Elle Decor article on Main Street Life

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HOME joburg 75m2 text alex dodd production Nicole Ravenscroft photographs Pieter Vosloo

The penthouse’s design is inspired by the radically simplified forms and functionalit y of the Bauhaus movement. This spirit is exemplified by architect Enrico Daffonchio’s ‘Wave’ unit, a moveable chaise longue, desk and coffee table in one, situated below the window

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A Visionary developer’s Bauhaus-inspired penthouse is set to kick-start a new wave of downtown Joburg living

Big City Life


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Jonathan Liebmann is on such a high he can barely get his rapid-fire ideas to his mouth fast enough to articulate them. And who can blame him? Not only has he dreamed up a future-minded lifestyle concept aimed at young urban creatives, he’s also succeeded in bringing it to life on the edge of downtown Joburg during a turning-point year in South Africa’s history. Jonathan’s latest project, Main Street Life, adds a residential dimension to the Maboneng Precinct, which was kick-started by the successful transformation of Arts on Main from a remote industrial tenement into Joburg’s hippest arts hub. The first five levels of the new multi-use complex consist of compact residential studios (turn to page 82 for a featured example). Each floor is themed around a different discipline – film, architecture, visual arts, fashion and design – with two common areas: a workshop space where creatives can collaborate, and an exhibition space. The development’s top floor houses a boutique hotel and seven penthouses, one of which functions as a city pied-à-terre for Jonathan and his wife, Lauren. Limited to a crisp minimalist palette of black, grey and white, the uber-contemporary apartment boasts wraparound windows, the frames of which are painted black to ‘frame’ the knock-out views across the city. The original screed floors have been polished black to highlight the white walls and ceiling, maximising the loft’s sense of space and creating a stark background to the slick furniture by Dokter and Misses. A long white counter forms the backbone of the living area, serving as a social place where friends can hang out, but also seamlessly concealing the more functional elements of the kitchen from the general living space. Storage-boosting double-sided shelving units divide the bedroom from the living area, and sculpt a ‘passage’ into the penthouse’s private zone. Both the architecturally inspired bed and the bath, which is openly integrated into the bedroom suite, have been raised up on platforms so that it’s possible to still look out the windows while lying down – another ingenious approach to making the most of the incredible views. With its sleek finishes and sexy urban setting, the apartment is perfectly suited to this hip young couple. It’s also all anyone would need to see to buy into the dream of new-wave downtown Jozi living. n

Main Address A stone’s throw from Arts on Main, Main Street Life takes up a full city block. Not only is it set to become one of the city’s hottest residential addresses, it also houses Malva, a fashion and household design store (run by Jonathan’s wife, Lauren Wallett, who plans to use the space at night for theatre performances), an indie cinema, art gallery with rotating installations, and a restaurant and deli. The top floor features boutique hotel, The Twelve Decades, where each of the 12 rooms is designed by a different artist or designer to depict Joburg’s 12 decades of history from 1886 to 2006. ‘One of the main ideas behind this building is to create work opportunities for the creative community within their living environment – almost like a massive multi-disciplinary creative residency,’ says Jonathan. For more info, visit www.mainstreetlife.co.za 76

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this page All storage and functional aspects of the kitchen are kept below the sleek white Technistone countertops to leave the views uninterrupted opposite, from top The loft’s backbone, an extended kitchen-cum-bar counter, is ideal for socialising and preparing food; double-sided shelves on wheels serve as both display units and architectural room dividers

ELLE DECORATION

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HOME joburg

HOME joburg

Like the bed, the bath is elevated, so you can soak up the views while taking a bath A muslin curtain creates an ephemeral divide ensuring privacy in the bedroom, while the bed, also designed by Enrico Daffonchio, is raised on a platform, introducing an element of elevation and drama into the penthouse’s private space

this page opposite

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ELLE DECORATION

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LITTLE BLACK BOOK Steel furniture, coffee table and lights Adriaan Hugo from Dokter and Misses www.dokterandmisses.com Bed, cupboard and ‘Wave unit’ design Enrico Daffonchio % 011 447 7280; www.daffonchio.co.za Posters David Krut Projects and Bookstores www.davidkrutpublishing.com Blinds Blinds Perfect

% 011 333 0333

studio furniture Malva

% 084 308 2024

this page, from top The reduced black and white palette maximises the views and sense of space; Lauren and Jonathan, who also have a home in the veld at Monaghan Farm, use the penthouse as their downtown Joburg pied-à-terre opposite The graphic style of the framed posters, from the FIFA 2010 Official Art Poster Edition series, echoes the apartment’s reduced modernist style

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35m2 HOME joburg

SCALE MODEL

at Less than half the size, this single studio still has all the impact

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A Dokter and Misses lamp echoes the crisp angles of Enrico Daffonchio’s ‘Wave Unit’; Main Street Life’s studio apartments are the ideal lock-up-and-go solution for young urban creatives, such as Mlamleli Ngobese; a storage unit is both a cupboard and room divider, delineating the living from the sleeping area opposite All space-saving solutions centre around multi-functionality and easy mobility, so a lot of the furniture is on wheels. A range of furnishing and interior pieces in keeping with the style of the studios’ fittings are available at Malva, the design store on the ground floor of the building 82

ELLE DECORATION

ELLE DECORATION

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