Welcome to the seventh instalment of 'UQ by design', a 12-part Contact series celebrating the beauty and abundance of UQ's cultural assets. Join us each month as we take you on a virtual guided tour across UQ's three campuses, providing a brief overview of the pieces and where you can find them. This month, we take a look at 'recycled rewards' – decorative items around the University that incorporate unique recycled materials.

Whether looking for a place to sit or a light to read under, UQ features outdoor furniture and interior light fittings that incorporate unique recycled materials. Outside the UQ Art Museum is a pair of terrazzo-look chairs made from recycled LDPE black plastic and filled with sand. Designed by Alexander Lotersztain in 2015, the chairs are part of the QTZ series created by Coorparoo-based furniture company Derlot Editions.

The Physiology building at UQ St Lucia is home to two unusual chandeliers repurposed from old lecture theatre chair frames. Designed by Scott Bagnell, formerly of Cottee Parker Architects, they were part of a 2011 refurbishment of the 1963 building, creating a historical and cultural link between past, present and future users of the space.

The light-fittings are complemented by an art installation in the foyer, which also features salvaged 1960s lecture theatre chair frames as well as desk tablets, Tree of life. Also created by Senior Interior Designer at Cottee Parker Architects, Scott Bagnell, the wall piece shows off some 50-years worth of graffiti, and reflects the history, thoughts and repartee of those who studied in these spaces.

An interesting aside: Although Bagnell had carefully selected and ‘marked’ all pieces for the art installation, after the building was demolished, the desk tablets were inadvertently thrown away – so he actually went to the tip to retrieve them. Many were chosen for their risqué comments, but when the builder installed them, those ones were placed up high so as not to be easily readable from the ground floor! (Hint: go to the upper informal seating area to read the x-rated material!)

On the other side of the campus, look out for the World sign comprising recycled elements that would otherwise have been discarded: a broken light pole and various signs and brackets. Fashioned by the UQ Science Workshops in 2020, it is located on the grassed area between Central Library and the Sir Llew Edwards building at St Lucia.

Click on the photos below to reveal the full image

Be sure to check back in next month, as Contact looks at UQ's many light attractions.

Words and concept: Suzanne Parker
Artwork and design: James North
Photography: Anjanette Webb
Contributors: Barbara Robinson and Jeremy Crowley

All artworks and artefacts mentioned in this series are located on UQ's St Lucia, Gatton and Herston campuses, and we acknowledge the Traditional Owners and their custodianship of the lands on which the University stands. We pay our respects to their Ancestors and their descendants, who continue cultural and spiritual connections to Country. We recognise their valuable contributions to Australian and global society.