Origin fascinates me. It’s the first question that pops into my head when I see a new object – and that can be anything from a painting to a piece of furniture or architecture. What are its roots? What inspired or influenced its creator? I find myself instinctively wanting to understand the context of the object’s creation in order to better appreciate what I’m looking at. It speaks to a fundamental of the creative process too – the fact that we are all really building on what’s gone before. Nothing is profoundly and intrinsically original, but newness comes from adding a layer of your own creativity to an existing body of work.
And I guess that fascination plays out in a lot of the content we do in VISI. It’s why we publish series such as “The Influencers’ Influences”, “Building an Icon”, and the wonderful series Jo Buitendach has been doing on different materials – anything from breeze block to glass, plastic and, in this issue, metal (page 144). It’s also why we also regularly include sympathetically renovated period architectural examples among the homes that we feature.
What I hope all of them do is give context to, and a deeper appreciation of, the considered, clever and beautiful work our contemporary artists, designers and architects are presenting to the world. Plus, of course, it means VISI is more than just something with visual appeal – it’s an engrossing read too.
So for your reading pleasure, along with Jo’s piece mentioned above, learn about how Charles Correa and Ralph Erskine influenced award-winning South African architect Heather Dodd (page 50), get some insight into Tshwane’s majestic Mid-century jewel from Johan Swart (page 164), take in the early ’80s angles of a Pancho Guedes-designed home in Forest Town (page 90), and marvel at a Hans Hallen-designed Modernist masterpiece in Durban (page 78).
– Steve Smith, Editor | info@visi.co.za
Subscriptions
Want the print magazine?
Subscribe to VISI now and receive a 40% discount off your one-year print subscription. You’ll pay just R396 for six issues delivered directly to your post box. Use any of these methods to subscribe or renew your existing subscription:
- Call Media24 Subscriptions on 087 353 1300
- WhatsApp “VISI” to 087 353 1333
- Email subs@media24.com
Want the digital magazine?
If you prefer to read your favourite magazine in digital form, on your iPad, tablet or desktop computer, you can subscribe to the digital edition of VISI via the below websites. It will cost from as little as R225 for a one-year subscription – that’s a 50% discount on six issues.
Not sure where to find the magazine? Here is a list of stockists. You can also buy previous issues via shop.visi.co.za.
