Table of contents for May 2016 in Wallpaper

RON ARAD Designer Our back page recipe (page 318) is a Sephardic speciality from hat-wearing design giant Ron Arad. Tel Aviv-born Arad moved to the UK in 1973 to study at the Architectural Association before opening the first of several design offices in the early 1980s. He became famous early on for making the ‘Rover’ chair from a car seat, and he influenced generations of designers during his 12-year stint as professor of design products at London’s RCA. ALBERTO ZANETTI Photographer While studying economics, Zanetti was seized by a passion for photography. He abandoned a future in finance, and is now thrilled not to be working in a suit. His mentor was Pierpaolo Ferrari, co-founder of the influential Toiletpaper magazine, who hired Zanetti as his assistant. This month he shot…

South London-based husband-and-wife team Russell Pinch and Oona Bannon launched Pinch in 2004, and have since made a name for themselves carefully crafting furniture that successfully straddles the gap between classic and contemporary style. At their Salone del Mobile space, at Via San Gregorio 40, they’re launching a new version of their ‘Nim’ table (pictured above), made from cast Jesmonite impregnated with copper dust, which gives it a lovely dull sheen. The ‘Copper Nim’ comes in a limited edition of 50, each priced at £7,750. Also new is the ‘Euler’ coffee table, which Pinch describes as ‘an experiment in managing the natural waywardness of timber’. Based on a grid, it pairs English oak with a resin infil. ‘It might look simple and almost mathematical,’ says Pinch, ‘but it has involved…

As part of an ongoing 50th birthday celebration, gufram has partnered with sir paul smith (pictured, left) on a psychedelic, limited-edition version of the iconic ‘cactus’ coat stand. originally designed by Drocco and mello in 1972, the ‘cactus’ is no stranger to special interpretations: it was cheekily paired with two eggs by toiletpaper in 2013, and bore the colours of the French flag for a recent maison & objet outing. ‘gufram and paul smith are two dimensions descending from the 1970s,’ says charley Vezza (pictured, right), gufram’s global creative orchestrator. ‘smith did not merely cover a cactus with colours, but he reimagined it, drawing inspiration from the hallucinogenic vibes of that crazy period. the outcome is psychedelic, a creativity peyote.’ The coat stand will be on show in Milan during…

Designer Andrea Mancuso and architect Emilia Serra, collectively known as Analogia, first came to our attention with their wool installation, at the London Design Festival in 2011, in which they ‘drew’ lamps, chairs and tables using transparent wires and black merino wool, giving the illusion that informal sketches had come to three-dimensional life. narrative is always the starting point at the Milan-based design studio, which was founded in 2011 after Serra and Mancuso met at London’s RCA. From delicate ceramic vases shaped by mini-explosions to a cordless LED chandelier and window displays for Hermès and Fendi, their work shows a determination to fuse new technologies and traditional craftsmanship. For this year’s Salone, they have designed a new furniture collection, rebus, for Fratelli Boffi, which will be showing in pavilion 3…

Andre Fu’s new Tac/Tile collection of bespoke handblown lights, which will be unveiled at Milan’s Salone in April, marks a return to the Hong Kong-based designer’s architectural roots. The series of lamps, created in collaboration with the Czech Republic-based glass manufacturer Lasvit, is a hybrid of architecture and lighting, the product of what Fu calls ‘an exploration of the materiality of glass’. ‘I’m not interested in producing something that is purely decorative,’ Fu says. ‘My aim is to create a new way of thinking about glass that is more than just about illuminating a room.’ The idea first emerged when he found himself designing statement pendant lighting for ballrooms in a series of hospitality projects across Asia. ‘It made me think about the qualities of glass as a surface on…

