Adam Goodrum b. 1972

  • Designer (Industrial / Product Designer)
Goodrum studied at the Sydney College of the Arts and works as an industrial designer. He was selected as the "Sydney Morning Herald" "Young Designer of the Year" in 1997 and the the winner of the Bombay Sapphire Design Award in 2004. His "Stitch Chair" (1994) was put into production by the Italian manufacturer Cappellini in 2008. In 2012, he is developing a furniture line for the Melbourne-based manufacturer Tait.

Design Institute of Australia Hall of Fame citation 2023:

Adam Goodrum
Industrial and Furniture Design

Adam Goodrum is widely acknowledged as the most successful, currently practising furniture designer in Australia. His output in Australia and internationally is prolific and includes pieces for Cappellini, Alessi, Norman Copenhagen, Louis Vuitton, Cult and Tait.

He designs with the philosophy that an object must justify its existence – through its story and detailing. For this reason, his designs celebrate process and craftsmanship and accentuate components and joinery to create functional pieces with spirit and personality.

Raised in Perth WA, Goodrum loved art and mathematics at school and considered a career as an artist but ended up studying Industrial Design at the University of Technology (UTS) in Sydney, where he later had an academic role for a number of years. He is frequently called upon to feature in industry and public talks about design practice and mentors other designers by allowing them to intern in his studio.

He became prominent when he designed the Stitch Chair for Cappellini, exhibited at the Milan Furniture Fair 2008. He then designed tabletop products for Alessi and Norman Copenhagen, the Riddling Stool as a project for Veuve Clicquot and Big Talk originally commissioned by Kvadrat later put into production by Swedish company Blå Station.

Closer to home, he has designed several furniture ranges for Cult, including Fat Tulip and Molloy, recently used in Hermes showrooms and the Trace collection for Tait. He is a founding member of Broached Commissions and is one half of A&A, a collectible design practice focussed on unique straw marquetry furniture pieces.

Goodrum’s work has been awarded various design accolades, including the NGV Rigg Prize, Vogue x Alessi Design Prize, Bombay Sapphire Design Discovery Award, Indesign Luminary Award and the Idea Awards Editor’s Medal. His work has also been included in exhibitions and collections at Powerhouse / MAAS, Art Gallery WA, NGV, NGA, London Design Museum and the Gent Design Museum, Belgium.

Writers:

Michael Bogle
Date written:
2023
Last updated:
2023