Read - Seasons of Living

CONTENTS
SEASONSGREETINGS
№
4
SEASONSPHERE
Seasons took part in
Thailand’s first Hotel Art Fair.
SEASONSQUARE
6
Tasty trench sandwiches at
Triplets Brasserie.
SEASONSESSENCE
10
SEASONSTRENDS
24
Saladaeng Residences’
managing director’s ideas of home.
Step into the sentimental and
comfortable atmosphere of BAXTER’s
new collection.
SEASONSPORTRAIT
28
The man behind Iron Fairies
and Mr. Jones’ Orphanage Milk Bar
has turned an underground bank vault into an
exciting new nightclub.
SEASONSICON
A warm welcome to the third issue of SEASONEWS. In this issue we
explore the meaning of sentimental affections toward people, things,
places, literature, music, art, fashion, food—anything that one holds
dear beyond its physical and economic value. Sentimental value can
be in all things, old and new, then and now, budget or luxurious, even
in ideologies. What matters is the way in which those things comfort
and inspire us, how they give us reasons to view life as worthwhile and
rewarding.
I find sentimental value in the intangible. The most important
and dearest things to me can’t simply be bought with money but
they are not entirely free either because one has to work hard to earn
them. I’m talking about the quintessential things that give meanings
and purposes to my life such as quality time with family, trusting
friendships, good health, a peaceful mind and the freedom to express.
This realization gives me a deeper sense of purpose in life. The guests we visit and interview in this issue certainly have
their own interpretations of sentimental value, but I feel that they all
agree about one thing: it’s what keeps them going and reassures them
that there is meaning in what they do, for themselves as well as for
others. We do not contribute to society equally, but as long as we have
passion in what we do I believe that everyone benefits from it one way
or another.
A great city is built by people with great passion and the
individuals we proudly introduce in this issue play a part in transforming
Bangkok into a great place. We all know there’s still a lot to be done,
but these creative and passionate people are leading us in a fresh
direction.
We also pay tribute to the great French designer Andrée
Putman who passed away in January. She said this in an online interview
in 2003*: “I’ve always worked with the idea of making beautiful things
accessible to everyone. I disliked the image of luxury linked to money
and arrogance.”
Putman’s words echo what we try to express in this issue nicely.
For me, the meaning of sentimental value essentially is beauty, and
when beauty is felt I believe that it becomes accessible to everyone.
30
Andrée Putman may no longer
be with us, but her legacy lives on in her art.
ONNALIN LOJANAGOSIN
Director
Lotus Home Design Co., Ltd. (Seasons)
Lotus Home Design Co., Ltd. (SEASONS)
342/1-2 Soi Ekkamai 20, Sukhumvit 63 Rd.
Wattana, Bangkok 10110 Thailand
T (+66) 2 715 0845 F (+66) 2 715 0844
www.seasonsofliving.com
*From the website www.designboom.com
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SEASONSPHERE
SEASONSPHERE
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Ma Du Art
at MA DU ZI
HOTEL ART FAIR NO.1
Seasons took part in Thailand’s first
Hotel Art Fair at Maduzi from February
16-17, 2013. We’re happy to report
that the event was a great success.
Kudos to Farmgroup, Maduzi Hotel
and all participants, especially the
visitors and supporters of this exciting
new art activity in our city.
“Maduzi Hotel Art fair” was a project created by Farmgroup
Company Limited, a creative and design consultancy based in
Bangkok. The purpose of the Hotel Art fair was to gather top galleries
in Thailand and provide an opportunity for them to showcase their
collections, broaden their audience and allow the public to view the
artworks in a comfortable and relaxing atmosphere.
Twelve rooms were assigned to galleries to showcase their artworks
- C.A.P Studio, H Gallery, Hof Art, Numthong Gallery, Seasons of Living,
Serindia Gallery, Thavibu Gallery, Artery Gallery, Whitespace Gallery,
Lunarverb and Anon Pairot Studio.
