Furniture by Jorn Utzon … via his grandson

SPOTLIGHT / JØRN AGAIN

Part of the Utzon and Eco Outdoor collaborative collection. Credit:

When Ben Kerr, founder of architectural surfaces and outdoor furniture company Eco Outdoor, had a random encounter at a Sydney coffee van with artist Mika Utzon Popov, grandson of Sydney Opera House architect Jørn Utzon, it sparked a creative partnership that has resulted in a rarefied release: the first collection of furniture designed by the acclaimed Dane to come to market. The eight outdoor pieces are inspired by a sofa Utzon made for the family’s summer home on Mallorca, Can Feliz; the sofa itself was inspired by the pews he created for the Bagsværd Church in Copenhagen in 1976.

Eco Outdoor’s head of furniture, Matt Lorrain, worked closely with Utzon Popov and his artist mother, Lin Utzon, on the collection. The trio refined the original design to suit 21st-century living, and it’s now the nexus of a collection that also includes a lounge chair, daybed, gallery bench, dining table, bench, and high and low stools (from $625 for the low stool/side table to $8495 for the sofa). Fine-sanded, solid, sustainable teak and teak laminations, bullnose detailing and truss legs form the design language.

“We’ve been able to … work with Mika and Lin in a way that honours the design and the family lineage,” Lorrain told architecture magazine The Local Project. “I’m very proud of what we’ve made,” added Utzon Popov. “It’s really beautiful.”

READ / RIDDLE ME THIS

Why Do People Queue for Brunch? features 27 essays tackling the big questions in life.Credit:

In ancient Egypt, the dead would form an orderly queue for the afterlife. Last century, people queued for war rations. And today, we line up for … brunch. Unpacking this and other puzzling social phenomena is the job of the Explainer desk at The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. Its latest anthology, Why Do People Queue for Brunch? ($33), features 27 essays tackling the big questions in life: Where did budgie smugglers come from? What’s a narcissist? Can we learn the art of conversation? Packed with fun facts and quirky surprises, it’s a smart Christmas gift for the curious reader. Out now.

SEE / DOTS, DOTS, DOTS

Sixty-five plane trees lining St Kilda Road in the heart of Melbourne have been wrapped in Yayoi Kusama’s trademark polka dots. Credit: Tobias Titz

People travelling along Melbourne’s St Kilda Road won’t be able to miss the fact that a Yayoi Kusama blockbuster is on at the National Gallery of Victoria over summer: 65 of the plane trees that line the thoroughfare have been wrapped in Kusama’s trademark polka dots. Designed by the 95-year-old Japanese artist especially for the show, Ascension of Polka Dots on the Trees is one of several free artworks that will live outside the ticketed show (NGV International, December 15-April 21; tickets from $16). The others include Narcissus Garden, 1400 silver balls massed beside the gallery’s famed waterwall (also polka-dotted) and Dancing Pumpkin, the five-metre-high bronze sculpture the gallery bought from Kusama’s studio that has pride of place in the NGV’s central court. The exhibition proper will feature nearly 200 works spanning painting, sculpture, collage, fashion, video and installation, including a new iteration of Kusama’s mind-bending mirror rooms. Katrina Strickland

WEAR / GOLDEN LOBES

Treat yourself to something shiny this holiday season. Credit:

Trees are an obvious decoration destination for satisfying festive impulses, but you can save on tinsel trimmings and pine needle clean-ups by adding sparkle to your ears instead. As the ’80s revival moves into accessories that Dynasty’s Alexis Carrington would slap you to get her hands on, earrings are becoming bigger, badder and more extravagant. We love these dramatic, gold “Wish Hoops”, crazy-paved with pearls and stones in green, red and blue ($475). A present to yourself? Damien Woolnough

SHOP / HERE COMES THE SUNNIE

Get comfy anywhere with the Kooshie. Credit:

Lolling al fresco may be a national pastime at this time of year, but there are always vexing alignments of arms, neck, sun and wind direction (not to mention sand) to navigate in the pursuit of long-range comfort. Which is why we’re powerless to resist the easy charms of The Kooshie, a comfy, ultra-lightweight beanbag masquerading as a rucksack (there are pockets for essentials). We love that its filling is made of 100 per cent plant-based beans (which produce 80 per cent fewer greenhouse gases to manufacture than the usual polystyrene), its six, come-hang colourways (Sunnie pictured) and its groovy logo typeface, which just makes us smile. Whatever your chill sesh – a day at the beach, a picnic in the park – The Kooshie, literally, has your back ($140). Readers of Good Weekend can get a further 10 per cent discount on the Christmas Sale by using code THEGOODWEEKEND, reducing the price to $113 (free shipping). Sharon Bradley

TRAVEL / QUITE THE SCENE

Scenic Eclipse II in New Zealand. The luxury cruise ship will spend much of the next year in Australasia.Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

Newcastle native Glen Moroney dropped out of accountancy to found a business taking coach tours along the Great Ocean Road. That was in 1986. Since then, his Scenic Group has taken European river cruising by force and, more recently, launched two sleek, ocean-going cruise ships, Scenic Eclipse I and II. The latter arrived in Australian waters earlier this year – with an emotional Moroney on board for a symbolic dawn cruise into Newcastle harbour – and will spend a good part of next year in the region, visiting the Whitsundays and the Great Barrier Reef before sailing around the Top End and along the West Australian coast. It will also visit Indonesia, Japan, Fiji, New Zealand and Antarctica before heading back to Europe, via the Caribbean, in 2026. The 114-suite ship is equipped with two helicopters, a submersible craft, snorkelling equipment, paddleboards and kayaks. For the less energetic, there are several pleasant bars with ever-changing views. Or you could sit on your suite’s private balcony and watch the world go by; your butler will bring you a drink. Jane Cadzow

To read more from Good Weekend magazine, visit our page at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and Brisbane Times.