Table of contents for VISI 106 in Visi

we’re coming at you from two angles in this issue. Both are part of a thread resonating around the globe as, perhaps for the first time in human history, we are all genuinely thinking about our future on this planet. The notion that unless we change things, we might not actually have a future has moved from fringe activism to the collective zeitgeist. It’s even moved into our second bedroom. I have a very woke teenage daughter. So, as both a nod to key design and architectural trends, and an attempt at some hard-to-come-by Dad Points, issueVISI 106 looks at: SMALL SPACES Along with the fact that owning property has become less and less affordable in major urban areas, there’s been a conscious move to making do with less. Small…

WIN WITH NUTRiBULLET One lucky VISI reader will win a NUTRiBULLET Pro 900, valued at R2 699. This 900-watt appliance is the ultimate summer accessory, transforming individual ingredients into nutrient-packed superfood. To enter this competition, go to VISI.co.za/win. WE ASKED YOU ONLINE WHEN IT COMES TO IMAGINING YOUR DREAM HOME, WHAT WOULD YOU OPT TO DO? More than 500 of you took our poll online to let us know. Here are the results: #READERLOVE Can’t put down the latest issue? Tag us in your pics on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter. Your snaps brighten our day! Not a bad way to spend a friday afternoon – @cassidymaetaylor ... and chill @visi_mag – @jacokotze Saturday = reading... #pink#magazine #interiordesign#interior#design #home#glasses#visimagazine #southafrica#vsco#vscocam– @andrewconradie So this happened. A major milestone. Thank you so much…

The four-roomed house is ubiquitous in townships everywhere in South Africa. It is the home that my father’s father built in Galeshewe, Kimberley, which got added to from time to time during my childhood as the bathroom finally moved inside. When my age was still a single digit, holidays and visits there saw an overflowing house (our nuclear family would bring six extra bodies), which meant sleeping head to toe with umakhulu to economise on space. Compact living brought us closer together in more ways than one. It also presented the sort of great storage solutions and practices that the Japanese have perfected. It used to amaze me how my aunt could quickly produce, say, a set of crockery I’d never seen before, or a ballroom-sized blanket, from unexpected corners,…

VIVID SPLASHES OF BLUE, RED AND YELLOW SPARKLE LIKE JEWELS IN THE SHIMMERING summer heat of the capital city, offering enticing views from within the Future Africa Innovation Campus across lush pastoral fields and the mushrooming high-rises that dot the skyline of student mecca Hatfield, beyond. Situated in the heart of the University of Pretoria’s Experimental Farm, Future Africa has its sights set on becoming a hub for pan-African trans-disciplinary research – a fresh, co-operative way of doing research where a variety of disciplines can join minds to find new, holistic avenues for their research together. Very much in keeping with this innovative and collaborative vision, Earthworld Architects proposed a design concept that would rise above the conventional to create an integrated live-work environment for post-doctoral students – one that…

South African artist Athi-Patra Ruga was recently invited to participate in the fourth edition of the Dior Lady Art Project, alongside 10 other rising international art stars. And unsurprisingly, his two designs strike a precise balance between ideas that are highly conceptual, and a sensual reaction that leads one to instantly want to touch these exquisite accessories. The first of Ruga’s two bag designs is an enigmatic 3-D self-portrait made from pearls and framed by fabric, crystals and metal flowers. “I’m aware of the politics of representation and nothing emphasises that more than [the] face,” he says when asked about the decision to include a version of his visage in miniature. “There wasn’t much of a back and forth [with Dior] about putting the mask on the bag, but it…

South African artist Dineo Seshee Bopape is just 38 years old, but her work has already had a significant impact on the art scene, both at home and abroad. Her remarkable installations have included an exhibition space with eight-metre-high ceilings into which water (deliberately) leaked from the ceiling, and an installation in which the floor was covered with overturned pillars, smashed bricks, soil, dead flowers and TV screens that looped a dramatised rape scene and Nina Simone’s breakdown at the Live at Montreux 1976 festival. It’s no surprise, in fact, that Bopape is one of six artists shortlisted for Artes Mundi 9, an award that celebrates contemporary artists whose work engages with social reality and lived experience. The winner of the £40 000 (±R766 000) prize will be announced in…

