The Monocle Minute
On Design

We’re in Sydney this week and that means doing as the Sydneysiders do: enjoying a flat white and a pastry at Lune’s new flagship croissanterie. Then it’s off to the snowier climes of Savoie where the Experimental Chalet Val d’Isère riffs on French Alpine traditions. Along the way we stop in for a chat with Paris-based sculpturist Mathias Kiss and bask in the glow of Carl Hansen & Søn’s Tulip pendant lamp. But our journey begins in Malta with Monocle’s design editor, Nic Monisse.

On a recent reporting trip to Valletta, the Maltese capital, I peered out from my hotel terrace and spotted a stunning penthouse apartment with a verdant garden. After fantasising about it over a couple glasses of bajtra (Malta’s prickly-pear liqueur), I went down to street level and rang the apartment’s doorbell, hoping to invite myself in for a snoop. Lo and behold, it worked. Architect Chris Briffa has his office on the ground floor of the building and lives on the upper levels; he turned out to be the designer of the stunning Valletta Vintage that I was staying in too. I was soon invited for dinner and introduced to journalist Ann Dingli, who ended up writing a story on his home for Monocle’s February issue.

During the meal (and in further interviews with Dingli), Briffa said that he was a bachelor when he bought the building in 2014. Nonetheless, he decided to turn it into a seven-storey office and family home, not knowing that he would soon meet his future wife, Hanna, with whom he now has three children. “I sincerely believe that you can set an intention with the kind of house that you choose to live in – so if you want to be a bachelor, you live in a flat with a bath in the middle of the living room,” Briffa tells The Monocle Minute on Design, referring to the studio apartment that he lived in when he first moved to Valletta in his twenties. “But if you’re living in a house with three bedrooms and space for a family, you might just start one.”

That shouldn’t come as a surprise. Scientists (and savvy architects) have known for years that there is a direct link between our environment and our moods, emotions and lifestyles. Studies have shown, for instance, that people respond more positively to a building façade that has complexity and interest built into it than to simple and monotonous structures. Buildings are more than just bricks and mortar. They’re places that can shape how we feel and, by extension, who we are. You only have to look at Briffa and the family who came along after he built a space for them. And if you want more proof, perhaps it’s worth noting that if I hadn’t been staying in such a wonderful apartment with a terrace that was so conducive to an afternoon drink, I might not have summoned the Dutch courage to knock on his door and hear his remarkable story.

Nic Monisse is Monocle’s design editor. For more on Briffa’s home, Casa Bottega, see ‘In the Picture’ below, and pick up a copy of Monocle’sFebruary issue, on newsstands now.

Australian bakery Lune’s new flagship in Sydney’s Rosebery Engine Yards brings a fresh approach to an industrial heritage space. Designed by Melbourne-based studio In Addition, it feels contemporary despite its location in a century-old building, while preserving features such as the site’s original columns, brass surfaces and brick walls. “It was an opportunity to craft the next chapter in Lune’s story – by embracing the past, present and future,” says Ćalić McLean, In Addition’s director.

The designers drew inspiration from diagrams of falling stars and the Earth’s motion – think blackened steel, concrete and pin lights. The interior is clad with sleek banquettes and has an open kitchen; Lune’s signature croissants (which take three days to make) are displayed on its black walls. It’s a space that invites guests to linger as they indulge in a puffy pastry with a flat white – every Sydneysider’s favourite pastime.
lunecroissanterie.com

“I’ve always enjoyed thinking about the narratives around projects,” says Chzon’s founder, Dorothée Meilichzon. “Who will sleep in this hotel? What’s the story of the building and the neighbourhood? How do we incorporate it?” The Paris-based practice works exclusively in hospitality design and recently completed the Experimental Chalet Val d’Isère in the French Alps. Meilichzon personally oversees the furniture for every space, allowing her to develop interiors with a unique character that’s distinctly Chzon.

For the Experimental Chalet, locally sourced pine and wool were used to make traditional Savoyard chests and textiles. Other elements playfully riff on the region’s symbols, including crests featuring the Val d’Isère eagle and door handles in the shape of branches. The hotel has two restaurants and a lobby lounge, which means that guests will always be able to find somewhere to get a drink or a hearty meal, whether they’re early risers keen to make first tracks or more inclined to indulge in après-ski activities. “I want everyone who walks into one of our rooms to feel at ease and see that we’ve thought of every detail,” says Meilichzon.
chzon.com

For more on Chzon’s work and other studios specialising in hospitality, pick up a copy of Monocle’s‘The Escapist’, on newsstands now.

