
Urbanism 19 February, 2009
Urbis DesignDay Launched!
Urbis DesignDay is back! We launched the event at the stunning Westin on Monday morning with a glass, or two, of Daniel le Brun to add a bit of fizz to the celebrations.
The upmarket Westin Hotel was design central early Monday morning as the fashion designers and showroom pairings were announced for the 2009 Urbis Designday, scheduled for Saturday 28th March.
Now in its fourth year, Urbis Designday has become an essential appointment on Auckland’s event calendar. Each year, on a single day, fashion designers collaborate with upmarket design showrooms to create stunning, inspirational installations.
Last year more than 1,500 people participated in a tour of the showrooms, taking advantage of the complimentary transport between showrooms, and enjoying a glass of bubbles, a coffee or a cocktail at many of the stops. Online registrations suggest that more than 2,000 will take the tour this year.
• Apartmento with Crane Brothers
• Cite with World
• Coast with Emma Kate Bamford Design
• Design Denmark with Lonely Hearts
• Inovo with Jaeha
• Matisse with Kouzina & Karen Walker
• Natuzzi with Lucie Boshier
• Poggenpohl with Huffer
• The Westin with Zambesi
Urbis Designday 2009 is about ‘celebrating original design’ and this theme has been embraced by all participants. This year’s Urbis Designday judges, Tim Walker, who has just recently left his post of Director, Museums, of the Auckland War Memorial Museum, and new Urbis editor Nicole Stock, will award prizes for Best Installation by a Fashion Designer and Best Showroom Ambience.
DesignDay is a huge event, and it wouldn’t be possible without our generous sponsors. Strategic sponsors for Urbis DesignDay include Auckland City Council, Geon, and the Westin. While product sponsors Daniel le Brun, Steinlager Pure, Jura coffee, and Wither Hills will all be a big part of making DesignDay 2009 the best we have seen.
Urbis Designday is on Saturday 28th March from 10am – 5pm at nine central Auckland showrooms.
Guests must pre-register online and pay $20 to receive their Designday Pass which covers entry to the showrooms and complimentary transport on the day.
>>Visit www.urbismagazine.com/designday/registration/
Huffer Giveaway
To celebrate the launch of Urbis DesignDay, Huffer is giving away $250 to the person who has the best suggestion for a FAQ for their new website. Email your answer by 26 February to peta.nichols@agm.co.nz to win.
>>Visit www.hufferstore.com
10 years of iD Dunedin Fashion Week
After 10 years, iD Dunedin Fashion Week is an event that enlivens the city, celebrating its distinct style and fashion identity. With events held throughout the week (including a fashion week tour and starlight shopping) the definite highlights of the event are the Emerging Designer Awards and the iD Dunedin Fashion Show – which this year includes high profile NZ labels such as WORLD and Nom*D. On from the 10th-15th of March.
>>Visit www.id-dunedinfashion.com
Boing Boom Tschak
Through the use of onomatopoeia for the title of this exhibition, on now at the Gow Langsford Gallery in Auckland, you may expect more than the monochromatic paintings that they initially appear to be. Although, it is in the understanding of how these works are created that the words Boing, Boom and Tschak begin to make more sense. Simon Ingram, artist and Senior Lecturer at the Elam School of Fine Arts, in his exhibition Boing Boom Tschak juxtaposes the ideas of ‘artist as machine’ and ‘machine as artist’. The exhibition includes paintings that Ingram has ‘machined’ by hand (through accordance with a simple set of machine-like rules), alongside paintings that are ‘machined’ by a machine (which was developed and constructed by Ingram).
>>Visit www.gowlangsfordgallery.co.nz/artists/simoningram/exhibitions.asp to view a video of the machines at work.
Strange Resting Places
Directed by Leo Gene Peters, Strange Resting Places, set during WWII, traces stories and personal experiences of the Maori Battalion in Italy. Showcasing the traits that Maori shared with the Italians – family, food, song, a love of vino and a passion for the ladies – through music and comedy in Italian, Maori in English you are sure to be offered a touching and often humorous tale of comradeship and survival. On from the 5th–15th of March at The Pumphouse, Takapuna. Urbis has a double pass to give away to the opening performance on Thursday the 5th of March, 8pm. Email peta.nichols@agm.co.nz by 26 February with the director’s name to be in to win.
>>For more information and to book tickets, visit www.pumphouse.co.nz


