The World of Interiors - August 2023

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Cover: Goethe go! – time marches on at Masseria Cardinale in Sicily, where the German writer (here depicted by Andy Warhol) travelled in the late 18th century. Turn back the clock on page 50. Photograph: Giulio Ghirardi 5 40 Books Reading on art and architecture, design and decoration 41 Exhibitions Cairo camera man, Audubon – a hawk among doves 44 Network Merchandise and events from around the world Contents cover: © 2023 the andy warhol foundation for the visual arts, inc. / licensed by dacs, london. column 4: james john audubon, barn owls. © national museums scotland subscriptions & back issues Receive 12 issues delivered directto your home address.Call 01858 438815 or visit us at worldofinteriors.com periodicals Postage paid at Rahway, nj. Postmaster: Send address correctionsto ‘The World ofInteriors’ c/o Mercury Airfreight International Ltd Inc, 2323 Randolph Avenue, Avenel nj 07001, ‘The World of Interiors’ (issn 0264-083X) is published monthly. Vol 43 no 8,total 491 12 Contributors 19 Editor’sletter ANTENNAE 25 News What’s new in style, decoration and design, by David Lipton 26 Roundup Look here, lounge lizards! David Lipton arranges the upscale deck chairs you should monitor 28 Plains Sailing When the mercury’s rising, you need muted fabrics and loose weaves. In the Indian Ocean, Max Egger plays it cool 34 Table: Exotic Fruit Throw a tropical tap-dance on your tongue with pineapples, papayas and their pals. Daisy Garnett hosts a taste-bud tango 37 Table: Exotic Party A banana bowl and a bamboo corkscrew? Your conga will only get longer, says David Lipton 38 Aesthete’s Library Georgina Masson’s 1959 Italian Villas and Palaces elicits a chef’s kiss from Mitchell Owens

8 columns 1–2: giulio ghirardi. columns 2–3: roland beaufre. column 4: joanna maclennan VISITOR’S BOOK 50 Romans Legion From ancient cameos to later etchings of Herculaneum finds, a passion for Classicism runs like a vein of marble through this rehabilitated Sicilian masseria. Text: Marella Caracciolo Chia 64 Neon Liberal Touched by Gucci, Saint-Tropez and 1970s nostalgia, Topolina, in her hot-hued pop-up in Tangier’s medina, fuses Moroccan embroidery and French fashion. Marie-France Boyer reports 70 Open and Shut Case Looking at architect Geoffrey Bawa’s serene house in Colombo, with its white shagpile rug and Rolls in the garage, you can’t imagine the Sri Lankan civil war raging outside, says Niru Ratnam AFTERWORD 110 Inspiration Recreate some of the design effects in this issue, by Gareth Wyn Davies and Ariadne Fletcher 114 Address Book Suppliers in this issue 128 Object Lesson Phyllida Barlow described her works as like ‘unwanted guests’. Louisa Buck begs to differ contents 80 Mindya Business Landing in rural Bulgaria 20 years ago, expat photographer Tim Clinch has developed a passion for the local peasant vernacular. Oliver Maclennan pulls up a milking stool 88 Point Blanc Dazzling white geometry amid a lush garden on a Caribbean clifftop. Swim in the turquoise sea or the wraparound pool? Caroline Roux dips her toe into the simple life (Mustique-style) 98 Carriage Return Some down-at-heel Caledonian Sleepers, given the plush Orient Express treatment, have been rendered keepers, forming the uK’s only privately owned train. Jeepers! cries Amy Sherlock

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Niru Ratnam As an academic, Niru used to delve deep in his art writing; now he’s a gallerist, analysing surfaces is more his MO. ‘I often find the outside more interesting than the inside. I spend a lot of time peering into restaurants and then walking on to the next one. My partner finds it infuriating.’ In this issue, Niru traces the tall walls of Geoffrey Bawa’s home in Colombo, and ponders the world they kept out (page 70). Giulio Ghirardi Holiday snaps were Giulio’s portal to photography, and he’s retained that spirit of fun and laissez-faire professionally. ‘I’m drawn to warmth: I like imperfections and soul,’ he says. And warmth, in both senses, he has certainly achieved this issue, travelling to scorching Sicily to capture Masseria Cardinale (page 50). ‘The house reflects the owners: every room seems to welcome new and old friends.’ Michael Webb Writing articles on extraordinary buildings around the world proved ‘an escape from reading economics at LSE, just as John Pawson preferred a frugal life in Japan to the drudgery of a lucrative career in industry. Travel is an essential source of inspiration.’ This issue sees Michael reviewing a survey of the architect’s work (page 40), which he admires for its ‘luminosity, rigour and perfection of detail’. Tausif Noor As his collection of passport photos attests, Tausif has long been enthralled by ‘the promise of multivalent multinationalism’ – something, he says, overtaken by ‘narrow definitions of ethnicity’. It’s a promise, the art critic feels, that’s embodied by Egyptian photographer Van Leo (page 41). His work ‘has a full-throated fascination with other people, other cultures… He shows that anyone, truly, can be worldly.’ Louisa Buck Louisa’s career as an arts journalist culminated, seemingly, in a stint on the Turner Prize jury. In fact – besides co-founding the Gallery Climate Coalition, which aims to ‘make a very green-washy art world into a more environmentally responsible place’ – her proudest moment was meeting the late Phyllida Barlow. Her Object Lesson (page 128) honours an artist ‘loved and admired in equal measure’. Contributors Joanna and Oliver Mclennan When it comes to writing, Oliver takes after Martin Amis: ‘the writer is a host, and the reader his guest’. His sister Joanna, a photographer, has been ushering readers in beside him since they were 14. Between them, they’ve offered enough hospitality to satisfy even the haughtiest visitor, most recently rolling out the red carpet to Tim Clinch’s Bulgarian hideaway (page 80). 12

J U L I E N E I L L K A R I S S A M E D I U M TA B L E L A M P I N P L A S T E R W H I T E V I S U A L C O M F O R T. C O M D E S I G N E R LI G H TI N G S H O P N O W

