Reprising lessons from local and international Modernist masterpieces, this home creates a unique sense of place in the winelands sun.

A family affair is how architect Bettina Woodward describes the design of this Stellenbosch house. And it quite literally is. Bettina is the principal architect at her practice Open City, and she designed the house for (and with) her brother Roland Andrag, sister-in-law Juandi and their family.

Roland and Bettina grew up in a modernist home. Their German-immigrant grandparents had a house full of original Mid-century design and, says Bettina, “My parents were very interested in modern and abstract art. My mother always pushed radical ideas.” Bettina has subsequently restored a spectacular 1970s modernist home in Cape Town, and is fascinated with the rich vein of regional Modernism in and around Stellenbosch, created by the likes of architects Pius Pahl (who studied at the Bauhaus), Gawie Fagan and Revel Fox.

Roland and Juandi lived in a “typical Mid-century Modern house” in Stellenbosch before building this one. Add to this their love of pioneering US Mid-century architect Richard Neutra – they once went on a road trip visiting some of his iconic houses in California – and it was inevitable that what would emerge from this family affair would be an homage to Modernism. Roland and Juandi had found this site in their neighbourhood a few years prior – chosen for the views more than anything else. “We have a clear view of Table Mountain and of the Stellenbosch Mountain to one side,” says Juandi.

Of course, when it came to designing their house, they made sure not just to frame those views, but also to orient the house in a way that would help manage the sun, and provide passive heating and cooling. Its clean-lined, horizontal form faces north. The upper level is lifted on columns – “pilotis” in modernist parlance – to catch the views while letting the outside flow in underneath, especially when the sliding doors are open. Deep overhangs and pergolas (and some strategically planted trees), particularly to the west, are precisely proportioned to keep the direct sun out in summer and let it in during winter.

In the Neutra tradition, the distinction between landscape and architecture is blurred; in some instances, the garden is quite literally invited in with built- in planters, notably in the entrance hall and on the terraces. Bettina says the home is designed to “embed itself ” in its setting. “It’s not a small house,” she adds, “but I wanted to move away from the current situation where many new homes are over-scaled.” There’s a cosiness and modesty in the proportions of even the grandest modernist buildings.“What I love about Modernism is how everything is ergonomically the correct size.”

She strove to recapture that sense of human scale and comfort here. The living area may be large and open-plan, but there are opportunities to be “apart together”. Built-in furnishings – from the breakfast nook in the kitchen to the benches, window seats, bookshelves and desks – not only reprise a classic feature of Mid-century design, but also deftly balance togetherness and privacy. Some other “typical Neutra tricks”, as Bettina calls them, include his trademark “displaced corners” – or, as she explains, the “idea of taking the structure from the inside through to the outside”. In the family room upstairs there’s a beam that starts inside and continues out onto the terrace, simultaneously framing the garden. In the same way, the fascia in the main bedroom extends beyond the edge of the overhang, leading the eye outwards to the view.

The interiors have a Mid-century flavour, with a twist. There’s lots of beautiful timber detailing, bespoke cabinetry by Wolfgang Kretschmer of Blackbird Interiors, and terrazzo floors (another favourite of the era), but in this instance with quartz and mother-of-pearl in the aggregate, so that they shimmer.“Much of the colour palette was drawn from the sunsets, which range from pink, light orange and purple to all the darker shades,” says Juandi.

Neutra was influenced by Japanese architecture, and Roland and Juandi travelled to Japan for inspiration, too. (The kimonos exhibited outside her studio are among her mementoes; Juandi is a fashion designer and her label, Mantua Silkwear, has a dedicated wing in the house.) The distinctive green is something they picked up there. “I tried to repeat that colour scheme in the garden,” says Juandi, “making use of various orange and purple plants, with grey plants in between.” She worked with landscape architect Vikki Crawley of Verdigris Consulting on the design of the garden.“We didn’t want the garden to be too formal,” she says. “We wanted it to hold the house loosely.”

Despite its strong Mid-century influences and its joyful homage to the likes of Neutra, this house remains highly personal. At the same time, it’s very much about conjuring a spirit of its place, doing what this kind of architecture does best: connecting people and place harmoniously, uniquely and with a sense of serenity | opencity.co.za.

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The official Art Route at the historic Stellenbosch wine farm and art benefactor Spier is open to the public to explore.

