On 18th September (last weekend), I visited Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre to find and observe the latest interior / exterior product designs. It was actually for those who are considering to build a house, or reconstruct a house, or add something new to their house, therefore I could see many products which I was not expecting. Here are some of the interesting products I found in the show.
(top) There was a long long line waiting outside of the show (bottom) The pink carpet led visitors into the show.
Lights
The first design that caught my eyes was lights created by Brightgreen.
I liked the effect of soft and diffusing light that is formed by Curve and Cube shades and their angles made with the wall. Curve lights’ shades are three-dimensionally curved as well as in the shape of circle, which gives dynamics in the amount of light coming out of shades. Curve lights give more round and the gradation of light as their shades have no side with straight line, and so they can not touch the wall at more than two points(some of the curves are like Pringles chips so two points could be touched on the wall). The randomness in their size made me feel them like falling leaves or raindrops. Cube light’s shade is a flat trapezoidal prism, which allows a side of it to be parallel to or touched on the wall. Cube has the feature of limiting the direction of each light, and it creates the different mood from the Curve.
Tiles
Grafico was another company I found interested in their services and works.
Grafico offers several services such as graphic design, printing, signage and wall coverings. Mosaico-digitale is one of the options for wall coverings. It converts customers’ own images into tiles in any shapes. The image is digital-printed and transferred onto the resin tiles, then it is reinforced by backing mesh. It is very flexible with tile shapes, images, and the area where it is installed. I loved the idea of adding the tile texture and sense of pixel art to the flat image. The white blank line is created as tiles are arranged and fixed. This emphasises the feature of tiles as it is what we would think of tiles. Mosaico-digitale is waterproof, so it could be applied to any wall in the house. It could be used as a highlight wall.
Walls
The service done by Carved in Stone fascinated me as it was very unique and it reminded me the importance of first impression of the house. Covering the wall with stones which give intended effects on the mood and impression of the house is an idea which I never had thought about. I found the effect of stone really interesting because the type of stone and the pattern could change the mood of house dramatically. It is also useful for house owners who want to change the style or colour of wall. Covering with stones is not ‘changing’ the existing wall, but it allows the house to refresh without breaking the wall. Also, it has the impact on the living environment such as improving thermal insulation properties of building, no need of painting, and keeping house cool with reflective colour of stone. There is a range of pattern options to choose from, such as Retro Chiseled, Traditional Random Chiseled, Stack Stone, Toodyay Rustic Paramount Joint, Minimal Joint and Toodyay Rustic Build Out.
Stairs
Enzie’s spiral staircases caught my attention in the show as its full-scale model of spiral staircase was powerful and eye-catching. Its full customisable spiral staircases fits to any environment with various kinds of materials inside/outside the house. There are options such as stair series, tread details, balustrade, materials and more. One of my favourite spiral staircases is Blue -Mereweather, using Helical plaster and treads of Tasmanian Oak. I associated it with the curved shape and delicate movement of a spiral shell.
Saran Kim | Blog 