Interior Awards jury: Meet Deidre Brown
Deidre Brown has been on staff with the University of Auckland for well over a decade and she officially began her duties as head of the School of Architecture and Planning on 1 January 2019.
Deidre Brown is the head of the School of Architecture and Planning at the University of Auckland, and she forms part of this year's Interior Awards judging panel. Today, she answers some questions about her favourite interiors, books and more.
What would be your one key piece of advice to entrants of the 2019 Interior Awards?
Deidre Brown (DB): Consider carefully the balance and relationship of the space created between objects and solid forms. Often this gets overlooked in favour of colour, texture and shape.
What is your favourite New Zealand commercial interior and why?
DB: It’s not strictly a commercial interior, but I was really impressed by the installation of the Gordon Walters exhibition at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery in early 2018. I’ve never seen flat plane geometric abstraction take command of large voluminous spaces before in that way, and it made me think about Walters as a space maker and not just an artist or graphic designer.
What music are you likely to be listening to while selecting the finalists to the Interior Awards?
DB: I live in the bush and prefer to work to the sounds of bird call if it is outside of work hours. Otherwise it’s the hum of the motorway next to my office!
What material do you think is under-represented in New Zealand interiors?
Harakeke (New Zealand flax). I am currently researching the distribution of harakeke by Kew Gardens around the former British Empire in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to establish new textile industries. I have been astonished by the diversity of products made from it that we have never seen in this country.
What is one of your favourite interiors/architecture related book at the moment?
I’m currently enjoying looking at a book by Albert Frey. I say ‘looking’ because I’m mostly consuming the pictures.
See the key dates for the 2019 Interior Awards here, and get your entries ready to submit beginning 5 February.
