Table of contents for Urbis Oct/Nov 2018 in Urbis

Loud, banging, kapow and with a touch of LOL. That’s how I’d describe the kitchen on our cover. We knew it’d be divisive – the Carmen Miranda meets Liberace aesthetic is not for the faint hearted – but that’s what drove us to it. It is daring and explosive. It doesn’t shy away from… well, much. If anything, this Madrid apartment has to be commended for its uniqueness and the bold spirit that conceived it. For this issue we ran across several individuals and spaces that encapsulate a similarly playful, confident vibe. A villa with a bad boy persona, illustrators, pieces of art and textiles with a cheeky side to them, hotels with colourful twists. That sense of fun is also carried through to some of the trends we encountered…

A45 KLEIN Hudson Valley, USA This slice of cosy architecture is a prototype constructed in upstate New York for tiny house company Klein. It was designed by Bjarke Ingels Group using the starting point of a cabin staple, the A-frame, explains Klein founder and designer Søren Rose. “The classic A-frame structure has its limitations because it is not able to utilise a lot of the space inside. The A45 is a prismatic shape – it’s basically a square where opposite corners have been elevated and two remaining corners go all the way to the ground. This gives the inside a very spacious feel.” At 17m2, the cabin has a true sense of hygge, with a wood-burning stove positioned at the lower end of the wall and a sleeping nook on…

IT’S PROBABLY TAKEN ME a while to get to the point where I am happy to produce something,” says Hayden Martis. “That is to do with my own internal monologue rather than anything else. You can make stuff and keep making it but I have tended to go the other way and spend more time writing, reading, thinking, drawing and sketching – and the work is now starting to come out. I could have pumped out work to make money but I just don’t feel inclined to do that.” Owning one of Hayden’s pieces is like possessing an artwork. The designer puts a lot of time and legwork into visiting the sites where his materials are found, including journeying to Carrara once or twice each year to see the stone…

MUMM.COM Holding the perfect peach. Condensation on a drinking glass. The satisfying crunch of a snow pea. Charbroiled Spring days. Succulence. First bite's flavour. Al dente. Shower time reflections. Bath time introspections. A progression of morning scents. Refresh and recharge. Groom and beautify. A REVOLUTIONARY IN THE FIELD OF DESIGN Lovegrove created a limited-edition stainless-steel champagne sabre for G.H. Mumm. The design of this perfectly weighted and balanced sculptural tool honours a ritual that dates back to the 19th century when, after battle, Napoleon would ceremoniously strike off the top of a champagne bottle with his sabre: “In victory, you deserve champagne; in defeat, you need it.” “To me, design should always push barriers and challenge tradition and, as a Welsh guy, I wanted to shake up an icon of…

EMILY HLAVÁČ GREEN Emily is a photographer and director whose work spans travel, portrait, lifestyle and food. She has taught fashion photo workshops in China, worked in-house for Annabel Langbein and now lives in New York. She photographed Danu Kennedy (page 41). What took you to New York? The vibrant, crazy pace of New York has always been a dream and a challenge; I knew I needed to try it. My partner is a creative too; it was a new perspective of career and lifestyle we both were seeking after being in New Zealand. Do you have a favourite spot to hang out in? If I’m not strolling through the midtown flower district or eating dumplings in Chinatown, I’m usually in Brooklyn – meeting friends at a dive bar or…

The Guerrilla Collection 2 – 4 November / Auckland Black Grace, Arts Laureate Neil Ieremia and a host of other bold, Pacific voices join forces in this three-day, free festival. It features 30-minute movement pieces that explore the future of Auckland from a Pasifika perspective. blackgrace.co.nz Show Me Shorts 6 October – 25 January / nationwide The short film festival launches on 6 October and is followed with dates and showings all over the country in the following months. This year’s festival places South Korean film-makers in the spotlight. showmeshorts.co.nz Frank Gehry and Paul Goldberger 22 October / New York To celebrate the 70th anniversary of Philip Johnson’s iconic Glass House and to raise money for its preservation, this event brings two of the most distinguished names in architecture to…

GROWING UP AT THE END OF A QUIET cul-de-sac in Auckland’s Point Chevalier, Mahuia Bridgman-Cooper perhaps never thought that he would one day be building more than a tree house at the bottom of the garden. But, when he started to look for his own home about 10 years ago, it soon became apparent there was little on the market to accommodate his requisite music studio space. A violinist from the age of six, Bridgman-Cooper is a composer, producer and orchestrator, who has created award-winning film scores and countless television commercials, and produced records for prominent New Zealand artists. Amongst other musical ventures, he is also a founding member of local ensemble The Black Quartet. When Bridgman-Cooper and his partner, management consultant Mindy Pilbrow, approached lead designer at Fabricate, Hamish…

THE RITE OF SPRING The fresh, the luscious and the plain vibrant new offerings in the world of hotels, homewares, colour trends, books, cars and beyond. Pictured here: The Secant coffee table, an elegant piece topped in either marble or Norwegian granite. From the latest Warm Nordic collection available locally from Good Form. goodform.co.nz KITCHENS EXTRAORDINAIRE Kitchen Things – the retail subsidiary of 32-year-old New Zealand appliance company The Jones Family Business – opened its Luxury Collection Showroom in the heart of Auckland’s Newmarket in August. The elongated, 850m2 former mechanical engineering workshop acts as an experience centre for multiple appliance brands and complementary furniture, tapware and bathroom specialists. The list of suppliers reads like a who’s who of the high-end market and includes European and North American offerings, such…

Kennedy’s favourite things 1 Donald Judd book Judd is a huge inspiration and his work with minimalist concepts fascinates me. I’ve been lucky enough to visit his private living and working spaces here in New York City and would thoroughly recommend it. 2 Hanging pot-plant holder This was a handmade gift from Tyson’s brother and his girlfriend when they came to stay with us. It’s such a cool gift. 3 Maison Pearson brush Le Labo perfume This is a classic, original rubber-cushion hairbrush that was designed in 1885 in London and my husband stands by it as the best brush in the world. The Le Labo Rose 31 perfume is my signature fragrance. They hand-blend every bottle and put your name on it. 4 My notebook I have a love/hate…

“It was very pleasant to savor its aroma, for smells have the power to evoke the past, bringing back sounds and even other smells that have no match in the present.”Laura Esquivel, Like Water for Chocolate Presented by Architects, designers and their clients can, spend days or even weeks discussing solutions for the kitchen and bathroom – and with good reason. If those two spaces are right, everything else falls into place. While every room in the house has to work hard to deliver design outcomes conducive to the client’s lifestyle, the kitchen and bathroom need to work that bit harder, as anyone who’s ever lived with a dysfunctional bathroom (I can raise my hand here) or illogically planned kitchen will agree. So where to look for inspiration? In researching…

Leanne Amodeo: What are the ingredients for creating a timeless kitchen? It’s about keeping it simple and trying to minimise colour and material palettes. Most of my kitchen projects are renovations and often there’s a lot going on in the rest of the home that I can’t change, so I like to create designs that are pared back. What is the biggest challenge you face in designing residential kitchens? Kitchen renovations are both challenging and rewarding because I have set parameters in which I have to work. It always begins with a site visit to the clients’ home and having an in-depth discussion with them. When I sit down at the drawing board, I’m always excited by what’s achievable and how a space can be transformed. How did you arrive…