Carin Wilson’s five decades of shaping Aotearoa design

For five decades, designer, maker and educator Carin Wilson has explored how objects can carry ideas about place, culture and identity. A new exhibition at Objectspace, He maramara tupu aranga: Carin Wilson and 50 years of Aotearoa design, brings together this expansive practice, examining a career that has moved between furniture, sculpture, architecture, education and design advocacy. 

The exhibition takes its title from the process of making itself: the fragments, material decisions and moments of experimentation that allow something new to take shape. Rather than presenting design as a series of finished outcomes, the retrospective considers the thinking behind Wilson’s work and the wider conversations it has contributed to within Aotearoa design. 

Wilson’s practice emerged during a period when New Zealand’s design identity was beginning to be reconsidered. His early furniture work challenged expectations around what functional objects could represent, moving beyond purely utilitarian forms towards pieces that carried narrative, cultural meaning and a stronger sense of authorship. His involvement in initiatives such as Artiture in the late 1980s further expanded conversations around furniture as a creative discipline rather than simply a commercial product. 

Across subsequent decades, Wilson’s work has continued to sit between disciplines. His contributions have extended into architectural projects, public commissions, education and collaborations that examine how design can respond to Aotearoa’s unique cultural context. The exhibition reflects this breadth, bringing together different periods of his career rather than focusing on one particular medium or style. 

For architects and designers, the retrospective offers an opportunity to consider the role of making within the built environment: how furniture, objects and spaces influence the way people experience place. It also highlights the importance of designers who have helped establish a distinct design conversation in Aotearoa, connecting craft, architecture and material culture.

He maramara tupu aranga: Carin Wilson and 50 years of Aotearoa design is on display at Objectspace, with the exhibition reflecting on a career shaped by curiosity, collaboration and a continued engagement with the evolving role of design.

Explore Objectspace and discover more conversations around design, architecture, and the makers shaping Aotearoa’s built environment. ArchiPro connects the people, practices and ideas behind the spaces we experience, from emerging material explorations to enduring design legacies.