Open Skies | October 2014

THE BUILDING OF MADINAT JUMEIRAH

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The All New

contents / october 2014

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Paying a visit to Moscow creative hub Red October Factory

The Bombay Royale’s Shourov Bhattacharya reveals his favourite tracks

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Our verdict on London’s Ham Yard Hotel

Browsing the shelves of Venice bookshop Libreria Acqua Alta

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Chef Cristina Bowerman shares her favourite places to eat in Rome

Open skies / OctOber 2014

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Our comprehensive guide to Geneva

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Meeting the woman behind a unique independent restaurant in Dubai

contents / october 2014

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The New Plato?

front (21) Calendar The Grid The Question The Street Skypod The Room

23 32 34 36 44 47

Consume BLD Mapped Local Knowledge Column

Main (79) The Building Of Madinat Jumeirah Our Man In....LA The New Plato?

51 54 57 63 71

briefing (109) 81 90 96

News Comfort Visas, Quick Connect & Quarantine Information UAE Smart Gate Route Map The Fleet Last Look

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110 124 126 128 130 136 138

edItor-In-CHIeF ManaGInG partner & GroUp edItor edItorIal dIreCtor GroUp edItor edItor desIGner sUB edItor edItorIal assIstant edItorIal Intern

Obaid Humaid Al Tayer Ian Fairservice Gina Johnson gina@motivate.ae Mark Evans marke@motivate.ae Gareth Rees gareth@motivate.ae Ralph Mancao ralph@motivate.ae Salil Kumar salil@motivate.ae Londresa Flores londresa@motivate.ae Mary Keenan

ContrIBUtors Andrew Birbeck, Marina Chetner, Gemma Correll, hg2.com, Olya Ivanova, Jamie Knights, Chaney Kwak, Louis Pattison, Robbie Porter, REM, Sandra Tinari, Mari Luz Vidal Head oF prodUCtIon S Sunil Kumar assIstant prodUCtIon ManaGer Binu Purandaran

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InternatIonal senIor sales ManaGer Michael Underdown michael@motivate.ae depUtY sales ManaGer Amar Kamath depUtY sales ManaGer Deep Karani

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EDITOR’S LETTER

I

“WE CELEBRATE THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF MADINAT JUMEIRAH’S OFFICIAL OPENING THIS MONTH WITH THE STORY OF ITS CONSTRUCTION” NOW AVAILABLE ON YOUR IPAD!

facebook.com/ twitter.com/ openskiesmagazine openskiesmag

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OPEN SKIES / OCTOBER 2014

ON THE COVER / In honour of the 10th anniversary of its official opening this month, our cover is dedicated to one of Dubai’s most iconic landmarks, Madinat Jumeirah. The story of how Madinat Jumeirah was built is in this issue – and quite a tale it is, too.

Plato? You might disagree, and I am not suggesting that Alain’s ideas are similar to those of Plato, but his drive to seek practical solutions to the age old question “how do we live well?” is something he shares with the giants of ancient Greek philosophy. The potential scope of Alain’s ambition, which he hides behind a modest demeanour, is truly exciting.

Something else that is exciting is the iconic Dubai resort Madinat Jumeirah. We celebrate the 10th anniversary of Madinat Jumeirah’s official opening this month with the story of its construction, told by three of the individuals who lived and breathed the project from inception to completion and beyond. I am sure you will all join me in congratulating Madinat Jumeirah, the team that built it and the ladies and gentlemen who bring it to life and will accompany it into its second decade of operation.

Congratulations, Madinat Jumeirah.

Enjoy the issue.

COVER IMAGE: WOLFGANG KAEHLER

Gareth Rees, Editor

didn’t study journalism at university – not at first, anyway. I completed an undergraduate degree in history and philosophy, before moving on to study for a postgraduate in magazine journalism later on.

Why am I informing you of my academic credentials? No, this is not a very public plea for an offer of employment, it’s because for this issue of Open Skies I interviewed a philospher – my first – and my undergraduate degree came in handy when discussing Plato et al.

My 18-year-old self would have loved to have entered into a dialogue with a number of thinkers: René Descartes, the Frenchman who sat in front of a fire and made himself disappear before his mind famously declared, “I think therefore I am,” and then finally brought back his body, too, by way of some pretty shaky reasoning; Arthur Schopenhauer, who stated that “... a man never is happy, but spends his whole life in striving after something which he thinks will make him so...”; Søren Kierkegaard, the father of existentialism; Friedrich Nietzsche, he of the giant walrus moustache; France’s most famous 20th century thinker, Jean-Paul Sartre; and, finally, Albert Camus, author of my favourite book, The Outsider, the story of a murder. These were all pretty serious guys, and, unfortunately, not among the living – even back in 2000.

Swiss-British best-selling author Alain de Botton, who I interviewed in his London office earlier this year, is definitely alive, but he is also a serious guy. He doesn’t belong in the list of philosophers above, though, and at 18, I have to admit, I wouldn’t have been wowed by his ideas – not enough angst. But at 32, I am able to appreciate that Alain, a very nice man, has some pretty radical ideas about how we should live. Those ideas and Alain’s love of ancient Greek philosophy have prompted me to ask whether de Botton is The New

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CONTRIBUTORS

SOME OF THE PEOPLE WHO HELPED CREATE THIS MAGAZINE

MARI LUZ VIDAL

MARINA CHETNER

“Barcelona is full of tourists at this time of year, so it was hard to find local people on the street in one of the busiest and coolest areas of the city,” she says.

“I was lucky to meet Gari on his way to work. He was really shy and enthusiastic at the same time.”

“The Red October Factory is located minutes away from the busy Red Square, but its pace is anything but erratic,” she says. “The nowresident food, art and design community have turned this historic landmark into a welcome hub of creativity.”

Mari is a photographer based in Barcelona, and co-editor of the magazine Openhouse. She opens her home as a photography gallery promoting her personal projects and other interesting photographers.

For this issue, Mari hit the streets of Barcelona to photograph a fellow resident for our Last Look page.

Marina is a writer based in Los Angeles, California. Her writing has appeared in The Writer, Australian Yoga Journal, Laguna Beach Magazine, Find Bliss Los Angeles and Huffington Post. For this issue, Marina travelled to Moscow to report on the regeneration of Red October Factory.

SANDRA TINARI

CHANEY KWAK

“Photographing the food at Marta’s Workshop was a divine torment,” she says.

“The beautiful presentation and flavourful aromas were too much to bear. I caved by desert – but in the heat of the city, it’s hard to resist tantalising mango sorbet!”

“I have an inexplicable crush on the American South, and Texas is no exception,” he says. “I was especially delighted to see how much downtown Houston has come alive in the past two years.”

Sandra has worked as a journalist and photographer for more than 20 years.

Her work has been published in the USA, UK, Middle East, Europe and Australia. Born in Australia, she has lived in Portugal, London, Italy and Dubai. For this issue, Sandra visited Marta’s Kitchen in Dubai for our Local Knowledge feature.

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Based in San Francisco and Berlin, Chaney Kwak writes about food and travel for Condé Nast Traveler, The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Fodor’s Guides and other publications. For this issue, he ate his way around Houston and wrote about the Texan city’s changing culinary landscape.

OLYA IVANOVA

Olya is a Moscowbased documentary photographer working for magazines worldwide.

Her work has appeared in The Telegraph, Monocle, Guardian Weekend and Bloomberg Business Week.

Olya specialises in portraits, but for this issue, she visited Moscow’s Red October Factory, which has become a hub for the city’s creative community.

“I had a great time in Red October,” she says. “So many nice people in one place! Besides the people, it was an interesting experience for me to shoot a place, rather than people.”

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front Rome: Chef Cristina Bowerman shares her favourite places to eat in the Italian capital DUBAI: An independent restaurant in the emirate’s Jumeirah Lakes Towers neighbourhood

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OctOber

CALENDAR

October 3 to 5 and 10 to 12, Texas, United States

September 23 to October 4, Phuket, Thailand

Vegetarian Festival

While the origins of this festival are somewhat unclear, the most agreed-upon version of events is that a wandering Chinese opera group fell ill with malaria while performing in Phuket. In order to beat the disease, the group adhered to a strict vegetarian diet and prayed to the nine emperor gods for purification of their minds and bodies. Surprisingly, the group made a miraculous recovery and celebrated by holding a festival to honour the gods – and the Vegetarian Festival was born. Attended by thousands, the festival features numerous rituals, including offerings of food and drink made to the gods in temples throughout the city.

AUStIN cItY LIMItS FeStIVAL

Austin City Limits Festival boasts an impressive line-up, featuring the likes of Sam Smith, Eminem, Pearl Jam, Lorde, Calvin Harris and Lana Del Ray. Located at Austin’s 46-acre Zilker Park, the festival now spans two consecutive weekends. As well as music, the festival showcases local food and drink, art and charitable organisations.

ACLFESTivAL.Com

PHUkETvEgETARiAn.Com

October 7 to 16, Budapest, Hungary

Café Budapest Contemporary Arts Festival Housed in various venues across the city, the Café Budapest Contemporary Arts Festival highlights a range of musical genres, including classical, pop, jazz, dance and opera, as well as showcasing circus acts and theatre, fine arts and design and photography.

October 4 to 12, new mexico, United States

CAFEBUDAPESTFEST.HU

ALbUQUerQUe INterNAtIONAL bALLOON FIeStA

now in its 42nd year, the Albuquerque international Balloon Fiesta brings together hot air and gas ballooning enthusiasts from more than 50 countries and draws a crowd of 80,000. With 750 brightly coloured balloons taking off, the fiesta is an impressive visual spectacle. Balloonists can participate in a number of events, such as a long distance gas balloon race, which typically takes three days; a rodeo for special shaped balloons; and the daily mass ascensions, which see hundreds of balloons rising up into the sky together at dawn.

BALLoonFiESTA.Com

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OCTOBER

CALENDAR

October 8 to 12, Frankfurt, Germany

FRANKFURT BOOK FAIR

An important fixture in the literary world, the Frankfurt Book Fair dates back around 500 years. Thousands of exhibitors, publishers, authors, retailers, illustrators, librarians and software and multimedia suppliers from around the world converge in Frankfurt to exchange information, launch books and negotiate the sale of international publishing licences, with the fair opened to the public for the last two days. Each year a country is named as guest of honour, with Finland being honoured in 2014.

October 8 to 19, London, United Kingdom

BFI London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival showcases original films by both world-renowned and emerging filmmakers. Now in its 58th year, the festival will open with wartime drama The Imitation Game, starring Keira Knightley and Benedict Cumberbatch, and close with Fury, starring Brad Pitt and Shia LaBeouf.

BFI.ORG.UK/LFF

BUCHMESSE.DE

October 11 to November 16 , Alba, Italy

ALBA INTERNATIONAL WHITE TRUFFLE FAIR

October 10, Dubai, UAE

Ripe Food And Craft Market October 10 marks the return of Dubai’s popular Ripe Food And Craft Market. Having relocated from Safa Park to Zabeel Park, the market will feature around 150 local vendors selling a range of products from organic fruits and vegetables, to jewellery, arts and crafts.

Held over the course of five consecutive weekends, the Alba International White Truffle Fair in Italy’s Piedmont region is a must-visit for chefs and foodies. The event comprises concerts, wine tastings, a donkey race, a medieval parade and cooking lessons, and concludes with an auction of the festival’s best truffle – last year’s winning truffle, weighing 100g, went for EUR300.

FIERADELTARTUFO.ORG

RIPEME.COM

Skypod

The Bombay Royale page 44 24

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october

CALENDAR

october 15 to 18, London, United Kingdom

FrIeZe Art FAIr

The frieze Art fair is a contemporary art fair held in London each year. The fair takes over a large portion of regent’s Park, with local and international art dealers showcasing work from more than 160 contemporary galleries.

The fair also presents short films, workshops, seminars and performancebased installations. friezeLoNdoN.coM

October 16 to 19, New York, USA

New York City Wine & Food Festival The New York City Wine And Food Festival brings together many renowned chefs from around the world for a series of tastings, seminars, workshops, dinners and parties, with all profits going towards the hunger relief organisations No Kid Hungry and Food Bank For New York City. Now in its seventh year, the festival offers up a diverse range of dishes and culinary experiences, across a broad range of price points across New York City.

NYcwff.org

october 18 to 20, Bacolod, Philippines

MASSKArA FeStIVAL October 17 to 19, Brisbane, Australia

Brisbane Good Food And Wine Show Brisbane’s Good Food And Wine Show is a celebration of regionally grown and produced foods and wines featuring local and national chefs. The festival aims to showcase artisan and locally grown foods from within the state of Queensland and across Australia. It offers a range of master classes hosted by leading chefs, a Grazing Garden where Brisbane’s favourite food trucks serve up their dishes and wine appreciation classes.

originating in 1980 as a way to boost morale after poor sugarcane sales, Bacolod’s vibrant and brightly coloured Masskara festival has since become an annual event. Thousands of masked dancers perform in the streets, and spectators are treated to local foods, drinks, crafts and flowers. The festival consists of a large parade, street dancing contests, sports events, pageants and street parties.

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october

CALENDAR

october 22 to November 7, Wexford, Ireland

WeXForD FeStIVAL oPerA

Since 1951 the Wexford Festival opera has been giving life to neglected and lesser-known operas. Each year the festival presents three operas as well as concerts, recitals and reviews.

All operas are performed at Wexford house, a custom-built opera house that seats an audience of around 770. the operas being performed at the festival this year are Salomé, Don Bucefalo and Silent Night.

WExForDoPErA.Com

October 23, mumbai, India

Diwali

Commonly referred to as The Festival Of Lights, Diwali is an ancient Hindu festival celebrating the victory of light over darkness and hope over despair. An important tradition in India, participants clean their homes before the festival and celebrate with friends and family by sharing food and exchanging gifts. Candles, lamps, torches and fireworks are lit at night providing a spectacular display of light that symbolises the awareness of inner light and the triumph of good over evil.

october 29 to November 2, Paris, France

SALoN DU cHocoLAt October 24 to 26, las Vegas, uSA

Life Is Beautiful Las Vegas’ Life Is Beautiful festival is a combination of music, world-class food, art and iconic and motivational speakers. Only in its second year, this year’s festival organisers have a hard act to follow with last year’s event featuring performances by The Killers, Kings Of Leon, Jurassic 5 and Vampire Weekend and attracting a crowd of 60,000. This year’s headline acts include Kanye West, Lionel Richie, Girl Talk, Outkast and the Foo Fighters. lIFEISbEAutIFul.Com

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An event revered by chocolate lovers the world over, the Salon Du Chocolat celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. Comprising exhibits and demonstrations, the event provides the opportunity to taste the produce and learn the skills on show, as well as enjoy a fashion show with garments made only from chocolate and an exhibition that includes collaborations between artists, designers and chocolatiers, pastry makers and chefs.

SAlonDuChoColAt.Fr

Paris, 195 Boulevard Saint Germain. Tel. +33 1 53 63 39 50

october

CALENDAR

october 30 to November 6, Pushkar, india

PUSHKAr cAMeL FAIr

Set in a valley in the indian state of Rajasthan, the small town of Pushkar comes to life each year for the Pushkar Camel Fair. Close to 50,000 camels are paraded, raced, shaved, entered into beauty contests and traded over the course of the eight-day event.

Other livestock is also traded and sold, as well as an array of textiles and jewellery. The religious festival Kartik Purnima falls on the last day of the fair and sees thousands of devotees bathe in Pushkar Lake.

PuShKaR-CameL-FaiR.COm

October 31, New York, uSa

The Village Halloween Parade Each Halloween, New York’s Greenwich Village is taken over by more than 60,000 costumed participants. Founded in 1974 by maskmaker and puppeteer Ralph Lee, the parade attracts more than two million spectators with its lively array of circus performers, artists, dancers, giant puppets, floats and bands. The festival embodies a different theme each year, with this year’s theme being The Garden Of Earthly Delights. haLLOweeN-NYC.COm

october 31 to November 3, Brussels, Belgium

brUSSeLS LIGHt FeStIVAL

October 31 to November 2, New Orleans, uSa

Voodoo Experience

Over the course of its 15-year history the Voodoo Experience has hosted more than 2,000 artists and close to one million fans. Held in the Festival Grounds in New Orleans’ City Park, the festival brings together big-name international artists and local acts, as well as food and art vendors from New Orleans. The line up this year includes The Foo Fighters, Pretty Lights, Skrillex and Arctic Monkeys. wORShiPThemuSiC.COm

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The first Brussels Light Festival made an impact by incorporating holograms, 3-D projections, interactive experiences, beautiful light displays and fireworks. Running alongside the city’s Canal Sainctelette, the festival is back for a second year.

BRuSSeLSLighTFeSTivaL.Be

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October 10 Sandance Dubai, UAE

October 17 Gary Barlow Dubai, UAE

Sandance is back. A sure sign of cooling temperatures in Dubai, the popular music festival returns to Atlantis The Palm’s Nassimi Beach this month. The season opener will feature performances by Rudimental, De La Soul, Empire Of The Sun and Clean Bandit.