TheWorld ofInteriors Editor in Chief Hamish Bowles Deputy Editor Emily Tobin Art Director Ben Weaver Style Director Gianluca Longo Managing Editor Tom Reynolds Digital Director Elly Parsons Deputy Chief Sub-Editor Gareth Wyn Davies Senior Designer Michaela Nilsson Editorial Associate Ariadne Fletcher Decoration Associate David Lipton Digital Associate Donna Salek Decoration Assistant Rose Eaglesfield Designer Ginny Davies Junior Sub-Editor Leyla Spratley Contributing Editor at Large Patrick Kinmonth Contributing Style Editor Miranda Sinclair Contributing Editor, Gardens Tania Compton Contributing Editor, Architecture Jane Withers Contributing Editor, Italy Marella Caracciolo Chia Features Editor Amy Sherlock American Editor Mitchell Owens Acting Visuals Editor Ivan Shaw Associate Editor, Paris Marie-France Boyer Chief Sub-Editor Damian Thompson Digital Editor Alice Inggs VOGUE HOUSE, HANOVER SQUARE, LONDON w1s 1JU, T 020 7499 9080 THE WORLD OF INTERIORS (ISSN 0264-083X) is published monthly by The Condé Nast Publications Ltd, Vogue House, 1 Hanover Square, London W1S 1JU. 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Managing Director, Europe Natalia Gamero Del Castillo Deputy Managing Director, Europe Anita Gigovskaya, Albert Read Chief Business Officer, Condé Nast Britain & Vogue European Business Advisor Vanessa Kingori the world of interiors Home Events & Executive Assistant / Network Editor Clare Holley Business Manager Sophia Warner Lead Commercial Director Jane White Commercial Director / Associate Publisher Europe Christopher Daunt Commercial Director, Home & Partnerships Melinda Chandler Commercial Director, Home & Retail Sayna Blackshaw Acting Commercial Director, Home & Retail Ellie Naber Senior Account Director & Associate Publisher Europe Alexandra Bernard Senior Account Directors Georgina Hutton, Nichole Mika, Olivia McHugh Account Director Olivia Capaldi Senior Account Manager Olivia Barnes Account Manager Fiona Mckeon Acting Account Executive Freya Hill Group Property Director Fiona Forsyth Style Chief Business Officer, Style Sophie Pisano Executive Assistant To Chief Business Officer Tiana Ware Lead Business Reporting Manager Chloe Haggerty Business Manager Ellen Garlick VP, Business Partnerships Claire Singer Lead Commercial Director, Fashion & Beauty Madeleine Churchill Lead Commercial Director, Watches & Jewellery Vikki Theo Commercial Director, Jewellery Ana-Karina De Paula Allen Commercial Director, Retailers Ottilie Chichester Associate Commercial Director, Fashion Alexis Williams Senior Account Director, Fashion Roya Farrokhian Senior Account Director, Fashion & Jewellery Charlotte Pennington Senior Account Directors, Beauty Caroline Hooley, Jess Purdue, Camilla Wilmot-Smith Account Director, Fashion & Jewellery Emily Goodwin Senior Account Manager, Beauty Caroline Sillem Account Executive, Fashion Ellé Butcher Account Executive, Watches Charlotte Hearth Advertising Assistant Rachel Holland Culture Lead Commercial Director, Culture Christopher Warren Business Manager Ellen Garlick Commercial Director, Media/Entertainment Silvia Weindling Commercial Director, Automotive Melanie Keyte Associate Commercial Director, Biz/Fi/Tech Lucie Burton-Salahuddin Account Director, Finance Joe Teal Account Director, Technology Eddie Royle Account Director, Automotive Nicholas French Account Manager, Media/Entertainment Rosie Campion Publishing Director/Chief Business Officer, Home Emma Redmayne Travel & Lifestyle Chief Business Officer, Travel & Lifestyle Simon Leadsford Executive Assistant Georgina Roberts Business Manager Charlotte Taylor Commercial Director, Travel Natalie Moss-Blundell Commercial Director, Food & Beverages Natasha Callin Senior Account Directors Emma Heuser, Keiran Coyne Advertising Sales Account Director Sophie Chai Account Manager, Food & Beverage Hannah Waring Condé Nast Commercial Creative Director of CNCC Helen Anglim Head of Art & Creative Design, CNCC Dom Kelly Executive Director Global Brand Marketing, CNCC Anna Byrne Head of Project Management, CNCC Gareth Hogan Creative Design Director, CNCC David Godfrey Classified Classified Director Shelagh Crofts Senior Classified Advertisement Manager Lucy Hrynkiewicz-Sudnik Senior Classified Sales Executive Rebecca Sirs, Alva Muris Data & Insight Head of Data Intelligence & ARM Tim Westcott Insight Manager Erin Mcquitty Research Executive Holly Harland Production Production Director Sarah Jenson Senior Production Controller Helen Crouch Senior Production Coordinator Lucy Zini Paper Senior Production Controller Martin Macmillan Commercial Senior Production Controller Louise Lawson Consumer Revenue UK Consumer Business Country Lead Joanna Burton Circulation Director Richard Kingerlee Circulation Manager Olivia Streatfield Direct Marketing & Events Manager Lucy Rogers-Coltman, Rachel Horrocks, Harriet Adams Senior Designer Anthea Denning -Renshaw Assistant Promotions & Marketing Manager Claudia Long VP, Communications Nina Joyce VP, Head of Revenue Strategy, Western Europe Malcolm Atwells VP, Consumer Revenue Europe Russell Cleve European Director of Content Operations Helen Placito Finance Director Daisy Tam People Director, London Rosamund Bradley 16

