Hurry on out to the countryside and see Babylonstoren’s beautiful new range of Delft-inspired tablecloths that owner, Karen Roos, has dreamed up. She’s also dreamt up a hotel for insects!

Printed on Polish linen, the farm’s latest heritage tablecloth range, available for purchase, was inspired by the remnants of ancient Delft china excavated on the farm during the establishment of Babylonstoren’s gardens. The broken pieces of blue-and-white china date back to as far as the 17th century and were found abandoned on the farm’s ash heaps (read about what went into creating Babylonstoren’s Delft details here).

The first tablecloths were an initiative of Maranda Engelbrecht, author of the farm’s acclaimed cookbook Babel, using lovely visuals from her cookbook as prints on the linen. They are available in two sizes – 1.5 and 5.5 metres – and are for sale in the farm’s shop.

While you’re there, make sure to wander a little way down one of their beautiful garden paths where you will see another version of a hotel – one specially made for insects. This wooden abode provides space for all sorts of crawly and buzzy guests, small and not so small. Mister spider may get to cosy up in a room next to Mister Moth (Mister Moth should sleep with his light on though!) or Mister Lonesome Wasp next to a less lonesome swarm of ladybirds. 

Babylonstoren’s insect hotel is kitted out with snuggly suites made of bark, straw and bamboo, designed to welcome in any bugs. The bugs earn their keep by helping to pollinate the garden, catching other less benevolent creepy-crawlies or simply hibernating and then flying goodbye later, a beautiful butterfly.

babylonstoren.com

Read more of VISI’s article about the ground-breaking Babylonstoren.

A Delft revival has swept South Africa and the globe. Read our reports here.

The post Delft tablecloths and insect hotels appeared first on Visi.

Sumien Brink

Editor-in-chief, VISI.co.za

• Personal highlight: Seeing a production of War Horse in London. The horses, made by Handspring Puppet Company, will inspire me for ever. Read about Sumien’s other London highlights here.
• Trend of 2013: Laser-cutting and 3D-printing on the one hand and everything handmade on the other. Read our 3D-printing trend report here.
• Best of 2013: I absolutely love the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute by Woods Bagot. It’s shimmery, light and inspired by the skin of a pine cone.
• Worst of 2013: I’m going to cop out, as it is always such a matter of personal taste.
• New Year’s resolution: Smile and wave all the way!
• Hopes for WDC2014: That we will be able to deliver what we promised.

Annemarie Meintjes

Deputy editor, VISI.co.za

• Personal highlight: Spending most of 2013 in the air!
• Trend of 2013: Office for living. Read our reports on how office design is changing.
• Best of 2013: It’s not new, but I was truly overwhelmed to see it for real… The Burj Khalifa in Dubai. Read more about Dubai’s architecture here.
• Worst of 2013: Once again Pantone’s Colour of the Year that – emerald green – did not live up to expectations. Stylists push it ­but it does not happen on the high street.
• New Year’s resolution: To use my Schengen Visa.
• Hopes for WDC2014: That it will draw larger crowds than the Soccer World Cup did. That it will draw the right people, who will introduce our talented designers to the rest of the world. That it will grow an awareness and respect for good design on the ground, here in SA.

Paul Duncan

Paul Duncan Media, paulduncanmedia.com

• Personal highlight: Launching two books – Hidden Cape Town (Random House/Struik) and the Louis Vuitton Cape Town City Guide.
• Trend of 2013: The lights that came on around the world as sensitised individuals began to twig that the culture of illusion and ego, the desire for status and the values defining greed, are pointless and hollow.
• Best of 2013: The sensitive refurbishment and redecoration of Lady Phillip’s old guest quarters at the historic Cape Dutch Vergelegen in Somerset West by John Jacob Interiors.
• Worst of 2013: Cape Town’s full of them. But I don’t want to look backwards at them. I want to imagine a city where innovation in design, architecture and decor come naturally, and beautifully.
• New Year’s resolution: To start living the changes that need to be made to ensure Cape Town becomes a sustainable city of the future.
• Hopes for WDC2014: That finally it forces people collectively to see that this divided city of ours isn’t sustainable any longer.

Sean Weldon

Director, 5rooms.com

• Personal highlight: I am very proud of the fact that since inception we have had over 10 million South Africans visiting our sites, what a milestone. From a creative point of view, it has been a real highlight to see 12 months of sourcing around the world (read Sean’s Milan highlights here), finally materialising in beautifully merchandised settings of our own exclusive products, all produced in-house.
• Trend of 2013: The urban industrial – the copper and brass trend illustrates a focus on craftmanship vs mass production. Repurposing crates and pallets in brick-and-mortar retail, restaurant and office design.
• Best of 2013: The refurbishment of the Rex Trueform Building in Salt River, Cape Town. It was designed by Andrews and Niegerman in 1948 with the expansion in 1963 done by Hillel Turrock and Associates. This old factory space is now being transformed into one of the hippest locations in town… and will soon house South Africa’s first e-commerce design showroom.
• Worst of 2013: Zuma’s Nkandla, of course.
• New Year’s resolution: To be the coolest omni-channel retailer in the home decor market, watch this space! And another one, never drink cheap wine – life is too short.
• Hopes for WDC2014: Hoping it builds awareness for design as a way of life rather than as an elitist, inaccessable and blue sky idea. In its simplest form its a range of choice, the choice of blue over red, using a straight rather than a jagged line, living or working in a cluttered rather than minimal environment etc. Obviously we also hope that it will bring millions of cool overseas travellers to our shores.