Dubai will be the final stop on Take That singer Gary Barlow’s Since I Saw You Last solo tour. Performing at Dubai Media City Amphitheatre, Barlow, a judge on hit UK TV show X Factor, promises renditions of both his own songs and some of Take That’s hits. Early-bird tickets start at Dhs295. garybarlow.com

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the question

IS TIME TRAVEL POSSIBLE? The concept of time travel has provided inspiration for some classic science fiction stories and many, many movies, thanks to the potential consequences.

Would you cease to exist if you went back in time and stopped your grandparents from meeting? If so, would you even have been able to set out on your quest in the first place?

It’s enough to give you a headache, isn’t it? We are all travelling through time, but slowly, always relentlessly forward, into the future, rather than back into the past. Time travel is still a dream.

Albert Einstein’s Special Theory Of Relativity introduced the notion that space and time are part of the same entity and that there is a speed limit on how fast things can travel. Light is a constant in empty space, but as you approach the speed of light, time slows. This effect is only noticed when you return to those who have remained stationary – those you left would have aged more than you. Gravity also has an effect on the passing of time, and these ideas are explored in Einstein’s Theory Of General

TWITTER Q&A Downtown Design explains itself in 140 characters or less

Relativity. But Einstein’s theories bring us no closer to building a machine that can either manipulate space-time or pop through a wormhole (a shortcut through space-time). Whereas Einstein dealt with the magnitude of space, a group of researchers from Queensland, Australia, looked at time travel on a quantum level. Their simulations, the results of which were published in the scientific journal Nature Communications, demonstrated that a photon (elementary particle) would interact with itself in the past without destroying the original photon. This suggests that the grandparent paradox referred to earlier might be possible.

Unfortunately, this still brings us no closer to hurling ourselves through time.

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@OpenSkiesMag: What is Downtown Design? @DowntownDesignD: Hi. Now on for the 2nd year, it’s an #OriginalDesign #fair featuring global trendsetting brands in #interiors and #furniture @OpenSkiesMag: When and where will it take place? @DowntownDesignD: The #fair will take place 28-31 Oct at #Emaar’s #DowntownDubai, at the foot of the iconic #BurjKhalifa @OpenSkiesMag: What is the theme? @DowntownDesignD: #OriginalDesign, in celebration of the #craftsmanship, materials and #productdesign that distinguish an #original piece @OpenSkiesMag: What is the link between Downtown Design and Dubai design festival Design Days? @DowntownDesignD: Both are owned by #ArtDubai Group. @DowntownDesignD showcases quality, innovative products from international #design brands @OpenSkiesMag: Who is Downtown Design aimed at? @DowntownDesignD: It’s for trade professionals and people who love #interiordesign, #furniture and #architecture to find #inspiration & see the latest #trends @OpenSkiesMag: Who is exhibiting? @DowntownDesignD: The world’s most respected #designbrands including @Vitra, @FritzHansen, @Bolon, @Sicis, @Hansgrohe_PR and many more @OpenSkiesMag: Why does Dubai need a festival like Downtown Design? @DowntownDesignD: Dubai is becoming a global #designhub for the design community. Platforms like @ d3Dubai and @DowntownDesignD play a key role

the street

Red October Factory, Moscow Words by Marina Chetner / Images by Olya Ivanova

Muscovites fondly recall the smell of chocolate wafting from the former Red October Factory, its sweetness filling the streets with the scent of Alyonka and Mishka Bear-wrapped candy bars. When production migrated to the Krasnoselsky district of Moscow’s Central Administrative Okrug in 2007, so did the fragrance. Plans to convert the 19th Century complex into residences were stymied in the face of a faltering economy, but given its lucrative location, it wasn’t long before the creative community moved in to transform the area into one of Moscow’s coolest neighbourhoods. Today, the red-bricked labyrinth is home to design studios, production houses, restaurants with terraces and artisan boutiques.

“Krasny Oktyabr”, as it’s called by locals, is a 4.72-hectare mixed-use complex located on the westernmost part of Bolotny Island, not far from the Kremlin. Surrounded by the Moscow River, its fringes enjoy beautiful views: across from the Bersenevskaya embankment, the golden cupolas of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour shimmer under the afternoon sun; the towering monument of Peter The Great stands stoic by the island’s tip. The best way to get there is via the pedestrian Patriarshy Bridge, and on the weekends, the only drivers allowed are those on bikes, rollerblades or skateboards. Krasny Oktyabr hums all day and night with urbanites, foodies, travellers, photographers and couples on their wedding day, who stop to pose against the burnt-sienna backdrop. Spend time exploring its enclaves and hidden corners – you might catch a faint scent of chocolate.

Strelka Institute The Strelka Institute for Media, Architecture and Design played a major role in the development of the Red October community.

Opened in 2009 – Dutch architect and urbanist Rem Koolhaas gave the inaugural speech – the institution’s aim to change the cultural and physical landscape of Russian cities is exercised through its comprehensive educational and public programme. Strelka leads an annual nine-month postgraduate programme focused on the urban environment (in English), coordinates lectures with industry leaders, including the Institute Of Chicago’s art professor, Pablo Garcia, runs workshops with city developers and hosts regular movie viewings in its courtyard. This summer, the Hitchcock 9 film

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festival ran in collaboration with the British Council Russia as part of the UKRussia Year Of Culture 2014. In addition, it has a publishing arm, onsite bookshop, courtyard café and Strelka Bar, which funnels its profits back into the institute.

Building 5A, 14 Bersenevskaya Nab., Moscow Tel: +7 (495) 268 0619 strelka.com

Markin Fine Jewellery Despite its hidden façade and air of exclusivity, Markin Fine Jewellery’s zen-like showroom is perfect for dreaming up custom jewellery designs. Owner and designer Vladimir Markin founded his company here in Red October Factory in 2011, and the brand has since expanded to St Petersburg, Singapore, Hong Kong and London. The showroom is attached to a workshop where a team of eight creates bespoke pieces and fine jewellery collections made with 14K and 18K gold, silver, rubies, sapphires, emeralds and semi-precious stones.

Building 2, 3/4 Bolotnaya Nab, Moscow Tel: +7 (903) 590 8382 vladimirmarkin.com

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the street

Bontempi Brescia-born Valentino Bontempi opened his eponymous restaurant in October 2010, and has since established a loyal clientele of locals, oligarchs and Russian celebrities, including fashion designer Valentin Yudashkin. Housed in what used to be a customs house, its three levels were gutted and reinterpreted by Russian architect Oleg Shapiro into an inviting, rustic dining space.

Throughout the summer, guests sit on the shaded terrace where the breeze is cool and the views are spectacular. Chef Bontempi’s menu presents “real Italian food without compromise”. The scrumptious breadbasket, served in a brown paper bag, brims with homemade ciabatta, puffy gnocco fritto and crispy rosemary breadsticks. Standout menu items include the chef’s special seafood soup; salad with fried squid and black olives; and, if you’re lucky, the blackboard-only item linguine con bottarga di muggine, which is made from creamy parmesan sauce tinged with cured tuna roe and swirled into homemade pasta. The seasonal sorbet is a show-stopper – order it for dessert and Bontempi will appear tableside to create magic out of liquid nitrogen, a bowl of fruit purée and a whisk.

Building 1, 12 Bersenevskaya Nab., Moscow Tel: +7 (495) 669 1387 bontempirest.ru

Mizandari Café Moscovites love Georgian food, and childhood friends Raul Magrerishiuli and Tigran Kasabyan get to the heart of it with simple and tasty fare inspired by home-cooked meals in their native Tbilisi.

Mizandari Café offers a small yet palate-pleasing menu, with dishes prepared in an open kitchen using local, market-fresh ingredients.

The delectable oven-baked khachapuri, an airy flatbread filled with melted suluguni cheese (think tangy mozzarella), is a must-try; it pairs well with the cold appetiser of spinach and walnuts blended with a generous dose of garlic. The homely dining room extends into a quaint cabin-like terrace, where the windows are thrown open in summer; the space is kept warm by the new shashlik (kebab) grill in winter. Stopping

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for a business lunch is very affordable: the combination of a soup or salad, hot dish, and a drink is a reasonably priced 300 rubles (US$8). The food is so good, and the service so attentive and friendly that you won’t even notice the lack of water views.

Building 1, 5 Bolotnaya Nab., Moscow Tel: +7 (903) 263 9990 mizandari.ru

the street

PAPER Paper is dedicated to all things paper. The sixth retail location for 20-year-old print systems integrator Double V opened in August 2013, and serves not only as a showroom but a multifunctional space where artists, designers, printers and advertising agencies get together to exchange creative

ideas, host seminars and lead workshops for children and adults. The ground floor of the concrete loft space stocks 250 different types of paper, as well as foils, films, book binding materials, inks and adhesives. Shelves displaying Faber-Castell pencils and crayons conjure up school memories, while the racks of

neon-coloured ALFABOOK notebooks reignite journaling aspirations. The second level consists of a wrap-around internal balcony looking onto the store below, and features exhibits from local and international artists.

2/1, Bersenevskaya Lane, Moscow Tel: +7 (495) 725 0885 paper-project.ru

The Lumiere Brothers Center For Photography The sleek, white-walled 1,000-square-metre gallery located under the Rolling Stone Bar wouldn’t look out of place in New York or London. Lumiere Brothers first opened its doors more than a decade ago, in the nearby Central House Of Artists, and decided to add another space to showcase collections from its vast repository of photo acquisitions. Thus, the Center For Photography was established in 2010 on the ground level of the former manual packaging area for confectionery, which

is divided into three exhibition halls that can display about 400 photos. The centre’s vast archive of works by Russian, European and American photographers is a curator’s dream. In addition to the halls, there is a lecture space, library, Scandinavian-inspired café and bookshop that is stacked with photography books, lined with posters, and scattered with black and white postcards.

Building 1, 3 Bolotnaya Nab., Moscow Tel: +7 (495) 228 9878 lumiere.ru

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the street

Suitsupply Suitsupply is making waves across Europe and the US with its handsomely priced apparel, tailored to “the contemporary guy who’s serious about style, but likes to have fun with it too”, according to head designer Murray Coetzee. In pursuit of the hip Muscovite, the Amsterdambased purveyor opened this first Russian outpost in May 2014.

Sprawled over 4,500 square feet of space in a former chocolate production building, store designer Floor Enneking says, “The real estate speaks to me, and we build around that. Suitsupply is truly a company where creativity plays first fiddle...” Located on the waterfront, windows usher in river views as shoppers peruse racks of smart-casual separates including plaid shirts, cable-knit sweaters and quilted vests. On the other side, plain, pinstripe, and check suit jackets made from pure wool,

linen blend, or cotton fabrics hang adjacent to a wall of ties artfully displayed in gradating colours. A central shelving unit, its cubicles inset with mesh-steel, showcases weekender bags, leather document carriers, and Italian-made dress boots. There’s an area dedicated

to made-to-measure services, and the brand’s signature tailoring bar allows customers to alter their new suits in minutes.

Building 1, 8 Bersenevskaya Nab., Moscow Tel: +7 (495) 532 4270 suitsupply.com

Reka Restaurant Reka, perched on the rooftop of Red October’s former administration offices, enjoys never-ending water views. It’s fitting that “reka” means “river” in Russian. Frenchman Michel Lombardi transitioned from the world of super yachts – he cooked for Bill Gates, Beyoncé and Jay Z – to running this hybrid hot spot, which draws politicians, Russia’s glitterati and the odd celebrity such as Australian Hugh Jackman. It’s a quick elevator ride up to the restaurant, where this head chef/owner shows off his Marseille-inspired culinary expertise with dishes such as seafood risotto and the popular tuna tartar. A row of velvetcovered booths delineate the lounge area, where the bar recently served the world’s most expensive cocktail; sold for US$50,000 to local entrepreneur Andrey Melnikov, it included a mix of Richard Hennessy Cognac, pricey essence of Fujiyama sakura and three four-carat diamonds. Come winter, there are plans to transform the upstairs Mediterranean terrace into a beach; the theatre below will host Natalie Cole’s upcoming jazz performance in November.

Framed collages of Al Pacino, Jack Nicholson and Robert De Niro created by artist Sasha Boom make for great eye-candy.

Building 2, 6 Bersenevskaya Nab., Moscow Tel: +7 (495) 669 9969 rekaclub.ru

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SKYPOD

THE BOMBAY ROYALE GENRE: Bollywood pop AGE: 39 CITY: Melbourne

Eleven-piece Australian band The Bombay Royale recently released their second album of music inspired by Bollywood soundtracks, The Island Of Dr Electrico. Co-frontman Shourov Bhattacharya shares his favourite tracks

01.

02. 03. 04.

Audrey Hepburn Moon River

Lehmber Hussainpuri feat. Dr Zeus Mil De Yaar

One of my earliest memories is my father singing this as he drove us around in his Mazda.

There have been many different versions, but in my family we’ve always loved the original.

Achingly beautiful storytelling.

A bhangra track remixed over a killer beat. It has such an emotional charge, despite the fact I don’t speak Punjabi. It’s about love and betrayal – you don’t need to understand every word to connect with the angst.

Hemanta Mukherjee/Sandhya Mukhopadhyay Ei Poth Jodi Na Sesh Hoye From the film Saptapadi.

Vintage Indian cinema is full of these conversational duets with gorgeous melodies – it’s one of the reasons we love to write male-female duets in The Bombay Royale.

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Erykah Badu feat. The Roots You Got Me I was living near Philadelphia studying when Erykah Badu released this song, and the day I caught a glimpse of her on South Street was one of my favourite moments in life.

Beautiful, chilled vocals – and I love her vibe.

05. 06. 07.

08.

RD Burman Mone Pore Ruby Roy

Shai If I Ever Fall In Love

Shine Daylight

Lata Mangeshkar Inhi Logon Ne

A lesser-known gem from the greatest Bollywood composer.

Burman’s compositions were usually performed by stars such as Lata Mangeshkar, but he recorded this in his own voice. I often write in a similar storytelling style.

I heard this as a teenager and remember getting chills when the vocal harmonies fell into place.

Years later I joined a male a cappella group in the States, and this is the song that made me want to do it.

I guess you would classify this as ‘lounge’, but there’s something about this song that makes me lose myself. Only a couple of thousand hits on YouTube – I keep hearing this song and thinking, why isn’t this famous?

Possibly my favourite Bollywood song.

Gorgeous melody and rhythmically intricate, with a killer tabla and ankle bells. I’ve probably played this a million times over the years.

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thebombayroyale.com

the Room

TExT: GARETH REES iMAGES: HAM YARD HOTEL, LONDON

ROOM 220

HAM YARD HOTEL, LONDON

Ham Yard Hotel seems to have appeared out of nowhere, revitalising a forgotten space between Great Windmill Street and Denman Street in the heart of London’s Soho neighbourhood. Presiding over a tree-filled courtyard, Ham Yard Village, the 91-room property, with its long cocktail bar, restaurant and outdoor seating, comes alive post-6pm, creating the destination feel that Firmdale Hotels’ Kit and Tim Kemp – also responsible for the popular Covent Garden Hotel, among others – must have been hoping for. Ham Yard is more spacious than most boutique hotels, and filled with light throughout. It also has a gym with a hypoxic chamber, an original 1950s bowling alley, a 176-seat theatre, a spa and a drawing room-library. Our spacious Luxury Junior Suite, with its bright but elegant interior design courtesy of Kit Kemp, was awash with light thanks to the large industrial-style panelled window, and, among other welcome features, also boasted a walk-in closet and a bathtub with a TV. You couldn’t ask for a better city hotel room, or a better city location. firmdalehotels.com

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INTERNET: Free Wi-Fi PILLOWS: Four BED SIZE: Super King COMPLIMENTARY SNACKS: Water. Tea-and coffee-making facilities available on request TOILETRY BRAND: Rik Rak designed

by Kit Kemp TV CHANNELS: 30 VIEW: 3/5 RATE: from £470 + VAT

THREE NEW HOTEL OPENINGS

the Room

THE BEAUMONT London, United Kingdom

Overlooking the Brown Hart Gardens in Mayfair, The Beaumont is the first hotel in London restaurateurs Corbin & King’s portfolio. Set to open on October 9, the five-star hotel occupies a building constructed in 1926. With 50 rooms, 10 suites and 13 studios, The Beaumont features a mix of art deco and antique interiors, reflecting the building’s history. thebeaumont.com

U SATHORN BANGKOK

ROSEWOOD BEIJING

Opening on October 15, in the heart of the Thai capital, the U Sathorn Bangkok’s design is inspired

by French colonial style. The 86-room property boasts a restaurant by Michelin-starred chef JeanMichel Lorain, J’aime, which fuses French cuisine with Chinese style table presentation.

The 283-room Rosewood Beijing opens on October 20. A culmination of the contemporary and the traditional, the walls and rooms of the hotel are adorned with reinterpreted traditional Chinese art pieces. The property has six restaurants, serving a variety of cuisines, including northern Chinese and tapas.

