Table of contents for Urbis Jun/Jul 2018 in Urbis

Let’s be honest. Trade fairs are not the sexiest subjects with which to start a conversation about inspiring objects. For most casual fans of design, the Milan Furniture Fair might, at most, elicit fleeting hints of acknowledgement. So why, then, do so many publications – including this one – insist on sacrificing ink and pages to the event? For some years now, design and culture critics have been foretelling the death of Milan as the world’s design capital. The premature obituary writers have seen its many shortcomings in event and transport management and the rise of other, similar fairs (mainly in London and Belgium) as symptomatic of its demise. Yet one of the harshest criticisms has been that it presented design merely as a “superficial stylistic tool” (according to Alice…

How much work did you have to do on these spaces? Tom Dixon (TD): They’d been a half-abandoned project by [the chef] Jamie Oliver to have his headquarters here. The infrastructure was done by David Morley but we did a lot of finishing off. You are also about to open a restaurant here. Food and being around restaurants seem to be very important to you. TD: What I’ve noticed through having a restaurant [The Dock in central London] is that you’re manufacturing every day, really quickly. And I love that. I love the speed of reaction from your customer. I love the enjoyment that you see and get back immediately. It’s an instant feedback loop. I’m partly French. I came from Tunisia and Morocco to Huddersfield when I was four.…

DESIGN DRIVEN: Jaguar I-Pace The Jaguar I-Pace is the first stand-alone electric SUV to emerge from a European maker and signifies the beginning of a new era for Jaguar. The I-Pace is a bold departure from traditional Jaguar design, and it waves goodbye to traditional mechanical and styling tools. Development was an exhaustive process involving more than 200 production prototypes, which completed 1.5 million miles and 11,000 hours of testing of its advanced Lithium-ion battery. First deliveries to northern hemisphere customers begin in July. There is no internal combustion engine, just a pair of silent electric motors powering each axle and weighing 80kg apiece. They combine to produce 294kW and nearly 700Nm of torque for terrific acceleration and traction off the mark, despite an overall weight of 2.2 tonnes. So,…

RAIN CLOUDS ARE DUELLING, southerlies are shunting planes across the harbour and I’m negotiating the steep path to Nick and Nevada Leckie’s house, a wooden villa, which hangs precariously off the side of a hill. It doesn’t get more Wellington than this. Neither does Okewa Rainwear, the company the couple started from the living room of their Oriental Bay flat in 2014. It’s an origin story that’s pure Wellington; tired of getting drenched while walking around the waterfront to work each day, Nevada (29) started trawling the net for stylish, waterproof coats that reflect her love of minimalist but quirky design. It didn’t end well. “There were lots of showerproof coats but not waterproof,” says Nevada, who moved to Wellington from Tauranga in 2007. “There were also outdoor coats and…

THREE BOOKS STACKED HAPHAZARDLY on top of one another created an unusual basis for the design of this house, dubbed ‘The Books House’ by its architect Luigi Rosselli. The clients, a calligrapher and a businesswoman with Chinese origins living in Sydney, requested a house that reflected the idea of a book pile and referenced one of the architect’s previous designs: a house that has different levels skewed towards various vistas. Located on the northern side of Sydney Harbour, The Books House takes a similar form to that of the previous one, with each level slightly skewed to take in different views of the harbour. The house is stacked on top of a sandstone form, which makes up the garden walls, garage and lower level. The board-formed concrete structure and rounded…

DAVID ST GEORGE David is an Auckland-based photographer whose assignments have ranged from documenting the New Zealand Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2016 to photographing a prize-winning sandwich in Howick. He photographed Jackie van Beek’s favourite objects (page 41). How did you decide on a career in photography? Photography had been an obsessive hobby for five or six years but translating it into a viable freelance career took a few years. Two key aspects to making it work were the support of my parents, who fed me when I had very little income, and the encouraging push to develop my portfolio from a couple of designer friends. Did any of Jackie van Beek and Jesse Griffin’s objects really stand out for you? I appreciated the glass parrot – not…

This year’s theme, ‘Party’, has led New York-based, New Zealand-born food photography superstar Henry Hargreaves to put together an exhibition celebrating the uncelebratable. Hargreaves’ photographic series will celebrate the birthdays of children whose names have been deemed illegal. Birthdays that will never come is guaranteed to be provocative, innovative and perhaps even a little bizarre. It will show at Te Papa during the festival. The Country Cooking School is one of a handful of eateries that are choosing to look back in time in their interpretations of celebration. Cook’s Cook – How to experience food on board the Endeavour will treat diners to a three-course meal inspired by the one-handed cook who fed Captain James Cook and his crew. Not only will the cuisine be delicious, but it will be…