Paris

19 Amid the lazy days of an August summer, the susurrant hum of bees, our thoughts turn to escape and even, perhaps, the prospect of embedding ourselves somewhere unfamiliar. We begin with Masseria Cardinale in the wild hills of southeastern Sicily (page 50). This hilltop gathering of buildings evolved from a bronze-age settlement to a fortified farming hamlet. John (Hooks) and Riccardo (Priolisi) showed me a scrapbook of the destitute place they found, abandoned for over six decades. One day, under rubble, they found a kitchen in all its shabby glory – then lost its contents to ‘poachers’ the next. After years of hard work, however, they have unveiled a paradise. One can dine surrounded by screens painted with mid-19th-century figures from the nearby town of Noto (the screens, though, they found in Paris!). The grand entrance that had once been desolate and overgrown is now a glory of local marble tiles, a solitary palm tree standing proud in the middle. There is even a theatre, where one can warble away to one’s heart’s content (the inset image catches yours truly onstage at the masseria during a mad Sicilian weekend). Next we find Topolina, the latest retail outlet of Isabelle Lallemang, hidden in a cool cavern within Tangier’s crowded medina (page 64). In this tiny pop-up – shocking pink, gold and further enriched by the colours of handwoven carpets – the ebullient émigrée sells women’s clothes, fashioned from vintage French garments with applied Moroccan embroidery. Over in Sri Lanka, Geoffrey Bawa’s house in the capital, Colombo, presents a compelling portrait of tropical Modernism (page 70). First created in 1958, this survivor of the nation’s violent civil war captures many of the architect’s design principles and continues to be just as relevant after his death in 2003. A sudden life change for the photographer Tim Clinch precipitated a move from Gascony to a village in Bulgaria (page 80). Filled with local flea-market finds, his home epitomises the region’s distinctive peasant vernacular, all leaf-green paint and scarlet bedspreads. One can hardly believe that the bucolic vision of his firstfloor balcony was taken this century – northat this Balkan sanctuary is the home of an Englishman abroad, rather than that of the woodcutter and his wife. Above a gleaming bay on the island of Mustique, meanwhile, perches a secret hideaway – a tumble of white cubes on a cliff, half inside and half out, equipped with a private staircase that winds down to the sea (page 88). Transposed to today, this bastion of barefoot luxury stands as a perfect example of the open-plan concept living of the 1960s. Picture a chairman’s train, all 1930s plush and panelling, blood-and-custard livery and whimsical marquetry (page 98). Have we stepped into a gentleman’s club? In fact, it’s interior designer Sara Oliver’s de luxe refit of some mid-century Caledonian Sleeper rail carriages, forming Britain’s only privately owned rolling stock, and available to charter soon. And what of all this and me? It is frustrating that I have not been able to see all of these places myself because of my medical difficulties. Thanksto The World of Interiors, however,I can experience all of these places asif I were there. Next week, my dears, I am on a plane to Tangier,the firstflightsince my stroke, and Iwill be able to see Topolina for myself! ª Hamish Bowles,editorin chief Editor’s Letter August 2023 portrait: georgina godley

ANTENNAE Close your eyes.Ignore the rattle of yourfan,the droning traffic,thewhine of bluebottles breeching thewindow. You’re notthere any more. You’re at a beach party in Barbados; chaise-based, a glass ofrum punch in hand,the fragrance of flambéed pineapple in the air… Or you might aswell be. Linen trousers on and hibiscus garlandsin situ,we’ve ferried over allthe scene-setting accoutrements. Exotic fruits, picked from amid the palms by Daisy Garnett? Check. Summer shindig fare, from tropicaltroughsto cocktail crystalware? Check. Poolside thronestowrite home about? Why not! Bring the holiday to you. Eyesshut, hands upturned: you’re on the Andaman Islands now, holding a terracotta-toned beach bag full ofripe mangoes and a rolled-up hammock. It’s a tactile vision ourstylists have conjuredwith a trunk full of plain fabrics, all breezy linens and starched stripes. Asfar as holiday books go,we’re keeping things pared back – it’stoo hot for anything else –with a breathable survey of John Pawson’swork; or perhaps you’d preferto go all outwith a princely panorama of Italian palaces. Always best to pack options,we think. And do bring your binoculars,too, for our exhibition line-up – you mightwell catch a glimpse ofshooting stars over Egypt, courtesy of ritzy image-maker Van Leo, or a particular dazzler among awhole flock of North American birds. Come flywith us, let’sfly, let’sfly away...

Georgina Masson, author of ‘Italian Villas and Palaces’ (and photographer of the above image), regarded the state staircase of Palazzo Reale in Caserta as architect Luigi Vanvitelli’s masterwork. See page 38

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25 news Suite Dreams The tally of celebrities who have languorously lived out their days in hotel suites is a long one. Gabrielle Chanel’s 34-year stint at the Paris Ritz scores highly both for longevity and glamour. Yet a certain unreality marks such an existence – ‘dying beyond my means’, said Oscar Wilde supposedly of his final stay at the Hôtel d’Alsace. There’s an air of performance that clings to life under the care of a concierge – something that hasn’t escaped Beata Heuman. It’s a conceit the Swedish decorator is exploring through her latest project: the Hotel de la Boétie, just off the Champs-Elysées. Joining five others by today’s premier interior designers, the hotel is the latest glittering addition to Touriste’s portfolio. For Heuman, it’s a stage to be dressed for the most theatrical of future guests. What’sin the airthis month by David Lipton Hello Crewel World The stretch of river that meanders westwards out of London, through Kew and beyond, evokes images of bucolic deer parks and polite Palladian villas. This is the Arcadian Thames, after which Zoffany’s latest collection of fabrics and wallpapers is named. To trace the river’s path upstream past Kingston, however, is to travel back in time. Just round the bend, indeed, sits Hampton Court, the last, great surviving Tudor palace; a vestige of the dynasty bridging the Medieval and Early Modern worlds. Its entrance, just off the river, is flanked by fierce heraldic beasts: it’s these ancient animals that have inspired the collection’s curvilinear crewellike embroidery. Created with young embroiderer Livia Papiernik, whose dreamy idiom feels right at home here, the result is a prelapsarian prelude to the follies and meadows of the 18th century. From each creature, a whisper can almost be heard: ‘Et in arcadia ego’. Shown above: ‘Hampton’, £279 per m. Visit zoffany. sandersondesigngroup.com ª in conjunction with the launch of a new enlarged serving set, the collection is guaranteed to take pride of place. Visit c davidmellordesign.co.uk olumns 1–3: benoit linero Rooms available from September, from £217 per night. Visit hoteldelaboetie.com No Forks Given The humble fork, long seen as a continental affectation, did not catch on in Britain until the 18th century. Today, it would seem absurd to lay a table without one. After 70 years, it’s just as difficult to look at David Mellor’s ‘Pride’ cutlery collection with fresh eyes. Chic, sleek and shiny, yes; instant classic… less so. But in 1953, it was as much a reflection of the postwar design spirit as the Anglepoise lamp and the Mini car. Classics indeed. Designed while Mellor was still a student, it has been in production ever since. To mark its anniversary, the brand is releasing a limited-edition set with rosewood handles (shown, from £1,400). And, especially

