Mercedes-Benz Spring-Summer 2013 by Spafax Canada

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1925-4148

13·SPRING/SUMMER

CLA secrets An inside look at a fierce new design

Top Tables Canada’s hidden dinner parties

Turkish delight Explore Istanbul by day and night

Experience this cover in Augmented Reality using your smartphone or tablet. Turn to page 11 to find out how.

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i n

t h is

fa s c i n at i o n

20 22

bu l l e t i n

issu e

From dining to style, Canadian culture stays ahead of the curve.

DESIGN

Rock solid Concrete sheds its austere origins for an elegant upgrade delivered by a handful of Canadian designers who like a tough challenge.

EVENTS

Ta b l e m a n n e r s Chefs, restaurateurs and vintners are taking their craft to the farm, the beach and even below the city streets.

area

yo r k v i l l e s t r e e t st yle

President’s n ot e

a r t w o r ks w i t h a lt i t u d e

s o f t- h e a r t e d

Where to stay and play in Toronto’s chicest neighbourhood.

Sta r Prof i l e

G et awa y

top notes Barb Stegemann and her perfume company The 7 Virtues source essential oils from impoverished regions around the globe.

pas t t h e p r a i r i e Saskatchewan’s Highway 263 challenges clichés, revealing lakes and an artistic pedigree.

S c ene

The weight outdoors Canadian photographers are showing their reinterpretation of landscape to the world.

c o v e r p h o t o , i s ta n b u l : e u r o p e a n v e h i c l e m o d e l s h o w n

Six excursions to great art: from St. Moritz and Kitzbühel to Salzburg, Davos and on into Valais and South Tyrol.

Neither cake nor cookie, the macaron is a diminutive delicacy that is big on taste.

13• s pr ing/ s um m er

sp o t l igh t

e as t e r n p r o m i s e Istanbul has seen a lot of changes, nowhere more so than in the entertainment quarter of Beyoglu, where Ottoman splendour meets contemporary chic.

Gee whiz

s ta r q u a l i t y

wild thing

With 34 years of production under its belt, the G-Class off-roader boasts iconic status. On a test run through Italy, it shows off its remarkable versatility.

The forerunners of the E-Class didn’t just thrill drivers with pioneering innovations – they also racked up celebrity owners and major movie roles.

Sensationally streamlined, the CLA, the new four-door coupe from Mercedes-Benz, heralds a brand new design concept.

L e w i s h a m i lt o n The Mercedes AMG Petronas racecar driver and world champion on everything from style and showbiz to his racing milestones.

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f i n e ly h o n e d senses

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hide and sleek

Intelligent Drive: A network of cameras and sensors alerts to dangers – increasing safety for drivers and pedestrians alike.

The suave yet sensible CLA rolls into showrooms this fall.

The cover of this issue features an Augmented Reality preview of the Mercedes-Benz 2014 CLA. Scan this QR code to download the viewing app or visit cla.mercedes-benz.ca/app

, PRESIDENT S NOTE

hrough a carefully curated selection of topics that cover everything from food, fashion and travel to the latest product news, each Mercedes-Benz magazine brings together a variety of articles intended to transport our valued readers to exotic and luxurious locations across the country and around the globe. With this issue, I am pleased to provide you with a sneak preview of an exciting addition to the Mercedes-Benz vehicle range that will arrive in dealerships this fall. The CLS inspired an entirely new vehicle category that combined the dynamism of a coupe with the comfort and functionality of a sedan for the first time, and the all-new CLA (page 86) is a natural extension of this forward-thinking design philosophy. The dramatic black diamond grille with central star, long hood, sweeping roofline, frameless doors and twin chrome rectangular exhaust tailpipes will ensure that the CLA turns heads from every angle. Its unmistakable silhouette embodies more than just a unique, eye-catching design: The sleek lines of the CLA also set a new world record in aerodynamics for seriesproduction automobiles. Given this new model’s distinctive appearance, luxurious appointments, generous level of standard equipment and groundbreaking safety systems, we are confident that the CLA will appeal to many existing customers while also attracting a new generation of potential buyers to our dealerships. This issue also profiles the history of a widely celebrated icon: the Mercedes-Benz G-Class (page 72). Originally conceived in 1979 as a vehicle to be used primarily on tough off-road terrain, the G-Class has undergone an astounding process of evolution while always retaining its outstanding design. To this day, the G-Class

is considered the pre-eminent model among luxury-class cross-country vehicles, and has also provided the gene pool for the other very successful SUVs that have been built under the Mercedes-Benz brand. While the CLA and G-Class may be at opposite ends of the automotive spectrum, these highly compelling vehicles share a common DNA and a tradition of excellence that was established when our company’s founders first invented the automobile. Over the years, we’ve introduced numerous pioneering technologies that have dramatically improved vehicle comfort and safety. In addition, we’ve also consistently debuted avant-garde designs that ensure that each vehicle that prominently displays the three-pointed star is instantly recognizable as a Mercedes-Benz. Our collective commitment to innovation remains steadfast, and with the launch of the new E-Class family and flagship S-Class, there is much more to come! Please stay tuned as Mercedes-Benz continues to reinvent the automobile. I assure you that it is going to be an exciting ride.

Sincerely,

Tim A. Reuss President & CEO

pu bl icat ion de ta i l s Published by Daimler AG · Communications · HPC E402 · D-70546 Stuttgart Responsible on behalf of the publishers Mirjam Bendak Publisher’s Council Dr. Joachim Schmidt (Chairman) · Daniel Bartos · Thomas Fröhlich · Lüder Fromm · Christoph Horn · Jörg Howe · Anders Sundt Jensen · Alexandra Süss Canada Mercedes-Benz Canada Inc., 98 Vanderhoof Ave., Toronto, ON M4G 4C9 President and CEO Tim A. Reuss Vice-President, Marketing Gavin Allen Director, Communications and PR JoAnne Caza National Marketing Communications Manager Jay Owen Supervisor, Customer Relationship Management Lisa Hynek Supervisor, PR Michael Minielly Coordinator Chashmeen Rekhi C o nc e p t a n d e di t i n g Germany Condé Nast Verlag GmbH · Karlstrasse 23 · D-80333 München Contributors Jean Cazals, Tom Clarkson, Hannah Engelmaier, Elias Hassos, Christoph Henn, Markus Jans, Manfred Klimek, Anatol Kotte, Michael Moorstedt, Tom Parker, Marc Trautmann, Christof Vieweg, Mario Wagner, Margot Weber, Robert Zsolnay Canada Spafax Canada, 4200, boul. Saint-Laurent, suite 707, Montreal, QC H2W 2R2 President, content marketing Raymond Girard · Executive vice-president, media Katrin Kopvillem Vice-president, finance and operations Paula Pergantis Content director Arjun Basu Senior strategist Courtney MacNeil Project leader Celyn Harding-Jones Editor Natasha Mekhail Senior editors Christopher Korchin, Isabelle Vialle-Soubranne Associate editor Eve Thomas Assistant editor Aliyah Shamsher Online editor Jasmin Legatos Assistant online editor Renée Morrison Contributors Mike Berson, Lorne Bridgman, Allan Casey, Annelise Dekker, Joanna Fox, Grant Harder, Paige Magarrey, Stephanie McBride, Celeste Moure, Stina Persson, Chantal Tranchemontagne Art director Guillaume Brière Graphic designer Nicole Noon Production director Joelle Irvine Production manager Jaclyn Irvine Fact checker Stacey McLachlan Proofreader Jane Pavanel Translation Strategic Languages, Toronto Advertising sales Spafax Canada, 1179 King Street West, Suite 101, Toronto, ON M6K 3C5, sales@spafax.com National sales manager Laura Maurice, Tel. 416-350-2432, lmaurice@spafax.com Rights ©Copyright 2013 by Mercedes-Benz Canada Inc. All rights reserved. Reprints and use, as a whole or in part, only with the express written permission of Daimler AG. No responsibility can be taken for unsolicited texts and photographs. Signed articles do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the publisher or the editors. Some vehicles may be shown with non-Canadian equipment. Some vehicles may be shown without side marker lights. Some optional equipment may not be available on all models. For current information regarding the range of models, standard features, optional equipment and/or colours available in Canada and their pricing, contact your nearest authorized Mercedes-Benz dealer or visit mercedes-benz.ca. All other content in this magazine has been compiled to the best of our knowledge, but no guarantee is given. Mercedes-Benz magazine appears semi-annually, with editions published under cooperation or licence in 40 languages. Number 324, 59th year of publication, succeeding Mercedes – the magazine for people on the move and Mercedes-Benz in aller Welt. Return undeliverables to Spafax Canada, 1179 King Street West, Suite 101, Toronto, ON M6K 3C5 Printed on paper bleached without chlorine Printed in Canada ISSN 1925-4148 Canadian Publication Mail Agreement 41657520

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t r av e l

Pure & Simple dillons . ca

D I LL O N ’ S Small Batch Distillers only opened its doors in the last days of 2012 and it’s already getting serious buzz. Located in Niagara Wine Country and headed by trio of relatives Geoff Dillon, Peter Dillon and Gary Huggins, the company uses locally grown grain and grapes, plus other fruits and botanicals, to create small-batch rye, gin, vodka, Canadian rye whisky and six varieties of house bitters. The best place to sample Dillon’s is at the source. A tour gives insight into the grain-and-grape-to-glass process and culminates in their newly christened sipping room. All that’s left to do is sidle up to the old hemlock and walnut bar and have a drink.

g o o d s

S T Y L E

C U L T U R E

T R A V E L

D I N I N G

fa s c i n at i o n S TYLE

Best-kept Secret secretlocation . ca

I N H I S E a r ly twenties, Chuck Hughes ditched his career in advertising and went on to become a successful chef, restaurateur, Food Network host and cookbook author. Chuck’s Day Off, his second culinary compilation with more than 100 recipes, is the latest example of the cookbook boom underway in Montreal. Those who want to recreate the flavours of the city’s chefs can now consult the pages of Hughes’ book, chef Normand Laprise’s Toqué! Creators of a new Quebec gastronomy for new-world French cuisine, or Caroline Dumas’ soupesoup for hearty seasonal fare.

Montreal Moment O N W ATER S TREET in Vancouver’s Gastown, there’s a place where consumers of culture congregate. Secret Location, a Euroinspired concept store, café-lounge and event venue dreamt up and executed by Carey Melnichuk, presents curated fashion, art, gadgets, home furnishings and even literature. Her goal is to showcase unique, well-made products rather than the brands behind them. A café menu from chef Marcus Bugoy and hip events, including a book signing by “The Sartorialist” Scott Schuman, round out the offerings.

chuckhughes . ca restaurant - toque . com flammarion . qc . ca

photo: DOMINIQUE L AFOND (chuck hughes)

dinin g

ST YLE

In the Bag elahandbags . com

STYLE

Smart Fashion veilance . arcteryx . com

W H E N C E L E B R I T Y shoemaker Jimmy Choo encouraged Ela Kowalewska to design handbags five years ago, she went for it. Kowalewska tapped into her experience at Burberry in London and Hermès Canada, and launched Ela with husband Martin Aldorsson. The Toronto-based company produces coveted clutches, pochettes and handbags made with plush Italian leather and robust hardware. Her spring/summer 2013 collection picks up on past designs, but keeps it fresh with bold new colours and textures. The Editor’s Pouch, Chibi Lady Bag and M.I.L.C.K. Clutch (the acronym stands for money/ID/lipstick/ cellphone/keys) come in silver and rose-gold mirror, saturated pinks, blues and yellows, timeless black and white, cool navy-blue suede and pyramid-embossed green suede.

Vancouver’s Arc’tery x has been a go-to brand for sporty types ever since they opened shop in 1989. But the company that brought high-end technical wear to the hardcore masses also has a versatile collection for those who want to transition seamlessly from the outdoors to the office. The spring 2013 Veilance line uses innovative fabrics that protect from the elements, pack small and light, and maximize breathability. All pieces feature a classic cut and fit, but two in particular – the Blazer LT and Partition Coat – stand out as the perfect additions to any active businessman’s wardrobe.

C U LT U R E

Underexposed ago . net / aiweiwei

T H OU G H H E W AS named “the most powerful figure in contemporary art” by ArtReview magazine, Ai Weiwei has not enjoyed widespread exposure in the Western world. That is, not until now. Beginning in August, the Art Gallery of Ontario will host According to What?, a collection of Ai’s photographs, sculptures, installation art and audio and video pieces. It is his first Canadian exhibit and one of five in North America. Organized and curated by Tokyo’s Mori Art Museum, the survey of Ai’s work will highlight the issues that concern him most, including freedom of expression, human rights and the effects of digital communication.

DINING

ST YLE

Being Bratty

Duy Design

bestie . ca wurst . ca

duycollection . com

W I T H A C O L L E C T I O N evocative of Dynasty characters vacationing on the French

T H E B E E R G A R D E N was born in Germany sometime in the early 19th century. It was – and still is – a dynamic place for people of all ages to meet, eat and drink. Lucky for us, a tasty twist on the concept has migrated to Canada, where haute beer-and-bratwurst restaurants are gaining momentum. Two newcomers, Bestie in Vancouver and Wurst Beer Hall in Calgary, offer Bavarian-inspired menus, use locally sourced ingredients and prepare nearly everything, including sauces and condiments, in-house. At Bestie, currywurst, freshbaked soft pretzels and hearty kohlrabi, beet and cabbage salads feature on the menu, while Wurst offers meaty dishes and fresh takes on traditional German specialties like schnitzel tacos.

GOODS

Pick of the Pack daneson . com

D A N E S O N H A S T U R N E D the humble toothpick into a thing of beauty and a joy for the discerning palate. Owner Peter Smith mills northern white birch, saturates the pieces in natural flavouring like locally sourced sweet fennel and wintergreen, then dries them in his Georgian Bay shop on Lake Huron. The result? Five choices of exquisitely flavoured toothpicks: Salted Birch, Cinnamint, Mint, Single Malt and Smoked. Each batch of 12 toothpicks is tidily stored in tinted test tubes and available in a four-pack or a box of 24.

