In Residence: Ricardo Bofill

NOWNESS has beautifully and gracefully, explored the house & mind of architectural genius, Ricardo Bofill. Everything from the soft lighting, to Bofill's poetic Spanish words, to his crisp white shirt and classic shoes; is what makes this masterpiece so special. Bofill's conversion of the abandoned cement factory meant that... "(the) space was transforming into a green space that didn't let off smoke, where instead of seeing a smoking chimney, you would see a cylinder, a sculpture." The In Residence series covers many other inspiring designers and their interiors, each so personal and pure. Click here to feel good.

Understanding the Dutch

The only way I managed to afford travelling around Europe for 6 months was by not paying for accommodation. I did this by planning my travels around friend's couches I knew I could sleep on, and from meeting new people along the way. I am so grateful for each one of my hosts because this a), gave me the opportunity to see many different places, b) it allowed me to see those places through the eyes of true locals, and c), knowing these locals and meeting their friends allowed me to not only learn, but question, why certain cultural stereotypes exist. In October I was in France when I received a call from an Australian friend (who was originally from England), saying that he was going to visit some of his old school friends who now live in Amsterdam, and that I should come and visit. I had never been to the Netherlands before, and at that point I hadn’t seen a friend from home in 3 months, so I happily accepted the invitation. 

It didn’t take me long to fall in love with Amsterdam, and not because my friend instantly greeted me with a beer as soon as I stepped off the train, but because Amsterdam had an atmosphere like i’d never seen before in Europe. All different walks of life passed us from the train station to the apartment, all so content biking around their village-like city. As we weaved in and out of the canals to get to the apartment, I was quickly warned by my new friends about the Dutch. I was told that they’re “brutally honest people”, and that I “shouldn’t take it personally”. 

The anti-authoritarian and individualistic attitude from the 70s is still very present in the Netherlands today, where a lot of freedom is placed on the individual. Personal choice for the individual ranges from sex, speech, religion, drugs, and beyond. Coming from a traditionally egalitarian society, the Dutch pride themselves on being able to do and say as they wish. The Dutch are straight to the point kind of people, you can see it in their eyes when they ride past you on their bike. Foreigners in the Netherlands are have said to have found the Dutch’s honesty rude, while the Dutch apparently find foreigner’s lack of honesty rude. There is no such thing as ‘plain rudeness’ as we like to refer to it, because just like you would never blow your nose in public in Japan, all ‘rudeness’ is culturally relative. Anglo-saxons infamously pride themselves on being non-confrontational and prefer the ‘sliding things under the carpet’ approach. This comparison means that when a Dutchman has problem with someone, they will not be shy to tell that person; where if an Anglo-saxon has a problem with someone, they will most likely lie about it to avoid confrontation (but in turn will bitch about it later to their friends). The Dutch will proudly tell you that they’re blunt people, but at the same time they’ll also tell you that they have no deliberate intention to upset anyone. The critical yet constructive Dutch approach undoubtably attributed to their famous 17th century Golden Age of writers, artists, and thinkers. One afternoon at a cafe in Amsterdam I asked the barista why no one wears a helmet whilst riding their bike in the Netherlands. The barista handed over my coffee as he then reassured me that, “the Dutch don’t need to wear helmets because we already know how to ride our bikes”.

Danish design and ‘hygge’

I've always been intrigued by Denmark. I’ve always wondered how a country that receives a measly 4 hours of sunlight a day for months throughout the year repeatedly manages to claim the impressive title of having 'the world's happiest people'. For as long as i've been interested in design, i've been interested in Danish design. The iconic Scandinavian design of elegant simplicity is one that is acknowledged all around the world. Even in Australia we have a little piece (or rather big, piece) of Denmark sitting right in our our iconic Sydney Harbour. Australia's most internationally recognisable building, the Sydney Opera House, was designed by none other than Jørn Utzon, a Dane. Living Danishly written by Helen Russell, is about an English woman who moves to Denmark out of her husband's new job placement, and investigates what it is about the Danish way of life that creates the world's happiest people. In one of Russell’s chapters in uncovering the Danish secret to happiness, she was notably informed  about the relationship that exists between furniture design and national identity in Denmark. Anne-Louise Summer, director of the Design Museum Denmark, told Russell that, "good design is extremely important to us, all Danes see a clear relationship between your aesthetic environment and how you feel". 

BAUHAUS INFLUENCE

After WWII the Danes were keen at moving forward and decided to put a substantial amount of money into their design sector. With strong influences of the modernistic principles from the German Bauhaus school, Danish furniture designers were continuously producing works of comfort, functionalism, style, and affordability. With limited money after the war, the Danes were forced to utilise local materials, and this is why we can see plywood and teak hardwood being so prominent in Danish design. Anne-Louise Summer also mentioned on how natural good design is to the Danish. She explained to Russell that, “...if you stood in the street and asked a Dane, they might not have a reflective relationship with culture and design- but this is because they haven’t had to. It’s internalised in their consciousness. We are simply used to having nice surroundings. It starts from the very beginning of life. Children come to school and interact with quality architecture and furniture, and so from an early age they develop an understanding that functional yet beautiful design is essential to realising the good life. Then when they grow up and work in offices or public spaces, most Danes experience a high-quality environment combining function and design”. 

ABODE

A Danes home interior is poised, prized, and personal. Home design is a big part of the Dane’s life because it's where they spend their most time, especially in the long dark winers. Their homes are never messy nor cluttered, because they respect their living spaces, and because their interiors are closely tied to their identity. In the first chapter of Living Danishly, Russell and her husband are being showed rental homes by a Danish real estate agent where Russell is amazed at the tidiness of the rental homes, asking if the current renters knew Russell was coming in order for them to tidy up.  Their Danish real estate agent looked at Russell puzzlingly and said; "Tidy up? Before visitors? Is that what British people do? Danes try to keep their homes nice all the time".

Latest on BABU

Why the French aren't as rude as you like to think they are.

You probably like to think that you have the French all worked out. Every time you hear or read, ‘The French’, you have your own idea about what that represents. Unless you’ve spent a considerable amount of time in France, studied French, or in fact are, French; there’s a big chance that your idea comfortably rests on a skewed cultural stereotype. You may enjoy France’s fashion, cheese and wine, but you still think they’re rude, arrogant, and pretentious. Different things may have influenced this; maybe it was a friend’s holiday story about their time with an unfriendly Parisian waiter, or maybe it has something to do with how the thieves and mistresses in films always manage to be French. As a society we enjoy stereotypes because they’re cognitively efficient. We find comfort in repetition, and just like we enjoy watching our favourite films again and again, the ‘experiential control’ makes us feel at ease when we know how stories will end. We also find comfort in numbers, creating easy bandwagons. When we travel abroad and discover how other cultures work, our own culture is always our first point of reference. Cultural stereotypes are like accents, they’re always only relative to your own. Since being in France, I’ve encountered some of the funniest and friendliest people I’ve met in my life; and this is why I roll my eyes each time I overhear someone talking about their ‘cold nature’. When travelling to a foreign country, it’s indispensable in having a basic understanding for that country’s existing norms and values in order to be respectful to its people, and in turn, to be respected, by its people. The catalyst for this rude French stereotype has unquestionably stemmed from unawareness about their rules of social conduct. I am not French, and I will never be French, but I have a good idea about how they work, and this is why I can see both sides to the story. I am merely the observer, the messenger, the ‘cultural translator’ if you like, and this is why I can tell you why the French aren’t as rude as you like to think they are..

Read the rest of the article at BABU

Photo from the beautiful Montpellier, France 2012