Laurence Brick

Creative director, 100percentdesign.co.za

• Personal highlight: Without a doubt my own highlight of the year was bringing my own passion about design to a project that I have wanted to do for years now – launching 100% Design South Africa. It was fantastic telling people that this great show is coming to South Africa and I’m involved in running it. Dream come true! 
• Trend of 2013: The return of individualism, celebrating the unique.
• Best of 2013: South African designers Dokter and Misses’s Kassena server, which sold internationally at five top art fairs. Read more about Dokter and Misses here.
• Worst of 2013: Developers continuing to build Tuscan, French and European themed homes,  instead of choosing to be part of developing a South Africa design aesthetic.
• New Year’s resolution: Buy more art; laugh and love more. 
• Hopes for WDC2014: That it has a lasting legacy for both Cape Town and South Africa, effecting real change that continues to build beyond 2014.

Karen Roos

Babylonstoren, babylonstoren.com

• Personal highlight: Completing the spa at Babylonstoren (that won a Cape Architecture Award). As the farm is a heritage site, strict conservation rules required us to be innovative in creating new rooms, so we planted them. It took some time, but the reeds and bamboo have grown into lovely spaces. The spa hammam was also completed in 2013 and therapists trained by a specialist. The marble and mosaic structure was complex to design due to heating requirements and high humidity, but they are holding up well. We lack a spa culture in the Cape, so we all needed to learn. Read more about the fantabulous Babylonstoren here.
• Trend of 2013: Africa proves to be an inspiration for designers and stylists at art fairs and design expos all over the globe. Read about the prize SA artist Kemang Wa Lehulere won at Art Basel/Miami here.
• Best of 2013: I also saw the Burj Khalifa for the first time. Like a modern cathedral, it towers above Dubai and inspires boundless confidence. In terms of brand new though, Thomas Heatherwick’s idea for a new pedestrian Garden Bridge across the River Thames, connecting North and South London by way of a park. 
• Worst of 2013: It’s simply too early to say – but bless your soul, there will be enough of them.
• New Year’s resolution: Explore Cape Town and environment more like I did when I was a stylist/reporter.
• Hopes for WDC2014: That people do what they usually do well in our town: inspired by the beautiful topography, without any major design industry, without ample capital, to be outrageously creative and create spaces and objects that the rest of the world can enjoy.    

Greg Truen

Architect, saota.com

• Personal highlight: The opportunity of getting to work in amazing cities like Istanbul and Lagos, and seeing the fantastic development and growth of our team in Cape Town, they really are an exceptional group of people. See SAOTA’s award-winning 34 De Wet street residence here.
• Trend of 2013: Africa rising.
• Best of 2013: New York has some great new projects like the Barclays centre, and the brilliant landscaping of the High Line. These are both projects that Cape Town could learn from.
• Worst of 2013: It’s been the same for many years – RDP housing.
• New Year’s resolution: To spend more time exploring the cities that we work in.
• Hopes for WDC2014: That the city realises how important the design industry is to Cape Town and that clients, whether they’re corporate, public or private, better understand that design is critical to the success and legacy of a project.

Angela Shaw

Designer, shawsisters.co.za

• Personal highlight: Moving to a home with a view of Durban Harbour – water, light, local industry and urbanity.
• Trend of 2013: How can one live a more integrated, authentic and sustainable urban life?
• Best of 2013: The Museum of Modern African Design in Maboneng. 
• Worst of 2013: The ongoing under-representation of the great craft happening in South Africa by the dti as seen at FoodWineDesign in November.
• New Year’s resolution: Breath out, breathe in.
• Hopes for WDC2014: More and more stimulation of the local economy by those who design and make things locally. Read about the exciting craft design work the Shaw Sisters are doing here.

Vince Frost

Designer, frostdesign.com.au

• Personal highlight: I was in South Africa recently and I was very impressed with Jutas Street (read more about Braamfontein here) in Joburg and Woodstock (read more here) in Cape Town. These creative districts are a wonderful new addition and a great example of creative entrepreneurship.
• Trend of 2013: Much more individuals giving it a go. It’s great to see companies like Honest Chocolate in Woodstock with such focus on quality and unique brand. We are seeing a lot more artisan start-ups by individuals with a very clear and single-minded passion for producing the best products, objects and experience.
• New Year’s resolution: To be a better dad 
• Hopes for WDC2014: I think its a great opportunity for the creative community to get exposure in Sa and the world. Business’s are beginning to understand the power of design and I think there’s tonnes of talent to be given a go.

Katy Taplin

Designer, dokterandmisses.com

• Personal highlight: Lots of travel and renovating our home. 
• Trend of 2013: Memphis and marble. Read Li Edelkoort’s trend insight on Memphis.
• Best of 2013: Wyatt Hairdressing. See our takeout shots here.
• Worst of 2013: Steampunk. 
• New Year’s resolution: Organise and print my photographs. 

Andrew Makin

Architect, designworkshopsa.com

• Personal highlight: Spending more time in Mexico City and winning, along with four other practices, the competition to design the new Sol Plaatje University in Kimberley.
• Best of 2013: Converting Pixley Kaseme Street, Durban, into a linear park from the Warwick Rail Commuter Station, through the city centre to the beach front. Phase 1 will be implemented by August 2014.
• Worst of 2013: The construction of yet another batch of office parks and shopping malls is as tragic as the collapse of a portion of the Tongaat Mall north of Durban is. Hopefully it’s metaphoric symbol of things to come.
• New Year’s resolution: Reduce, concentrate, calm, open, produce.
• Hopes for WDC2014: That we express ourselves as we are, with pride and confidence.

