Tabla de contenidos para December 2019 - January 2020 en Urbis

One of our main roles here at Urbis is that of ‘selector’. Our daily job entails looking at a variety of homes, images, texts, products, locations, interesting individuals, etc., and making fairly gut-driven decisions about their merits. If anyone were to dissect the reasons why one is chosen over another, they would surely seem minuscule to pretty much any (more reasonable!) human being. Yet, it is through a grouping of minute details that we come to envisage a whole and, if every detail encompasses beauty or craftsmanship or intelligence or comfort or honesty or personality, then the whole is likely to carry a similar overall ethos. This process of selection is particularly relevant to this issue for several reasons. On pages 59–83, we have picked some of the pieces of…

The formula for uniting an outdoor suite comprises woven details, a touch of curves and the soft call for unfettered relaxation.…

IT’S 2007. THE AIRWAVES ARE filled with Beyoncé, the first iPhone rolls off the production line and the term ‘subprime’ enters the vernacular. In Auckland, Olivia McLeavey buys an apartment in Herne Bay but is struggling to pay the mortgage. She calls her father, respected Wellington gallerist Peter McLeavey, hoping to borrow money but he suggests she finds a second job. “Dad told me gallery work would fit around my day job in advertising,” recalls Olivia, who ended up working evenings and weekends at the renowned Anna Bibby Gallery in Auckland. She enjoyed it so much that, when her father was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease three years later, Olivia moved back to Wellington to help run the eponymous gallery he’d started from his home in 1966. “I realised, while working…

MELANIE MCDAID Melanie is the founder of Sloane & Peach. Alongside managing her cross-disciplinary firm, Melanie writes for leading industry publications and advocates on flexible working. For this issue, she wrote about the year 2020 (page 34). What were the challenges in future-forecasting for next year? Trying to avoid taking everyone else’s predictions on board and really considering what I’ve seen this year that I think will become big in 2020 was the biggest challenge. It was helpful to take cues from all aspects of the creative world – fashion, art, architecture, academia, travel and more. Once these little hints from all of these disciplines were pulled together, some forecasts were visible. Has biophilia influenced your approach to projects at your own studio, Sloane & Peach? I have always tried…

LEVI’S JACQUARD SMART JACKET The Levi’s ‘Trucker Jacket’ might be 57 years old but it’s received an upgrade, thanks to a collaboration with Google. It’s old-school denim with a twist of tech – namely, the Google Jacquard tag tucked into its left-hand cuff. The tag uses Bluetooth to connect to your phone and access its functionality via the Jacquard app. Set up a series of gesture controls to receive feedback about weather, navigation, news or calendar entries. You can also use the tag to trigger your phone’s camera remotely – this is cool. A lot of the functions require the user to be wearing headphones; this means that, if your headphones are smart enough, then the Jacquard tag is overkill – except for one key function. Leave your jacket behind…

It’s time to take cues from those who know the heat, particularly those who revel in it.…

CERAMICIST MARGI NUTTALL sees the irony in an article about her practice and her home that culminates in a list of her favourite possessions. Twelve years ago, she returned from a meditative retreat and began to consider what was truly important to her. “And that was to create more space in body and mind – a philosophy that is reflected in my physical environment too,” she says. With the nod from her partner, she discarded the chairs, couches and bed. Now, they sit Japanese-style on cushions on the floor, whether eating or working at the computer – “it’s better for your posture, hips and legs” – and, at night, they roll out the futon and leave the blinds up so the morning light can wake them naturally. Margi grew up…

WHISKY, WITH ITS character and amber-coloured complexity, has its acolytes. And sometimes those acolytes are also its makers. This is true of Mat Thomson. “It was my drink of choice, even as a teenager,” the self-taught distiller – once a member of the film and television industry as a specialist set carpenter, then a crafter of glass vases in Dublin – recalls. Now, he is a sort of professor of perfect malt; his early passion for handcrafting feeds into coopering barrels and thinking about piecing together new whisky styles for a brand he launched with his wife, Rachael. The history of whisky-making in New Zealand is complex but the Thomsons are a pair of its progenitors. In 2014, they entered its business world stage left with their label Thomson Whisky,…

It’s the holiday season, which means you might be reading this from the comfort of someone else’s home. Perhaps you once booked hotel or motel rooms, but now choose to stay in Airbnbs instead. According to ‘Economic effects of Airbnb in New Zealand’, a 2018 report by Deloitte, “578,000 stays were booked with Airbnb around New Zealand in 2017. Hosts accommodated 1.4 million guests for around 1.5 million nights in towns and cities across the nation – translating to 3.7 million guest nights.” The rise of homestays raises questions for interiors. If you renovate or build knowing your property will double as accommodation for outsiders, do you design or decorate it differently? Do you forego your own tastes to make it more universally appealing? “With people travelling so much, I…

OCEAN BUBBLES This subaquatic-inspired installation at Design Miami by Parisian gallery Scene Ouverte is composed of only two pieces (Bubble armchair and Coral light sculpture by Léa Mestres and William Coggin), yet it manages to create a delightful, fresh mood, which is perfect for this warm season. For more summer-ready objects, turn the page. ON SHOW Premium German appliance manufacturer Miele has brought another shopping outpost to the capital with its newly opened showroom, nestled down in Featherston Street. Titled the Miele Experience Centre Wellington, it’s the family-owned brand’s second store in the city that showcases its sleek product range for the home in high gloss. Rooms are lustrous and act as immersive spaces where you can engage in product demonstrations and learn from experts teaching induction stove usage, giving…

100 SCULPTORS OF TOMORROW by Kurt Beers, Thames & Hudson, $90 The emerging artists in this sizeable tome were plucked from the present day by a jury of curators, academics, art historians and collectors, and by what resembled an open casting call. The result is a catalogue that tugs at fundamental questions – What constitutes sculpture? How, in such a varied and subjective industry, do you pick 100 people? – while offering a kaleidoscope of form, some kinetic, some textile, some rooted in technology and science, and some land art. It makes for a fresh dip into the realm of the tangible. BILL CUNNINGHAM: ON THE STREET: FIVE DECADES OF ICONIC PHOTOGRAPHY by The New York Times, Clarkson Potter, $120 A Frenchman’s work jacket was part of Bill Cunningham’s mythology.…

How did you end up in the kitchen world? After a few years of travelling and working in the bar/restaurant business, I arrived back in Amsterdam, then met my beautiful wife. I said, “Okay, I don’t want to work nights any more.” So I ended up working in a workshop with a friend of a friend. During my time there, I studied medicine and economics but never finished anything. When I was in the workshop, I felt – with the smell of the wood, the measuring stuff, the functionality – like everything was finally coming together. What makes Eginstill’s craftsmanship stand out in Amsterdam? The quality of what we do is unique because, even in Amsterdam, we are kind of a standout in the quality we deliver and the designs…

It was a year of drama and bombast. ‘Daring’ was one of the words most often used in the interiors world, as were ‘sustainable’, ‘handmade’ and ‘playful’. So, we bring you objects of desire from the world over. Some have made us think, others smile; some do little things quite well, others do larger things with a sense of flair. Some come from our absolute favourite local furniture and lighting designers or importers. Others are international objects that, given our highly connected era, can be obtained, shipped and enjoyed as if they had made their way from our local purveyor. It is by no means an exhaustive list of the 2019 items that made us stop and gasp a little; it is, nonetheless, one we hope you enjoy. Best* Patterns…