Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2020 i Belle

1_AFRICAN FEEL The Bask collection of furniture and lighting by Cape Town-based designers Bofred is a nostalgic nod to the textures and tones of lime-washed buildings, dusty street corners and muted earth. bofred.co.za 2_FORM & FUNCTION Sydney-based designer Olivia Bossy’s ‘Sometimes, We Sit’ chair and ‘Like Butter’ table are a balance of purpose and sculpture. oliviabossy.com 3_ROUND UP Beautifully crafted from shiny bright enamel, Michele De Lucchi’s ‘Empty Cages’ vase for Bitossi gives the classic vessel a contemporary edge. bitossiceramiche.it 4_PARADISE FOUND Joris Poggioli’s Eden Paradiso collection of minimalist objects and furniture pieces, including the ‘Rick’ chair (pictured), crosses over different cultures, eras and mediums. jorispoggioli.com 5_CABINET OF WONDERS Milan-based Studiopepe’s Wunderkammer collection of architectural elements, materials, prototypes and limited-edition objects reveals a rigorous research process. studiopepe.info 6_SCREEN TIME Made…

Lilianne is a graduate of the National Art School and the recipient of first prize for her pair of brooding landscapes Mirror (left) and Dark River. Rather than depicting any singular site, the artist’s hazy, dreamlike scenes capture the sensation of being in the wilderness, blurring the line between nature study and psychological self-portrait. “Inspired by my love of wilderness, travel and romantic landscape painting, my work relates to the transformative and metaphysical nuances of remote space,” says Lilianne, who resides in the NSW Blue Mountains and recently returned from a solo trip to Iceland and Canada. “I spent a lot of time on my own hiking in these beautiful places and felt this duality of peace and fear.” Poised between the unsettling and sublime, the works are rendered on…

Melinda graduated from Sydney College of the Arts in 2017 and was named joint winner of third prize for her abstraction This Is My Everything. “What drives my practice is the depiction of the compelling tension between the gestural brush mark – the ‘hand’ of the artist – and the impersonal straight line,” says Melinda. This juxtaposition was evident across the series of four works submitted by the artist and especially so in her prize-winning painting. Here, complex layering makes it impossible to discern the artist’s starting point, as rippling lines etched into the canvas are sliced with cool, hard-edged markings and molten layers of amber undulate and fizz from the margins. “These diametrically opposed paint marks entwine on the canvas, acting perhaps as a visual metaphor for the contradictory…

WHAT HAS BEEN AN ENDURING CREATIVE INFLUENCE? There is an immediacy of and depth in emotional response only music can create. I was a musician a work with the same immediacy and impact I’ve felt when performing or listening to some of my favourite music. WHAT IS YOUR APPROACH TO INTERIOR DESIGN? IS THERE AN AESTHETIC OR MOOD THAT CARRIES THROUGH ALL PROJECTS? We strive to draw out our clients’ most unique aspects, and work to create an original perspective within each project. We definitely welcome the atypical, as those parts of a personality – the quirky and left wing – are what make for interesting individuals, and in tandem, interesting interiors. HOW DID YOU DEVELOP YOUR FURNITURE AND LIGHTING COLLECTIONS? DOES YOUR APPROACH DIFFER FROM YOUR INTERIORS PRACTICE? When…

THE FRENCH KNOW how to celebrate the art of easy entertaining, decorating and living – do as they do and appreciate the simple things. The secret is to focus on the feeling of your rooms or table setting. Keywords are personal, comfortable, simple and chic. Here’s how to add a certain je ne sais quoi to your living space. MAKE IT YOUR OWN Splurging on big-ticket items is no guarantee you’ll love the look. Style is mixing it up and making it individual, not just having deep pockets. START WITH A STAPLE French living rooms begin with a great sofa; choose one with a texture and colour you love. KEEP THE OLD Select a few pieces that bring patina to a space, or something with a tale to tell –…

THE ARTIST WHO HAS BEEN AN ENDURING INFLUENCE? Mary Poulakis: Chilean/Australian artist Juan Davila. [5] CONTEMPORARY ART YOU MOST ADMIRE? MP: Again, Juan Davila. Ross Poulakis: I believe that fashion is an art form [10]. I know people express this through artwork, I express this through fashion. DO YOU COLLECT ANYTHING? MP: I enjoy collecting big fashion books for my coffee table [9]. RP: Clothes. WHAT ARE YOUR FASHION MUST-HAVES? MP: Shoes. All shoes. I go for a Tom Ford kitten heel for day to day and a stiletto [15] for night. A great bag is essential, all bags are a fashion must-have. RP: My watch and a pair of Tom Ford shoes [8]. FAVOURITE WATCH? MP: Patek Philippe. RP: IWC [6]. FAGRANCE OF CHOICE? MP: Clive Christian 1872. This…