Luke Pedersen and James Lennard

Designers, pedersenlennard.co.za

• Personal highlight: Luke: The birth of my son! James: Riding Wines-to-Wales.
• Trend of 2013: So many triangles wherever you look!
• Best of 2013: Too many to mention.
• Worst of 2013: All the Keep Calm posters. 
• New Year’s resolution: N/A
• Hopes for WDC2014: That the opportunity for sustainable growth is grasped.

Megan Hesse

Designer, anatomydesign.co.za

• Personal highlight: A significant landmark for us was the first release of our Lab Lights, which are now being manufactured in Denmark.
• Best of 2013: Our favourite design was the SG chair we did for Southern Guild, for which we loved working with Nicky Levenberg on the highly patterned fabric. It was a project that allowed us to play. Browse VISI’s highlights of the Southern Guild exhibition here.
• Worst of 2013: It’s better to focus on the positive things that are happening, most of the best products come from making mistakes. 
• New Year’s resolution: To focus more on growing our Anatomy Design store and range of homeware. Read more about Anatomy Design here.
• Hopes for WDC2014: We hope that by Cape Town being the World Design Capital 2014 it brings consciousness to South African design not only in this year but in all the years to follow.  

Chris Browne

Designer, foxbrowne.com

• Personal highlight: Completing our first home renovation, sort of on time and on budget! We can pop up a small hotel or lodge in the most remote parts of far away countires but working in our own backyard was a massive challenge.
• Trend of 2013: Laidback mid-century elegance with a sharp focus on quality of materials.
• Best of 2013: For me it has to be the phase of construction that the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona has just entered. The project started in 1882 and is only estimated to be completed in 2028. I cant think of any other design project on Earth as awe-inspiring. Made me cry.
• Worst of 2013: I guess most Johannesburg restuarants fall into this category. Excluding Tasha’s of course!
• New Year’s resolution: Onwards and upwards, same as its always been.
• Hopes for WDC2014: I hope that there will be halo effect that extends beyond Cape Town and that Johannesburg eateries in particular pull up their socks. 

Tessa Sonik

Owner, tessasonik.co.za

• Personal highlight: I got hooked
• Trend of 2013: Vintage
• Best of 2013: TRANS Continental – our latest corporate collection (read more here). I also think the new building on the Corlett Drive offramp is an amazing building. Read our interview with architect Henning Rasmuss here.
• Worst of 2013: Luckily cannot say what failed us.
• New Year’s resolution: Chill more.
• Hopes for WDC2014: To show more local products. 

Alayne Reesberg

CEO, wdccapetown2014.com

• Personal highlight: Publication of the first version of our much-anticipated programme for 2014 – it was a long wait! Find out about the 450 gritty and pretty projects here.
• Trend of 2013: Local is magnificent – celebrate local.
• Best of 2013: The launch of the Museum of African Design with the Southern Guild collection sent an important signal about South Africa and its aspirations to host and celebrate African design. (Browse VISI’s highlights of the Southern Guild exhibition here.) In the technology world, I am in awe of the Square Kilometer Array project in Carnarvon. It will change the way future generations will understand our place in the universe.
• Worst of 2013: I just don’t want to go back anywhere, not the 70s, not colour, not textile. I thought it was depressing then, and I still think so.
• New Year’s resolution: Reconnect, refresh, renew ­– this year has been an incredibly intense and demanding grind.
• Hopes for WDC2014: Bring the world here to Cape Town, and when they get here, deliver a uniquely Kaapse experience to them. Mountain and people in equal measure.

Lauren Beukes

Novelist, laurenbeukes.com

• Personal highlight: Putting together The Shining Girls Charity Art Show (browse the full gallery here) with curator Jacki Lang and phenomenal, generous, local artists, designers and illustrators who created original art works on a page ripped from my novel for a good cause. We raised R100 000 for Rape Crisis in 20 minutes! 
• Trend of 2013: Aren’t trends artificially imposed? More South Africans doing exactly the kind of work they want to do without prescribed ideas of what they should be doing.
• Best of 2013: Nkandla.
• Worst of 2013: Nkandla and big brands with budget trying their luck, getting artists and designers to do unpaid work for “the exposure”. Cut it out.
• New Year’s resolution: Find a way to conquer jetlag and manage my time better so that I can stress less and spend more time with my daughter.
• Hopes for WDC2014: That it creates a showcase for amazing local talent that leads to amazing well-paid commissions. 

Greg Dry

Designer, eggdesigns.co.za

• Personal highlight: Opening the new Egg store in our hometown Durban and watching my partner’s charcuterie business, Chuck and Bobs, open next door.
• Trend of 2013: Globally I would say the trend of the reissue of old designs.
• Best of 2013: If it’s about a project of ours I would like to say Cherry Jewellery in Gateway Shopping Centre.
• Hopes for WDC2014: That people realise that design reaches beyond one city and that the mother city is just a vessel for a short time carrying the label.

Porky Hefer

Designer, animal-farm.co.za

• Personal highlight: Finally finding a person brave enough to develop my nest lodge (includes a wine cellar and lounge, among others).
• Trend of 2013: Cheap imports
• Best of 2013: The Floating School Project by Kunle Adeyemi.
• Worst of 2013: New FNB building in Foreshore.
• New Year’s resolution: Do more.
• Hopes for WDC2014: Design becoming an economic contributor through support from governmental policies, import control and incentives.

