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The Venice Architecture Biennale is the premier event on the global architecture calendar – it is a showcase of quality of thought, ideas and innovation, with 62 countries responding to a theme set down by this year’s Biennale curator Alejandro Aravena. With Future Islands, an exhibition developed by a team led by curator Charles Walker (featured in Urbis 91) and associate curator Kathy Waghorn, New Zealand is, for the second time ever, taking its place on this international stage. On 26/27 May, the New Zealand Ambassador to Italy Patrick Rata and New Zealand Consul-General in Milan Ann Clifford inaugurated the exhibition with a series of events that included waiata and haka – watched with interest not just by the crowd of 200 that thronged Palazzo Bollani’s plaza but also by…

HUAWEI P9 AND P9 PLUS While smartphone cameras are all pretty good these days, the Huawei P9 takes things to the next level, and is designed to deliver a superior photo-taking experience. Camera geeks will swoon at the dual lenses mounted atop the aluminium body, and the Leica badge that sits next to them. These lenses are Leica certified and the legendary German camera company has co-engineered the P9’s camera and elements of its software. The camera system does a clever thing – taking information from both lenses and merging it; this allows higher-performance imaging to be squeezed into the 6.9mm thin chassis. One of the lenses is used to capture dynamic range, and the other, colour profile. Their slightly alternative points of view enable you to also achieve a…

ARCHIER’S RECENT CLIENT had been looking for somewhere she could comfortably retire to when a next-door neighbour bequeathed her a 600m2 property in the Tasmanian suburb of Howrah. “Carmel had been really close to the former owner,” says the architecture and design practice’s Melbourne-based senior designer Chris Gilbert. “Not only did he leave her the land, but he gave her this amazing collection of antique books as well.” The brief, although straightforward, was double-pronged in that it called for a new one-bedroom house which seamlessly integrated into the garden and also had enough room to accommodate a small library. Gilbert, who along with Josh Fitzgerald and Chris Haddad, co-directs Archier, proposed a plan that twists into the landscape and explores the concept of living in it rather than on it.…

IT ISN’T A NATIONAL requirement to have a second home in Norway, but nearly everyone does. Modest cabins dot the country’s wilderness, poised and ready for city-dwellers looking to escape the hustle and bustle of the city. Split View Mountain Lodge is one such spot; a modern gem that is neatly nestled on a slope near the village of Geilo, a popular ski destination in Hallingdal Valley in central Norway – one of the first winter resorts in the country and home to some spectacular holiday houses. A mecca for outdoorsy types, the area is also known for its white-water rafting, hiking, canoeing and mountain biking –the breath-taking Rallarvegen route a particular draw. It was the promise of this connection to nature that attracted a busy family with three young…

WHILE STUDYING ARCHITECTURE in Zurich, Robert Volhard had the opportunity to do some construction work for a friend. Yet, when he tried to find products, he discovered a disconnect between the computerbased world in which he worked, and the ways architectural product manufacturers supplied their goods. “I had to call the companies up and even send a fax to get a catalogue. So I asked my professors, would it be helpful if there was an online platform where you could find quality products recommended to you? I worked this idea into a dissertation and it grew from there,” he says. Stylepark was born from this lightbulb moment 16 years ago and has since developed into a successful online magazine providing an expert viewpoint on the world of design culture. With…

Nina Yashar has been called a “high priestess of modern design” and “a tastemaker for tastemakers.” It is undeniable that the globe trotter has predicted trends in interior design – like the Scandinavian wave – well ahead of many of her peers. Alongside running her Milan gallery Nilufar, Yashar also runs Squat, a yearly installation that combines art, architecture and design. We spoke to her and Squat coconspirators Shalini Misra and Mehves Ariburnu ahead of the Mayfair event. What are your memories of your birthplace Tehran? NINA YAS HAR (NY): I do remember that in the 60’s Tehran experienced a moment of great splendour. It was the time of the Shah. Unfortunately there was great social inequality: on one side, the rich; on the other, extreme poverty. I have a…

FRANKFURT IS A COMPACT CITY that’s been dubbed ‘the smallest metropolis in the world’. It found its feet in the post-war period of the 1940s, in part taking over as a business hub in place of an isolated Berlin. In the 1980s and with the creation of the Messe (trade halls), it became a destination for international business people, hosting more than 100 trade fairs per year. The population of Frankfurt, at just 670,000, appears to double during weekdays as the city fills with fair-goers attending everything from the very popular Book Fair and the Auto Show through to highly specialised events like Christmasworld and Paperworld. So, how is a city affected and shaped by a large, itinerant population with incredibly specialised career interests? It is evident that Frankfurt’s arts…

IT IS EASY TO MAP THE LIFE of Martin Wenzel. Seated on a rickety wooden stool in his basement studio cum gallery in a shared space in trendy Bahnhofsviertel, he looks like a happy man. His home, where he lives with his two young children and photographer girlfriend, is just a stone’s throw away and despite the uncertainty an artist’s life can deliver, he feels he has found his calling. “I found out this is the best thing I can do with my life. There is always a tension with art, but that is what I like about it” says Martin, “in terms of what kind of artist I am, there is tension there too. You can divide the art world into many disciplines, but everything collides. If I want…

