Wow pow!

WitOpWit (W.O.W!) is a 'concept factory' out of Pretoria that conjures up ideas, products, events...pretty much anything and everything. I had the pleasure of working for Inge Wilkinson a few years back on a number of occasions and have seen W.O.W blossom into something really special. All of their products and ideas are quaint and one of a kind with attention to detail in every nook and cranny. The WitOpWit team is made up of Karlien Thomashoff, Inge Wilkinson and Marguerite Pienaar  who will also be showcasing their work at this years Design Indaba in Cape Town. Exciting stuff for these ladies...

 

Go Dutch or go home...

Today is officially my last day at work. It's quite bitter sweet because I kind of love my job, and the people here are pretty cool too. Regardless, this is the end of one chapter and merely the beginning of another. It's starting to set in that I'm leaving for The Netherlands in just under a month so excitement is at an all time high...

Mr Madiba...

I know for most of us working people, its a bit hard to fit in 67 minutes of changing the world into our lunch hour, or 30 minutes in my case. But as the Nelson Mandela Day's tag line goes "Make everyday a Mandela day", I hope to fit something of good into my weekend...or possibly every other day...

The B team...

We have this little thing going on at work, where we think ' the B team' is better than the 'A' team. let me explain.

So, the A team is regarded as the best of the best, and then you have to upkeep this standard. Thats alot of pressure for someone to cave in on.

Also, The A team happens to have the worst A words. example, Average, Asshole, Anonymous. you get the idea

 BUT (note the use of the B), the B team is simply the BEST. The guys over at work say its got Booze, Bitches and Bimbos, which makes them happy. But it got me thinking to dedicating a weeks theme to ' The B Team, Everything from backpacks and bottles to Braamfontein and beret's. All posts will naturally be kept classy, which means no booze, bitches and bimbos...sorry guys.

house on the hill...

Design boom is just the best, and it never fails to showcase superior art, design and architecture. Peter Zumthor's vacation homes in Leis, Vals, is no exception to this. One could basically deem the vacation home as a modern and contemporary cabin. I'm absolutely in love with the design and let me not even get started on the interiors. Looking forward to getting my feet in some snow soon (clue number two), and  I don't mean the hail in Cape Town.

'In the hamlet of leis, among the age-blackened dwellings of the swiss mountains, peter zumthor's two vacation homes open to the idyllic, often snowy landscape. zumthor ferienhäuser, the agency in charge of renting the sunny-hued holiday homes to willing guests, has shared exclusive winter-time images of oberhus and unterhus, the light and bright volumes embedded in the sloped mountainside. informed by annalisa zumthor's long-time, sensory-rich vision of a timber home, the architect designed growing family of homes as a composition of exquisite wood volumes, complete with recessed and generous apertures that immediately mark the landscape. the wide-grained cladding
follows a language of precise, seemingly hand-crafted finger joints. crisp vertices are articulated by the movement of light over the timber surface as well as the material palette of the changing seasons.'

annalisa and peter zumthor's vacation homes in leis, vals
image © ralph feiner
all images courtesy zumthor ferienhäuser

I amsterdam...

The I amsterdam campaign was part of a re branding scheme for the city of Amsterdam to promote the city's diverse selection of attractions and landscapes.

'Everything from sun-kissed beaches and undulating dunes, fantastic lakes to countless windmills, historic fishing villages and naturally endless fields of flowers are all on Amsterdam’s doorstep. This is the key message of the new campaign that Amsterdam Tourism & Convention Board (ATCB) is aiming at repeat visitors to Amsterdam'.

I suppose I am torturing myself  by looking at these but I just cant help it. I'd give my right arm to experience Amsterdam and the rest of The Netherlands for that matter.

Who knows...I may end up there come mid August...

http://www.lifeonayogamat.com/2012/12/i-amsterdam.html

Portrait...

Kai Samuels-Davis

Loretta Lux

Michael Carson

 

Stef Cook

I don't usually do posts about artists and their work but I was really captured by these artist's and their work...

On another note, Mondays will now be referred to as 'Morbid Mondays'

New is always better...

And what better way to approach new, than with a logo. I've done away with the old one and presto…there it is. I know I’m making a big thing of it, but for me it kind of is. The December Diaries has sort of become like my boyfriend over the past year. And I’m pretty okay with that. Always looking forward to the next post, the editing of the photos, and going back to that time and place to recall what I could of it.

Who needs a man when you can have this…and so much more.

Saluting Cape Town for Design Capital 2014...

What are you doing to make Cape Town the best Design Capital the world has seen to date?

Freeworld Design Centre...the blog..

I have found the ultimate blog! well.... maybe not ultimate with a capital U, but its pretty darn impressive. It being a Saturday, and a wet and rainy one, i naturally lay in bed for most of the day looking up cool things on the net. And we all know what a black hole it can be. But some good definitely came from the whole experience. The Freeworld Design Centre's blog  (also apparently called the Plascon Design Centre) ( click me! ) led me to some really cool sites about art, design weeks, trends, cool people and cool places.

Id attach some of the awesome photos that came along with the blog, but i am still facing technical issues with my blog...ah shoot me!

http://nookdigital.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/freeworld1.png

rooted down

On a very lucky streak...I was invited to a year end function at the end of 2011 at Roots restaurant at Forum Homini in the Cradle of Humankind. This was a highly anticipated outing as my parents have mentioned this prestigious restaurant on many occasions. It was clear the envy was glistening in their eyes. The tranquillity of the environment is perfectly translated into the design and architecture of the building and the appropriate furniture within the interiors. My photo count was 200 at the end of the day and could only have wished for more time to soak up the atmosphere and snap more shots.

A six course breakfast was on the line up and will be featured further along the blog, however writing and photographing this will barely come close to justifying the real experience.

Dishing it out

 I recently subscribed to designboom.com’s daily emailing list and was blown away at the content of many of their posts. Throughout the Christmas period, I had’t chacked my email for quite some time and was overwhelmed by emails from the site. It was rather pleasant sitting for over an hour scanning through the content of the emails, many of them focusing primarily on architecture,  a field that I have taken on a new interest on.

The architecture of The Basque Culinary Center immediately grabbed my attention. The means in which each story and floor is layered and stacked gives passerbys the impression of stacked dishes and an imaginative glimpse of what might just be going on inside. I wont preach much further as after viewing the first image, I was somewhat disappointed at the building from the other angles in which it was taken. Regardless, I can still appreciate the building for what it is and the overall design.

Many of their most recent emails have inclued top ten most viewed public spaces of 2011, top ten most viewed housing units of 2011 and top ten most viewed temporary spaces of 2011. The perfect opportunity to brush up on my architecture.