Haldane Martin

Designer, haldanemartin.co.za

• Personal highlight: The massive amount of positive press coverage that our first big interior project, Truth Coffee HQ, received. Feast your eyes on the steampunk interior here.
• Trend of 2013: Brooklyn Style. Now that it is named, it’s probably on its way out.
• Best of 2013: Environ Skincare Products factory reception area that we have just finished.
• Worst of 2013: The 3D-printed plastic gun. It shoots real bullets but explodes in the hand of the user. The perfect weapon for a suicide terrorist. Read the 3D-printing’s first gunshot here.
• New Year’s resolution: To design a fantastic new range of upholstered furniture.
• Hopes for WDC2014: I hope with all the extra attention the world will be giving us, that some of the great projects that have been put forward will receive the funding they require to enable them to be actualised. 

Chantel Hans

Digital and editorial assistant, VISI.co.za

• Personal highlight: Joining the VISI team!
• Trend of 2013: 3D printing and pop-up shops. 
• Best of 2013: Duckzilla by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman – an oversized rubber duck that has made its way around the world never fails to put a smile on my face. I only wish it would make its way to Cape Town.
• Worst of 2013: I just can’t get over the ostrich pillow! Why would anyone want to look like their brain has morphed into some parasitic fungi beats me… And now they have one for kids as well.
• New Year’s resolution: Rather than set myself up for failure, I prefer to make minor adjustments throughout the year.
• Hopes for WDC2014: Seeing the best of SA and international talent on display in our very own Mother City, as well as discovering new and daring creatives.

Debbie Loots

Features writer, VISI.co.za

• Personal highlight: Getting the job as features writer at VISI.
• Trend of 2013: A return to a more tactile interaction with people and things, to old-fashioned storytelling in response to planet Earth’s wave upon wave of technological tsunamis.
• Best of 2013: I loved Cape Town’s first Open Design event (read about it here) for showing design’s life-changing and practical applications as well as its graphic art side in the form of the Madiba posters (see them here). And that it warmed us all up for WDC2014.
• Worst of 2013: That nobody’s taken on the plight of the Werdmuller Centre in Claremont (find out about it here). It’s reimagining would have been a perfect project for WDC2014.
• New Year’s resolution: I want to ride my bicycle more.
• Hopes for WDC2014: That it speaks to all people so that those who don’t see themselves as part of the design world don’t experience it as an exclusive event but that they realise that the way to be part of the world is to take part in design. 

Malibongwe Tyilo

Editor-at-large, VISI.co.za

• Personal highlight: Personally it was being listed in Mail and Guardian’s 200 Young South Africans list for 2013. It really was an honour, and incredibly motivating.
• Trend of 2013: I am as fascinated by design across both interiors and fashion. This year the most definitive trend goes to fashion for me. The monochromatic trend, especially in black and white outfits. I suppose when a classic colour becomes a trend, then lots more of us can jump on the bandwagon.
• Best of 2013: I was very inspired by the Open Design festival that took place in Cape Town a couple of months ago (read about it here). I love the focus on design that changes lives, especially the lives of Cape Town’s least privileged residents. Ultimately design has to be relevant to our society and be part of the solution, and I really love that we have so many designers who understand this, and they don’t merely design for aspirations.
• New year’s resolution: Actually, this time around I decided to stay away from that new year’s resolution business, it always eventually leads to failure for me. My birthday was at the beginning of November, so everything I would normally have planned as a new year resolution, I started working on at the beginning of November. I’m not one for astrology and the zodiac, but I chose to suspend disbelief and tell myself that the planets would be aligned in my favour during my birth month, and that whatever project I started then was bound to succeed. As for the resolutions? Am not going to say, but so far so very very very good. It’s in the stars!
• Hopes for WDC2014: While we at VISI will go to any length to support our local design industry, the reality of the situation is that after design school the world is a tough place for designers, so I hope all the attention that comes with WDC2014 will change the lives of local designers and bring them opportunity. It really is high time that we as a society place far more value in the importance of design and our design community.

Nadine Botha

Features and online editor, VISI.co.za

• Personal highlight: Buying, renovating and making my own home.
• Trend of 2013: Hexagonals everywhere and cats cats cats. But if I read another open letter…
• Best of 2013: The FOBLO Bulletin.
• Worst of 2013: WDC2014’s late start. But we Saffers are excellent last-minuters and at best when jiving impromptu!
• New Year’s resolution: Work smarter not harder.
• Hopes for WDC2014: Looking at the programme of community-sourced projects, I hope that they all come off, one way or another. I love the generosity of spirit. The sense of our city being a playground or blank canvas for a year is invigorating. It’s going to be a fantastic social experiment – free internet in public parks in Cape Town, for instance. What will the results of that social design be? Whatever the outcome, of all the projects, I hope we will be big enough to find it insightful, first and foremost.

The post The best and the worst of 2013 appeared first on Visi.

Read the English article. 

Babylonstoren se skouspelagtige Glaskas wat ook as teetuinrestaurant dien, is op 25 November 2012 by die 2012 Eat Out-toekennings aangewys as die wenner van die gesogte Boschendal-styltoekenning.

By Babylonstoren swaai variëteite die septer.