Two floors of the luxurious boutique hotel in central Bangkok were
transformed into 12 galleries from Bangkok and Chiang Mai, which
showcased their art collections in each room with their own theme.
The exhibition was highlighted by two “Celebrity Galleries”, the first
curated by Dr. Disaphol Chansiri, the renowned private art collector,
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and the second by the popular designer couple Atichai and Bhumichitr
Poshyanonda (known as Pip & Duang). An exciting addition to the
Maduzi Hotel Art Fair was the creation of a completely original series by
one of Thailand’s leading product designer, Anon Pairot.
The two-day event with the pre-opening on February 15th for VIPs
and press aimed to bring in a new angle to the art scene in Bangkok. By
having different galleries exhibit in the relaxed setting of the luxurious
hotel, the Maduzi Hotel Art Fair provided collectors and art lovers with
a great opportunity to view and appreciate various forms of South-East
Asian art, while at the same time offering galleries a new channel to
promote and sell their wares. Add in good music, fabulous décor and a
youthful party atmosphere, Maduzi Hotel Art Fair was a great place for
youngsters and art appreciation newcomers alike to gain more access to
the art experience.
5
01. Laleli Camii, Istanbul 2010/2010 Limited Edition
02. Taya Rogers / Model, Actress
03. Sririta Jensen / Model, Actress
04. Left : Countenance, 2011/2011 Limited Edition, By Erin Cone
Right : Composure, 2009/2011 Limited Edition, By Erin Cone
05. Dressing Table Corner by Seasons
06. Rockefeller Center and Yellow Cab 2010 Ofen Edition by Thomas Splietker
07. Sririta Jensen / Model, Actress With Rose Marie 2 2003/2009
Limited Edition By Wolfgang Joop
08. Left : White Deers # 1-2009/2010 Limited Edition, By Frank Stoeckel
Right : African Antoinette 2010/2011 Limited Edition, By Olaf Hajek
09. “Panello Testa Lux Giallo-Ponpon Viola” C489507
SEASONSQUARE
SEASONSQUARE
Three’s Company
The Secret Garden
Triple Sandwiches
at Triplets Brasserie
Barovier&Toso’s Blown
Glass in an Installation by
Paola Navone Inlaid Marble
CITCO Interpreted by
Zaha Hadid Architects.
Khun Nateampai
Literally tucked away behind LUXX XL Hotel on
Langsuan, the French cuisine-inspired Triplets
Brasserie feels like a secret that’s too good to
be kept.
“French food usually has a salty flavour. Our food is more
mixed. It’s not particularly French,Western or Thai. It’s just what we
think is delicious and healthy,” says Nateampai, who grew up with
her grandma’s Thai cooking.
Recommendation of the day is Mushroom Pork sandwich —
the pork roast, mushroom, and lettuce come on top of trenchers,
the “medieval” bread, in the manner originally served during the
Middle Ages. The pork is sliced so thin and it feels so soft it may melt
in your mouth. The mushroom on top goes very well with the sweet
mustard-spread trenchers underneath. The Chicken & Pesto and the
Phillipe (roast beef, onion, bell pepper) sanwiches are also available
and equally tasty.
“When everything is fresh, it’s tasty. I don’t understand how
people can cook food that’s not delicious. If you use good, fresh
ingredients everything takes care of itself.”
The bright atmosphere and cozy outdoor garden setting immediately
make visitors feel right at home, or at a good friend’s home. The food
too gives off a home-cooked impression, but with a touch and taste
of lavishness. As co-owner and executive chef Nateampai Sarakosass
says, “It’s a relaxed and casual setting that serves hotel-quality food.”
Khun Nateampai and her partner Kanita Tungworapotwitan
decided on this location partly because they were looking for a
comfortable place to run a restaurant as well as spend quality
time with Barbie, their white poodle, hence the name “Triplets”.
Everything is done out of passion, the result of a long search for the
meaning of a good life.
While taking inspiration from traditional French cooking, the
ingredients used at Triplets are 85% local and the general taste of the
food is intentionally “not very French”.
