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Christina Yao
Japanese lifestyle brand Muji invited seven Australian architects and designers to reimagine the use of its classic products in an exhibition held during Melbourne Design Week. Named Muji Made, the three-day exhibition, located within Gertrude Glasshouse gallery in Collingwod, was curated by art director Marsha Golemac together with designer Colby Vexler.
The new interpretations by local architects and designers were on display alongside a selection of Muji's products, showcasing the combination of simplicity and functionality that Muji is known for. "The exhibition explores experimentation, reuse and assembly as methods of extending and reinterpreting everyday objects," explained Golemac and Vexler. "It reflects on how simplicity and functionality evolve through reduction and continual refinement, inviting a renewed appreciation for the elemental intelligence and quiet beauty embedded in daily life," they continued.
Melbourne architecture studio A22a created a side table made entirely from white fabric sheets. The solid structure of the form was established by stacking pressed layers of a reclaimed cotton duvet cover from Muji, without using a frame or hardware. Muji's timber shoehorns were turned into a table lamp by Melbourne designer Charlie White. Informed by the scales of a pangolin, White arranged the birch shoehorns in an overlapping design to form a pitched lampshade that created a warm column of light.
Australian architecture practice All Days used Muji's stainless steel unit shelving to develop a chair and a wall-mounted cabinet. The modular Monday Chair was assembled using two shelves and their frames, forming a high back and lower seat to the ground. More units can be joined together to make a wider chair or a long bench.
The Thursday Cabinet featured a smooth front of stainless steel and custom fibreglass shelves with open sides, revealing the inside of the cabinet. A deep socket hinge was incorporated into the original shelving unit, allowing the cabinet to be opened by dropped handles located at the lower end.
According to the curators, the works selected for the exhibition were aligned with Muji's own design approach on simplicity, utility and clarity. "By stripping away excess, its approach centres on simplicity, utility and clarity," Golemac and Vexler said. "This results in objects that feel quiet and resolved, defined not by minimalism as a style, but by the absence of unnecessary intention."
Swiss-Australian artist and designer Olivia Bossy focused her adaptations on food-related products. Among them was a Fragile Purpose, a delicate shelf made from chopsticks bound together by elastic hair bands. As fragile as it appeared, the shelf could hold only one small plate.
Bossy also experimented with making ravioli from sponges as an art piece to challenge the notion of making objects into food. Co-curator Vexler, meanwhile, stacked twenty white-grey storage case drawers from Muji on wheels to celebrate the ritual of organising championed by the brand.
The photography is by Pier Carthew.
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https://www.dezeen.com/2026/05/27/muji-made-exhibition-melbourne/