“ ’n Magdom variëteite – dít is waarvan ons hou, wat ons regtig interesseer,” verduidelik die immer elegante, immer ingetoë mede-eienaar Karen Roos, skynbaar min gepla met ’n nare post-Holland-verkoue of die temperatuur wat in die middel-dertigs huiwer. “Ons hou van plante met ’n gevoel van geskiedenis, plante wat ’n storie vertel… the more the merrier.”

Dis hier waar Babylonstoren se nuwe Glaskas in die prentjie kom. Dié kweekhuis van donkergroen staal en 4 mm- versterkte glas laat hulle toe om te eksperimenteer met variëteite wat in die plaas se asemrowende formele vrugte-en-groentetuin óf sukkel óf vrek weens die Wes-Kaap se winterreën en gebrek aan vog in die somer. Eksotiese  grenadellas, gemmer, kardemom, pynappels, draakvrugte, vanielje en ’n interessante kruising tussen ’n grenadella en koejawel is nou aansienlik gelukkiger in hul nuwe tuiste.

Liesl van der Walt, die tuinkurator by Babylonstoren, is ook in haar noppies omdat hulle nou in die winter kan begin groente saai sodat hulle die saailinge vroeglente in die tuin kan uitplant en só ’n vroeër en langer oesseisoen kan verseker.

Om by die Glaskas uit te kom volg ’n mens ’n perskepitpaadjie wat deur die groente-vrugte-en-kruietuin van agt akker loop en beweeg in die proses verby ’n verstommende 350-plus spesies. Die tuin is ’n ode aan die 17de en 18de eeuse Kompanjiestuin van die Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie en is ontwerp deur die Franse argitek Patrice Taravella, eienaar van die Middeleeuse kloostertuin  Prieuré Notre-Dame d’Orsan.

Die Glaskas nestel onder ’n versameling middelslag-eikebome wat die afgelope jaar geplant is en spog met ’n varia tafels en ’n klomp kleurvolle Luxembourg-stoele – die klassieke parkstoelontwerp – wat binne en buite die kweekhuis staangemaak is. Dié kruising tussen ’n kweekhuis en teekafee is ’n verrassende dog totaal logiese verversingspos vir gaste wat pas een van die tuintoere (daagliks om 10:00) voltooi het.

Dit is juis hierdie verrassingselement wat Karen tans nog pla. “Hierdie eikebome beter hulle litte roer,” lag sy, “en so ook die grenadellas en ander variëteite aan die binnekant… tans is die struktuur nog net te groots, te verrassend, en die uitgangspunt by Babylonstoren was nog altyd om dinge gelykmatig, gebalanseerd, kalm en harmonieus te hou. Tydloos. Niks mag ooit te dominerend wees nie, behalwe natuurlik Simonsberg  self.”

Volgens Karen is die Glaskas se standaarddeure en ander fyner detail asook die verwyderbare dakskerms van bamboes ingevoer van Serres d’Antan in Frankryk, terwyl die finale ontwerp ’n saamwerkprojek was tussen haar en Babylonstoren se algemene bestuurder, Terry de Waal, ’n opgeleide industriële ingenieur. Gerard de Villiers van Kleinood wat bekend is vir sy betrokkenheid by die ontwerp van meer as 150 wynkelders (ook die een op Babylonstoren) het gehelp om die Glaskas op ’n siviele- en strukturele-ingenieursvlak ’n werklikheid te maak.

Hoewel ’n groot waaier, vensters en deure en ’n gevorderde missproeistelsel van Mister Twister help om die temperatuur en humiditeit aan die binnekant te reguleer, het hulle intussen geleer ’n mens moet in die somermaande maar eerder ’n wye draai om die die paar tafels aan die binnekant loop – tensy jy natuurlik ’n eksotiese pynappel is!

Dit is maar net een van daardie dinge, sê Karen, want, soos alles anders op die plaas wat so skeppend getransformeer is, was die geboorte van die Glaskas ook ’n “baie organiese” proses waar “die groter prentjie altyd in gedagte gehou is – en behoue bly – terwyl jy byvoeg en redigeer… presies dieselfde manier waarop ’n mens ’n tydskrif benader”.

Hulle het byvoorbeeld veel later in die skeppende proses eers besef dat die plaas dringend meer ruimte vir besoekers nodig het. Babel, Babylonstoren se veelgeprese konseprestaurant onder aanvoering van die kos- en kreatiewe konsultant Maranda Engelbrecht en sjef Simone Rossouw, is dikwels weke voor die tyd volbespreek en net te veel besoekers moes huiswaarts keer sonder iets te ete of drinke.

“Maar,” sê Karen, “terselfdertyd verwag ’n mens ’n teekafee in ’n park-omgewing, of hoe? ’n Plek waar jy net wil sit en tee drink en die bries geniet en nog sit en gelukkig wees – ’n plek wat jy nie weer wil verlaat nie.”

En glo my, Babylonstoren se Glaskas is dié soort plek. 

Eetstyl

“Delft-breekware verbind ons met 300 jaar gelede,” sê Karen terwyl sy die teekafee se nuwe versameling tafelbedekkings en plekmatjies ooprol. Dit is op herwinde papier gedruk en die gebruikte papier gaan weer reguit komposhoop toe. Karen het alles self ontwerp en ’n versameling grys kunssketse van plaasdiere en lieflike blou Delft-borde as inspirasie gebruik. (Loer ook na Karen se bydrae tot VISI se Delft-trendverslag.)

