From Africa with love
South Africa is a stimulating place to be today if you are involved in the arts and creative industries. Interesting, original designers are drawing on the extraordinary, diverse culture of the country to create beautiful things. From the 17th century onwards, the Cape has been visited and settled by Huguenots expelled from France, Germans, Dutch, Indonesians, Malays and later the English, who all added their mark. Programmes and organisations exist to get the best work from indigenous Africans and international shops, such as Anthropologie and The Conran Shop are eagerly snapping up the results.
‘It’s OK to be South African; once it wasn’t, when racial barriers prevented real freedom of expression,’ says Paul Duncan, a native who has worked in London as the administrator of the Spital elds Historic Buildings Trust. Now back home, he is a chronicler of South African design, old and new.
Sleek design opens up a casual, contemporary kitchen. Right: patterns and shapes are inspired by native African folk art
‘Today, the various streams of this country’s cultural history blend with the greatest expression in ceramics and furniture design.’ His book, Style Icons: Top South African Designers And Their Interiors, shows how it is all put together.
For example, designer Graham Viney has managed to create a mix of colonial and modern at the Mount Nelson Hotel in Cape Town. The book also illustrates the work of interior designer Michele Throssell, and the aesthetic of Boyd Ferguson, who was given free reign at Hout Bay Manor. He adorned the hotel with huge pieces of driftwood, African beads, chandeliers and Zulu shields – all against pink plaster walls.
From left: Ferguson highlights local artisan's colourful, geometric patterns; the interior is deliberately pared down and understated; taking in the vibrant hues of the region
Interior designer John Jacob Zwiegelaar respects the architecture of South African houses and has brought back to life some old buildings, but furnished them in a modern and light way. ‘We have no rules and people in other places find our spontaneity exciting,’ he says.
Graham Viney, who has written a book on Cape Dutch architecture, has breathed new life into an 18th-century Dutch white-washed bungalow with cane ceilings, gables and a stoep (veranda) and furnished it with the owner’s collection of 20th-century South African art and antique furniture.
Examples of living spaces created by Michele Throssell, who specialises in ‘lifestyles for family homes’, describing herself as a ‘bit of a farm girl at heart’. She embraces innovative local traders, such as uSisi Designs – an African crafts industry that supports and empowers impoverished women. Throssell particularly admires their beadwork, using it to decorate lampshades and cushion covers
Boyd Ferguson wants to get away from what he calls African clichés in interior design. For him it’s not just about skins and canvas, but colour and customs. He sees his work as an article of faith. ‘As a white man I want to belong and show that we can be integrated. I want to take “Cape” and Africanise it. However, there are looks about Africa that have become clichéd,’ he says.
In a game lodge, he asked the local tribe to carve their symbols into furniture. ‘The unique flora and fauna of the Cape are strong influences,’ he says. ‘The Kalahari is incredibly beautiful. There’s hardly anything in it, but for one project it gave me the whole colour scheme – the red dunes, blue skies and flaxen blond grass and bird’s nest in thorny trees.’
Further examples of Throssell's work
Indeed, in cold and wet Britain, we could do with a bit of desert heat and brightness, and in Home Help, overleaf, I will show you where to find and how to use South African furnishings in a British home.
Style Icons: Top South African Designers And Their Interiors by Paul Duncan is published by
Random House Struik: www.randomstruik.co.za
Boyd Ferguson www.cecileandboyd.co.za
Graham Viney www.grahamvineydesign.co.za
Hout Bay Manor www.houtbaymanor.com
John Jacob Zwiegelaar Interiors www.johnjacobinteriors.com
Michele Throssell Interiors & Agencies http://michelethrossell.ipcoweb.com
Mount Nelson www.mountnelson.co.za
For a tour and to stay in historic buildings of South Africa,: www.elegantplaces.co.za
‘It’s OK to be South African; once it wasn’t, when racial barriers prevented real freedom of expression,’ says Paul Duncan, a native who has worked in London as the administrator of the Spital elds Historic Buildings Trust. Now back home, he is a chronicler of South African design, old and new.
Sleek design opens up a casual, contemporary kitchen. Right: patterns and shapes are inspired by native African folk art‘Today, the various streams of this country’s cultural history blend with the greatest expression in ceramics and furniture design.’ His book, Style Icons: Top South African Designers And Their Interiors, shows how it is all put together.
For example, designer Graham Viney has managed to create a mix of colonial and modern at the Mount Nelson Hotel in Cape Town. The book also illustrates the work of interior designer Michele Throssell, and the aesthetic of Boyd Ferguson, who was given free reign at Hout Bay Manor. He adorned the hotel with huge pieces of driftwood, African beads, chandeliers and Zulu shields – all against pink plaster walls.
From left: Ferguson highlights local artisan's colourful, geometric patterns; the interior is deliberately pared down and understated; taking in the vibrant hues of the regionInterior designer John Jacob Zwiegelaar respects the architecture of South African houses and has brought back to life some old buildings, but furnished them in a modern and light way. ‘We have no rules and people in other places find our spontaneity exciting,’ he says.
Graham Viney, who has written a book on Cape Dutch architecture, has breathed new life into an 18th-century Dutch white-washed bungalow with cane ceilings, gables and a stoep (veranda) and furnished it with the owner’s collection of 20th-century South African art and antique furniture.
Examples of living spaces created by Michele Throssell, who specialises in ‘lifestyles for family homes’, describing herself as a ‘bit of a farm girl at heart’. She embraces innovative local traders, such as uSisi Designs – an African crafts industry that supports and empowers impoverished women. Throssell particularly admires their beadwork, using it to decorate lampshades and cushion coversBoyd Ferguson wants to get away from what he calls African clichés in interior design. For him it’s not just about skins and canvas, but colour and customs. He sees his work as an article of faith. ‘As a white man I want to belong and show that we can be integrated. I want to take “Cape” and Africanise it. However, there are looks about Africa that have become clichéd,’ he says.
In a game lodge, he asked the local tribe to carve their symbols into furniture. ‘The unique flora and fauna of the Cape are strong influences,’ he says. ‘The Kalahari is incredibly beautiful. There’s hardly anything in it, but for one project it gave me the whole colour scheme – the red dunes, blue skies and flaxen blond grass and bird’s nest in thorny trees.’
Further examples of Throssell's workIndeed, in cold and wet Britain, we could do with a bit of desert heat and brightness, and in Home Help, overleaf, I will show you where to find and how to use South African furnishings in a British home.
Style Icons: Top South African Designers And Their Interiors by Paul Duncan is published by
Random House Struik: www.randomstruik.co.za
Boyd Ferguson www.cecileandboyd.co.za
Graham Viney www.grahamvineydesign.co.za
Hout Bay Manor www.houtbaymanor.com
John Jacob Zwiegelaar Interiors www.johnjacobinteriors.com
Michele Throssell Interiors & Agencies http://michelethrossell.ipcoweb.com
Mount Nelson www.mountnelson.co.za
For a tour and to stay in historic buildings of South Africa,: www.elegantplaces.co.za