1 ‘Adirondack’, £1,250, Indian Ocean. 2 ‘Heritage’, by Sebastiano Tosi, £250, Seletti. 3 ‘Tumholmen’, £45, Ikea. 4 Black deck chair with sunbrella sling, by Annie Eadie, £1,470, The Heveningham Collection. 5 Edwardian deck chair, £275, The Stripes Company. 6 ‘Utopia’, by Sunnylife, £145, Selfridges. 7 Metal lounge chair, £149.99, H&M Home. 8 ‘Siesta’, £17.30, Dajar. All prices include VAT. For suppliers’ details see Address Book º Welcome to the Fold To make your relaxation special,some spatial wrestling must first be faced. David Lipton puts his own construction on the finest deck chairs Roundup 2 1 4 6 7 8 3 5 26

G E N U I N E A N T I Q U E E N G L I S H R E C L A I M E D - O C T A G O N & I N S E R T Explore an unrivalled collection of reclaimed stone surfaces, expertly finished by our team of specialists to fit your project, partnered by our extensive ranges of hard surface flooring. Visit our acclaimed Harrogate showrooms to see the full collection. F I N D O U T M O R E +44 (0)1423 400 100 R E I N V E N T E D R E C L A I M E D R E I M A G I N E D LAPI C IDA.CO M / R E C LAI M ED

Plains Sailing When you get hot underthe collar,sometimes a calm, unpatterned fabric in a cool weave isjust the ticket. And let’sface it,situations don’t get much more high-pressure, meteorologically speaking, than the steamy Andaman islandsin the Indian Ocean. Here, in his hammock, Max Egger lies back and thinks of linen. Photography: Sahil Behal SWATCH 1 2 3 4 28

SWATCH Opposite: 1 Tabac ‘Palea Unito 195784’, £262.80, C&C Milano. 2 Black/ecru ‘Harbour Stripe’, £120, Tori Murphy. 3 ‘Costa 10747-837’, £130, Zimmer & Rohde. 4 Paprika ‘Terry 196484’, £117.60, C&C Milano. This page: 1 ‘Weathered Linen BF10962-840’, £115, GP&J Baker. 2 ‘Couture Fine Tweed N5 9723-02’, by Glant, £258, Altfield. 3 Olive green ‘Dorset Herringbone’, £200, Paolo Moschino. 4 ‘Dorset 2381-03’, by Rose Tarlow, £513.60, Tissus d’Hélène 2 3 4 1 29

SWATCH 2 3 4 5 6 1 1 Charcoal ‘Marrakesh Linen’, by Westbury Textiles, £296, Altfield. 2 ‘Lande 0564-04’, £136.40, Lelièvre. 3 ‘Hilsa HIL05’, by Namay Samay, £314.40, Tissus d’Hélène. 4 Terrapin ‘Boardwalk’, £270, De Le Cuona. 5 ‘Kengo K0065314’, by Kohro, £202, Altfield. 6 ‘Imnek M615-01’, by Mark Alexander, £179.50, Romo 30

SWATCH 2 3 4 5 1 1 ‘Lande 0564-04’, £136.40, Lelièvre. 2 ‘Kengo K0065314’, by Kohro, £202, Altfield. 3 Veldt ‘Artist Canvas’, £175, De Le Cuona. 4 Optical white ‘Giglio Cannettato 156064’, £399.60, C&C Milano. 5 ‘Marina 0573-04’, £155.10, Lelièvre 31

SWATCH 1 Auburn ‘Shetland’, £170, Altfield. 2 ‘Amankila AT8013-001’, £157 approx, Loro Piana. 3 ‘Kente M599-03’, by Mark Alexander, £169, Romo. 4 ‘Oxford 10877-897’, £139, Zimmer & Rohde. 5 ‘St Kilda 04’, by Madeaux, £142, Tissus d’Hélène. All prices throughout are per m and include VAT. For suppliers’ details see Address Book. Shot on location at Jalakara hotel, Havelock Island, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, 744211 India (00 91 92894 80779; jalakara.info) º 2 3 4 5 1 32

B e a u t y i s fu n d a m e n t a l t o a g o o d l i fe . W e a r e m a k e r s o f h a n d - p a i n t e d , h a n d - e m b r o i d e r e d a n d p r i n t e d w a l l c o v e r i n g s . f r o m e n t a l . c o . u k @ f r o m e n t a l d e s i g n Credit: Styled by Alyce Taylor I Photographed by: Chris Everard