Riviera, Duy Nguyen won the 2012 MercedesBenz Start Up program, an ongoing initiative that provides mentorship to Canadian designers and helps elevate their profile on the national and international stages. For spring/summer 2013, the Duy line pairs easy breezy materials like cotton and faded denim with joyful hues in aqua, red and metallic gold. Everything from the fitted hot pants to crisp blazers to gorgeous peplum-style evening gowns showcases the Vietnam-born, Montreal-based designer’s dramatic and masterful tailoring. His fall 2013 collection, recently revealed at World MasterCard Fashion Week, pays homage to the power of the Canadian wilderness.

GOODS

Going Soft mereadesso . com

ST YLE

Beach Beyond

S I M P L I C I T y I s the guiding principle behind Linda Stephenson’s skin-care line, Mèreadesso. To prove it, the Toronto-based company only produces four products, designed to live up to all beauty regimes: All-in-One Moisturizer, Face + Neck Cleanser, Beautiful Body Balm and Lip Treats (available in Clear and Tinted). Born from Stephenson’s honours degree in chemistry and biology and her experience as a beauty-industry executive, Mèreadesso sources ingredients from nine countries and four continents, choosing them based on purity and effectiveness. Some are commonly known (aloe, witch hazel, vitamin E) while others (arginine, kola nut seed extract) draw from the more exotic.

Luxury on Two Wheels

bethrichards . com

B E T H R I C H A R D S makes more than just vintage-inspired swimwear. The Vancouver-based designer draws edgy and smart silhouettes, uses more-than-practical Italian UV fabric with a UPF of 50+ and creates pieces that double as bodysuits. An evolution from her first-ever collection presented last year, her spring/summer 2013 line is still chic, minimalist and classic. The rose colour and stretch floral lace add a touch of femininity to her original black and white palette, and high- (and super-high-) waisted pieces feature prominently. Bottoms can be paired with new crop-top shapes, all designed to be worn both at the pool and après.

The Mercedes-Benz Bike Selection

1 2

1 Cutting-edge, innovative technology and hallmark Mercedes-Benz quality are defining features of the products in the Bike Selection, which are developed and produced in cooperation with Hesse-based premium bicycle manufacturer ADP Rotwild.

2 Big wheels are all the rage in the world of bikes. Mercedes-Benz offers a Twentyniner: the new bike sports wheels with a diameter of 29 inches (including tires), resulting in greater traction and enhanced riding stability.

3 The Mercedes-Benz Bike Selection also offers high-quality bike clothing and practical accessories for cyclists. These products have been developed in cooperation with renowned companies such as Deuter Sport, uvex, Topeak and Sigma Sport. 19

fa s c i n at i o n : D E SI G N

Rock Solid Once the darling of the industrial-chic aesthetic, concrete sheds its austere origins for an elegant upgrade delivered by a handful of Canadian designers who like a tough challenge. w o r d s pa i g e m ag a r r e y

Bench Press

Light from Above

anthonyconcretedesign . com

2stone .ca

Though often perceived as a bulky material, concrete has the ability to be quite airy – as in the case of this floating bench for a Toronto residence, designed by Commute Home. The wafer-thin seating was manufactured by Anthony Concrete Design, a Burgessville, Ontario, concrete workshop that collaborates with designers and architects to develop custom furniture, countertops and even feature walls for such heavy-hitter clients as Starbucks and Mendocino.

Concrete might not come to mind when thinking about a chandelier, but Calgary studio 2Stone’s hand-cast canopy light by Justin Brown is awe-inspiring. The result of years of research and product development, the 36-kilogram cast fixture measures less than two centimetres thick and suspends from the ceiling via heavy-duty airline cables, evoking the floating, graceful look of fabric flowing in the wind.

Think Green

Give Me Your Walls

Heavy Metal

Art Matters

sticks - and - stones . ca

urbanproduct . ca

stylegarage . com

woodstonedesign . ca

Located in Squamish, British Columbia, Sticks + Stones Furniture offers a sustainability-minded approach to stone. Most of its materials are sourced within 150 kilometres of the studio, and the company even makes the most of unwanted concrete by turning it into wine rack cubes and paving material. Its award-winning Calvin coffee table is made of local Douglas fir and a polished concrete slab, with industrial castors on the base to allow easy movement.

Scottish designer Stephen Lindsay’s curvaceous Dune tiles come in hardwood and gypsum, but the concrete version is definitely the most dramatic. The handmade tiles jut out from the wall almost five centimetres and can be combined in an infinite number of configurations. Lindsay’s Toronto studio, Urban Product, produces the tiles with Oakville manufacturer Mags Concrete Works in limited, made-to-order runs.

This table’s highly industrial materials – a poured concrete top and sleek stainless steel frame – are softened by its thin, delicate profile, making it as suitable for a living room as it is for a workshop or office space. Toronto and Vancouver furniture shop Stylegarage offers the table in a standard 91-centimetresquare, 38-centimetre-high coffee table version, but will happily custom-craft it in a variety of sizes, shapes and heights.

Steven Pollock is clear about this: He’s an artist, not a furniture designer. His Vancouver studio, Woodstone Design, produces sculptures as well as clean-lined tables, chairs and storage – including this minimalist custom entertainment unit – out of concrete and wood to bring a hint of nature to any space. “Concrete as a material represents stability, strength and longevity,” he says, “which are all elements that we should have in our homes.”

fa s c i n at i o n : events

Table Manners Eager to provide diners with unique experiences, chefs, restaurateurs and vintners are taking their craft to the farm, the beach and even below the city streets. words celeste moure

VA N C O U V E R

Savoury Cellar salttastingroom . com

Y E A R - R O U N D The street: Blood Alley. The setting: a cavernous underground wine cellar below Gastown’s now iconic Salt Tasting Room. The event: a monthly series of grazing dinners that take place around a nine-metre-long communal table (pictured above) – a most fitting setting for gourmands to enjoy artisanal cheeses, handcrafted condiments and local charcuterie, all complemented by some of Canada’s top vintages.

WHISTLER

Farmers’ Market Finds araxi . com

J U LY – A U G U S T Araxi executive chef James Walt brings together Pemberton Valley’s best producers, farmers and British Columbia winemakers for a series of farm-to-fork dinners that take place alfresco. The events begin with guests sipping cocktails and tasting Chef’s favourite ingredients in their raw form at the on-site farmers’ market. Then everyone sits down to a gourmet four-course dinner.

W E S T P OI N T

Beachside Bounty fallflavours . ca

S E P TE M B ER There’s no shortage of culinary experiences taking place during Prince Edward Island’s Fall Flavours Festival, but the highlight has to be the Lobster Party on the beach. While the Atlantic breeze mixes with soft sand between your toes, a celebrity chef (Susur Lee did the honours last year) cooks the local crustacean to perfection.

Halifa x

Museum Fare coleharbourfarmmuseum . ca

F a l l The celebration of Nova Scotia’s rural past and traditions comes to life at Cole Harbour Heritage Farm Museum’s annual Harvest Dinner. Surrounded by century-old houses and historic farms and barns, diners sit down to a three-course autumnal meal (roast turkey, homemade biscuits, pumpkin pie) at Rose & Kettle, the museum’s tearoom.

Montreal

Sweet City lacabane . ca

photos: Nelson Mouëllic (Salt Tasting Room); TOURISM PEI/TIM PETERS PHOTOGR APHY (PEI)

S P RI N G Tradition and innovation come together at La Cabane each spring when in-theknow foodies gather to enjoy a family-style dinner in an urban-chic cabane à sucre, a.k.a. sugar shack. In this lofted space in the Old Port (pictured right), the feast is prepared by a guest chef who takes culinary cues from the spirit of the season and its time-honoured dishes. Think blood-sausage pies and maple-infused doughnuts.

Niagar a - on the-Lake

Vine Dining laileyvineyard . com

S E P TE M B ER Set alongside the Niagara River is Lailey Vineyard, which boasts some of the oldest plantings of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in Ontario. In September, Lailey hosts a multi-course Harvest Dinner catered by many of the Niagara Peninsula’s most renowned chefs and featuring the winery’s newly released vintages.

fa s c i n at i o n : AREA

Yorkville Street Style

Yorkville’s top restaurants and bars are just a quick ride away for guests of the Four Seasons Hotel Toronto, who can request a lift in the property’s Mercedes-Benz 2013 S 550 4MATIC Sedan.

Where to stay and play in Toronto’s chicest neighbourhood.

T R AV E L

The Scene

The Stay

The Spa

H o m e t o O n tar i o ’ s bohemian set

F o u r Sea s o n s h o tel s may be

in the 1960s, the little slice of downtown Toronto known as Yorkville, with its Victorian homes and strollable streets, still feels like a small town – one that happens to include Hermès and Gucci boutiques. Find a historic yellow-brick fire station and quaint local library steps away from the city’s best shopping, dining and art galleries, as well as the Royal Ontario Museum. On side streets, corporate office buildings share space with salons, tailors and boutiques. Now the neighbourhood is going through yet another transition, attracting international brands along with a fresh crowd of budding artists, independent businesses and stylish visitors.

famous from San Francisco to Shanghai, but it all began in Toronto. It was here that founder Isadore Sharp opened his first property in 1961. The Four Seasons Motor Hotel was a far cry from the five stars now synonymous with the name. Opened in late 2012, the flagship Four Seasons Hotel Toronto is making its mark in the city with 259 rooms, including 42 suites, all equipped with in-room iPads, Nespresso machines, rain showers, soaker tubs and Italian Etro amenities. Classic design is balanced by 1,700 pieces of contemporary Canadian artwork, including Alissa Coe’s oak-and-porcelain dandelions in the lobby and gold-foil Artimals in every room, care of design collective Art Squared.

At o ver 2 , 7 8 7 s q u are m etre s , the Spa at Four Seasons Toronto is

both the largest luxury hotel day spa in Toronto and the largest of any in the hotel brand’s portfolio. Inside, find two steam rooms, an outdoor terrace for relaxing during the summer months and a light-filled salon and nail bar. Indulge in a healing honey massage or an Au Naturel all-organic facial in one of the 17 treatment rooms, or swim laps to an underwater soundtrack in the indoor pool. Available exclusively to guests and residents, the fitness facilities gleam with state-of-the-art Matrix workout equipment, including Virtual Active machines that let you simulate cycling and running through national parks.

photo: lorne bridgman (hotel entrance)

words eve thomas

At Café Boulud (where cheeky art by Mr. Brainwash decorates the walls), the lobster salad and octopus a la plancha have become fast favourites among the city’s foodies. “The restaurant is influenced by my New York side,” says chef Daniel Boulud.

GOODS

DINING

C U L T U RE

The Shops

The Menu

The Festival

B e v e r ly H i l l s h a s Rodeo Drive,

Yo r k v i l l e i s k no w n for its upscale restaurants, but the most coveted reservations aren’t at the chefs’ tables. They’re the spots on patios, perfect for scoping out the city’s who’s who – not to mention Hollywood glitterati. Dine alongside ladies who lunch at Pusateri’s gourmet grocery store, or head to The Cookbook Store for events with celeb chefs like Anthony Bourdain and Nigella Lawson. Michelin-starred chef Daniel Boulud is known for his modern mix of French and international flavours, and the menu at the Four Seasons’ Café Boulud is true to his tastes (and Toronto’s multicultural landscape). Wine director Drew Walker helps each dish shine with a healthy list of imports and outstanding Canadian labels. Head downstairs to dbar for custom cocktails.

T h e T o r onto Int e r n a t i on a l F i l m F e st i v a l may have a glam quotient

New York City has Fifth Avenue, and Toronto has “Mink Mile,” a stretch of Bloor Street that’s home to iconic brands such as Chanel and Prada, as well as Canadian luxury stores like Holt Renfrew and Harry Rosen. The surrounding streets feature select fashion houses, local designers and edgier fashion and accessories. Two favourites: On Yorkville, the grand garden shop Teatro Verde sells the best bouquets in the city alongside Jonathan Adler housewares and Baccarat crystal. On Prince Arthur Avenue, find Ontario jewellery company Knar’s first shop in Toronto. The boutique’s featured lines include Tamara Comolli and Soho, as well as diamonds from Hearts on Fire and Forevermark.

on par with that of Cannes and Sundance, but when the world’s biggest stars come to Toronto they still like to balance premieres and parties with the discreet luxury found in Yorkville. Even before the Four Seasons Hotel Toronto officially opened, it hosted George Christy (and a bevy of VIPs, including Ewan McGregor and Salman Rushdie) for cocktails and a luncheon last September, while the building was still under construction. The famed Hollywood columnist has been staging his private TIFF party at the city’s Four Seasons (both old and new) for almost 30 years.

Bulletin

Artworks with Altitude

A summit of summits: Brazilian Matheus Rocha Pitta’s pedestrian-friendly sculpture is situated high in the Alpine landscape of the Engadine.

A bunny sheds tears, wall tiles reveal disturbing images, a gallery owner’s heart races with excitement. Six excursions to great art – from St. Moritz and Kitzbühel to Salzburg, Davos and on into Valais – all topped off by an extraordinary walking trail in South Tyrol, where the path itself is truly the destination. words margot weber, hannah engelmaier photos elias hassos

Nothing is as it seems: Miffy Fountain by New Yorker Tom Sachs in front of the elegant Badruttâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Palace

st. Moritz Art MAsters

white bunny sits in front of Badrutt’s Palace in St. Moritz, Switzerland. It’s an imposing 2.6 metres tall, but the bunny is crying, its tears overflowing onto the five-star hotel’s driveway. Suddenly a young girl takes notice, abruptly tearing herself loose from her parents to stand open-mouthed in front of the sculpture. Miffy Fountain, as it is known, was the focal point of the 2012 St. Moritz Art Masters, a

late-summer art festival in the Upper Engadine featuring over 200 works by contemporary artists displayed over a 10-day period. This particular bunny originated in Holland in 1955. Her adventures are the subject of more than 100 books, translated into 30 different languages. Miffy is a popular fixture in children’s bedrooms the world over, which is how she attracted the attention of American artist Tom Sachs. In his atelier in New York’s SoHo neighbourhood, the 46-year-old reimagines modern corporate designs. Whether Nike, Chanel or McDonald’s, no brand is safe from his unique, irony-laced recreations. Sachs’ art is characterized by threedimensionality: He hammers, screws, glues and cobbles his objects together out of bronze, cardboard and foam core. He also leaves things like seams and adhesive points clearly exposed, in stark contrast to the industrialized perfection of his subjects. In his work, nothing is as it seems. His crying Miffy, for instance – white silicon exterior notwithstanding – is bronze on the inside.

