Ross Didier designs a unique range of furniture for Vue de Monde restaurant in Rialto Melbourne.
November 25th, 2011
“Furniture adds uniqueness and identity to a space,” says Ross Didier. “Original pieces with a story and soul, breathing life into spaces by the most subtle of detailing.”
This is certainly true of Didier’s collection of furniture for the Rialto, Melbourne’s Vue de Monde restaurant.
The inspiration came out of Didier’s experimentation with kangaroo furs and skins last year, and ensuing discussions with project architects Elenberg Fraser and Bennett.
“We spoke about the potential for original functional furniture pieces to complement the highly concept themes for the interior landscape and how the ideals of a restaurant can be reflected through that,” says Didier of the project.
Didier’s custom-made tables and chairs reference Melbourne’s pre-European history, landscape and fauna. Armchairs are upholstered in kangaroo leather and furs – the end product of government-controlled culls. The chair frames are made of plantation-sourced oak, with tapered legs that evoke the stance of an animal.
Terra Firma tables, “versatile, rigid and functional”, are teamed with sled-based Tiller timber chairs featuring buttons that “create a look that’s suggestive of spinal detailing,” says Didier.
“My intention was to create truly Australian designed furniture that was sophisticated and embodied strong personality without being kitsch or clichéd,” he explains.
Didier also wanted restaurant patrons to think twice about local product and the life cycle of animals.
“It just seemed a bit of a waste that most of the skins were destined for shoes, footballs and European fashion houses without carrying their story,” he says of his use of kangaroo skins in the upholstery.
Hero image by Dianna Snape
Ross Didier
rossdidier.com
A searchable and comprehensive guide for specifying leading products and their suppliers
Keep up to date with the latest and greatest from our industry BFF's!
In the bid to balance the desire to live amongst nature with the modest footprint of today’s homes, designer Victoria Azadinho Bocconi looks for inspiration in the depths of the Amazon jungle.
Australia’s leading producer of solid-engineered oak flooring has recently launched a new suite of innovative resources to support creativity and ambition in the architecture and design community.
Join us behind the scenes with V-ZUG’s in-house design team, and discover how this Swiss boutique kitchen manufacturer balances art, science and history to create its pioneering Excellence line.
Bidding farewell to mundane and uninspired office spaces, colour has transformed our workplaces into layered and engaging environments. So we sit down with Karina Simpson, Hot Black’s Workplace Lead, to talk about the influence colour has on the workspace landscape through the prism of Herman Miller’s progressive colour philosophy.
Ken Cato has brought a new level of sophistication to Australian graphic design in a career spanning over forty years, which makes him an Indesign Luminary.
Founded in 2010, Beeline is the result of a sincere love of authenticity in furniture design, and with the Ridge collection, a love of the classic Australian corrugated iron roof.
The internet never sleeps! Here's the stuff you might have missed
The upcoming Blak Design Matters forum in Melbourne will explore First Nations design with panel discussions on ownership of identity, cultural appropriation and misappropriation more.
The idea behind ubiquitous inclusivity is undoubtedly an appealing one, which is why universal and accessible design principles have been gaining so much traction in recent years. Here, two renowned design experts weigh in on utilising these principles to create accessible bathrooms – and share the design thinking underpinning the process.
From innovative architectural material solutions, to colourful works seeking solutions for the future, and playful metaphors for the issues of today. We deep dive into the creatives starting new conversations around sustainability.