Emerging industrial designer James Walsh has won the 2020 Australian Furniture Design Award (AFDA) presented by Stylecraft and the National Gallery of Victoria with a design that uses traditional techniques, reinvented in a modern form.
Sydney-based furniture and industrial designer James Walsh has been announced as the winner of the 2020 Australian Furniture Design Award (AFDA), presented by Stylecraft in partnership with the National Gallery of Victoria.
James’ design – Anthropic Bench – uses an ancient material tradition of rammed earth, and modernises it through the integration of recycled glass fillings to create a layered and refined leg form. Monolithic in nature while presenting a sustainable expression of contemporary design, Anthropic bench shows how through material experimentation it’s possible to create a highly resolved and elegant design. The layers and striations visible in the bench’s base conjure images of earth compressed over aeons, while atop the rammed earth legs sits a polished timber bench with gentle curves.
Commenting on the piece, jury member Simone LeAmon says the jury recognised “the designer’s ambition to investigate meaningful and practical uses for glass that would otherwise end up in landfill while delivering a new and novel aesthetic experience for furniture design that successfully merges the past with the present.”
James was one of five finalists in the AFDA and will receive a $20,000 cash prize alongside mentorship from Stylecraft to design, produce and distribute a furniture design, plus a two-week residency program at JamFactory in Adelaide to experiment with new ideas and materials, prototype new work, or explore new making processes. Founded by Stylecraft and first awarded in 2015, the AFDA is a national competition open to all Australian designers and makers. As one of Australia’s most prestigious furniture design awards, it recognises excellence in furniture design and the contribution this makes to design discourse and Australian culture.