BREAKING GROUND By Jane Hall Phaidon, R705 A visual compendium of 200 extraordinary buildings from around the world designed by women – and over a time period ranging from the early 20th century until today – Breaking Ground features striking photography and is arranged alphabetically by architect. From early pioneers such as Eileen Gray to modern icons like Zaha Hadid, this is a lengthy list of remarkable creative women. THE AFRICA COOKBOOK By Portia Mbau Quivertree Publications, R390 Inspired by her travels across the continent, chef and author Portia Mbau opened The Africa Café in 1992 – South Africa’s first restaurant devoted to African cuisine. Almost 30 years on, this cookbook is a compilation of tried-and-tested recipes with a focus on fresh, organic ingredients. Dishes are brought to life with…

PIETER MATHEWS, ARCHITECT, DESIGNER, CURATOR, STUDENT AND RACONTEUR What is your favourite piece of design of the 21st century so far, and why? The Glass Tea House Mondrian, created for the Venice Architecture Biennale 2014 by Hiroshi Sugimoto. It is pure architecture – an experiment with pavilion typology that fuses Western and Eastern cultures with sculpture and even elements of jewellery design. Maybe last year’s World Rugby Cup or this year’s Olympics have led to my current affinity with the Zen aesthetic! As part of our VISIon section, Pieter shares travel tips for Dutch Design Week on page 56. ROLI O’TSEMAYE, WRITER, ART CRITIC AND CURATOR What is your favourite piece of design of the 21st century so far, and why? Ethnik by Tunde Owolabi: these are designs inspired by…

The V&A Waterfront reimagined the 2019/20 festive season as a celebration of local talent and environmental sustainability. Centred on the theme of “Joy from Africa to the World”, the V&A presented an experience aligned to its purpose of creating the world’s most inspiring waterfront neighbourhood. Every decoration on display was handcrafted by African artisans using recycled and recyclable materials. A team, with the help of Platform Creative Agency’s Cathy O’Clery and Laurence Brick, mixed modern and traditional pieces to create a rich display of the many intricate crafting techniques handed down from generation to generation. As a result, every cent of the Waterfront’s R16-million investment in the festive décor went back into African economies. INSPIRING THE WORLD “As neighbourhood custodians, we wanted to create and curate a space that looks…

The Memphis Group of design took its name from the lyrics of Bob Dylan’s Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again, a song that was played on repeat the night of the international group’s first meeting in Milan in 1980. Considering the juxtaposition of extravagant fantasy and age-old mysticism embedded in the objects created by its members, its name seems rather appropriate if one recalls that Memphis – home to Elvis’ Graceland – was named after Memphis, the ancient capital of Egypt. Launched during the Milan Furniture Fair of 1981, with 40 pieces by the likes of Marco Zanini, Michele De Lucchi, Martine Bedin and Nathalie du Pasquier, the Memphis Group created an uproar – both of disgust and delight. LAUNCHED DURING THE MILAN FURNITURE FAIR OF 1981,…

In Stranger on aTrain, Jenny Diski’s extraordinary and uncategorisable book about, as the subtitle has it, “daydreaming and smoking around America with interruptions”, the author spends a lot of time squeezed up into a variety of small spaces: cubicles, ship’s cabins, sleeping compartments on trains, smoking sections, mobile homes, dining booths, etc. It’s not necessarily part of some wider plan she has, this business of wriggling into one cramped space after another, but rather an inevitable side-effect of sustained periods of transit. If you are going to travel by freighter ship from Hamburg to Tampa, and then all the way around the perimeter of the US by train, the chances are that you will spend a lot of time lying in a tiny bed for a mouse, or eating your…

ASTRIKING NEW VESSEL has steamed into view and dropped anchor among the venerable advocates’ chambers that line Cape Town’s Keerom Street. Home to 43 small apartments, four mini-penthouse suites, and sporting a striking white visage, Tuynhuys makes a bold statement – both to anyone standing below it and to the plethora of boxy monoliths currently being Rubik’s-cubed across the city. It’s also very obviously a long-awaited sibling for Holyrood, the Mother City’s iconic Art Deco apartment block located around the corner and featured on page 78. And that’s no coincidence. Tuynhuys architect Robert Silke, of Robert Silke & Partners, lives in Holyrood and is a devotee of the architecture style popular during the 1920s and ’30s. Not that Tuynhuys is pure Deco – the design also folds ’70s and ’80s…

