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Do judge the Dec/Jan @visi_mag by its cover theme, great stuff on the inside of course #visimag #visimagazine #visi #beachlife #campsbay #summer #capetownlife – @rynob365 Best way to spend a Sunday Just missed my special someone @visi_mag #visimagazine #visimag – @megm95 Summer holidays are made for al fresco day drinking and magazine reading! #colorbomb #passioncolorjoy #livecolorfully – @foralllove Helloo holiday… and my VISI to keep me company. #visi #visimag #escape #holiday #vacation #sienampermymens #kaniwagnie – @eloisecthompson Vying for position on my lap @visi_mag #latenightreading #thecatstheboss #gingerninja #visimagazine – @stelstellastel Wanneer tydskrif-mooi ’n voorstoep realiteit word. #weskus #vakansie #visi #magazinemooi #visimag #lekkerlees – @sheilamadgeb WIN WITH SWISH & SWANK Enter our exclusive online giveaway and you could win a suede-lined briefcase and a duffel bag, both hand-stitched, from local leather crafters…

THE WHITE VICTORIAN DOUBLE-STOREY WITH THE VERY GOOD BONES, WITH THE GREEN SHUTTERS AND SASH-WINDOW EYES SCREENED BY THE BALCONY WITH FOUR-LEAF-CLOVER TRIM, THIS HOUSE COULD STRETCH TIME. For more than a century its wide Oregon-pine stairway, wooden floors, thick walls have witnessed the ticking of the clock, the beating of the heart, the rush and glide of breath and life. Its rambling structure and spacious rooms allowed one to get lost, in the house, in your books, in your music, in yourself. It was delicious, and it allowed solitude, but not too much, as for the decades of my tenancy it was presided over by a mother whose fire-spinning, benevolent tornado of energy and drive and achievement took up far more space than a single room. And if she…

“THE DESIGN PROCESS EVOLVED TO ARCHITECTUALISE THE ESSENCE OF TREE HOUSES.” THE BED IS POSITIONED IN THE DIAMETRIC MIDDLE OF THE HOUSE. THE STAIRCASE MIRRORS THE BUILDING’S ORGANIC, CURVED DESIGN. IT WAS TIME FOR A CHANGE‚ decided Graham Paarman after a few years of living in a loft apartment above the test kitchen from where the Ina Paarman empire was built. Graham is Ina’s son and business partner. He initially wanted a tree house, but after consulting with Malan Vorster architects Graham settled on something along the lines of a tree-inspired house on the slopes of the family’s Constantiaberg estate. “The design process evolved to architectualise the essence of tree houses,” says architect Pieter Malan, “using lightweight materials to suspend a shelter between tree trunks and branches.” The…

“THESE PICTURES HAVE VALUE TO MY HEART.” A small apartment above a coffee shop in one of the oldest buildings in De Waterkant is home to an extraordinary woman. Well travelled, knowledgeable, enthusiastic and unpretentious. A woman who is at home, and has been at home, anywhere in the world. Having returned to South Africa two years ago after spending many years living and working in Toronto and New York, Juditha Sakinofsky has settled in this space. If she could ever really settle. “This is a sanctuary or a hideout,” Juditha says. “I’d hate for it to be a place of memories. Because it’s not. It’s a place of life.” This colourful yet tranquil slightly overcrowded art-and-book-and-fabric-and-antiqueand-all-manner-of-beautiful-things-filled home reflects a life being lived well. “A life full of adventure,” Juditha…

Designed by renowned Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson, the Little Sun Diamond is the third – and smallest – member of the Little Sun family. With a faceted lens inspired by the geometry of crystals, this 95 g gadget will give you 5 hours of bright light, fading to a soft glow, after being charged in the sun for 5 hours. Use it as a torch or as a desk lamp (it comes with a lanyard and a stand). • R195 – to order yours, email southafrica@littlesun.com • littlesun.com FAST FACT  To date, Little Sun has distributed more than 660 000 solar units worldwide, with more than half going to off-grid areas.…

