The February issue of Discover Germany, Austria & Switzerland introduces some great road trips for the wintery season, explores Austria’s Tyrol region and celebrates Germany’s fifth season, the carnival season.
It further covers an interview with coach and author MIMI, top event locations in Switzerland, a round-up of the companies behind some of the best meeting, and events, innovative companies, as well as some gorgeous hotels, top design items, and much more.
The Local Project (February 3, 2023) – One of New Zealand’s best kept secrets, this modern farmhouse sits on a mountainous landscape surrounded by lakes and rivers, allowing the owners to insert themselves into the countryside.
Video timeline:00:00 – Introduction to the Modern Farm House 00:36 – A Mountain Location 01:04 – An All Seasons Site 01:32 – The Layout of the Pavilions 01:58 – The Integration of Farm and Terrace 02:32 – A Unique Brief 03:07 – Designed for Multiple Styles of Occupation 03:47 – The Materials 04:43 – Balancing the Materials 05:13 – Combining Old and New 06:23 – The House from a Distance 06:47 – Getting Better with Age
Following the Australian and New Zealand idea of farmhouse layouts, Patterson Associates has designed Pouaka Waikura as a set of pavilions that faces the Shotover River. Built as small and simple pavilions, the house tour of the modern farmhouse begins from the stone driveway that leads up to the mechanical shed and into the porte cochère. Beyond this are the two main pavilions, the guest house and main house, which have been separated by a wide outdoor space that allows the owners to entertain and connect with the surrounds.
Employing natural materials for the modern farmhouse, Patterson Associates has used Corten steel panels on the exterior, which are left to rust naturally, while waxed black steel, naturally oiled timber and in situ concrete are used on the inside. The materials come together naturally with minimalist detailing. Moreover, the blending of the materials immerses the home into the site with colours of rust, browns, golds and greys, all while the in situ concrete anchors the home into the land.
Patterson Associates uses materials that will patina over time and offer a sense of growth and permanency. Further allowing the owners to connect with their surroundings, the modern farmhouse opens up through bi-folding doors and adds flexible living spaces throughout. Aside from architecture, Patterson Associates contributed interior design, and seamlessly blended personal items from the clients’ existing cottage home with newer colourful and eclectic pieces. In the kitchen the use of waxed black steel panels references the exterior Corten panelling, while Belgium bluestone is used for the benchtops and wall splashbacks, which reference the fingerprinting and natural patina of the black steel.
Additionally, the dark tones frame the large awning windows and offer a view straight down to Shotover River and invite a wealth of light inside the home. The architects have designed Pouaka Waikura with lighting design that helps to open the home up and allow for a greater appreciation of the southern alps and winding rivers. Furthermore, embracing indoor-outdoor living also ensures that the owners can feel a deeper connection to their settings from either inside the modern farmhouse, or by the courtyard and fire space that sits between the pavilions. Encompassing everything that its owners need and more, New Zealand’s best kept secret is a modern farmhouse that uses materials, colours, objects and landscape that will only get better as the years pass by.
House & Garden (February 3, 2023) – Peter Sheppard and Keith Day welcome us into Wolterton Hall, an 18th-century English country house in Norfolk, England. Both Peter & Keith have been steadily restoring and redecorating Wolterton Park since they bought the estate in 2016 — bringing the state rooms back to their original glory and creating beautiful, practical living spaces.
Video timeline: 00:00 – Boudoir: “The walls were covered with a green hessian” 02:30 – Saloon: “This is where we have our best parties” 05:29 – State Bedroom: “It’s really funny to have a state bedroom when your friends come and stay…” 06:17 – State Bathroom: “It’s not conventional to have a bath of this size” 07:30 – Kitchen: “You shouldn’t hide away beautiful things” 08:49 – Living Room: “This was the Walpole’s library” 09:57 – Picture Room: “A 20th-century collection of paintings”
Watch the full episode of Design Notes as we tour Wolterton Hall and Peter & Keith explain how they live in the Palladian rooms of the piano nobile, from the State Bathroom with its alabaster-panelled bath to the Saloon that looks out on 500 acres of parkland. #HouseTour#ManorHouse#CountryHouse#England#HomeDesign
January 30, 2023: Murano Island – a Glassmaker’s Paradise since 1291, is a tiny Venetian island and home to Venice’s glassmaking industry. Murano glass production was moved to this Island from the main island of Venice because its production posed quite a fire hazard (Note: the buildings in Venice were constructed mostly of wood at that time and the extreme heat that is required to make glass liquid so as to mold and shape it obviously caused the Venetians some concern).