Bangkok, Thailand

Beijing, China

uhotelsresorts.com

rosewoodhotels.com

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perfumery is available in

consume albums

24 Karat Gold: SonGS From the Vault Stevie Nicks

Pop/Rock The follow up to 2011’s In Your Dreams, Nicks’ latest offering consists of songs she wrote but never released between 1969 and 1987. The 14-track album, released on October 7, is Nicks’ eighth solo album.

Super CritiCal The Ting Tings

Indie rock/ Indie Pop Indie pop duo The Ting Tings’ third album is co-produced by Duran Duran’s Andy Taylor. The album is inspired by 1970s icon Diana Ross, and was recorded in Ibiza.

1989 Taylor Swift

Pop Named for the singer’s year of birth, 1989 is Swift’s fifth album. 1989 features her latest single, Shake It Off, which debuted at No 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100.

tha Carter V Lil Wayne

Hip Hop Lil Wayne’s 16th solo album, Tha Carter V is set for release on October 28 after numerous delays.

Lil Wayne has claimed this will be his last solo album.

books

the innoVatorS Walter Isaacson

Non-fiction The author who wrote the authorised biography of Steve Jobs delves into the history of the visionaries responsible for today’s digital age.

thuG KitChen: the oFFiCial CooK BooK Thug Kitchen

Cookbook The creators of vegan blog Thug Kitchen share one-hundred of their favourite vegetable heavy, budget-friendly recipes.

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not that Kind oF Girl Lena Dunham

Non-fiction A collection of personal essays from the creator, writer, executive producer and star of HBO series Girls on subjects ranging from her battle with OCD to her time spent in therapy.

consume THE BOOKSHOP

Libreria Acqua Alta

BOOK LOVERS / Store manager Gianni Coppola (right) opened Libreria Acqua Alta with owner Luigi Frizzo (left) nine years ago

Books and Venice is a marriage made in heaven.

When did you open Libreria Acqua Alta?

We opened nine years ago when, after a long search, the owner Luigi (Frizzo), who’d run several other bookshops in Venice, finally found a space big enough for his vision of how the shop should be.

The shop oozes Venetian character and authenticity, with stacks of books piled in every nook and cranny, yet it floods regularly (Acqua Alta means high water). How do you protect the stock?

This is where the various boats and bathtubs come in. Luigi, who’s a ‘volcano of ideas’, had a brainwave to bring a real gondola into the shop.

It not only adds Venetian charm, but of course when the shop floods, the books, which are inside the boats and bathtubs, float!

You have everything from new editions to guidebooks, maps and second-hand collectibles. Where do you source them and what’s the most precious book ever to come into your hands?

The shop is divided into old and new. Our second-hand stock comes to us in many different ways: apartment and house clearances when a relative passes away, sometimes from people who just need the money or are simply downsizing. We once received a magnificent book by the Italian anthropologist Cesare Lombroso. It was signed by him and was worth more than €2,000.

Tell us about the resident cats. Are they strays or members of the family?

Luigi loves cats, he’s famous for it. This is Venice, and it’s a good idea to keep cats anyway, for obvious reasons. When we opened Luigi was given three and now there’s four – Tigre, Pirro, Dominique and Mussipul. And yes, they’re part of the family.

We love your staircase made of books with a magnificent view of the canal from the summit. How did that come about?

The best ideas seem to come out of nowhere and just evolve. That’s how it was with our staircase. We had a huge number of encyclopaedias that nobody wanted, so we put them to good use. Now it’s one of our biggest visitor draws. Nobody’s more surprised than we are.

Do tourists still buy books as mementos of their visit to Venice, or has that changed in recent times?

People find the shop in itself fascinating and want to buy something to remember it by. If it’s just a simple bookmark, gift or small souvenir, of course that’s great. It keeps the memory safe.

What’s the best thing about living in Venice, and what’s the worst?

That’s easy, no cars. The downside is the huge number of tourists in such a fragile, beautiful and unique place.

If you were to give a visitor to Venice just one piece of advice, what would it be?

Come see us at Libreria Acqua Alta.

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ImAGeS: LIBrerIA ACQuA ALtA

Venice, Italy Questions: Andrew Birbeck / Answers: Store manager of Libreria Acqua Alta, Gianni Coppola

BLD

Rome

ImaGe: Glass HostaRIa

Cristina Bowerman, head chef at Rome’s Glass Hostaria, reveals her favourite places to eat in the Italian capital

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B

l

d

BREAKFAST

LUNCH

DINNER

Coromandel is not your typical breakfast spot in Rome, and that’s why it has become a favourite of almost all who eat there. The pancakes are fabulous with eggs when you want something hearty to start your day. If you are looking for something sweet, then look no further than the French toast with fruit and maple syrup, or if you want to stick to a typical Roman breakfast, grab one of the wonderful croissants and a cappuccino. There is no outside seating, and you have to get off the main roads to find it, but the atmosphere and the food are well worth the effort.

When the sun is out, you can’t beat La Baia, with its sea breeze and beach view. I like to sit with a cold drink and eat spaghetti with clams – it really is the best ever, and you won’t find a better fish restaurant on the beach in Lazio.

But when the cold sets in I would have to recommend Tastevin.

Daniele makes you feel so at home, but he only serves what he has that day. You are in safe hands, though, and it means each time you have a unique dining experience.

Il Pagliaccio is the best and most innovative restaurant in town.

Antony Genovese is an incredible head chef who juggles many different influences, especially Asian, to create incredible cuisine that is bursting with personality. The dish that is seared into my mind with this restaurant is the oyster, chamomile and stracciatella. You can have a taster menu or choose from the al la carte, where you will find crunchy red prawns with red pepper and watermelon or foie gras biscuit, peach and tamarillo. It’s nestled in the heart of Rome and there are only 11 tables, which makes for an intimate and elegant experience.

Coromandel 60/61, Via di Monte Giordano, 60 / 61, Rome Tel: +39 06 6880 2461 coromandel.it

Tastevin 16 Via Ciro Menotti, Rome Tel: +39 06 39737624 enotecatastevin.com

La Baia di Fregene 1 Via Silvi Marina, Rome Tel: +39 06 6656 1647 labaiadifregene.it

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Il Pagliaccio 129/a Via dei Banchi Vecchi, Rome Tel: +39 06 6880 9595 ristoranteilpagliaccio.com

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SEDAWATTA

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MontBrillant

Grottes Saint-Gervais Cornavin

Prairie

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The Geneva Water Fountain

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James-Fazy Les Délices

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Seujet Rues-Basses Longemalle

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Quai Du Rhône

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Cité

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Jargonnant Villereuse

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Eaux-Vives Vollandes

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Geneva

Ansermet

Saint-Leger Les Tranchées

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Geneva Restaurants:

Bars:

Galleries:

1.Il Lago (46.206879, 6.146984)

1. Les Enfants Terribles (46.193816, 6.145178)

1. Mamco (46.198734, 6.137405)

(46.250461, 6.149317)

(46.201405, 6.147394)

(46.185043, 6.142363)

(46.1995351, 6.1515297)

4. Hôtel N’vY Geneva (46.215401, 6.148624)

4. Eastwest Restaurant (46.209802, 6.148216)

4. Le Verre à Monique (46.201151, 6.138053)

4. Blondeau & Cie Gallery (46.199695, 6.138866)

Hotels:

1. The Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues (46.206997, 6.146922)

With views of snowy Alpine peaks and glittering Lac Léman, Geneva is sandwiched between some 2. Musée Rath 2. Rooftop 2. Vertig’O attractive scenery in Europe. But the city doesn’t fall42far behind. If you’re travelling here (46.201627, 6.143573) (46.204244, 6.146948) (46.207903, 6.1484955) in winter you’ll want to indulge in fromage-y fare such as raclette and fondue, but the cosmopolitan 3. Musée d’Art et d’Histoire 3. cocktail Le Chat Noir bars as it does Swiss lodges.

3. Les Armures restaurants and urbane 3. La Réserve Genève Spa Michelin-starred city hasHotel as and many 2. Hotel d’Angleterre of the most (46.20956, 6.15048)

HOteLs 01. the Four seasons Hotel des bergues 02. Hotel d’angleterre 03. La réserve Genève Hotel and spa 04. Hôtel n’vY Geneva

restaurants

bars

GaLLerIes

05. Il Lago 06. Vertig’O 07. Les armures 08. eastwest restaurant

09. Les enfants terribles 10. rooftop 42 11. Le Chat noir 12. Le Verre à Monique

13. Mamco 14. Musée rath 15. Musée d’art et d’Histoire 16. blondeau & Cie Gallery

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mapped

HOteLs 01 The Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues Officially Geneva’s first hotel, the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues opened its doors in 1834.

And 180 years later the grand dame has lost none of its opulence, with new additions like the three-storey Spa Mont Blanc ensuring its ongoing relevance. fourseasons.com/geneva 02 Hotel d’Angleterre In any other city the interior of the traditional Hotel d’Angleterre – a Rococo-inspired blend of chandeliers, rich textiles and antique furnishings – would garner all the attention, but here the décor competes with equally stunning views of Lake Geneva and Mont Blanc. dangleterrehotel.com 03 La Réserve Genève Hotel And Spa On the city’s edge, La Réserve is dedicated to the singular art of relaxation. At play are suites with lakeside views, three high-end restaurants, a heated outdoor pool and a spa that comprises 17 treatment rooms, a steam bath and salon. lareserve.ch 04 Hôtel N’vY Geneva Geneva’s hotels generally lean towards a more traditional style, but the arty Hôtel N’vY opts for playful design rather than crown mouldings. Instead you’ll find graffiti on brick walls, neon furniture and public art installations. The youthful energy extends to the DJs playing at the bar. hotelnvygeneva.com

REST DAY / Relax with the locals beside Lake Geneva (Lac Léman)

restaurants 05 Il Lago With pilasters and frescoes, Il Lago looks like an 18th century drawing room: an appropriate backdrop for its sophisticated, Michelinstarred northern Italian cooking. Dishes like oxtail agnolotti with red wine and sage are equal parts elegant and satisfying. fourseasons.com 06

Vertig’O Michelin-starred chef Jérôme Manifacier is behind Vertig’O, a contemporary fine dining haunt found in the luxurious lakeside Hôtel de la Paix. While the cooking is rooted

02

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in French cuisine (with a few glimpses of Mediterranean sun breaking through), the wine list is thoroughly Swiss. hoteldelapaix.ch 07 Les Armures You’re not truly on a Swiss holiday until you enjoy some of the country’s considerable dairy bounty. There are few better places to sample some of it than at Les Armures, the city’s oldest restaurant, where melted cheese of all stripes is the star. hotel-les-armures.ch 08 Eastwest Restaurant True to its name, Eastwest Restaurant – found in the eponymous hotel – sees locally sourced Swiss ingredients married with a subtle Asian twist. Under glowing lanterns, guests dine on fare like octopus carpaccio with seaweed salad and Simmental beef with wasabi. eastwesthotel.ch

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GaLLErIEs 13 Mamco Though it was only founded in 1994, Mamco is already Switzerland’s biggest modern and contemporary art museum, with a collection of more than 4,000 works. The museum hosts regular exhibitions alongside thriceyearly updates to its permanent collection display. mamco.ch

bars 09 Les Enfants Terribles Is it a café, a bar, an interior design store, épicerie or a music venue? Whatever its identity, the multifaceted Les Enfants Terribles sees the city’s chicest sharing bottles of Swiss wine during l’heure de l’apéro. les-enfants-terribles.ch 10

Rooftop 42 Given its views – aquamarine Lac Léman, the plume of Jet d’Eau, snowy Mont Blanc – Geneva was long overdue an exceptional rooftop bar. Enter Rooftop 42. The seasonal outdoor terrace is ideal for warm weather, while DJs heat up the interior on chillier nights. rooftop42.com 11 Le Chat Noir Open since 1985, Le Chat Noir is a bona fide Geneva institution.

Well-mixed drinks are one draw (the Old Vs New menu sees classic cocktails given contemporary touches), while the venue’s live music scene is the stuff of local legend. chatnoir.ch

12 Le Verre à Monique The playful Verre à Monique’s Art Deco ambiance recalls the age of the speakeasy, while creative drinks like the Pandan Style (pandan syrup, dark rum, lime, coconut water) punch served in dainty teacups are made for modern flappers. verreamonique.ch

14 Musée Rath The first fine art museum in Switzerland, the neoclassical Musée Rath opened in Geneva in 1826. Today, the museum space is used exclusively for temporary exhibitions, ranging from displays of Flemish tapestries to major retrospectives of artists like Gustave Courbet. institutions.ville-geneve.ch 15 Musée d’Art et d’Histoire Ranging from ancient works to modern masterpieces, Geneva’s Musée d’Art et d’Histoire houses the city’s largest art collection – more than 7,000 artworks are found within the museum.

Highlights range from Byzantine icons to paintings by Konrad Witz and sculptures by Rodin. institutions.ville-geneve.ch 16 Blondeau & Cie Gallery In a converted factory within Geneva’s thriving Quartier des Bains gallery district, Blondeau & Cie displays works by predominantly 20th century and contemporary artists, including the likes of Maurizio Cattelan, Andy Warhol and Cindy Sherman. blondeau.ch

09

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Words:hG2.com imaGes: corbis

OLD FAVOURITE / explore the cobbled streets and restaurants around Place du bourg-de-Four in the city’s old Town

seabury report

THE NEW GATEWAY TO THE GULF

LOCAL KNOwLEDGE

Marta’s Workshop

With a passion for simple but high-quality fresh food, chef Marta Yanci is bringing the boutique charm of family-style European dining to Dubai’s Jumeirah Lakes Towers – a hub for independent businesses

I

n a short time, Marta Yanci has turned a passion for natural, home-cooked food into a thriving catering business, Marta’s Kitchen, and appeared on television in both

Words and images by Sandra Tinari

Dubai and her native Spain. Her latest venture, Marta’s Workshop, has wowed Dubai foodies with its natural ingredients, simple cooking and fuss-free eating.

The European-style restaurant, located in the south

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of the city in Jumeirah Lakes Towers (JLT), opposite Dubai Marina, has brought the charm of Europe’s modest, family-owned restaurants to a food scene better-known for its big name international culinary players.

LOCAL KNOwLEDGE

simple cooking / Marta Yanci’s set menu changes every day and features dishes made with simple, fresh ingredients

“The idea is to offer something very different to what we usually find in Dubai,” Marta says. “We serve simple, natural ingredients in a very casual setting. We believe that you can have a five-star meal without having to serve lobster or caviar. You don’t need to have super expensive ingredients to have a nice meal. It can be affordable.”

Intimate, family-run and market fresh, Marta’s Workshop aims for a pared back experience, akin to the meals the chef enjoyed during her childhood in San Sebastian, Spain, where the focus is primarily on the food. Seating 18 to 20 people, diners at Marta’s Workshop can opt for relaxed bar stool seating indoors, nab

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one of the three indoor tables or dine alfresco in the courtyard, with views across JLT, before being served by Marta and the restaurant’s chefs.

“We don’t have waiters,” Marta explains. “You are served by the same people who cooked your dish.” “For Dubai’s residents, especially Europeans, they’d

LOCAL KNOwLEDGE longed for something like this, something like they were used to at home – a small, family-owned restaurant with good ingredients.”

However, despite its immediate success in its first year of operation, Marta’s Workshop almost never existed at all. With a successful career practising European Union law, Marta had never considered cooking professionally. While food, cooking and eating were passions, she says that when embarking on her university studies, things were very different to how they are today, and being a chef wasn’t considered a ‘professional’ career.

But, with a shared love of food, Marta and her husband travelled Europe to discover the continent’s best restaurants and amassed a treasure-trove of homegrown recipes along the way. Marta says that many of the couple’s friends considered their travels a waste of

time and money, but for them, their adventures fuelled a shared dream to one day start a food business.

It was in Dubai that everything changed and the lawyer gained the confidence to turn her love of food into a new career. After a number of years of hosting dinner parties and gaining compliments on her home cooking, Marta decided to

It’s about takIng one step at a tIme. I prefer to go slowly but surely launch a catering business, based on the family’s recipes, food they had enjoyed while travelling and favourite meals.

Marta’s Kitchen was born almost five years ago, a

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collaborative catering company that tailors each event to clients’ individual needs – no set menus.

Marta’s skills in the kitchen saw the catering firm fast gain a reputation as many Dubai residents’ go-to caterer.

“We adapt a lot, clients have different tastes and needs, and some require specialised diets, such as dairy- or gluten-free,” Marta says.

“We decided to start in catering first, before we considered opening a restaurant. It’s about taking one step at a time. I prefer to go slowly but surely. Marta’s Workshop was a natural step, it wasn’t planned.