Unsettling tiles in a church

Photos by Albert Watson in the Kempinski Grand Hotel des Bains in St. Moritz

Tom Sachs’ work walks a tightrope between consumerism and criticism, operating in a grey area somewhere between advertising, marketing, propaganda and guerrilla art. In an open discussion at Art Masters, however, the New Yorker came across as very personable, unabashedly displaying his affection for the products he reimagines. Sachs makes no attempt to hide his almost childlike enthusiasm for the objects of his work: “Religion wasn’t important in our house. Buying stuff was. We didn’t have any other dreams. Every day we talked about what we wanted to buy – whether or not we could afford it.” When he was eight years old, his father wanted to buy himself a new Nikon camera, but he didn’t have the money. So his son made a replica out of clay and painted it black. Tom Sachs, elementary school student from Connecticut, had discovered his passion. Chance personal encounters like this are what make the five-year-old Art Masters such a captivating event. It’s not just agents and gallery

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Art objects by Lutz & Guggisberg in the Paracelsus building

In conversation (from left): Art Masters curator Reiner Opoku, artist Tom Sachs, museum director Jeffrey Deitch and Lüder Fromm of Mercedes-Benz

Illuminating back views: Vik Muniz’s Verso in the Reformed Church

“RELIGION WASN’t important in our house. Buying stuff was.” tom sachs

owners milling around the small, elegant Swiss mountain resort – there are plenty of artists, too. One of the many highlights was a summit meeting between photographers Steve McCurry, Jock Sturges and Amedeo M. Turello over the course of a two-day workshop. Or the Engadine Art Talks with urban planner and designer Paulo Sergio Niemeyer, who is duly following in the footsteps of his grandfather Oscar, the legendary Brazilian architect. Or Brazil in general. A short distance above the health spa building in the forest is the French Church (Église au bois), the setting for 30

Adriana Varejão’s oversized sculpture Linda da Lapa. The Rio-born artist’s theme: her country’s forceful colonization by the Portuguese. At first glance, her piece looks like a section of tiled wall from a Lisbon butcher shop. Upon closer examination, bloody entrails can be seen spilling from the hand-painted tiles. Why is such a profoundly unsettling artwork on display inside a church, of all places? “A deliberate choice,” says curator Reiner Opoku, who consciously selected a location that offered the starkest possible contrast. He employed the same tactic in designing an installation inside the former spa’s pump room. The health spa’s famed mineral springs ran dry in 1920, after which the building fell into neglect – until it was discovered by the visionaries behind Art Masters. The Paracelsus Spa building proved the perfect locale for the artworks created by

Lutz & Guggisberg, the Swiss artists whose installations look like someone forgot to clear away the work tools after putting them together. Those for whom the detailed catalogue wasn’t enough had a chance to top up at the Artist Talk, where people like Jeffrey Deitch, Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, discussed corporate arts sponsorship with Tom Sachs and Lüder Fromm, of Art Masters sponsor Mercedes-Benz. Their message: Dialogue is a priceless experience from which all parties derive new impulses for their own work. Asked whether or not he seeks permission from corporations before recreating their products, Sachs answered in the negative: “I feel it is less complicated to ask for forgiveness after the fact than to ask for permission in advance.” stmoritzartmasters.com

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Collectors, traders, art lovers: A shared love of art unites Mieke and Theo Jongen as they pursue their dream of gallery ownership in the Kitzbühel Alps.

kitzbühel Aaart foundation

The Jongen Collection in Kirchberg: A work by sculptor Hansjürgen Vogel dominates the gallery entrance.

PAINTINGS: A XEL KR AUSE/VG BILDKUNST, BONN 2012

ot long ago, Theo Jongen was having trouble getting to sleep, and he was keeping his wife up as well. He couldn’t stop thinking about an art collection belonging to a lady from the neighbourhood. “Neighbourhood” in this case refers to the region around Kirchberg, Austria, six kilometres west of Kitzbühel. A collector, trader and art lover himself, Jongen was intrigued – or, more accurately, obsessed – by the idea of owning a Manet painting that just happened to be hanging on the wall in a house close to his own. The owner had expressed a desire to arrange her estate to ensure that it remained in good hands after her death. Opportunities like this are still not an everyday event for Jongen, 65, whose initial foray into the art market took place in 2008. With his wife Mieke, also 65, he runs the Aaart Foundation, a gallery that sells contemporary and classical artworks at two exhibitions per year. Last winter, the gallery featured works by British artist and composer Zoë Kronberger, and Vinc, the Swiss poster artist. In locating their gallery in 5,000strong Kirchberg, the Dutch couple chose a corner of Austria where Manet and Monet may not be topics of daily conversation, but the difference between Hermes, the parcel delivery service, and Hermès, the Birkin bag manufacturer, is definitely

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Art abounds: Two light-filled storeys provide plenty of space for exhibitions and retail activities. The Jongens live and work surrounded by hunting trophies and venerable woodwork.

common knowledge. No newcomers to Tyrol, the Jongens were already vacationing there 30 years ago: “Back then Kitzbühel was still a sleepy little town,” recalls Theo. Today, Kitzbühel and Kirchberg are hideaways for the very wealthy.

“We own an Hermès painting” By training, the Jongens are both architects. During the 1980s, they designed buildings in China, as well as vacation bungalow parks in Europe and a shopping centre near Berlin. They used these activities to finance their passion: As the work in their architectural office grew, so did their private art collection, which they had been developing since 1969, the year of their marriage. Four years ago, the Jongens finally realized their dream of opening their own gallery. Purchasing grounds formerly occupied by a chairlift station, they erected a three-storey building containing living areas, plus exhibition and retail space. The structure consists of a great deal of glass and the heavy wood of the ironwood 34

tree from Suriname – wood that lay underwater in Dutch harbours for 100 years before being carted off to the Alps. Artworks are on display all over the house. Jongen treats them like familiar pieces of furniture, tapping on a canvas here, pointing out a landscape painting over there. He lays a friendly hand on the shoulder of a bronze beauty by Maillol, whose central position in the gallery gives it a fine view of a display case containing smaller-scale works by Jean Arp. Such gestures are anything but those of a man lording it over his territory. Rather, they are physical expressions of affection by someone whose heart pounds at the mere thought of a Manet. When acquiring new works, the Jongens let their instincts lead the way. “My intuition decides,” says Theo. “It’s worked for me so far.” And, he adds, with a glance at his wife, “We make all our decisions together. There was only one time that I decided on a picture without my wife’s help. Let’s just say it didn’t turn out well.” “Not that well,” agrees Mieke

with an amused smile. “In the next eight years, we want to be among the top five percent of art galleries in the German-speaking countries, otherwise we’ll pack it in,” says Theo. His plan stands a good chance of success because ultimately he knows what collectors want. “Painting and vacationing should be linked together, part of one intertwined experience, with the memory of Kitzbühel as a bonus. Also, collectors want to know about provenance. We’re currently offering a number of works from the Dumas family collection, the owners of Hermès. There are customers who will buy something like that just so they can say, ‘We own an Hermès painting.’” But it’s more than just that – the picture also has to match the customer’s taste. “We never sell anything we aren’t prepared to buy ourselves,” says Mieke. Indeed, sometimes her husband raises the price of works he is especially fond of, hoping that no one else will buy them and he can then keep them for himself. a a a r t f o u n dat i o n . c o m

e! lif g tin por s A

Dressage watch in steel, manufacture H1837 mechanical movement

Vancouver – Calgary – Edmonton Toronto – Oakville – Waterloo Montréal – Laval Hermes.com

Lana landscape art

Salzburg GALERIE THADDAEUS ROPAC S o l a r c at is the name of the installation by Berlin artist Michael Sailstorfer, to whom the Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac devoted a solo exhibition last December. The 33-year-old, who originally hails from southern Germany, is one of the most important practitioners of contemporary art in the country. His feline-themed installation features 15 stuffed cats, each staring into a light as if hypnotized.

Unter Verschluss (Zipped Up) by Stefan Sprenker

Davos Kirchner Museum E R nst lud w ig Kirchner, born in 1880, was one of the most important German painters and graphic artists of the 20th century – and one of the most prolific. From 1917 until his suicide on June 15, 1938, he resided in the Swiss resort town of Davos. Nowadays, Davos boasts a museum exclusively dedicated to the artist and his oeuvre, featuring the world’s largest collection of his Expressionist works displayed in a modern glass building, its architecture inspired by the brilliant Alpine light of the Davos Valley. Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Platz Promenade 82 7270 Davos, Switzerland k i rch n er m useu m.ch

Rue du Forum 59 1920 Martigny, Switzerland gi a na dda .ch

Großes Liebespaar (Great Lovers), from 1930

Glass-clad museum

F O N D AT I O N P I E R R E G I A N A D D A is a private foundation in the Swiss canton of Valais. Created in 1978 by the engineer, journalist and artist Léonard Gianadda, it bears the name of his late brother. Since its founding it has hosted over eight million visitors, making it one of the most popular museums in all of Switzerland. Each year, it organizes three exhibitions containing works from both private collections and the most famous museums in the world. The museum also has a large sculpture park in its garden annex and a permanent exhibition of Gallic-Roman artifacts. The automobile museum, with around 50 vintage cars on display, is certainly worth a visit as well. Among its venerable treasures: a 1929 Mercedes-Benz Super Sport and an 1897 Benz.

Martigny FONDATION PIERRE GIANADDA Permanent exhibition: the Fondation Gianadda sculpture park

PHOTOS: PR, FRANK KLEINBACH; SCULPTURE: STEFAN SPRENKER/VG BILDKUNST BONN, 2012; INSTALLATION: MICHAEL SAILSTORFER/VG BILDKUNST, BONN 2012

Vilniusstrasse 13 5020 Salzburg, Austria r o pa c . n e t

Hans Knapp Hodie ferias agimus

S C U L P T U R E T R A I L : Lana, Italy, doesn’t have a museum of contemporary art, but in fact the small municipality between Merano and Bolzano in South Tyrol doesn’t need one. Instead, the town boasts an all-weather landscape art project: a sculpture trail winding its way past 33 works by internationally renowned artists. Here is a classic case of the trip itself truly being the goal. Over the trail’s nine-kilometre route, not only does the art reveal its glories to the beholder, but step by gradual step the hiker begins to understand the extent to which he or she is an active participant in the project.

Meranerstrasse 18 39011 Lana, Italy l a n a-a r t. i t

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Top Notes Barb Stegemann fights fire with fragrance for The 7 Virtues, a perfume company that sources essential oils from impoverished regions around the globe. w o r d s j oa n n a f ox i l l u s t r at i o n s s t i n a p e r s s o n

For a fragrance to go from concept to shelf in nine months is unheard of. For that perfume to prove a lucrative success in the notoriously competitive cosmetics industry is even more unlikely. But for Canadian entrepreneur Barb Stegemann and her company, The 7 Virtues, that’s exactly how the story goes – and commercial success is just one part of the plot. The tale begins on a tragic note: Stegemann’s best friend, who was serving in Afghanistan, came back severely injured. “Our lives kind of went upside down, like people all over the world who have family and friends in the military,” says Stegemann, who felt compelled to make a difference in the war-torn country. “I’m not a brave soldier, I’m not a world leader, so I just set about finding a new way to bring about change in countries that are rebuilding.” That new way became clear in 2009 when Stegemann, then working as a communications manager, read about Abdullah Arsala, a struggling farmer in Afghanistan. At a time when local farmers were turning to illegal but profitable poppy crops used in opium production, his tribe’s traditional cultivation of orange blossoms was threatened. Stegemann contacted Arsala through an NGO and, using the last $2,000 on her credit card, got her hands on high-quality organic oil made from the blossoms. With help from a friend, Toronto-based luxury perfumer Susanne Langmuir, her first fragrance was born: Afghanistan Orange Blossom. Though Stegemann was working out of her garage and marketing the perfume only online, her initial run of 1,000 bottles sold out within two months. But she realized that she needed money to really get The 7 Virtues off the ground, so she applied to pitch her business to a panel of high-profile investors on the CBC television show Dragons’ Den. “My friends were like, ‘What are you doing? They’re going to destroy you!’ But I really felt

the need to tell millions of people that we need to do trade with nations in strife. When the mission is bigger than you, you find a way.” Stegemann struck a chord with every “dragon” on the famously tough panel, especially W. Brett Wilson, who invested $75,000 to acquire 15 percent of her company and remained a mentor even after he left the show. Since the episode aired in 2011, things have been moving at an incredible pace, from sales to accolades. Stegemann authored a self-help book, The 7 Virtues of a Philosopher Queen, gained an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, Chatelaine magazine’s Beauty 100 Award and made Profit magazine’s list of Top 30 Entrepreneurs. She was also the first female honorary colonel at Canadian Forces base Greenwood – a recognition of her efforts to aid Canada’s objectives in Afghanistan. “I was the first woman from Atlantic Canada to get a deal on Dragons’ Den,” adds the entrepreneur, “and this past December I was awarded Top Game Changer in Dragons’ Den history. Not bad for a girl who was raised on welfare in Nova Scotia!” Stegemann’s upbringing has a lot to do with her philosophy: She does not believe in charity, but in empowerment. “People I have worked with have told me charity kills their creativity,

and I believe that. When you empower people, they can live their own dreams, and economic empowerment’s very route is self-sufficiency.” There are now four 7 Virtues fragrances on the market: the original Afghanistan Orange Blossom, Noble Rose of Afghanistan, Vetiver of Haiti and Middle East Peace, which combines Israeli grapefruit oil with notes of lime and basil from Iran. They are all made of more than good intentions. In addition to their fairly traded ingredients and Made in Canada labels, they are vegan, phthalate-free, paraben-free and aren’t tested on animals. When asked about future fragrances, Stegemann shows a mix of sorrow and hope. “There are 33 countries in the world today facing some level of genocide, so, sadly, there is no shortage of countries we can shine light on, go into, buy oils and do trade.” Yet despite her success, Stegemann isn’t simply out to grow her own company – she wants the entire industry to follow suit. “I’m on such a mission to get a cavalry of nations to do business this way, and to be so pleasantly rewarded,” she says. “I don’t believe the government and the military should do all the heavy lifting alone. Citizens and businesses can do so much to build peace, too.”

