Award of Merit:

Nüüd studio and Naomi Milgrom Foundation for MPavilion 2021 Dancer Chair

Nüüd Studio is an architecture and design practise based in Melbourne. Their research-led approach draws on the values and narratives of local places and people. They believe design can influence our wellbeing and reflect who we are and our culture whether it is a piece of furniture, a home or public place. 

Nüüd Studio are interested in making and initiating projects which stem from ideas of community, social urbanism, neighbourhood cohesion and design using suburban proprietary material. Their projects have been realised as an exhibition of furniture in ‘Burb Mechanics’, a suburban street model in ‘Brave Street’, and fragments of histories as suburban follies in ‘Monty to Monty'. These projects have enabled them to directly engage with people, historical narratives and diverse communities. Over the years these speculative projects have been adapted into studios for RMIT's Interior Design school of RMIT. 

Most recently, they have been involved in a grass roots project to build the community hub at Montmorency. While still in its infancy, the project has enabled Nüüd Studio to be involved in the broad discussions about the specific design needs of the local residents in the area.

About the Project

MPavilion is an architectural commission which annually engages a leading architect to design a pavilion for Melbourne, which then becomes an innovative civic space for the community to enjoy a free diverse cultural program. 

Nüüd Studio were commissioned to design the seating for the MPavilion 2021 season. Nüüd Studio believe that design and architecture are most importantly about people, place, and narrative. As such, the MPavilion 2021 Dancer Chair draws influence from the MPavilion and the surrounding gardens in terms of its scale, colour and materiality. The chair is also inspired by a shared desire to emerge from isolation and to embrace, share, reconnect and repair. 

The MPavilion 2021 Dancer Chair has optimism at the core of its design and mimics people 'dancing' together again after many months of social limitations. The name ‘Dancer’ comes from the painting Dance II by Henri Matisse, which epitomises joy and reconnection. The MPavilion 2021 Dancer Chairs were first conceived as a singular circle brought together under the canopy of the MPavilion, and the individual chairs as equal divided segments of the whole, each bearing connecting joints - the marks of open hands. The chairs can disconnect and embrace in a continuous choreography, forming arcs and ribbons, adapting to the needs of the individual and varying events throughout the MPavilion season. The interactive and public nature of the MPavilion, inspired Nüüd Studio to explore ideas of unity and togetherness, and consider the rituals of communal gathering, and how their design might tackle the community's apprehension towards socialising in a post-pandemic era. 

The Dancer chairs are made from recycled milk and juice bottles which are shredded, melted, dyed and turned into pellets, and then combined to create a specific colour palette. The composition of colours for the chair reflect the flowing yellow ground, steel structure and reflection of the clouds in the MPavilion 2021 - The Lightcatcher design.

Category: Use

Designers and Project Team:
Nüüd Studio: Kerli Valk and Bradley Mitchell - Designers
Bricolage: Dan Barker - Chair assembly and finishing
Rightside: Jon Lyons - Componentry cutting
Design Flow: Material manufacturer