Having spent the past century ticking most creative boxes, with a portfolio ranging from fashion and jewellery to large-scale installations and product design, luxury crystal company Swarovski is now preparing to unveil its first home accessories collection, which will include home decor pieces and objets d’art. Launching in Milan during Salone, Atelier Swarovski Home is the latest brand operating under the Atelier Swarovski umbrella, launched in 2007 to create fashion accessories in collaboration with designers such as Viktor & Rolf, Jonathan Saunders and Karl Lagerfeld. The luxury home collection works in a similar way, pulling in both celebrated designers and emerging talent. Zaha Hadid is contributing an imposing centrepiece, while the young london-based Norwegian designer Kim Thome has prepared candlesticks and candleholders. ‘We wanted to use the same model, working…

Ba sed in Brescia, in the heart of Italy’s Lombardy region, Ghidini Giuseppe Bosco has been Italy’s leading manufacturer of classic and baroque-style brass handles, fittings and components for lighting projects since 1961. The company now has a catalogue of over 4,000 brass objects and parts and has created an additional 1,500 bespoke products for private customers worldwide. ‘In the past 50 years, we have slowly developed a rather in-depth knowledge of brass manufacturing,’ explains Enrico Ghidini, general manager of the company and grandson of its founder. Ghidini works closely with his uncle, cousin and brother in what is a quintessential and enthusiastically traditional family-run operation. In the past the company has largely operated business-to-business. But now it has decided to produce its first range for the consumer. ‘We felt…

There’s good news for fans of the dark side this spring: the German furniture maker ClassiCon and designer Konstantin Grcic are celebrating 25 years of working together with a new furniture collection in deepest, darkest black. With the exception of a brandnew oak daybed called, rather appropriately, ‘Ulisse’, the Black Edition represents a journey through the greatest hits of Grcic’s work for ClassiCon over the years. The folded metal ‘Pallas’ table (2003) is there, so too the ‘Mars’ (2003), ‘Venus’ (2006) and ‘Chaos’ (2001) chairs, the ‘Odin’ sofa (2005), the ‘Orcus’ desk (1993) and ‘Diana’ side tables (2002). It is a wonderful mix of his work; at once so familiar to the design fan, and so very radical in form. When he first crossed paths with ClassiCon in 1991, Grcic…

In Basel or any of the many other dynamic destinations in the series, from Berlin to Chicago, Copenhagen, Istanbul, London, Milan, New York, Paris, Shanghai and Tokyo, Wallpaper* City Guides uncover the most enticing architecture and the hippest haunts. Whether you are on a business trip or a weekend break, here is an insider’s checklist for the design-savvy visitor.…

41zero42 Tel: 39.05 36 839 350 (Italy) 41zero42.com A A La Ville de Rodez Tel: 33.1 48 87 79 36 (France) Paris 4e Algerian Coffee Stores Tel: 44.20 7437 2480 (UK) algcoffee.co.uk Alain Saint-Joanis Tel: 33.4 73 51 42 97 (France) alain-saint-joanis.com Alessi Tel: 44.20 7518 9090 (UK) alessi.com Amazon amazon.co.uk Amtico Tel: 44.1215 147373 (UK) amtico.com Ana Khouri Tel: 1.646 998 4840 (US) anakhouri.com Anna Casa Tel: 44.20 7629 7902 (UK) annacasa.net Anta Tel: 49.40 839 10 37 (Germany) anta.de Aram Tel: 44.20 7557 7557 (UK) aram.co.uk Arper Tel: 39.0422 7918 (Italy) arper.com B B&B Italia Tel: 44.20 7591 8111 (UK) bebitalia.com Bang & Olufsen bang-olufsen.com Beretta Tel: 44.20 7408 4411 (UK) beretta.com Berluti Tel: 44.20 7437 1740 (UK) berluti.com Bisazza Tel: 44.20 3026 4374 (UK) bisazza.com Boglioli Tel:…

Newsstand cover Photography: Leonardo Scotti Fashion: Anna Carraro Set design: Dimitra Louana Marlanti ‘Citronniers’, by M/M (Paris), for Designplus Gallery, to debut in Milan, see page 171 Jacket, £1,530; shirt, £630; trousers, £1,010, all by Ermenegildo Zegna Couture. Cap, £32, by Wood Wood. Sneakers, £265, by Common Projects Grooming: Giulia Cigarini Model: Riccardo at I Love Managment Keys to the city Welcome to our biggest ever May issue: 320 pages of the very best design from across the globe. We have a major focus on Milan with our preview of the upcoming Salone del Mobile (starting on page 147): an edit of the must-see exhibitions, presentations, product launches and spiritlifting shenanigans from the greatest show on Earth. As usual, it’s an event to which Wallpaper* will be making a considerable…

