DESTINATIONS
Sceptred Isle
25 NOVEMBER 2010
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Born in England, publisher / managing editor Colin Sharp came to South Africa in 1968 and launched Habitat in 1973. He retains a distant – if reluctant – admiration for his homeland, preferring to recall it in the ‘50s, ‘60s and 70’s. During five days in mid-September he visited London and West Sussex as part of the 2010 BMW South Africa EuroStyle tour.
It’s the stubborn parochial Englishness of this island race that chides me at times; I don’t watch Sky TV for this reason. Their insularity is legendary and their recent history hardly laudable, yet there is an attraction that remains despite tea and telly, the pub and a mindless devotion to the ‘beautiful game’ and its working class hero / celebrities.
Notwithstanding the time span absent, when I return to London I feel that I’ve never left.
In the face of threatening double-dip recession, those that still live well in Britain enjoy a cultured lifestyle manifested in town and country luxury; unfolded wads of sterling being a prerequisite. I tested and tasted more than a little of this – and other high-end culture – on a journey around London, experiencing cutting-edge contemporary hotels and restaurants, before wafting elegantly down to West Sussex in a Rolls Royce Phantom limo to visit RR Goodwood and the historic Goodwood Revival.
November/December 2010 Issue
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Stairway; 2007; glass and steel by Danny Lane in the CASS Sculpture Park on the March Estate, Goodwood, West Sussex.
Credit(s): photo-reportage: Colin Sharp
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The 17 suites at the Boundary illustrate varying design influences. The quilted wing-back chair (top right) is from local studio Squint.
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Anish Kapoor / Arup’s Orbit for the 2012 London Olympic Park is taller than the Statue of Liberty at 115m and is described as, ‘a tower with a non-linear form’.
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London Transport: Mini Countryman, (available in SA end-2010)
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FOCUS - FEATURES
Climate Control 2012
I will always recall my first May – late-Autumn – in Johannesburg, many decades ago. I had arrived from the UK Spring and was renting a circa ‘50s bungalow in Craighall Park. We were chilled to the bone after dark; such were the thin walls and large areas of glass, flimsy curtains and no fireplaces. A puny electric heater did little to rectify the situation. This was an early lesson in climate control in South Africa.
DESIGN AND ARCHITECTURE
High Society
Perched above the city is the suburb of Örgryte: a lofty location that enjoys panoramic views which reach out to the west. Villa Woldu’s siting offers a stunning vista at the top of the road that climbs up from the main highway to Stockholm.
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