Paris-based artist Mathias Kiss recently collaborated with French silverware house Christofle on Perspectives, a collection of sculptural pieces (including candleholders and a vase) inspired by the classical mouldings of French decorative design. Here we talk to Kiss about his journey from high-school drop-out to in-demand artist and consider whether beauty is functional.

Tell us about your artistic background.
I turned being a dunce into a career. I left school when I was 14 and became a tradesman, painting corridors in prisons. Then I joined a team that restored old buildings, including the Louvre, the Comédie-Française and the Palais Garnier, as well as ministries and embassies. I specialised in gilding, decorative arts, ceiling restoration, wood and marble. But I wanted to break free from all of that. My goal is to create excitement around French classicism. I want children to think that my work is playful and happy rather than dusty and boring. But I would also like older generations to see it and say, ‘Wow, that’s beautiful.’ The decorative arts can be old-school but I’m an artist from an artisanal background.

How did your collaboration with Christofle come about?
Christofle saw that my sculptures were in the decorative-arts style and had a radical side to them. The company is classically French but it also feels as though it could be from New York – it’s energetic and a little bit art deco. The collaboration is perfect because it’s sexy and experimental, while focusing on heritage. I put a candle inside one of my sculptures, which made it functional. I was happy about this because I don’t usually care about function.

Is beauty not functional?
It can be but I prefer poetry over straightforward function. I would always choose a pair of uncomfortable but attractive shoes over a merely comfortable pair. I’m interested in sincerity and challenging conventions. I made a career from my shortcomings. It’s the child in me that keeps me spontaneous, pure and innocent.
christofle.com; mathiaskiss.com

For more from designers such as Kiss, tune in to ‘Monocle on Design’ on Monocle Radio.

It can seem that every day brings a new, hair-raising advancement in robotics: think Spot, Boston Dynamics’ four-legged dancing robot, or Tesla’s Optimus, a humanoid machine that can wash dishes. But before these science-fiction-esque feats of artificial intelligence, there was Aibo. The world’s first robotic pet, invented by Japanese electronics manufacturer Sony, was an unthreatening puppy that harnessed AI to learn wholesome tricks including sit, roll and give a high five.

Aibo began as a research project at Sony but the pup behaved so well that it was launched as a commercial product in 1999. It was an immediate hit: the first edition sold out in 20 minutes, while the second litter found owners in just 17 seconds. Aibo, which remains in production, is able to master an impressive number of tricks without ever needing to be fed or taken out for a walk. Call us old-fashioned but we’d rather have a robot dog traipsing around the house than a metal-and-plastic humanoid toiling at the kitchen sink.

Much like the sight of tulips finally on sale after a long winter, Carl Hansen & Søn’s Tulip pendant lamp will spark joy when it’s released in March. The Danish design firm has been furnishing European homes and institutions with light, modern design for three generations.

Created in 2022 by Danish designer Marianne Tuxen for the Pompeii Hall in Copenhagen’s Carlsberg Academy, this opaque-glass pendant light dangles in space, evoking the head of a white tulip on the end of a slender stem. The warm glow that filters through the lampshade’s opaque glass softens the lamp’s clean lines, adding to its charm. We can already picture it gently lighting up a bouquet of fresh-cut tulips in the centre of our kitchen table.
carlhansen.com

When you’re an architect, designing your own home can be one of the most daunting tasks. “You have more doubts about a project for yourself because the possibilities are endless,” says Maltese architect Chris Briffa. “But there’s a constant refining of decisions as a result and the biggest leaps are taken.” It’s these leaps that have been chronicled in a new book about Briffa’s home, Casa Bottega, by writer Ann Dingli. Titled Before, During and After Us, it documents Briffa’s transformation of a once-abandoned townhouse in Valletta into seven floors of living and working space.

Limited to a run of 350 copies, the book touches on the history of St Paul Street, where the home stands and which is defined by timber-fronted shop façades and limestone townhouses. It also traces the evolution of Briffa’s practice and explores how his appreciation for craft was shaped by his father’s carpentry workshop. The result is a book that’s as much about an architect’s process as it is a story about his family and the building that they call home.
chrisbriffa.com