Dress circle views of Sydney Harbour. A national park next door. The meditative sounds of a nearby beach rippling in with the tide. When it comes to locations of this sort you’d expect a “love at first sight” story, but love was the last thing on Dominique Hird’s mind the day she inspected this three-level eastern suburbs residence. “There was absolutely no way,” she recalls telling her accountant on the drive over, “that she would move to Watsons Bay.” Dominique, husband Justin and their children, Layton and Halley, were living in Mosman with their weimaraner, Gertie. They were ready to renovate a house in Balmoral Beach when Justin chanced upon this four-bedroom property in the newspaper and scheduled a viewing that day. Dominique had reservations – for one, it felt…

Astay at El Fenn in Marrakech inspired the aesthetic of this fabulous home in Sydney’s east. The clients bought the relatively new build while living in London, then engaged designers Justine Hugh-Jones and Katrina Mackintosh, of recently relaunched studio Hugh-Jones Mackintosh, to freshen it up, introduce more light and create a stylish, contemporary home for their family of five. While the bones of the detached, five-bedroom house were good and no structural work was needed, the look was dated, and the designers opted for a fresh white palette enlivened with green accents throughout. The courtyard at the front of the house is a showstopper, welcoming visitors, acting as an extension of the living space for entertaining or as a private sanctuary for relaxation, so attention was focused here to get…

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Any good tourist knows that the hottest tips come from the locals: where to go, what to see and when to do it. So if Barcelona’s in-the-know crowd is flocking to Mr Porter, the quietly glam steakhouse tucked into the city’s newest hotel, Sir Victor, best put on your espadrilles and come hungry. It’s the Spanish debut of the critically acclaimed Amsterdam-based venue owned by restaurateur and hotelier Liran Wizman, the 44-year-old entrepreneur whose mini empire includes the Europe Hotels Private Collection. His latest project is a converted Milanese palazzo soon-to-be Edition hotel in Porta Romana under the design direction of Piero Lissoni in conjunction with the godfather of boutique hotels, Ian Schrager (Studio 54, Public Hotels, Gramercy Park). Set between the humming Gràcia and Eixample districts in a building…

At the time of sending this issue to print, there’s an all-consuming ‘C’ word being thrown around the streets that has me distracted from getting this letter finished and delivered on time. I can be an excellent procrastinator at the best of times – even if I do say so myself – so the level of brain power required to stay abreast of all that’s involved with said word has kept me from putting fingers *applies hand sanitiser* to keyboard for even longer than usual. Ah, coronavirus. You’re making everyday life very difficult. And really upping my screen time, according to my iPhone alerts. Back to the situation at hand. Like many of you, the Belle team is in limbo. Will we stay at our desks in our office tower…

DEVISED BY the surrealists in 1925, cadavre exquis (exquisite corpse) is a French parlour game in which words and images are assembled collectively, with one player sketching a part of the body before passing it to the next player to complete. A process of collaborative invention that invites wildly unexpected results, the game seems a perfect metaphor for the practice of industrial designer Adam Goodrum and master of straw marquetry Arthur Seigneur, who recently unveiled the latest fruits of their creative partnership under the moniker A&A. “I came up with the shape and pattern of these pieces and gave them to Arthur to finish,” says Adam of the ‘Exquisite Corpse’ series, a trio of functional art objects etched with complex, Escher-like geometric patterns and exhibited at Tolarno Galleries during this…

Jane finds beauty in throwaway objects, collecting, arranging and photographing them in thoughtful tableaux before rendering her compositions on canvas. The artist was awarded second prize for Forgotten Objects – Arrangement 02, a quietly impactful work that reconsiders domestic detritus as a cityscape in miniature, enlivened by intersecting geometries, appealing earthy tones and washes of subtly realised light and shade. “This piece focuses on the discarded and unwanted, the ever-increasing detritus in the pursuit of the new, objects that are no longer loved so abandoned by their previous owners,” says Jane. “By capturing collected subjects in a new space, I seek to give them new value and a stage to continue living on.”…