table I have a freezer drawer full of homegrown berries and currants and plums picked from my garden and allotment, and we eat them in all kinds of ways throughout the year. I love them. Butstill,sometimes, on a hot day – hell, on a cold day too – all you want is a slice of pineapple. Or a mango, sliced on the diagonal, doused with lime. Sometimes you want a fruit that is shocking pink and neon orange, luminous green and smiley-face yellow. You want something other, something far from the hedgerows; you want to taste distance. Often a single slice of the tropics is all you need. A fragrantly ripe pineapple, for example, isso delicious, itsflavour so complete that it comes with what you might think to add – notes of vanilla, coconut, rum – already built in. Cut one open and take a long sniff. It’s all there. Pineapples score highly in the looks department too. Have you seen how one grows? Itsits atop a staff-like stalk, which itself emerges from a nest of spiky leaves. In the wild and on its bush, it’s giving major Medieval-weapon vibes, but in your fruit bowl it looks just as it should: a barrel of sugary golden nectar, sweet of course, but also sour. What a wonder. It’s no surprise, then, that a pineapple was considered a prize when it first began landing on our shores. Unlike most other fruit grown in the tropics (mangoes and guava and papaya forinstance) a late-17thcentury pineapple could survive an ocean voyage – but only just, and often not; only if the winds were fair, the ship fast, the captain fleet of foot and mind. Pineapples were expensive and rare. You had to be rich and resourceful to get your hands on one. If you did, you displayed it prominently, then invited your pals overfor dinner, not to eat it – God no – but to admire it. (Some enterprising folk even set up shop renting them out. Class at a discount. Win win.) Charles II went a step further and posed for a portrait with his, said to be the first grown in England, Luscious Cargo It’s not hard to see why tropical fruits were alwayssuch adored imports. All those rebelliousrinds and raucous colours – and, back in the day,theirreal exotic rarity. Even nowthatthey tend to survive the ocean voyage into our palms and punch bowls, they stillsucceed in seducing us, whether baked or barbecued, caramel-coated or cocktail-bent. Roll on summer, cries Daisy Garnett. Photography: Tessa Traeger Top: oh, for a lobster lunch in Barbados! Not doable on a dime, true, but fruit punch and rum cocktails are easy enough to concoct at home. Opposite: horned melon, red and yellow dragon fruit, papaya, kiwi, tamarillo, sugar apple, watermelon and pink grapefruit – in all their transporting glory – are best enjoyed simply in a fruit salad 34

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though more likely it was imported. (The picture, Charles II Presented with a Pineapple, isin the Royal Collection andworth looking up.) Given all this, you can see why the fruit came to symbolise hospitality, good times, a place of abundance – and why, carved out of wood or stone (or bronze or gold) they were mounted on posts either side of a front gate. Welcome home. Come on in. The pineapple saysso. In these modern times though, if you land a piece of tropical fruit, eat it. Aslong as it’s ripe, it’s perfect as is. And yet, if you’re going loud and exotic, you might as well turn up the volume on occasion. Pineapple doesn’t need sugar, but it can accommodate it admirably, its natural sourness providing balance against anything too toothsome. So do toss chunks of it in melted butter and brown sugar – add the seeds from a vanilla pod too – and stir everything together until the fruit is soft and cooked, before dousing it with golden rum and setting it alight for a flambé finish. Or make the same rum caramel but instead pour it into a cake tin, add slices of tinned pineapple (which comes with its own particular pleasures) and top it all with a thick layer of sponge batter. Bake. What comes out of the oven to be turned out on to a plate isthe perfect school-canteen pud: upside down pineapple cake; comforting but never bland. Or slice a fresh pineapple horizontally,spread the circular slices with melted butter and stick them on the barbecue until they become brown with a caramel coat. That’s an unforgettable treat, take it from me. For something less brazen, you can’t beat mango and passion fruit mousse, except maybe if you take that passion fruit and pairitwith rhubarb to make ice cream (North and South: the balancing act). For the easiest hit of all, you don’t even need to eat your fruit. Just drink it. Yep – cocktails. Bring on the sunny ones: a Mai Tai, the Zombie, a Rum Swizzle. Learn to make the pink and orange ones. Delight in the frothy pineapple and grapefruit and coconut ones; the Vegas-y, Elvis-y, Tikitype ones. All with parasols. Sun’s up ª table A mousse is a great way to make a little exotic fruit go a long way, and the lip-smacking flavours of mango and passion fruit are perfectly captured and tamed in a dome of set cream and milk 36

1 ‘Popglas no 5’, by Gunnar Cyrén, £180 approx, Svenskt Tenn. 2 Bamboo ‘Butler’s Friend’ corkscrew, by Lorenzi Milano, £220, Abask. 3 ‘Banana’ bowl, £55, Rockett St George. 4 ‘Trees’ cocktail umbrellas, £2.49 each, The Bottle Club. 5 ‘Pineapple’ cocktail shaker, £28, John Lewis. 6 ‘Pineapple Rosa’ dessert plate, £130 for a set of two, La Double J. 7 ‘Temple Fruit’ birchwood tray, by Avenida Home x Patch NYC, £39, Liberty. 8 ‘Pitaya’ dessert plate, by Bordallo Pinheiro, £35, Divertimenti. 9 ‘Jungle Beats’ cocktail set, by Michele Blasilli, £145, Swarovski. All prices include VAT. For suppliers’ details see Address Book º Tutti Fruity Is your exotic party paraphernalia getting a bit… bruised? These punch bowls, pineapple plates, plus more, are ripe for the picking, says mover and shaker David Lipton table 6 7 8 9 2 5 4 3 1 37