LEAF PU CHAIR This attractive office chair with its moulded foam seat offers adjustable lumbar support, and the height and distance apart of the armrests can also be adjusted. The chair is light thanks to the nylon base and hollow castors, making it easy to scoot around behind your desk. It comes with green, red or black upholstery. • cecilnurse.co.za…

Interior designer Tristan du Plessis of Studio A will be mentoring emerging designer Tuami Zulu of Proportion Studio of Design as they create a feature stand at Design Joburg as part of the CoLab Mentorship Programme, presented in collaboration with paint brand Fired Earth. We chatted to Tristan and Tuami to find out more. What are you planning for your feature stand at Design Joburg? Tuami: Tristan and I are planning to create a feature that highlights a real-life experience, spatial harmony, a design that works and a space that facilitates escape. What can we expect to see? Tristan: A slick tailor-made luxury living and kitchen space with a touch of rock ‘n’ roll, layers of black laced with hand-brushed bronze, and some irreverent furniture pieces by the likes of…

Versatile artist Lisa Swanepoel has designed a side table made of rough-cut wood and a high-gloss lacquer. She likes the way the high-gloss finish contrasts with the matte, cracked effect of the natural wood. “I love eclectic pieces that add an element of surprise to a room.” The side table would work well in a home with minimalist decor, Lisa says, but also as a cluster in an upmarket public space in either one or a combination of colours. Lisa, who has always delighted in using bright colours and intricate patterns in her designs, is currently working on variations of the gloss-and-wood theme and plans to add tables, benches and doorstops to the range. • lisabrey@mweb.co.za GIFTS FOR YOU We have one gold side table, worth R1 900, to give away.…

Copeland Cape Rum is a pure single rum (a single-batch rum fermented and distilled using only molasses) with flavour notes of pineapple, litchi and cacao. We were curious to know more, so we asked DJ-turned-distiller James Copeland… Why rum? It was my drink of choice during my youth. What was it like winning a silver medal at the Michelangelo International Wine & Spirits Awards last year? This was months before the rum was available for sale, so it was great to have my personal philosophy on this spirit accepted and rewarded. What are the benefits of using blackstrap molasses? Blackstrap has the least amount of sugar, so it’s a very low-yielding base for making spirits, but it’s packed full of all the essential flavour compounds necessary for making a proper…

AU NATUREL is defined in the Oxford Dictionary as ”in the most natural or simplest way”. This is exactly what I experienced when I was asked to be on the adjudicating panel for the Corobrik SAIA (South African Institute of Architects) Awards 2017/2018. What an absolute privilege to be part of this process again and to be flying around the country to view the best buildings completed in the past two years. And boy, did we travel… from Dullstroom to Durban, George, Port Elizabeth, Cape Town, Worcester, Sedgefield, Kuruman, Kimberley, Bloemfontein, Clarens, Johannesburg and Pretoria! Most of the architecture we saw exemplified the trend towards “au naturel”. Great care was taken by the architects to follow an authentic, sustainable and efficient approach to design, and to use bricks, concrete, wood, steel…

BUILDINGS, IN THE WAY I IMAGINE THEM, ARE LIKE PEOPLE. THEY WEATHER AND AGE, TAKE ON CHARACTERS AND PERSONALITIES. I like to think they grow as fond of us as we do of them. Buildings carry secrets; hide things; have soft, chewy centres. This building, the one I live in now, would be me, I think, in a building population, a cityscape of souls. My one-of-a-kind pile of bricks probably had tattoos in its youth, a little graf here and there, windows that didn’t match their panes. This unstable and wildly eccentric set of stones most likely had unlikely aspirations, perhaps was ahead of the curve and a little rebellious. The Refinery, a warehouse conversion in central Johannesburg, is a collection of multi-storey New York-style loft apartments. I have neighbours…

