Table of contents for Issue 100 in Urbis

There is something about round numbers that awaken the spectre of reminiscence. This, being our 100th issue, is no different. First we trawled through back issues, remembered some of the incredibly talented individuals who have helped produced the magazine, laughed at the ephemeral nature of some designs from the past and philosophised about the main ideas that have held all these issues together. A respect for the creative spirit; a celebration of those committed to their craft and a commitment to those marrying quality and comfort with an aesthetic nous have been some of the motifs here. There is also a passion for New Zealand design with an emphasis on individuals and their stories. In this issue we focus on something else that has set Urbis apart: its international outlook.…

EACH OF THE PANELS on this tiny sauna in the northernmost town in Sweden reflects snippets of the picturesque, Arctic landscape that surrounds it. With periods of the year when the sun never sets and others when it never rises for weeks, the fragmented reflection is a surreal mix of snow, mountains, sky, sparse foliage and most importantly… the town of Kiruna and its adjacent iron ore mine. The last two are significant because in about a year’s time, the town – with a population of around 23,000 inhabitants – is scheduled to start moving, brick by brick, three kilometres to the east. Over 3,000 homes, schools, roads, hospitals and the infrastructure that supports them are to be either dismantled and reconstructed, demolished, or re-imagined to accommodate the expanding mine.…

AS AN ARTIST, it’s a fine a balance between making the work you love and working to make a living. Nicola and Christopher Cox of Cox London have found that balance, creating sculptural furniture and lighting inspired by nature, art and antiques. Each intricate piece is a true labour of love – an expression of their fascination of materials, passion for process and knowledge of techniques. Nicola and Christopher met at Wimbledon School of Art, where they studied fine art and sculpture. New Zealand-born Nicola moved to the UK to work, travel and study, and English-born Chris comes from three generations of antique dealers. Following art school, Nicola and Chris restored antiques, gaining an appreciation for craftsmanship of every era of design, while also working in metalwork and art-related industries.…

A SENSE OF SOPHISTICATION and a lightness of being means that, at first glance, this could be a modernday apartment on the Med. But where olive trees should shade the courtyard, a crepe myrtle drops blooms onto concrete tile – and it’s not classic Riva launches that await the next play date on the waves but sleek-hulled Palm Beach motor yachts. On a good day, it takes a little over an hour to drive to this exclusive enclave on a peninsula in Sydney’s northern beaches. In this playground for boaties, there is surf on one side and the harbour on the other. With views towards Ku-ring-ga Chase National Park, this is the quintessential Aussie holiday escape: Home and Away is often filmed on these very shores. So when architect and…

GIORGIO POSSENTI Giorgio Possenti is a photographer based in Milan. He travels around the world photographing interior design projects and lifestyle stories. For this issue, he photographed the Claude Missir-designed Paris apartment, on page 64. You shot the Belle Epoque apartment in this issue. Any highlights of the shoot? I appreciate projects and situations where architecture and design are in harmony with art and culture, as with the case of the project of Claude Missir in Paris published in this issue. You have photographed a number of hotels and resorts. Which was your favourite and why? My favourite hotel is the Amangiri Resort because, in addition to the incredible location in the Utah desert, the project is perfectly in keeping with nature. What has been keeping you busy lately? I…

BEHIND THE JET LINER VIEWS OF THE CITY, THIS MID-CENTURY HOLLYWOOD HILLS HOUSE WAS MADE FOR SIMPLE, UTILITARIAN LIVING. JOANNA HADFIELD LOOKS over the wide expanse of Los Angeles. “It’s just such a fun city,” she says. “It’s a place where anything’s possible.” And she’s proving it. Having lived in Los Angeles for eleven years, her eponymous fashion label is flying high. This house is where she designs, creates, lives and collaborates with her partner – celebrated British photographer Andrew MacPherson. Behind the jet liner views of the city, this mid-century Hollywood Hills house was made for simple, utilitarian living, and one imagines the people who designed the place in the '50s would be pleased to see it being put to such a variety of uses. Downstairs, Joanna’s workroom is…