It’s the best way to be sure of what you’re eating – but growing your own fresh produce often isn’t easy to do in an urban environment. Now, even if you have the absolute minimum of space, smart planters help you make the most of it while also avoiding store-bought herbs and leafy veg in wasteful packaging. Smaller-scale seasonal eating doesn’t get more local and flavourful than this. CLICK-AND-GROW SMART GARDEN 1. This nifty product makes use of NASA-inspired Smart Soil, which regulates pH balance, oxygen and humidity levels across the lifecycles of plants. You can take it easy knowing your plants will always receive the right amount of water, light and nutrients at all times. The Smart Garden can grow up to three different plant pods simultaneously, with the…

In the 1950s and ’60s, trailblazing lensmen from Mali and Burkina Faso captured youth culture in a range of arresting and intimate portraits, using props and lighting to transform urban slicksters, party-goers and defiant motorbike riders into works of art. Now, South African-born photographer Kevin Mackintosh (below) builds on the techniques used by these artists to reimagine the formal portrait. “I’m inspired by the way West African photographers like the late Malick Sidibé, the late Seydou Keïta, and Sanlé Sory created ‘photo booth’ setups and used props, set design and styling,” says Mackintosh, who is currently based in London. “Their work has a real resonance for me in a modern stylisation of portrait subjects.” Mackintosh’s aesthetic approach for his latest exhibition, Hero, pays homage to these photographers, and in each…

You definitely won’t miss the candy-floss pink exterior and bright neon signage of I love the Dough, a new pizza eatery and cocktail bar on one of the Cape Town CBD’s key restaurant strips. It’s the brainchild of Niki Reschke and partner Marco Picone of Arcade restaurant on the same street, and the team wanted to bring a cheeky element to their decor, complemented with food to match. “First off, my partner and I are by no means professionally trained designers,” says Niki. “Both of us are lovers of hip-hop and sitting around a table just laughing and being creative, Marco started singing Biggie Smalls’ I Love the Dough, looked at me and said, ’That could be a cool name for our place' – and the rest is history.” Featuring…

EDITORIAL Editor Steve Smith Deputy Editor Annemarie Meintjes Creative Director Mark Serra Designer Mpumelelo Bhengu Managing Editor Samantha Charles Acting Features Editor Robyn Alexander Online Editor Lindi Brownell Meiring Content Producer Michaela Stehr Contributors Adele de Lange, Amelia Brown, Aviva Singer, Biddi Rorke, Celeste Jacobs, Dook, Iga Motylska, Jan Ras, Jeanri-Tine van Zyl-Punt, Marijke Willems, Martin Jacobs, Olupitan Olusanya, Paris Brummer, Pieter Mathews, Roli O'tsemaye, Rosa Lyster, Rupert Koopman, Stephen Steyn, Tracy Lynn Chemaly, Zanele Kumalo ADVERTISING & MARKETING Key Account Manager Diane Lubbe 083 391 1651 Key Account Manager Eva Cookson 076 662 0785 Key Account Manager Hannelie Stemmet 083 448 2074 Key Account Manager Elna Coetzer (Cape Town) 021 417 5151 / 082 971 9715 PUBLISHING Group Account Director Raiël le Roux Production Manager Shirley Quinlan MANAGEMENT Managing…

I spend a fair amount of time wondering why human behaviours that have quite profound negative effects on nature persist. Considering the concept of social inertia – which posits that through our engagement with social space, we often develop behaviours and habits that serve to maintain the status quo – has helped. Of course, it’s much easier to ponder themes like the effects of climate change on range-restricted fynbos endemics than to examine this inertia at a household level, as in the case of this botanist’s garden. In 2015, my wife and I moved out of the sunny 100m2 flat in Cape Town where we’d lived for the first few years of our marriage, enjoying all that it had to offer. Before we knew it, we were expecting a baby…

There simply isn’t a better view in Cape Town than the outlook from a Holyrood apartment on a summer evening. Sorry, denizens of the Atlantic Seaboard and devotees of Boyes Drive. Apologies, everyone in Bloubergstrand and Bishopscourt. But if you one day stand on a curvy, postage-stamp-sized balcony at this, one of the Mother City’s best-known buildings, you’ll understand. Set out directly below you is the Company’s Gardens, green and verdant, with its blend of landscaped formality and whimsically wandering humans. Beyond that to the left is downtown Cape Town and its various unfortunate high rises – and then to the right, the dramatic sweep of the City Bowl and the face of Table Mountain. But the view is just one of the many reasons why you might want to…