Art is as much a part of the Spier brand as its fine wines and delicious food, and about 3 200 artworks have been assembled by the Spier Arts Trust in a celebrated collection. At any given time, about 900 of these are on display at various indoor and outdoor locations around the estate, which have since been curated into a self-guided walking tour, with highlights that range from paintings and sculptures to mosaic and mixed media.

Mosaic Kraal: South Africa’s first permanent outdoor exhibition of mosaics features the work of 16 contemporary local artists, including Selvin November, Lindile Magunya and Pierre Fouché.

Collect your free, easy-to-navigate fold-out map from the hotel reception, the tasting room or one of the restaurants, and wend your way through the estate’s various buildings and outdoor spaces, exploring the wonderful array of contemporary South African art. With Spier a committed supporter of local art and artists, you can also find out how the Spier Artisan Apprenticeship Programme and Creative Block are providing career development opportunities for artists under the auspices of Spier’s Growing for Good initiative.

Songsmith (The Great Karoo) by artist Jenna Burchell. Medium Rock, metallic strips. Twelve ancient, fractured Karoo rocks, repaired in the Japanese kintsukuroi method, have been transformed into interactive sound sculptures.

For more information, visit spier.co.za.

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Over 50 artists from all around Africa will come together to showcase contemporary art at the inaugural Stellenbosch Triennale, running from 11 February to 30 April 2020.

Brainchild of the Stellenbosch Outdoor Sculpture Trust‘s Dr Mike Mavura, France Beyers, Michael van Wyk, Andi Norton and Elana Brundyn, the Stellenbosch Triennale is a non-commercial, multidisciplinary art platform set amidst the famed academia halls and historical vineyards of The Woodmill and its surrounding precinct that aims to make Stellenbosch a primary destination of multidisciplinary art in Africa.

“The Triennale turns Stellenbosch into a curated public laboratory for creative expressions and engagements in response to society’s questions now, then and there,” says says Dr Mike Mavura. “What kind of people do we want to be? What relations to nature do we cherish? What knowledge, and what technologies do we deem appropriate? What aesthetic values do we hold?”

The theme Tomorrow There Will Be More of Us informs seven multidisciplinary platforms to provide meeting points for engagement with the divided past, the collective present and imagined future.

Here’s what to expect:

The Curators’ Exhibition

Compiled by Chief Curator Khanyisile Mbongwa with Triennale co-curator Bernard Akoi-Jackson, this exhibition features works interpreting the theme by 20 artists from across Africa. Situated inside The Woodmill and on the surrounding precinct, this multidisciplinary art exhibition introduces visitors to the Triennale’s other exhibitions and installations.

The Curators’ Exhibition, Igshaan Adams, Threshold 2019.

On The Cusp

Curated by Dr Bernard Akoi-Jackson, On The Cusp is an exhibition of works by 10 young African artists. This exhibition focuses on young art practitioners that have proved themselves to be on the cusp of mastering their aesthetic, concepts and methods.

From The Vault

Forming part of the educational programme, From The Vault exhumes archives and historical acquisitions from Stellenbosch University and the University of Fort Hare to highlight buried museum collections’ functionality as integral resources for the contextualisation and mapping of contemporary society and culture. The curator’s statement asks, “What happens if we look at the vault through a speculative lens; if we suspend historical frameworks and adopt inter-subjective processes of meaning making? Can we speculate on Future history?”

Die Braak Pavilion

Gather at The Pavilion on Die Braak, a structure designed by award-winning architect Pieter Matthews, for informative talks, educational sessions and inspiring dialogue. The Pavilion itself will be an artwork, ephemeral in nature to highlight the ethos of the sponsor and curator while simultaneously speaking to social and environmental issues.

Concepts of Freedom Film Festival

Curated by Kenyan musician and filmmaker Silas Miami, Concepts of Freedom Film Festival will be shown throughout the town across indoor and outdoor venues. Divided into three parts: the visual art platform titled Concepts of Freedom — Film Meditation comprises retrospective work by two African contemporaries: Sunny Dolat and Athi-Patra Ruga; a feature films section consisting of six works; and a video art exhibition featuring the works of seven artists. Aspiring filmmakers, make sure not to miss workshops created specifically for you.

The Imaginarium

Accessed via the Triennale website, The Imaginarium is an online learning space that provides a supplementary, open-source (free) discovery/learning resource centre for learners of all ages.

Em-Bodied: Being & Becoming

Curated by Khanyisile Mbongwa, Bernard Akoi-Jackson and celebrated South African curator and choreographer Jay Pather, Em-Bodied: Being & Becoming uses location to create dialogue between history and architecture.