IN THE LATE’ 80S‚ THE SUBJECT POLITICAL SCIENCE AT UCT WAS A CONTRADICTION IN TERMS. Thing is, you see, there really wasn’t much to compare with our divided land, so we turned to three equally disparate and desperate locales: Palestine, Ireland and Berlin. And although the countries were arguably more relevant, it was the crazy image of a quarantined city, an island of defiance in a sea of communism, that grabbed my attention and never let go. Like New York, London and Cape Town, Berlin is hardly representative of its parent nation. But whereas other “city states” are harbour towns, stitched together by pirate crews, traders and accidental tourists over the course of decades or centuries, Berlin is the landlocked former capital of the Third Reich. It owes its cosmopolitan…

“IT’S AT NIGHT THAT THE VIEW REALLY DELIVERS.” IT started out as a brief to create “a surf shack consisting of two stacked shipping containers”, says Jan Beamish of the building project that she embarked on four years ago. In her search for someone to design the house, she came across the work of local architect Tessa van Schaik of The Planet Thing. “We knew we wanted an upstairs space that harnessed the views of the sea and a downstairs den for the kids, and Tessa, with her practicality and attention to detail, took my initial sketch and made it real.” Along with architect Luke Brown, Tessa chose to create a concrete structure softened with timber. “Wood brings warmth into a home,” she says. “I love using wood, but…

Chris Weylandt and Kim Smith of Weylandts met Moooi art director Marcel Wanders several years ago through mutual friends. “We’ve long been admirers of Marcel’s work, and over the years we observed his meteoric rise to rock-star status with awe,” says Kim.“The Moooi shows in Milan take conceptual design to another level, and we have always been inspired by this amazing brand.” Says Marcel, “Moooi is an urban brand designing for a new world, delivering the coolest things together with a sense of surprise and expectation. It fits perfectly with the Weylandts vibe.” Kim says they were over the moon when Moooi approached them last year with a view to showcasing the brand and growing its business in Southern Africa. “Our thinking behind the collaboration is to expose South African…

IF you’re a designer looking for an opportunity to shine, you’ll be elated to know that Nando’s is again on the hunt for a Hot Young Designer. Thabisa Mjo, founder and owner of Mash T Design Studio, has been setting the design world alight ever since being named the joint winner of the competition in 2015. She’s appeared at international shows such as Maison & Objet in Paris and 100% Design in London. To top it all, her Tutu 2.0 pendant light was chosen as the Most Beautiful Object in South Africa at Design Indaba earlier this year. “I didn’t even know I was capable of designing products, so this competition helped me discover this most incredible gift,” says Thabiso. The competition is a great way for young designers to…

“I am passionate about fusing art with design to create functional solutions for everyday needs,” says Lincoln Kayiwa of the Helsinki-based studio KAYIWA. “The resulting objets d’art are genuine collector’s items that will continue to appreciate in value over time.” This Finnish-Ugandan designer, who founded his studio in 2007 upon graduating with an MA from Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture, derives inspiration from his African roots and his Finnish home city. “I borrow principles and aesthetic elements from the rich cultures and traditions of African and Nordic art, craft and design to make bold, playful functional artefacts,” he adds. Lincoln favours granite as a material. “Granite is in many ways better than (the overrated, in my opinion) marble. Granite is one of the most durable naturally occurring…

IN its first collaboration for 2018 with a local designer, MRP Home has teamed up with 26-year-old designer Bonolo Helen Chepape, founder of homeware brand LulasClan. This ongoing Colab initiative, which sees MRP Home’s design team working with local designers to create one-off product ranges, offers a platform for South African talent and makes good local design more attainable. “I believe our homes should tell our stories, be a reflection of where we come from and be a reference to where we are going,” says Bonolo. It is this philosophy, as well as her Pedi background, her love of colour and popular culture that inspired the collection. “I wanted it to celebrate colourful women and reflect a storytelling journey,” she says. The range includes winter blankets, a duvet cover, scatter…