Die Delft-tema word by die ingang na die tuin langs Babel bekend gestel waar eeue oue Delft-skerwe wat tydens uitgrawings ontdek is, nou onder glas uitgestal word. Die tema word voortgesit in die manjifieke tuin waar al die persimmonbome uiteindelik deur Delft-sirkels omring sal word. “Kan jy jou voorstel hoe beeldskoon ’n helderoranje persimmon lyk wat – poef! – op die blou land?” wil Maranda Engelbrecht later oor ’n koppie tee weet. “Ek dink ek kan dalk net flou val!”

Soos by Babel fokus die teekafee se ligte spyskaart op seisoenale produkte uit die tuin. Besoekers kan hulle eie middagete saamstel deur uit vier verskillende soorte broodrolletjies, vier kase en vier charcuterie-items te kies. Dit word mooi toegedraai in een van die Delft-plekmatjies en tafel toe gebring saam met drie lieflike Weck-glasflesse wat onderskeidelik vars slaai, ’n tuisgemaakte blatjang of piekel en kruie-olie bevat.

“Ons het mooi gedink oor hoe ons die kos aanbied,” sê Maranda. “Saam met glasborde en messegoed kom sekere verwagtinge. Ons het dus op ’n informele benadering besluit met pragtige Perspex-eetgerei en gaste wat hul plekmatjies of tafelbedekking as ’n bord gebruik. Maar die koppies en pierings is Delft – soos dit hoort!”

Babylonstoren Glaskas 021 863 3852, www.babylonstoren.com, Woensdae tot Sondae 10:00-16:00.

R10 toegangsgeld na die plaas word gehef – dit word aan die Babylonstoren Trust geskenk.

The post Verversingspos appeared first on Visi.

Lees in Afrikaans.

Winner of the Boschendal Style Award at the recent Eat Out Awards 2012, we revisit the bountiful Babylonstoren’s astonishing glass conservatory that doubles up as a teahouse.

At Babylonstoren varietals are the spice of life.

“This is what makes us tick, what really interests us,” explains ever-elegant, ever-humble co-owner Karen Roos, apparently unfazed by a bout of post-Holland flu and the temperature hovering in the mid thirties. “We love plants that have a sense of history, plants that tell a story… the more the merrier, we say.”

Cue Babylonstoren’s new conservatory, a 26m-long eye-opener made of dark green steel and 4mm hardened glass that will allow them to experiment with varietals that have struggled or flopped largely due to the Western Cape’s winter rainfall and lack of humidity in summer in the farm’s breathtaking formal fruit and vegetable garden. Exotic granadillas, ginger, cardamom, pineapples, dragonfruit, vanilla, guavadellas and much more – even a baobab tree – now have a new and happier home.

Garden curator at Babylonstoren, Liesl van der Walt, is also chuffed about the possibility that they can already start sowing fresh fare in winter, which means the gardening team will be able to transplant the seedlings in early spring to ensure an earlier and longer harvesting season.

To reach the greenhouse you follow a peach-pip path through the eight-acre vegetable, fruit and herb garden, and along the way you will pass an astounding 350-plus edible species. The garden is a nod to the 17th and 18th-century Company’s Garden of the Dutch East India Company and was designed by French architect Patrice Taravella, who owns the medieval monastic garden Prieuré Notre-Dame d’Orsan.

Positioned under recently planted medium-sized oak trees, with a collection of tables and colourful Luxembourg chairs – the classic park chair design (both inside and outside the conservatory) – the greenhouse-cum-tearoom is a surprising though perfectly logical refreshment station for guests who have completed one of the garden tours, starting at 10:00.

It is precisely this surprise bit that bothers Karen at the moment. “These oak trees better get a move on,” she jokes, “and so should the granadillas and other varietals inside… right now there is still something too imposing, too surprising, about the structure, and the point of departure at Babylonstoren has always been to keep things even, balanced, calm and harmonious. Timeless. Nothing should ever be too dominating except, of course, for Simonsberg mountain itself.”

According to Karen, the conservatory’s standard doors and other finer details, as well as the removable bamboo roof screens, were imported from Serres d’Antan in France, while the final design was a collaboration between her and Babylonstoren’s general manager Terry de Waal, who happens to be a trained industrial engineer. Kleinood’s Gerard de Villiers, renowned for his involvement in more than 150 winery designs (including Babylonstoren’s), made the conservatory happen on a civil and structural engineering level.

Although a large fan, windows and doors, and a misting system from Mister Twister help to regulate the temperature and humidity inside, they have now learnt that the few indoor tables are best avoided in the hottest months if you’re not an exotic pineapple.

It is just one of those things, Karen says, because, like everything else on the impeccably and creatively restored farm, the birth of the conservatory was a “very organic” process where “the bigger picture was always kept in mind – and stays intact – while you add and edit… exactly the way in which you approach a magazine”.

Only much later in the creative process, did they realise that, for instance, more space for people was urgently needed. Babel, the farm’s much-lauded concept restaurant under the creative auspices of food and creative consultant Maranda Engelbrecht and chef Simone Rossouw, is often fully booked weeks in advance and too many visitors have had to leave disappointed without having something to eat or drink.

“But,” Karen adds, “you also expect at tearoom in a park-type environment, don’t you? A place where you just want to sit and drink tea and enjoy the breeze and sit some more and be happy – a place you don’t want to leave.”

And, believe me, this is it.