Triplets Brasserie is behind LUXX XL Hotel, opposite Langsuan Soi 6
Open Tue-Sun, lunch 11.00-14.00, dinner 18.00-22.00
For reservation call 02-684-1684, 081-833-6096
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The Orto Botanico (Botanical Garden) in Brera is a pleasant spot,
largely unknown, in the heart of Milan—a silent green area enclosed
by patrician residences and, on one side, by the Brera Accademia
Art Museum. It is here that Barovier&Toso and Citco have decided to
present The Secret Garden, a display event in which each can convey
their particular specialities, one in the blowing of glass to make
lighting installations and chandeliers, the other in the production of
inlaid marble for surfaces, walls and floors.
Brought together by similar approaches—closer to top
artistic craftsmanship than to production-line industry—they have
involved two great masters of design and architecture to give shape
to a project of senses and emotions: Paola Navone for Barovier&Toso
and Zaha Hadid Architects for Citco. Each has been asked to create
and produce an installation which shows the demanding international
audience at the Salone del Mobile the mastery of the two companies
in creating products of extraordinary beauty.
In Paola Navone’s project, chandeliers in traditional Murano
blown glass, enhanced with refined colors, are placed inside large
“nests” interwoven with hazelnut trees, spread on the lawn or hung
from the trees. Around 15,000 have been required, the result of felling
diseased trees, with the aim of reinvigorating the plants. The nests
hide and protect the chandeliers, inviting visitors to have a curious
peek between branches and gaps. It is a strong visual impact that
well represents the magic that a Barovier&Toso chandelier gives to a
space, either in a nest or in a domestic room.
Large nests of different shapes.
Resting on the ground or floating in the air.
To be searched for amongst the trees.
To be discovered in the garden.
To be touched.
To get close to so as to have a look inside.
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SEASONSESSENCE
At Home With
Art and Nature:
Saladaeng Residences, a sleek, modern condominium, manages
to stand out and make a unique statement in this landscape with
its relaxed and tranquil yet meticulous and classy atmosphere; a
harmony of luxury and comfort.
It’s no surprise that Khun Chotipol Techakraisri, president of
PACE Development, the company behind such outstanding properties
as MahaNakon and the Ritz-Carlton Residences, is passionate, not
only about good design and top quality materials, but also about
making sure the living experience at Saladaeng Residences feels as
close to being at home as possible, though he freely admits it’s not
an easy task.
“I used to live at home but now I live here with my wife and
two children. Of course living in a condo is not the same as living in a
house, but that is our challenge. We aim to ultimately make the living
at our condos feel as close to being at home as possible.”
As a student, Khun Chotipol spent 10 years in Seattle and it
was there that the love of the outdoor life took root in him.
“It wasn’t like that from the beginning. During the first few
years I just wanted to come home as much or as soon as I could.
But over time the Seattle lifestyle grew on me. I didn’t know what
nature was until I started to feel it for myself in Seattle, where people
actually lived among it. It was always easy to go sailing, swimming in
the lake, hiking or snowboarding in the winter. The lifestyle there was
totally different from being in other big cities like Boston or New York,
where a lot of Thais went to study. At least during my time, downtown
Seattle didn’t even have brand name shops. It was not a materialistic
lifestyle and I came to appreciate it very much. Unfortunately, when I
returned to Bangkok I rarely had the opportunity to live the way I did
in Seattle anymore, but now the urge to be in nature is always there.”
Contemporary art is another interest that came to him
unintentionally. While backpacking in Europe with a friend years
The Passions of
Chotipol Techakraisri
Saladaeng, a long-time landmark “soi”
in downtown Bangkok, is a quaint
neighborhood. It connects Silom and
Sathon roads and offers everything
from cheap and delicious street food to
luxurious Hotels and fine European cuisine.
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SEASONSESSENCE
ago, Khun Chotipol visited various art museums merely because the
guidebooks told him to do so, but eventually it became something
he yearned for and made sure to put high up on his to-do list on
every trip.