aesthete’s library Books plastered with gushing reviews – brilliant! extraordinary! a tour de force! – fill me with suspicion, and often lead me to shun some belaurelled volumes until, after a fewyears,they can be appraised from a safe distance. That said, had I lived in postwar times, I would have been foolish to delay the pleasures of Georgina Masson’s Italian Villas and Palaces, which was simultaneously published in 1959 by Thames & Hudson in the UK, Harry N. Abramsin the USA and Arthaud in France. A chorus of bells, whistles and fireworks greeted its nativity, each richly deserved. Large, weighty and sublimely designed, the book has aged magnificently – rather like the buildingsthat Masson’s1930s Rolleiflex and her typewriter (manufacturer unknown) record. The praise that Italian Villas and Palaces received in its day is understandable. Illustrated London News critic ED O’Brien called it ‘a book as noble as its subject’, adding that it ‘most certainly must be the best book of its kind ever published, and Miss Masson’s notes are as cool, balanced, exciting and inspiring as her photographs’. Vivacious, beloved by many and exhaustively self-referential – Sir Roy Strong was appalled by her ‘monomaniac drone’ – Georgina Masson (1912–1990) was the pseudonym used by Marion ‘Babs’ Johnson, the Pakistan-born daughter of a British Indian army officer. Her great lovewas Italy, where she had been posted by the Foreign Office in the 1940s, and there, separated from an unsatisfactory husband, she lived for decades in a stable flat in the grounds of Rome’s Villa Doria Pamphilj. It was a perch from which Masson – an impassioned autodidactwho leveraged friendshipswith her princely landlord and an accommodating duchess to open otherwise firmly closed doors – wrote with uncommon grace for The Architecture Review and Country Life, among others. Her 1965 Companion Guide to Rome remains so perfect a textual perambulation that it has been regularly reissuedwith only gentle updating required. Masson was a painterly photographer, à la Eugène Atget, and Italian Villas and Palaces, which takesthe readerfrom Palazzo Podestà in Genoa to Villa Valguarnera in Sicily, is immeasurably enriched by her images. (She willed more than 5,000 negatives to the American Academy in Rome, which staged a superb exhibition in 2003.) ‘One magnificent façade succeeds another, interspersed with interiors, architectural and decorative detail and vistas of delightful gardens,’ the book flap observes of the 193 photogravures. To turn the pages is to be seduced; the matt-finish illustrations, silvery and foggy, alternatingwith sections of erudite commentary printed on velvety terracottapink and blue-grey paper. As a reviewer of Masson’s equally alluring Italian Gardens put it: ‘I know something about book production costs and it is a mystery to me how the publishers have managed to offer us this book at only 4 guineas.’ Quite true – especially given thatthe volume had itstinted pages printed in England and its photogravure plates in France. Masson cautions that the coverage is not comprehensive, so some readers are bound to be disappointed by her idiosyncratic scope. ‘If in some cases more space has been devoted to a little known palace or villa, while one that is internationally famous makes a bare act de présence in a single photograph,’ she writes, ‘it is because so much material is already available about the more famous, while the charm and beauty of the others are known to a comparatively limited circle.’ Legendary Villa Doria Pamphilj, her home, gets only two snapshots, for example, and those show little more than a statue and a flock of sheep. Distinguished yet quirkily personal, Italian Villas and Palaces will lead even ardent Italophilesto unexpected addresses, and, like its author’s Rome guidebook, it could be reproduced today without many alterations ª Estates of Grace It’s hard notto raise an eyebrowat blurbsthatseem to beatify their authors. A happy occasion,then,to discover a long-worshippedwork thatstill merits all its praise: Georgina Masson’sItalian Villas and Palaces (1959) is one such study. A courtly poem of pink pages and gleaming silver photogravures,this peerless patrician survey is divine on every level, finds Mitchell Owens 38

Opposite: Masson’s cover star is a sweeping view of Stra’s Villa Pisani, a house she called ‘coldly magnificent’. This page: costumed figures – members of the Lechi family, according to author Georgina Masson – populate the heroic 1740s trompe-l’oeil murals that put an operatic spin on the ballroom of Brescia’s Palazzo Lechi 39

John Pawson in conversation with the monks of Our Lady of Nový Dvůr, Bohemia, Czech Republic John Pawson: Making Life Simpler (by Deyan Sudjic; Phaidon, rrp £79.95) Forty years ago, WoI featured an article (July/Aug 1983) headed ‘Bare Minimum: John Pawson’s London flat takes understatement to the verge of painful silence.’ A slab of raw meat was the only adornment on a stainless-steel kitchen counter; the living space stripped to its essentials. In the context of well-feathered nests, full-frontal nudity could hardly have been more shocking. But that article and Wabi, an enthusiastic essay on the flat by Bruce Chatwin elsewhere, helped launch Pawson’s career. A decade later, a slim Spanish monograph on his earlywork caught the eye of Calvin Klein, who commissioned his New York flagship and ten other stores from a small office with limited experience. Ah, the power of print! Fewarchitects have been aswell-served by a publisher as Pawson: Phaidon has produced nine handsome books on or by him, from Minimum, a selection of imagesthat defined his philosophy, to a set of recipes that he and his wife, Catherine, devised in their remodelled Oxfordshire farmhouse. Each volume addressed a specific theme; now, the director of London’s Design Museum has drawn on his long association with Pawson to provide a comprehensive survey that is half biography, half critical analysis of his work. In what is perhaps the most enlightening and entertaining of all the architectural monographs I’ve read, we learn how Pawson became a designer and a largely self-taught architect after a series of false starts. He left Eton and the Architectural Association before taking his exams, failed in the family textile business, and gave up on the idea of becoming a Buddhist monk in Japan on the first day. From these inauspicious beginnings he built a small but astonishingly varied practice, embracing churches and monasteries, art galleries and shops, hotels and yachts. His clients range from hard-nosed developers to billionaires with a taste for the simple life. Tracing this ascent in six thematic chapters, Sudjic explores Pawson’s early engagement with artists and the masters who inspired him. His four years in Japan, teaching and working with Shiro Kuramata, left a lasting impression, as did his encounters with the buildings of Mies van der Rohe and the Minimalism of Donald Judd. For Pawson himself,though, Sudjic prefers ‘sensuous austerity’ over ‘minimalism’. The architect limits himself to essential tools and a few favourite artworks – though even these he would pack away in wardrobes to avoid distraction, much asJapanese collectors bring out one scroll at a time for display. A few months ago, listening to monks singing plainsong in the abbey of Nový Dvůr in the Czech Republic, I envied the simplicity of their lives and the luminous beauty of their chapel but – like Pawson – had no wish to join them. Living in spare interiors over the long haul requires discipline and dedication. Achieving perfection in details and finishes is complex and costly. But Sudjic is a persuasive advocate. ‘He makes the unnecessary disappear… Hisspaces heighten the senses, make people aware of theirsurroundings, of the nuances of light and texture’ ª Michael Webb is an architectural writer books The Spare Room 40