We took on more space to expand our catering kitchen but we had such a nice room and courtyard, we decided to open a restaurant.” in demand / Marta’s Workshop seats 18 to 20 people and only operates between noon and 2.30pm on weekdays, so make sure you arrive early

LOCAL KNOwLEDGE

outdoor seating / This outdoor courtyard encouraged Marta’s decision to finally open a restaurant

With repeat business from residents and very positive reviews on TripAdvisor encouraging tourists to visit when passing through Dubai, reservations at Marta’s Workshop are now highly sought after during the cooler months.

If you want to ensure that you don’t walk away with an empty stomach, you should arrive early. Marta’s Workshop only operates between noon and 2.30pm on weekdays.

“In using fresh ingredients, we have limited amounts of food every day and close when we run out,” explains Marta. “We use what is in season and we don’t want to be throwing food away.”

The set menu, which changes each day, is anything but the usual

i just go with my gut instinct

lunch fare, and Marta’s Kitchen also operates as a showpiece for the in-demand catering business, so, despite her Spanish roots, the menu at the culinary atelier is not restrained to European cooking.

“The menu is varied, as I try to profit from the fact that we are in a city that has a lot of different foods from many different countries available,” says Marta. “I’ll also test new recipes for the catering business to see how people respond to them. The advantage of not being classically trained as a chef is that I’m not constrained by what is right or wrong in a culinary sense, I just go with my gut instinct.”

Innovative plates include a tempting ‘false pumpkin’ and goat’s cheese Lasagne, a baby spinach, mushroom and strawberry salad, sea bream with ajoblanco and grapes, and fruit tartar with mango sorbet and strawberry soup for dessert.

Thanks to the wide array of ingredients on offer in Dubai

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and her bank of food travel experiences, Marta explains that Vietnamese cooking is a major influence in her kitchen at present.

“I love Vietnamese food. It’s very fresh, very simple and they respect the product so much.”

Marta spent the summer in Spain filming the second season of her show on Spanish cooking channel Canal Cocina, which she was invited to produce after she posted appearances on local TV channel Dubai One on YouTube, but she promises that she has returned to the start of Dubai’s busy season brimming with fresh ideas and new recipes for Marta’s Workshop.

What’s more, international fans who have discovered Marta’s cooking while visiting Dubai will soon be able to have a taste of her food abroad, she says.

“We have new and exciting plans to expand with a new concept in Europe by the first quarter of 2015. But we can’t reveal more for now.” martasworkshop.com

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popular pastries / The Common Bond has attracted hordes of hungry diners to its pastry counter since opening in May

n a recent Saturday morning, I found myself doing something I usually loathe doing: queuing for food. In Houston’s alternative-cool Montrose neighbourhood, The Common Bond has continuously had a line of hungry diners snaking out of its door since opening in May. What awaited at the end was a glass case filled with tempting pastries, from croissants to brioches, éclairs to macaroons – not to mention baskets brimming with rustic loaves of bread.

As they say (and they are not wrong) everything in Texas really is bigger – even the croissants at The Common Bond. A pain au chocolat, for instance, is as big as a cat’s head.

But when I sat down and picked it off

my plate, it weighed no more than a regular croissant a third of its size.

“If I were you, I’d put the knife away,” said a striking man in an apron, towering over me. “You don’t want to lose that shatter effect, that ephemeral texture you can only feel with your fingertips.”

Who was this Houston stranger waxing poetic about a pastry? He turned out to be chef-owner Roy Shvartzapel, who returned to the city of his youth after stints at culinary temples including Ferran Adria’s elBulli in Catalonia and Pierre Hermé in Paris.

Our chance encounter was perhaps a perfect example of why Shvartzapel outfitted the airy dining room with communal tables.

“It’s rare that you meet strangers in a car-centric city like Houston,” Shvartzapel said, explaining that

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the queue for the pastry counter, as well as the long, shared tables, are designed to foster social interaction between strangers.

So, by chance, we got to talking about Houston’s changing culinary landscape over a breakfast of goodies including delicious kouign amann, a crispy and fluffy cake from Bretagne, France.

“Houston used to be all steaks and barbecue – and there’s nothing wrong with a good steakhouse,” Shvartzapel said. “But for a city this big, it really lacked other high-end options until two, three years ago, when chefs began opening their own restaurants inspired by their travels.”

Houston, a city of two million, according to the latest census data, is America’s most ethnically diverse, surpassing even New York City. In addition to the prominent Latino

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communities, various For dinner, I went houston, a Asian, European and to nearby Underbelly, Middle Eastern ethnic city of two considered a groups have turned shining example of million, is this Texan metropolis Houston’s foodie america’s into a model of evolution. Chef Chris multiculturalism.

Shepherd, a 2014 most Shvartzapel’s winner of a James ethnically menu reflects the Beard Foundation Bayou City’s increasing diverse Award (nicknamed global sensibility, the ‘Oscars Of Food’), combined with stylish was sauntering from yet approachable table to table in the venues. As we chatted, barn-like 180-seat I enviously eyed the savoury room, bantering with diners and brunch dishes such as fried hake suggesting dishes. courtbouillon and stuffed veal Shepherd marries seasonal breast on grits being brought out local ingredients with cooking by the waiters. Not that I had techniques from Houston’s anything to complain about: I had many ethnic kitchens: Korean, the showstopper of Kugelhopf, Vietnamese, Cajun… He goes a German brioche studded with through one whole cow (and kirsch-soaked raisins and dunked in many, many ducks, chickens and orange blossom syrup – better than other animals) each week, making any I had during my seven years anything and everything between living in Germany. charcuterie (cured with the help

of his in-house butcher) to short ribs served on a French onion soup-inspired stew with sourdough dumplings. The ever-changing menu is a culinary map of Houston, traversing many continents’ traditions with creations such as shrimp and spinach in a marsh of coconut rice, skirt steak lightened with vinaigrette and grilled sweet corn, and calamari emboldened with a coriander aioli sidekick.

But was he overreaching?

Tteok, Korean gnocchi, served with braised goat had me worried.

Chewy but prone to drying or overcooking, there’s a reason why few foreign chefs have incorporated the Korean rice cake in their repertoire. And Tteokbokki, the spicy dish Chef Shepherd was attempting, is a tried-and-true street food staple in South Korea: setting very high expectations, especially since I’ve had some of the most famous versions in Seoul.

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Open skies / OctOber 2014

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So I was both relieved and elated to taste Chef Shepherd’s interpretation, which spared no spices, and elevated the dish with tender shreds of lean chevon. After all, isn’t that what great food is supposed to do: execute something familiar and comforting very well, while also taking it to a new realm?

Montrose, with its hundredsome eateries, isn’t the only part of town having a foodie revival. Shopping fiends who find themselves near the luxe shops of Galleria should head to Caracol, the newest venture by Chef Hugo Ortega, where coastal Mexican cuisine is at its best. Try the conch ceviche bursting with refreshing pineapple, ginger and jalapeño. In Houston Heights, a beloved destination for architecture lovers and young creative types, Coltivare is the latest addition to the neighbourhood’s eclectic culinary selections. With sophisticated

Italian simplicity firmly grounded in the local soil (think heirloom squash from the restaurant’s adjacent garden, dusted with shaved fennel; fresh green gazpacho made with backyard tomatoes; and hearty pizzas topped with goat’s milk ricotta, grilled onion and local balsamic vinegar), the six-month-old Coltivare is an exercise in restrained opulence, letting the freshness of the ingredients shine. A darling of nationwide food critics, The Pass & Provisions combines two restaurants in one: the casual Provisions dishing out bistro fare with twists, such as Torteloni topped with southern fried chicken and mustard greens, and a club sandwich made with panko-coated sweetbreads and juicy tomatoes. While The Pass, behind an unmarked black door inside Provisions, which asks you to bank your faith in chefs Terrence Gallivan and Seth Siegel-Gardner’s expertise by simply listing ingredients without

elaborating on cooking techniques on its prix-fixe menus (e.g. “Foie gras/steam buns/nori”).

At night and on weekends, once commuters ebbed to the suburbs, downtown Houston used to be noman’s land. In the past two years, however, the historic Market Square Park area has come alive with outdoor restaurants, smart bars and live music venues. Settle for a local brew or a craft cocktail at lively Okra Charity Saloon, the brainchild of some of the city’s leading bar owners and restaurateurs. This non-profit saloon is not only a place to see and be seen among the city’s young professionals, but also a karmically feel-good watering hole that donates all its proceeds to local charities. Perhaps this compact but growing wedge of downtown is a perfect symbol for Houston’s evolving food scene: led by youthful energy, brimming with innovative ideas, and appreciated by Houstonians of all stripes.

ChARITABLE TIPPLE / Okra Saloon donates all its profits to local charities

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The Building Of Madinat Jumeirah The story behind the construction of one of Dubai’s most iconic developments

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OUR MAN IN: Superstar DJ Paul Oakenfold’s LA THE NEW PLATO?: We pay a visit to the writer Alain de Botton’s London office

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19-23 October

THE BUILDING OF

MADINAT JUMEIRAH

IN 2000, H IS H IGH NE SS SH E IKH MOH AM M E D BI N RAS HI D AL MAK TO U M EARM ARK ED A P I E C E O F L A N D O N T H E C O A ST B E S I D E B U R J A L A R A B A N D J U M E I R A H B E A C H H O T E L I N T H E J U M E I R A H N E I G H B O U R H O O D O F D U B A I F O R D E V E L O P M E N T . O C C U P I E D AT T H E T I M E B Y C H I C A G O B E A C H V I L L A G E , J U ST F O U R Y E A R S L AT E R I T W O U L D B E C O M E O N E O F T H E W O R L D ’ S M O S T I C O N I C R E S O RT S , M A D I N AT J U M E I R A H . T H I S M O N T H M A R K S T H E 1 0 T H A N N I V E R S A R Y O F M A D I N AT J U M E I R A H ’ S O F F I C I A L O P E N I N G I N O C T O B E R 2 0 0 4 . H E R E C E O O F M I R A G E LEISURE AND DEVELOPMENT, DENE MURPHY, PRESIDENT AND GROUP CEO OF JUMEIRAH G R O U P , G E R A L D L AW L E S S , A N D F O U N D E R O F K C A I N T E R N AT I O N A L , K H U A N C H E W , R E C A L L O N E O F T H E B I G G E ST P R O J E C T S O F T H E I R C A R E E R S

THE DEVELOPMENT MANAGER: DENE MURPHY, CEO OF MIRAGE LEISURE AND DEVELOPMENT Following a chance meeting with H.H. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Dene Murphy’s Mirage Mille Leisure And Development (as it was at the time) was chosen as Development Manager for the building of Dubai’s One & Only Royal Mirage resort. At the dawn of the new millennium, H.H. Sheikh Ahmed had a much bigger project in mind for the company’s CEO How did you get involved in the Madinat Jumeirah project?

Somewhat out of the blue, His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum requested that we put some ideas together for a development on the Chicago Beach site in Jumeirah, Dubai. I called one of my guys, and I said, ‘I want you to get hold of Eduardo Robles and Thanu Boonyawatana [founders of architectural firm Creative Kingdom] – I need them in Dubai on this date.’ I went home, packed my suitcase, jumped on a plane and came to Dubai, and met the guys here. Then we met with H.H. Sheikh Ahmed and [President and Group CEO, Jumeirah Group] Gerald Lawless, and had a conversation about the project that would become Madinat Jumeirah.

You were briefed about the project at that meeting.

What was the brief?

The original brief was for a 600 room resort. Dubai was almost a bit shy about its heritage at the time; there were all these glass buildings going up. The brief demanded that we ask: how can we take the history, the heritage of Dubai and convert it into something that is for today – something that the tourists will come to Dubai and talk about?

Gerald suggested that I take my team down to the old Bastakiya neighbourhood [Dubai’s heritage area] and give some thought to what we might do. So I went down there with the two guys from Creative Kingdom. We were walking along

the Creek, and we looked at each other, and Eduardo said to me, ‘Are you thinking what I’m thinking?’

And I said, ‘I’m thinking exactly what you’re thinking. There’s some inspiration in this’.

What was that original light bulb moment?

I said, ‘Look, we’ve got to bring some water into this thing.’ Then you start to apply minds to what the composition would be, the layout of the resort. We could work off the trading, we could work off the historical aspects of Dubai, we could work off the abras, the transportation around the site, etc.

So you had your idea.

When did you present it to H.H. Sheikh Ahmed?

We were in Dubai for a couple of days, and we did some sketches on tracing paper. I remember sitting down with Gerald first, and then I was invited to meet H.H. Sheikh Ahmed. I had these plans, and I was trying to explain to him what we planned to do, and to figure out if everybody was excited about our ideas. His Highness said to go away and work on producing some more detailed ideas.

So you went away and prepared the pitch, and then you came back to Dubai?

Yes. We came back and we met with H.H. Sheikh Ahmed and Gerald and on the 15th floor of Burj Al Arab; they’ve got a little boardroom on the corner there. I did a presentation, and everybody, including His Highness, was

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pretty excited about what we were proposing. Forty-five minutes later UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum arrived with a group of people – many of them leading developers at that time. I had never met H.H. Sheikh Mohammed before, and I thought, ‘Oh my goodness me, we’ve only got one shot at this now, His Highness is either going to hate it or love it.’ I did a presentation for H.H. Sheikh Mohammed, and there were a number of questions, and I’ll never forget him saying to me, ‘This water – what is it? Is it fresh water? Is it sea water?’ And I said, ‘I don’t know what it is yet.’ And he said, ‘Well, the next time I see you, you had better tell me what it is.’

Which of course we did. It was a very tense time for us, because this development was about to become a major milestone in the lives of our little business. That evening I received a phone call saying that H.H. Sheikh Mohammed had approved the project. When I got the phone call, I must confess, I was a bit emotional about it, and I thought, ‘Boy oh boy we’re going to have to perform’.

This was 2001. HH Sheikh Mohammed wanted Mina A’ Salam finished in time for the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund in 2003, didn’t he?

We’d indicated something on the plan [where Chicago Beach was

located], and during the course of a presentation, H.H. Sheikh Mohammed asked me what it was.

I said that we’d like to eventually link everything together with Burj Al Arab, Jumeirah Beach Hotel and Wild Wadi Waterpark, and that we were just suggesting what could be done in the future.

He said to me, ‘How quickly can you build this?’ I said, ‘Well, I don’t know, we haven’t even designed it.’ So he said, ‘Well, I’ll tell you what, there’s an IMF conference in September 2003, how much is it going to cost?’

So I gave him a number, and he said, ‘Build it, I want to see the hotel there.’ Of course, that put us into a flat spin, because we had to get out of the starting gates at 400mph, to try and achieve the opening date. That was the beginning of the development.

There must have been a buzz around the project at the time?

Madinat Jumeirah was such an exciting development. And as the story started to unfold, the designs started to appear, everyone just bought into it. What was there to dislike about it? It turned out to be one of the greatest resorts in the world, and it still is, even today, 10 years later – it is still one of the greatest resorts in the world.

How closely did you work with Gerald Lawless and his team at Jumeirah?

Design is the integration of everything, and we don’t design these things for ourselves, we design them for a consumer. So we had to have considerable input from Gerald and his team. Who is the customer? Who is going to come here? What do they want? We can all go and have a nice jolly time designing all of this stuff, but the message that I always emphasise is that we are only as good as the business we leave behind.

What were the highlights of the project? The water in the lagoons is seawater, isn’t it?

That must have presented quite a problem for you?

H.H. Sheikh Mohammed wanted to know how this part of the project was going to work. So I got all the experts together, and we asked, ‘What are the options?’ Then one day it occurred to me, we’re trying to get too clever here. Why don’t we just use seawater, pump it in and pump it out again? So we don’t need to treat it, we don’t need to put filtration in, none of this fancy stuff, why don’t we just do that? So I went back to the guys and said, ‘Why can’t we just pump it in and pump it out again?’ They agreed

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that it was a pretty good idea. So that’s how it happened.

How involved was H.H. Sheikh Mohammed in the project?

I used to see H.H. Sheikh Ahmed regularly to discuss budgets, progress reports and design issues and so on and so forth, together with Gerald and his team. At key moments, mock-up rooms, for example, H.H. Sheikh Mohammed would come in and review them, saying, ‘Yes I do like this’ or ‘No, I don’t like that.’ A lot of that happened on site. We always tried to create the first sample room on site to set the benchmark and quality standards. H.H. Sheikh Mohammed came to the site quite a lot during that period.

And now you’re working on a new hotel for phase four of the Madinat Jumeirah development.

How is that going?

The guys came and spoke to me about it, so what we’ve done with phase four is to make it a cousin, not a brother of the rest of Madinat Jumeirah. It’s more contemporary, more modern, but it still has the form, and it still has the scale, and it’s still a resort, and it still belongs in the same family.

It’s quite a nice transition between the old and the very modern. It will be ready for Q1, 2016.

THE OPERATOR: GERALD LAWLESS, PRESIDENT AND GROUP CEO, JUMEIRAH GROUP President of the company that owns and manages Madinat Jumeirah, Gerald Lawless was involved with the project from day one When did you ďŹ rst become involved in the Madinat Jumeirah project?