SOFT TOUCH The chic ‘Lanterna n55’ is a modern, portable and rechargeable lamp fit for any purpose. vboaustralia.com SPHERE MONGER The refined silhouette of the ‘Balla’ table lamp offers an appealingly minimal aesthetic. kingliving.com.au LIGHT ART Every ‘Petra’ is unique due to the different size, shape, translucency and natural details of the quartz. christopherboots.com TOP HAT THE CHARACTER AND PERSONALITY OF THE ‘ALEKA’ FLOOR LAMP WILL ADD A SPRY CHARM TO ANY ROOM. COCOREPUBLIC.COM.AU COPPER TONE Inspired by mid-century industrial workshop lighting, the ‘Aria 12’ pendant diffuses light below its shade and projects light above. alliedmaker.com FACE OFF The eccentric ‘Je Suis’ lamp can be customised to suit your style, with bases available in oak, stained wood and Carrara marble. fanuli.com.au CAGE DANCER WITH A NATURAL YET SLEEK STYLE, ‘FIREFLY’…

WHEN I LEFT a full-time job to go freelance several years ago, I began working from my local public library. Every weekday morning, I would queue outside Surry Hills Library on bustling Crown Street in Sydney. At precisely 10am I joined the stream of gig-economy workers coursing through the doors beneath a green wall of plants and a spectacular atrium made up of a series of glass prisms. But admiring the architecture of the Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp-designed building wasn’t my priority: my mission was to secure one of the precious powerpoints at the street-side desks with views onto the adjacent park, for which demand far exceeded supply. “People today are not just reading books in [libraries], but running businesses, creating products, making music and holding meetings,” says Stewart Architecture director…

CHOOSE FROM A STUNNING COLLECTION OF FABRICS & FINISHES. CUSTOMISED DESIGN CHOOSE YOUR SIZE CREATE THE IDEAL LOUNGE TO SUIT YOUR LIVING SPACE WITH MULTIPLE CUSTOM SIZING OPTIONS. CHOOSE YOUR FABRIC CREATE A WARM, INVITING ATMOSPHERE WITH RICH, DEEP AND CONSISTENT COLOUR CHOICES. CHOOSE YOUR LEGS THE COLOUR, MATERIAL AND SHAPE OF YOUR FURNITURE LEGS CAN HAVE A HUGE IMPACT ON THE ROOM. DOMAYNE’S EXCLUSIVE AUSTRALIAN MADE CUSTOMISABLE LOUNGE COLLECTION ALLOWS YOU TO CHANGE THE SIZE, FABRIC, COLOUR AND MORE. DESIGN THESE SIMPLE, SOPHISTICATED PIECES IN THE TANI RANGE TO YOUR LIKING. FROM SOOTHING NEUTRALS TO SOPHISTICATED TEXTURED FABRIC AND ELEGANT TAPERED LEGS, THE OPTIONS TO SUIT YOUR SPACE ARE ENDLESS. CUSTOMISED LIVING CHOOSE YOUR STAIN SELECT FROM A WIDE RANGE OF TIMBER STAINS, OR BRING IN YOUR OWN FOR…

The relationship between a designer and repeat client can be a somewhat indefinable one, bound by an often innate understanding of simply being on the same page. “The owner loved everything we had done in his previous house so essentially the brief was similar, albeit with a harder push to something more contemporary and urban,” says Melbourne-based interior designer Chelsea Hing. While the terrain and location was different on this site, a strong connection to the landscape and an environment that was “easy to live in” remained as important. “We weren’t dealing with a new client. We had worked with him before and he was already on board with our aesthetic. However, this being a second project, we were a little more adventurous. We continued to explore colour, but went…

Cape Town-based magazine editor, stylist and interior designer Laureen Rossouw first saw this house over five years ago. She and her husband Koos were about to move out of their City Bowl apartment when she spotted a picture of a dilapidated house described as having “classic Bauhaus lines” in the newspaper. “I thought it might be a bad picture or wishful thinking,” Laureen explains, but she rapidly made her way to the house, which was in an ideal location in the suburb of Oranjezicht, on the edge of one of Cape Town’s most charming parks. As soon as she saw the characterful, mid-20th-century building, which most definitely did have beautiful Bauhaus ‘bones’, Laureen says she was smitten. “I immediately phoned Koos to tell him I had found my dream house.…

“AS THE SUN REFLECTING OFF THE WATER MOVES THROUGHOUT THE DAY, EACH WALL TAKES ITS TURN TO BE BATHED IN LIGHT.” Peace and calm are increasingly rarified luxuries in today’s turbulent world. So when the owners of this Darling Point property first saw it, stripped of character and devoid of architectural detail, they relished having found their own slice of stillness – with waterfront views, no less. Where some might have seen an uninspired shell, this couple saw a fresh start and engaged Tania Handelsmann and Gillian Khaw of Handelsmann + Khaw interior design studio to turn the three-bedroom blank canvas into a work of art. In its original state, Tania describes the 1960s apartment as having been an “almost Miesian box dropped into a Sydney Harbour panorama.” The austere…