“At first I looked at everything, all the important, classic, mustsee masterpieces. But the more I knew about art the more specific
my interest became. Now I enjoy mostly contemporary art because
I feel there are many kinds of works I haven’t explored. Whenever I
get a chance to go abroad and be in a city with an active art scene I
would visit contemporary art museums and galleries and learn new
things.” The Tadao Ando-designed 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT in Tokyo
and the Fundació Joan Miró in Barcelona are among his favorite art
spots.
The interest in art and the love of nature will soon be
incorporated into his company’s projects, the art at MahaNakorn and
the nature at a new project in Hua Hin, proving that work truly comes
out of his personal passions. Both tasks are promised to be fresh and
“never before seen in Thailand.”
Khun Chotipol and his brother Sorapoj are also responsible
for bringing the legendary New York City gourmet food shop and
cafe Dean & DeLuca to Bangkok.
“It’s all part of our aspiration to make Bangkok a more
interesting, more vibrant, more livable city. For too long people living
here didn’t have options. There were too many shopping malls and
very little else to do for leisure or cultural fulfillment. It was the same
with art. There just wasn’t a lot of it. But now people seem to be
ready for quality, for variety, for new things. And in our own modest
way, we hope to contribute and offer those new options to people.”
“It’s all part of our aspiration
to make Bangkok a more
interesting, more vibrant,
more livable city.”
Saladaeng Residences
Sales Gallery
29, Saladaeng Soi 1
(Between Tisco Bank and Siri Sathorn Serviced Apartment)
Silom, Bangrak, Bangkok 10500
Tel : 66(0) 2 163-2112
Fax : 66(0) 2 163-2111
Email: info@saladaengresidences.com
http://www.saladaengresidences.com
Panyaporn Suksatit
Mobile : 66(0) 89 050-1010
9:30AM - 6:30PM
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SEASONSESSENCE
SEASONSESSENCE
Recipient of the 2009 S.E.A. Write award, for
his novel Lublae, Kaengkoy, Uthis Haemamool
is also something of a beer expert. It all started
a few years ago, when his wife gave him the 1001
Beers You Must Taste Before You Die book, along
with a basket of various exotic beers as a gift. Since
then, his new found passion grew gradually, from
trying different imported beers available at Villa
supermarket to ordering his own beers directly
from distributors; from collecting only beer caps as
souvenirs to collecting the bottles. He used to buy
shelves for his books, now he’s thinking of having
shelves custom-made for the beer bottles too. It’s
a hobby that’s become as serious as his profession.
“People mostly drink mass-produced
beers and are unaware that beers are just as
various, as much fun to explore, and some are even
more expensive than wine. Mass-produced beers
are cheap, but really good beers are not. People
also think of beer as a light alcoholic beverage, but
some contain as much as 40% alcohol by volume.
So a glass of beer can get you very very drunk, if
that’s what you’re after.”
In recent years, thanks to experiments to
create fresh products by a number of American
breweries and a growing interest among the general
public, a new wave of beer-drinking culture has
emerged worldwide. In Bangkok, many new beer
bars have popped up in all kinds of neighborhoods.
When not writing, Khun Uthis enjoys visiting these
spots to try out new tastes, or simply enjoy his
favorites, such as the Japanese Tokyo Black (YoHo Brewing Company), the American Arrogant
Bastard Ale (Stone Brewing Company), and the
taste of India Pale Ale in general. Khun Uthis has
consulted and utilized his 1001 Beers book very
well, resulting in over a hundred blue and pink
Post-it strips sticking out from the pages. That
means he’s already accomplished more than 10%
of the challenge!
How does his passion for beer relate to
being a writer? Easy, he’s planning to write a book
on beer. Such a happy ending.
Khun Uthis has just finished a new novel, Juti. It will likely
be serialized in a magazine sometime this year.