For more information, visit Stellenbosch Triennale’s website (stellenboschtriennale.com), or follow Stellenbosch Triennale on Twitter (@stbtriennale), Instagram (@stellenboschtriennale) and Facebook (@StellenboschTriennale).

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Tucked away in the rambling gardens of a centuries-old wine farm in the Cape are two sweet and unusual cottages that started life as grain silos before being reimagined by a resourceful young couple with a vision.

“Whenever I draw a circle I immediately want to step out of it.” These are the words of eccentric American architect and futurist Buckminster Fuller. It’s a statement that turned out to be oddly prophetic, because Fuller went on to design a series of loosely circular homes only to find nobody wanted them.

But it’s a good thing Alex and Sumari Milner didn’t feel the same way about the grain-silos-turned-stables that had settled into a state of disrepair just beyond their front door. Said front door is to their home in the old waenhuis (coach house) on the Milner family farm, Natte Valleij, in Klapmuts. Or it might never have occurred to them to transform the neglected little buildings into something so unexpectedly charming.

The couple turned their attention to the dilapidated old silos after renovating the waenhuis that became home to them and their two small boys, Henry (5) and Georgie (2).

Alex is the winemaker at Natte Valleij, home to the Milner family since his grandfather bought the place back in 1969. Originally a wine farm, it wasn’t suited to equestrian pursuits, so Alex’s granddad ripped out the vines to make way for paddocks – stud farming was his stock in trade.

“Back then the grounds were really neglected. My step-grandmother was a keen gardener and she created all this,” says Alex, gesturing at the ponds, pergolas and mature trees that create dappled light and secret spaces as far as the eye can see. It’s little wonder the garden has become a popular destination for weddings.

Architect Sam Muir from Minc Interior Architecture held her wedding on the farm and subsequently became firm friends with Alex and Sumari, which led to Sam designing their reimagined waenhuis.

“Our house,” says Alex, “is far from complete. It’s never-ending!” But by the time they were ready to turn their collective hand to the silos, the couple drew on the experience they had gained working with Sam to project-manage the revamp themselves.

Farmers, says Alex, don’t always consider design. “A lot of the buildings on the farm are almost a tapestry of additions as one family moved in and built on bits and bobs to serve their needs. Every dwelling adds to the story of the farm and those who have inhabited it over the years. “The problem,” he says, “is that when it came to the buildings the priority was functionality over design, which is why Sumari and I wanted to do up the silos nicely, adding value to the farm.”

Finding the right craftsmen to execute their plan for the silos could also have been tricky, but fortunately, they met a great carpenter and builder while working on the waenhuis. “Our carpenter literally drew on the wall where the staircase needed to go and our builder executed the plan,” says Alex.

All the wood used in the silos comes from a big stack of Oregon pine the couple had sourced and stashed before the time. “When you’re working with an older building, the more you can use from it the more sympathetic it’s going to be,” says Alex. They were determined to keep the silos as true to the original as possible.

“Looking out of the upstairs bedroom window makes you feel like you’re a child in a fairy tale,” says Sumari.

Mission accomplished then.

For more information, visit nattevalleij.co.za and simonsbergsilo.com.

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Mantua Silkwear scarves, which are locally crafted in Stellenbosch, aim to transcend trends, creating designs that are multifunctional, versatile and not limited to a particular season.

Owned by textile and clothing designer Juandi Andrag, the multi-purpose scarves are inspired by art and the way silk reacts against the skin.

“Mantua Silkwear is a South African clothing and luxury accessory range made exclusively from silk,” she explains, “Our unique scarves, distinct in-house prints and individually painted garments are second skins to slip on, breathe along and walk the way with.”

Each individual garment is either hand-painted and cut, or made from printed silk exclusively designed by Mantua. A variety of limited-edition runs are also produced regularly.

Shop online at mantua.co.za.

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The VISI Great Spaces Tour calendar for 2018 kicked off on Saturday 3 March with a visit to Kunjani! Wines in Stellenbosch.

Guests were warmly welcomed and hosted by co-owner Pia Watermeyer and her team. Designer Haldane Martin, who was responsible for the vibrant interiors, was on hand to give guests a detailed guided tour. The rest of the morning was spent enjoying the space and the dappled light of the balcony while feasting on the estate’s wines, cured meats and cheeses.

Browse the gallery above to see what went down and take a 360-degree tour of the space below.

