Educator, design researcher and architect Max Maxwell, map illustrator and designer, Peita Blythe and GRAPHIC Intervention winner, Megan Hinton, will speak about their practices and the exciting projects they developed for Civic Square in DESIGN Canberra.

About the projects

The 2019 Design Canberra Pavilion provides a sculptural intervention into the otherwise vast emptiness of Civic Square. Through, carefully situating the scheme’s flowing geometry within the seating edge provided by the square’s existing fountain, the pavilion’s design both reclaims the civic function of the square through the creation of a new urban room for formal and informal festival events while in parallel reinforcing the important Ainslie City Hill axis as a gateway to the festival’s homebase: Craft ACT.

The design and construction of the pavilion evidences the material and spatial possibilities of computational design techniques coupled to bespoke robotic fabrication strategies and extensive material knowledge. An emerging territory of craft premised on the expert authorship of digital modelling practices and code. Through this unique combination of digital knowledge and traditional making practices exemplifies the ambitions of the pavilion’s design team based at the University of Canberra’s Faculty of Arts and Design. The multidisciplinary team, consisting of industrial designers, architects and makers, enthusiastically embrace the transformative role of emerging technologies on design practice and production. A curiosity that spans the visualisation of complex data; mixed reality; interaction design; the integration of automation within the building, construction and product industries; and critically, how these technologies are enabling more inclusive design and review processes.

Mapping Canberra aims to celebrate the vibrant and passionate creative community of Canberra. The project and its various forms (an Illustrated map, hand-painted map mural, mapping worksheets and resource for the local community) will together inform and inspire a diverse audience of locals, tourists and children.

Producing the map of Canberra was a collaborative process between map illustrator Peita Blythe, the Craft ACT team and the City Renewal Authority. The project involved extensive research and collating information, which informed the content of the final map illustration. The map visualizes significant buildings and iconic architecture, creative studios, art galleries, sculptures and symbolic icons. While the stories, quotes and other historical facts are layered typographically over the map as an expression of the creative voice of Canberra.

Megan Hinton is a Canberra based artist and designer working with printmaking, textile design, painting and collaborative projects. Her works explore the interaction of colour and form, with her recent work strongly influenced by geometric abstraction, constructivism and Bauhaus textiles. Hinton’s RE / CONSTRUCT Civic Square design is a playful assemblage of architectural inspired forms, balancing positive and negative spaces, speaking to the balance associated with creating a utopian environment.

Selected Civic Square festival programs have been made possible with support from the ACT Government under the City Renewal Authority’s City Grants program.