Writer’s
Brew
Uthis
Haemamool
The Objects
The legendary American record label Blue
Note Records was established by a German
jazz fanatic (Alfred Lion), a communist writer
(Max Margulis) and a German photographer
(Francis Wolff) in New York in 1939. Blue Note
gave modern jazz its cool and iconic image that
fans, as well as casual listeners, now associate with
the great American musical tradition. It helped to
transform jazz into style and a way of life.
Taksila Chatrakeaw, editor in chief of
MBA magazine, understood the significance of
Blue Note soon after he began collecting their
records. Growing up listening to classical music,
Khun Taksila’s encounter with jazz was somewhat
of an eye-opening (or ear-opening) experience, a
turning point in his perception of music.
“The jazz that Blue Note produced in
the 1950s-60s was called Hard Bop. It was not
like any kind of music because it was created for
the moment and never repeated again. It was
about improvisation, about chemistry between
the musicians who played together at the specific
session.”
Khun Taksila used to own original Blue
Note records that auctioned for over 100,000 baht
a piece, but it was the stories behind them that
kept him fascinated with his hobby. He has sold
most of the profitable titles but kept the ones that
of Their
were valuable to him in a different way.
“I read the biography of Miles Davis and
was very impressed with his creativity. When I
learned more about jazz history and the anecdotes
about each important record it made the collecting
much more interesting. During the 10 years I
collected records I went all over the world looking
for them. The best place to visit when it comes to
jazz is of course America, but Japan is also exciting
because the Japanese are just fanatical about
the genre also. Many of the special editions or
remixes that came out later were produced by the
Japanese.”
Khun Taksila’s living room is nothing less
than a small museum of impressive collectable
items, not only of jazz records but also of first
edition books of classic literature and top equality
audio equipment. He is literally surrounded by
history, and some of these recorded memories are
in almost the exact condition as they were when
they were produced.
“Yes, these items have auction value as
objects, but not because of their materials. They
are works of art, intellect and craftsmanship. They
also convey stories, memories, moments that
came and went. That’s what I find special about
them. What interests me is the source of people’s
creativity. I wonder where it comes from.”
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Desire
For the
Records
Taksila
Chatrakeaw
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LIVING ATMOSPHERE
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Floor of The Ocean
01. LEATHER : Fashion Silver - Baxter
02. WOOD : White Ral 9016 - Casamilano
03. LEATHER : Plume Glace - Baxter
04. MARBLE : Calacattaoro - Casamilano
05. WOOD : American Walnut - Molteni&C
06. GLASS : Chalk White Etched Glass - Molteni&C
07. TWISTED VISCOSE : ARSC119 - Seasons
08. LEATHER : Velvet Blue - Baxter
09. GLASS : IC-Grey Murano Glass - Barovier&Toso
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01. Spiral SP3 / Verpan 02. JJ / Baxter 03. Samurai 5320 / Vibia 04. L’Antipatico Cushion / IL Fumo fa Male Cushion / La Serratura Cushion / Fornasetti
O
O
05. 35 / Tavolino, 60 / Consolle / Molteni&C 06. Samurai 7052 / Barovier&Toso 07. Alfred - Special Edition Trench / Baxter 08. Berlino / Baxter 09. Lara 5568 / Barovier&Toso
10. Ranround 7177 / 12 / Barovier&Toso 11. Onion / Verpan 12. Brest / Baxter 13. 909 / Molteni&C 14.Houston / Baxter 15. Paris Bed / Baxter
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LIVING ATMOSPHERE
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Ground of The Earth
01. CLINT RABBIT FLUR : Ivano Ridelli
02. WOOD : Brown Oak - Mobilidea
03. MARBLE : Monaco Light - Casamilano
04. WOOD : Wenge - Molteni&C
05. WOOD : Oak Stained to Ebony - Casamilano
06. LEATHER : Extra Brown - Baxter
07. LEATHER : Plume Glace - Baxter
08. LEATHER : Plume Gris - Baxter
09. GLASS : Aubergine Etched Glass - Molteni&C
10. TWISTED VISCOSE : 57 Brown - Seasons
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01. Fun 5 DM / Verpan 02. Colimacon 7206 / Barovier & Toso 03. White Deers#1, 2009 / Limited Edition No.5 Outaf 150
04. 3030 / Molteni&C
05. Sara 5574 / Barovier & Toso
06. Stoccolma / Baxter 07. Spiral - Sp 01 / Verpan 08. Charlottel / Baxter 09. Monsieur / Baxter 10. Montreal / Baxter
11. Nepal / Baxter 12. Diadema / Baxter 13. Bourgeois / Baxter 14.Glamour Bed / Ivano Redaelli 15. Clid Side Tabal / Ivano Redaelli
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SEASONSTRENDS
SEASONSTRENDS
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BAXTER’S
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The atmosphere is one you might breath in a house of any big
capital around the world. On entering, you feel the sensation
of being in a gallery, where each piece on display is the result of
specific, stylistic research. The box is grey, the finishes are always
different. A curious and original mixture of textures that are subtle
yet very strong in character.
