City streets are captured as giant gallery spaces in this initiative. Louise Martin-Chew puts on her walking shoes.

Most of us have walked down city streets, at
home or away, and wondered about the history of a particular building, or about
the designer behind an intriguing chair in a shop window.

Other times you may have an hour in a city that
isn’t your own and, without insider knowledge, tried in vain to access the best
fashion or most contemporary textiles.

The good news for design acolytes (and the simply
curious) is that Object has captured Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane as giant
gallery spaces. A series of guided audio tours has been developed, focusing on
hotspots of design and creativity.

There are multiple routes and options –
live now in Sydney and Melbourne, and coming to Brisbane in October – each described
as a “creative urban safari”. The idea that no museum space is large enough to
capture the creativity of a city has been paired with available technology, and
the architecture, design and culture of the city may be experienced using guided
walking tours downloaded to your MP3 player.
 

Matt Dwyer’s Fio

 

 

The Audio Design Museum was curated by
designers Viviane Stappmanns and Kate Rhodes. The voices of local designers add
commentary to movement through a precinct, and add depth and a real personal
resonance, stories and ideas to each audio tour.

They are based on design themes or city
precincts – Melbourne’s focus precinct tours include Flinders Lane, tracing its
early genesis as the centre of the local clothing industry and its current reinvention
as home to architects, graphic designers and art galleries. Sydney’s Surry
Hills/Darlinghurst is home to the furniture design community and the voices of designers
like Sarah Gibson (Design by Them) relate their creative journeys and interests
that inform their studio work.

 

Bird Textiles Sydney

 

 

Brisbane’s tours take in the Fortitude
Valley design precinct, including Easton Pearson fashion, Francis Leon’s studio
(in which you may watch the clothing designers work), and Matt Dwyer’s
jewellery at Fio. South Bank’s cultural hub is the site of Brisbane’s second
tour, incorporating buildings, studios and public sculpture accompanied by the
voices of the key artists, architects and designers involved.

 

Matt Dwyer’s Fio

 

“The Audio Design Museum promises an
unusual approach to experiencing creativity in the city,” explains Stappmans. “It
can be used as a guided walking tour but would be equally entertaining to
listen to and watch on the train.”

The ground-breaking nature of the project
is described by Rhodes, “With the Audio Design Museum, Object is replacing the
concept of a conventional design museum and allowing the city to become the
exhibition space.”

In each city the audio museum has been
launched with design festivals, and Brisbane’s coincides with the first ever
Design Triennial (4 – 10 October 2010).  

The project was developed for Object:
Australian Centre for Craft & Design as the first part of its newly
developed broad strategy to embrace the digital world. Expect more projects in
the online realm from Object.

 

Audio Design Museum
audiodesignmuseum.com