Eating style

“Delft ware connects us to 300 years ago,” Karen says as she unfolds the tearoom’s new collection of table coverings and placemats printed on recycled paper (to be used again in making compost). She created the designs that feature a combination of grey artisanal drawings of farm animals and produce, as well as beautiful blue Delft plates. (See Karen’s contribution to VISI’s Delft trend report.)

The Delft theme is introduced at the garden entrance next to Babel, where the centuries-old remnants that were found on the grounds during renovations are kept under glass, and continues in the magnificent garden where the persimmon trees will soon be surrounded by Delft mosaic circles. “Can you imagine the beauty of a bright orange persimmon that lands – poof! – on the blue?” Maranda Engelbrecht later gushes over a cup of tea. “I think I might faint!”

As at Babel, the teahouse’s light menu focuses on seasonal produce from the garden. Visitors design their own lunch by choosing between four different bread rolls, four cheeses and four charcuterie items, which are wrapped in one of the Delft placemats and delivered to the table with three beautiful fireproof Weck glass jars containing fresh salad, a chutney or relish and mixed herb oil.

“We carefully considered the presentation,” Maranda says. “Plates and cutlery bring certain expectations. We chose an informal approach with beautiful Perspex cutlery and guests use their placemats or table coverings as a plate. But the cups and saucers are Delft, as it should be!”

Babylonstoren Teahouse 021 863 3852. www.babylonstoren.com, Wednesday to Sunday 10:00-16:00.

A R10 entrance fee, donated to the Babylonstoren Trust, is charged.

The post Refreshment station appeared first on Visi.

There is a growing demand for living environments that form an integral part of a person’s personality, fitting like a “third skin”, enabling people to be who they want to be. In line with this thinking, a strong emerging trend in decor is the theme of the “historian” who, according to the Heimtextil Trend Preview 2013/2014, is seen as “a treasurer of the past, seeking value and discovering ways to make history relevant to contemporary life”.

It was this statement from Heimtextil that inspired me to look at who and what is driving South African design today. Heritage seems to be a constant and relevant source of inspiration. The Cape Dutch style is unique to the Cape, and the architecture and decor that fills its historical buildings are providing inspiration for design personalities that in turn inspire me.

The images I share here are a visual celebration of an aspect of Cape Town’s unique history that has been reinterpreted by several creative personalities that live in and love the Mother City. I have chosen to highlight the work of David West, Kurt Pio, Michael Chandler, Deon Viljoen, Karen Roos, Cecile and Boyd’s, Gregor Jenkin, Jacques Erasmus and Haldane Martin.

David West

Award-winning fashion designer David West’s Holbol Collection is a clothing range inspired by Cape Dutch Gables. The garments were first shown in 2009 at the Whatiftheworld Gallery in Cape Town. Pieces from the Holbol Collection were specially reworked in 2010 for Salon Locale at Koopmans de Wet Huis. Finally they were sent to Amsterdam in 2011.

After a six-year hiatus from the local fashion scene, David’s collection employed his signature wit in exploring new frill ideas in nylon knits and traditional shirting. Informed by Cape Dutch architecture, this collection celebrated hand-me-down Eurocentricity made uniquely Capetonian – rundown houses of Mitchell’s Plain, Cape Flats sports club tracksuits and schoolgirl uniforms are all fused through phantom, grandiose ornamentation.

Kurt Pio

Artist Kurt Pio works mainly with themes relating to our country’s Dutch, English and French colonial past. He’s fascinated with the furniture and architecture styles they brought to the Cape and how that furniture and architecture was translated using European styles and African materials and craftsmanship.

His work looks at the colonial past and questions whether we, in the “new” South Africa, frown on our past and what these different colonies brought to our country, or if we celebrate our past in terms of the infrastructure this colonisation created for us.

Deon Viljoen

Deon Viljoen is a leading Cape Dutch expert with a keen interest in local and current design. He curated the exhibition Manet Is Too Tight to Mention at the WhatiftheWorld gallery in Woodstock in November 2010. The show combined pieces dating back to the 18th century alongside modern designs. The startling freshness of these combinations served to revitalise the antiques and lend them new cachet as devices in a contemporary decorator’s arsenal. Deon now runs a gallery in Stellenbosch, where you can see this dynamism at play.

Michael Chandler

While Michael Chandler was studying art history at the University of Cape Town (UCT), he began working at Stephan Welz & Sothebys – a prestigious fine and decorative arts auction house. Spending every day examining and cataloguing beautiful things, Michael learned an enormous amount about design over the past 400 years and was snapped up as a research assistant to Deon Viljoen (the leading expert on 18th, 19th and 20th century Cape Visual and Domestic History mentioned above). Deon’s passion for early Cape furniture and Dutch trade pieces quickly seeded itself in Michael, and this is easily recognisable in the work that Michael does today.

Deon approached Michael “to find a solution to upholstering a fabulous set of eight Cape Stinkwood dining chairs, circa 1810. Georgian English in taste, but made in the Cape, they are a wonderful example of a Cape interpretation of an English style that had just reached its zenith.” The result was embroidery inspired by shards of pottery that Michael has collected during walks on Table Mountain.

In July 2010, Michael started a small design studio – Chandler House – and his work is largely associated with these interests. Michael is currently doing research into arts and philosophies, and has great ambitions to contribute towards a revival of all things Cape.

He says: “The Cape has such a rich and unique history of design and interiors that it is only starting to be tapped now. The fulcrum between the West and the rest, which Cape Town straddled, juxtaposed and wove all sorts of different pieces into its own unique song.”