Driven by sustainability and environmental awareness, Cape Town-based brand Sealand Gear produces a range of bags handmade from upcycled yacht sails, Bedouin stretch tents, advertising banners, recycled plastic bottles and other durable materials that would otherwise end up in a landfill and take years – or even centuries – to biodegrade. Founders Mike Schlebach and Jasper Eales (pictured left) are both passionate surfers who have translated their love for adventure into a growing business that in 2019 enjoyed a watershed year. The young brand expanded from its kiosk at the V&A Waterfront, Cape Town, to launch its first “experience store” at nearby Dock Road Junction, as well as getting stocked on international online stores Mr Porter, Matches Fashion, END Clothing and Liberty London. And this growth looks set to continue…

Reclining on the bed in the master suite of Le Grand Jardin villa in Stellenbosch might just be the closest one can come to being completely immersed in French Post-Impressionist Henri Rousseau’s 1910 fantastical-naïve jungle painting, The Dream. More than a century after the work was created, no virtual reality headset is necessary to be surrounded by Rousseau’s exotic reverie. Rather, it’s quite possible right here, thanks to the bold vision of the villa’s owner and the artisanal work of Cape Town studio African Sketchbook, known for its hand-painted wallpapers and fabrics. On the wallpaper alongside the bedroom’s fireplace, a full moon bathes the setting in surreal tones. To the left, bordering the dressing room and en suite bathroom, cheeky vervet monkeys in a tropical tree steal fruit from its…

Held at the Independence Building, a historic structure commissioned by the British towards the end of their colonial reign as a tribute to Nigeria’s independence in 1960, this year’s edition of the Lagos Biennial was titled “How to Build a Lagoon with Just a Bottle of Wine?”. It’s a name adapted from a poem about Lagos by Akeem Lasisi that expresses the impossible and speaks to the city’s can-do spirit in the face of seemingly insurmountable social, political and economic obstacles. “The second edition of the Lagos Biennial,” says its founder Folakunle Oshun, “engages pertinent socioeconomic and political issues stemming from the astonishing shifts in the city’s spatial elaboration over the past two decades”. Under the curatorship of Antawan Byrd, Tosin Oshinowo and Oyinda Fakeye, 38 artists were selected to…

PAUL SMITH EDITION THREE TYPE 75 LAMP BY ANGLEPOISE, R8 300,  newport.co.za Paying delightful homage to Dutch painter Piet Mondrian’s work, Anglepoise uses the artist’s signature combination of primary colours in a stylish interpretation that adds a›talking point to any›room. LA CAFETIERE 3-CUP CLASSIC ESPRESSO MOKA POT, R499, superbalist.com A classic coffee-lover staple, this sleek espresso pot conjures up an image of sipping coffee on a›Parisian balcony – plus, it’s stylish enough to display on open kitchen shelves. FJÄLLRÄVEN RE-KÅNKEN BACKPACK, R1 999, fjallraven-shop.co.za On trend and environmentally friendly, these iconic Swedish backpacks are made from polyester manufactured from recycled plastic bottles. They can be adjusted to fit both adults and children. BERLIN CHAIR IN OCHRE, R2 700, mrphome.com This retro-cool chair works beautifully…

The VISI team recently collaborated with Vollherbst LABELS, a German premium label printer that works with a range of South African wineries, to choose our best label executions. Vollherbst recently launched a digital brand called LABELinmotion that applies augmented reality to wine labels. Via an app (available on Apple App Store and Google Play), it allows a new wave of designs to deliver video on mobile devices. The judging process considered both the labels’ aesthetics and their potential to convey a message. These were our top five… vollherbstdruck.de 1. ELGIN RIDGE THE. CABERNET FRANC Typography, quirky punctuation and copper and black elements combine to give this wine label its enigmatic appeal. What is in the bottle, one wonders? Arguably, the.best Cabernet Franc ever made in South Africa. 2. KEN FORRESTER…

ZERO VOC PAINT Thanks to their organic nature, Paintsmiths environmentally friendly, green paint products help to improve and maintain an indoor environment and reduce the negative impact that their chemically manufactured counterparts have on the environment. Naturally, this means they are better for the health of a home’s inhabitants too. Known for pushing the boundaries in product development , Paintsmiths is proud of the gains it’s made in environmentally conscious technology. AESTHETICS & NEW COLOUR RANGE 2020 Paintsmiths is also the home of Earthcote textured wall and floor coatings that includes two recently developed ranges of new-generation flooring projects. Called “Tread” and “Atelier”, they are new and the contemporary collections of design-led textured finishes. Its expert colour matchers can match any colour by eye, so while you’re encouraged to choose…