The Monocle Minute
On Design

In our last design dispatch of the year, we learn the secrets of a Finnish furniture studio (pictured) known for its use of natural materials and visit a reimagining of a traditional Swiss chalet in the Alps. Plus: we meet an Edinburgh-based ceramicist in fine form and supply a timely recommendation for a cocktail shaker with which to ring in 2024. First, Nic Monisse weighs in on the previous 12 months – and the lessons that can be learned from a year well spent.

It’s hard to imagine a more archetypal version of Swiss childhood than the goings-on at Les Cabris chalet in the Alpine village of Leysin. Children run around with ski-goggle tan lines contouring their sunburnt faces, shouting to each other in German, English and French. With its black wood-panelled exterior and floor-to-ceiling windows, the zig-zagging structure of the chalet appears far too polished to be mostly frequented by schoolchildren but it was commissioned by Alain Moser, the managing director of Geneva-headquartered École Moser. He saw an opportunity to reimagine the traditional Swiss chalet from which many schools in Switzerland run sports programmes.

Geneva-based architecture studio Meier + Associés was tasked with creating a building that invites light and levity to the site. “One of our first priorities was to angle the building towards the view of the mountains,” says Ana-Inès Pepermans, the lead architect behind the 110-bed, 35-room structure replete with a large-scale kitchen and dining area, and plenty of communal spaces in which to gather and play. “The landscape, the snow, the changing seasons – these are all strengths that are particular to Switzerland,” she says. Another important emphasis for Moser and Pepermans was to make communal areas inviting and spacious for activities such as yoga, table tennis and chess, or for watching movies. The architect was also asked to include a climbing wall in the centre of the building for days when the weather won’t allow for skiing or hiking. “I was surprised when I saw the building for the first time because I was expecting a typically triangular chalet,” says ninth-grader Adrian. “But it’s modern and functions well. You can tell that the people who designed it thought of every detail.”
maa.ch; lescabris.ch

Ninety years on from when Alvar Aalto designed Stool 60, the three-legged bentwood perch remains an icon of Finnish design and a perennial bestseller for Artek. But the company, established in 1935, is today facing an issue that its founders hardly anticipated: in a country famous for being not much else but forest, the manufacturer of wooden furniture risks running out of raw material. In Finland, the demand for paper and cardboard far outstrips the furniture industry’s needs, and only one remaining sawmill still supplies the A-grade birch that Artek covets. “We don’t know whether, in 30 years, we’ll have enough quality wood,” says Marianne Goebl, Artek’s managing director. “How do we make sure that the next generation of Artek still has birch?”

To address the issue, Goebl invited Italian design studio Formafantasma to conduct an in-depth audit of Artek’s manufacturing process. The designers came up with a 29-point list of recommendations, including that the company stop discarding so much timber purely for visual “imperfections”. A Formafantasma-designed 90th-anniversary edition of the Stool 60, named Villi (Finnish for “wild”), shows imperfections such as knots from branches, insect trails and pieces of bark. The company plans to roll out the new standard across its product line. “Somehow our aesthetic perception has been trained over the years to think that a wooden product should look uniform,” says Goebl. “That is not what the forest produces.”

For more on the future of Finland’s furniture industry, pick up a copy of Monocle’s December/January issue.

Frances Priest is a Scottish artist, designer and maker, who produces ceramics that feature patterns of angular geometric shapes and bursts of colour. Priest’s approach to ornament and decoration has landed her work in the Victoria and Albert Museum and National Museum of Scotland. Here we talk to the Edinburgh-based creative about her love of pattern books (publications of architectural and craft designs, which can be readily replicated) and the process behind her most important public commission.

What inspires your work?
There’s one key book that I’ve had since my childhood called The Grammar of Ornament from 1856. It’s a compendium of patterns put together by architect and designer Owen Jones. Essentially it is a teaching manual in which Jones lays out examples of ornament and pattern from across the globe and from different periods in history. It was a real joy for me as a child. After university and some time abroad in Thailand and Japan, I reopened the book and embraced Jones’s love for ornament and pattern.

Ceramics is widely considered a decorative art. What drew you to the discipline?
I think of it as a very democratic thing. It is something we can all connect to, and something we all use in our daily lives. The choices we make about our homes or the choices we make about the things we wear – these decorative motifs and patterns accumulate meaning. They don’t exist in a vacuum because we all bring different associations to them. And, of course, they change and evolve over time. They are passed through the hands of different makers and designers, and are applied to different materials and processes. Pattern books also play a very important role as a means of recording ornament and pattern and disseminating them. People will pick them up and use them again. For me, my source is The Grammar of Ornament.

Is there one project that stands out for you from your career so far?
Yes, I once worked on a project called “The Tiled Corridor”. It was a large square scheme of tiling for a corridor at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital. I was asked to create informal wayfinding around the building and enhance it from a clinical setting to somewhere more comfortable and user-friendly. That was developed out of engaging with patients and staff. A lot of the feedback I received was that people wanted things that were bright and bold, colourful and uplifting. It was a great invitation to push and play with glaze colour.

For more from Frances Priest, tune in to ‘Monocle on Design’ on Monocle Radio.

Gio Ponti once described the designs of silversmith Lino Sabattini as “impeccable pieces giving satisfaction to my critical eye and the demands made by my judgment.” The phrase might not exactly fly off the tongue, but one look at the Windsor cocktail shaker makes Ponti’s intent clear. Designed in 1956 for French company Christofle, the silver-plated shaker cuts a dashing figure with straight angles and arching lines. In practical terms, it delivers all one expects from a cocktail shaker and more. It also came with two matching jars, presumably for storing drink garnishes such as lemon twists or juniper berries.

Sabattini had a long and successful career as a silversmith and worked in an atelier near Como until his death in 2016. Surveying today’s market for tipple mixers, one quickly starts to feel his absence. Most cocktail shakers are formed in the same industrial mould, lacking any of the verve that you would expect from the frequent centrepiece of a celebration. A reissue of the suave Windsor, with its design that revels in the spotlight, is high on our wish list this New Year’s Eve.

Created by Milanese designer Niccolò Devetag, Porada's Frida chair is made with rich canaletto walnut and draped in the Lake Como-based furniture brand’s fabric, exuding timeless elegance. Its mix of flat and curved surfaces means it can match the look and feel of many different spaces, fitting to the taste of its owner. The result? A seat that’s perfect for pulling up to a table set with a feast to celebrate the holidays.
porada.it

For a design-minded gift guide featuring a selection of furniture and homeware that will bring warmth and joy in the new year, pick up a copy of our winter newspaper, ‘Alpino’, today.

The glamorous black and white portraits found in Linda Evangelista Photographed by Steven Meisel are an inspiration. Over 230 pages and 180 images shot for various campaigns and covers, legendary photographer Steven Meisel’s first monograph pays homage to his 25-year collaboration with the 1990s supermodel. Since their meeting on a set for Vogue in the US, the duo have been at the heart of some of the most famous, and sometimes controversial, editorial spreads. On the covers of Vogue Italia under the direction of Franca Sozzani, Meisel reimagined Evangelista in myriad characters, from bejewelled and high-glam to grungy and edgy.

Published by Phaidon and art directed by Jason Duzansky, the book’s introduction is written by ex-Vogue editor William Norwich, who examines the pair’s friendship and how it has evolved since Meisel took his first photograph of Evangelista in 1987. This book is a testament to a unique time in fashion photography and the relationship between an artist and his muse.
phaidon.com