When I had a discussion in late 2000 with His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum. His Highness informed me that UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum was planning to develop the Chicago Beach Village area.

His Highness came back to me a couple of months later, in midFebruary 2011, and told me that

Murphy of Mirage Mille.

Where did the idea to draw on Dubai’s heritage come from?

While they loved the environment and the architecture of Jumeirah Beach Hotel and Burj Al Arab, our guests often asked about the heritage of Dubai. So we wanted something that reflected the culture and heritage of the city. We wanted architecture that reflected Dubai architecture. Mirage Mille conducted a study; they visited the Creek. And then they came back in March, and they presented the

H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum needed a proposal for the best way to develop the area. So we then put a document together within the company, and running parallel with that, H.H. Sheikh Ahmed was also working with Dene

ideas to H.H. Sheikh Ahmed and to the corporate team of Jumeirah Group. They had set up all the artist perspectives of how Madinat Jumeirah would look, and we were absolutely delighted with the results.

We could not believe that they were

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able to come up with something that was so real, so close to the original vision. It had been made clear from the start that while we wanted this to be reflective of the old spirit of Dubai, we did not want it to be like a theme park. So we wanted it to be authentic, and when we saw the scheme boards everybody thought it looked fabulous.

So the original concept came from your guests?

H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and HH Sheikh Ahmed had a vision for the project. What we wanted, based on that vision, was to do something for the guests that would not be high-rise, which would be more connected to the culture and heritage of Dubai.

The project was given the go-ahead quickly. Is that unusual in Dubai?

There is a process. You need planning permission. The specifications laid out by the municipality are very clear, and they are followed to the letter.

They are there, and they are very real.

When Madinat Jumeirah was being planned, Dubai was under rapid development. The Palm Jumeirah was under construction at the time.

There was a lot happening. H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum wanted the project to commence as soon as possible.

You moved a road in order to build the conference centre, is that correct?

Yes. We informed H.H. Sheikh Ahmed that one thing we did not have in the design was a good

conference centre, and we thought we should have one. He asked where we should put it, and we pointed out the ideal place, but it would be on the wrong side of the road, as it was then. As that area had not been developed at that time, he agreed to move the road, and that enabled us to put in what I think is one of the best-designed conference centres in any hotel or resort. Moving a road was not easy, because of everything that was underneath.

How involved were you and your team once the building began?

HH Sheikh Ahmed kept very close to it all the way through, and really had a very clear idea of how it would develop and how it would look. We kept very close to the project. For me it was really important that we appoint our General Manager at an early stage. So we appointed Serge Zaalof, who is now President and Managing Director at Atlantis The Palm, as our General Manager.

He was working for us at the time as General Manager of Jumeirah Beach Hotel, so it was great to have Serge on board, living and breathing the project all the way through. He was able to establish

his own team for future operations at an early stage. It was a real running start for when Mina A’ Salam opened in 2003 and the rest of Madinat Jumeirah opened in 2004. There were no issues.

Everybody totally bought into the concept. Everybody agreed that it should be as it would be.

So you knew exactly how operations would function right from the start?

I think we all knew. We had established the DNA of Jumeirah over the years. We had only been operating since 1997, but we still had a clear idea of the level of the market that we perceived ourselves to be at, and that was at the very top end, competing with the likes of Four Seasons, The RitzCarlton, Shangri-La and Mandarin Oriental. This was the competitive space we saw ourselves in. So, therefore, all of the services at Madinat Jumeirah would have to be commensurate with that.

How did the public react to the project?

There was a big wow factor when [the resort] opened, and an immediate embracing by the community in Dubai of Madinat Jumeirah as part of the emirate. It

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enhanced the whole Dubai product.

People immediately had a very good feeling about it, because it was available to the community.

People could go there and enjoy the facilities. So it really became a destination within Dubai.

How did your guests react when Madinat Jumeirah opened?

Our regular guests thought we had delivered on the promise. We said that this would be Arabian hospitality, an Arabian city that they could all come to enjoy. We still have guests who say they have come for seven days, their holiday is finishing and they have never left the resort. It is because they do not feel the need, they feel like they are experiencing so much of Dubai by just staying in Madinat Jumeirah.

We do encourage them to visit the creek and to visit the malls, and of course they do, but quite a lot of people just stay at Madinat Jumeirah, because it’s so serene, so all-encompassing.

Work has now begun on phase four. How is that going?

We are so excited now that we are filling in the last vacant lot with the fourth phase of Madinat Jumeirah, and that is going to be another great Jumeirah property.

I think it will be fantastic. We are so pleased about it. We have seen the drawings of what that is going to look like: 435 rooms, all sea facing. In many ways we like to think architecturally it is a natural evolution from the modernity of Jumeirah Beach Hotel and Burj Al Arab to the traditional architecture of Madinat Jumeirah. So this is a joining together. It is slightly more modern than Madinat Jumeirah and has a bit more heritage than Jumeirah Beach Hotel, and it joins the development together, with Wild Wadi Waterpark in the middle. It will be completed in March 2016. The corporate and development teams of Jumeirah are working closely with the architects at the moment.

THE INTERIOR DESIGNER: KHUAN CHEW, FOUNDER OF KCA INTERNATIONAL Having already created the interior design concepts for Jumeirah Beach Hotel and Burj Al Arab, Khuan Chew was the natural choice when it came to choosing an interior designer for Madinat Jumeirah To what extent did you see Madinat Jumeirah as a continuation of the project you had already started with Jumeirah Beach Hotel and Burj Al Arab?

These three projects are very contrasting and attract different clients – all drawn to Dubai’s golden beaches, which all three hotel destinations naturally provide. But each of them has its own character. Jumeirah Beach Hotel is a contemporary hotel with more than 20 restaurants; Burj Al Arab is your icon of Dubai, where the rich, the powerful, and the famous want to be seen in these richly adorned modern Arabic spaces; and then Madinat Jumeirah, which completed the Dubai experience with the old flavours of Dubai and the UAE. The idea of Madinat Jumeirah was to counterbalance that of Jumeirah Beach Hotel and Burj Al Arab.

What was your initial brief for the various interiors in the Madinat Jumeirah resort?

So Mina A’ Salam was the ‘port of entry’ hotel – the stopover place and gathering [point] for travellers.

Merchants from the four corners of the earth. So we had the Wharf resembling a warehouse. The scale of the hotel was more human compared to Al Qasr. Al Qasr was ‘the Palace’, so it was more ornate and modelled on the layout of an ancient Arabian palace, consisting of a series of rooms, one after each other, which was typical of grand houses/buildings

all over the world, including in the Middle East. The level of furnishing was pretty lavish. The plasterwork in the decoration was very much layered to reflect opulence – the

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proportions of the spaces were on a much grander scale than Mina A’ Salam. Then we had the Dar Al Masyaf villas, which were a model of the Arabic courtyard house. Whether

you had a suite facing the sea or the waterway, you enjoyed complete privacy amid the vicinity of a larger village life, which had a souk to offer, a theatre, countless eateries and bars, and transportation – as if you were in Venice. The spirit of Dubai tradition had to be reflected in our interiors.

Madinat Jumeirah was seen as very much a centre, a hub for traders, merchants, kings and royalty – a city in the making. Both hotels reflect the diversity of society past and present.

Madinat Jumeirah was a very different project to both Jumeirah Beach Hotel and Burj Al Arab, with a strong emphasis on UAE heritage. What research did you carry out?

We had the benefit of a guide from the Minister of Public Works who showed us the revival of Bastakiya; this was the source of our inspiration for Madinat Jumeirah. Details of columns, arches, corbels, doors, windows, and the proportions of rooms, etc, including the space planning of the hotel was very much based on Bastakiya, but of course Madinat Jumeirah is on a much larger scale. The local museum as well as H.H. Sheikh Saeed Al Maktoum’s house was a big inspiration for our designs. However, the level of decoration in terms of woodwork, metal work, inlay, mosaics, stones, mushrabeyah, were mainly derived from our archive of books and various visits to museums elsewhere e.g. London and Paris. A great deal of inspiration also came from grandmasters of the 19th and 18th centuries who painted on their travels to the ‘the Orient’, as can be seen today in the great works of art housed in Musee d’Orsay [in Paris].

To what extent did you discuss the interior design with H.H. Sheikh Mohammed and H.H. Sheikh Ahmed?

H.H. Sheikh Ahmed was advising Mirage Mille on the main development. I did have a few meetings initially with H.H. Sheikh

Mohammed, who advised that there had already been a ‘resort hotel’ (Jumeirah Beach Hotel) and a ‘palatial modern Arabic hotel’ (Burj Al Arab), so now he wanted all the visitors to Dubai to experience the culture and life style of Dubai and the UAE. This was what Madinat Jumeirah was about.

What aspects of the interior design are you most proud of?

‘The Harry Potter’ staircase, which is located in the Mina A’ Salam leading from the lobby to the lower floor, where the dining room is, and also access to take the abra to the souk or Al Qasr. This staircase was painstakingly carved from hard wood to our design drawings by

craftsmen and installed piece by piece in situ. The gentle steps and generous width meant that it was very comfortable on the legs.

How important was this project in terms of your career?

Having done the Jumeirah Beach Hotel and Burj Al Arab, my staff and I thought that would be the limit of our involvement at such close proximity. When we realised that we were being asked to join the team of Mirage Mille for Madinat Jumeirah we could hardly believe what we were about to embark on. This project is certainly the crowning glory of what Dubai stands for. I call these three projects the Golden Triangle of KCA and Khuan Chew.

DEDICATED TO CONSTANT INNOVATION One of Dubai’s most iconic developments, Madinat Jumeirah is far more than just a tourist resort. Its two popular boutique hotels, Al Qasr and Mina A’ Salam, are at the heart of an Arabian city that also includes Dar Al Masyaf’s 29 traditional villas, seven Malakiya Villas, world-renowned conference and banqueting facilities, a 1,000 seat amphitheatre, Madinat Arena, Madinat Theatre and, of course, the Madinat Souk. Madinat Jumeirah is not a static project – like Dubai, it is dedicated to constant innovation. This is evidenced by phase four of the development – the building of Madinat Jumeirah’s third hotel, which is due to open in 2016. But also by the constant rejuvenation of Madinat Jumeirah’s restaurant offering – one of the main draws for Dubai residents. Visitors to Madinat Jumeirah can choose from more than 40 restaurants and bars. The latest addition to Madinat Jumeirah’s offering of world-class restaurants is French restaurant Frioul. The kitchen team is led by chef Brian Hughston, formerly of the Dorchester Collection in the UK, who is committed to broadening Dubai diners’ knowledge of regional French cuisine, and the menu features classics such as bouillabaisse, duck magret and raspberry mille-feuille. Frioul is sure to be joined by many more new concepts as Madinat Jumeirah enters its second decade in operation.

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PAUL OAKENFOLD DJ/producer, 50

OUR MAN IN…

Los Angeles

The legendary British record producer and trance DJ found his creative zeal and lifetime home in the capital of entertainment, Los Angeles

I

was born in London and had lived in New York. I was always the kind of guy who needed an urban centre – I enjoyed that whole culture of being able to walk around. Like many people, I would come through Los Angeles for work: I’d arrive the day before a show and leave the day after, so I didn’t have a desire to live here. Then, Warner Brothers brought me over to score the movie Swordfish, starring John Travolta, Halle Berry and Hugh Jackman. I arrived only to be told the picture had been put back, so I considered going back to London, but the film studio said, “We’ve rented the house; stay, enjoy yourself, and we’ll start in a month’s time.” Suddenly, I found myself in a six-bedroom house in the Pacific Palisades with nothing to do but find the rhythm of the city – I was going to the ocean, running every morning and being part of LA: exploring, hiring a car and driving around. That’s how it started 12 years ago.

Swordfish was the first film I’d worked on, so I wanted to do the best job possible. I set up the studio in the house, like the majority of musicians in LA, and took six weeks to write the music. The movie went well, and

opened doors to other films: The Bourne Identity, Shrek 2, Collateral and The Matrix Reloaded. After Swordfish, I was asked to write music for Planet Of The Apes; Danny Elfman did the score, and there’s a scene at the end where they wanted me to take the original music and work it in with what I do. What happens is, for some movies I write all the music, and for others I just write the cues. That tends to be the process.

As much as I love it there, I don’t think I’ll ever go back to live in England; Los Angeles is my home now. A few things clicked for me about the city. One: it is definitely the capital of entertainment. Two: I needed to be here because I was getting all of these opportunities in film. And three: I enjoyed being around creative people. Seven years ago, after more than 25 years of working as a touring artist, I finally found my house. Wherever you are in the world, once you find the house you want to live in for the rest of your life, you’re lucky.

I feel I’ve found how Los Angeles works; I enjoy the climate, and the work ethic, which, for me, is an important

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BIG TIMe / Oakenfold has played LA’s Hollywood Bowl (top left) twice MUSIC HISTORY / Oakenfold is currently working on a project with the Grammy Museum (bottom left) FIRST HOMe / When Warner Brothers flew Oakenfold to LA to work on the movie Swordfish, they put him up in a house in the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood (above right)

part of it. It’s hard work; it’s the best of the best. Being successful in your own country is when you make your move to Los Angeles – that’s the best advice I would give anyone. This is a tough, tough city. We all tend to look at the glamour and glory and forget the thousands and thousands of people who turn up on a Greyhound bus and leave six months later because their dreams are shattered. I’ll be honest, I came here already successful, and that was the only reason I got offered these movies. There are thousands of other composers who want to do them.

The LA crowd is great. They understand music, and I suppose that’s because a lot of music comes through here. I’ve played a lot of good shows: ten years ago I opened the Avalon night club in Hollywood; I opened for the Red Hot Chilli Peppers at a charity event hosted by the Vanguard in Hollywood; and I’ve played at the Hollywood Bowl twice – once as the support act to Underworld, and, in 2007, I was asked to play my own show. It was a big challenge to be the first DJ to perform there – and in front of 18,000 people. It was so memorable – really nerve-wracking, but pretty awesome.

I’ve been working closely with the board of the Grammy Museum for a year or so. We’re trying to introduce electronic music to give people an understanding of what it is and what the community is about. When I played the Hollywood Bowl, I, along with the Grammy’s, took a bunch of school kids from Compton,

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The HAIG CLUB word and associated logos are trade marks. ŠDiageo Brands B.V. 2014. Please Drink Responsibly.

pauloakenfold.com

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IMAgeS: geTTyIMAgeS

showed them my set up and then they watched a performance rehearsal. It’s best to embrace change so you can move and do different things.

A lot of DJs are really hardworking; that’s how hard it is to stay on top. You’ve got to be relentless – on it all the time. It’s very competitive. My job takes me away from my home as I travel most weekends DJing. I like the balance of coming home on a Sunday and not leaving the house all week. Unless it’s at one of my shows, I don’t go to bars or hang out with DJs, because I’m involved in it all the time. It’s nice to relax, stay home and watch movies. My routine is to get up and work, have something to eat (or not) and maybe go out for dinner. I take my family and friends to two favourite restaurants: Inaka, which is a macrobiotic restaurant on La Brea. The Church Key on Sunset is also a favourite of mine. I’m a fully qualified chef and studied French cuisine, so I’m all about healthy food and understanding the art of it.

I buy records at the greatest record shop in the world, Amoeba Music. I really hope we never lose Amoeba – it’s a landmark part of Los Angeles. I’ve been going there ever since I moved here and enjoy spending an hour or two walking around. I get involved, look at the record sleeves, and feel part of it. I buy the same stuff over and over again. I’ll buy the Massive Attack record, then the box set will come out, and I’ll buy it but won’t open it, so it’s a collector’s item. Then I’ll buy Volume 1, 2, 3 of The Beatles on multi-colour vinyl…

I recorded most of my latest album, Trace Mission, in Los Angeles, just because it made sense to do it here. When I have ideas, I can come down and share ON RECORD / them at certain times of Oakenfold says the day or night. I like the Amoeba Music is the process of being around greatest record shop in the world it all. My studio is a very musical room, and there’s FINE DINING / a lot of history I can draw Oakenfold is a on; all those records (on qualified chef, and The Church Key on shelves) tell a story; there are the awards I’ve won; the events; and the films. I’m at a Sunset Boulevard is moment in my life where I’m really enjoying my work. It’s this very creative time where one of his favourite I have musicians coming in and out – I’m going to their house and recording, and they’re places to eat in LA coming here.

HEALTHY EATING / I’ve nearly finished my new album, Pop Killer – my first album featuring all original Macrobiotic restaurant songs. It’s a wonderful feeling when you’re recording and collaborating with different Inaka is where artists because you get to work on a variety of ideas, and then once you’ve a created Oakenfold goes for a healthy meal something special, you mix it. It’s that feeling you get from being surrounded by all this music [that I love].