THESOCIETYINC.COM.AU INSTAGRAM @SIBELLACOURT CAIRO Sleep FOUR SEASONS AT NILE PLAZA The Nile-View rooms at the Four Seasons enjoy cityscapes of fort halls, minarets, onion domes, spires, clock towers and skyscrapers joined at sunset by feluccas (river boats) setting sail. Cairo is built from sandstone and limestone from the quarries that skirt the city, and I have a sense of having stepped into a romantic film of a bygone time. Four Seasons breakfasts come in a delightful variety of flavours: cumin, paprika, cayenne, tomato, tahini, lime and date with aish baladi (an Egyptian flatbread). The mango drink was a stand-out – thick, sweet and decadent – but any of the seasonal juices with lime and mint were a refreshing start to the day. fourseasons.com/caironp Eat/drink BELLIES EN-ROUTE A part-history, part-food tour…

There was excitement in the design world when our masterclass, The Art of Living, was announced on Instagram one Monday morning last year, with tickets selling out in hours. The event was proof of the huge appetite people have for curated experiences, a day out in an immersive world that’s an antidote to everyday life. After all, there’s nothing like visiting a new place to get a fresh perspective. For glamour, glitz and a sprinkling of stardust, the day – held at Marnanie – was hard to beat. Marnanie is a seven-hectare estate in Mount Macedon, surrounded by ancient oaks, blackwoods, maples and poplars, with stone walls, follies, pergolas and fountains. The residence, built in 1890, is the former home of fabled florist Kevin O’Neil, who used flowers from the…

WHAT INITIALLY APPEALED TO YOU ABOUT THE SPACE? Matthew Squadrito: My brother and I bought our office about seven years ago, but it was half the size it is now. It felt a lot more corporate, with carpet and fluorescent lighting. What grabbed me was the floor-to-ceiling glass louvres that look out onto a beautiful courtyard garden. A few years on, we wanted to create a space that was the ultimate portrayal of our brand personality and cultural values. We loved Potts Point and our view, but the office lacked warmth and sophistication. My wife [designer Juliette Arent] said, “Take the office next door. Knock the wall down, replace the daggy carpet with timber floors and get rid of those fluorescent lights – they’re soul destroying.” It was hard to…

Celia shared third prize for her beguiling work of pop pointillism, Cascades. Drawing on Bridget Riley’s Op Art compositions from the 1960s, as well as the obsessive, repetitious mark-making of Yayoi Kusama, Cascades represented a breakthrough for the selftaught artist following extensive studio experimentation. “This painting is very close to my heart,” says Celia. “It’s the one that said ‘OK, this is it, I think I’ve found my language, I’ve found my style.’” The artist remains fascinated by the perceptions of movement that can be created through the alchemy of form and colour. “The lines that seem to get lost along the way produce an almost hypnotising effect,” says Celia, who has since applied her signature ‘gradient dotting’ technique to more figurative practice, including her abstracted botanical paintings.…

HEADING TO INTERVIEW Melissa Bright, the director of Melbourne architecture practice Studio Bright, I experience a sense of deja vu. The office location is on a floodplain next to the Yarra River in Kew where I had met architect Peter McIntyre 14 years before to visit his groundbreaking Butterfly House (1955) for my book on iconic Australian houses. “Our team has created a much-loved home in a barn conversion that embeds our daily work in nature,” says Melissa of this extraordinary, bucolic site. Contrarily, much of the work of the practice is determinedly urban. “Give me a tight, tricky inner-city site any time. We frame it as optimistic problem-solving – a nice way to think of the puzzle,” she adds. The studio has recently re-branded from Make Architecture to Studio…

1_RIPPLE EFFECT A collaboration between Garden Life and Adam Goodrum, the ‘Coil’ planter, $750, is made by hand in Marrakesh and pairs well with the super tough and textural cardboard palm (Zamia furfuraceae). gardenlife.com.au 2_HOURGLASS FIGURE The fluid silhouette and appealing matt cement finish of the ‘Spindel’ pot by Swisspearl from Robert Plumb, $535, fuse to form a modernist classic. robertplumb.com.au 3_SMOOTH CYLINDER When floor space is at a premium, the footprints of the ‘Moderno/ARD’ planters, $295/small; $445 large, are narrow enough to fit, while the height delivers the plants, such as the Opuntia ‘Burbank Spineless’, to eye level. gardenlife.com.au 4_FRENCH BORN “I have three of these beautiful vintage French planters, purchased from Parterre some years ago,” says Richard. Philodendron ‘Rojo Congo’ and a trailing Rhipsalis will lap up the…