This is a big year for Arpino, a new brand that is set to change the urban landscape: It will be exhibiting at Salone del Mobile in Milan in April; it will launch an office and showroom in Luanda, Angola; and it is busy with its first major commission, furnishing the outdoor areas of the new Angola International Airport. And chief creative officer Carlos Pereira hopes to bring Arpino products to public spaces in South Africa soon. The brand is described as “culture-neutral” – how does that translate? We are a multi-ethnic company developing our work between Africa and Europe. I try to design restrained and self-explanatory products based on a multicultural perspective to suit diverse communities. What are the pieces made of? They’re produced in Angola and are mainly…

Some of the country’s most celebrated ceramic artists are set to show their work at the 100% Design South Africa pavilion – called 100% Clay – at Decorex Cape Town 2018 from 27 April to 1 May. One in a series of feature exhibitions put together by the Platform Creative Agency team, it will explore the versatility of a medium that lends itself to a myriad creative expressions. The idea behind the installation is for viewers to “engage with the endless possibilities of what working with clay can achieve”, says Cathy O’Clery, creative director at Platform Creative Agency and of 100% Design South Africa. Ceramic-making is a fully hands-on process, even in large-scale production, with each piece distinguished from another by way of a “handprint”, or maker’s mark, that is…

“Antiques have history; they’re beautiful and they never date,” says Jacqui Moskovitz, co-owner with Colin Levin of The Crown Collection in Bryanston, Johannesburg. With more than 5 000 pieces on display, this shop stocks one of the largest collections of antiques and vintage pieces in the country. Jacqui and Colin only pick things they would be happy to have in their own homes. “And we choose pieces for their decorative appeal,” she says.“ This includes French, antique, vintage and contemporary furniture, chandeliers, lanterns mirrors, silverware and crystal.” If you’re looking for something unique that will catch the eye, an antique piece will often be of better quality than something new for the same price. Antiques cost much the same as new upmarket furniture, and increase in value. Add an unexpected…

What prompted your move to Australia? I never meant to leave South Africa but all of my family had moved, including my parents, and I did’t want them to grow old in a place where I would not be able to see them. What is it about ceramic tiles that is special to you? I love the feeling of the clay in my hands. It offers so much opportunity to experiment with texture, pattern and shape. The surface does not have to be flat; it provides a base on which to build and a surface to carve. The scale of some of the projects you’ve undertaken is mind-boggling. What is the biggest piece you have produced? My biggest project in terms of square metres was a building at Melrose Arch…

AS third-generation rug dealers, the team at Gonsenhausers Fine Rugs has been at the forefront of flooring trends since 1938. They source rugs from all the most important centres of carpet-weaving in the world, both traditional and the latest contemporary designs, including Berber rugs made in Morocco using the traditional knotting technique. Courtesy of Gonsenhausers Fine Rugs, one lucky VISI reader will win the luxurious 3,6 m x 2,7 m Berber rug pictured here in an architectural and interior design project by ARRCC. • finerugs.co.za VISI COMPETITION RULES • VISI competitions are open to all South African residents excluding employees of New Media Publishing, employees of the companies supplying the prizes, associated companies and advertising and promotion agencies, and their immediate family members. • The winner will be chosen at the…

ANTON PIETERSEN,ART DIRECTOR Where do you live and work? I live in the Cape Town’s Southern Suburbs and work in the CBD. Is there a language you’d love to learn, and why? Wakandan (aka Xhosa) or Italian. I’d love to speak many languages. What’s the most useful phrase to master in a foreign language? Where’s the nearest clean toilet? What food could you – or do you – eat every day? Steak or chicken with salad or roasted veg. Are you a creature of habit? Yes. What inspires you? The world and cultures. Which colours do you associate with autumn? Red, orange and deep blues to purple. Any travel plans for the cooler months? Yes, to Wakanda to escape my everyday work madness. Did you make resolutions this year and…

