Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2019 i OBJEKT South Africa

Brigitte and Alain Garnier were both reared to be antique dealers. The family of Alain have been in the business for five generations. They operate from a warehouse in the Belgian city of Bruge. It was after they first set up a small pop-up interior shop, in the sophisticated resort of Knokke at the beginning of the nineties, that the floodgates opened. The business was furnished as a living space as opposed to a shop. That was still quite unusual at the time. For them it was actually the breakthrough which led them to become both decorators and interiors specialists. “People came in and asked us for advice. So, we kind of gradually rolled into it and everything evolved from there,” said Brigitte, who first took the interiors side of…

Helsinki and Shanghai based studio, PES-Architects, have recently completed their seventh project in China: the Fuzhou Strait Culture and Art Centre. Fuzhou is the capital and one of the largest cities in Fujian Province. It has been ranked as one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the world. In 2013, the Fuzhou Government hosted an international competition for the Strait Culture and Art Centre with the goal of strengthening the cultural image of the city and the Mawei New Town development area. PES-Architects’ winning proposal took inspiration from the petals of a jasmine blossom, the city flower of Fuzhou. The flower is manifested in the formal language and colour of the architecture. The five jasmine petal venues — opera house (1600 seats), concert hall (1000 seats), multi-functional theatre, art…

The downtown Seattle condominium captures the essence of the Pacific Northwest. An existing apart-ment was stripped to the studs and reworked to cre-ate a warm and masculine urban retreat for an Alaska-based bachelor. The designers of Hoede-maker Pfeiffer (interior architecture, interior design, and art curation) created an open plan and added a rich textural blend of warm woods, grey stone, and woven wall coverings. Art and furnishings were selected to reflect a strong Northwest influence in combination with the views stretching from downtown Seattle to the Olympic Peninsula. The view is the highlight of the apartment, offering both coastal vistas and the city skyline. The client wanted an open floor plan for flexibility in terms of dining and entertaining. Warm woods with a variation in texture and colour were used…

The three Dômes Charlevoix represent the first phase of a larger tourist project, blend in harmoniously with the wooded and mountainous landscape of the Petite-Rivière-Saint-François. Each dôme is located on the mountain side and almost seamless integrates into the landscape. According to the architects, it is a true invitation to experience luxury in the mountains, in harmony with nature and its elements. Hidden between the trees, each structure has a radiant concrete floor that adds a touch of comfort and helps maintain a more uniform temperature inside the domes. The grey canvas roof and the fireplace create a warm and cosy atmosphere. A black streamlined service area is set in the center. Here are also the kitchen, the main bed and the bathroom with Italian shower. A boat staircase leads…

More muscular, more powerful, more emotional – the eighth generation Porsche 911 features a suite of new developments and enhancements to meet the demands of the digital world with uncompromising driving dynamics for which the classic rear-engine sports car is famous. Above: To ensure the GT3 RS is as unique on the inside, Porsche has gone through the effort of matching trim pieces to the exterior paint. The exterior design is completely new and emphasises the leap in performance for this generation of 911. A redefined design means that the rear-wheel-drive 911 Carrera S shares the wider body of the all-wheel drive Carrera 4S model, extending both front and rear axles by around 40 millimetres for better grip. Between the new LED headlights, a front luggage compartment lid with a…

The poetically designed Butterfly House is located on the land of the Santa Lucia Preserve near Carmel, California. It is a creation by Feldman Architecture with landscape architecture by Bernard Trainor of Ground Studio Landscape Architecture. The house is divided into three pavilions that are topped by expressive butterfly roofs. Each pavilion has a separate function: the central part houses the main living, dining, and cooking spaces, while two other pavilions provide for sleeping, bathing, and relaxing. The structures are modest in size, yet each expands into an outdoor room that opens up to dramatic views of the canyon below and hills above. Beyond poetic gesture, the butterfly roofs bring in views of the surrounding hills, expand the main living spaces into the outdoors and also harvest rainwater. The clients…

Right in the heart of Napa Valley, the famous wine region north of San Francisco, Agustin and Valeria Huneeus, discovered in 1989 a great property hidden in the heart of Napa Valley’s Rutherford appellation region. It was spread over 280 acres of rolling hills and small valleys and had never before been planted. Here the Quintessa winery was born. It is now one of the jewels in the crown of wineries of the Huneeus family. To make wine tasting to a special event, Walker Warner Architects created the Quintessa wine experience pavilions. “I believe that we are stewards of the land.” This is the quietly stated philosophy of Valeria Huneeus, Ph.D., microbiologist, viticulturist and architect of the Quintessa vineyard. Valeria stumbled on the Rutherford property during a time when she…

What started as a need for a simple orchard barn grew into something much grander. The design for this vacation retreat, entertainment facility and working barn balances the desire for nostalgia with contemporary requirements. Set within twelve acres of agricultural land in central Washington state, the site offers views to Dry Lake and the Cascade Mountain Range. Inspired by sketches developed by the clients, designers Kyle Gaffney and Shannon Gaffney and architect Russell Blazier of SkB Architects from Seattle, created a modern barn principle with a ground floor entertainment area, with a commercial kitchen, storage for orchard equipment, a wine cellar, and a second floor for the guest rooms and living areas. The building is distinguished by its hybrid roof form based on traditional gambrel barn shapes. Yet it has…

Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the lunar surface on the 21st of July 1969. Their moonwalk lasted just two and a half hours, but their achievements left a defining footprint on the history of space exploration. It was during this iconic moment that the OMEGA Speedmaster Professional became the first watch worn on the moon. In 1964 NASA’s space programme was accelerating rapidly and Flight Crew Operations Director, Deke Slayton, issued a request for wrist-worn chronographs from around the world. Several brands, including OMEGA, submitted timepieces for the punishing tests which included thermal, shock, vibration and vacuum examinations amongst others. Only the OMEGA Speedmaster survived these tests and it was declared “Flight Qualified for all Manned Space Missions” on the 1st of March…

Exciting, Radical, Edgy, Stunning: these are the kind of words that greeted the 58m /190ft high-performance sloop Ngoni throughout the Mediterranean when it was launched. Designed by Dubois Naval Architects and featuring an innovative interior by Rick Baker Ltd, Ngoni is luxurious as well as ‘fast and furious’. It is the product of a bold and minimalist design realised with the well known build quality by Royal Huisman. The yacht’s sleek and beautifully executed exterior conceals a host of innovative engineering to meet the challenges of marrying a huge, powerful and advanced rig with a slender and easily-driven hull. “This is some yacht, inspired by an owner looking for the next new thing: a dream project for a designer” These comments from the late Ed ubois would be echoed by…

The ‘House of Curiosities’ journey began with the clients purchased a dark, spatially awkward, century old house in a trendy part of Toronto, called Little Italy. The designers of StudioPyramid from Toronto stepped in to transform the old property into a modern, comfortable and light modern house. They designed an addition in the back to extend the interior and connect it with the newly designed outdoor space. On top of the addition they created a large terrace. The architect Milosh Pavlovicz and interior designers Elaine Tan and Sasha Josipovicz commented: “We changed the proportions and scale by revamping the entire back side of the house. The large new addition we designed, established more squared interior spaces, adding light and air throughout. It took some virtuosity to shift gears and to…