Nicole Lawrence x Thomas Coward — Tebunginako, 2021

Tebunginako is a hypothetical beach chair. It is named after a sunken village on an island in the Pacific Ocean. Although made from materials that can withstand the island’s fierce heat, it is too hot to ever use and can only be admired as a symbol of aspiration. This chair speaks to the imminent danger of the climate crisis and was initially designed and made for the exhibition A World We Don't Want presented by Friends & Associates as part of Melbourne Design Week 2021. 

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Cornish native Thomas Coward is a Melbourne-based creative practitioner. Established in 2008, his studio works across a range of disciplines, exploring both commercial and personal objectives. From Royal Commissions to exclusive private residences in the USA, Canada, the Middle East and extensively throughout Europe and Australia, Coward has become recognised for his considered aesthetic and approach. His work is informed by the premise that the design process is not solely solving physical problems, it is also about exploring the ongoing relationships between products, people and spaces. This can create unique outcomes with often hidden qualities that reveal themselves over time.  

Nicole Lawrence Studio is an industrial design and fabrication studio based in Melbourne (Naarm), Australia. Specialising in furniture and lighting design, NLS employs a vast range of materials and production techniques, collaborating with industry professionals in realising multi-faceted design projects on both a commercial and individual level. Exploring the relationship between aesthetic form and functionality, Nicole Lawrence Studio seeks to resolve the friction between structural purpose and stylistic freedom. Through questioning not only how something is made but why it’s made that way, considerations in functional and experiential benefit perpetually evolve. 

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The Chair 

Anna Varendorff, Ash Allen, Ashley Eriksmoen, Bern Chandley, Bonhula Yunupingu & Damien Wright, Brodie Neill, Brud Studia, Cordon Salon, Dean Norton, Duncan Young & Noah Hartley, Georgia Weitenberg, Isabel Avendano-Hazbun, James Lemon, Jess Humpston, Jill Stevenson, Johnny Nargoodah & Trent Jansen, Nicole Lawrence & Thomas Coward, Liam Mugavin, Marta Figueiredo, Michael Gittings, Sam Tomkins, Iain [Max] Maxwell & Ben Ennis-Butler, Trent Jansen for Broached Monsters by Broached Commissions, Two Lines Studio, Zachary Frankel.

Read more about The Chair here

'The Chair' exhibition is the first in a series presented by Craft Victoria honouring iconic objects of functional craft and design with a material driven approach.

Material: zinc-plated steel  

Dimensions: 150 x 60 x 70 cm 

One available. Please enquire with the team at Craft for details shop@craft.org.au or call +61 3 9650 7775