Sensory Exploration – Great Dane at Melbourne Design Week

Combining philosophy with sensory exploration, Great Dane presents ‘Materiality and Space for Contemplation’, an immersive material installation at Melbourne Design Week. From 17-27 March 2022, Australia’s leading international design event will feature the interactive retreat.

Over the course of Melbourne Design Week, Victoria blossoms with open displays of creative talent, where exhibitions, talks, films, tours and workshops showcase the most exciting developments in the field of design. With defining moments such as the biennial Australian Furniture Design Award ceremony and a program of showroom activations – each proposing a unique response to the theme ‘Design the World You Want’ – visitors can engage directly with the industry. The retail sector is a significantly involved this year, enabling distinguished brands such as Great Dane to challenge, stimulate and enlighten the design-savvy public.

Celebrating Scandinavian design and craftsmanship through curated furniture and lighting, Great Dane brings together a selection of purposeful, timeless pieces.

Celebrating Scandinavian design and craftsmanship through curated furniture and lighting, Great Dane brings together a selection of purposeful, timeless pieces. Applying an authentic, hands-on approach to its collection process, the company intends to spread genuine appreciation for Danish design across Australia and, to this end, Melbourne Design Week. Provided as elaborations of the overarching theme ‘Design the World You Want’, the two pillars upholding exhibitions are ‘civic good’ and ‘making good’, both which harmonise with the Great Dane narrative and their ‘Materiality and Space for Contemplation’ installation.

Responding to the idea of ‘civil good’, the brand presents an experience that encourages visitors to understand the person-led production process that underpins its statement furniture and lighting. For 20 years, Great Dane has dedicated itself to memorising the materials, makers and methodology of each piece and ‘Materiality and Space for Contemplation’ allows visitors to contemplate these aspects in the same manner of respect and admiration. Representing ‘making good’, Great Dane emphasises the ability of furniture to enhance the living experience, transforming lives in a long-term capacity. Moving beyond aesthetics, the company champions quality and meticulously crafted detail as the means to craft pieces that stand the test of time and protect the planet.

Simple yet emotive, ‘Materiality and Space for Contemplation’ takes a humanistic approach to interacting with materials.

Venturing into ‘the forest’ – a tangible interplay of velvet and mossy textures – visitors emerge in a padded, cocooning space, warmed by the light of intricately detailed and spherical lanterns. Lining the room, soft mounds of organic sheep wool are contrasted against swathes of foam; an experiential ode to Great Dane’s collaboration with Ilse Crawford, where the resulting sofa – a piece of natural material character – embraces the textile traditions and methods of the past. Ryan Mannix leads a short, guided mediation as guests settle on Swedish leather yoga mats designed by Tärnsjö Garveri. Afterwards, tea is served and visitors can once again retreat into their own senses, absorbed in the intoxicating landscape of sight, touch, hearing and smell. Ultimately, the experience of the installation is self-determined, silently forged by the relationship between mind and body as they engage with the surrounding stimuli.

Simple yet emotive, ‘Materiality and Space for Contemplation’ takes a humanistic approach to interacting with materials. Extending awareness beyond superficial properties and connecting visitors to the essence of design, Great Dane has crafted a conscious awakening that promises to endure long after Melbourne Design Week has ended.