Australian Furniture Design Award

Stylecraft and the NGV announce Marta Figueiredo as the winner of the 2024 Australian Furniture Design Award with a work championing women’s health. The Australian Furniture Design Award – the nation’s most significant furniture and lighting design accolade with a $20,000 prize – has been awarded to Australian-Portuguese architect and multidisciplinary designer Marta Figueiredo.

Founded by Stylecraft and presented in collaboration with the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), the biennial Award celebrates the most interesting and innovative furniture and lighting design being created in Australia today.

Selected from a shortlist of ambitious new work, Figueiredo’s Chronicles of Resilience cabinet is a personal and vulnerable work that highlights women’s health, with a focus on endometriosis, and is designed as a tangible platform for advocacy to bring attention to the complexities of a chronic illness that affects one in seven women in Australia. The cabinet features three rotating drums, each detailed with tiles decorated in a workshop ran by Figueiredo with a group of women experiencing endometriosis. The cabinet’s facade is segmented into four vertical thematic panels – Challenge, Resilience, Empowerment, and Imagined Future – each carefully designed to represent different complexities and nuances of the stages of the endometriosis journey.

The design infuses the spirit of Figueiredo’s Portuguese heritage and the principles of furniture typologies around the world including the Portuguese and Brazilian Oratorio Domestico (narrative driven cabinets and furnishings) and the Japanese Butsudan (shrine). In addition to the prize of $20,000, Figueiredo will be invited to develop a commercial range or product with Stylecraft, and a two-week residency at the JamFactory in Adelaide. Ewan McEoin, Jury Chair and Senior Curator, Contemporary Art, Design and Architecture at the NGV said: ‘Marta Figueiredo’s Chronicles of Resilience cabinet is a deeply personal and symbolic work that draws attention to women’s health. It is exciting that this year the Australian Furniture Design Award has a winner that is using the medium of furniture as a platform to discuss women’s health. This is an adventurous and courageous piece – and we look forward to seeing it ignite important conversations.’ Anthony Collins , Managing Director, Stylecraft, said: ‘Amidst the challenges encountered by emerging furniture designers breaking into the industry, the Australian Furniture Design Award offers a promising gateway within the Australian design community. AFDA provides a nurturing environment for new talent, presenting an invaluable opportunity to gain visibility and support in the industry.’

The 2024 recipient was selected by a jury of industry leaders comprising Ewan McEoin, Senior Curator, Contemporary Art, Design and Architecture at the NGV (Chair); Tony Russell Brand Director at Stylecraft, Melbourne; Anne-Claire Petre, Founder Anaca Studio, Melbourne; Hamish Guthrie co-director Hecker Guthrie, Melbourne; and Elliat Rich, Alice Springs-based designer and previous AFDA winner.

For more information visit the NGV website.