“when you empower people, they can live their own dreams.” B a r b S t e g e m a n n 39

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Terry Grown Up Grand Marnier and orange zest lend a citrus kick to dark chocolate.

Softhearted

Neither cake nor cookie, the macaron is a diminutive delicacy that is big on taste.. words manfred klimek

photos jean cazals

Pierre Hermé’s boutique: a focus on texture and taste

Photos: Jean Ca z als; Pierre Hermé PR; DDP Images

hances are the macaron started life as a perfectly ordinary North African almond cake. Mind you, the French would disagree – they claim the macaron originated in the monastery kitchens at Cormery in central France. The more likely story is that the earliest version of the treat was brought to Sicily by Arabs from Tunisia and Libya. Whichever way you spell it, though, the name of these very different little cakes derives from the Italian ammaccare, which means to crush, or from the term maccherone, which is the Venetian word for dough. And whatever the true origins may be, the French can undoubtedly take the credit for having further developed and refined this crunchy, soft-hearted delicacy. Apparently it was bakers to the aristocratic families of France who hit on exactly the right mixture for the almond dough, and also developed the tradition of filling macarons with jellies and creams. And they had another brilliant idea: They began mixing the

almond dough with crushed berries and spices. It was in the days of Queen Marie Antoinette (she of the unfortunate “Let them eat cake” remark) that the macaron as we know it today was developed – crisp with a fluffy centre and enriched with a wide variety of different flavours. But it was Auguste Escoffier (1846–1935) who

LIGHT, MOIST, crisp on the outside and airy in the centre.

catapulted macarons into the modern age. He realized that the little almond cookies would be the ideal accompaniment to his massive ice cream bombes and rich fruit tarts. Legend has it that it was through Escoffier that this luxury version of the humble macaron reached London and New York. Noblesse oblige, after all. The fact is, making macarons has driven many a cook to the brink of despair. The process is by no means straightforward – you have to achieve exactly the right combination of ingredients. Ground almonds, egg whites, confectioner’s sugar and flavourings such as pistachio or cocoa all have to be mixed together with great precision.

Consummate craftsmanship The reason for such rigour is that the two halves are supposed to remain slightly moist and airy on the inside, but the outside should be crisp and crunchy like the surface of a French baguette. The idea is that your teeth will crunch through the exterior, releasing the cool taste onto

Bounty Hunter Coconut shavings in chocolate laced with coconut milk

Gl端hwein Dark chocolate ganache with winter spices, freshly squeezed clementines, lemon zest and Chianti

La M没re Blackberries in creamy melted white chocolate and black meringues create a striking contrast.

IT’S ALL IN THE MIXTURE: Classic ingredients for a perfect macaron are ground almonds, egg whites, confectioner’s sugar and pistachios or cocoa.

the tongue before the taste buds come into contact with the soft dough and creamy filling, with their ideal combination of flavours. Baking of this kind calls for highly skilled craftsmanship, with success depending crucially on the correct dough mixture and temperature. The Lenôtre patisserie in Paris packs many thousands of macarons into little boxes every day and exports them all over the world. Lenôtre and two others – Pierre Hermé and the venerable Ladurée patisserie – constitute the elite of French macaron manufacturers, and they regard themselves as the best in the world. But they are currently facing competition from an unexpected quarter: Germany.

Sweet and sour from Berlin

J e a n C a z a l s lives in London and is regarded as one of the world’s foremost food photographers. He is currently working on a book project and an exhibition about macarons. Shown here is an exclusive selection of his creations. To find out more about his work, visit j e a n c a z a l s . n e t

Nobody had really foreseen the reinvention of the macaron. In Germany, it was traditionally regarded as a classic Christmas treat, but in 2005 a number of small confectioners in Berlin took up the French recipes and began to develop them further. It was indeed the Germans – or more precisely, Berlin-based confectioners like the Makrönchen Manufaktur in the district of Schöneberg – who took the macaron out of the realm of sweetness and began to experiment with combinations such as goat’s cheese and quince, tomato and basil, or pumpkin seeds and curry. These offered a new experience for the taste buds – and an unexpected one at that, for the very shape of a macaron suggests it is going to be sweet. In fact, fillings with a mixture of sweet and sour go rather well with a light white wine or Champagne, whereas sweet macarons are the ideal accompaniment for slightly sweetened tea with milk. By contrast, a strong espresso – or indeed any type of coffee – ruins the taste. Increasing numbers of small-scale bakeries in Berlin are now devoting themselves to making macarons, with young confectioners inventing new recipes as though the product had never been known in the past. Take the two charming ladies at LiloBop on Kurfürstenstrasse, for example, who are specialists in particularly fruity examples; or visit Arielle’s Macarons in the Charlottenburg district. But the leading macaron expert in the

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From Paris to the world: the various flavours on offer from the French macaron specialist Ladurée

Macarons Ladurée One of the oldest Parisian macaron manufacturers, Ladurée ships hundreds of gift boxes daily around the world. Their delicate creams are not so much sweet as a combination of fruit flavours and acidity. Popular choices are citron-citron vert and pomme verte. 75, av. des Champs-Élysées 75008 Paris laduree.fr

Frédéric Cassel South of Paris, the smallscale patisserie run by Frédéric Cassel – with branches in Tokyo, Casablanca and Berlin – creates exquisite macarons. Popular flavours are walnut and vanilla. 71–73, rue Grande 77300 Fontainebleau frederic-cassel.com

Models for macaron makers all over the world: Ladurée in Paris and Sprüngli in Zurich

Sprüngli Probably the best-known Swiss patisserie, it produces a local, rather smaller but taller version called the Luxemburgerli. Bestselling flavours include Champagne and raspberry deluxe. Bahnhofstrasse 21 8001 Zurich spruengli.ch

Makrönchen Manufaktur Berlin boasts the most creative macarons. Here you will even find sour and salty fillings. Top picks are yogurt and sea buckthorn, sour cherry with Tyrolean cherry schnapps, mountain peaches and Champagne, and pumpkin seeds and curry. Apostel-Paulus-Strasse 4 10823 Berlin m a k r o e n c h e n - m a n u fa k t u r . d e

PHOTOS: JEAN CA Z ALS; FL ASHMEDIA; L ADURÉE PR; MAURITIUS; VARIO IMAGES

city is undoubtedly Frédéric Cassel at Galeries Lafayette. The famous pâtissier from Fontainebleau may not often be seen in the food section of this well-known department store, but his creations are flown in on a daily basis. The reason is that the macaron has one crucial disadvantage: an extremely short shelf life. It has to be enjoyed absolutely fresh. But why has Berlin, of all places, become a mecca for macarons? The answer is hardly surprising. Years ago, the macaron became a favourite among the hipsters of New York – and Berlin happens to be the European capital of this urban middle-class subculture, with the young and trendy crowding into the city’s numerous cafés, bars and clubs. They have been largely responsible for rediscovering and reviving the traditional French delicacy. In sharp contrast, the old-style macaron produced by Sprüngli in Switzerland, which chooses to ignore the latest trendy developments, is probably the most conservative of its kind in the world. The famous confiserie produces so-called “Luxemburgerli,” which are slightly taller and fluffier than the French macaron, but also a little smaller. Anyone who knows Switzerland and is a regular at Sprüngli on Zurich’s Bahnhofstrasse will be familiar with this traditional version, which eschews all exaggerated gestures. Sometimes that is for the best.

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CONTRASTS Istanbul is a good place for exploding clichés – whether in the modern Sakirin Mosque in Üsküdar or during a shared meal in a trendy eatery such as Gram.

Eastern Promise Istanbul has seen a lot of changes, nowhere more so than in the entertainment quarter of Beyoglu, where Asia encounters Europe, Ottoman splendour meets contemporary chic, and the muezzinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s call mingles with the pounding beat of discos. w o r d s r o b e r t z s o l n ay p h o t o s t o m pa r k e r european vehicle model shown

DIVERSITY Istanbul has it all: the Mercedes-Benz C 250 BlueEFFICIENCY in front of the 14thcentury Galata Tower (left), one of the city’s numerous landmarks. The coexistence of history and nightlife, of Byzantium and bars, is what makes the city such an exciting place to visit. Babylon nightclub in Beyoglu (below) is always worth a nocturnal detour.

stanbul lives the day, but loves the night. Thus begins a verse of a song by the rock band Duman that celebrates the city on the Bosporus. All the band’s musicians live in Beyoglu, Istanbul’s trendiest neighbourhood. Located on the European side between Taksim Square and Tünel, this quarter around Istiklal Caddesi (Independence Avenue) is dominated by creative types during the day, while at night it becomes a place to celebrate life.

Dance ’til the marble melts Bars, cafés, clubs and restaurants crowd the streets and alleyways in this district. The delectable odour of mezes – small warm and cold appetizers – emanates from doors and windows. The strains of live music fill the air. Occupying one of Istanbul’s seven hills, Beyoglu is among the liveliest neighbourhoods of the only city in the world that straddles two continents. 50

During the reign of Sultan Mehmet II, who conquered Constantinople in 1453, the area was still known as Pera. The Byzantine emperors were enthroned on the south side of the Golden Horn in Eminönü, while Pera (“across”) was settled by the Genoans, who controlled the trade on the Bosporus. On a hill overlooking the Golden Horn they founded a colony, joined later by Greeks, Venetians and Florentines. The merchants’ lavish parties were the stuff of legend: One historical travelogue claims in Pera they would dance “until the marble melted.” Gül Güngör is royalty as far as Beyoglu’s nightlife is concerned. She runs Babylon, one of Europe’s premier live music venues and ranked among the world’s 100 Great Jazz Clubs by Down Beat magazine. But jazz isn’t all that’s on tap: Rock, hip hop and ethnic music get equal time, with the club hosting DJs from all over the globe. At Babylon, 40 staff march to Güngör’s tune, from bouncers to sound technicians. Istanbul is a great place for dismantling old clichés – like the one about the male-dominated business world. Women have little need for a workplace quota in the Bosporus – according to the World Economic Forum, 12 percent of all management positions in Turkey are occupied by females. In Germany, for instance, the figure is barely 3.2 percent. Istiklal Caddesi also forces visitors to take a hard look at their own prejudices. Things that might appear fundamentally

“I love Istanbul because it

offers you a rare opportunity to live history and modernity at the same time.” Gül Güngör, nightclub manager

“I love Istanbul because it gives you a rare opportunity to live history and modernity at the same time,” notes Güngör with affection. She loves the splendour of Dolmabahce Palace, home of the last sultans, as much as the contemporary art at the Istanbul Modern museum. She prizes the jewels of Topkapi Palace as much as the breathtaking dome of the Hagia Sophia, once the Eastern Roman Empire’s largest church, later a mosque and, since 1934, a museum. Photojournalist Ara Güler experienced a good deal of these rapid changes personally. Born in 1928 and honoured in Turkey as “Photographer of the Century” in 1999, this living legend can often be found in the cozy Ara Café, just a stone’s throw from the bustling central shopping promenade. Güler was witness to Beyoglu’s precipitous decline in the early 1980s, when it degenerated into a zone rife with drugs and prostitution. It took full-scale resuscitations of both the Istiklal pedestrian zone and the historic streetcar line for things to start improving again. The walls of the Ara Café are adorned with Güler’s photographs – even the placemats are imprinted with his images.

The eye of old Istanbul

opposed to each other mix it up here on a daily basis: Tarted-up transsexuals parade behind devout women clad in headscarves, shopaholics hop between luxury boutiques while destitute children beg in front of opulent store windows. Lots of simultaneous impressions, but concentrating too much on any one of them means risking a collision with the old tram grinding its way from Taksim Square to the historic Tünel subway station.

History meets modernity After completing her law degree, Gül Güngör took time off to consider what sort of career would make her the happiest. She had always known her professional future lay on the Bosporus.

QUALITY OF LIFE For Gül Güngör, manager of Babylon nightclub, a change of locale is out of the question – not least due to the city’s history and its bazaar, full of the odours of exotic spices.

