take the slow boat: the indonesian ferry firm that’s taking on the region’s low-cost carriers
a briefing on global affairs, business, culture & design OUR NEW HOSPITALITY AND TRAVEL SPECIAL
The art of hospitality: reap what you sew (and bake, make and brew) The basics of being a good host: start in the home or a well-equipped Finnish classroom. Monocle gets a few lessons from battle-hardened GMs and some charming ambassadors. A new MONOCLE SPECIAL
AFFAIRS Hostile hostels: check in at the world’s most dangerous hotels BUSINESS Take a bow: how to be funky and gracious in a single move on the shop floor CULTURE Southern scene: the art world’s other Louisiana DESIGN Panasonic makes a move into town-planning EDITS Nice meat in Lisbon, edgy living in Melbourne and perfectly printed invites AT YOUR SERVICE
Learning needs to be hands-on and headsdown
I’m part of a new generation that can actually...
The Hospitality Rule Book
THE FINEST EMBASSY
1 Focus on the details 2 Lead from the front 3 Be authentic 4 Hire staff based on potential, not credentials 5 Speak with a consistent tone of voice 6 Turn the lights down 7 Figure out your signature soundtrack 8 Avoid fads and trends 9 Keep your plates and bowls round 10 Old school is more welcoming than new school Putting on a corking event for esteemed guests requires exemplary decision-making
THE SMARTEST AIRLINE
…run a household, tend a bar and mend uniforms
The well-designed airport lounge that makes you pray for a long delay
THE TASTIEST CHEF
Ruth Rogers of the River Café describes the menu for her perfect ‘last meal’
the line-up
MONOCLE —Contributors In this edition we have searched the globe for the most inviting, indulgent and inspiring hotels and restaurants in the hospitality industry. So we asked our contributors which nation does them best.
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Engel Rasmussen writer
After a stint in Iran, Danish journalist Rasmussen now covers Afghanistan from Kabul. In this issue he visits the city’s oldest luxury hotel. — affairs p27 The world’s most hospitable people? “Iranians’ never-ending invitations for tea and sumptuous meals make it hard to get anything done in their country.”
Flora Bagenal
Marissa Shirbin
David Severn
Bagenal has worked in Beijing, Washington, Nairobi and Bangkok but recently returned home to Oxford, UK, to embrace a new role: being a mum. For monocle she visits the home of architects David and Im Schafer in Bangkok. — design p138 The world’s most hospitable people? “Airbnb hosts, wherever you are in the world.”
Sydney-based Australian writer Shirbin reports on cultural affairs around her city, Melbourne and Canberra. For monocle she meets Singaporean restaurateur and hotelier Loh Lik Peng. — business p78 The world’s most hospitable people? “The staff at The Grand Budapest Hotel, Republic of Zubrowka.”
Severn is a Midlands, UK-based documentary and editorial photographer whose work has appeared in festivals and publications at home and abroad. For monocle he turns his camera to local silverware. — design p104 The world’s most hospitable people? “The team at The Malt Cross in Nottingham: my favourite local.”
Adriane Ohanesian
Jamie Jones
Mary Fitzgerald
Jones was born in Shropshire, UK and studied illustration in Bristol before moving to London and establishing a studio in the south of the city. For monocle he illustrates the defence briefing page. — affairs p52 The world’s most hospitable people? “I find those who are truly open-minded are kind no matter what.”
Originally from Cork, Fitzgerald has reported from Tripoli since 2011. For monocle she writes about one of Libya’s top hotels. — affairs p32 The world’s most hospitable people? “I should probably say my fellow Irish citizens but little can compare to the kindness of strangers in corners of the Middle East and north Africa.”
Véronique Hoegger
Andrew Colin Beck
Originally from Lausanne, Hoegger lives in Zürich and shoots for magazines and independent fashion labels. In this edition she photographs fine art at Zürich’s Kronenhalle restaurant. — culture p81 The world’s most hospitable people? “Hospitality is a state of mind rather than a specific country.”
American illustrator Beck is travelling with his wife and son (the Netherlands, Morocco and Spain so far). His work is across monocle’s Africa/Middle East, Americas and Oceania briefings. — affairs p47 The world’s most hospitable people? “Those who show love without expecting it back.”
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photographer Upstate New Yorker Ohanesian was a professional figure-skating coach before choosing to photograph life in Sudan. Now based in Nairobi, she visits a high-risk hotel in Mogadishu for monocle. — affairs p30 The world’s most hospitable people? “Sudanese hospitality is truly ingrained in the culture.”
