Indoor and Outdoor Living Spaces - Take it Outside by Amber Road

Rigg Design Prize Series

Melbourne, VIC, Australia

Blurring the lines between the indoor and outdoor, Amber Road’s Rigg Design Prize installation ‘Take it Outside’ is a playful celebration of the senses, creating a dance between materiality, form and immersion.

Born from the idea of a space being an invitation, Amber Road has cleverly curated the core pillars of their practice through referenced nods to their past and heritage, in a proposal of space that sees domestic life as a true kaleidoscope of richness. Through layered materiality, audio, texture and moving elements, the idea that the domestic life extends beyond the interior, that our lives spill into other spaces, is at the core of ‘Take it Outside’s inception. The outdoor room, also known as the ‘porch’ or ‘verandah’ (in Australia), is explored as this additional space where a large part of domesticity occurs. This installation also explores the idea of the outdoor space becoming somewhat of a luxury in this contemporary built world and poses questions around how this will change the way in which we live.

Amber Road’s ‘Let’s Take This Outside’ blurs the once distinguishable lines between indoor and outdoor Australian living.

The space is a series of contrasts, earthy and ground-like elements juxtaposed with reflective and air-flighted pieces, generating commentary on how indoor and outdoor are often seen as opposing yet together they create a sense of dynamism.

Through layered materiality, audio, texture and moving elements, Amber Road explore the idea that the domestic life extends beyond the interior.

Taken almost as a portrait of the sisters (of Amber Road), the installation mimics valued nostalgia of co-habitating between the indoor and the outdoor. Scattered throughout are signs of life, and recognisable and relatable cult icons – a pair of thongs, a packet of cigarettes, a used ashtray, an oscillating fan and an old magazine – all of which painted white, serving almost as ghosts frozen in time.

The installation is a reference to numerous, multi-layered cultural references, echoing the heritages of Amber Road’s principles Yasmine Ghoniem and Katy Svalbe’s own past, and their time living in Europe, the United States and the Middle East.

This installation by Amber Road explores the idea of the outdoor space becoming somewhat of a luxury in this contemporary built world.

As you move through the space, the raw, eclectic and expansiveness of Australia is clearly represented in a fanciful medley. The soundtrack of native birds, the BBQ sizzling and rain falling on tin rooves, are then overlaid onto this glowing box of counterbalanced elements.

The essence of ‘Take it Outside’ is as a domestic space ‘pregnant with possibility’. It represents imagined stories and sets a stage for nostalgic connections to domesticity to occur. The proposal sees a case for contemporary living to not be encased within mere walls, but to unfold beyond the familiar, and to treasure these premium connections to the raw (and rareness) of nature. This layered approach and commentary poses many questions about our living choices and acknowledgement of our own stories, past and future.

This layered approach and social commentary poses many questions through design about our living choices and acknowledgement of our own stories, past and future.