The former Magnum photographer’s office and photo archives are housed in the venerable brick building’s upper floors. In the café below, sunlight pours through the colourful windows, while old teapots and coffee grinders grace the counter. Güler is holding court, weaving tales about his old neighbourhood, stories of fishermen’s pubs around the Galata Tower and crooked wooden houses, of the day the Bosporus froze over. A photo of a group of men standing on the ice contentedly puffing water pipes bears silent witness. Back when Güler was starting out as a photographer, Istanbul had just under 1.5 million inhabitants. Today, the official figure is 13 million, but it could just as easily be 18 million. Ara Güler may be known as the eye of old Istanbul – but that doesn’t keep him from searching for magical moments in the here and now. As a city, Istanbul is constantly performing a balancing act. And an openness to influences from all possible directions is a characteristic that the photographer and his city have in common. 51

Purely a Matter of Taste S E L E C T , R A R E recipes make up the currency of Musa Dagdeviren’s gastronomic

OLD-FASHIONED ENJOYMENT Dishes are ordered right at the counter in the restaurants of the well-travelled Musa Dagdeviren.

empire: lamb stew with quince, chestnuts, dried apricots, potatoes and saffron, for example. Appetizer: tomatoes with almonds. Dessert: green walnuts cooked in syrup. Decorations are conspicuously absent from the dark wooden tables of his restaurant, Ciya Sofrasi, as is any trace of a menu. Just like at its two nearby sister establishments, Ciya Kebap and Ciya Kebap II, selections are made by pointing a finger. Ingredients and preparation are all that counts – everything else is a waste of time, grumbles the chef. The delectable creations bubbling away in his pots and pans are the products of painstaking research. Dagdeviren spent four years of his life on gastronomic research trips, visiting isolated Anatolian villages on horseback, riding camels and donkeys to the remotest corners of Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan. “I spent time living with the natives in order to gain access to their most treasured recipes,” he says. Nowadays he’s turning the tables, travelling the world showing professional colleagues the traces the Ottomans themselves have left in the cuisine of far-off lands, even in places like the Netherlands. Ciya Sofrasi, Güneslibahce Sokak 43, Kadiköy, Tel. +90 216 3303190 ciya.com.tr

Sweet Talent

GOLDEN HORN A view of the historic old city, including the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque

D I D E M S E N O L (left), a psychologist and a

graduate of New York’s French Culinary Institute, opened her eatery Gram in Beyoglu in 2012. Its open-plan kitchen gives customers a bird’s-eye view of the chefs at work. Oftentimes the boss herself can be found lending a hand behind the counter. A combination pastry shop, bakery and restaurant, Gram is a popular lunch destination for creative types between noon and 3 p.m., offering two main dishes that change daily, as well as sophisticated salads. Such hearty fare is only available at midday, however. Missed it? Don’t worry. A few sweet delicacies are all it takes to assuage one’s disappointment. Gram, Mesrutiyet Caddesi 107/D grampera.com

E b e g ü me c i K a v u r m a ( Ro a s t ed H i b is c u s ) recipe by musa dagdeviren serves 4 100 g (1/4 lb) onions 25 g (1 oz) garlic 1 cup olive oil 1 tsp paprika powder Black pepper to taste 750 g (1 2/3 lb) hibiscus leaves 1 red pepper Salt to taste

MEZE Plating up the Ottomans’ rich culinary heritage: Turkish appetizers are extremely diverse.

1 Dice

onions and garlic, then brown in olive oil. 2 Add spices (except salt), hibiscus leaves and the diced red pepper to the pan and braise for 15 minutes. 3 Add

salt and serve.

EYE-CATCHING Cihangir is an especially colourful section of the trendy Beyoglu neighbourhood.

Prayers, Pillows and Puffs SAKIRIN MOSQUE

PE R A PA L AC E

PUFF ’N’ STUFF

Zeynep Fadillioglu was the first woman to design

Sultanahmet has the Topkapi Palace, Besiktas

Once nestled into the Nargilem Café’s plush

a mosque. Built in 2009, the Sakirin Mosque in

has the Dolmabahce Palace – and Beyoglu has

couches, guests face a bewildering choice of

Üsküdar is the most modern house of worship in

the Pera Palace Hotel (jumeirah.com). Opened

tobacco flavours for their water pipe – from

Turkey, and signals a multiple break with tradition.

in 1884 for travellers on the Orient Express and

pineapple to cinnamon. Start puffing and it’s pure

Women can enter through the main doorway, and

recently renovated, it boasts a long list of

relaxation, despite the billowing smoke and the

once inside, the best prayer area in the building is

prominent guests, from Agatha Christie to

hubbub. Nargilem Café, Tophane Sali Pazari Sira

reserved for them.

Alfred Hitchcock.

Magazalar 101

Hop Across the Bosporus E V E N T H O S E with only a little time to spend in Istanbul should take a boat ride

on the Bosporus on one of the many ferries. The beauty of this metropolis reveals itself most arrestingly from the water: Screeching gulls, the steel-blue Sea of Marmara and the splendid skyline can make your heart skip a beat. The lines connecting the city’s various districts are plentiful and cheap, and render sightseeing boats unnecessary. Travel by ferry is never boring. Tea is served on board, there are lots of eye-catching landmarks to look at, and then there’s the fascination of observing the maritime traffic. Up to 150 ships a day ply the narrow straits between the Aegean and the Black Sea, many of them massive oil tankers. Ferries can also be used for day trips – to the relaxed Ortaköy district, for example, or, starting either from Kabatas or Eminönü, for a jaunt to the Princes’ Islands.

“Though the city itself is

defined by world-weariness and endless failure, my innermost associations of the Bosporus are with the joy of life and happiness.” O rhan P amuk , W riter

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Istanbul Check It Out Splitting the bill is ill-advised for those wishing to stay on good terms with their waiter. Known locally as “Alman hesabi” (to pay the bill the German way), going Dutch is generally frowned upon. Also, a 10-percent tip is considered the norm in Turkey. Sunsets To experience Istanbul’s most arresting sunset, take the ferry to Üsküdar and find a comfortable seat on the steps leading down to the shores of the Bosporus. Close Shave For men who want to have their hair and beard trimmed, take care to go to the right shop. Those venturing into a kuaför will immediately be shown the door. The barbier is responsible for grooming the masculine set, while the kuaför remains – with a few exceptions – primarily a place for beautifying the female population.

I n a h a m m a m , people become malleable clay figurines. Those who appreciate a decent mas-

sage should pay a visit to a Turkish bath like Cemberlitas in Sultanahmet, where the unique Ottoman traditions have been carefully preserved for centuries. A visitor to a hammam starts by resting atop a warm marble platform, subsequently gets doused with several buckets of hot water, and lastly is soaped up, massaged and scrubbed. The result: skin as soft as a baby’s bottom. The visit concludes with a glass of tea in the foyer. Cemberlitas Hamami, Vezirhan Caddesi 8

Honking A green light is not an automatic signal for pedestrians to cross the street, at least not without carefully glancing to the left and right first. Many Istanbul drivers consider traffic lights nothing more than an unnecessary nuisance. Much more important: honking the horn. Nose Blowing Take heed if you catch a cold in Istanbul: Blowing one’s nose in public is considered bad manners.

Go, Go, Go! A n o l d - f a s h i o n e d streetcar ride is a

good way to start exploring Istanbul’s Asian side. A historic tram rattles its way between the Kadiköy and Moda ferry terminals, and is utilized more by locals than by tourists. Departing every 20 to 30 minutes during the day, the streetcar runs along bustling Sögütlucesme Caddesi and Bahariye Caddesi to Moda’s venerable ferry terminal, returning to its point of origin via Moda Caddesi. 56

Father Figure Images of Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Turkish Republic, are everywhere: on public buildings, offices, restaurants, cafés and currency. In Dolmabahce Palace, the clocks in his former bedroom still show 9:05 a.m. – the time that Atatürk died on October 11, 1938. Devotional objects should be treated with respect. Manners Forming the index finger and thumb into a circle means anything but “Good job!” It’s the Turkish equivalent of raising your middle finger.

PHOTO: EUGENIA MA XIMOVA/ANZENBERGER AGENCY; ILLUSTR ATION: ANNA LINDER

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g e taway

Past the Prairie

A ride down Highway 263 challenges Saskatchewanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s clichĂŠs, revealing hidden lakes and an artistic pedigree. words allan casey photos grant harder

Exploring the Hanging Heart Lakes with Natalie Matheson, guide at Waskesiu Marina Adventure Centre

The summer morning is young and fair and the cheerful words “Scenic Route” appear on the sign as we turn west through a corridor of spruce. Saskatchewan Provincial Highway 263 winds through the hilly heart of Saskatchewan cottage country before entering the lush aspen forest of Prince Albert National Park. It is not often that you see the words “Saskatchewan” and “lush” or “hilly” within a prairie mile of each other. To people who have not set foot in its rectangle, Saskatchewan is often considered to be about as interesting as a beige bedspread. This typecasting began in 1882, the year Canadian Pacific Railway surveyors chose a famously boring southern route to lay their iron track of westward progress. The Trans-Canada Highway would follow right alongside in the 1950s. Since then, generations of cross-country travellers have perpetuated the fiction that Saskatchewan’s landscape is vanishingly dull. Highway 263 not only belies the clichés but remains something of a secret byway. Visitors tend to race northward more directly, if less pleasurably, on Highway 2. That suits locals in the Rural Municipality of Lakeland, who inhabit some of the most expensive cottage real estate in western Canada and don’t mind having the 51-kilometre road as a semi-private drive. I’m travelling with my wife, the painter Marlene Yuzak, who is interested in the long and surprisingly international art history of this place. Over the years, the list of luminaries who have found their way down Highway 263 includes Jules Olitski, Anthony Caro and even the great modernist critic Clement Greenberg. Though locals ourselves, we are spending the weekend playing tourist, exploring how the landscape has changed. For years, lodging 59

Jason Leo Bantle Gallery near Christopher Lake

and dining options for visitors to this corner of Lakeland have been limited to a couple of oldschool bar-motels bounded by gravel parking lots. Recently, a tiny but promising handful of operators have appeared out of the aspen woods to tempt tourism down this old road with offerings of food and shelter that are small in footprint, but big on refinement and charm. Our quest begins in the village of Christopher Lake, home to the Yellow Fender Catering Coffee House and Eatery, where the roadside-diner formula is raised to an art form. Run by the hard-working mother-daughter team of Connie Freedy and Heidi O’Brodovich, the café offers modern fare worthy of any metropolis, but served on tables adorned with fresh-picked black-eyed

Susans and tiger lilies. Heidi runs the front, managing to keep the service graceful as she single-handedly visits with regulars, steams Arabica and hunts up the number for the birch firewood guy. Chef-matriarch Connie makes her presence felt not just in the plats du jour – she is also a talented painter whose cheerful, airy pieces grace the walls. I am about to ask Marlene’s opinion on a painting, but I can see her mind is elsewhere. “Holy smoke, this is yummy,” she mumbles around an over-ambitious mouthful of veggie omelette. On paper, the fare is familiar. But the best ingredients – morning-fresh multi-grain bread, new potatoes, handmade saskatoon berry jam – transform a plate of eggs into an epiphany.

The painterly landscape comprises a leaf-thin

transition zone between the southern prairie and the boreal north.

addresses

Highway 263 Lakeland Beaches Head to the south end of Emma Lake for Sunnyside Beach, a summer hotspot featuring a wide run of gorgeous sand. For a quieter alternative in the heart of the wilderness, try Namekus Lake off Highway 263 in the National Park. lakelandtourism .ca

Grey Owl’s Cabin Pilgrims worldwide come here to visit the cabin of the famed naturalist and author Grey Owl. Hiking or paddling is a demanding 40-kilometre round trip, more or less, and requires at least one backcountry night. Otherwise, you can go in by motorboat with a guide from Waskesiu Marina Adventure Centre. 306-663-1999 (summer) or 306-763-1278 (winter) wa s k e s i u m a r i n a . c o m

Local Wildlife Over on the West Side boundary of Prince Albert National Park, a herd of some 200 wild bison – Canada’s only free-range plains herd on their original stomping ground – is trying to make a comeback. View the animals (as well as elk and deer) on horseback or by chuckwagon. 306-469-2356 Student housing stands out at Kenderdine Campus.

I enjoy the local “seafood” of grilled northern pike, which offers an intriguing hint of wild flavour that pickerel lacks, perfectly civilized by the lemon-dill mayo.

s we continue along, Highway 263 swings south of the area’s three main lakes: Emma, Christopher and farther-off Anglin. At one point we pass a sign for Kenderdine Campus, a most unlikely outpost of modernist art. “Where the hell is Saskatchewan and who is Emma Lake?” quipped artist Barnett Newman upon being invited to teach there in 1959. The New York abstractionist nonetheless arrived at the Emma Lake Artists’ Workshop – just one of thousands of internationally known artists to work at the campus. (Sadly, the University of Saskatchewan recently announced the closure of the facility, and its future remains uncertain.)

West of Emma, the scenic route winds west over the Spruce River and enters the South Gate of Prince Albert National Park. Traffic is almost non-existent, and this parkland forest is veritably hopping with athletic megafauna. The desire to spot a bear or moose, and to avoid a run-in with a deer, quells any temptation to stray from the 80 km/h speed limit. En route, we pull into the Spruce River Highlands trailhead for a hike, step into the still afternoon air and cinch up our boots. The painterly landscape spanned by the park comprises a leaf-thin transition zone between the southern prairie and the boreal north. Soaring cathedral naves of white aspen give way to brooding spruce, and grass-covered vales provide vestigial echoes of the great prairie. We spend two easy hours on the loop trail that weaves through all of this, stopping at a wooden lookout

sturgeonriverranch.com

Golf The best golf outside the park is found at the Elk Ridge Resort on the access road west of Highway 2. For classic Canadiana, the Waskesiu Golf Club has no equal in the area and rivals Rocky Mountain courses for sheer beauty. 800-510-1824 elkridgeresort.com

306-663-5300 wa s k e s i u g o l f . c o m

Simple yurts hide luxurious interiors at Flora Bora in Christopher Lake.

Perhaps the green future of

tourism has at last arrived on Highway 263.

