As More Space takes a look at the early days of Space, we revisit the design festivals, award programs, talks, workshops and Space+Design Residency that have shaped Space’s modus operandi. Opening the doors to designers from Milan, Paris, São Paulo, London, Amsterdam and New York to share background stories behind design collections and take part in curated local events, has added an important cultural layer and fostered a broader understanding of how design shapes our lives.
Over the past three decades, Space has played host to events that have unfolded across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur showrooms, art galleries, museums and design festivals. They have engaged with clients and the local design industry and welcomed international designers for aperitivo and a smorgasbord of creative gatherings. One of the biggest was the ‘Tailor Made’ festival of Italian Design in partnership with the Italian Consulate and the Italian Chamber of Commerce that would officially launch the new Sydney showroom with international guest Piero Lissoni and a week-long program of talks, exhibitions and workshops in 2005. This highly curated design deep-dive would be closely followed by New York-based designer Karim Rashid later that year, Milan-based Patricia Urquiola in 2006, Amsterdam-based Marcel Wanders in 2007 and fellow New Yorker Jeffrey Bernett in 2008.
These are the events that have fortified Space's role as not just a design retailer, but a design communicator. Bringing international voices to Australia would become a key part of Space’s modus operandi, shaping a platform where guests from the industry and beyond could connect with a designer from Milan, Paris, São Paulo, London, Amsterdam or New York. To hear the stories and ideas behind a chair, light and object, or the fascinating cultural layers of the design process, those connections built depth and fostered a greater understanding of design and how it can shape us. As David Clark, the former editor-in-chief of Vogue Living remarks, 'Design in itself is an act of generosity and Space aligned with the natural generosity of the design world and the curiosity for how we live...'
Lee Broom at the opening of 'Park Life' in 2019, an installaiton of more than 100 lights launched inside the brut car park beneath the Space Sydney flagship. Photo Craig Wall.
Design events have featured talks by Marcel Wanders at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Fernando and Humberto Campana at the National Art School, Giovanna Castiglioni at the Powerhouse, and Piero Lissoni at Tuscalum; the exhibition ‘Voi Tutti’ with Patricia Urquiola, along with immersive installations inside Space showrooms and creative model-making workshops with practicing designers, as well as the popular Kids’ Design Workshops for budding young designers featuring a string of guest tutors, including Patricia Urquiola, Fernando and Humberto Campana and Piero Lissoni.
Helping to establish the Bombay Sapphire Design Discovery Award with Lion Nathan in 2003, would result in one of the industry’s most important competitions for emerging Australian designers. It was a platform where local designers from Charles Wilson and Elliat Rich, Trent Jansen, Adam Goodrum and Henry Wilson, amongst many others, received important local and international exposure for their work. Three years later, the Space+Design Residency Program would be a spin-off, giving designers the opportunity to further that experience through an internship with a furniture manufacturer from within the Space family, to learn the inner workings of furniture manufacturing while fostering future collaboration.
The ‘Tailor Made’ festival of Italian Design that launched the Space Sydney showroom, invitation by Studio Ongarato. Photo c/o Space.
'Design in itself is an act of generosity and Space aligned with the natural generosity of the design world and the curiosity for how we live...'
David Clark, designer, design editor and former editor-in-chief of Vogue Living
Piero Lissoni back in Australia and Singapore for Space's 30th birthday. Photo c/o Space.
An exhibition to celebrate the history of Space over 30 years, featuring events, people, ad compaigns and More Space. Photo c/o Space.
When Edra's Valerio and Monica Mazzei visited Space with Massimo Morozzi and Fernando and Humberto Campana for the Bombay Sapphire Design Discovery Award, here and following. Photos c/o Space.
Massimo Morozzi with Trent Jansen after presenting him with the Space+Edra Design Residency in 2010. Photo c/o Space.
Invitation to the Karim Rashid launch at Space Sydney for the Bombay Sapphire Design Discovery Award, here and following, featuring an installation of the Melissa shoe designed by Rashid. Photos c/o Space.
Karim Rashid with Space founder Kevin Jarrett at a Bombay Sapphire Design Award event at Space Sydney. Photo c/o Space.