Go to page 96 in the latest issue of VISI to read all about this incredible space. Keep an eye out here for news of upcoming VISI Great Spaces tours and how you can book your spot.

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The highly creative Littlegig festival is a mash-up of gourmet food and drink and a top-notch line-up of music, art, fashion, design and performances by some of the best in the industry.

Now in its third-year running, South Africa’s first all-inclusive 24-hour festival is back. Here are the ins and outs.

DARING DESIGN + AMAZING ART

At Littlegig, styling is taken seriously. So much so that all areas of the festival are designed under the creative direction of Bielle Bellingham, who is the former editor of Elle Decoration.

Design enthusiasts can look forward to architect and artist Sean and Justine Mahoney’s 6-metre metallic inflatable artwork for the island.

Up for a siesta like no other, or just looking to unwind? Try the Deep Sleep tent, in which you will lie suspended in a “cocoon” while listening to regenerative brainwave music. Talk about relaxation! There will be an installation by Rodan Kane Hart on the basketball court, too.

FINE FOOD + DELECTABLE DRINK

Gourmands would agree that this is possibly the best part of the festival: all food and drinks are included in ticket prices, except a select few premium alcohols and certain coffee brands. In terms of food, you can expect to tuck into the likes of mouth-watering wild mushroom kebabs, lamb riblets, Vietnamese crystal rolls and butter chicken – if you’re feeling spicy! These will be available from various food stations that can be found around the festival forest. Additional foodie experiences include a paired food and wine tasting (at an additional cost of R150) by six top local female chefs and winemakers including Ash Heeger x Nadia Newton Johnson and Vanie Padayachee x Jocelyn Wilson.

BANGING BEATS

Need to let your hair down? There will be six stellar music areas, featuring a diverse line-up of musicians and DJs. From The Forest Day Stage to The Night Stage starring live bands and electronic acts, you are sure to get your hips moving.

There will be a dancefloor at The Festival Fashion Concept Store where bubbles will be flowing. At the Island, DJs will be blasting tunes from various genres including funk, Latin, soul and sounds from the continent to cater to a wide range of tastes.

International acts include Stelth Ulvang. From local shores, you can expect performances by SAMA-award winning Black Motion and Johnny Cradle. 

PLEASURABLE PERFORMANCES

Apart from the music, this year’s line-up includes comedy, dance, performance and magic. The Night Stage will be opened by Dear Ribane, a sibling trio dubbed performance art pioneers. Guy Pratt, who is a comedian from London and Pink Floyd’s bassist, will have you in stitches.

The Littlegig 24-hour festival will take place between 17 – 18 February 2018 at Wiesenhof farm in Stellenbosch. Tickets are unfortunately sold out. Visit littlegig.co.za for more info.

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The taming of the wilderness in Dylan Lewis’ sculpture garden belies his wilderness within.

“I was gripped by a madness that has finally quietened down after 10 years.” Dylan Lewis looks out across the 7 hectares he has moulded into an undulating landscape that mirrors the contours of Stellenbosch Mountain towering above it. Dotting the garden are his sculptures of wild animals, shamanic shapes – some half- human, half-animal – and lately nudes too.

All he started out to do was level some ground where his children could play, but something happened when he first set eyes on the huge earthmover he’d hired. “When I saw the potential of what that machine could do, it gripped me. I spent almost two years with earth-moving equipment, these very large machines contouring the landscape, much as I would with the surface of a sculpture, using the same principles but on a much bigger scale. I developed a sign language with the operator and he became an extension of my hand.”

When Dylan had finished moving the earth around to please his sculptor’s eye, he had 7 hectares of bareness. Looking at this strange, wonderful Eden now, it is a surprise to learn that he never intended to make a garden. Equally surprising is his confession that he knows nothing of garden history, gardening or plants.

He called in the help of garden designer Franchesca Watson. She formulated some of the early ideas for planting and implemented the basic plan. Later, she put Dylan in touch with indigenous plant expert Fiona Powrie, a horticulturist at Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden for many years. “I would say, I want this kind of volume or this colour, and she would suggest a plant.

“It is not a linear Western garden imposed on the landscape. It is very organic, very natural. It could appear that nothing has changed here, that no work has been done, because it fits in with the natural order.”

Dylan describes the process as intuitive. “The garden seems to have tendencies towards the Japanese. I have always admired their gardens. Aesthetically there’s something that resonates with me – the distillation of nature to its essence, the contrast of textures.”

