Design News

Arguably Japan's most Internationally recognised architect and designer: Toyo Ito has made a striking, indelible mark on the Spanish design scene, adding his Modern Asian chapter to their multi-faceted design history. Hotel Santos Porta Fira in Barcelona's port district combines conference facilities, a cubist commercial tower and 110m tall hotel in a distinct irregularly shaped building referencing the form...

Last Thursday saw the ninth IDEA Awards by the team at (inside) magazine, celebrated at The Ivy Room and The Ivy Lounge in Sydney. As usual, the event was sold out and the spectacular after-party continued until the wee hours of Friday morning.  Without saying too much, we may or may not be aware of a number of bleary eyed...

Our fearless correspondent is safely back on local soils after a whirlwind trip through Japan, Germany, Belgium and the US taking in Orgatec, Interieurs and Tokyo Design Week. Today we're taking a peek at some of the items that piqued our interest at the recent Orgatec 2010 in Cologne.  The Spaniards were of course in fine form with SELLEX...

On the evening of Wednesday the 27th October, the KE-ZU showroom was filled with guests for the latest installment in MONUMENT Magazine's Create-A-Date: Live series.  Click here to check out some pictures over at the KE-ZU Facebook page. With the wonderful pairing of Andy MacDonald from MacInteractive Architects and Julie Paterson of Cloth Fabrics, the audience were treated to an...

Benidorm, Spain: often regarded as the birthplace of the package-holiday, this is a mecca for plane loads of Brits and Europeans each Summer.  Nestled on the Eastern coast of Spain not too far from Valencia is a stretch of beaches that remarkably boasts ownership of most high-rise buildings per capita... in the world! Built predominately on a charter fly-in...

After $1.2 billion invested, ten years of planning and negotiations with almost two years of CBD traffic turmoil, the new Westfield Sydney finally welcomed punters to phase one of the gigantic development. For those unfamiliar with the project and location, the better part of Sydney City's primary outdoor retail strip; Pitt Street Mall, was progressively bought up by the...

Since 1999 the commanding, measured commentary of Britain's Kevin McCloud has been synonymous with the voyeurism of following everyday Brits embarking on their own building projects. Quite aside from the varied approaches to design and construction that are showcased, what has reinforced the Grand Design format's overwhelming success both in the UK and here in Australia is that at the...

Pop it in your diary and keep the night free: Monument Magazine's Create-A-Date series holds its second Sydney "LIVE" event at the KE-ZU showroom in Surry Hills on October 27th.  RSVP HERE. Pairing industry creatives from varied backgrounds then setting them a hypothetical design challenge, the collaborative process is afforded a fresh, innovational freedom.  The expertise of two polar...

From October 20, 2010 the acclaimed 50 Years of Italian Chairs exhibition takes a seat in Sydney. Currently wowing crowds at Brisbane's QPAC, curator Alessandro Mendini, editor of Italian design magazine, DOMUS examines seating design from the second half of the 20th Century: Mendini offers the chairs as small pieces of ‘architecture’ whose design has tested the mettle of renowned artists...

British born artist, Jason de Caires Taylor's La Evolución Silenciosa (The Silent Evolution) is simply breathtaking... not least because it is 9 metres below sea level! The famed environmental artist and scuba fanatic's response to the overuse of Cancun's delicate reef systems by the 750,000 annual visitors was to draw some away to a new artificial reef comprised of some...