Objectspace mourns the passing of design legend Nanette Cameron, who died peacefully on 13 April 2023.

Aotearoa’s preeminent interior designer, Nanette was instrumental in the flourishing of interior design practice in Tāmaki Makaurau and nationally. Nanette graduated with a Home Science degree from Otago University in 1945 and starting working in interior design in the 1950s. In 1967 Nanette started teaching interior design night classes in Glen Innes, becoming the Nanette Cameron School of Design by 1975. These classes became life changing for the women who attended them, as Nanette taught not only the history and principals of design, but also self-confidence and independence. One of the drives in her teaching was the belief that if you educate a woman you educate a family.

Nanette played a major role in building a vibrant creative community in East Auckland, and was instrumental in the formation of the Pakuranga Arts Society in the late 1960s, and what is today Te Tuhi.She was a founding member (and now honorary member) of the Designers Institute of New Zealand and was honoured with the first ever lifetime achievement award at the 2019 Interior Awards. In 2004 Nanette was awarded a Queens Service Medal for her contribution to her community.

In 2013 the exhibition Nanette Cameron Objectspace Master of Craft and book Nanette Cameron: Interior Design Legend recognised her achievements and legacy as an industry icon. In 2019 she was interviewed at Objectspace for The Single Object: Wallace Chapman & Nanette Cameron.

Nanette was a great lover of the objects and spaces we surround ourselves with in our domestic lives, she generously shared her encyclopaedic design knowledge and sharp eye with all her knew her. She will be greatly missed.

Her funeral will be held at 1pm on Monday 24 April at St Joseph’s Church, 470 Great North Rd, Grey Lynn. Join the service remotely through this link: https://www.dreamproductions.co.nz/cameron

Following the service there will be a gathering at Objectspace at 13 Rose Road, Ponsonby.