PE OPERA HOUSE, PORT ELIZABETH The Port Elizabeth Opera House was originally designed by local architect George William Smith and opened its doors in 1892, making it the oldest theatre in Africa. Four additions followed, and the current building is made up of five parts. Following extensive consultation with local heritage practitioners and public stakeholders, the design approach, by Albrecht Herholdt and Tony Danev, was to deliberately contrast the old with the new. The vertical and horizontal proportions of the original building are reinterpreted in an elegant stainless steel screen, echoed in the interior stairwell. • The Matrix: thematrixcc.co.za MOROKO HALL RESIDENCE, SOL PLAATJE UNIVERSITY, KIMBERLEY The architectural language is inspired by the Northern Cape’s arid landscape and makes use of honest, robust materials for a low-maintenance building. Complementing the brickwork,…

MY CURRENT HOME IN JOHANNESBURG HAS SERVED ITS PURPOSE AND IS ON THE MARKET. It has a profusion of rooms and three walled-off garden spaces – large enough to comfortably accommodate a tribe of teenaged boys and to shelter the outnumbered adults from the misogynistic lyrics of hip-hop artists. Our last-born left home in 2013, when my love Julia and I took a break from our responsibilities and drove to Ethiopia and back. Our home shrank drastically from over 1 000 m2 to a Toyota Land Cruiser with a rooftop tent. But our surroundings expanded magnificently when we parked on Indian Ocean beaches and lakeshores, near forests and mountains, and in the few national parks up north that we could afford. We slept snug and cosy in our tent through…

“I HAD A SURREAL VISION FOR OUR WEDDING.” “I MOULDED MY WILDEST DREAMS INTO CERAMICS.” “THE WEDDING LASTED FROM 11AM TILL WAY AFTER MIDNIGHT,ALLOWING US TO HAVE TIME AND BE PRESENT.” “ I had a surreal vision for our wedding. I wanted to invite our guests into my dream world. I imagined a playground where adults and children alike would play and discover hidden treasures as they moved through the space without any preconceived ideas. And I wanted it to be a festival of love. On the day, no rules applied. The festivities took place at 44 French Lane in Sandton, a 5ha property in the middle of the city that stuns one with its sense of serenity. It is where furniture designer David Krynauw currently lives and…

Ever since he created his first collection of botanical photographic images 15 years ago, Clinton Friedman has experimented and branched out into various areas of art and product design, including exquisite hand-tufted wool rugs. His latest series of Limited Edition Art Works involves photographs combined with painting. Each piece is printed on linen, cotton or heavyweight canvas, stretched over a wooden frame and finished with a nickel-plated metal frame. He collaborated with metalworkers and automotive electroplating specialists on making the frame. “Think of the oil-slick rainbow silver of a motorbike exhaust,” Clinton says; “that’s what we tried to create.” Even the plants in the images are the result of a slow process: He grew most of them from seed. The two contrasting elements that have always characterised Clinton’s work, a…

USE IT LIKE THIS… “Combining sage green with greys brings in an unexpected freshness; with lemon yellows it creates a sharply sophisticated pastel set; with cocoa brown it goes all deliciously decadent; and it relieves the toothache sweetness of shell pink. “I think of subtle sage as the Art Garfunkel to the Paul Simons of our colour palette. Just like Art, sage might not sing the leading notes in a colour composition, but without those harmonising qualities it’s just not the same at all.” – Heather Moore, illustrator and owner of Skinny laMinx GIFTS FOR YOU We’re giving away a set of ceramics by Kate Malan, worth R1 512, courtesy of The Collection Studio. Enter at VISI.co.za/win.…