Radiant brass offers an undeniably luxe accent and focal point to any furniture piece.…

The welcoming sofa. The ottoman that doubles as book holder. The perfect niche for a warm cup. A chair that reminds us of architecture from a city we love. The egg cup that turns into a spaceship. An armchair for daydreaming. The imperfections on mouth blown glass.…

WHEN INTERIOR DESIGNER Kelly Wearstler first set eyes on this house in the West Hollywood district of Los Angeles, she was anything but impressed. “It didn’t have anything exciting,” she recalls. “I remember walking in and thinking, ‘Oh my God! I’m really going to have to roll up my sleeves here’.” Previously, the house had a Spanish architectural vernacular, and an interior dominated by brown ceiling beams and all-white walls. Kelly’s goal was to give it both a “voice” and a personality. She certainly did that by infusing it with her signature high-voltage style and originality, which she, herself, has difficulty describing. “I don’t like the words ‘fun’ and ‘playful’,” she says. “I would say maybe it’s a little punk or avantgarde.” Whatever the term, the aesthetic suits her clients,…

Supported by FISHER & PAYKEL It is a game of many attendees to try to see connections and similarities: to make groupings of materials and colours, shapes and ideas that might foretell interior design’s whimsy for the year to come. The Milan Furniture Fair is, in a way, a litmus test for the industry and an accurate barometer of home trends for the year. It is a game of many attendees to try to see connections and similarities: to make groupings of materials and colours, shapes and ideas that might foretell interior design’s whimsy for the year to come. Our roving reporters, Tessa Pawson and photographer Mary Gaudin, attended the event and brought back delightful nuggets of beauty for the pages ahead. Pawson, like many of the talented people interviewed…

ECC Mike and Richard Thorburn joined with Minotti to celebrate its 70th year. In the 35 years Mike Thorburn has been attending the fair, he has built up numerous long-standing relationships with suppliers, many of which are also family businesses. While he considered this year’s trends to be largely continuations from those of recent years, such as a proliferation of marble tabletops, this time. the marble featured bold, contrasting streaks rather than muted patterns. In fabrics, blue was still a dominant colour along with pastel pink, “which was everywhere”, and glass and ceramic accessories were often arranged together. A highlight for the ECC team this year was joining Minotti to celebrate its 70th year. The three-generation, family-owned business marked the occasion with a collection featuring new international collaborations with Nendo…

How did Nomad start? Nicolas Bellavance-Lecompte (NBL): Nomad is the result of an analysis, by both Giorgio and me, in terms of what was missing that was not a fair. High-profile collectors don’t want to go anymore to the busy and crowded fairs. We decided to offer an exclusive getaway and intimate environment that is totally unique and different from anything else that exists in the world. What have been the biggest lessons learned since the event began in 2017? NBL: The biggest lesson was finding the best location to create a truly unique experience; we always try to bring up the selection of galleries and always strive for a higher level. We created a truly unique concept that doesn’t exist anywhere else and that is why there is a…

1 Candle houses We were in Auckland and saw them at the Art Gallery. The kids loved them and we thought it’d be fun to start a village so we’re saving up for the last two or three. 2 Blue chair It kind of looks out of whack among all the retro stuff in my office but I love it. It’s from BoConcept and it’s something I always feel excited about. 3 Nesting dolls They were a present when I was pregnant with our first child and they pretty much committed us to three, and also ended any chance of a fourth. The smallest doll contains a tiny love heart with our initials JVB-JG… aww. 4 Beer tankard This was a gift to me to commemorate the opening night of…

TIMBER HAS LONG BEEN USED in the construction of houses but, in recent years, architects and designers have, increasingly, taken to using timber in more creative ways inside the home. Valued for its raw beauty, inherent variation, warmth and tactility, timber has come to represent luxury, no longer covered in a synthetic veneer. Timber provides a textured, organic backdrop in this penthouse, designed by Pierre Yovanovitch. Located in Andermatt, Switzerland, the apartment is the holiday home of a family of four, which enjoys the all-season resort and wanted a space that was intimate for family but could also accommodate many guests. Yovanovitch is known for his mastery of shaping space and sculptural volumes as well as his devotion to wood, and the solid oak floors, sweeping eight-metre-high ceiling and supple…

Design that goes beyond the things themselves, that looks at the people, the needs of a changing world searching for new signals, as well as at beauty and emotion in the little everyday things. Salone del Mobile 2018, The Manifesto History melds with the contemporary, the cultural and artistic heritage inspires the creativity of the future. It is a chance for different forms of expression and different languages to meet and crosspollinate. Salone del Mobile 2018, The Manifesto…