Fashion Designer Thom Browne has made use of a collection of more than 50 historic and contemporary mirrors from the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum to create this installation, the latest installment in the Museum’s ‘Selects’ series. Browne sought to comment on individuality and reflection with his creation, using the museum’s mirrors to make the viewer also a part of the artwork. Browne is known for his commentary on uniformity, a theme echoed here by the reflective surfaces of 56 pairs of his nickel-plated shoes.…

“It’s our fourth time there,” says Muir, “and a lot has changed. The first time – in 2012 – I was a student, and building the installation in a hotel room. Now, this is what I do. It’s my business.” When creating his public art, Muir doesn’t restrict his palette to lighting, and his large-scale installations have reached audiences across the globe. Water Fun, a series of buoyant, illuminated spheres, was installed at different times in Amsterdam, and Norrköping Sweden. Closer to home, those who attended the Waiheke Arts Walk, Luma Queenstown, or Splore Festival would have seen the mirrored posts of Fields Apart at each event. “We try to be sustainable,” Muir explains, “and we build our installations really well, so if something can be used again – either…

RETURN OF THE ICONIC PONY CAR Ford Mustang THE ORIGINAL 1960s Mustang is one of the most popular and recognisable American classics, especially with a ‘big cube’ V8 rumbling ominously under the bonnet. Convertibles were always popular but we can thank the movie Bullitt for helping cement the legend status of the Fastback coupe. Few cars will live longer in moviegoers’ memories than the hard-edged 390GT being furiously driven about San Francisco by Steve McQueen. In contrast, the emasculated Mustangs from the 70s and the mediocre 80s efforts are completely forgettable. We’ve since seen a trickle of special imports, among them some solid, sometimes ferocious returns to form with chunky silhouettes more reminiscent of the original Pony cars. But there’s been nothing to make you sit up and take notice…

Bread and sunshine. We’re enjoying the offerings from Amano Bakery, the first stage of a a soon-to-open Tyler Street food complex (by Hip Group) expected to include a restaurant and a gelato store. The bakery was designed by McKinney + Windeatt Architects using warm timbers, marble cast into a terrazzo threshold, a stunning mother of pearl counter and a ceiling entirely covered in hanging wheat stalks. FIRST WE TAKE HAWKE’S BAY Hawke’s Bay’s restaurateur Jennifer Le Comte, the brains behind Opera Kitchen, FG Smith, Albion Canteen and The Picnic talks about her quest for regional culinary domination. What drives you? I want to make different spaces and different experiences for people to enjoy. All four are proudly Hawke’s Bay but in different ways. Hawke’s Bay is as much about the…

On a bucolic, rambling 265-hectare farm in Waikato, it’s difficult enough to select a house site, let alone define the scope of a dwelling. But thankfully for these Gordonton dairy farmers, an elevated promontory with distant views of the majestic Hakarimata Ranges to the north and of the Kaimai Ranges to the east offered itself as an exceptional platform from which to create a homestead. Naturally, the site constraints that often inform a design simply weren’t there, says architect Brian White of Edwards White Architects. “Designing a house here is quite different from designing a house in the middle of Auckland,” says White. “You have to have a few specific strategies to capture moments within an expansive landscape and delineate the different functions of the dwelling.” Clients Robyn and Graham…

THE SUPERHERO MYTHOS might seem an unusual starting point for an architectural project. But, when you take a look at the thoughtfully conceived and deftly resolved concept-driven work of Melbourne’s Breathe Architecture, it all begins to make sense. The concept underpinning this small (110m2) project emerged as the architects got to know their clients, lawyer Steph and coffee entrepreneur Russ. “They both work in very high-stress, extroverted professions where they are constantly ‘on’,” explains Dan McKenna, project leader at Breathe Architecture. “When they come home, they want to put on some music, read a book and chill out. They are introverted people living extroverted lives. It’s almost like they’re leading a double life – like so many of us do – and we started to think about how to interpret…

BROTHERS JAMES AND DAVID Ardinast were born into the restaurant business. Their parents and grandparents were restaurateurs in Frankfurt, but when the brothers were teenagers, their elders left the industry; their grandfather ordering the family not to enter hospitality again as long as he was alive. He died in 2001 and James and David opened their first restaurant, Chez Ima, in 2003. Since then, they have studied abroad. Older brother James studied hospitality administration at Boston University, while David began a degree in economics in London, then interned at an advertising agency in Berlin. Nonetheless, these brothers were drawn back to Frankfurt by a sense that something special was happening in their hometown. “It is a time when so much is developing in Frankfurt and it is so interesting to…

“We are unique in Frankfurt because we have everything in one place. We decide what we take into our showroom and it is only what we like.” MORGEN STUDIO IS LOCATED a short tram ride from the central city, in Ostend, an area that is becoming known as a new creative centre. Its headquarters encompass a workshop, a showroom and design offices tucked away in a warehouse building on the banks of the river Main. Led by architects Sabine Mühlbauer and Thomas Tritsch, who is also an artist, the company prides itself on its identity. “We are unique in Frankfurt because we have everything in one place. We decide what we take into our showroom and it is only what we like. We are more architects than salespeople,” says Tritsch.…