Carli Philips writer
Fashion and lifestyle journalist Philips is Melbourne contributing editor for Belle magazine. But for monocle she heads to California instead to see Palm Springs’ new Architecture and Design Center. — design p136 The world’s most hospitable people? “You can’t go five minutes in Tel Aviv without offers for a good home-cooked meal.”
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Key to writers: (mka) Mikaela Aitken (mal) Matt Alagiah (la) Liam Aldous (ra) Rachel Aspden (mdb) Megan Billings (nb) Nick Brown (abu) Alistair Bunkall (tbw) Tom Burges Watson (ic) Ivan Carvalho (abc) Annabelle Chapman (jd) Joseph Dana (adc) Alexandra de Cramer (ads) Alex Duval Smith (ld) Linda Dyett (ser) Sune Engel Rasmussen (sfg) Simon Farrell-Green (jaf) Josh Fehnert (mfi) Mary Fitzgerald (mg) Marcus George (nsg) Nolan Giles (bga) Benoît Grogan-Avignon (kh) Kenji Hall (smi) Sarah Ichioka (sk) Sahar Khan (ako) Alexei Korolyov (jzl) Jason Li (tl) Trish Lorenz (vl) Vivien Lu (km) Kate Mayberry (tmc) Tristan McConnell (cmg) Charlotte McDonald-Gibson (tm) Tom Morris (am) Andrew Mueller (ena) Elna Nykänen Andersson (bo) Ben Olsen (dep) Debbie Pappyn (dmp) David Plaisant (rsp) Richard Spencer Powell (chr) Chiara Rimella (lr) Laura Rysman (mss) Marie-Sophie Schwarzer (js) Joshua Shapiro (msh) Marissa Shirbin (asf) Alexandra Stenbock-Fermor (ejs) Ed Stocker (jt) Junichi Toyofuku (av) Amanda Valmorbida (pwh) Peter White (fw) Fiona Wilson
report Architecture and Design Center
MODERN LOVERS —Palm Springs Preface Architectural acolytes seeking a temple to modernism usually head for Scandinavia but they may now want to go west, too. In the California desert, an old bank has been reborn as an oasis of mid-century style and host to a cultural revival.
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writer Carli Philips photographer Ken Tisuthiwongse
“The Palm Springs Architecture and Design Center started as all great things do: a dream that nobody thought possible,” says JR Roberts, who managed the opening of his city’s newest museum, which opened late last year. “Palm Springs is finally emerging into the arts and cultural centre it was always meant to be.” The space was designed in 1961 as the Santa Fe Federal Savings and Loan bank by architect E Stewart Williams; the building is pure mid-century. Low slung with overhanging eaves, indoor-outdoor appeal and steel-and-glass bones, it was built to cope with the harsh climate without sacrificing views out to the San Jacinto Mountains. It opened with a retrospective honouring its architect, a testament to how this oasis in the desert is investing in its design legacy. In addition to its role as a resource centre, the museum will host architectural tours as well as events for Modernism Week in February. The permanent collections will rotate on display alongside temporary and visiting exhibitions. Marmol Radziner, the architecture firm that spearheaded the redevelopment, used Williams’ plans – along with photographs by chronicler of mid-century architecture Julius Shulman – to honour the building’s past while also refreshing it. “Preservation is not about fighting change,” says co-founder Leo Marmol.
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The challenge, he adds, was maintaining a modernist feel while “balancing the nature of a glass pavilion with the curatorial demands of light sensitivity” required to exhibit and store art. Bronze-anodised aluminium screens provide shade without sacrificing the view, their angled openlattice design diffusing sunlight while their dark, metallic colour reduces glare. Inside, solar screens control light into the gallery while the concrete-block walls and terrazzo floor have been conserved. “The conversion of the old bank was a seamless transition,” says Marmol. “It didn’t require aggressive intervention as the floorplan provided enough space for the gallery and enough support space to house the functions of the museum.” Williams’ daughter-in-law Sidney, the museum’s curator, describes the architect as “a very modest man” who would have been overwhelmed by the attention. The sentiment is echoed by Marmol, who sees Williams’ contributions to the city as invaluable. “He was,” he says, “a very dignified, respectful gentleman – a modest modernist.” — (m)
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01 Entrance to the Architecture and Design Center 02 Museum book shop housed in the original bank vault 03 Model of a house designed by E Stewart Williams, part of the museum’s opening exhibition 04 JR Roberts and Sidney Williams 05 Leo Marmol, co-founder of Marmol Radziner 04
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