Visi

SOMETHING AS SPONTANEOUS AS POPPING open a bottle takes just seconds in the joie de vivre of a celebration or momentous occasion. But what’s inside each of those bottles takes a lot more thought and careful consideration. Krone Night Nectar Blanc de Blancs 2018 glorifies the Chardonnay grape, harvested at night in cool, quiet conditions that let the flavours of the cultivar shine like the stars they are picked under. Crafted at Twee Jonge Gezellen, Night Nectar Blanc de Blancs is the first Cap Classique of this kind produced on South African soil. The terroir of Tulbagh comes into play when making the bubbly. Site-specific rocky soil, the rainfall, wind and sun direction add to the creation of something special. First, the wine is naturally fermented in foudres from free-run juice; it…

ECLECTIC (Ik’lektIk), adjectivwe: Methods, beliefs, ideas etc that are eclectic combine whatever seem the best or most useful things from many different areas or systems, rather than following a single system. It’s the perfect word to describe this issue of VISI. Not only do we cover a wide range of design styles – from Minimalism to Afro-modern and New Traditional – but the homes we feature this month all embrace their own particular aesthetic. And it makes for an issue that unashamedly embraces its own eclecticism, contrasting the joyful African mash-up of a Bo-Kaap house with the pared-down sustainable approach of a Plett family home, and a country villa in Les Van, France, that cleverly blends contemporary interior design into a 19th-century property. These are all homes the follow their own path…

QURAISHA DAWOOD, WRITER AND SOCIOLOGIST Now that it’s getting cooler, what’s your ultimate home comfort? I’m not a fan of the scorching Durban summers, or the humidity and mosquitoes they bring with them, so I’m thrilled that cooler weather is on its way. As soon as the temperature hits 20 degrees, we east coasters haul out the boots and jerseys! One of my favourite things to do is movie night at home. My hubby, son and I dim the lights, and snuggle up on the couch with a big bowl of popcorn and mugs of decadent hot chocolate. That’s the ultimate home comfort for me. For this issue of VISI, Quraisha contributed one of the upfront essays (page 24). JO BUITENDACH, JOURNALIST AND JOBURG EXPERT Now that it’s getting cooler, what’s your ultimate home comfort? Charles…

WIN WITH CLM HOME One lucky VISI reader will win a Lorena Canals Handmade Woolable & Washable Steppe Rug from CLM Home, worth R4 900. The simple, minimalist design consist of a low-pile undyed wool surface cut across by rows of extra-short pile, giving the rug a subtle striped pattern. Go to visi.co.za/win to enter. WE ASK_ED YOU ONL_INE: WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE 20TH-CENTURY DESIGN MOVEMENT? 409 of took our poll to let us know. Here are the results: 34% Scandinavian 28% Minimalism 24% Art Deco 14% Bauhaus #READERLOVE If you’re enjoying the latest issue, we’d love for you to take a pic of your mag and share it with us. Simply tag VISI on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter with your snap. A highlight from last year was designing the @shopglowtheory store in Johannesburg – and it’s featured in the new Design Issue of @visi_mag!…

Between my love for SPACE AND PLACE and my passion for writing, my thesis drew me to the SOCIOLOGY OF SPACE AND PLACE. RS A QUIET LITTLE GIRL, I OFTEN DISAPPEARED INTO BOOKS, WHICH OFFERED ME PORTALS into various worlds. If I wasn’t devouring words, I was using them as a tool to create my own stories, brick by brick. I suppose being an only child had a lot to do with it. As I grew, the words arranged themselves into poetry or longer stories, which were published here and there like scattered seeds. Creating worlds soon blossomed into my love of technical drawing at school. The long lines, perfect pencil strokes and concentric circles brought with them a calmness as well as the dream of being an architect. I imagined…

ONCE UPON A TIME, I MADE A LIVING OUT OF EARWAX. Well, sort of. As an audiologist, my daily bread was earned looking into people’s ears, and conducting hearing tests and balance disorder assessments. The private practice I owned specialised in adult hearing management, so there was a lot of wax involved. Each day was different… There was cleaning wax out of hearing aids, removing it from ear moulds when they came out in a blob after modelling, or just failing to see beyond a wall of the gooey stuff. And yet, you might be surprised to learn, that was not the reason I decided to hang up my otoscope, pack up my health sciences degree and join the world of media. At the time when I made the decision to take…