In a Room is a conversation series where we ask our friends to share their favourite domestic spaces. This week we’re joined by artist and publisher Bart Celestino.
Known for both his photographic work and LOVEWANT — the magazine he co-founded and makes with partner Bec Parsons — Bart Celestino is a visionary whose work is in demand around the world. He is also a family man who has enjoys the comforts of home with art and design on the walls, cats and kids in the halls. Naturally he's someone who knows a thing or two about rooms.
Photo by Billy Zammit via Art Aid.
Which room are you in today?
I'm in our apartment in Bronte, which is on Hewlett St, the street that divides Bronte and Tamarama on the Bondi to Bronte walk. When I walk out onto the street I see the horizon and a vast ocean about 20 metres from my door. I'm here because I'm working in the city today.
Which room is the most active in your house?
Our actual house is in Mittagong in the Southern Highlands. The kitchen there is always busy with someone that is hungry. It also has a fireplace that goes through to the living room, so in winter, it is the most active palace in the house.
Which room gets the least amount of use?
The laundry room, there's always washing to be done with two small children, and we all avoid it.
Which is your work-from-home room of choice?
The office in the highlands has a studio which has alot of room to breathe, so its ideal for being productive. Setting up new projects is always fun there. A coffee machine in the butlers pantry and a big reference library is there too. But the studio is the best place to see the seasons change with large windows, and a glass roof, surrounded by hundred year old trees.
What for you defines a great room?
Natural light, high ceilings, open space, beautiful furniture and books. Lots of books. And ideally surrounded by nature. Thats why I love the Southern Highlands: the clean air and being away from the chaos of a big city.
What is your personal favourite type of room, and why?
I like rooms with trees in them. It's so unusual and unexpected. That being said I like camping on Kosciusko in winter, with the snow and the solitude. A tiny tent will suffice if you're warm, safe, and happy. It is the ideal room to watch the world from.
Tell us about your all-time favourite room.
I'd say it's cross between a studio and a bedroom, specifically The Harry Seidler office and apartments behind Luna Park in Sydney. This was a private residence for Harry and upstairs in that apartment there is tiny office with an original Roy Lichtensteins stuck to the wall like wall paper, a well used LC/4 Chaise by C. Perriand, Le Corbusier, & P. Jeanneret, and a writing desk. Then there's sweeping panoramic north-west to south-west views over Luna Park from Lavender Bay to McMahon’s Point, Miller’s Point, and Walsh Bay round to the Sydney Harbour Bridge. If there was any room you would want to work and have a nap in, it's that room.
Harry Seidler Office, Sydney