HEAD EAST The ‘6272 Moroccan Beni Ouarain’ Berber rug evokes the vibrancy of a souk in Marrakech with its brilliant display of colour and pattern. loomrugs.com TIME AND AGAIN The Kvadrat ‘Bold’ rug designed by Hella Jongerius represents a union of past and present with its fusion of techniques and subtle irregularity kvadratmaharam.com FINE ART ‘Lines’ is an essential collection of rugs with a simple colour palette. Tibetan craftsmanship is combined with a dip-dying technique for colouring the Himalayan wool to create beautiful imperfections. cc-tapis.com SHARP CORNERS The ‘Cornice’ rug, made from 97 per cent natural linen, adds subtle interest to a room with its coloured border and cut-out corners. magisdesign.com; dedece.com PALE AND INTERESTING The ‘Renoir’ from Coco Republic offers painterly tactility in a supremely calming shade, ideal for…

After graduating from architecture school, Marine Bonnefoy decided it was time to get her hands dirty. “My studies were very intellectually oriented and had no link to actual construction,” she says. “By the end of them, I hadn’t even been taught what holds up a wall.” To find out, she spent a year working for a building firm. “I demolished facades with a pneumatic drill, learnt plastering, wiring and plumbing, and made concrete. It was fantastic!” she says. That kind of pragmatic approach has certainly stood her in good stead. Still in her early 30s, she has three times been named on the French edition of Architectural Digest magazine’s list of the top 100 decorators in the world. She recently completed a 95sqm apartment in Paris’s elegant Palais Royal area,…

Like its central courtyard, which forms the lungs of this warehouse in Sydney’s inner west, an inspired renovation has been a breath of fresh air to a one-time trouser factory. It strides out with a new-found confidence, thanks to architect Josephine Hurley. The unassuming 1909 brick building, crouched in an alleyway, had been transformed into a home by an eager DIYer years before. Many of the quirky elements that today make it so special were already in place but, says Josephine, they were random and eclectic, and called for a more coherent vision. These flights of fancy included classical allusions such as the columned portico just inside the entry and decorative mouldings, and a random sprinkling of stained-glass windows. “We fell in love with the open spaces and privacy of…

SYDNEY HOUSE PARTY NO 92 (RIGHT) IS A NEIGHBOURHOOD WINE BAR AND RESTAURANT IN AN 1800S VICTORIAN BUILDING THAT HAS AN AMBIENCE OF ATTENDING A DINNER PARTY IN THE HOME OF YOUR (FANCY) FRIENDS. PATTERN STUDIO’S REFINED RESIDENTIAL LOOK FEATURES VENETIAN PLASTER AND LIMESTONE FINISHES. NO92GPR.COM.AU SERIOUSLY RAINBOW Restaurateur-chef Jessi Singh runs this playful wine shop and bar (above) offering Indian bites and cocktail carts. The interiors mix crimson banquettes, orange furniture and blue marble. Oenophiles will love the 300-strong list. mrssingh.com.au NEW YORK WARM UP At the House of Waris salon (left), tea is the new coffee. Designer Waris Ahluwalia (pictured) has updated the ancient tea ritual with a contemporary concept in a hidden oasis in Manhattan. All brews are organic and botanical. Sip in or take away. houseofwaris.com…

STUDIO GALLERY CELEBRATES Waterloo, Sydney, NSW LA PRAIRIE LAUNCH Glebe, Sydney, NSW IT’S ONLY NATURAL to want to throw your arm around the person next to you for a snapshot at an event or to greet each other with a hug and handshake. And that was absolutely the case pre-pandemic (a word we never thought would make the social pages), when guests gathered to celebrate the opening of Studio Gallery on Danks Street in Sydney, the launch of the new Bates Smart-conceived Living Edge showroom in Richmond, Melbourne, and the unveiling of Artedomus’ Brisbane emporium in Fortitude Valley. La Prairie celebrated the launch of White Caviar Eye Extraordinaire with a glittering crowd enjoying face treatments alongside top tipples on a splendid Sydney day. For now, until order is restored, it’s…