Meet Gerard Dombroski

“I’m inspired by the architects of previous generations who concerned themselves with every aspect of a project,” says registered architect and artist, Gerard Dombroski. “A lot of architecture nowadays has a tendency to whittle down or limit its scope. For me, it’s the opposite; I want to broaden my scope.”

Through his practice, Gerard Dombroski Workshop, Gerard works on residential and commercial projects across a range of scales, which he delivers in tandem with the design and fabrication of objects and structures, including artworks, furniture, light fittings, and sculptures. “I’m driven by blending art and architecture, researching and making things, and exploring how to play with materials in interesting ways,” he says. “I think of myself as an architectural explorer.”

One technique that Gerard is becoming known for is hydroforming, a process by which he creates a water-tight cavity in welded steel and then pumps water into it, creating an inflation effect that lends a fabric-like quality to the material. “Material experimentation is one of my obsessions,” he says, “and hydroforming appeals to me because it creates a juxtaposition, transforming what was a hard piece of sheet metal into an object that has the movement of something soft.”

Ideally, Gerard says, his art and furniture explorations should inform his architecture, and vice versa. “The intention is to marry the two together as much as possible, depending on the client’s appetite. In recent years architecture has become a very specifier-led profession, rather than design-led. With my work, I’m trying to reclaim some of that territory and open up the custom design possibilities a little.”

Gerard is currently enjoying the opportunity to fully explore these possibilities in a new home design for his mother. “We’ve already subdivided and built another house on her property; now I’m working on some of the design elements to go into it. I’m currently making her a hydroformed chair - a cube that’s been hollowed out - and some timber wall panels that are straight at the top and curved at the bottom. It’s very subtle, but when repeated over a distance, that curvature creates a curtain effect of movement and texture that provokes a different reaction than a hard panel. It has a warmer and softer feel.

“I remember, when I was little, feeling disappointed that I couldn’t be an inventor, because I thought there were no new ideas and everything had already been invented. As an adult, I’m free to explore and experiment with anything that’s unexpected. My happiest place is creating a surprising object or a space that gives a jolt of excitement to somebody.”

One inspiration that has stuck with Gerard was his month-long residency at Driving Creek Railway at Pottery in Coromandel back in 2021. During his time there, Gerard gave life to old structures and waste materials by reimagining them as Picolo Cabin. “That project seems to have become relatively well-known now,” he says, “I think because its use of recycled materials to create an interesting and beautiful space really captured people’s imaginations. It has quite a tall, vaulted roof that scoops down to a big window at the other end, capturing views of trees in both directions.

“I found myself quite influenced by the pottery world while working on that project, which really honed my interest in craft. Architecture has, in some circumstances, been reduced to what provides the most cleanable surface. If you closed your eyes and ran your hands over several buildings, you might find that they all feel the same. Pottery embodies a lot of grit and texture that’s started to fall away from some architecture, and that 3D material element has become increasingly important in my work.”

Outside of the workshop, Gerard co-hosts Design Principles Pod podcast with fellow design professionals Ben Sutherland and Sam Brown. This pub-style chat is bringing valuable conversations about the industry into the public sphere, Gerard says. “I’m quite interested in pushing boundaries in many ways, and I can do that more easily and with a wider scope in a conversation than I can in a single object or design. The podcast gives people a platform to discuss ideas, and it’s creating some good opportunities for us to talk honestly about the harder parts of the industry, like how to run a business or navigate challenges with industry bodies. I’m quite happy to be creating an allowance for people to talk about some of those issues that you don’t often hear discussed elsewhere. I also like having a forum to hype up other architects, which I don’t think we do enough of in this industry. I’d love to see more camaraderie, with architects congratulating each other rather than competing.”

For now, Gerard is busy working on his first solo exhibition, Inflation, which is due to open at Season Aotearoa in Auckland in June. “It will be a room full of hydroformed shapes, chairs, vases and tables that whimsically play with domestic elements, becoming slightly otherworldly. The undersides of the objects are curved, so they all kind of wobble, encouraging interaction in a way that you don’t see in a lot of sculpture.

“Creating unique architectures and being a driver for that is something I’m passionate about. I’m really lucky to have my workshop as a research ground to test ideas before I take them out into the world.”

To learn more and connect with Gerard, visit https://www.gdw.nz, follow him on Instagram, or send him an email at gerard@gdw.nz.