The aim is to give some style suggestions to the people
who enter it. From our favorite novels placed around the room to
the objects collected around the world and the lights that create a
theatrical atmosphere, all elements work together to tell a story and
to convey our idea of home.
Our current collection consists of a curious and original
mixture of textures that is subtle yet very strong in character.
Blue, brown and green … the colors of the Earth. Warm, cozy and
sentimental.
NEW COLLECTION
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01. Alfred / Special Edition Trench Sofa
02. Tanning Drums
03. Pieces of Leather
04. Hide and Leather
05. Housse Armchair
06. Details Care
07. Alfred Bed
08. Rio Bassa
09. Ona Armchair
10. Alfred Bed
11. Master Craftman
12. Stoccolma Sofa
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SEASONSTRENDS
SEASONSTRENDS
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01. Taif / Barovier&Toso
02. Marina Marino / Barovier&Toso
03. Chester Moon / Baxter
04. Paris Bed / Baxter
05. Brest Sofa / Baxter
06. Paris Bed / Baxter
Our Inspiration From BLU
by Paola Navone
Milano Design Week 2010
Although 3 years have passed since its unveiling, this blue collection
still has a huge impact on us. Reliving this awe-inspiring range at
Milan design week, we decided to use the lamps and chandelier
from the blue collection to embellish and add richness to our new
Baxter collection. A unique combination of vivid blue, hyper glossy
Murano glass and matt warm green and brown colors of the Earth.
An inviting, sophisticated, curious, vivid and sentimental
home space.
07. Stccolma / Baxter
08. Chester Moon / Baxter
09. Paris Bed / Baxter
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SEASONSPORTRAIT
SEASONSPORTRAIT
Driven by boredom and depression, Sutton always feels
the urge to create something. It’s a drive that causes
him to stay up at night, staring out and drawing new
sketches.
The Restless
and Successful
Creations of
Ashley Sutton
With the success of Iron Fairies Wine Bar and
Restaurant, followed by Fat Gut’z and Clouds,
Ashley Sutton has become a prominent figure
of Thong Lor’s nightlife scene within a fairly
short period of time.
In 2012, he opened a cozy orphanage-inspired cake shop called
Mr. Jones’ Orphanage Milk Bar, also in Thong Lor, and recently
expanded a new branch at the revamped Siam Center.
Sutton isn’t stopping. He has recently revealed his latest
venture, a noodle shop plus upscale cabaret called Maggie Choo,
situated in the basement of Novotel Bangkok Fenix Silom. Renovated
from the former East Indies’ bank vault, the interior of Maggie Choo
resembles the movie set of a classy Chinese mafia joint in the 1920s.
There will be dancers on swings. There will be live jazz and blues. It
will without a doubt become one of the most exciting new hangouts
for the city’s socialites and adventurous visitors.
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Born in Perth, Australia, Sutton’s family works in the fishing
and diving business. Sutton grew up on a boat. He found his talent for
designing and building things early. As a little boy, he never enjoyed
going to school and always imagined a place where kids could run
amok and get away from their parents. He spent most of his time
building tree houses, and was known in his neighborhood as the best
person to design and build underground cubbies.
