KEEP: Forever Objects

“Historically, and in other places, it is more commonplace for architects to design furniture, for their own projects or for companies by commission. In the nascent Australian furniture industry, it is less so. I thought it would be interesting to see what prominent and successful architects might design outside their usual focus, and perhaps, in the process and conversation, what they might bring to the texture and layers of the Australian design ecosystem,” says curator David Clark.

Installed within Cult Design’s Melbourne showroom in Abbotsford, KEEP invites visitors to slow down, look closely and consider the value of the objects we choose to live with. For Melbourne Design Week audiences, it is a chance to encounter how some of Australia’s most accomplished architects translate their spatial thinking and material intelligence into the intimate scale of furniture.

At the heart of KEEP are three American hardwoods: red oak, cherry and maple. These timbers were selected not only for their performance and expressive qualities, but also for their environmental credentials. Grown in the vast hardwood forests of the United States, all three species are part of a resource where annual growth exceeds harvest.

“KEEP is a reminder that the things we choose to live with can carry meaning and memory. These works are made to endure, not just in use, but in the stories they can hold,” says Rod Wiles, Regional Director of the American Hardwood Export Council.