Jury Comment
Sibling is a true collaborative studio – eight members with similar yet diverse backgrounds coming together to produce innovative and creative project outcomes. Their work is conceived within collaborative and research-based environments and the outcome is work that is exploratory and not without an element of risk. However, this approach is paying off and Sibling is delivering on these ideas and visions. The members of the group seamlessly draw upon their skills in architecture, landscape design, graphic design and multimedia to create innovative and creative spaces. This is a truly multidisciplinary studio that carves out a unique niche in the design landscape. Sibling’s work displays a confidence and refinement that belies its “newcomer” status.
Design Statement
Dust is a multi-sensory concept store that is inspired by the brand’s sigil, the golden ratio, and a brief that encourages users to question their understanding of Cartesian space. Sibling uses these principles as the primary structuring devices: grids within grids, disturbing mirrored reflections, luminescent surfaces, spatial sound and animated screens. The brief called for an exploration of Dust’s core interests: a physical experience for its digital print on demand operation and a celebration of sensory practices. Sibling’s design for the first physical Dust store represents Dust’s DNA, and through this, becomes an immutable example of the inextricable link between design and experience. Unlike typical retail spaces, the Dust space broadens the user experience so that those in it becomes more than a mere consumer – they are a participant immersed in the space and its mode of operation. The space offers a complex and challenging new aesthetic and by re-using an existing basement shell, the design introduces a layering of new materiality while accentuating some of the space’s existing features, such as the original ceiling and exposed structures.
The Award for Emerging Interior Design Practice is supported by Space Furniture. The Australian Interior Design Awards are presented by the Design Institute of Australia, Diversified Communications Australia and Artichoke magazine. For more images of this project, see the Australian Interior Design Awards gallery.