Dig into Northern Pike burgers at the Yellow Fender restaurant.

tower at the fork for views of the glacial spillway and Anglin Lake. Sated with fresh air, we pass down the highway dreamily until we reach Waskesiu (Cree for “red deer”), a pedestrian-scale hamlet with a local elk herd and its own literary titan. Grey Owl, the Englishman who pretended to be an aboriginal, wrote three worldwide bestsellers while living in a remote cabin here, which pilgrims of the wild can visit on a day trip [see sidebar]. A replica of the Beaver Lodge cabin interior is housed at the Friends of the Park Book Shop right in town. For dinner we make for the Hawood Inn hotel restaurant, busy with patrons hurrying to catch a screening at the Reel Rave International Film Festival, which brings a weekend of art-house movies to the historic Twin Pines Cinema. We’re famished, and the simple Farnese Sangiovese

pairs well with our intake of the great outdoors. I get enough portobello risotto and veal medallions to feed three carabinieri. Marlene sagely chooses the sweetest-tasting fish in existence, Saskatchewan pickerel, fried up unaffectedly as a shore lunch. After dinner, we check out the hotel’s collection of painted-and-carved images by Geoffrey Gerwing, marvelling at the spooky, Freudian pieces before heading back to the car.

aylight brings us to the shore of the Hanging Heart Lakes, which get their name from a wonderfully gruesome legend about Cree warriors who eviscerated a trespassing Dene hunting party, once upon a time. Often overlooked, the Hanging Hearts are the most inviting place to get out on the water in a park dominated by huge, windblown lakes. Kayaks, canoes and motorized aluminum skiffs are available for rent from a little marina, and we’ve spent many fine days exploring the shores where the full wild gamut of the park is accessible via relatively sheltered waters. This time, we’ve signed on for a guided pontoon-boat cruise.

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A guide gets ready at Waskesiu Marina Adventure Centre.

Our captain steams us out through the barrier islands and introduces wonders both high and low. Two juvenile bald eagles await dinner in a sprawling treetop loft. We peer into swallow-like burrows where belted kingfishers nest. Loons call, pelicans glide and an hour passes too quickly. With the sun slanting, it is time to return south along Highway 263. In an aspen wood just off the road, Flora Bora offers posh folk accommodation in central-Asian-inspired yurts. Its owners, Justin and Karen Wasylyk, are a pair of young travellers who wanted to retain a piece of exotica when they returned home to Saskatchewan to raise children a few years ago. Indeed, it is their two happy blond tykes who first meet us coming up the road, followed by the family collies, then Karen herself. She puts us aboard a golf cart and takes us down a trail to our home for the night, pointing out the garden where visitors are welcome to pick carrots and peas, kale or savoury herbs. The yurt, a simple, circular white tent, delights us with its humble exterior. Perhaps 10 paces across, it looks like it could contain a Mongolian nomad family. Inside, however, the neat poles inscribe a circle of luxury – kitchen, dining area, full bath, an inviting bed of ample white linens,

and no TV – decorated in warm tones, with twilight visible in the dome skylight at the peak. “Wow, could I paint here!” says Marlene, smitten. Our hosts stop by for a neighbourly visit later that evening, their own house lying just through the wood. Their two guest yurts have been fully booked since opening, and though the plan is to have six in all and expand into skiing season, things will otherwise remain small and simple. “Nature is what we offer here,” says Karen. “Without TV, we see families playing board games together. It’s great to watch people slow down.” Justin says they have tapped into a market by striking a fine balance between simplicity and luxury. Flora Bora is small-footprint, but they aren’t particularly political about it. “We aren’t telling anyone how to live here. To each their own.” Perhaps the green future of tourism has at last arrived on Highway 263. At any rate, Flora Bora is no gravel-bound motel of old. Justin has cut a little forest trail along the shore of adjacent Tuddles Lake, and a canoe is there to use. I persuade Marlene to come for a paddle under the last-quarter moon. The Wasylyks help us afloat before bidding goodnight. Even with the moon out there are plenty of stars, and though

pavement lies not far from the water’s edge, there is no traffic. We return to shore, climb back to our exotic little round house and tuck in. The stars are still there in our skylight like jewels under a glass. The world, and the flat prairie, seem far away.

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scene

Jeff Wall, Boy Falls From Tree (2010)

Canadian artists have continually employed the subject of landscape to reflect the times. Now a group of photographers is taking their provocative reinterpretation of landscape to the world. w o r d s a l i ya h s h a m s h e r

Photo: Per Rueda

The Weight Outdoors

Jeff Wall, A Sudden Gust of Wind (after Hokusai) (1993) was shot over a year, with 100 photographs used to produce this one seamless montage.

artwork: Jeff Wall; RMN-Grand Palais/Art Resource, NY

Jeff Wall’s Dead Troops Talk (A vision after an ambush of a Red Army patrol, near Moqor, Afghanistan, winter 1986) (1992) is as monumental as it is gruesome. One of the most recognized and written about of all the Vancouver-based photographer’s works, this hallucinatory image of the Soviet-Afghan war depicts 13 Russian soldiers in the wake of an ambush. What defines this piece is not the horror found within, but the fact that, in art-speak terms, it is a “Canadian” landscape. Despite the grisly scene, this haunting tableau sold last May at Christie’s for more than US$3.6 million, making it the most expensive Canadian photo ever sold at auction, and the third most expensive photo sold, ever (just behind Andreas Gursky’s Rhein II and Cindy Sherman’s Untitled #96).

Photoconceptualism, the term that describes Wall’s work, has widely been thought of as a uniquely Canadian art movement. Wall has been a key player in the development of this now international style of artistic “reportage” that originated in Vancouver in the late 1970s with artists like Ian Wallace (Wall’s instructor at the University of British Columbia ), Rodney Graham and Christos Dikeakos. Together, they and the generation of photoconceptualists that have followed tackle issues surrounding one of the most highly contested themes in Canadian art: the landscape. The landscapes of the photoconceptualists are carefully constructed micro-worlds that more often than not are created far away from the city streets and urban realities they depict. Photographing these works in studios across Canada and presenting them on a colossal scale, the photoconceptualists have turned reality into an elaborate artifice, manipulating landscapes to tell us precisely where we are in the world today.

Group of Seven. Working between 1920 and 1933, they offered up a new visual landscape, one that ultimately became tied to Canadian nationalism. While the rest of the world charged head first into the modernist era – with Picasso’s cubist nudes and Duchamp’s irreverent art objects that questioned the very nature of art itself – the Group of Seven depicted the power, freedom and virility of the North. In turn, they created a Canadian identity distinct from our American counterparts and our British colonial heritage. The group idealized the notion that landscape defines both the physical and spiritual essence of Canada – a myth that Group of Seven

A Canadian art It can be said that the landscape first took hold of the Canadian consciousness near the turn of the last century with the appearance of the

Katsushika Hokusai, A Sudden Gust of Wind at Ejiri (1831), served as inspiration for Wall’s piece above.

The landscape continues

to be a fundamental part of how Canadians see themselves in relation to the world at large.

biographer Robert Stacey declared “is stronger than history.” From there, the documented city within Fred Herzog’s photographs, Jack Shadbolt’s expressionist forest floors and B.C. Binning’s abstracted coastal scenes came to define the 1950s. By the 1960s, the conceptualists had arrived, most notably among them N.E. Thing Co.’s Iain Baxter, who explored how technology along with the “newly” created nuclear family interacted to redefine the Canadian landscape. Simultaneously, aboriginal artists like Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun, Rebecca Belmore and Brian Jungen reclaimed the Canadian landscape as their own with highly charged canvases, video and installation work that looked to dispel cultural stereotypes. Because of the sheer number of reiterations of the landscape in Canadian art, the subject continues to be a fundamental part of how Canadians see themselves in relation to the world at large.

Beyond regionalism What marks Wall’s Dead Troops Talk as a Canadian landscape is that it unapologetically 68

is not set in Canada. In fact, it is the photoconceptualists’ examination of landscapes beyond the 49th parallel that has come to define them. The world (and at times, the harsh realities within it) has become their subject matter. Like Wall, Vancouver filmmaker and photo-

Jeff Wall’s Dead Troops Talk (1992) fetched more than US$3.6 million at Christie’s last May.

grapher Stan Douglas has continually looked outside Canada for inspiration. His longstanding exploration of Hollywood, historical fiction and the North American city recently won him the influential Infinity Award from the International Center of Photography. His most recent body of work, Midcentury Studio (2010) and Malabar People (2010), looks to the sprawling metropolis and the characters found within it for inspiration. Film noir works like Dice, 1950 and Juggler, 1946 evoke the paradoxical landscape of postwar Los Angeles. The fact that the photographic series was shot in Vancouver is inconsequential. The city that emerges relies on constructed paradigms of a postwar optimism that, at the time, was wrapped up in the promises of the entertainment industry. Vancouver is allowed to stand in not just for Los Angeles, but also for every mid-century city in North America. Similarly, for Montreal-born, New York-based artist Robert Polidori, photographs of the decaying monuments of our contemporary world are more than just straight documentation. A staff photographer for The New Yorker, his largescale works of New Orleans after the wake of Hurricane Katrina and the devastating effects of the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown become a vessel for our collective memories. And while, like that of Douglas and Polidori, much of the photoconceptualists’ work seems

Artwork: Robert Polidori/Robert Polidori and Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York and Zurich; Jeff walL; Edward Burtynsky, courtesy Nicholas Metivier, Toronto/Howard Greenberg & Bryce Wolkowitz, New York; photo: Royal Ontario Museum/Brian Boyle

Robert Polidori, 2732 Orleans Avenue, New Orleans, LA (2005)

Edward Burtynsky, Oil Fields #19b, Belridge, California, USA (2003) (above) and Oil series at the Royal Ontario Museum (2011)

Challenging the scale of modern life

means creating a visceral experience for viewers.

to be highly specific, they are actually creating universal landscapes rife with concerns about community, identity, urbanism and the environment that Canadians, and the rest of the world, wrestle with today.

The scale of modern life In today’s urban landscape we are continually told that bigger is better, and the photoconceptualists have taken this to heart. Hovering somewhere between a billboard and a French 19th-century history painting, Toronto-based Edward Burtynsky’s massive photographs of the landscape ravaged by industry and human consumption act as a rebuttal to the Group of Seven’s landscape myth. Burtynsky’s images provide no solace for those seeking refuge in the great outdoors. For many of these artists, immense scale serves to evoke today’s urban landscape of expressway billboards, commercial signage and movie screens that project a constant stream of mass media. Wall notes in Jeff Wall: The Crooked Path, the catalogue for the exhibition of the same name, the similarities between cinema and photoconceptualism: “Technically, 70

all the elaborations of cinema are really reducible to a large number of still photographs printed on a single – or a few – long strips of celluloid.” Polidori, too, credits film, and specifically his time spent working as an assistant at the Anthology Film Archives in New York, as influences for his approach to photography. Challenging the scale of modern life means creating a visceral experience for viewers. The body, and its relationship to the image, becomes an integral part of the equation when trying to pull apart the array of meanings found within these photographs. Sarah Milroy, former editor of Canadian Art magazine, describes the viewer, now dwarfed by their newly presented surroundings, as entering “visual minefields punctuated with subtle cues carefully set to detonate in the mind.”

Collaboration with reality Dispensing with the documentation aspect that is widely associated with photography, Wall’s famous line, “I begin by not photographing,” continues to be the most telling hallmark of the photoconceptualist movement. Today, Vancouverbased photographer Althea Thauberger, part of

the new guard of photographers along with her Vancouver counterparts Scott McFarland and Adam Harrison, stages artful reconstructions to actively call attention to their works’ artifice. The Art of Seeing Without Being Seen (2008) by Thauberger is a collaborative recreation of a reconnaissance exercise in Chilliwack, B.C., meant to approximate an Afghan village. Harrison’s An artist painting with the aid of an overhead projector (2006) depicts a painter constructing a landscape by tracing another, while McFarland’s Gardens series uses time-lapse photography to capture an entire day. When piecing the scene back together, McFarland uses every photo taken so that nothing is truly real, yet everything is illuminated. Wall is the first to admit that he repurposed photography, which is closely associated with the documentation of true events, as a medium of artifice. In fact, Dead Troops Talk, his commentary on the Soviet-Afghan war, was actually constructed in his Vancouver studio – actors were photographed in individual sections and the images were later assembled digitally. “My pictures aren’t trying to be acts of reportage,” he states in The Crooked Path. “But they are taking a contemplative relationship to the reportage quality that’s unique to photography.” Many artists, trading in the city streets for the studio, strive to create the highest form of art using photography – one that is comparable to the works of Caravaggio or Rembrandt. And yet it is precisely the symbiotic relationship between photography and documentation that has allowed these artists to create such engaging photographs. Yet unlike those masterful tableaux from our past, what continues to draw us to the photoconceptualists is that their work feels so contemporary. Not only are they depicting our modern landscapes, they’re also depicting the life we live within them. Although Wall’s Dead Troops Talk was created more than 20 years ago, its message still holds true. He shed light on a war that he felt too easily disappeared from the world’s stage. For Wall and his contemporaries, looking beyond the doorstep-worlds of their predecessors has proven the best way to find their way home.

Artwork: Scott Mcfarland

Scott McFarland, View of Vale of Health (2007)

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Spotlight

With 34 years of production under its belt, the Mercedes-Benz G-Class off-roader boasts iconic status and always makes a special kind of statement. On a test run through Italy, this horse-for-all-courses shows off its remarkable versatility. w o r d s m i c h a e l m o o r s t e d t p h o t o s m a r c t r au t m a n n european vehicle model shown

Gee Whiz

SUPREMACY SET IN STONE

In the bizarre moonscape of the marble quarry, the off-roader proves its prowess.

SUNGLASSES: DUNHILL; LEATHER JACKET: BELSTAF; SHIRT AND SHOES: HUGO; PANTS: DAKS; BAG: ARMANI JEANS

Raring to go: The G-Class is all set for a triathlon of quarry clambering, city chicanes and highway cruising.

Stones spray out from under its surging tires, but the G-Class is still nowhere near its limits.

GLASSES: BALDESSARINI; JACKET: PATRICK MOHR

The hallmark lines of the G-Class body have remained virtually unchanged over the years.

After a day at the quarry, the vehicle and tires have acquired a silky white coating.

UNSTOPPABLE

Gullies, gradients, gravel and great chunks of marble â&#x20AC;&#x201C; nothing proved too much for the G-Class.

VEST: ETIQUETA NEGR A; JACKET AND PANTS: DAKS

The exceptional height of the seating position makes for great visibility, not just in quarries but in narrow streets as well.