We pass a brass plate with a poem, The Rising by Ian McCallum, engraved on it. It talks of the reader’s soul one day raging about an unlived life. Surely this man whose creative expression is rewarded with acclaim is not guilty of a wasted life?

“From an emotional point of view it may appear that I live a congruent life,” Dylan says, “but it has not been easy. I grew up in a very conservative fundamentalist environment. I lived that fully until maybe my mid-30s. Holding myself was difficult. The rest of my life to date has been a response to that, an attempt to recapture an authentic life.”

For more information, visit dylanlewis.co.za. Visits to the Sculpture Garden are by appointment.

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On 9 September 2017, a sunny spring afternoon, guests joined VISI’s Editor-in-Chief Sumien Brink on the sold-out tour of Dylan Lewis’s Sculpture Garden in Stellenbosch.

After a glass of welcome bubbles, courtesy of Graham Beck, the tour got started in Dylan’s underground studio, a cavernous space filled with sculpture moulds and charcoal sketches.

The group then headed outdoors into the 7 hectare garden that Dylan describes as a “wilderness”.

Made up of over three kilometres of pathways, the garden is covered in indigenous flora and dotted with approximately 60 of Dylan’s sculptures, from his renowned works of animals and hybrids to his latest pieces focused on Rodin-inspired nudes.

The tour took readers through a large part of the garden, where Dylan talked guests through the meaning behind his works and how they fit into their natural surroundings.

Readers finished off the two-hour walk with a glass of Graham Beck Brut, home-made quiches and delicious macarons, before heading off with a goodie bag with the latest of issue of VISI and a bottle of Graham Beck Gorgeous.

Read all about this beautiful space on page 106 in the latest issue of VISI (VISI 91). You can also visit the garden yourself, by appointment only.

Go to dylanlewis.co.za for more information.

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Established in 2003 by world-renowned French winemaker Madame May de Lencquesaing, wine farm Glenelly has been revamped into a contemporary estate.

As you drive into Glenelly Estate, you’re struck by the sight of a rectangular building that seems to jut out of a slope as though it were a tunnel that might lead you beneath the vines and into the soil.

Its angular lines suggest it shouldn’t work, not here in the Greater Simonsberg region, where much of the architecture on the wine farms is steeped in Dutch culture. But then again, the owner of Glenelly, Madame May-Éliane de Lencquesaing, is no ordinary winemaker. The intrepid owner and managing director of iconic Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande in Bordeaux, France, for 30 years, she bought what was a fruit farm in Idas Valley in 2003 at the age of 78 to start a new venture.

Twelve years later, in June 2015, she – together with her grandsons Nicolas Bureau and Arthur de Lencquesaing, and winemaker Luke O’Cuinneagain – closed the farm to the public for renovations, which took nearly 18 months. Now fully refreshed, Glenelly has been reopened.

The contemporary vision suggested by the shape of the building has been taken inside, with a nod to May’s French heritage and her love for hand-blown glass, but more about that later.

Sandwiched between the tasting room above and the Glass Collection below is a restaurant, The Vine Bistro, which welcomes you into the state-of the-art winery. “We were looking for that French bistro feel,” says Luke, “hence the style of the tables, but we wanted to bring it back to a South African heritage so we sourced antique Cape furniture.”

The restaurant opens onto a patio with views of the vineyards, but first there is a transitional space between the interior and the patio differentiated with patterned floor tiles and cane chairs. And out on the deck are French-bistro-style tables and chairs. To the right of the patio is an area where guests can play pétanque, a form of boules.

A beautiful view of Simonsberg from Glenelly Winery.

The upstairs tasting area is split into three spaces: a private tasting room, a public tasting room, and a lounge and wine library. It’s a contemporary affair, with angular lines that reflect the building’s exterior. Large windows and glass doors that open onto the balcony afford guests near-panoramic views of the vineyards and mountain. The most impressive feature, however, is the custom-made granite bar. A great deal of granite was removed from the soil when vineyards were planted on the farm, so it was decided to crush some of the stone and incorporate it in the counter, giving guests a link to the soil.

Above the counter hang custom-made glass pendant lamps, reflecting May’s fascination with hand-blown glass. Her private collection is housed on the floor below the restaurant. Luke says the collection holds all sorts of glassware in different states, not just wine glasses, as some may expect. There are pieces that date back to 1 AD.

This is where Glenelly’s magic lies: in its interweaving of contemporary and antique, South African and French, a winery and a museum, New World and Old World. All these elements, even the most unexpected combinations, live together here in harmony.

For more information, visit glenellyestate.com.

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