When patricia urquiola was invited to work on her first collaboration with georg jensen, she immersed herself in the brand’s rich archives. the spanish-born, milan-based architect and designer has lent her creative sensibility to the Danish brand, extending its living collection, which in the past has seen the likes of aldo Bakker and alfredo häberli creating pieces in glass and stainless steel. the ‘urkiola’ collection, which launches at rossana orlandi’s gallery on Via matteo Bandello during salone del mobile, features mirror-polished surfaces with ribbed steel and rose gold detailing, extending the designer’s extraordinary colour sensibility to metalwork. the collection features bowls, pitchers, trays, vases and candelabra in different sizes, rendered in contemporary shapes and textures that nod to the works of sigvard Bernadotte, the swedish prince who worked for the…

She may be best known for her exotic handbags crafted from Amazonian caiman crocodile, but Colombian accessory designer Nancy Gonzalez is always on the hunt for unexpected byways in the material world. Her latest triumph is this season’s woven clutches, handloomed with horsehair and sterling silver thread by a tapestry weaver from her home city of Santiago de Cali. ‘The natural warmth of the horsehair, cool metallic finish of the sterling silver and the rich texture of the crocodile makes it a magical combination,’ says Gonzalez, whose bags are all handmade in Colombia in a workshop that employs more than 600 artisans. nancygonzalez.com…

Dubbed the Rabbit Snare Gorge cabin, this house, on Cape Breton, is a sort of observation tower that puts its inhabitants in touch with all facets of the Canadian island’s dramatic landscape. Though the Atlantic waters nearby are warm, winter storms crash in off the ocean, and the landscape is raked by forceful south-easterly winds known as suêtes. The clients, committed nature-lovers on the road to retirement, found the place while seeking a contrast to their home in America’s urban north-east. They then called on designers Design Base 8 and Halifax-based architect Omar Gandhi to build in this challenging context, citing as a precedent Venturi & Scott Brown’s Coxe-Hayden House, whose proportions and details are tweaks of historical norms. The result is a modernist variation on local vernacular buildings, a…

French designers Mathias Augustyniak and Michael Amzalag of M/M (Paris) have a fascination with alphabets and signs, a passion they have fostered and developed with dedication since they founded their studio in 1992. The duo has created and crafted over 50 alphabets, from literal A-Z series to more visual and ambiguous sets of symbols, and these sign systems have become central to its work. The designers’ latest project – a collaboration with Plusdesign Gallery that is set to debut in Milan during Miart and Salone del Mobile – introduces a new, if not always obvious, functionality to their playful iconography. The duo will install a domestic diorama in the transparent glass tunnel that forms Plusdesign’s via Ventura gallery. It’s a sort of utopian ideal inspired by the living units described…

For stockists, see page 316 Shot on location at Casa IV in Elche, Spain, designed by MESURA. For more information on the architecture, visit Wallpaper.com Grooming: Louis Ghewy at The Book Agency Photography assistant: Simon Wellington Fashion assistant: Jemma Sawyer Model: Mawen Moandal at City Models Casting: Svea Greichgauer for Am Casting Paris Special thanks: Eduardo Iborra Vicente and Belinda Wicksteed…

Ron Arad’s home town of Tel Aviv is host to any number of top-notch couscous shacks, and depending on your chef’s Maghreb heritage, the couscous will be as fine as sand or plump as nuts. However, despite these examples of what is possible, Israeli home-cooked chicken and couscous often includes packet stock powder that is salty enough to act as an emetic. Not so the famously hat-wearing designer’s recipe. He sticks to one chicken, the peel from one and a half preserved lemons, saffron and olives, plus some herbs and spices. No stock powder. The tagine takes just over an hour. To do his homemade preserved lemons properly takes at least three weeks. You may want to plan ahead. Or buy a jar. For Arad’s recipe, visit Wallpaper.com…

