KEEP was conceived as an invitation to six Australian architects: design an object for domestic use, made only from American red oak, cherry or hard maple. The brief asked for a piece that could last for generations, a ‘forever object’ of a quality worth keeping, perhaps even collectible. Architects were encouraged to look to the past for inspiration, to reinterpret forgotten typologies, or to imagine new ones for a changing future.

For curator David Clark, the provocation was clear: “Historically, and in other places, it is more commonplace for architects to design furniture, for their own projects or for companies by commission. In the nascent Australian furniture industry, it is less so. I thought it would be interesting to see what prominent and successful architects might design outside their usual focus, and perhaps, in the process and conversation, what they might bring to the texture and layers of the Australian design ecosystem.”

The process was collaborative. Each architect developed their design through dialogue with Clark and with established Australian manufacturers, Evostyle moving from concept to technical drawings to workshop refinement. Along the way, questions of longevity, usefulness and beauty were explored, but always with an emphasis on craftsmanship and the expressive potential of sustainable American hardwoods.

The resulting works are diverse in form and function, yet they share a commitment to permanence, material honesty and the idea that the objects we choose to live with should carry meaning and memory.