Feature... Women in Design: Adelaide
Pritchard Residence. Photo: Sam Noonan.
We take the opportunity to throw a spotlight on the outstanding work of three Adelaide-based women working in design.
Words by Leanne Amodeo
Leanne is a content director, media consultant and educator.
Australian design is in a very good place. We have some of the finest practitioners in the world working in the fields of architecture; interior, furniture and object design; landscape architecture and industrial design. There’s been an increase in the number of homegrown projects shortlisted for the big international awards – not to mention that many of them have won. And contemporary names like Adam Goodrum, Hecker Guthrie and Helen Kontouris have become synonymous with our national design identity, building upon a legacy left by the likes of Robin Boyd and Grant and Mary Featherston.
But where do we stand in regards to the big issues? How are these creatives addressing global warming, social housing and gender equity? Certainly, a number of architecture practices have recently joined the worldwide Architecture Declares campaign to raise awareness of climate and biodiversity emergencies. While others are working hard to produce affordable housing solutions within small and large cities across the country. Gains still have to be made in regards to gender equity at both a sector and practice level, but it does seem like the conversations we’re currently having about gender imbalance are stronger and louder than ever before. They sure need to be.
Private residence by Enoki. Photo courtesy of Enoki.
Susanna Bilardo. Photo courtesy of Enoki.
In an excellent article published in Metropolis magazine (2018), Mimi Zeiger talks about the importance of female representation and visibility, while reminding us there’s a long tradition of feminist histories and practices within architecture that shouldn’t be forgotten. This is something that surely informed the establishment of Parlour, an Australian research-based advocacy organisation working to improve gender equity in architecture and the built environment professions. And earlier this year, Good Design Australia announced the new Women in Design Award in response to the significant gender imbalance within leadership roles in the design industry.
In more good news, it has to be said that in Adelaide, women in design are representing and they’re well worth recognising and celebrating. Indeed, Kate Cullity is a founding director of renowned landscape architecture practice Taylor Cullity Lethlean and Emma Aiston is one half of wildly popular design duo Daniel Emma. Their names could easily be compiled in a very long list of talent that also includes architect Dimitty Andersen, ceramic artist Honor Freeman, interior designers Sophia Leopardi and Georgie Shepherd, jeweller Kath Inglis and furniture designer Sam Agostino, to name a few.
Another one to add is Susanna Bilardo, who along with Judd Crush established interior and graphic design studio Enoki in 2000. The interior designer is notable for her residential projects, which are an exquisite mix of high-end luxury and relaxed, country inspired stylings. Enoki’s portfolio also extends to commercial fit-outs and along with other exciting local practices such as Studio Gram and Genesin Studio, she’s responsible for redefining Adelaide’s retail and hospitality design landscape.
Bilardo would most probably baulk at any suggestion of her influence, such is her modesty and graciousness. But the truth is that in a tough market like Adelaide, where interior design hasn’t always been understood or appreciated like it currently is, she is a pioneer with an almost 20-year career under her belt. She certainly has bragging rights (if she was that way inclined) because she’s paved the way. So it’s interesting to find out what Bilardo likes most about working in Adelaide. “Being surrounded by peers who are always striving to create the best work possible,” she says by way of response.
“There’s such a depth of talent here [in Adelaide] and we have access to the most incredible trades and craftspeople. We’re really spoiled for choice when it comes to quality, enthusiastic collaborators.”
Certainly, Adelaide has a fine manufacturing tradition (especially in the area of furniture design) and institutions like JamFactory perpetuate this.
JamFactory's annual Generate exhibition has become a nationally respected showcase of emerging designers, many of whom have gone on to great success. One of the newest names is Connie Augoustinos, a ceramic artist who established her studio in 2016 when she was accepted into JamFactory’s Associate Program (Ceramics).
Predominantly using coil hand-building and pinching techniques, Augoustinos’ vessels are deliciously tactile, sensual creations whose resolve belie her young practice. There’s conceptual complexity to her products and it’s clear she has a sound grasp on the history of clay, whether mythological or archaeological, which manifests in her adept lines and forms. However, inspiration generally comes from a more personal place. As she explains,
“My best work is drawn from within and so my cultural heritage and identity are themes I’m always exploring by creating vessels that are similar to what my ancestors used to make.”
Augoustinos undertook a residency in Greece in 2018 following which she completed a body of work for exhibition at JamFactory during SALA 2019.
“After finishing my Associateship, it felt like the time was right to practice outside of my usual surroundings,” she continues. “Being second generation Greek Australian and having recently lost all my grandparents, it was important that I went to Greece to not only connect with a part of myself that felt lost, but to also physically connect to the works that inspire me.”
Connie Augoustinos in her JamFactory Studio.
Pritchard Residence. Photo: Sam Noonan.
For architect Tess Pritchard, joining a boutique architectural practice like Max Pritchard Gunner Architects (MPGA) in 2012 straight after graduating from a Master of Architecture at University of South Australia was hugely appealing. “It offered a chance to play a key role in projects through every stage of design and construction,” says Pritchard, whose father Max established MPGA in 1986.
“Residential architecture is very personal and I love the impact we can have in creating someone’s home.”
There’s perhaps no creative sector that has come under scrutiny for gender inequity quite like the architecture industry. While there still may be a way to go, there have definitely been positive shifts and moves forward, including a 16 percent increase in the number of women on the registers between 2012 and 2014, as Parlour co-founder Justine Clark points out in her 2018 discourse published on architectureau.com.
Pritchard, who became a co-director of MPGA in 2015, is part of a growing number of women architects in senior leadership roles. And to date, her body of work reads as an outstanding study in environmentally responsive residential design that’s as dynamic as it is sensitive. Her achievements, along with those of all the other exceptional Adelaide-based women working in design, could fill a book or two (just an idea). Ultimately, theirs is an integral contribution to the diverse, rich and innovative tapestry that has come to define the very best of contemporary Australian design.