Judge's comments:

The Re-pete stools design is perfect in creating a genuine application for using additive manufacturing in large scale production. The simple yet clever decision to print the product laterally, firstly eliminates production waste, but equally creates an elegant, translucent providing a poetic and rhythmic aesthetic that is further enhanced in its outdoor environment with the interplay of light and shadow. Re-pete is equally as beautiful on its own as it is when lined up shoulder to shoulder.

Description:

MPavilion is Australia’s leading architectural commission, created by the Naomi Milgrom Foundation. Annually, a temporary pavilion is designed and erected in Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Gardens that becomes an innovative civic space for the community to enjoy a free diverse cultural program. A place for conversation, collaboration and experimentation. Canberra Design Lab, a collaborative effort between Sam Tomkins, Iain (Max) Maxwell, and Dr Ben Ennis-Butler, were commissioned to design the seating for MPavilion 2022.

The brief presented to Canberra Design Lab was to create seating for audiences attending MPavilion 2022’s cultural events, that would both compliment and activate the light and colourful design of the MPavilion by all(zone), Thailand. Furthermore, the seating had to be weatherproof, stackable, lightweight, durable and versatile in order to cater for the 175,000 visitors, attending over 350 events across a 5-month season. Additionally, it was imperative that sustainable materials and production practices were used where possible.

Drawing inspiration from the billowing and cellular forms of all(zone)’s MPavilion 2022 design, Canberra Design Lab created a stool with a complex doubly-curved shape, enhancing its stability and offering a combination of support, flex and suspension in all the right places. The translucent yet highly textured surface animates the seat, amplifying its presence under the MPavilion 2022’s vibrant canopy through flickering plays of light while casting spectrums of colour.

It was vital to the brief that the MPavilion chair have very little environmental impact and that it be long lasting and durable. In response to this, the Canberra-based trio manufactured a stool made from rPET (Recyclable Polyethylene
Terephthalate), which is a recyclable plastic that can be melted down and repurposed. Dubbed the ‘Re-pete’ stool due to its considered materiality, the seating design is zero-waste and innovatively produced using robotic 3D printing technology. The MPavilion 2022 ‘Re-pete’ stool demonstrate a circular approach, by using entirely salvageable, recyclable and re-manufacturable materials– a true celebration of the aesthetic and functional possibilities of emergent material techniques and robotic fabrication technologies.

The ‘Re-pete’ stool perfectly serves its brief with elegance, subtlety and functionality at the forefront of its design. The volumetric stool graciously compliments all(zone)’s vibrant MPavilion, while remaining adaptable and versatile within the context of its surrounding space. Furthermore, the ‘Re-pete’ chair is an ephemeral exemplar of object-custodianship and how this creative philosophy holds the potential to be a transformational step towards a decarbonised future within the realm of product design.