Architects and woodworkers: Panel discussions at MPavillion

On 7 February at 6:60pm a panel discussion between three ‘pairs’ of architects and woodworkers will take place at MPavilllion, Queen Victoria Gardens, Melbourne. Titled ‘Eyes of the Skin’, the discussion is hosted by the Victorian Woodworkers Association.

The panel will discuss how these two disciplines work together and look at examples of collaboration. Feature panellists for Eyes of the Skin include:

Pair 1:
Lucinda McLean, Director, NMBW – N M B W Architecture Studio is an architectural practice established in Melbourne in 1997. Our design methodology is place-based with a strong focus on materiality and cultural experience. Our focus on the relationships between things allows us to strategically link large and small actions in each environment, focus on both buildings and landscapes and create holistic, inclusive and culturally deep design responses.

Raven Mahon, Furniture Maker – Raven Mahon is a self-taught American furniture maker and musician based in Naarm / Melbourne. She began making furniture in 2006 in San Francisco and moved her practice to Australia in 2017.

Pair 2:
John Wardle, John Wardle Architects – John Wardle established his architectural practice in Melbourne in 1986. His practice includes working on small domestic dwellings to health, retail, commercial, public, interiors, infrastructure and education. The architecture of Wardle is closely tailored to its place and highly experiential in nature.John’s design process is highly iterative. Ideas are constantly refined, amended and reshaped as conversations develop, new research and thinking comes into play and others are brought into design explorations. It’s a design approach that emphasises the importance of detail, tactility and how the piece is experienced by its owners and their visitors.

Vivienne Wong, Vivienne Wong Design – Vivienne Wong is Melbourne based furniture maker and designer who uses a combination of modern and traditional woodworking skills. Each piece is carefully handcrafted here in Melbourne, with a strong focus on creating pieces of furniture that strike the fine balance between elegant design and functionality. Drawing on her background in Dance as a former soloist dancer with the Australian Ballet, Vivienne has a unique sense of how shapes relate to each other, creating pieces that reflect an unspoken dialogue and synergy between different elements, evoking a sense of harmony that is both visually striking and functional.

Pair 3:
Nancy Beka, Director, Studio Edwards – Established in 2016, Studio Edwards is an ambitious ideas–led practice. Combining architecture, interiors and conceptual design with a dedication to pushing these disciplines in innovative and considered directions.

Patrick Holcombe, Douglas Fir Design – Patrick Holcombe creates beautiful furniture by hand in Melbourne. He has a background in Ecology and this helps guide the choices he makes and the materials he uses. The majority of his work uses recycled timber, mainly australian hardwoods and big Oregon beams. The joinery and techniques he uses is modern and understated. He prefers the structure of the piece to explain itself, the strength to be evident inherently in the materials used.

Learn more at https://vwa.org.au/blog/whats-on/vwa-meets/eyes-of-the-skin/