© the rare books and special collections library at the american university, cairo A Constellation of Leo Exhibitions Becoming Van Leo 15 July–5 November Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Bvd, Los Angeles, ca 90024 In one, he sports the ID badge of a prisoner, an eyebrow menacingly cocked. In another, a cigarette hangs louchely from his lips, a Surrealist apparition of a Classical statue flickering behind him. In another still, he dons an aviator’s leather jacket and headgear. Each self-portrait, taken between 1945 and 1946, is stamped with the bipartite signature ofthe mostremarkable and enigmatic studio photographer of 20th-century Egypt: Van Leo. That moniker, adopted as a pastiche of European artistic greatness, befitted a man with a penchant for glamour, a talent for self-aggrandising and self-archiving, and, above all, a meticulous commitment to the formal qualities of photography. It’s these qualities that render his work so current, perhaps, in a moment animated by the more fantastical possibilities of image-making and self-fashioning. On the heels of Becoming Van Leo, a major three-volume edition of his vast trove of photographs and film stills, a new survey of the same name is the first major exhibition in the usa of his work. Organised by editor and curator Negar Azimi, it’s a retrospective set to span the sixdecade career of an artist who upended distinctions between East and West, document and fantasy, self and other. The man who would become Van Leo was born Levon Boyadjian in the Ottoman empire in 1921, the youngest child in a family of Armenian émigrés whose escape from genocide would lead them to Egypt, eventually settling in Cairo in the 1930s. Transfixed by the celebrity-making engine of Hollywood and obsessed with the bevy of musicians, exotic dancers and foreign soldiersthatflooded Egypt in the decades before the 1952 revolution, young Levon eschewed the curriculum at Cairo’s American University and, in 1940, left formal education to intern with the Armenian photographer Artinian at Studio Venus. The brevity of that nonetheless formative experience owed to Levon’s idiosyncratic skill for lighting faces and his outsized ambition; the following year, he set outwith his brother Angelo to establish their own studio in the family home on Avenue Fouad, where the duo captured the likenesses of Cairo’s performers for free ads in playbills. All the while, Levon experimented with the shifting boundaries of his own image before the camera: hundreds of photographs, taken between 1939 and 1944, attest to the breadth of his adopted personae, including coquettish figures dressed in kimonos and lipstick. When the brothers’ collaboration fell apart in 1947, Levon, now Van Leo, struck out on his own. Studio Metro, the operation he ran until he stopped taking photographs in 1998, mostly catered to generic crowds of newly wed couples and passport applicants, but a litany of famous names (among them the Egyptian pop star Dalida and actor Omar Sharif) fleshes out Van Leo’s cosmopolitan clientele. And, shining among them, the man behind the camera who refused to stay there. Against a chintzy background in 1940, Van Leo’s young face twinkles with a prescient knowledge aboutwhat it might take – ego, determination,skill, charisma, perhaps a dash of delusion – to be a star ª Tausif Noor is an art critic ‘Self-Portrait, Friday, August 25, 1939’ 41

Sitting Ducks Exhibitions Birds of America Until 1 October Compton Verney, Compton Verney, Warks CV35 9HZ John James Audubon showed his devotion with his gun. He spent nearly 12 years and countless casings on a naturalist crusade to produce Birds of America (1827–38), a pioneering book of aquatints depicting 435 species native to North America. He painted from life, meaning death, shooting his avian subjects and then arranging their bodies theatrically. The resulting tome was a milestone on both ornithological and bibliographical fronts. Little more than 100 copies survive of the original ‘double-elephant folio’, within which each plate clocks in at around 66 x 99cm and depicts its bird at scale; the largest, to judge by their buckled forms, had to be squashed into the frame. This summer at Compton Verney, 46 of Audubon’s plates have been restored and put on show. There are also sundry objects – ‘letters, books, manuscripts, projection, photography and films’ – to add some historical context and poke at ‘problematic realities’. Audubon traded in slaves, was thoroughly racist and shot dozens of birds when he needed models. The last of these failings, true to America, isstill the most volubly condemned:some chapters of the Audubon Society have dropped his name, decrying his ‘shotgun ornithology’. Though this he did admit to at the time, he was also fatalistic about it – a sort of Nietzsche of the woods. During one trip to the Magdalen islands, he came upon a flock of Arctic terns; a fusillade ensued, and corpses plunged into the sea. ‘Alas, poor things!’ he later wrote. ‘How well do I remember the pain it gave me… I excused myself with plea of necessity.’ The terns might have wondered at this. Audubon’sslaughterslowed at his project’s halfway mark, when he sailed across the pond, clad in buckskin, to drum up subscriptions from Europe’s rich. While hewas busy in London and Paris, ornithological finds were being made back in the western United States. He fell behind on resources and time: much of the rest of Birds of America was painted from specimens sent as gifts. He went to Key West, but failed to shoot a flamingo; he didn’t visit the mountain range in which the California condor lived. The golden eagle he painted wasfound in a fox trap,still alive; after briefly consulting his conscience, Audubon stabbed it through the heart. That eagle took 14 days to paint, and the result – on show at Compton Verney – is an awkward, illogical thing. It takes off near vertically, yet its wings are furled; it lifts a massy rabbit on only half-sunken claws; it soars above a group of trees that fluctuate in size. Audubon’s better birds are the smaller ones: at the scale of a sparrow, his draughtsmanship has both rigour and gentleness. He claimed hewastutored by Jacques-Louis David; he probably made this up, though Compton Verney is buying it. Either way, look out for his bluewinged warbler and his Baltimore oriole, lit up by jazzy hues. Hisraven, meanwhile, is uncanny: its plumage pools and shimmers asthe sun glints off its eye. A curious thing – Audubon’s methods seem, here, to be a source of perverted strength. One deadly creature stares at another, and has savagery in its gaze ª Cal Revely-Calderis the literary editor of the ‘Telegraph’ Above: ‘Fish Hawk’, 1830, aquatint plate, 96.1 x 64cm. Opposite: ‘Raven’, 1831, aquatint plate, 100 x 67cm 42