The New PlaTo?

words: GareTh rees

Best-selling swiss-British writer AlAin de Botton hAs penned 14 Books (fiction And non-fiction), including his lAtest, The News: A User’s MANUAl, puBlished eArlier this yeAr; he hAs mAde four television series BAsed on the Books he hAs written; he mAkes regulAr rAdio AppeArAnces; he hAs given ted conference tAlks; he hAs written for newspApers And mAgAzines; he hAs co-curAted exhiBitions; he dABBles in Architecture with his living Architecture project; perhAps most impressively, he hAs founded his own school, the school of life, And, more recently, his own AlternAtive news orgAnisAtion, philosophers’ mAil

A

lain de Botton does not like having his photograph taken. He has what he describes in an e-mail several months before we meet at his North London office as a “horror of photographers”. But de Botton is no diva.

He grants an interview request without reservations or restrictions. There are no public relations people or other intermediaries involved. His rapid responses to my e-mails are courteous but concise. He has no issues with the reproduction of his image for reasons of vanity, and at no point, before, during or after the photo shoot, does he ask the photographer or me to see the images. “It’s more speed,” he writes in a later e-mail, requesting a minimum of “fussing about with lights etc”.

In person, de Botton is not impatient. He is polite, and some, like Journalist Lynn Barber, who suggested in a 2009 profile for The Observer newspaper that “there is something almost repellent about his politeness”, might not think it genuine. But although his genteel disposition could well be used to counter the shyness that he has admitted to in previous interviews, I find nothing off-putting about his good manners. Nor does he show any sign of irritation during my 90 minutes in his company. But when my photographer and I arrive at the

writer’s office, a ground floor flat on a peaceful street in the affluent, leafy area of Hampstead – the home he shares with his wife and two young children, a striking, contemporary structure, more suited to a man known for his love of modern architecture, is next door – there is a definite but unspoken eagerness to get on. We are immediately ushered into a reception room-library. Water is offered, accepted, obtained and placed on a round glass coffee table between two comfortable chairs, in which we are soon sat. This whole process takes less than five minutes. The interview begins. But during our conversation, which will last 78 minutes and 18 seconds, de Botton is fully engaged and shows no signs of wanting it to be over quickly.

It does, however, soon become clear why he doesn’t like standing still for photographs. Alain de Botton is clearly far more comfortable sat in a chair, right leg crossed over left, chin in palm, body leaning into the conversation, than he is standing around waiting to get started. Ideas seem to explode in his head like popcorn kernels bursting in a hot pan, and he is so enthusiastic to share them all, especially when we move on from his childhood to his work, that he can’t get them out quickly enough. As a result, segments of speech are chained to-

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gether with numerous errs, ums, ohs and you knows (I have removed most of them for the sake of clarity).

Bald on top, with closely cropped, greying hair on the sides, pale skin, sharp features and a uniform of black slacks, black shoes, a light blue shirt and a grey jumper, de Botton has the look of a GP or a therapist. But he expresses his thoughts in an accent and manner reminiscent of the very English actor Hugh Grant and, at his most comfortable, when gesticulating to emphasise a point, or unleashing a big smile simply because he derives so much pleasure from the discussion of ideas, de Botton is charming and engaging. He is the sort of person it would be easy to talk to for hours.

Alain de Botton was born in Zurich on December 20, 1969, into a very wealthy family. His father, Gilbert de Botton, who died in 2000, was a successful financier working for Rothschild Bank. Later, in 1983, he would establish the financial firm Global Asset Management, which, later still, in 1999, would be sold for more than £200 million.

Previous interviewers have made much of de Botton’s “privileged” upbringing, but there is no sense of superciliousness evident in his manner, and he is quick to counter the suggestion that his childhood was idyllic or that life has been in any way an easy ride.

“I came from a very hardworking family that believed that everybody had to get on in life, and it was a very ambitious family, and very demanding,” the writer, who has previously described his father as a “cruel tyrant”, says. “I think that came from my parents’ upbringing. My father was brought up in Egypt in a very

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turbulent time, and he travelled around the world and ended up as an immigrant in Switzerland and had to work his way up, and so there was very much a sense of hardship and adversity very recently in the family.

So even though he had done very well for himself there wasn’t any sense that it was stable, or that you could rely on that, or that that’s what life was really about.”

Surprisingly, for a man who today, at the age of 44, has written 14 books and made a name for himself as a writer, life for the young Alain de Botton was not about reading, either.

He explains that his interest in the written word would later, during his teenage years, stem from his interest in psychology, but as a young child, although inquisitive, he was more interested in Lego and drawing. “I was creative, I was very creative, always building stuff, drawing stuff, making stuff,” he says. “I was relatively solitary. I wasn’t very gregarious. I was quite shy and I liked my own company.”

“But you always had a project on the go?”

“Always had a project on the go, yeah, I was always building a town or writing a thing or making a map, something like that, yeah.”

This solitary but creatively rich childhood in Switzerland ended when the eight-year-old de Botton was sent IDEAS MAN / Alain de Botton is in his element when discussing his ideas. Below, the writer is mid-conversation in the reception room- library at his North London office

Open skies / OctOber 2014

I FELT VERY dOubTFuL. I mEAN, IN mY FAmILY, IF YOu wERE A mAN YOu wENT INTO busINEss, ANd THAT’s wHAT YOu dId. ART wAs A REALLY wEIRd THING TO wANT TO GO INTO

to The Dragon School, a boarding school in Oxford in the United Kingdom. He describes this period of adjustment as “turbulent”, adding, “I didn’t enjoy it at all.” He had spoken French at home with his family in Switzerland, but at boarding school he had to speak English, and in many other ways, too, he explains, “England in 1978 was very different to Switzerland in 1978. So, um, yeah it was a really big shock.”

His dislike for boarding school didn’t end, even after his parents and his sister moved to London when he was 12. “I continued to dislike the UK for quite a while. I was just a bit traumatised. I didn’t know that there were actually some really nice people living here [in the UK] and you could actually have a really nice time. [My view of the UK] slightly suffered because of the way I was introduced to this country; it took me a really long time to feel at home here.”

It was at Cambridge University that he finally came to terms with life in his adopted country.

“Actually, [at this point], what [my experience] has made me quite averse to is changing again,” he says. “So now I’m here [in the UK], I want to stay here.”

He graduated from Cambridge with a double first in history, studied for a Master’s degree in philosophy at King’s College London, and started studying for a PhD at Harvard University while contemplating po-

tential careers, including journalism and academia. But in the end, with things “getting a bit desperate”, de Botton decided to quit Harvard to become a writer.

“I was 21 and I thought, ‘What you should do is write a book.’ That’s what I’d really been thinking about. So I wrote my first book, a book called Essays In Love, and it worked very quickly.”

Essays In Love was a novel – his only work of fiction to date – about relationships, but one that de Botton describes as a “purely practical philosophical enterprise”. “I just invented some characters who don’t exist in order to advance certain theories and put them in motion.” The young writer, who hadn’t expected it to be such a success, was “amazed” by how well his book was received, but still not convinced that he had chosen wisely.

“I felt very doubtful. I mean, in my family, if you were a man FLYING HIGH / you went into business, and that’s For his book A Week what you did. Art was a really At The Airport, de Botton spent time as weird thing to want to go into, writer-in-residence and deeply suspicious, and I felt at London’s the burden of that, and felt how Heathrow Airport much I was betraying the expectART LOVER / ations of people who, err, love me de Botton and wanted the best for me.” introduces his For de Botton, unlike some of project at Canada’s AGO Art Gallery his “extremely left wing” writer

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friends, it was always important to make a living from his chosen profession. “I didn’t want to go cap in hand to my family going, ‘I failed at this, can you help me out?

Can you bail me out?’” he says. “They would have done – probably – but I didn’t want to take that risk. And I didn’t want to put myself through that. So it was very important to me. That’s probably why I’ve written so many books and do so much, I think. I think in order to prove myself to a rather actually sceptical family.”

In the 21 years since the publication of Essays In Love, de Botton has proved himself as a successful writer over and over again. He has written 13 more popular books, including How Proust Can Change Your Life (1997); Status Anxiety (2004); The Pleasures And Sorrows Of Work (2009); and his latest, The News: A User’s Manual (2014). The best-selling author’s popularity has been bolstered by TV series and radio appearances, lecturers and exhibitions, and recently he has moved beyond activities directly connected to his work as a writer with two innovative projects: Living Architecture and The School Of Life.

Living Architecture, de Botton explains, grew out of a failed TV show and a desire to make architecture in the UK better. He persuades top architects from around the world to build show homes that aim to demonstrate what is possible for architecture in the UK. He adds that he hopes, in a modest way, to change the debate about how people live in the UK. It is emblematic of de Botton’s original thinking and zeal for change.

The School Of Life is also typical de Botton, but in many ways far more ambitious than Living architecture, which was a response to a specific problem. It’s hard to imagine de Botton in a pair of shorts, let alone a toga, but The School Of Life was inspired by the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus, who had a school called The Garden, which de Botton describes as “kind of a talking shop”. “I liked the modesty of the scale of it, and it was quite a small group of people. So I liked that [idea], and so then I found my way to doing that.”

The original branch of The School Of Life is located just off Russell Square in Bloomsbury, London, but the concept has gone global this year, with schools opening in Melbourne, Amsterdam and Paris. A fifth school will open in Istanbul in October. “The bread and butter is classes, where a topic will be raised,” says de Botton.

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“And they’re taught in a slightly unusual way; they involve a lot of audience discussion and participation, and there are a lot of sort of group exercises. And so it’s not just a lecturer going, whack, ‘this is how it is’, and everybody sits there. It’s very interactive, and every evening there is an event going on with groups of around 25 people, and there will be a topic, and the topics are very distinctive; they’re not ‘history’ or ‘economics’, they are ‘your family’ or ‘starting a relationship’ or ‘ending a relationship’ or ‘your children’ or ‘money’ or whatever. It’s more practical issues that are discussed.”

Reading ancient Greek philosophy, particularly Plato’s Republic, inspired de Botton’s modus operandi

philosophy and ignited his desire to apschool / proach the discussion of ideas in The School Of a practical, rather than a purely Life was inspired theoretical, manner. “I did really by ancient Greek philosopher fall in love with their approach to Epicurus. There life, their approach to philosophy, are currently five which is intensely practical,” branches he says. “They really wanted to know how to live well, and die well. I loved that practical orientation, and that stayed with me, and that has brought me into conflict with a lot of philosophers in

reading ancient greek philosophy inspired de botton’s modus operandi

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later times who have a very different vision of philosophy. They don’t see philosophy as self-help, which is basically what the Greeks thought of it as. I mean the term self-help has a got a very bad connotation associated with the United States and rather optimistic and naïve philosophies, etc, but back in the olden days, in Ancient Greece, it was the prime duty you had to have as a thinking person – you’ve got to educate yourself and grow internally.”

So though The School Of Life is a recent venture, it can be seen as the natural culmination of his belief that humans should think more deeply and ask questions about their lives in order to improve the way they live.

This idea can be traced back through de Botton’s work to his days at university, where he has admitted to quizzing everybody he met – a trait that persists to this day.

“I had a very bad reputation,” he says. “I still do amongst some old friends. I’ve been taught, partly by my wife, to calm down a bit. But I do generally at the begin-

So de Botton has dedicated his life to encouraging people to “use the machine”, making him far more than just a writer – a label he had always thought of as potentially restrictive.

“I think I was always restless with the position of [being] just a writer, and I think the reason for that was really an intellectual reason, and that is that I didn’t see that the things that I cared about lived only in books,” he says.

“Books were, in a way, a great place to lay down an idea, to articulate some thoughts, but they’re a tool, a piece of technology, really, glued together bits of paper. But actually lots of things that I care about exist in other forms, whether that’s a building, a business, a set of pixels on a screen, or whatever it is, and so the older I got the more I kind of realised that one could do similar things down other channels.”

Philosopher is a bit of a tricky label, too, because, as de Botton admits, it would depend on whom you asked.

“For an academic I’m not, because academics own that

i h a d a v e ry b a d r e p u tat i o n . i st i l l d o a m o n g st s o m e o l d f r i e n d s . i ’ v e b e e n tau g h t, pa rt ly b y m y w i f e , to ca l m d o w n a b i t. b u t i d o g e n e r a l ly at t h e b e g i n n i n g o f a m e a l g o , ning of a meal go, ‘Right, what’s going on in your life?’ because I can’t bear just treading water conversationally, and I’m not very well practiced in the art of the smooth gear change.”

Friendly ridicule was the result when de Botton was a student, but he says that, although people are still generally a little bit surprised by his behaviour, and they think he’s a bit weird, they expect it from him now.

“I think most people are averse to thinking,” he says.

“If you bring up a topic, like what are we aiming for?

What’s capitalism about? What’s shyness? Or, what do we want out of a relationship? Most people will think, ‘Whoa, slow down.’ There are always 15 per cent of people who might be on for it, but it’s a minority. People generally want to keep their minds idle unless given a specific task, normally with a financial reward, but [they] don’t want to use the machine otherwise.”

word in many ways, and they would say you’ve got to be a professor of philosophy in order to be a philosopher. So in the strict sense, no, I’m not [a philosopher]. In the loose sense I could take that label. But only in the loose sense.”

This idea of the philosopher as an academic tied to a university is something that, if changed, would be “helpful”, according to de Botton, but I get the sense that he’s not overly concerned about what academics think of his work – and he certainly has no desire to fester in a dusty, windowless office on some second-rate university campus.

Earlier in our conversation he claimed that he pursued an MA in philosophy “seeking cover” for his writing activities and, although he has the qualifications, de Botton doesn’t belong under the heading ‘academic’. But neither does he have the arrogant swagger of a Norman Mailer or the haughty certainty of a Gore Vidal – two of the great public ‘men of letters’ of the 20th century.

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Looking around at the orderly but full bookshelves in the unremarkable room we are sitting in, it is clear that de Botton is well versed in the philosophical classics – every book, from Plato to Wittgenstein, is well thumbed – but he admits that he has lost his chance to be a part of the cannon.

“I think it was possible until I made a television programme,” he says, with levity rather than regret. “And once you appear on TV you’ve basically lost your credibility in front of all academics. So I lost that when I was about 30. It just disappeared. I mean literally disappeared as an option. I looked at the career of someone like [British historian and TV presenter] Simon Schama and thought, ‘Oh, he’s perfect, he’s an academic, etc,’ until I met some academics who said, ‘Oh, we all hate him, he’s a complete idiot.’ Really? Simon Schama? ‘Oh yes, disgusting man.’ So sadly there’s a choice to be made: are you world facing or are you academy facing?”

Alain de Botton is definitely world facing. With his outlook firmly rooted in the ideas of the thinkers who it

that, and just don’t think it’s true. I hate sentimental art, when I see sentimental answers or rose-tinted answers.

That’s not to say that I’m not interested in consolation, but I think often consolation comes from darkness. So actually, if someone’s feeling a little bit worried about their job, rather than going, ‘Oh, it’ll be fine, it’s fine,’ the best thing to do is actually go, ‘Actually it’s pretty bad, not just for you, but for humanity, all of us are kind of unhappy in our jobs and life’s just terrible.’ And instantly your own suffering is lessened.”

“So I do believe in dark consolation, not to drag people down, but because I believe that what often drives people crazy, particularly in our society, is the idea that the party is going on somewhere else, somebody’s got the perfect work life, the perfect relationship, etc. Because these are such dominant fantasies of our time, despite, you know, unemployment and obvious evidence of relationships breaking down and problems in society, the individual is still given a sense that a good life is sort of a perfect life,

‘ r i g h t, w h at ’ s g o i n g o n i n yo u r l i f e ? ’ b e cau s e i ca n ’ t b e a r j u st t r e a d i n g wat e r c o n v e r sat i o n a l ly, a n d i ’ m n ot v e ry w e l l p r ac t i c e d i n t h e a rt o f t h e s m o ot h g e a r c h a n g e could be argued founded western thought, the ancient Greeks, he defines a philosopher as somebody who is dedicated to advancing logically through an argument.

“The Buddhists talk a lot about emptying your mind and mindfulness, freeing your mind of thought. I think the western tradition has always been dedicated to another idea – that you should sharpen your thoughts. Don’t try and empty your mind, try and focus your mind. And I am a firm believer that that’s the way to a certain kind of contentment. I don’t really believe in contentment on a big scale, but certainly moments of [contentment].”

“When people think about how to make life better, a consoling thought, a happiness inducing thought, they’ll often think that what you need to tell someone is something optimistic: ‘It’ll be OK’ or ‘you’ll find your vocation’ or ‘your relationship will be solved’, etc, etc,” he says. “I’ve always been temperamentally very resistant to

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and this lets down 97 per cent of us. So I think to try and redraw the picture of what is normal seems incredibly important and helpful as a basic task.”

So what is normal?

“I like the word fulfilment, which seems [to be] compatible with quite a lot of difficulties,” says de Botton. “You can go, ‘Oh, well I’m fulfilled in my life, but actually today I’m in a foul mood, and I’ve got too much to do.’ So in other words, you can be fulfilled but having difficulties, quite anxious maybe. So that’s what I prefer to happiness, which suggests a trouble-free state. I think people will put up with an awful lot as long as they feel that broadly they are engaged in something meaningful.”

