From the editor

And just like that, it seems, another year draws to an end. This is the time of year when we usually reflect on fond memories and all that’s been accomplished over the last twelve months. Given that this entire year has been consumed by concerns about new COVID variants, vaccination rates, ongoing lockdowns, political turbulence, economic downturns, natural disasters and more, reflecting on achievements and what we’re grateful for may be more challenging, but is perhaps more important now than ever.

Maybe that’s why there has also been more talk about practising gratitude, and the benefits thankfulness can bring to our lives — particularly a sense of happiness, inner peace and heightened empathy. This state of mind can’t be achieved by drinking pre-bottled negronis (as great as they are!) or buying new gadgets for the kitchen — how many of us are really going to use that pasta maker after lockdown? 

As I’m penning this letter, Melbourne has topped the list as the most locked-down city in the world, having spent a total of about 267 days in lockdown. The mental health toll on residents is unquantifiable. Arriving back in Australia at the beginning of 2021 and luckily being out of state during the first snap lockdown of the year, I’ve experienced only 108 of those days. It’s all a bit of a blur. Everyone has their own coping strategies, and I certainly found a few. Nonetheless, to realise that you’ve spent almost a third of a year without seeing friends or family, playing sports or going to a cinema, bar, restaurant or cafe comes as quite a shock.

This experience prompted me to think about what it must be like arriving in this country as an asylum seeker. At the end of August this year, Australia had more than 1,400 people detained in onshore detention facilities, with an average detainment period of 696 days*. 

These numbers are staggering to me. I’m humbled by the enormity of some people’s sacrifices for the hope of a better future. And I can’t help but feel gratitude that the current lockdown situation for myself seems to be almost over, at least for now. Perhaps the next time we take to the streets to exercise our rights to freedom of speech, it could be to protest for the rights of those less fortunate than ourselves, rather than about some temporary inconveniences — because in this case, I feel like being grateful that we’re better off is just not good enough.

Stay safe and well.

Suzy Annetta
Editor-in-Chief

*You can read more about detention in Australia at refugeecouncil.org.au

Inside the issue

Dossier

News
A curated round-up of our favourite new fashion, lifestyle and home products with a focus on Australia and New Zealand

Profile
Using the natural environment as the starting point for its built works, Brisbane architecture and interior design firm Myers Ellyett reconsiders ideas about traditional subtropical living

A Day in the Life
We spend a day with designer and curator Sarah K at her studio in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales

Sustainable Textiles
Ingrained in luxury linen brand IN BED is a commitment to social responsibility and meaningful design

Studio Culture
We take a look inside the industrial living and working space of Hong Kong-based Batten and Kamp

Profile
Driven by stories and a talent for refined simplicity, interior and furniture designer Dean Norton finds new ways to create and collaborate from home

Wanderlust

Design Guide, Canberra
Modernist classics and a crop of innovative creative precincts are putting Canberra on the design map

Photo Essay
Rhiannon Taylor documents the Kimberley, Western Australia’s most remote northern region, where harsh terrain meets spectacular coastline

Vernissage

Online Gallery
Aster + Asha Gallery is connecting artists and new audiences with its online art platform and diverse range of emerging names

Profile
Art lawyer, advisor and curator Alana Kushnir works at the forefront of Australia’s art world

Home

Perth
Design studios Iota and Studio Roam renovated this heritage-listed Spanish Mission-style house with flexible contemporary planning and a consistent new design language

Melbourne
Edition Office, Flack Studio and Eckersley Garden Architecture designed this series of apartments with a heightened sensitivity to the site and surrounding landscape

Auckland
Lucas Interior and Cheshire Architects crafted an elevated garden cottage as a rustic counterpoint to a contemporary family home on this clifftop site

Mornington Peninsula
Mim Design responded to the rugged natural landscape of this site with cosy interiors and considered apertures

Sydney
Studio Prineas renovated this home according to modernist principles and materials, as well as the Dutch philosophy of gezellig

Melbourne
Hecker Guthrie renovated this heritage home with a colour palette that journeys from the richness of the past to the new neutrals of a contemporary addition

Architectonics

Sustainability
Architect Josh FitzGerald’s own home is a modest cabin that explores ideas about building sustainably on remote sites 

Book
In his new book, photographer Jack Lovel documents the architecture of Bulgarian Iwan Iwanoff and his impact on Perth’s built landscape

The Flâneur

Street Life
A flâneur is an urban explorer — a connoisseur of the street. In our rotating column, guests share their musings, observations and critiques of the urban environment in cities around the world. In this issue, writer and Aotearoa local Jo Bates considers the mystique of Auckland’s Karangahape Road and her affection for its diverse and offbeat urbanity