The Powerhouse Museum has been building the country's first collection of contemporary product design selected from the prestigious Australian Design Awards.

Since 1992 the Powerhouse Museum has recognised excellence in Australian product design with its own award as part of the annual Australian Design Awards program. The winning products have been displayed in the Museum and some have been added to the permanent collection of Australian industrial design.

The Powerhouse Museum Selection is an important part of the Museum's collection development strategy. It allows curators to keep in touch with innovative designers and companies, and provides an opportunity for the Museum to acquire artefacts relating to the process of designing, manufacturing and marketing products in Australia. The annual exhibition of products gives the public the opportunity to appreciate the latest in Australian design and innovation, and recognises the important role of design in enabling Australian companies to be competitive in local and international markets.

The Powerhouse Museum is the only Australian museum that actively collects and records contemporary Australian industrial design, and the Powerhouse Museum Selection is a key part of building this collection. When collecting contemporary design the Museum considers the entire process of product design, not only the final product. By collecting all aspects of a product's lifecycle from the conceptual design and engineering development, to materials and manufacturing technologies and final use and disposal, the complex nature of design and its role in society is recorded.

The Powerhouse Museum Selection is made from the DesignMark finalists each year. The Museum's selection criteria include good design, innovation, and the significance of a product to Australia's material culture. Products must demonstrate innovation in design, technology or materials used. They must also show potential to become important in the life of Australians, be significant to Australian industry or provide an opportunity for Australian design to be recognised in the global marketplace.

The products selected by the Museum increasingly reflect the diverse range of Australian Design Awards entries. The first Powerhouse Museum Selection in 1992 included the HPM Fanlight and Surgeguard power surge protector, products that were still in the marketplace fourteen years later. Since then the selection has ranged from simple everyday items such as the Clark sink plug to specialised technologies such as the Mine Site Integrated Communications Cap Lamp. Design for sustainability has been of constant interest throughout the selection, represented by products such as the Kambrook Axis kettle, Rainbank pump controller and Caroma Smartflush toilet. Medical technologies have also featured strongly, from the Bionica ambulatory drug infusion pump to the VentrAssist heart pump and Cochlear implant.


Angelique Hutchison
Curator of product design
2006

+ Australian Design Award
+ Australian product design
+ Industrial design

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