Charcoal flames lap around the edges of a whole Portuguese turbot. A fish so fresh you want to give it a quick knock to the head to make sure it’s not feeling the heat. A fish that was sitting, just 20 minutes ago, in a quintessentially local wet market and has since been driven up the hill at breakneck speed to this beautiful box of glass and steel. A fish that’s about to meet its companions for the evening: bacalhau chickpeas, chourico and vino verde – which men’s clothing designer Wayne Sørensen produces in an effortless whirlwind. The sun is setting, and although it’s the most commonplace thing in this world, you can’t help but comment on its blood-red majesty as it throws its final rays over the arid landscape…

“WE WANTED TO CREATE AN INTERIOR THAT WAS ELEGANT AND CLASSIC, BUT LIGHT, FRESH AND FUN AT THE SAME TIME.” Andrea Marcante THERE IS LITERALLY NOWHERE in the world quite like Venice and no other place as photogenic. It’s easy to forget people actually inhabit this UNESCO World Heritage site, such is the extraordinariness of its urban fabric. Yet among the canals and bridges in the shallow lagoon where the historic centre’s 118 islands sit, there are indeed locals who go about their everyday lives, co-existing with the hundreds of thousands of tourists who inundate Venice all year round It is a city steeped in rich history, and that’s part of its charm. So when architects Andrea Marcante and Adelaide Testa, co-founders of Turin-based Marcante-Testa, were tasked with renovating a…

SUNDAY MORNING Lie-ins are mandatory with this bed, which features a recessed shelf in the headboard for your paper and floating bedside tables for your coffee. Take it easy. timwebberdesign.com URBIS TURNS 100 This issue of Urbis marks our one-hundredth, and we’ve come a long way, baby. In the Shorts section of Urbis numero uno back in the Spring of 1998, there is a news piece about the “space-age iMac” with its radical, translucent, coloured box, and a story about the futuristic invention of self-scanning systems for supermarkets that were being trialled in Britain (which, according to the story, were supposed to be able to tell you if your forgot something based on your previous purchases...still waiting for that one!). There are reviews of those ‘Kiwi films’ Gattaca and The…

BARBER OSGERBY Jana Scholze, Phaidon, $105 In their 25-year career, British designers Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby have amassed an impressive list of accolades, exhibitions and commissions. From creating furniture and lighting for B&B Italia, Flos, Vitra, BMW, Sony, Knoll and Hermès (among many others) through to exhibiting architectural installations at the Victoria and Albert Museum, this pair have been, if anything, prolific. This beautifully photographed, 300-page monograph includes a collection of essays and interviews with design experts on the themes that have suffused their practice. As such, the tome is divided into three sections: Folded structures, with early works and experiments with architectural-model-making materials, Frameworks, which explores projects that can be defined by their lightweight construction; and Volumes, which features a collection of pieces whose form or character was…

1 Atelier door I often use this door to hang long gowns that are in process. Right now, it has 37 metres of silk organza and silk chiffon that had been cut and were hanging out to let the bias relax, ready to make up into a wedding dress. 2 Custom-made Aldo Rossi handbag Aldo was a fashion designer turned leather bag maker. He has a little studio and creates it all by hand, every stitch. He custom dyed the leather with vegetable dye, and I got to pick the copper hardware and even engraved and numbered inside. 3 Azzedine Alaia seven-inch shoes I love the lace up system and the height – being only 5’4 they give me a considerable lift! I sometimes wear them on Saturday when we…

MARK HADDAWY’S COLLECTING habits are as peculiar as they get. First, there is the pre-Columbian stone figures (Mezcala, from the Mexican state of Guerrero) that dot his living room – a passion shared by British sculptor Henry Moore and one Haddawy began finetuning in his late teens thanks in part to his ancient-art-collecting father. “It makes a very modernist aesthetic even though they are from 200–400BC. It is very geometric and a bit abstract,” he says. Then there is his passion for rare, vintage cars. He’s a fan of old Porsches and prior to our conversation, he’d been on a rally around Colorado in his 1961 Ferrari 250GT Short Wheel Base (yes, similar to the one Ferris Bueller destroyed in that infamous, cinematic day off). As founder of historic fashion…