We take the mood at Mipim as interviewees vie for real estate on Monocle Radio

This week Monocle has been at Mipim, the world’s largest real-estate fair and urban festival, which takes place in Cannes. Inside the Palais des Festivals, the main exhibition space, we built a Monocle Radio studio, hosted a party and drank a lot of coffee. The interviews that we gathered are destined for our podcasts and the magazine. But here are a few other takes on a week in the south of France.

Don’t get too smug
Monocle will be 20 years old next year. We’ve come a long way over that time and at Mipim numerous readers and partners sought us out at the Monocle Radio pavilion to share their appreciation. But sometimes, even after all this time and even when you are standing under a large “Monocle” sign, there can still be some explaining to do. “How long have you worked at Monaco Magazine,” one nice man asks. “It’s not Monaco Magazine, it’s Monocle,” I say, carefully emphasising every syllable to avoid any more confusion. I point at our lovely signage to stress the difference. He computes the new information. “But do you live in Monte Carlo?” he asks, refusing to believe that he’s got this totally wrong. I give him a copy of the magazine. At least he didn’t ask if I worked at Manacle Magazine, the trade title for those employed in the incarceration industry.

Some people have it figured out
In 1987, Kjetil Thorsen co-founded Snøhetta in Oslo. Today this multi-disciplinary design and architecture practice has more than 300 staff, allowing it to take on big projects around the world but still hold on to a studio ethos. Thorsen came in for an interview to talk about his work on a project in Turkey where, as always, he is being sensitive about sustainability. He’s a mountain of a man, gives a fantastic handshake and talks in a considered tone that would make him ordering toast sound enthralling and important. I could have spoken to him all day because he’s also figured out what he enjoys about his work, where the red lines are and what society needs from architecture. He’s a walking wisdom machine. I have added a note to my to-do list: “Find inner sage, practice handshake”.

Guest guessing
Honestly, I do listen to what they are saying with intent but when you are stood at the mics, your guest just a couple of feet in front of you, you do find yourself scanning their outfits, noting their body language (you can tell in seconds who will immediately engage with you, who is nervous or fears saying a single word that might play out badly with their electorate). It usually works out. The man who undoubtedly rocked the sharpest look was Manfredi Catella, CEO and chairman of real-estate company Coima. It was a wide-shouldered affair that had an air of a 1980s Armani number. The tie, the shirt, the slick grey hair – all so right. You’d buy anything from him. So that’s another one for the to-do list: “Buy an adventurous suit.”

Guest booking is an art form
And that’s why, at Mipim, I leave running the interview schedule to Carlota Rebelo, Monocle Radio’s executive producer. Everyone knows that she’s the gatekeeper and is not to be messed with. And anyway, the only person to corner me about getting someone on the schedule was a gentleman who wanted to know whether we’d like an interview with Miss Poland, who was in town to promote her nation’s real-estate offering. Fearing muddling Carlota’s planning, I declined. In the end, Carlota managed to secure 42 interviews with city leaders, famous architects and powerful developers. But she did come up short on the beauty queens.

That’s a wrap
By the time it came to pack up our stand (to be honest, that’s also not me but our wonderful engineer David Stevens), we had met players in the industry from Saudi Arabia and Florida, and been briefed on projects, politics and the players to watch. And I had also set one man right about my lack of Monaco media connections. 

To read more columns by Andrew Tuck, click here. And to hear from just some of the people that we met at Mipim, listen to this week’s episode of ‘The Urbanist’ – the first of a two-part special from Cannes.