Video timeline:0:00:00 – Intro 0:01:06 – MURANO MUSEO 0:01:52 – RIVA LONGA 0:04:25 – PONTE LONGO LINO TOFFOLO 0:05:46 – FONDAMENTA DA MULA 0:07:04 – PONTE SAN PIETRO MARTIRE 0:07:58 – FONDAMENTA MANIN 0:09:40 – CALLE BRESSAGIO 0:10:09 – CALLE BRIATI 0:12:15 – FONDAMENTA PIAVE F. M. 0:13:15 – FARO DI MURANO 0:13:49 – CALLE BRESSAGIO 0:15:05 – FONDAMENTA MANIN 0:15:42 – PONTE DI MEZO 0:16:04 – FONDAMENTA DEI VETRAI 0:17:11 – PONTE S.CHIARA 0:18:03 – PIAZZALE CALLE COLONNA
Soon enough, Murano Island became quite a hot spot for Venetian glass production indeed. Glassmaking has quite an exalted tradition in Venice. It is an art form, after all. In the 14th century, the daughters of Murano’s biggest glassmaking families were allowed to marry Venetian noblemen.
W.E.B. DU BOIS IN PARIS – An Exhibition against Racist Clichés
In 1900, the prominent sociologist worked with the Paris Exposition Universelle to showcase the newfound freedom and rapid progress of Black Americans. But Belle Epoque France was more interested in colonial expansion than social emancipation – which is the focus of an exhibition currently on display at the Cooper Hewitt in New York City.
FRENCH FOUNDERS – A Revolutionary Entrepreneur Network
Founded in New York City in 2014 by two expats, FrenchFounders drew its inspiration from the start-up model and is now shaking up communities of entrepreneurs living abroad. This new approach has since won over more than 4,000 members across the world.
L’AMOUR À LA FRANÇAISE vs. American Romance
Do we seduce each other in the same ways on both sides of the Atlantic? Are Americans prudish? Are the French more unfaithful? And how easy is it to be in a binational relationship? For Valentine’s Day, these questions are all answered by Bérénice Boursier-Baudouin, a Florida-based French psychotherapist.
Table of contents
FROM THE NEWSDESK – Bis Repetita: Another Attempt at Pension Reform in France. By Anthony Bulger
COME ON OUT – French Cultural Events in North America. By Tracy Kendrick
EDITORIAL – Woke, a Fashionable Dance. By Guy Sorman
INTERVIEW – Olivier Zunz: “Tocqueville Believed That Democracy Is a Constant Struggle.” By Guy Sorman
THE OBSERVER – Celebrating 60 Years of the Barbie Doll in France. By Anthony Bulger
UNESCO – The Bandiagara site is an outstanding landscape of cliffs and sandy plateaux with some beautiful architecture (houses, granaries, altars, sanctuaries and Togu Na, or communal meeting-places).
Several age-old social traditions live on in the region (masks, feasts, rituals, and ceremonies involving ancestor worship). The geological, archaeological and ethnological interest, together with the landscape, make the Bandiagara plateau one of West Africa’s most impressive sites.
January 29, 2023: We leave you this Sunday morning in a snowstorm, in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Videographer: Scot Miller.
There are 733 named mountains in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. The highest and most prominent of these mountains is Mount Washington, which stands at a respectable 6,288 feet (1,917 meters), making it the tallest peak in the Northeastern United States.
While the peaks of the White Mountains don’t manage to break the 6,500 ft (1,981m) barrier, they are home to some of the most difficult hiking terrain and worst weather in the continental United States.
BBC Earth – It is one of the largest freshwater reservoirs on the South American continent. It is the largest protected area in Argentina, with 1.3 million hectares of pristine wilderness. Also referred to as Esteros del Iberá, the Iberá Wetlands stays true to its name with a spectacular offering of streams, marshes, lagoons and swamps that cover approximately 14 % of the Corrientes Province.
The wetlands are home to a staggering 4,000 plant and animal species, which make up 30 % of Argentina’s biodiversity. The indigenous communities of the wetlands inhabited the area as early as in the 9th century.
News, Views and Reviews For The Intellectually Curious
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