The Monocle Minute
On Design

Not us, obviously, but British minimalist John Pawson. The architect (pictured, on right) tells our design editor that his work might not be minimal enough. Elsewhere, our design dispatch checks in at a smart seaside retreat in Greece, makes the case for reviving a forgotten lounge chair and plumbs the depths of Buenos Aires’s brutalist underbelly. Plus: the bright side of life with colour queen JJ Martin.

Greece doesn’t get much more picture-perfect than Pefkali. This idyllic stretch of the northern Peloponnese coastline is made up of rolling, pine-covered hillsides that spill into the crystalline waters of the Saronic Gulf. Artist Alexandros Ntouras spent his summers here as a child. Several years ago he decided to add new structures to the land that his family owns and open a duo of guest houses named Laspi. It was the first ever commission for Athenian architecture studio Askiseis Edafous, who were called upon to create the two properties. Their design involved slotting together vast slabs of raw concrete to create a Brutalist-inspired construction that juts precipitously from the hillside.

Making the most of the striking views afforded by the location was a priority for the architects, who fronted the property with floor-to-ceiling windows with panoramic vistas across the water. The interiors are Ntouras’s own work. His design carefully balances the stark concrete walls with warm, wooden surfaces, diaphanous curtains and plenty of leafy greenery. He also added his personal touch by creating custom lamps and hand-painted plates at Korkodilos, his ceramics studio in Athens. A rotating selection of photography, sculpture and paintings by other young Greek creatives is placed thoughtfully around the properties. The two residences are currently booked for most of the summer (if you’re lucky, you might just be able to nab a reservation). But it’s a situation that Ntouras is rectifying: work is set to begin on a third guesthouse later this year.
laspi.life

For more on Laspi and the work of Alexandros Ntouras, pick up a copy of our dedicated summer newspaper, ‘Monocle Mediterraneo’. It’s available online and at ‘periptero’ now.

Design fairs often allow brands to flex their creative muscles and come up with a showroom refit to impress visitors. These are usually temporary set-ups that are packed up as soon as an event ends. But Danish furniture firm Normann Copenhagen is extending the fun of the fair. Elements of Normann, a showroom configuration first seen at 3 Days of Design in June, will remain on display at the company’s flagship in the centre of the Danish capital until the end of the year.

The showcase gathers furniture that captures the core identity of the brand, with nods to the colours and materials that have inspired the company since 1999. Across the shop’s three floors and courtyard, old and new pieces – such as the Let wooden barstools and the playful Tube lounge chair – are arranged according to a theme. Elements of Normann also illustrates a sense of continuity in the brand’s output over the past 25 years. Luckily, we can continue to enjoy this design-minded effort even after the design-fair season ends.
normann-copenhagen.com

US-born, Milan-based JJ Martin is the founder of La DoubleJ. She established the lifestyle brand in 2015 after working as a journalist for two decades, with publications such as Harper’s Bazaar and Wall Street Journal. Initially, La DoubleJ sold vintage designer clothing and jewellery but it soon expanded into ready-to-wear and homeware defined by bright, bold and playful ceramics and textiles. Its newest collection celebrates the primordial power of the sun, making its wares a perfect fit for sunny summer homes. Martin tells us more.

Tell us about your approach to colour. How important is it to your work and life?
There isn’t a single white wall in my home, if that answers your question. As a child, I was always obsessed with colour, pattern and embellishment. I’ve never had a minimal phase, nor really followed any particular dress code. But there’s science behind it: there’s a correlation between the vibration of colour and the effects it can have on the brain, such as reducing anxiety. Colour is definitely something that I’m sensitive to and I’ve carried that into my work for La DoubleJ.

How would you identify the brand?
We have an American head on an Italian body. So there are elements of being demanding and disciplined but also delivering precision and perfectionism. The ideas can seem opposed sometimes. Living in San Francisco or New York is about being comfortable with things while constantly working at 6,000 miles per hour so it took a long time to programme myself to Italy’s rhythms. In the company’s early days, I realised that I was taking an American approach when I needed to build relationships with people by making friends and sharing meals together – the Italian way. That’s when a new form of creativity took over.

What influences do you draw on for La DoubleJ?
I like to bring spiritual topics into fashion and design conversations. The mission statement for La DoubleJ is to “raise your vibration”. This new collection was inspired directly by an amazing mosaic of the sun at Palazzo Belgioioso in Milan. I’m interested in the idea of the sun as masculine and the moon as feminine. I like to see how those energies work together.

For more interviews with top designers, tune in to ‘Monocle On Design’ on Monocle Radio.

The lounge chair has been produced in countless iterations – perhaps because it encourages relaxed contemplation. Well-known examples include the ultra-sleek LC4 by Le Corbusier and Charlotte Perriand, and the Corona chair by Danish designer Poul M Volther. But one of the under-appreciated masterpieces of the genre is Alejandro de la Sota’s contribution from 1961: Lounge Chair A. The Spanish architect came up with a chair made from two steel “forks”, which could be assembled in two ways, making either an upright chair or a more laid-back lounger. Finished in thick leather and rattan, the lounge chair ensured high comfort and style in either position.

Over a long career as an independent architect in Spain, the Galicia-born De la Sota had a habit, according to his son Juan, of “twisting a commission to make something more interesting”. That is evident in the Lounge Chair A, which De la Sota conceived after playing with two of his wife’s hairpins. Unfortunately, this ingenious design was never put into wider production. But, with the right manufacturer, it might still find its way into the pantheon of loungers – and onto sunny patios all over the world.

French architect Léa Namer first heard about Buenos Aires’s Sexto Pantéon from an Argentine friend. But when she asked others about the immense brutalist acropolis that hides 150,000 burial plots in the city’s underbelly, she was met mainly with blank expressions. The few who were familiar with it couldn’t understand why anyone would be so intrigued. So Namer began to investigate the monument – and the result is Chacarita Moderna.

Published by Paris-based Building Books, the book resurrects the reputation of Ítala Fulvia Villa, one of Argentina’s first female architects and urban planners, who designed the cemetery. Featuring original plans of the site, hauntingly beautiful photography and supplementary texts by Harvard professor Ana Maria León, the story of the Sexto Pantéon’s development is charted alongside the rise of modernism from the 1930s to the 1950s. Namer provides a thorough examination into an under-appreciated piece of underworld architecture.
buildingbooks.fr

Despite nearing 100 years old, artist and designer Odile Mir has, in the past couple of years, experienced something of a career revival. This is thanks to her granddaughter, interior designer Léonie Alma Mason, who is producing limited editions of designs that Mir conceived in the 1970s under the moniker Lomm Editions. Since 2021, Mason has partnered with French manufacturers to produce edited versions of Mir’s metal and leather wares, including a coffee table, magazine rack and footrest; a highlight of the collection is the Filo armchair in stainless steel and leather (pictured).

The latest Lomm Editions piece is a reissue of the Fil lounge chair as part of a special capsule collection called Prisunic 2023. First released in 1974, the chair has Mir’s signature tubular chrome frame and comes in two forms: a regular version and a corner seat. The new model, which was produced in a limited run of 240 editions, is being sold by supermarket chain Monoprix but, for Mason, the project has been far more than just a commercial exercise. “There are many ways to design and my grandmother’s is through intuition,” she says. “This self-made artist and designer never thinks too much when creating objects; she just makes them.”
lommeditions.com

For our full report on Lomm Editions, pick up a copy of Monocle’s‘Paris Edition’ newspaper, which is available online and at ‘kiosques’ now.