flokk)
Kirsti is an internationally recognised specialist in workplace design who has earned a place on numerous boards – a testament to an impressive career defined by a number of ‘firsts’ in her profession. She brings a style and flair to work environments that are also highly practical – places that balance function and innovation to ensure they’re successful on day one and well into the future.
Kirsti is a great advocate and ally for her national and international clients, and one of her strengths is her ability to listen wholeheartedly and think strategically to help them achieve their business goals. She is also an Adjunct Professor in the School of Architecture at the University of Queensland.
In this session, Kirsti (HASSELL), Simon Pole (Unispace), Sue Fenton (Woods Bagot), and Nic Brunsdon (Nic Brunsdon) will analyse the rapid shift we have experienced in workplaces to forecast a future of hybrid spaces.
Register for Kirsti’s session.
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Out of Office: the New Working Culture (presented by Flokk)
Nic is the director of the design practice NIC BRUNSDON and the director of the urban program Spacemarket, which pairs disused spaces with useful people. Since its formation, Spacemarket has paired over 500 tenants across 20,000m2 of floorspace and continues to work across Australia to activate forgotten, unloved, and in-between use spaces that test the changing nature of work and occupancy.
He has worked on policy formation and development at all three levels of government, most recently leading the Design WA suite of built environment policies within the Department of Planning, Lands, and Heritage for the Western Australian State Government.
In 2015 he was the winner of the Australian Institute of Architects Emerging Architect Award, firstly for Western Australia and then nationally. He is a past nominee for the 40 under 40 young business leaders award, a nominated thought leader for the City of Perth, the 2015 recipient of the Dulux International Study Tour for Emerging Architects, the 2017/18 recipient of the Gil Nicol Biennial International Study Bursary, a founding Board Member of Activate Perth, is a part of the upcoming season of Grand Designs Australia, and has recently received recognition at the World Architecture Festival, Dezeen Awards, Houses Awards, and Australian Institute of Architects Awards programs.
In this session, Kirsti (HASSELL), Simon Pole (Unispace), Sue Fenton (Woods Bagot), and Nic Brunsdon (Nic Brunsdon) will analyse the rapid shift we have experienced in workplaces to forecast a future of hybrid spaces.
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Out of Office: the New Working Culture (presented by Flokk)
Simon has over 25 years experience leading exceptional and complex projects with clients globally.
As the Global Director of Design at Unispace, Simon’s ideas enhance workplace performance and change the way businesses do business. He is a global leader in agile workstyles across multiple industry sectors, delivering ground-breaking concepts and award-winning environments for his clients. His forte is working closely with the c-suite to understand their business, to interpret the data and translate the words and numbers into tailored design solutions which enhance employee performance; ultimately changing the way businesses do business.
In this session, Simon, Kirsti Simpson (HASSELL), Sue Fenton (Woods Bagot), and Nic Brunsdon (Nic Brunsdon) will analyse the rapid shift we have experienced in workplaces to forecast a future of hybrid spaces.
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The Winning Process (presented by Sculptform)
For over 30 years Leone has been a recognisable presence in the architecture and design profession. Her projects have won numerous awards in Australia and internationally. She has been a leading design professional, a mentor and an executive director of two major international practices, as well as working as client to some of the world’s most famous architecture and design practices. Leone has recently been appointed as National Practice Leader for GHDWoodhead.
In Leone’s session, she will be joined by Greg Hogg (Hogg & Lamb), Tristan Wong (SJB) and Jeremy Napier (Sculptform) to explore what it takes to design an award-winning project.
Neil Durbach and Camilla Block
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Graduating from the University of Cape Town, South Africa in 1978, Neil Durbach set up practice in Sydney after winning the National competition for the new Royal Australian Institute of Architects headquarters building at Tusculum, Sydney in 1983.
Camilla Block graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Architecture (Hons) in 1991, and joined Neil Durbach in practice in 1992. In 1998, the office of Durbach Block Architects was established.
Most recently Durbach Block Jaggers were awarded the 2020 NSW Architecture Medallion, the Sir G. Stephenson Award for Commercial Architecture and the John Verge Award for Interior Architecture for the Phoenix Central Park Performance Space and Gallery with John Wardle Architects. DBJ have received the Robin Boyd Award three times for the best residential project in Australia, as well as State and National Architecture Awards across all building types, including public, education, commercial, residential, heritage and urban design.
In this session, Camilla and Neil from Durbach Block Jaggers will be joined by John Wardle to discuss Sydney’s new Phoenix Central Park. This extraordinary gallery and performance space originated with a flexible, open-ended brief. In this intimate one-hour session, we gain rare insight from both architect and client, as they discuss the inception and fruition of this once-in-a-lifetime project.
Register for Camilla & Neil’s session.