“I want to inspire women with my work,” says illustrator and graphic designer Phathu Nembilwi of her vivid digital illustrations that feature women exuding poise and self-possession against lush tropical backgrounds and cityscapes. She set up Pathu Designs in 2017. “I wanted a platform that celebrates women’s beauty, strengths and everything that makes them amazing. I consider the environment around me, allowing the people, colours and culture to guide me.” Featuring florals, flamingos, flat lays, shopping, sunbathing and the café scene, Phathu’s clever compositions and artful crops perfectly capture the girl-power zeitgeist of the moment, interpreted in a playful millennial way. So where does the 24-year-old see herself in five years? “Phathu Designs will be a brand with online and physical stores selling high-quality products featuring one-of-a-kind designs.” She also…

CLINTON FRIEDMAN Adorn Pacific hand-tufted wool and bamboo silk rug, available in three sizes, starting at 1,3 m x 1,8 m, from R19 500. • shop.clintonfriedman.com HAUS BY HERTEX Posy rug in the colour Blush from the Flourish polypropylene rug collection, available in two sizes, from R4 900. • hertex.co.za ROCHE-BOBOIS Diseno Orange rug, hand-woven from New Zealand wool and jute, 2,5 m x 3,5 m, R80 740. • roche-bobois.com OKHA Diamond rug from the Stone collection in bamboo silk and Himalayan wool, 3,6 m x 2,408 m, R63 445. • okha.com GONSENHAUSERS FINE RUGS Eclipse blue bamboo silk Tibetan rug, from R7 800/m2 . • finerugs.co.za THE RUG COMPANY British paint and paper specialist Farrow & Ball collaborated with The Rug Company to create this range of customisable hand-loomed rugs in Tibetan wool and…

Moonshine originated in the United States during Prohibition, when liquor was banned and distillers plied their trade by the light of the moon. Those days are long gone and moonshine is now legally produced in the States and elsewhere, including right here in South Africa. American-style Southern Moonshine is distilled in small batches at Silver Creek Craft Distillery, located in a former mine building in Randfontein.“We model our moonshine on the traditional bourbon whisky mash bill, or recipe, which comprises 51% yellow and white corn, to which we add crushed wheat and malted barley,” says Silver Creek Craft Distillery founder and chief distiller Mark Taverner. Flavoured whisky, he says, “could be the next big thang in South Africa.” After Southern Moonshine walked away with five gongs in its debut at…

The success of Ambeloui is something we never bargained on. The vineyard started out as a solution to a very big garden, became a weekend hobby and then took on a life of its own, keeping all of us on the run trying to keep up with it. Even our older grandchildren now join the workforce when we have open days and functions at Ambeloui. The farm has become part of our family identity. I used to strive for the perfect family until I realised that perfection lies in the imperfections. As a family, we are there to add value to one another’s lives and be the last man standing in the storms of life. If all else fails, ask Mom and Dad, or take a short cut and ask…

I am about to take the first sip of my well-deserved G&T when two uniforms enter the reception area of De Bergkant Lodge in Prince Albert. Looking slightly embarrassed, one of them asks, “Who is the driver of the yellow Audi R8?” That would be me. A couple of hours before sitting down to this sundowner I took the R8 Spyder, a Vegas Yellow sound machine, onto the (almost) empty country road between Prince Albert and Klaarstroom… “Well, a farmer has reported you for reckless driving,” says the one uniform with an air of reluctance. “You have to come to the police station tomorrow.” To cut a long story short, the prosecutor threw out the case. “Now we can go for a ride,” said the investigating officer with a mischievous…

Dig out an old table-tennis bat from storage or buy a new one, and turn it into a hand-held convex mirror to help you reverse out of the garage. A convex, or fish-eye, mirror increases your field of vision. Simply attach one to the centre of the bat, and stick the bat out of the driver window before you reverse to see your car’s alignment and to check for anything appearing behind you unexpectedly, like an inquisitive cat. We bought a set of table-tennis bats at a Chinese mall for R40. A convex mirror with self-adhesive backing can be picked up at any hardware store for about R10.…