When Éric Cantona was just 20 years old he appeared on a French TV show with the controversial French sculptor César. ‘I noticed he was wearing a watch that had its face hidden behind a cage,’ recalls the ex-Manchester United superstar. ‘For me it created a powerful memory: we are prisoners of time. I never forgot that watch.’ Indeed. Fast-forward three decades and Cantona, now retired from football, has been busy reinventing himself as the beautiful game’s renaissance man; a freewheeling cultural polymath and political activist who paints, acts, collects art (he owns several Damien Hirsts and claims to have bought the first Banksy ever sold in France), writes poetry (he recently penned lyrics for his actress/singer wife Rachida Brakni’s debut album) and is now immersed in the meticulous craft…

Wallpaper’s hot pick of the latest global goings-on ‘PERLA 28’ LAMP, PRICE ON REQUEST, BY ETTORE CIMINI AND WALTER MONICI, FROM LUMINA, LUMINA.IT THESE BAOZI (DUMPLINGS) APPEAR IN STUDIO OLAFUR ELIASSON: THE KITCHEN (SEE OVERLEAF). THE RECIPE, BY ARTIST ZHANG WEI, INVOLVES MAKING A DOUGH FROM FLOUR, FRESH YEAST AND WARM WATER, AND LEAVING IT TO RISE FOR 45 MINUTES, THEN PUNCHING AND KNEADING IT ABOUT 4-5 TIMES. THE DOUGH IS ROLLED OUT INTO 4CM FLAT ROUNDS AND FILLED WITH A MIXTURE OF GRATED COURGETTE, SPRING ONIONS, SCRAMBLED EGG AND GLASS NOODLES. THE DOUGH IS THEN PULLED AROUND THE FILLING AND TWISTED TO SEAL. THE BAOZI ARE STEAMED IN A WET CHEESECLOTH IN A BAMBOO STEAMER FOR 12-15 MINUTES AND SERVED WITH A DIPPING SAUCE. FOR THE RECIPE IN FULL,…

A new crop of contemporary fine jewellers has moved crownwards from fingers and clavicles to precious hair wears. The hair cuffs in Maison Dauphin’s Disruptive collection clasp the hair in their 18ct white gold and diamond grasp, while less-adorned, sterling silver versions were also seen on Paul Smith’s A/W16 London runway. Brazilian jeweller Ana Khouri’s molten 18ct yellow gold bar clip offers another solid example of luxe minimalism, and the same decorative restraint has been employed by Los Angeles designer Sophie Buhai in her moulded silver and wood entwined barrette, inspired by the curved forms of Barbara Hepworth and Constantin Brâncuși, fused with traditional African jewellery. Combining modern lines and timeless elegance, these are hair-controlling heirlooms.…

Surprisingly, the world’s driest place, Chile’s Atacama desert, isn’t entirely barren of bold architectural expression, for this vast expanse is home to Auer Weber’s acclaimed European Southern Observatory (ESO) residence (W*52). Expansive, arid and unrelenting, the area is undeniably beautiful, making it one of the country’s chief tourist destinations. The landscape also works remarkably hard: for a start, it hosts some of the best stargazing conditions in the world, thanks to a combination of altitude, geography and remote location, a fact exploited by the two ESO installations at La Silla and Paranal (where lucky scientists get to stay at Weber’s spectacular residence). Atacama is also host to some of Chile’s key wind farms, including the first in the north of the country, tucked away in the dusty hillsides between the…