He started working as an iron-ore miner in his youth. Having
spent so much time underground, Sutton began drawing, making
sketches as a way to escape from the frustration and depression of a
miner’s life. He later wrote a series of children book called Iron Fairies,
about ore men who were completely absorbed by mines and spent all
their lives talking to rocks. The book became a success.
Because of his passion for the open seas, Sutton takes his
hard work as a means to an end—to earn money to get to his boat.
Knowing what he wants and what he is good at, Sutton is determined
to keep on working, building businesses, selling them and building
new ones.
Sutton came to Bangkok six years ago, by accident. He was,
at the time, importing soaps and building his business in New York.
After finishing the construction in the Big Apple, he was struck by
boredom and decided to come back here and built an Iron Fairies
factory as a new manufacturer for his Iron Fairies merchandise. His
businesses have been growing since.
What Sutton enjoys is building businesses, not running them.
Once a project is accomplished, he has to immediately work on new
ones. Driven by boredom and depression, Sutton always feels the
urge to create something. It’s a drive that causes him to stay up at
night, staring out and drawing new sketches.
During the creative process, it usually takes him around
only four hours of sitting at the table, envisioning every detail in his
head—from the brand to the colors and the feel of it—before he
comes up with rough sketches of a new restaurant. With this peculiar
yet fascinating creative drive that comes from depression, Sutton
believes that when he gets low, he becomes so strong-minded that
he can build or achieve anything with that power.
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SEASONSICON
SEASONSICON
Out of Shakespeare’s sonnets they draw, to their own hurt it may be, the secret of
his love and make it their own; they look with new eyes on modern life, because they
have listened to one of Chopin’s nocturnes, or handled Greek things, or read the
story of the passion of some dead man for some dead woman whose hair was like
threads of fine gold, and whose mouth was as a pomegranate.
- Oscar Wilde, “De Profundis”
Belle Etoile / Serralunga
Does it
make you
smile when
you are
alone in the
world?
Andrée
Putman
(1925-2013)
Andrée Putman, a renowned global interior
designer, died at the age of 87 at her home in
Paris. She was described as a minimalist, avantgarde and eclectic designer.
“I ask myself, ‘Are people going to be
happy in my hotel rooms? Is it human? Does
it make you smile when you are alone in the
world? Does it drive you and inspire you?’ Those
are among my criteria—along with harmony,
balance, elegance, simplicity,” said Andrée
Putman in an interview in 1990 with The Style
Saloniste, an online style magazine. Andrée
is famous for mixing the whimsical with the
seriousness of design in her creations. One of
her striking designs can be seen in the New York
hotel that has black and white checked tiles in
the bathroom. Cultivating an early distaste for
“pompous luxury”, she mixes poor materials
such as basic tiles with luxurious ones.
In her earlier years, Andrée came into
contact with artists and designers starting out
as a journalist working for French magazines,
beginning in 1950 at Femina. She was also a
design columnist at Elle from 1952 until 1958 and
the interiors editor at L’ŒIL from 1960 to 1964.
During these years she came to admire artists for
their sincerity, especially ones whose work was
difficult to grasp. She also worked a stylist for
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the Prisunic department stores in Paris from 1958
to 1967 where her motto was to “design beautiful
things for nothing”.
Andrée has left her beautiful designs all
over the world. In Paris, she designed the flagship
store for Guerlain on the Champs-Élysées and the
interior of Concorde, Air France. In New York she
created the look on the boutique hotel Morgans,
private residences in Dublin, Miami, Paris, Rome,
Shanghai, Tel Aviv and Tangier, and a 31-floor
apartment skyscraper in Hong Kong named
Putman. From designing private residences she
questioned the use of space by asking if it was
necessary to sleep in the bedroom or cook in the
kitchen. Yet, she has said that it wasn’t just about
cooking in the bedroom, but spaces should be
opened for various activities and not limited to a
single function.