S Three differential locks make clambering and climbing child’s play.

ix letters and a hyphen are all it takes to set a car lover’s pulse racing. The magic word is G-Class – that remarkable, almost legendary powerhouse of a machine. Surely this must be the most genuine off-roader in the world – the granddaddy of all SUVs. Mercedes-Benz has been building this iconic automobile for the past 34 years. And the basic shape has remained largely unchanged. This has nothing to do with any lack of innovation in the design studio. It’s just that when it comes to that old designer’s credo, “form follows function,” there are few better examples around. The G-Class still does exactly what it was designed to do: take an uncompromising approach to all types of terrain. You want to go that way? Okay, let’s go. The G-Class enjoys enduring popularity, and in the past three decades its fame has continued to grow. It is the off-roader of choice for hunters, the military and other services; it has won the Paris–Dakar rally; even 79

Back in town: Even at a standstill, the G-Class makes a splash.

A modest makeover: new door mirrors and LED daytime running lights

Exercising the workhorse But enough with the superlatives and history lessons. For 2013, the G-Class has been given its third facelift. In keeping with tradition, those striking exterior lines have survived virtually untouched. The right angle remains the right angle for the G family, and it takes an expert eye to spot the changes. What does shine through, however, is the switchover to LED daytime running lights located beneath the headlamps. The door mirrors have also been restyled. Take a seat in this big cross-country vehicle and all memories of the robust, angular bodywork fade to grey. In the redesigned interior, the eye comes to rest on the new steering wheel, smart-looking switches and buttons, and the COMAND infotainment system complete with GPS navigation. The generously dimensioned, freestanding screen above the centre console, meanwhile, now comes standard. 80

HIM: SUIT: HUGO; SHIRT: DAKS; SHOES: CALVIN KLEIN HER: DRESS: VERSACE; PANT YHOSE: MA X MAR A; CLUTCH: STELL A & DOT; ANKLE BOOTS: ROSAROT

the Pope relied on it for safety at his weekly general audiences â&#x20AC;&#x201C; one of the Popemobiles was a converted G 500 with mother-of-pearl paintwork and a removable all-weather dome.

FOREVER YOUNG

Right angles continue to dominate the lines of the bodywork. The COMAND infotainment system with large display and navigation system is standard equipment. So where better to try out this impressive workhorse than in the white-marble quarries of Carrara, Italy? Set in the north of Tuscany, this is where the stonemasons and sculptors of the Renaissance sourced the material for artworks as timeless as Michelangelo’s David. Over the centuries, their successors have made countless pilgrimages to Carrara to choose the ideal blocks of stone, leaving behind a jagged panorama of unlikely gradients in a surreal moonscape, crisscrossed by dusty tracks of white gravel and edged with uncut chunks of marble. Courtesy of Italian art and architecture, the perfect proving grounds for the G-Class are therefore located between Genoa and Pisa. Here, this automobile can truly show what it’s made of. After just a few minutes in the quarry, a sense of utter calm settles over the driver, although at first it’s hard to put a name to it. The G-Class is in its element. Hit the gas pedal and stones spurt out from beneath the wheels. Treacherous rugged trails and steep inclines, deep gullies and fair-sized blocks of stone are all taken smoothly in its stride. As they developed the G-Class, the engineers at Mercedes-Benz clearly never wavered in their determination to endow it with reliability, robustness and almost unrestricted off-road capabilities on even the toughest terrain. More than 30 years on, the vehicle has lost none of these qualities. And now the reason for that sense of calm becomes clear: It’s a feeling of unstoppability, feeding on the fascination of an almost primeval yet highly civilized power.

The downtown stress test After eight hours in the quarry, there’s no option but to award the G top marks in every category. The only reservation is a nagging sense of having failed to push the 382 hp G-Class anywhere near the limits of its potential. 81

G-CLASS Engine/Performance 382–536 hp Fuel consumption City: 18.1–17.5 l/100 km Highway: 13.6–13.4 l/100 km Combined: 16.1–15.7 l/100 km

There was certainly no need to utilize the coollooking aluminum buttons that activate the three differential locks, which ensure unrivalled traction. The fact is, most drivers run out of courage long before the G-Class starts pushing boundaries. And that has to be a good thing. So now it’s time for the next test, which is maybe even more challenging than Carrara: tackling the streets of Genoa. At almost five metres long and weighing more than 2.5 tonnes, how is the über off-roader going to cope with the narrow and winding alleyways and squares of this ancient Ligurian port city? First, though, a trip to the nearest car wash is on the agenda as the fun and games in the quarry have draped a white patina all over the glossy black paint. Remarkably, in Genoa, too, the G-Class performs well. The exceptionally high seating position gives the driver a clear view of the bustling streets. Instead of blocks of marble, the obstacles here are madly weaving scooters and the urban chicanes created by delivery vans parked at crazy angles. But most of all it’s the G-Class that causes a stir – at traffic lights and from passing buses, the admiring glances are everywhere. And while the driver would love 82

The essence of versatility is a full-blown off-roader that still feels right when you’re heading for the opera, dressed to kill.

to think all this non-verbal recognition is aimed at him or her, it’s the vehicle and nothing but the vehicle that is the centre of attention. And so we come to the final discipline in the grand G-Class triathlon – the freeway run across northern Italy and through Switzerland back to Germany: 650 kilometres of high-speed travel. Inside the vehicle it’s pleasantly quiet. The G-Class surges up the Alpine hairpins on the Gotthard autobahn with effortless ease, before basking in the admiration of SUV owners at the next gas station.

Both gifted and graceful After three days with this icon in the world of all-wheel drive, what impressions remain? That this vehicle is more versatile than it appears at first glance – gifted over rough terrain, graceful on the blacktop. That it cuts a dashing figure both in the quarry and in front of the opera house. And that, when you get behind the wheel, you feel equally at ease in overalls or a tuxedo.

The above data do not relate to an individual vehicle and do not form part of an offer but serve solely to facilitate comparisons between different models. mercedes -benz.ca

ST YLING: STEPHAN K ALL AUS@FAME- AGENCY.COM; HAIR AND MAKEUP: SABINE HEBERLE@PHOENIX- AGENTUR.DE; PRODUCTION: ITALY: SOLOPROD.IT; MODELS: CHRIS WALTERS@KULTMODELS.COM; ALICIA MEDINA@WOMENMANAGEMENT.IT HER: COAT, OVER-THE- KNEE BOOTS AND CLUTCH: BURBERRY; HIM: TUXEDO: POLO R ALPH L AUREN; SHIRT: L AGERFELD; TIE: DIOR HOMME; POCKET SQUARE: TOM FORD; PATENT SHOES: SANTONI

S tat S

STRIKING GOOD LOOKS Even in the background, some profiles will always stand out from the crowd.

SPOTLIGHT

Star Quality

The 2014 E 350 4MATIC hits Mercedes-Benz showrooms across Canada this spring with a host of striking features, including industry-leading Intelligent Drive. The forerunners of the E-Class didn’t just thrill drivers with pioneering innovations – they also racked up a dazzling history of celebrity owners and major movie roles.

ROMANTIC road trip: Béatrice Dalle and Jean-Hugues Anglade in Betty Blue.

W11 4/11 5 The Stroke 8 was the first production Mercedes with a semi-trailing-arm rear axle.

1976–1985

W11 0 The Fintail was the world’s first car to feature a safety body.

1968–1976

W12 0/ W121 The Ponton was the firstever Mercedes-Benz with a self-supporting body.

1961–1968

1953–1962

A family that became legendary: W12 3 When the W123 was launched, customers had to wait years for their new car.

James Bond

in the Stroke 8: Every bit as legendary as the Fintail and Will Smith’s official MIB II car

line ever, with over 10 million cars sold. The dynasty had long since acquired legendary status before being officially titled the E-Class in 1993. This was helped both by memorable names inspired by shape or year of debut – like the Fintail or Stroke 8 – and the many firsts that these mid-sized models from Mercedes-Benz became renowned for. For example, some 20 years after the passenger safety cell’s world premiere in the Fintail, the W124 followed that up with the multi-link independent rear suspension that is still used today.

W 21 0 The striking twin-headlight face and coupe-like rear formed the hallmark features of this model series.

2002–2009

W12 4 When this model was updated in 1993, it was rechristened with today’s name: the E-Class.

1995–2003

1985–1996

COOL customers: Will Smith and friend in the E 500 in Men in Black II

STYLE icons: Paul Newman and a Stroke 8

The popularity of the automobile was reflected in the sales figures, which reached a new record when the W123 hit the 2.4-million-unit mark. The most celebrated customer of this model series was a certain John Lennon, whose last car was a 300TD from 1979 – the very first W123 station wagon shipped to the United States. As well as the legions of less high-profile private customers, cab drivers also appreciate the great reliability of the E-Class, which has long graced the city streets of Europe and beyond. So it was only logical that the 1998 French film Taxi starred two E 500 models from the W124 series. Indeed, the E-Class boasts a wide range of movie credits. James Bond, for instance, takes the wheel of a white Stroke 8 in The Man with the Golden Gun, and in Betty Blue, Béatrice Dalle and Jean-Hugues Anglade steal a beige Fintail. In Men in Black II, Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith take to the road in a black E 500 from the W211 series, complete with an array of special gadgets and features, including an inflatable chauffeur and rocket power at the push of a button. The shape of things to come for a future E-Class perhaps?

W 211 With 29 model variants, the E-Class now offered the most extensive range in its segment.

2009–2012

ho drives so swift through the wind and rain?” mused motoring magazine Auto, Motor und Sport in 1952, its text set alongside a sensational picture of the Mercedes-Benz 180 on a test drive – the first time a car had been caught on camera before its launch. In an effort to defuse the anticipated outrage over the leaked photo, the editors composed an amusing eight lines of verse based on Goethe’s famous poem “Erlkönig” (“The Erlking”). This bit of espionage not only made the car the first-ever spy-shot prototype, it also gave it a nickname, for when the W120 model series entered production in 1953, it came to be known (as did the subsequent W121) as the “Erlkönig” in German. What’s more, it was the first Mercedes-Benz with a self-supporting Ponton (or “pontoon”) body – and an early precursor of the E-Class, although strictly speaking its story began with the W136 that originated from the pre-war years and was built until 1955. But it was with the Ponton that Mercedes-Benz revitalized the upper mid-range class and laid the foundations for its most successful product

W 212 The flared rear fenders evoke memories of the Ponton from 1953.

SPOTLIGHT

SUPPLE AS A BIG CAT: Sensationally streamlined, the new four-door words christof vieweg

p h o t o s a n at o l ko t t e

european vehicle model shown

Wild

Thing

coupe from Mercedes-Benz heralds a brand new design concept.

Outrageous, and yet mesmerizing

DRESS: GEORG et AREND

eally, it was inevitable we should get together. Last summer, the CLA was still one of the best-kept secrets at Mercedes-Benz. Supposedly, it was shut away behind solidly locked doors – but in fact the prototype was lurking at the back of a gigantic hall. A brief glance, a sense of sleek, predatory profile, and I was left with a lingering impression in my mind’s eye. As well as a strong desire to see it again, this time closer up. Months later, I mentioned my brief encounter to Gorden Wagener. He listened to my story with amusement. “Okay, so clearly we did our job,” said the Mercedes-Benz Head of Design in satisfied tones. “That’s the kind of impact good design should have – the power to captivate, to make people dream, to make our cars desirable. Not just on a first encounter: You should get the same kick out of it day after day.” The next time I got together with the CLA, we were able to take our time. And the whole experience simply strengthened my first impression. There’s a sense of familiarity enhanced by refreshing differences. Take the diamond radiator grille, with its great Mercedes-Benz star backed by dramatic chrome pins that sparkle like gemstones. Or the Bi-Xenon headlights with their distinctive white-and-blue glare.

Now, Mercedes-Benz has recreated this same sense of presence in the compact class, for the new coupe expresses the luxury brand’s latest design concepts even more clearly than the CLS. “Previously, our model design was characterized by a forward-thrusting wedge shape; now, the car’s lines all flow dynamically to the rear,” explains Wagener as he traces the profile of the so-called “dropping line” in the air with his hand. A key characteristic of the new style, this line extends all the way from the front fender to the rear door, curving downward slightly toward the rear wheel. Its counterpart is the “balance line,” which defines the lower portion of the doors

The teardrop – a new design style The distinctive profile of the CLA’s hood with its two bulging power domes emphasize that this is something new, something special. Wagener talks about elegance and dynamism, tradition and progress, sense and sensibility: qualities that – let’s face it – don’t really fit together. And yet in this vehicle, they’re all part of the personality, adding up to a uniquely animal magnetism. A brief summary of the underlying concept already sounds paradoxical: a “four-door coupe.” But Mercedes-Benz hinted at this new direction back in 2004, when the vehicle manufacturer launched a model that combined the elegance of a coupe with the comfort and practicality of a sedan: the CLS. It was the template for a new species of vehicles – excitingly gorgeous, dramatically different. 90

Striking

Not a face you’d miss in a crowd: The chrome pins in the diamond radiator grille sparkle like gemstones.

Dynamic

The front-focused wedge shape is out: The tail is the new centre of attention. All of a piece

DRESS WITH SILK SCARF: ESCADA

Rims that radiate dynamism, with a star centred on each hub.

Excitingly gorgeous, dramatically different

DRESS: ELIE SA AB; HOOP EARrINGS: THOMAS JIRGENS

And the headlights glow as intensely as a panther’s eyes.

Avant-garde

The CLA combines the sportiness of a coupe with the roominess of a sedan.

EVENING DRESS: RENA L ANGE; ST YLING: LYNN SCHMIDT/SCHIERKE.COM; HAIR AND MAKEUP: ALEX ANDER HOFMANN/ARTISTGROUPMIER AU.COM USING M.A.C; MODEL: SOUHEL A/MD MANAGEMENT

Eyebrows with character

while curving gently upward, albeit still in the direction of the rear axle. “The result is an attention-grabbing teardrop shape,” says Wagener about the new design. “Your eyes are drawn from the front of the car toward the rear. That’s where the focal point of our models is now concentrated.” The vehicle’s proportions exude power. Defined by the sweep of the hood, the long wheelbase, the short overhang and the passenger compartment tucked right at the back, they help to highlight the new contours. From this perspective, the CLA is like a work of art on wheels. The combination of arching surfaces with sleek curves and taut lines achieves a new expressiveness that is emphatically emotive.

