Vue de Monde Seating

Vue de Monde is a high concept restaurant project in Australia, by architects Elenberg Fraser and makes reference to the pre-European history of Melbourne when it was wildlife-rich wetlands, through to the extravagance of the gold rush and to current modern times. I was invited on-board to design and supply bespoke chairs and table’s through-out the interior. I’d been experimenting with kangaroo hide for some time and my real motivation for this particular job was designing products unmistakably Australian that were not just horribly kitsch or cliché : but I also wanted to get the conversation started about using animal materials more holistically and about using an abundant native resource to Australia more responsibly, using the whole of the animal including the meat on the menu and skin without waste. We even gold gilded the bones. Kangaroos are government controlled in Australia and it just seemed a sad waste that most of the skins were destined for shoes, footballs and European fashion houses without carrying their life’s story. Cow leather is now too familiar for people to truly relate to the animal but the bold characteristics of kangaroo skins will hopefully help people to think about the completed life cycle of this animal as they sit to dine. Everything about using animals and plants that belong to this beautiful country called Australia makes enormous environmental wisdom and utilising the animals that natively belong to a region makes as much simple and basic sense as constructing buildings from the natural materials from the earth where they come. . I’m interested in how the user relates to objects, and the personal connection. I like the idea of my products being seen as functional pets or working companions and I hope these bespoke designs for this project has clearly achieved this.