After a failed marriage with art collector
and critic Jacques Putman, she rediscovered what
she liked and began to adopt French modernist
furniture of the 1930s, selling pieces from flea
markets and making them available again through
her company Ecart, founded in 1978.
Andrée Putman was lauded at a service
of memorial at the Benedictine abbey of SaintGermain-des-Prés, Paris, on January 22, 2013.
The term ‘sentimentality’ has become a European obsession in the 18th Century,
owing to the Enlightenment drive to foster the individual’s capacity to recognize
virtue on a visceral level. Moral philosophers saw sentimentality as a cure for social
isolation; while writers and poets used it as a literary device by which they created
art that evokes an intense emotional response in their audience. When lively and
effusive emotion was celebrated as evidence of a good heart, sentimentality originally
indicated the belief that feelings are a guide to truth. However, by the end of the
century, thinkers began to question the nature and reality of sentimentalism; and
sentimentality was then seen as self-indulgent and an avoidance of the unpalatable
truth. This is when a drastic change took place: popular cynicism became the new
trend by the 19th Century, and the cynic scorned the sentimentalist for their emotional
excess and their disconnect from reality, being its polar opposite. People argued over
the authenticity of cynicism and sentimentality; and, before the end of the century,
Oscar Wilde stepped out and famously declared both as fake.
Born on October 16, 1854 in Dublin, Irish poet and a dramatist, Oscar Wilde,
is best known for the novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and the play, The Importance
of Being Earnest, as well as for his infamous conviction and imprisonment for being
homosexual. Being a master of clever pithy sayings and sometimes self-deprecating
irony, Wilde discovered his true talent in writing comic plays, combining the elements
of French farce with a satirical attack on the hypocrisy of aristocratic society, which
brought him to the peak of his popularity among the middle class. Wilde married a
wealthy Englishwoman named Constance Lloyd Wilde in 1884 and had two sons.
Nevertheless, he was, while enjoying his literary success, engaged in an affair with a
young aristocrat, Lord Alfred Douglas, which led to him being arrested and put on
trial for the act of “gross indecency”. During the time of his imprisonment in Reading
Gaol, Wilde wrote a long epistle called “De Profundis” (latin: “from the depths”)
addressing Lord Alfred Douglas whom he called Bosie.
Written over three months in 1897, “De Profundis” contains what is probably
the most sincere and personal expression of his peculiarly artificial and sensitive
nature. Being bitter towards society on his downfall, Wilde recounts his own vanity
and weakness in form of a lengthy litany of complaints that contains a critique of
modern life and its values. In accusing himself of being succumbed to the “imperfect
world of coarse uncompleted passions, of appetite without distinction, desire
without limit, and formless greed”, he proclaims the intellectual and emotional life
of ordinary people a very contemptible affair. People believed they can achieve an
emotional superiority through their sympathy for the artistic temperament, and label
it virtue. To Wilde, sentimentality is simply what happens when cynicism goes on a
bank holiday; and “a sentimentalist”, he writes, is “one who wants to have the luxury
of an emotion without paying for it”, thus making him a “cynic at heart”. Here Wilde
condemns sentimental feelings as a psychic vice because they lack sufficient intensity
to engage the will and precipitate action, and only implies superficiality.
Whereas sentimentality is the over-evaluation of a value that does not really
exist, cynicism is the under-evaluation of the very same thing. Being a product of
mass society, both can be perceived as a common psychological block to the clarity
of thought. One feels too much and the other too little. Since it’s impossible for us
to fully grasp hold of reality, its facts were brushed aside in favor of a world of the
imagined. Wilde reminds us that those feelings are merely ideas borrowed from a
sort of “circulating library of thought”, i.e., “the Zeitgeist of an age that has no soul”.
This makes modern life a farce.
Oscar Wilde‘s
“De Profundis”
(1854-1900)
Written over three months in 1897, “De Profundis”
contains what is probably the most sincere and
personal expression of his peculiarly artificial and
sensitive nature.
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