Considering this stoic attitude and belief in practical potential solutions, it is no surprise that there is no avenue de Botton is afraid to explore in order to improve

Open skies / OctOber 2014

it all depends on how you handle it. and you could make something amazing out of the kardashians if you wanted to

his process. He talks very positively about his personal experience of therapy, for example – something that I joke well-known philosophers like Thomas Hobbes or Emmanuel Kant probably wouldn’t have admitted to.

He sees it as a “true luxury”. “What therapy is is an attempt to think more clearly about your emotions and your life generally. I think the figure of the psychotherapist is the closest thing our society has to what the ancient Greeks would recognise as a philosopher,” he says.

There they are again – the ancient Greeks. And the latest subject that de Botton has decided to apply his practical method to is the news media, which he explores in his new book The News: A User’s Manual.

“I guess it’s an omnipresent thing, the media, news organisations, and I guess I was struck by how many conversations always end with people saying, ‘My god,

compared to many philosophical works. But by the time I have completed it – it took just a couple of hours to get through – almost every page is marked with a small yellow Post-It note adorned with a pencil scribble.

There’s no denying de Botton’s user-friendliness, but it’s not fluff; the book contains some fascinating insights. For example, de Botton’s concerns about the reporting of international news: “I’m struck by how little we really know about daily life in other countries, and we’ve got this definition of news that is really disaster focused and, therefore, a lot of countries are not reported about until something goes terribly wrong with them, but we can’t be interested in what’s gone wrong if we never knew that the country existed.”

Or the media’s manner of handling celebrity culture: “There’s very much a popular divide on this, and

it’s the media’ or ‘If only there were different media,’ and I think particularly in the UK there’s a sense that the UK’s dragged down by the low quality of its media, and particularly when there was the whole Leveson Inquiry, there’s a sort of feeling that ultimately a lot of energy behind that inquiry came from people who thought, ‘Our press is terrible, it’s not doing what it should, it’s being sensationalist, intrusive, it’s not properly focusing on the big issues, and the important issues, etc,’” he says.

“So that got me interested in the whole topic, and so my book is just a modest attempt to say: what could the media be? How could this go better? What are some of the reasons it doesn’t go as well as it should?”

The hardback, pocketsize version of The News: A User’s Manual from Pantheon Books that I bought prior to our meeting is just 255 pages long – a pamphlet when

the elite news outlets will say, ‘This is bad stuff’ and ‘We shouldn’t think about them,’ and ‘It’s all trivial,’ and then the popular ones will go to town, and normally on the bad news about famous people. And my view is that countries are always going to have people that are famous, and people will be curious about them. So the really important thing is to say, ‘How is that material going to be used?’ And my feeling is that there is no such a thing as a low story, or a boring story. It all depends on how you handle it. And you could make something amazing out of the Kardashians, if you wanted to.”

But the book also contains some potentially controversial, perhaps even shocking, ideas. At one point, de Botton seems to suggest that news organisations sacrifice accuracy for the sake of a good story, making a comparison between journalists and “creative writers”,

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saying that the latter will often “…understand that falsifications may occasionally need to be committed in the service of a goal still higher than accuracy: the hope of getting important ideas and images across to their impatient and distracted audiences”. I suggest that this is a potentially very dangerous idea.

“Yeah, I guess I’m annoyed sometimes with the hysteria that surrounds certain unfortunate journalists who will literally make one quote out of two, and they then lose their job, and they are considered the worst people on earth. I’d rather that, maybe, than a journalist who takes the quote down accurately but their whole intention is wrong and what they’re up to is wrong, and they’re door-stepping the guy, and whatever. It’s more about trying to get a sense of a hierarchy of wrongs. Some of the journalists who I like most, like Norman Mailer, for example, he was deeply impressionistic. I mean, I wouldn’t read Norman Mailer and go, ‘Oh, alright, so is that exactly how it happened?’ You kind of know that he’s slightly cut here or gone there, but you appreciate the full picture, and it’s given you something deeper.”

After adding the Polish reporter and travel writer Ryszard Kapuscinski to the list of writers who put the bigger picture before the cold presentation of the facts, de Botton pulls back – slightly. “I know it’s a slippery slope, and I wouldn’t want to kind of make a huge deal about this, because ultimately I don’t care that much

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LIvIng about it. I’m just throwing out the archItecture / thought that we should rearrange The Long House some of what are seen as journal(far left), The istic virtues, and I think the first Balancing Barn (left), The Dune journalistic virtue is to chose an House (above) and important story, and I think the Life House (below) second journalistic virtue is to are all part of de ensure that your audience cares, Botton’s Living Architecture is led to care, about it. I mean, project what’s the point? And then I’d put accuracy and blah, blah, blah. But I’d put it that way around.”

The reviews, as one might expect, have not all been positive (de Botton describes reaction from the UK media as “extremely caustic”). Peter Preston, writing in The Guardian: “He does nothing you could call probing research. He merely analyses what he sees – and that can be naively obvious.” James Sullivan’s review in The Boston Globe criticises the books lack of “real suggestions” about how to improve the news.

Alain de Botton has not always taken kindly to criticism. He responded to a 2009 review of his book The Pleasures And Sorrows Of Work by Caleb Crain in The New York Times by posting a response on Crain’s blog that included the line “I will hate you until I die.” But he seems to have learned his lesson and appears entirely untroubled by the reviews of his latest book.

“I think [I was trying to offer] gentle solutions [with this book]. It wasn’t a piece of consulting work for the media industry, and that’s the terrible problem with book reviews, that people are always wanting you to write a slightly different book, so, yeah, I wasn’t intending it as a piece of practical consultancy to newspapers and websites, etc. It was much more at the level of ideas.”

Open skies / OctOber 2014

But de Botton has gone beyond the level of ideas by creating his own news site, Philosophers’ Mail. It is a genuine attempt to offer an alternative. A quick scan of the stories on the homepage – Interview with the Soul of Angela Merkel, The stupidity and folly of adultery, Larry Page, Google CEO, tortures us with his jeans, Francoise Holland and Soren Kierkegaard, Love shortage drives Shia LaBeouf nuts – will give you some idea of how de Botton wishes the news could be. It is undeniably innovative, ambitious and entertaining.

“It’s a tiny team, and we’re not really a news organisation, but it’s showing how you might shape a story, and it’s been very nicely successful,” he says. Will it continue? “I think we might actually. I mean, who knows indefinitely?

But we might keep going with it, because we’ve got some loyal readers now, and, you know, why not?”

The book discussed, our conversation is drawing to a close, but I am intrigued to find out whether his interaction with his family – he has a wife (Charlotte) and two young boys (Samuel and Saul) – is similar to that he has with his dinner guests.

“Occasionally my children are bored, and then I say to them, ‘Right, there are a number of options.’ They say, ‘I’m bored and I don’t know what to do.’ And I say, ‘Right, you get a lecture on psychoanalysis, the Buddha and what he said, Jesus…,’ and I just joke with them. And they go, ‘Ah,’ and they run out of the room screaming.”

We briefly discuss future projects. There’s the possibility of a book on marital love – a follow up to Essays In Love – but, he says, “I’m keeping notes on at least 12 topics, and then I’ll see which moves forward and one of them goes, ‘OK, I’m ready,’ and I’ll run with it.”

And it’s over. We exchange pleasantries, and de Botton trots off outside with the photographer to face his “horror”, while I scan the books on his shelves: all philosophy, but a mix of original texts and general guides and introductions to certain thinkers, that are another sign, I think, of the unpretentious attitude de Botton has exhibited throughout our talk. He’s back in less than five minutes, and we’re out the door, leaving Alain de Botton to get on.

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images: Rem, The school of life, living aRchiTecTuRe

i’m keeping notes on at least 12 topics, and then i’ll see which moves forward and one of them goes, ‘ok, i’m ready’, and i’ll run with it

Arab Idol Emirates sponsors the third season of the popular talent show

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briefing SINGAKWENZA: A unique children's charity goes green CITY GUIDE: Our guide to South Africa's largest city, Johannesburg RoUTEmAp: Discover the world as connected by Emirates

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news EMIRATES BACKS ARAB IDOL

EMIRATES IS BACKING REALITY SHOW ARAB IDOL for the first time

with a new sponsorship deal for the third season of the show, which is watched around the world.

Arab Idol began broadcasting in September on MBC1 and MBC MASR, according to Sheikh Majid Al Mualla, Emirates’ Divisional Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations, Centre. Arab Idol is hugely popular, inspirational and thoroughly entertaining,” he continued. “It connects us to the very heart of people’s musical passions. At its core, Arab Idol is

about providing talented people with the opportunity to discover new horizons, and this is very much in line with Emirates’ Hello Tomorrow brand proposition.”

It is the first time Emirates has been involved with such a large-scale reality show and the sponsorship is in keeping with Emirates’ dedication to music through its in-flight entertainment experience.

The award-winning ice entertainment system is packed with music channels and carries a wide selection of classical Arabic music as well as the latest songs

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from the most popular Arab singers. Arab Idol judges, including Ahlam, Wael Kfoury, Nancy Ajram and the music producer Hassan El Shafei, are also represented.

The airline also sponsors several orchestras, including the Melbourne and Sydney Symphony Orchestras in Australia, and the San Francisco Symphony in the US. Arab Idol season two was won by 23-year-old Palestinian Mohammed Assaf in a dramatic finale watched by a television audience of more than 100 million, including an estimated 400,000 viewers in the UAE alone.

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news SPECIAL PACKAGES AT EmIrATES WOLGAN VALLEY rESOrT & SPA

EmIrATES WOLGAN VALLEY rESOrT & SPA HAS rEVEALED sensational

packages for Australian springtime 2014, as well as Christmas and New Year.

Australia’s luxury conservationbased resort is offering a two-night Spring Sensation package, available for stays from 16 September until 21 December 2014, and including two nights in a luxury Heritage Suite with private swimming pool.

Guests will also receive breakfast, lunch and dinner daily, all nonalcoholic beverages, a select range of local wines and beers with meals, and two on-site nature based activities per day for AUD740 per person per night, twin share – a saving of

AUD570 per couple. Guests will also receive a ‘Taste of Wolgan’ collection hamper complete with a gourmet selection of regional produce.

Those looking to escape the chaos of Christmas can unwind and indulge in a culinary feast that includes a nine-course Taste of Wolgan degustation menu on Christmas Eve, and a spectacular seafood spread and traditional Christmas roast with all the trimmings for lunch on Christmas Day. Dishes will celebrate the best local, seasonal and organic produce and wines from the region. On Boxing Day, guests can look forward to relaxing poolside with a barbeque.

Get to your gate on time Don't miss your flight Please make sure you get to your boarding gate on time.

Boarding starts 45 minutes before your flight and gates close 20 minutes before departure. If you report late we will not be able to accept you for travel.

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Nature and craft activities inspired by the theme of ‘A Bush Christmas’ will also be available for children.

Packages start from AUD1,025 per person twin-share in a luxury Heritage Suite from 22 December through to 28 December with a minimum three-night stay.

New Year’s Eve celebrations include a nine-course dinner as well as a lively jazz band while a traditional Aussie barbeque kicks off the New Year.

Packages start from AUD1,025 twin-share in a luxury Heritage Suite from 29 December to 5 January 2015 with a minimum two-night stay. wolganvalley.com

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news

TURNING WASTE INTO TOYS: SINGAKWENZA Singakwenza is a project of the Emirates Airline Foundation based in South Africa. Dedicated to educating young children in underprivileged communities, Singakwenza’s unique 'Waste2Toys' workshops are building a network of sustainable crèches and empowering a growing number of educators. We talk to Julie Hay, (pictured, left) Singakwenza’s director of Early Childhood Development, to find out more

What is Singakwenza?

Singakwenza means “We can do it!” in the Zulu language. We are a non-profit organisation based in KwaZulu-Natal that aims to close the gap in early year education by implementing an Early Childhood Development (ECD) programme to meet the needs of children aged one to five living in economically disadvantaged communities in South Africa.

We do this through training and mentoring caregivers at

crèches, teaching them to implement a programme of learning through play. Our Waste2Toys workshops teach educators to make their own toys and teaching aids made purely from recycling.

Singakwenza makes educational toys out of recycled materials. Where do these materials come from?

Clean recycling is collected by numerous people in Pietermaritzburg who have heard about our programme and want to help. The educators we work with also encourage the parents and children in their crèches to bring in recycling from home, and this has worked very successfully in many areas.

Waste2Toys uses mainly household packaging that would typically be thrown away such as egg cartons and bread bags. This is great because the caregivers running the crèches we work with tend to not have the budget to purchase vast amounts of toys.

Furthermore, expensive toys run the risk of theft and damage.

It is a little hard at first to sell the concept of toys made from “rubbish” until people have experienced the end product and what you can do with them.

There are so many “lightbulb” moments, when the caregivers suddenly understand how to play with the toys, the purpose of each toy and how those skills can assist the child with “real” school. Our organisation believes strongly in empowering women who have shown initiative by helping them to make their crèches into educational facilities, rather than a babysitting service.

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How are the toys used to educate children?

A good example is how the Singakwenza toys help with the introduction of numbers. Most children by the age of four can repeat the rhyme, “one, two, three, four, five….” relatively easily, and in many crèches the children are counting on a daily basis. Although they sound impressive, the children are just remembering the order of the words, in the same way that they will learn the words of a song or a poem. Once they know the rhyme (the order in which the numbers are said), they then need to be able to understand that one number goes with one object, so that they can count how many objects are in front of them.

This is known as one-to-one correspondence.

With Singakwenza’s programme, the process is started very simply by giving the children each an egg box and some cold drink lids, and the child has to put one lid in each segment of the egg box.

A number of these types of activities are done where the child starts to see that for one item there is a corresponding space, which helps him to get to the stage where he is able to understand that for every item he is counting there is one number.

A ring toss activity also reinforces this skill. This is made from a yoghurt container, a cardboard tube from inside paper towel and some yoghurt lids.

How many Waste2Toys workshops have you held?

We are actively mentoring in 10 crèches, and to date we have held more than 60 Waste2Toys

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workshops, reaching more than 2,000 educators and parents, who care for and teach approximately 11,000 children.

These workshops are offered in English and in isiZulu, and held in Durban, Johannesburg, Bloemfontein and Cape Town, as well as in the townships surrounding Pietermaritzburg.

The recycling aspect of our programme also has a positive impact. In the past year alone, we have used approximately 80,000 bread bags, 10,000 plastic milk bottles, 48,000 yoghurt containers, 4,000 citrus bags, 48,000 cold drink bottle lids, 10,000 cereal boxes and 2,000 margarine containers – all of which were destined for a landfill. Instead they’ve become skipping ropes, shape sorters and so much more.

How is the Emirates Airline Foundation involved?

One of our team members became aware of the work that

the Emirates Airline Foundation was doing around the world through the onboard donation process. We applied for funding, hardly daring to believe that such a huge organisation would be interested in our programme.

What an honour to have been chosen. Before partnering with the Emirates Airline Foundation, we were mentoring in six creches.

We now mentor in 10. The foundation also provides funding to allow us to run two Waste2Toys workshops every month, and we are now taking them to more cities and townships in South Africa than ever before.

The foundation also funds the Waste2Toys workshops, where each delegate is given the essential tools she will need in order to continue making toys for her crèche: a pair of sharp scissors and a marker pen.

What’s next for Singakwenza, and how can people who want to help get involved?

Our long term aims are to continue building our mentorship programme to reach more crèche owners and more children. We plan to employ more trainers and apprentices, and take our Waste2Toys workshops to many more communities across the country, and the world.

People can help us by supporting the Emirates Airline Foundation, who are supporting us, sharing our work with others and connecting us with NGOs around the world who are working in communities that would benefit from our Waste2Toys workshops. singakwenza.org

You can support Singakwenza and many more projects around the world by donating to the Emirates Airline Foundation on today’s flight. Donations are accepted in any currency. A donation envelope is available in your seat pocket, or you can ask a member of your cabin crew.

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SUNSET SESSIONS MOONLIT Magic THE ULTIMATE SKY LOUNGE EXPERIENCE DUBAI CREEK YACHT CLUB, NEXT TO PARK HYATT, DUBAI +971 4 416 1800 reservations@cielodubai.com www.cielodubai.com

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news get the best from ice

With its AWArD-WiNNiNg eNtertAiNmeNt coNteNt, emirAtes Aims to ensure its

passengers get the most out of its ice entertainment system, and a large part of this is through optimising sound quality.

Headphones, specially designed for the inflight entertainment system, are

provided on all Emirates flights, including premium noisecancelling headphones in First Class and Business Class.

To get the best sound quality it is recommended that you use the Emirates-issued headphones, as the audio output on the aircraft differs from that of other devices such as your mobile phone.

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If you do decide to use your own headphones, please be aware that cabin crew and pilot announcements can be much louder than other sounds. Due to the aircraft settings, personal headphones have to work far harder, and the sets provided will maximise your ice experience and preserve your own equipment.