both images © national museums scotland 43

Network Clare Holley choosesthe best merchandise and events worldwide 2 3 1 2 The ‘Cascata’ chandelier, with its fluid glass panels and sharp triangular frame, is the latest statement piece from CTO Lighting. Taking its visual cue from the movement of waterfalls, each piece flows seamlessly from opaque glass to clear; the result is a striking ice-like texture that softens the LED light from above. Designed for maximum impact on entry, ‘Cascata’ is especially happy suspended above tall hallways and stately stairwells. Visit ctolighting.co.uk. 1 Over the past 20 years, Tate has worked with dozens of highprofile and emerging artists to produce new and exclusive works to buy. From silkscreen prints to one-off sculptures, the collection offers an opportunity to own a contemporary work of art, with proceeds directly supporting the gallery. Lubaina Himid’s Jelly Mould Pavilions for London has been made in a limited edition of just 80, but there are still a handful available to buy. Snap up yours at shop.tate.org.uk. 4 While in Paris, do pop along to Tectona to try out its new collection, ‘Soleil’, the fruit of a collaboration with international designer and trained cabinetmaker Martin Szekely. In a marriage between newworld technology and old-school woodwork, each piece is crafted from larch using computer numerical control, allowing for perfect precision at assembly. The result? A solid, durable chair as pleasingly easy on the eye as it is to relax in. Visit tectona.net ª 3 If a city break is what you’re after you could do worse than Paris, where a stay at the Hôtel Dame des Arts will fortify the weariest of souls. Ideally located in the Left Bank’s Saint Germain area, this 1950s building has been artfully revived by designer Raphael Navot, and boasts 109 bedrooms, a garden courtyard and its pièce de résistance – a show-stopping rooftop bar with a 360-degree view of the city. Rooms start at £280 per night. Visit damedesarts.com. 4 44

There is something surreal about visiting Okahirongo Elephant Lodge. The landscape of northwest Namibia feels otherworldly in a way rarely encountered in even the most remote locations: dramatic peaks pierce the skyline, the wind kicks up clouds of rust­red dust from lunar­like dunes and the lodge’s white, egg­shaped dome rises above shifting desert sands. Part of Sanctuary Retreats’ impressive portfolio, Okahirongo Elephant Lodge reopened in April 2023 after extensive refurbishments. They were intended not only to modernise the retreat, but also to better align the structure with its surroundings. It was a successful endeavour: the organic lines, textured white walls and low buildings create the impression that, much like the surrounding mountains, the lodge has been sculpted entirely by the forces of nature ratherthan human hands. Interiors are equally harmonious. Social areas are open­plan and open­sided, seamlessly erasing boundaries between internal spaces and the desert. Similarly, floor­to­ceiling windows and shaded terraces grant privacy in personal rooms without one ever losing a sense of place. Thoughtful design touches are present wherever you look. Soft colours and natural materials are a gentle interpretation of desert hues; chunky recessed shelvesin the living area hold an array of curiosthat invite a closerlook; in the dining room, tables are angled so that each elegantly presented meal is accompanied by staggering views; and at the centre of it all isthe pool, a true oasis in the arid wilderness. With just seven suites and a two­bedroom villa available, each stay here is as exclusive as it is captivating, filled with boutique experiences in the surrounding landscape. Journey through Hoarusib Valley, past towering ancientrock formations known as the Clay Castles and spectacular cliffs in the remote Puros Conservancy, where the lodge is based. Some lucky guests may even catch a glimpse of the area’s elusive wildlife, which includes giraffes, kudu antelope and the lodge’s namesake elephants. You’ll also travel into the desert for a traditionalsundowner. Almost all staff come from the nearby village, and as you enjoy an ice­cold drink while watching the sun sink beneath the dunes your indigenous Himba guide will regale you with stories of this incredible place’s history and culture. A visit to Okahirongo Elephant Lodge is more than a holiday. It is a voyage into one of earth’s last wildernesses, somewhere few are lucky enough to see ª For details, visit sanctuaryretreats.com Top left: a thoughtful redesign has transformed the already-impressive Okahirongo Elephant Lodge into a bastion of organic architecture. Top right: interiors are bright and modern, drawing inspiration from local culture – traditional motifs, designs and materials are used, and open-plan spaces put the desert landscape on display Into the Wild A recentredesign has made Okahirongo Elephant Lodge the moststriking – and exclusive – place to stay fortravellers exploring Namibia’s dramatic vistas ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE photography: mark williams

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VISITOR’S BOOK Jump – and the net appears. Sometimesthe greatest escapesfrom our daily lives involve a scrapping of long-held plans and a handbrake turn on to serendipity street. Anywhere but Sicily,reckoned the Palermo native Riccardo Priolisi, who waslooking in vain for a seaside bolthole with his partner, John Hooks, in southern Europe. Mere curiosity, no more, led the couple to inspect a walled farming hamlet outside Noto – in Sicily! – that had lain undisturbed, gently imploding, for over 60 years. It would be ‘pure madness’ even to contemplate a rescue mission… Cut to today and the palatial Masseria Cardinale stands as a sophisticated hymn to Classical civilisation, and the waves of writers, artists and travellers who’ve drawn inspiration from the ancients’ deep well. Isabelle Lallemang grew tired of trying to make it as a hedonistic dealer of flamboyant fabricsin staid, provincial France. So she went on holiday to Morocco and never came home. In Tangier’s medina, we touch down at her latest venture, a pink-and-gold pop-up, filled with faux fur and funky fashion. Living in Gascony, photographer Tim Clinch divorced and lost everything. The trapdoor fell open, and soon the Briton found himself buying a little house in rural Bulgaria. Shorn of possessions, he began from scratch, turning hisinteriorinto a paean to the peasant vernacular, allred gingham, box beds and icon cabinets. Of course, there’s nothing suspect about fulfilling a project conceived in advance and approached painstakingly. Did Geoffrey Bawa anticipate the Sri Lankan civil war when he designed his own place in Colombo in the late 1950s? The architect’s characteristic style wasto usher the jungly exterior inside, but in his personalsanctum one sensesratherthe world being kept at bay. Through a series of holiday rentals on Mustique, one woman refined her approach to living on the Caribbean island. Humidity,she learned, isthe foe of art and many fabrics – which explains why in the succulent-surrounded white-cube clifftop hideaway she actually bought, the luxury isfree of all complication. Or as her decorator, Veere Grenney, putsit: ‘The house itself isthe artwork.’ Forget planning – scrupuloustimetabling is a must when one istrying to let loose Britain’s only privately owned train on to the rail network. Forthe mid-century carriages corroding away in a disused iron worksin County Durham, now reincarnated asthe plushest rolling stock since the golden age of travel, it’s been quite the unexpected journey. What doesthis signal? Well, even when you hit the buffers, it’s not impossible to get back on track.

Classical statues, collected by Vespasiano I Gonzaga, Duke of Sabbioneta, strike poses in the Palazzo del Giardino, Italy. See page 38. Photograph: Georgina Masson