Plant Life: The Nature of Design at NGV Australia

From fungi-grown leather and hemp fibreboard to plant-based plastics and reclaimed date-palm waste, Plant Life: The Nature of Design looks at how designers are rethinking the materials that surround us. The world-premiere exhibition at the Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia brings together more than 60 works across furniture, architecture, craft, decorative arts, photography and film.

Moving between contemporary experimentation, industrial history and First Nations knowledge, the exhibition traces our changing relationship with the plant world. At its centre are designers working to replace petrochemical materials with alternatives grown, harvested or made from plants.

Joris Laarman’s Ply Loop Chair uses a plant-based resin that allows the plywood to be fully disassembled, while Aifunghi’s furniture is grown from fungal networks cultivated in hemp hurd. A new commission from RMIT University explores mycelium leather as the basis for protective clothing in Mycelium Wildfire Jacket. Elsewhere, East Architecture Studio’s pavilion mosque uses compressed date-palm waste, while Crafting Plastics’ light-reactive bioplastic changes colour when exposed to UV light.

The exhibition also looks back, considering the environmental cost embedded in familiar materials and design histories. Alongside these experiments are works that reflect longstanding First Nations relationships with plant life, including bull kelp vessels, grass weaving, tree bark and Amazonian yare vine.

Even the exhibition furniture has been designed with its plant-based premise in mind, with display structures made from hemp hurd board and a bio-based resin. Plant Life asks us to reconsider not just what we make, but what we make it from.

Plant Life: The Nature of Design runs from August 28, 2026 to February 7, 2027. Entry is free.

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