Experiencing a Technical Difficulty
Join Dr Catriona Quinn on a journey through Australia’s rich interior design heritage and a deep dive into the studios of design educators in Sydney in the 1940s, 50s and 60s.
After World War II, Australian interior design education was shaped by a shifting social and economic landscape, and it was during this time the new profession of ‘interior designer’ emerged. Interior design’s association with craft, commercial and ‘feminine’ practices means it has often been overlooked or misrepresented in public discourse. In this lecture, Dr Catriona Quinn presents a history of interior design in Australia that emphasises the value of technical education and offers new insights into the issues faced by the profession today.
Focusing on rare mid-century student portfolios and archives held in the Caroline Simpson Library collections and the interior design program at the former East Sydney Technical College, Dr Quinn examines the work of the college’s graduates and their impact on Australian interiors.
Interior design
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Exploring the Augusto Lorenzini archive
Assistant Research Curator Anna Stewart-Yates reflects on discoveries and questions raised by months spent cataloguing the archive of Augusto Lorenzini, 19th-century decorator of vanished Sydney interiors. The archive is now fully catalogued and can be explored online
Diana Luxton Messara: public interior designer
The Diana Luxton Messara archive, generously donated by the designer herself, contains drawings, plans, textile designs, photographs, correspondence, publications, sample boards and personal papers spanning more than five decades.
On a tour with palms: a botanical foray into the Caroline Simpson Library
A search for palms in the museum collections took this researcher on a journey back to a time when these plants were considered an essential addition to the tasteful home
![Walford, 7 Knox Street, Double Bay, December 1967 [photographer unknown]](https://api.mhnsw.au/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimages.mhnsw.au%2Ffotoweb%2Fembed%2F2026%2F05%2Fb973a68e392143138186b649ed3cb6b5.jpg&w=1920&h=400&fit=inside&format=webp)
Leslie Walford Archive
For nearly 50 years Leslie Walford AM (1927–2012) was one of Sydney’s most successful interior designers, the decorator of choice for the city’s social elite and a leading figure in the Society of Interior Designers of Australia (SIDA).