Hidden treasure ALIJA ANJI, ZHEJIANG If the tableau framing the new Alila Anji hotel evokes a sense of deja vu, it’s because it was the spectacular backdrop for Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. It’s the first of ten hotels that the Alila group plans to open in China over the next year and it has set itself a high bar. Set in the midst of 60,000 hectares of pristine bamboo groves, plum trees and tea plantations in China’s Zhejiang province, Alila Anji’s 74 villas are clustered in a faux Chinese village of white walls and swooping tiled roofs. The sense of escapist romanticism is magnified by a decor of natural stone, bamboo-lined ceilings, ceramics, silk throws and antiques, though the eye is constantly drawn to the vista unfolding beyond…

Danish furniture brand Karakter has been wowing us since its launch in 2014 (see W*189), commissioning new designs from the likes of Aldo Bakker, Milia Seyppel and PlueerSmitt and, since last year, recreating archive pieces by Joe Colombo. Now it is reviving a collection of shelving systems by Achille Castiglioni, which will be unveiled during April’s Salone del Mobile. Karakter’s founder Christian Elving worked closely with the designer’s family and the Fondazione Achille Castiglioni in Milan to create faithful reproductions of the original designs. ‘We are the first non-Italian company to reproduce Castiglioni’s work,’ says Elving. ‘We started a dialogue with the foundation about his designs, and I discovered many pieces I didn’t know. These new reissues are the objects that caught my eye.’ The ‘Libreria Pensile’, a series of…

Federico Peri is a young Italian on the rise. He dived head first into furniture design two years ago, after a burgeoning career as an interior designer in Milan started giving him creative headaches. ‘Nothing was done the way I wanted,’ the Treviso-born designer says of the furniture and suppliers he came up against. ‘I had to adjust everything. Finally I just wanted to do a project that reflected me.’ To that end, Peri began developing pieces of furniture that operate like fully functioning home islands. He conceived chair and couch systems that came pre-built with movable, adjustable shelving and cubbyhole conveniences to suit the whims of even the most demanding couch potato. The modular aspect may not be new, but the aesthetics – rooted in basic industrial shelving and…

Remote, formal and cool, the Milanese can be fiercely private people. Even in this age of selfpromotion, prising open the doors to their magnificent apartments remains a challenge. Take Chichi Meroni, a sixth-generation Milanese who has built a vintage clothing and furniture empire on a single block of city-centre real estate. Entitled L’Arabesque, her business in Largo Augusto includes a bustling cafe, a bookstore, a midcentury design gallery, and three shops that sell vintage fashion and her own men’s and womenswear ranges. Above this rare island of 1950s Milanese design sits Meroni’s apartment, in a superb building designed by midcentury local architect Paolo Buffa. The residence, with its immaculate lines and elegant furnishings, is the unofficial heartbeat for Meroni’s entire retail operation. And yet, she lives inconspicuously and her home…

Reinventing yourself after a high-profile career as a sporting superstar isn’t easy. Especially if it’s the beautiful game that you’ve left behind. ‘The problem with football,’ Éric Cantona told me when we met at a hotel bar during SIHH week in Geneva, ‘is that it is so important to so many people. People can’t accept that you can become interested in other things. For me, cinema, art, design, poetry, football, they are all art. Even as a footballer, I was always being creative.’ The former Manchester United buteur Cantona, now working as a designer for the Swiss watch marque Hautlence, kept his jacket collar studiously unpopped for our interview. He’s very much the homme sérieux these days. A fan of Damien Hirst, Louise Bourgeois and Maurizio Cattelan. A Wallpaper* reader.…

Who else but Jaime Hayon could reimagine the watch as a ‘monkey for the wrist’? Like everything else he turns his eye to, the Spanish designer’s quirky approach to horology is joyfully original. ‘I’ve got to put a monkey on my wrist,’ he says, ‘it makes me happy!’ Hayon co-founded Orolog, a watch brand, with Angela Adams and Ian Lowe in 2013. Their first collection was Chroma. The latest, Miko (Japanese for monkey), reimagines the classic chronograph dial as a triangle of discs that becomes a cheeky primate. But it’s so much more than that: as the hands on the sub-dials change at different speeds and at various angles, so does the monkey’s mood. ‘Depending on where the hand falls, the monkey is smoking a cigarette, or looking sleepy, or…