The 'Park Life' lighting installaton by Lee Broom, here and following, transformed the brut carpark below the Space Sydney showroom in 2019. Photo Craig Wall.
Dana Tomić Hughes, Yellowtrace, with Lee Broom at the launch of Park Life in 2019. Photo Craig Wall.
Renowned Italian architect and designer Achille Castiglioni's work was brought to life by his daughter Giovanna Castiglioni, who recreated the designer's Milanese studio in Sydney for a series of talks at Space and the Powerhouse, here and following. Photo c/o Space.
Giovanna Castiglioni at Space Sydney. Photo c/o Space.
A visit by Grand Design's Kevin McCloud to launch his book, here and following, included a series of talks in Sydney and Melbourne. Photo c/o Space.
New York designer Jeffrey Bernett, here and following, visited Space for Saturday Indesign in 2008. Photos c/o Space.
Invitation to the 2006 Kids' Design Workshop, here and following, held with international design guest Patricia Urquiola at Space Sydney. Photo c/o Space.
Budding designers worked with Patricia Urquiola on a series of design projects in the Space showroom, here and following. Photos c/o Space.
Part of the installation designed with Patricia Urquiola for her visit in 2006, here and following, and the cocktail party presentation with Patricia Urquiola and Space founder Kevin Jarrett. Photos c/o Space.
Dana Tomić Hughes, Yellowtrace, and Sarah-Jane Pyke, Arent&Pyke, at the 'Making It' workshop with Patricia Urquiola in 2013 when the designer was back to celebrate Space's 20th birthday. Photo c/o Space.
Design dialogues for the 'Tailor Made' festival, with David Clark, then editor-in-chief of Vogue Living, architect and designer Piero Lissoni, and Kevin Jarrett. Photo c/o Space.
Designer and cofounder of Moooi, Marcel Wanders, with Neale Whitaker at the launch of Moooi in Australia. Photo c/o Space.
‘I have always been excited by Edra’s work; they employ a very strong philosophical approach… This design approach is evident in Massimo Morozzi's brief for the Space+Edra Design Residency, and it is a rare privilege to be given the opportunity to respond to a brief that is so conceptual in nature… I see this residency as an opportunity to begin building a relationship with Edra.’
Trent Jansen, designer and recipient of the Space+Edra Design Residency in 2010
The inaugural Space+Design Residency was launched in collaboration with Italian manufacturer Edra in 2010. Photo c/o Space.
New York designer Karim Rashid with Ivana Puric at Space Sydney for a Bombay Sapphire Design Discovery Award event. Photo c/o Space.
The first Space+Design Residency program would see Trent Jansen spend three months under the guidance of Edra's legendary art director, designer and architect, Massimo Morozzi, and for the second, Tom Fereday would join Dutch designer Marcel Wanders and his team at Moooi. As Jansen remarked at the time, ‘I have always been excited by Edra’s work; they employ a very strong philosophical approach… This design approach is evident in Massimo Morozzi's brief for the Space+Edra Design Residency, and it is a rare privilege to be given the opportunity to respond to a brief that is so conceptual in nature… I see this residency as an opportunity to begin building a relationship with Edra.’
In 2013 Patricia Urquiola would return to Space to help celebrate their 20th milestone, cutting a giant cake made in the form of Gaetano Pesce's UP5 armchair and launching an exhibition along with a string of design talks and workshops. But one of the largest installations to unfold at Space was lighting designer Lee Broom's only exhibition outside Europe. 'Park Life' would open in Sydney, instead of Milan, lighting up the brut concrete car park beneath the Sydney flagship, with more than 100 lights offset by furniture and spaces that meandered and surprised.
Most recently, Piero Lissoni was invited back to celebrate Space's 30th with a series of parties, talks and dinners. It is the third and likely not the last trip for the designer, who, like Patricia et al, enjoys the true meaning of collaboration. As Lissoni remarked when we sat down to chat for the occasion, 'I have met a lot of retailers around the world and with Space it is a good cocktail between efficiencies and qualities of life. The people are a community, I feel that culture here.'
Creating Space is a More Space editorial series that celebrates Space Furniture's 30th birthday. We sat down with Piero Lissoni to discuss his work, ideas and being back in Australia – you can read the full interview here.
