Mr Christian Tietz

• Biography
• Areas of Research/Teaching Expertise
• Publications
• Contact

Biography

Christian has been running his own design consulting business since 1992. As a Board Member, and with seven other designers in Surry Hills, Sydney, he helped to setup Argo Design. During that time, his work was featured in a number of Design publications:  Monument magazine (issue18), Vogue Living, October 1993, Choice Magazine, August 1994, Habitat, Australian Conservation Foundation, Vol. 22, no. 1, 2/94, CoResearch, CSIRO, December 1993, and on SBS Dateline 15/11/1993 and Beyond 2000 September 1995 TV programs. In 1994, he was finalist in the Green Fridge Quest and presented to the Minister for the Environment, Hon. Grace Kelly in Canberra. In 1998, he was nominated Designer of the Year for the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney - Seppelt Design Award.

His consultancy Designlab Oceania P/L has since been engaged in design and design-related activities ranging from the design of Light Rail Passenger Carriages for the Sydney Olympic Park Authority for the Newington Armoury site, to Jewellery for the Powerhouse Museum commemorating their Babbage Differential Enginge (one of the earliest manual computers) acquisition, as well as designing packaging and domestic lighting. He also designed book covers, books and the masthead for Our Place magazine and designed commercial executive furniture and domestic and commercial interiors and architectural alterations to a number of residential houses.

Besides servicing a range of “mainstream” design clients, Christian has carved out a niche as a specialist in Australian Design for improving Environmental Health in Indigenous Communities. He has been working in this field since his graduation back in 1991. From 1994-95 he worked for the Centre for Appropriate Technology, Inc., in Alice Springs as Designer and as Design adviser to the National Technology Research Centre, Alice Springs. He has been cited repeatedly in all three editions of the National Indigenous Housing Guide from 1999–2007 published by the Australian Government’s FACSIA. Christian also contributed a chapter on Kitchen design for the Environmental Health Handbook, published by Menzies School of Health Research in 2000 and has written a range of product performance reports, plus designed a range of successful products amongst them (emergency exit window security screens, outdoor cooking equipment, mobile kitchen units and modular indoor kitchen systems). From 2006-08, Christian presented biannually in his role as R&D manager at the Fixing Houses for Better Health National Managers Workshops, held around the country.

Since 1996, Christian has taught part-time in postgraduate and undergraduate Industrial Design at all major Sydney Industrial Design courses including UNSW, COFA, Enmore Design Centre, UTS and UWS.

He is currently completing his Masters by Research (Industrial Design) at UTS, where in late September 2008, he exhibited some of his key research findings in a Solo Exhibition at the DABLAB research gallery.

Since Christian joined UWS in 2006 as a permanent lecturer, he has directed the 2006 & 2007 Widevison Graduate Exhibitions at Customs House at Circular Quay, been awarded an LTAP grant and engaged with the Cowra and Redfern Indigenous Communities via final year coursework student projects.

He is also maintaining his professional involvement in his business Designlab Oceania P/L, continuing his consulting in the Indigenous field and releasing a moulded cupboard design for distribution in early 2009.

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Areas of Research/Teaching Expertise

300459 Major Project Commencement
300560 Major Project Completion
300012 Design Management 1

Christian's areas of interest are product design interventions to create, support and maintain a healthy living environment for Indigenous Communities in Australia.

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Publications

Environmental Health Handbook, Contributing Author, 2000, Menzies School of Health Research, Casuarina, NT.

For more information, please contact Christian.

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