Tapestry meets Architecture

      

Under the Milky Way tonight … by Multiplicity

 

Counterpoint by Adjacency Studio

 

Fata Morgana by Yiling Shen and Yuchen Gao

 

 

Solstice by Beth George and Emerald Wise

 

Once Upon a Time by Studio Orsi

 

I’ve just returned from a holiday in Australia and one thing I love is the large-scale tapestries adorning public buildings. Tapestries hang in government buildings in the capital and even my local library when I lived in Sydney. Many of these are created by The Australian Tapestry Workshop (the ATW) which has woven contemporary tapestries since 1976. Their weavings aren’t just limited to public spaces in Australia. They have found their way to public buildings around the world including in Singapore, France and Bombay. 

The ATW has lots of events in its calendar including The Tapestry Design Prize 2023 for Architects. Now in its fifth year, this prize encourages “innovation and visionary thinking by challenging architects to design contemporary tapestries.” Offering a $10,000 prize it attracts entries from Australian and international practices. This year the brief was to create a tapestry for the award-winning Bundanon Art Museum.

For professionals who dedicate their careers to designing spaces that often appear like a work of art, seeing their rendering of potential tapestries that introduce softness to angular buildings is fascinating. Some entries such as Once Upon and Time by Studio Orsi use the image as a canvas. Others including Jesse Osadczuk with Under the milky way tonight.. hang within the gallery space to become an almost immersive experience. Here are a few of the finalists and I’ll let you know the winner when it’s announced in early September. 

The Tapestry Design Prize for Architects 2023 is generously supported by Metal Manufactures Limited, Architecture Media and Creative Victoria. To find out more visit https://www.austapestry.com.au/