With its inspiring in-showroom installations, The Project is one of Saturday Indesign's major highlights. The 2023 People's Choice winner is 'f l u i d' by Plus Architecture with AXOR.

Plus Architecture with AXOR has been announced as the People’s Choice Winner of The Project at Saturday Indesign 2023.

Voted as the most favoured immersive and inspiring showroom installation by over 200 voting participants, ‘f l u i d’ aimed to unite people, place and sustainability while framing utopia (the 2023 Project theme) as a harmonious, reciprocally adaptive world.

“While conveying the core elements that drove our concept, we wanted to create an immersive experience that engaged peoples’ senses,” says the Plus team, which worked in collaboration with Saturday Indesign exhibitor, AXOR, to create the installation for its Abbotsford showroom.

“When viewed at a distance, the installation effectively acted as a single dynamic sculpture, which drew people closer and encouraged them to inspect the individual elements,” says Plus.

The floating installation has been constructed from bottlecaps, sourced and repurposed from the designers’ local cafes. Over 1,400 bottlecaps were sourced. “To start with, we created a 3D model of our idea so we could accurately map how to thread and hang each cap to achieve our desired effect,” says the Plus team. “Once we knew how many different cap types we’d have after collection, we adapted our design to accommodate each size in a way that embodies the flow and motion of water.”

Here ‘f l u i d’ not only highlights the role people and sustainability play in our everyday lives, it also reflects back on perhaps AXOR’s most powerful element, water.

“When viewed at a distance, the installation effectively acted as a single dynamic sculpture, which drew people closer and encouraged them to inspect the individual elements. As they did this, the bottle caps, audio loop and water projections evoked their senses of sight, sound and touch,” says the Plus team.

For the design team, working with AXOR really highlighted the timelessness and versatility of the brand. “They’re a bit like Rolex – prioritising excellent engineering to create long-lasting, adaptable quality rather than churning out excessive quantities of products with one specific purpose,” says the Plus team. “This approach naturally lends itself to sustainability, and we love that they’ve always stayed true to their values.”

The winning installation was one of 10 different Project collaborations that competed for the People’s Choice. It used a total of 826 small caps, 361 medium, and 291 large. A massive effort – and a few late nights – from Plus’ very deserving Melbourne studio.

Congratulations Plus Architecture and AXOR!

About Saturday Indesign 2023

Saturday Indesign, now in its 20th year, really encapsulates that spirit of connectivity that makes the design community so unique and, well, fun. It’s an event that brings people together – almost 2000 in 2023 in fact – and invites them into the ‘homes’ of Australia’s leading purveyors of design, to experience showrooms as activated brand environments. Through interactive installations, dynamic design discussions, product launches and sublime hospitality, 34 exhibitors across 26 locations brought Saturday Indesign to vibrant life, this year in Melbourne. Read the full Saturday Indesign event wrap-up here.

About The Project

The Project is one of the most highly anticipated features of Saturday Indesign giving architects, designers and other creatives an opportunity to work with exhibiting companies and their products to create installations, visual displays and interactive experiences within showroom spaces. The Project creates a never-before-seen experience exclusive to Saturday Indesign, where attendees can immerse themselves in tangible and immersive works.

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