Penny Craswell
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pcraswell.bsky.social
Penny Craswell
@pcraswell.bsky.social
Writes about design, art, architecture. Lives in Sydney. Magazines, history, comedy, literature, women’s writing, new writing, poetry, podcasts, music. My books are published by Thames and Hudson. My blog is The Design Writer.
Jia CURATED is an event like no other, held in the grounds of an abandoned theme park in Bali.
Read more on my blog #thedesignwriter
thedesignwriter.com.au/review-jia-c...
Review: Jia CURATED, Bali - The Design Writer
By Penny Craswell There were once crocodiles here, when this was an abandoned theme park. So the story goes as we wander the grounds of Jia CURATED, a design event in Bali from 14 to 18 August that br...
thedesignwriter.com.au
September 25, 2025 at 2:10 AM
“What defines Balinese design? Natural materials, quality craftsmanship and a strong connection to nature, according to the more than 100 exhibitors at last month’s Jia Curated.

My article on JIA Curated is now up on the Australian Financial Review website.

www.afr.com/life-and-lux...
Petrified trees and recycled plastic: The best of Bali’s design fest
The fourth annual Jia Curated proves that contemporary design on the Indonesian island is thriving.
www.afr.com
September 12, 2025 at 3:48 AM
Fantastic to be on the radio live this morning talking with Maisy Stapleton about architecture, sustainability and my books Reclaimed and The New Sustainable House.

To listen, head to the website and click on 19 June recording. Thanks Maisy!

eastsidefm.org/artsthursday/

#architecture #radio
Arts - Thursday
Eastside Radio 89.7FM
eastsidefm.org
June 19, 2025 at 5:13 AM
Last week on a rainy Sydney morning I visited the MCA Australia to see the new exhibition by Welsh artist Cerith Wyn Evans whose works are known for their investigations into light, sound and language. My review is out in The Saturday Paper Today. www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/culture/visu...
Cerith Wyn Evans’s solo show at MCA
Welsh artist Cerith Wyn Evans’s solo show at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, his first in the southern hemisphere, explores the mutability of light, space and sound.
www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au
June 14, 2025 at 4:24 AM
Canberra architect Ben Walker has designed this house with an insulated building envelope and a heat-recovery system that means the clients' daughter no longer needs her asthma puffer. Article in Green magazine's current issue #103

greenmagazine.com.au/article/brea...
Breathe Easy—Issue 103 | green magazine | green magazinegreen magazine
Inside issue 103 of green magazine: In Canberra’s extremes of weather, it takes deep thoughts and ideas to create a year-round cocoon.
greenmagazine.com.au
June 6, 2025 at 12:28 AM
Faye Toogood modelled her new sofa on an actual pat of butter which she moulded with slippery hands. Find out more about this and nine other of the best products launched as part of Milan Design Week in my report for InteriorsAu. architectureau.com/articles/ten...
Ten of the best: New products from Milan Design Week 2025
Reporting for InteriorsAu, Penny Craswell hit the streets of Milan in search of her favourite products of the 2025 design week.
architectureau.com
April 16, 2025 at 9:07 AM
On a beautiful autumn evening at the Sydney Opera House, London-based designers Martino Gamper & Max Lamb sat down to talk all things materials, design and making, ultimately revealing a deep friendship and respect. But first they had to make their own chairs.
thedesignwriter.com.au/martino-gamp...
Martino Gamper and Max Lamb at the Sydney Opera House - The Design Writer
Martino Gamper and Max Lamb are close friends, both running design practices in London with a focus on making and design.
thedesignwriter.com.au
March 31, 2025 at 4:56 AM
Thank you Mobilia for commissioning me to write this longform article about Italian craftsmanship in furniture design. Mobilia Journal Issue Three is just out and they have a new showroom in Alexandria Sydney #italianfurniture #italiandesign #designhistory #designwriting #thedesignwriter
March 20, 2025 at 4:59 AM
From coffins and elaborate gifts to some of the most iconic furniture pieces and ambitious architectural projects of our age – plywood dominates.
Ply-curious by Penny Craswell for Never Too Small
www.nevertoosmall.com/post/ply-cur...
Ply-curious | Never Too Small
From coffins and elaborate gifts to some of the most iconic furniture pieces and ambitious architectural projects of our age – plywood dominates.
www.nevertoosmall.com
March 3, 2025 at 5:35 AM
At Home by Bill Bryson is one of the best history of design books that’s not a history of design. It even starts with the Crystal Palace. Great reading. Conversational. Plenty of social history. And history of inventions. And stuff that’s sort of nothing to do with the home.
February 7, 2025 at 4:59 AM
Anyone know what these are? Fire shelter? Bomb shelter? Vent? I’m in Milton a small town on the South Coast of NSW. #concretemound
February 1, 2025 at 5:49 AM
🌿Big news! My book, The New Sustainable House, is officially out today in the US and the UK.

Designing with the environment in mind is not ‘new’. What is new is the increasing number of ways houses can be more sustainably built. @thamesandhudson.bsky.social

#sustainabledesign #booklaunch
January 22, 2025 at 5:44 AM
"... an accessible, passively designed home that is oriented intelligently for the sun and climate, uses long-lasting local and natural materials, and has sustainable systems in place."

Somers House by Kennedy Nolan in an extract from "The New Sustainable House".

architectureau.com/articles/bur...
Burnt timber meets earthy tones: Somers House by Kennedy Nolan
In this extract from Penny Craswell's book The New Sustainable House, the author highlights the environmental achievements of a fully accessible and thoughtfully arranged home.
architectureau.com
January 17, 2025 at 12:46 AM
My new book, The New Sustainable House, is available in the US from 21 January. It features houses across the globe designed with the environment in mind. www.amazon.com/New-Sustaina...
The New Sustainable House: Planet-Friendly Home Design
The New Sustainable House: Planet-Friendly Home Design [Craswell, Penny] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The New Sustainable House: Planet-Friendly Home Design
www.amazon.com
January 8, 2025 at 8:35 AM