World-record aerodynamics The Mercedes-Benz design chief promises that future models will follow the example of this compact coupe by becoming even more stylish, sensuous and technically advanced. “A touch of glamour will surround all our cars,” he states, “further enhancing the fascination naturally associated with beauty.” The CLA is just the start. The teardrop is the key concept behind the new design style – and music to the ears of Dr. Teddy Woll, who heads up the Mercedes-Benz Aerodynamics team. It’s the ideal form, with the best flow characteristics. “The CLA’s basic shape is very close to a perfect teardrop,” he explains. “The front of the car is almost perfectly rounded, guiding the airflow down the flanks and underneath the body without impinging on the wheels. The arched roofline and gently sloping, elongated tail all help to guide the airstream far behind the car – so the design provides a perfect basis for our work.” This work started on a computer, because that’s where the aerodynamics engineers can analyze and modify each detail at the click of a mouse until the airflow is optimized. It’s a Sisyphean task. During the aerodynamic development of a new model, the team clocks up well over a quarter million hours of processing time. “To reduce the drag coefficient by a thousandth of a unit is a real battle,” admits Woll. “That’s why we need high-performance computers. The results of our flow simulations

are then tested in wind tunnels so we can refine them even further.” The CLA’s near-perfect basic shape meant that the aerodynamics experts could concentrate on bodywork details at an early stage in the development process. Visible results of this aerodynamic refinement include the spoiler, which is elegantly incorporated into the lid of the trunk, and the trailing-edge profile of the rear light clusters and bumper. Other details are less visible but just as important. They include innovative slit-shaped openings in the front wheel arches, designed to reduce the lateral outflow of the slipstream from the wheel arches, which can otherwise seriously disrupt the smooth flow of air down the vehicle’s flanks. Using computer simulations, the engineers discovered ways to further improve the airflow in front of the wheels. Months of highly detailed work resulted in a small, inconspicuous, serrated spoiler positioned ahead of each front wheel. It’s a patented invention that achieves a precisely calculated effect: The notches in the spoiler profile deflect the slipstream past the wheels or under the wheel arch openings. “This simple improvement to the front wheel arches reduces the drag coefficient by 11 points,” explains Woll. In the language of aerodynamics, a “point” represents a critical thousandth of a unit – so 11 points are equivalent to a drag reduction of 0.011. All achieved by a few slits and a couple of tiny spoilers in the wheel arches. That’s all it took? “All these tiny details add up to make a big difference,” replies the engineer, and he illustrates his point with some simple arithmetic. “If we manage to reduce a car’s drag coefficient by 50 points [that’s 0.05], fuel consumption at typical highway speeds is cut by 0.7 litres per 100 kilometres on average. So it really does make sense to obsess over every thousandth of a unit.” Indeed, the new CLA confirms the team’s calculations: The four-door coupe isn’t just impressive for its new design language, it also sports unequalled aerodynamics. The low flow resistance means that the CLA has broken the world record for production cars. Now that’s truly wild. Wild – with style.

Inspiring

Interior details are based on airplane cockpit design.

S tat S

CLA Engine/Performance Turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine, 208 hp at 5,500 rpm; max. torque 258 lb-ft at 1,200–4,000 rpm Transmission 7G-DCT 7-speed dual-clutch automatic Driving assistance systems Among the many electronic helpers available are Lane Keeping Assist and Blind Spot Assist, as well as COLLISION PREVENTION ASSIST, which sounds a warning and adaptively boosts the driver’s braking pressure if a possible rearend collision is detected. The above data do not relate to an individual vehicle and do not form part of an offer but serve solely to facilitate comparisons between different models. mercedes -benz.ca

SPOTLIGHT

w o r d s c h r i s t o p h h e n n , t o m c l a r ks o n p h o t o s m a r k u s j a n s

World champion is a title Lewis Hamilton

has held once so far. And he wants to savour that feeling again with Mercedes AMG Petronas. He tells us about that title-clinching moment in 2008: “Suddenly I saw the white car ahead of me. Going into the final corner, I darted to the inside and somehow made it past. I held my breath, got the spinning tires under control and piled up the hill to the finish line. I’d done it, I was the world champion!”

RACING THERAPY:

Hamilton has been hyperactive ever since he was a kid. “I’ve found ways of channelling it,” he says.

PHOTOS: DAIMLER AG; SIPA PRESS/DDP IMAGES; WENN

Style SHOW BUSINESS is a familiar world to Lewis Hamilton, not only

thanks to his glamorous other half, Nicole Scherzinger. His manager since 2011 has been Simon Fuller, whose roster of clients includes stars such as the Beckhams and Jennifer Lopez. But Hamilton doesn’t need any advisors to tell him how to play to the public eye. He likes to wear sports clothes, but is also happy to dress up for special occasions. “If I’m going out for dinner with Nicole, I always wear a suit,” says Hamilton. “As a man you should always make an effort to impress a lady.” His sense of style might also have something to do with his respectful attitude toward expensive outfits. “We never used to have much money. My mom didn’t have any fashionable clothes, never mind designer gear.”

Ayrton Senna

LEWIS HAMILTON ON…

Stamina and discipline are key

qualities for Hamilton. He has learned never to give up and is constantly working on his fitness. “I’ve got a new physiotherapist and trainer on board this year,” he reports. But his body isn’t the only thing set for a workout: “I was very excited by the team’s three driving simulators the first time I saw them.”

A y r t on S enn a

“His particular driving style and his character as a whole have always fascinated me.” M uh a mm a d A l i

“For me, Ali is the coolest famous figure out there. The self-assurance of the guy is impressive.” M i c h a e l S c hum a c he r

“He’s a legend. It’s a privilege to have been driving at the same time as him and to have gotten to know him.” Ri v a l s

“The toughest competition always comes from within the team.” The Te a m

“As a driver you always need to think positively. It’s important that you keep the team with you, even when things aren’t going quite how you imagined.” H e r oes

“An elderly man recently said I was his hero. I thought that was crazy. For me, Superman is a hero – and I’m not Superman.”

Happiness t he g r e a t l o v e of Lewis Hamilton’s life is Nicole Scherzinger, former

singer with girl group The Pussycat Dolls. The two have been together for five years now, give or take the odd time out – which the racing driver attributes in part to their busy schedules. “We have a long-distance relationship, and that’s tough sometimes. It’s a challenge for us,” he admitted in an interview a while back. The couple certainly doesn’t hide away. Hamilton regularly tweets photos of himself and “my girl @nicolescherzy.” 99

Friendship N I C O R O S B E R G and Lewis Hamilton have been friends

for many years. The British driver and his new teammate were even doing battle on the kart track at the age of 13 as members of the same team. Today, they live in the same apartment block in Monaco and help each other out now and again. “When I got home late recently and had nothing in the fridge, I knocked on his door and his girlfriend Vivian fixed me up a burger,” says Hamilton. However, there will be no such generosity between the two out on the track. “Your teammate is always the first person you want to beat,” says Hamilton. “I’m expecting Nico to be very quick and to fight hard.”

MILESTONES 19 8 5

Lewis Hamilton is born in Stevenage, north of London, on January 7. 19 95

“The team knows that with me they’re getting a

driver who always gives 100 percent when he’s in the car. But I’m equally committed to helping the team as much as I can outside the cockpit. Everybody should know that this is a long-term project we’re talking about here. We’re setting out on a marathon, not a sprint.”

He wins the British junior kart championship at the age of 10 and receives the trophy from Jacques Villeneuve. 2005

Hamilton wins the Formula 3 Euro Series with a record 15 wins in 20 races. 2006

A total of five wins and nine podium finishes earns Hamilton the GP2 Series title. 20 07

Hamilton tops the standings after six races in his debut Formula 1 season, becoming the youngest driver ever to lead the F1 World Championship. He defends his lead until the final race, but ultimately has to settle for second place, a point behind Kimi Räikkönen.

Early starter Hamilton was just five when he got his first ride in a bumper car,

and seven when he won a race with a remote-controlled car on the TV program Blue Peter. By age 10, he was spending every weekend at the kart track and telling McLaren boss Ron Dennis about his plans to become world champion. Three years later, McLaren and Mercedes-Benz handed him a contract, and at 15, Hamilton became the kart world champion. 100

2 01 3

After 21 wins in 110 races, Hamilton switches from McLaren Mercedes to the Mercedes AMG Petronas team. His aim: to win the world title.

PHOTOS: EYEVINE; DDP IMAGES; DAIMLER AG

2008

After five wins and a heartstopping finale to the season, Hamilton triumphs by a single point and becomes the youngest-ever Formula 1 world champion.

LEWIS HAMILTON

looks forward with confidence to his future with the Mercedes AMG Petronas team.

“I love car racing, so I can’t wait

to line up with the Mercedes AMG Petronas team. The people here have a greater hunger for success than any other team I know. If my car is within striking distance of the leaders, we’ll all be in for a lot of fun.”

Family anthony hamilton was quick to recognize the talent his son possessed and

did everything he could to support him in his racing career. In the early days, Anthony took on two extra jobs to enable Lewis to compete in kart races, and later he guided him as his manager to the Formula 1 World Championship. That arrangement came to an end in 2010, but Lewis still regularly emphasizes how much he owes his father: “Keep your feet on the ground, don’t forget where you’re from. My father taught me to be humble.” Lewis’s younger brother also has a grounding effect on him. Nicolas has cerebral palsy, but can regularly be seen trackside. “Whenever I think I’ve got problems, I think of Nicolas,” says Hamilton. “He can’t do half the things that I can, but he’s still happy.” 102

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SPOTLIGHT

Finely Honed Senses

Intelligent Drive: A network of cameras and sensors alerts to dangers – increasing safety for drivers and pedestrians alike.

w o r d s m i c h a e l m o o r s t e d t, c h r i s t o p h h e n n european vehicle model shown

he intelligent car: It’s a great notion, but what does it actually mean? Should as many decisions as possible be taken out of drivers’ hands, or should they remain in charge while being supported by computerized systems? MercedesBenz pursues the latter of these approaches. Intelligent Drive, as the Mercedes-Benz assistance systems are collectively known, is not designed to take over from the driver. It has been over a decade since the first real assistance system, the radar-based DISTRONIC adaptive cruise control, debuted. These days, drivers of the new E-Class, for example, can call on the “sensory powers” of six radar sensors, six camera lenses and 12 ultrasonic sensors. 104

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bas plus and pre-safe brake These systems are now also able to recognize pedestrians in front of the vehicle. By evaluating the camera and radar data, they can alert the driver with visual and acoustic signals. If the driver fails to react, braking is initiated automatically.

Basically, the idea is to improve safety. The technology is designed to detect potentially dangerous situations early on and take appropriate action if things get critical. This is precisely the aim of the new functions included with the BAS PLUS and PRE-SAFE Brake systems. Featured for the first time in the new E-Class and the future S-Class, they are capable of spotting pedestrians as well as imminent dangers at intersections. The second of these two tasks is taken care of by BAS PLUS with Cross-Traffic Assist. It issues both visual and acoustic warnings if another vehicle is approaching from the side – thereby countering the inattentiveness that is a frequent cause of accidents.

photo: Daimler Ag

The new assistance system operates at speeds up to 72 km/h and can correct misjudgments, too, by automatically increasing braking power if the driver reacts too tentatively to a danger ahead. According to a recent study, more than a quarter of all accidents at intersections resulting in personal injury can be mitigated or prevented altogether with such technology. This boost to safety is partly attributable to a stereo camera built into the windshield that works in a similar way to 3D cinema technology. It has a three-dimensional view of the area up to 50 metres in front of the vehicle with a 45-degree field of vision, and can extend the maximum monitoring range to a remarkable 500 metres.

bas plus with crosstraffic assist For the first time, BAS PLUS can help avoid collisions with cross-traffic at intersections. The radar and stereo camera have a wide-angle view of the scene ahead. If danger threatens, the driver receives a dual warning and brake pressure is boosted automatically.

The information captured by the cameraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s two â&#x20AC;&#x153;eyesâ&#x20AC;? is amalgamated with the data from the radar sensors to calculate the trajectory of objects moving crossways ahead. This interaction between stereo camera and radar sensors is also behind the new pedestrian detection feature of the BAS PLUS and PRE-SAFE Brake functions. The system triggers an alert if it senses people in front of the vehicle, and can brake autonomously if the driver reacts too hesitantly or not at all. Experts estimate that, as a result of this technology, almost half of all collisions with pedestrians will either be completely avoidable or at least have less serious consequences. More than reason enough for a little extra help from computers. 105

F o u r - d o o r c o u p e . It might seem like an oxymoron. But like so many other innovations, it’s a concept that was pioneered by Mercedes-Benz – namely, with the sleek CLS. This fall, it will prove once again that a four-door vehicle doesn’t have to look like an ordinary sedan.

hide and sleek The suave yet sensible CLA rolls into showrooms this fall. words christopher korchin europe an vehicle model shown

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It begins with the central B-pillar: strong enough to provide structural integrity and safety for the middle of the car, but so discreet as to make this aerodynamic Mercedes-Benz look like a classic two-seat sports coupe. The CLA’s sultriness continues with an aggressive-looking front diamond grille, frameless doors and a swooping rear roofline culminating in a short rear deck. Under the hood, a turbocharged inline four-cylinder engine supplies 208 hp and 258 lb-ft of torque. Combined with a dual-clutch seven-speed automatic transmission, the CLA delivers powerful performance and impressive fuel economy. And with a leather-wrapped steering wheel, advanced safety features and a full technology suite offering both entertainment and information, it’s a vehicle that blends style with function – all at an incredible value.

Visit mercedes-benz.ca to learn more about the exciting new CLA.

Photos: Daimler AG

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