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EMIRATES AIRLINE DUBA

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Tickets available at selected Costa and MMI outlets, dnata retail stores, The Emirates Group Headquarters, The Sevens, Virgin Megastores and other selected retail outlets.

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NEWS INCREASED SERVICES TO EUROPE AND BEYOND

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EMIRATES IS CONTINUING ITS EXPANSION ACROSS EUROPE AND BEYOND WITH A HOST OF NEW ROUTE LAUNCHES AND INCREASED SERVICES.

Daily flights between Budapest and Dubai begin this month starting 27th October. This follows the launch of two new non-stop daily services to Brussels and Oslo which commenced in September.

Services to Dublin, Ireland, recently doubled with a new second daily flight. While capacity to Frankfurt, Germany, has also expanded with the introduction of an A380 service as part of its three daily flights.

The Emirates A380 has an extensive presence in Europe. In addition to Frankfurt, the A380 flies to London, Manchester, Amsterdam, Zurich, Moscow, Rome, Paris, Munich and Barcelona.

The A380 network continues to expand this year with more destinations served across the globe. This includes a new service to Dallas/Fort Worth starting 1st October, a second daily A380 service to Mauritius that begins 26th October, and new A380 services to San Francisco and Houston commencing in December.

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City Guide JOHANNESbURG This month Emirates launches a new fourth daily flight to Johannesburg. Now is the time to experience this incredible city

A RICH HISTORY, A COMING TOGETHER OF PEOPLE FROM ALL OvER THE WORLD, ICONIC LEADERS AND SPECTACULAR WEATHER COMbINE TO MAKE JOHANNESbURG A TRULY UNIqUE DESTINATION.

The 19th century gold rush created a city that now boasts exceptional restaurants, vibrant clubs, accomodation ranging from five-star city hotels to camping in a lion park, and plenty to see and do.

Jo'burg, as the locals call it, has a culture and spirit that is hard to resist, whether you're perusing the stores of South Africa’s fashion capital or learning more about the history of apartheid.

APARTHEID MUSEUM The Apartheid Museum opened in 2001 and deals with the

turbulent history of South Africa’s struggle with race relations. The powerful exhibitions utilise work from filmmakers, designers and historians, creating a sobering but important experience. While the 22 individual exhibition areas lead visitors through the story of apartheid, which of course deals in painful subject matter, the overall aim is to not only educate but show that the country is coming to terms with its past and moving forward.

GOLD REEF CITY Located on the site of a disused gold mine, this theme park and gaming complex is a veritable playground for young and old. Entertainment is the name of the game, and there are plenty of theatres, rides and restaurants. There are also hotels within the park, and you can even enter the old gold mine for a real taste for the gold rush. Other highlights include a children’s science museum and a 4D movie theatre. Keeping in theme, the staff wears costumes from the gold rush era and there is a museum dedicated to the period.

It also houses the aforementioned Apartheid Museum.

LION PARK The African continent is synonymous with its wildlife and Lion Park offers the perfect opportunity to get up close to some of it. There are selfdrive tours or guided tours in silent electric vehicles. And it’s not just lions on show, as cheetahs, hyenas and other animals also roam the park.

But it’s the lion cubs that are the real crowd pleasers; their popularity has made Lion Park a Jo’burg tourist destination of choice.

SANDTON CITY The mall experience is very much a part of Jo’burg culture and one of the most popular places for residents and visitors to get their retail fix is Sandton City. Boasting international luxury brands, there are also plenty of places to eat and enjoy local treats.

Grab a slice of milk tart, a South African institution, and a light and sweet treat to keep you on your feet for the shopping. With nearly 300 stores as well as entertainment options, including a cinema, the mall is easily accessed by road or rail and there is also a hotel onsite.

Emirates offers triple daily non-stop services to Johannesburg. A new fourth daily service starts 26th October.

POPULATION: 957,441 LANGUAGE: English, Zulu and Afrikaans CURRENCY: Rand CLIMATE: With a subtropical highland climate, Johannesburg enjoys a good deal of sunshine. Hot summer days are often complemented by thunderstorms. The winter, which is May to September, is mostly dry with cool evenings.

FAMOUS CITIZEN: Nelson Mandela studied law in Jo'burg, and it's where he first became involved in politics.

DID YOU KNOW? Some of the most spectacular thunderstorms take place over Johannesburg and storm photographers travel there specifically to capture images of the lightning and cloud formations.

WHAT TO EAT: Biltong, which is a dry cured meat – the perfect accompaniment to watching a game of rugby.

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Your home in Dubai

• • • • • • • •

Located in the heart of Dubai Opposite Metro Station Walking distance to Burj Khalifa, world’s tallest skyscraper Dubai Airport - 15 min Abu Dhabi Airport - 45 min Walking distance to shopping malls Close to Business Hubs (DIFC and DWTC) Spa and Outdoor Swimming Pool

Sheikh Zayed Road, P.O Box 116957 Dubai, UAE Tel: +971 4 323 0000 | Fax: +971 4 323 0003 www.emiratesgrandhotel.com

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Comfort

Wellness in the air To help you arrive at your destination feeling relaxed and refreshed, Emirates has developed this collection of helpful travel tips. Regardless of whether you need to rejuvenate for your holiday or be effective at achieving your goals on a business trip, these simple tips will help you enjoy your journey and time on board with Emirates today.

smart traveller

Drink plentY of Water Rehydrate with water or juices frequently.

Drink tea and coffee in moderation.

travel lightlY Carry only the essential items that you will need during your flight.

Before Your JourneY Consult your doctor before travelling if you have any medical concerns about making a long journey, or if you suffer from a respiratory or cardiovascular condition.

Plan for the destination – will you need any vaccinations or special medications?

Get a good night’s rest before the flight.

Eat lightly and sensibly.

Wear glasses Cabin air is drier than normal, therefore swap your contact lenses for glasses.

at the airport Allow yourself plenty of time for check-in.

Avoid carrying heavy bags through the airport and onto the flight as this can place the body under considerable stress.

Once through to departures try and relax as much as possible.

use skin moisturiser Apply a good quality moisturiser to ensure your skin doesn’t dry out.

keep moving Exercise your lower legs and calf muscles.

This encourages blood flow.

During the flight Chewing and swallowing will help equalise your ear pressure during ascent and descent.

Babies and young passengers may suffer more acutely with popping ears, therefore consider providing a dummy.

Get as comfortable as possible when resting and turn frequently.

Avoid sleeping for long periods in the same position.

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make Yourself comfortaBle Loosen clothing, remove jacket and avoid anything pressing against your body.

When You arrive Try some light exercise, or read if you can’t sleep after arrival.

OPEN SKIES FOR IPAD

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Visas, QUiCK CONNECT & QUaRaNTiNE iNFORmaTiON Guide to us customs & immiGration Whether you’re travelling to, or through, the United States today, this simple guide to completing the US customs form will help to ensure that your journey is as hassle free as possible.

CUSTomS DEClArATIon Form

electronic system for travel authorisation (esta) If you are an international traveller wishing to enter the United States under the Visa Waiver Programme, You must apply for electronic authorisation (ESTA) up to 72 hours prior to your departure.

esta facts:

All passengers arriving into the US need to complete a Customs Declaration Form. If you are travelling as a family this should be completed by one member only.

The form must be completed in English, in capital letters, and must be signed where indicated.

Children and infants require an individual ESTA. The online ESTA system will inform you whether your application has been authorised, not authorised or if authorisation is pending.

A successful ESTA application is valid for two years, however this may be revoked or will expire along with your passport.

apply online at www.cbp.Gov/esta nationalities eliGible for the visa waiver*: Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Czech republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, latvia, liechtenstein, lithuania, luxemburg, malta, monaco, The netherlands, new Zealand, norway, Portugal, San marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom**

* subject to chanGe ** only british citizens qualify under the visa waiver proGramme.

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CUT THE QUEUE AT JFK WITH QUICK CONNECT If you’re connecting through New York JFK, you can avoid long waiting times in US immigration and queues for connecting flights with the Quick Connect service. US Customs and Border Protection Agency created the special service for passengers who have a connecting flight within three hours of arrival at New York JFK.

FOLLOW THESE STEPS:

1 Have your boarding card or ticket for your connecting flight ready for the ground staff as you exit.

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3

You’ll be given a Quick Connect card. Continue to the Quick Connect queue in the Arrivals Hall.

After passport clearance, claim your baggage and clear US customs, regardless of your final destination.

4 If your bag is tagged to your final destination, hand it to Emirates staff at the transfer counter for your onward flight.

QUARANTINE IN AUSTRALIA Australia has strict biosecurity laws, so when you arrive you’ll need to declare certain food, plant or animal items on your Incoming Passenger Card.

You also need to declare equipment or shoes used in rivers and lakes or with soil attached. All aircraft food must be left on board. Please take particular care when you complete your Incoming Passenger Card – it's a legal document and false declarations may result in a penalty.

QUARANTINE IN JAPAN Japan has strict rules around exposure to livestock and bringing in livestock items.

You will need to go to the Animal Quarantine Counter if: • you have recently been to a livestock farm • are bringing livestock products into Japan • your visit to Japan will involve contact with livestock The counter is in the baggage claim area. If you’re bringing meat and livestock products into Japan without an import certificate, you must see the animal quarantine officer.

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UAE SMART GATE BE SMART!

NATIONALITIES THAT CAN USE UAE SMART GATES

USE UAE SMART GATE AT DUBAI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

UAE

Andorra

Australia

Austria

Bahrain

Belgium

Brunei

Canada

Denmark

Finland

If you hold a machine-readable passport, UAE Emirates ID card or E-Gate card you can check in and out of the airport within seconds.

France

Germany

Greece

Just look out for signs that will direct you to the many UAE Smart Gates found on either side of the Immigration Hall at Dubai International airport.

Iceland

Ireland

Italy

Japan

Kuwait

Liechtenstein

Luxembourg

Malaysia

Monaco

Netherlands

New Zealand

Norway

Oman

Portugal

Qatar

San Marino

Saudi Arabia

Singapore

South Korea

Spain

Sweden

Switzerland

*UK

USA

GO THROUGH IMMIGRATION IN SECONDS AND GET YOUR VISIT TO DUBAI OFF TO A FLYING START Citizens of the countries listed on the right and UAE residents can speed through Dubai International airport by using UAE Smart Gate.

USING UAE SMART GATE IS EASY

1

Have your UAE Emirates ID card, E-Gate card or machine-readable passport ready to be scanned

Place your passport photo page on the scanner. If you are a UAE resident, you can scan your UAE Emirates ID card.

If you have an E-Gate card place it into the E-Gate slot

2 3

OK!

Go through the open gate, stand in the blue footprint guide on the floor, face the camera straight-on and stand still for your iris scan. When finished, the next set of gates will open and you can continue to baggage claim

*UK citizens only (UK overseas citizens still require a visa)

REGISTERING FOR UAE SMART GATE IS EASY

To register, just follow the above process and then spend a few moments having your details validated by an immigration officer. That’s it! Every time you fly to Dubai in future, you will be out of the airport and on your way just minutes after you landed.

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UAE SMART GATE CAN BE USED BY:

Machine-readable passports from the above countries UAE Emirates ID cards E-Gate cards

ROUTE MAP

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NEW ROUTES:

Budapest: from October 27, 2014

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ROUTE MAP

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• • • • • • • •

Contract Drafting & Review Business Setup , Offshore & Free Zone Companies Corporate & Commercial Legal Services Litigation & Arbitration Debt Collection Banking, Insurance & Maritime Cases Real Estate, Construction & Labor Cases Trademarks, Patents & Copyrights

‫ﺻﻴﺎﻏﺔ ﺍﻟﻌﻘﻮﺩ ﻭﻣﺮﺍﺟﻌﺘﻬﺎ‬ ‫ﺗﺄﺳﻴﺲ ﺍﻟﺸﺮﻛﺎﺕ ﻭﺍﻷﻭﻓﺸﻮﺭ ﻭﺍﳌﻨﺎﻃﻖ ﺍﳊﺮﺓ‬ ‫ﺍﳋﺪﻣﺎﺕ ﺍﻟﻘﺎﻧﻮﻧﻴﺔ ﻟﻸﻓﺮﺍﺩ ﻭﺍﻟﺸﺮﻛﺎﺕ‬ ‫ﺍﻟﺘﻘﺎﺿﻲ ﻭ ﺍﻟﺘﺤﻜﻴﻢ‬ ‫ﲢﺼﻴﻞ ﺍﻟﺪﻳﻮﻥ‬ ‫ﻗﻀﺎﻳﺎ ﺍﻟﺒﻨﻮﻙ ﻭﺍﻟﺘﺄﻣﲔ ﻭﺍﻟﻘﻀﺎﻳﺎ ﺍﻟﺒﺤﺮﻳﺔ‬ ‫ﻗﻀﺎﻳﺎ ﺍﳌﻘﺎﻭﻻﺕ ﻭﺍﻟﻌﻘﺎﺭﺍﺕ ﻭﺍﻟﻘﻀﺎﻳﺎ ﺍﻟﻌﻤﺎﻟﻴﺔ‬ ‫ﺍﻟﻌﻼﻣﺎﺕ ﺍﻟﺘﺠﺎﺭﻳﺔ ﻭﺑﺮﺍﺀﺍﺕ ﺍﻻﺧﺘﺮﺍﻉ ﻭﺣﻘﻮﻕ ﺍﳌﺆﻟﻒ‬

• • • • • • • •

DUBAI EMIRATES TOWERS, 14TH FLOOR, SHEIKH ZAYED ROAD P.O. BOX: 9055, DUBAI, UAE TEL: +971 4 330 4343 | FAX: +971 4 330 3993 contact@emiratesadvocates.com | www.emiratesadvocates.com ABU DHABI Tel: +971 2 6394446 auh@emiratesadvocates.com

RAS AL KHAIMAH Tel: +971 7 2046719 rak@emiratesadvocates.com

DUBAI INTERNET CITY Tel: +971 4 3900820 dic@emiratesadvocates.com

SHARJAH Tel: +971 6 5728666 shj@emiratesadvocates.com

JEBEL ALI Tel: +971 4 8871679 jafz@emiratesadvocates.com

DIFC Tel: +971 4 4019562 difc@emiratesadvocates.com

WITH AFFILIATE OFFICES IN SAUDI ARABIA, QATAR, BAHRAIN, KUWAIT AND OMAN

FOR 24 HOUR LEGAL ASSISTANCE, PLEASE CALL +971 (50) 328 99 99

ROUTE MAP

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the FLeet

Our fleet contains 233 aircraft made up of 219 passenger aircraft and 14 cargo aircraft

Boeing 777-300eR

Number of Aircraft: 100 Capacity: 354-442 Range: 14,594km Length: 73.9m Wingspan: 64.8m

Boeing 777-300

Number of Aircraft: 12 Capacity: 364 Range: 11,029km Length: 73.9m Wingspan: 60.9m

Boeing 777-200LR

Number of Aircraft: 10 Capacity: 266 Range: 17,446km Length: 63.7m Wingspan: 64.8m

Boeing 777-200

Number of Aircraft: 9 Capacity: 274-346 Range: 9,649km Length: 63.7m Wingspan: 60.9m

Boeing 777F

Number of Aircraft: 12 Range: 9,260km Length: 63.7m Wingspan: 64.8m For more information: emirates.com/ourfleet

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Airbus A380-800

Number of Aircraft: 54 Capacity: 489-517 Range: 15,000km Length: 72.7m Wingspan: 79.8m

Airbus A340-500

Number of Aircraft: 9 Capacity: 258 Range: 16,050km Length: 67.9m Wingspan: 63.4m

Airbus A340-300

Number of Aircraft: 4 Capacity: 267 Range: 13,350km Length: 63.6m Wingspan: 60.3m

Airbus A330-200

Number of Aircraft: 21 Capacity: 237-278 Range: 12,200km Length: 58.8m Wingspan: 60.3m

boeing 747-400erF

Number of Aircraft: 2 Range:9,204km Length: 70.6m Wingspan: 64.4m Aircraft numbers as of October 2014

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last look

Barcelona GARIKOITZ IRUSTA, 35, INDUSTRIAL DESIGNER, GOTHIC QUARTER

IMAGE: MARI LUZ VIDAL, MARILUZVIDAL.COM

I have lived in Barcelona for 13 years.

I came here to study design, and now, more than a decade later, I’m still living here. I’m Basque, so I like the weather in Barcelona, of course, as it is really sunny. Barcelona is also by the sea, which makes the city really fresh. I’m on my way to work at the moment, but I spend a lot of time in this area outside of work as well. We are on Paseo del Borne in the Gothic Quarter of the city, where you can see both the touristic side and the history of Barcelona. There’s a mix of contemporary design shops and authentic old places around.

My style is really casual and relaxed, and I always dress with a sense of humour. I don’t usually pay much attention to what I wear, but today I felt more in the mood, so my outfit has a bit of pink and some stars.

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