It is this siren song that has Michael designing wallpapers inspired by 18th-century Imari Vases – crockery that gives a nod to the pepper trees at Kersefontein and tea cloths printed with Vergelegen’s orchard layout. And he seems to be having fun doing it.

Michael’s beaded pieces, such as the reworked chandelier in the shapes of antique brass pendant, relieve us of the bead fatigue we have from the glut of beaded crafts sold on the side of the road.

For Mandela Day 2012, Michael joined a group in Delft, Cape Town, to help paint houses in bright colours with paint sponsored by Plascon. They “decided to bring a touch of blue-and-white Delft to our local Delft. The locals really loved the work as much as we did painting them. Happy Birthday Tata Mandela!”

Jacques Erasmus

So much more than a poet, Jacques Erasmus is an artist, a designer, a stylist, a chef, a baker, a curator and creator of all things beautiful, and Hemelhuijs is his home from home. It is in this welcoming, beautiful restaurant – which serves as a showcase of all that Jacques does so exceptionally well – that you will be able to experience, in some small measure, the passion of a man obsessed with beauty in all its myriad forms.

Karen Roos

One of the best-preserved werfs (farm yards) in the Cape Dutch tradition, Babylonstoren was founded in 1690, and the manor house dates to 1777. Today it has been reworked as a destination hotel, with a farm garden that pays homage to the Cape’s historical supply gardens, and places today’s farm revival trend and organic consciousness top of mind.

The interiors were designed by Karen Roos, former editor of Elle Decoration, South Africa. Karen used Plascon’s Canvas White in the hotel rooms. You can find her design-related posts on the Babylonstoren blog.

A Delft mosaic in the garden is inspired by Cape Dutch pottery, which also puts you in mind of the Delft carpet design by Dutch designer Marcel Wanders for Moooi.

Cécile and Boyd’s

Under the creative direction of Cécile and Boyd’s, the Hout Bay Manor hotel is now a bravely refreshed beauty. The 1871 Cape Colonial landmark has transformed the way we use colour, by allowing it to reflect the multi-hued cultural vitality of South Africa’s people. An otherwise dated colonial look is made contemporary through African reinventions of traditional decor techniques.

Haldane Martin

Haldane Martin’s Riempie furniture collection was inspired by early Cape Dutch furniture. The lines and proportions have been simplified for a more contemporary look. The traditional leather thongs have been replaced with more durable, colourful, recycled plastic. The timeless Malaysian rattan pattern has been scaled up to amplify its beauty. Visit Haldane’s website for more information and to see his entire collection. It is worth the visit!

Gregor Jenkin

Gregor Jenkin’s Turned Table collection is an unexpected mix of delicately turned legs with steel tops. The slim legs are a contemporary interpretation of a classic Cape Dutch table design.

Originally published on the Plascon Trends website. Like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter @Plascon – we do!

Celebrating the Delft theme of the new SPRING FLING edition of VISI magazine, we have published a full Delft trend report online.

More from the SPRING FLING edition of VISI

• New and second-cycle
  Renovation and interior design is seldom a stagnant, once-off affair. The best spaces grow into themselves. See the before pictures of the houses featured in the magazine.

• Deft blue strokes
  Fabric, surfboards, shacks… Something is afoot, and not just in South Africa! From Babylonstoren to Russia, browse our full Delft trend report.

• Popcorn architecture
  We have inspiration from the Architecture ZA 2012 Biennial Festival to share. Watch our online film festival and read our report back.

• Mechanical futurism
  Some say steampunk is what happened when Goths discovered brown. Others say it grew out of a literary genre. Explore our steampunk trend report.

• Joburg Art Attack
  For at least one week in September, Joburg was hit by an art attack. Read the post-mortem and our guide to starting an art collection, written by the experts.

• Winning wishes
  In October, Warren Lewis will be giving away four paintings. Up for grabs over October and November is a Bodum Bistro Coffee Maker from Banks Kitchen Boutique. Enter the competitions here.

The post Cape Dutch now! appeared first on Visi.

Delft porcelain has been used in Cape households since the 1700s, when the VOC established a settlement to feed the fleets sailing between Asia and Europe. While working in the garden, we regularly encounter shards of discarded Delft crockery from different centuries. So we were inspired to use the Delft heritage in new original forms.

Originally published on the Babylonstoren blog.

Food stylist and founder of Babylonstoren’s Babel restaurant, Maranda Engelbrecht will be talking at the fourth Trend Talk afternoon at the Plascon Design Centre on Thursday 11 October. 

More from the SPRING FLING edition of VISI

• New and second-cycle
  Renovation and interior design is seldom a stagnant, once-off affair. The best spaces grow into themselves.

• Deft blue strokes
  Fabric, surfboards, shacks… Something is afoot, and not just in South Africa! From Babylonstoren to Russia, browse our full Delft trend report.

• Popcorn architecture
  We have inspiration from the Architecture ZA 2012 Biennial Festival to share. Watch our online film festival and read our report back.

• Mechanical futurism
  Some say steampunk is what happened when Goths discovered brown. Others say it grew out of a literary genre. Explore our steampunk trend report.

• Joburg Art Attack
  For at least one week in September, Joburg was hit by an art attack. Read the post-mortem and our guide to starting an art collection, written by the experts.

• Winning wishes
  In October, Warren Lewis will be giving away four paintings. Up for grabs over October and November is a Bodum Bistro Coffee Maker from Banks Kitchen Boutique. Enter the competitions here.

The post Creating Babylonstoren appeared first on Visi.