Alumnus Henry Wilson featured in an article by Alice Rawsthorn in the International Herald Tribune.
Turning Australia Into a Hub for Designers?
By ALICE RAWSTHORN
SYDNEY — Tucked behind Swadlings Timber & Hardware store in Rozelle, a western suburb of Sydney, is a cluster of small workshops. One is a traditional boatyard, another is a reclaimed timber mill, a third deals in marble and a fourth is an old shipping container that the product designer Henry Wilson has converted into an office and studio.
Once a wooden boat, restored by his neighbor, Sydney Harbour Boat Builders, has been collected by its owner, he is planning to install a second container. In the meantime, he has rigged up an outdoor workshop using the remnants of a catering marquee as the roof and the PVC sheet of an old McDonald’s billboard as a wall. Thanks to the benign Sydney climate, he expects to carry on working there through the winter.
“It’s like a designer’s dream here,” he said. “There’s a hardware store next door. Timber, marble and granite over there. And as much space as you need, because there’s nothing but old railway land at the back. It may be a bit shabby, but it’s fun.” Having installed himself in Swadlings’s backyard, Mr. Wilson, a boyish 28-year-old, is now trying to piece together the network of local suppliers and manufacturers he will need to run an international design career from his native Australia.
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