Mercedes-Benz magazine — Spring/Summer 2015

mercedes-magazine.ca

c a d $ 12 . 9 5

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IT TAKES TWO Spirit and strength in the new GLE Coupe

SALT OF THE EARTH Rugged bounty in the Magdalen Islands

WALL TO WALL Canadian-made coverings

CULINARY COPENHAGEN Taste the future of food in the Danish capital

IN THIS ISSUE

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

DESIGN

O F T H E WA L L

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EVENTS

NIGHT LIGHTS

TOFINO 2.0

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What to see and do in the Pacific Northwest’s coolest town.

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Forget the days of wall-to-wall rococo: The latest wall coverings are far more inspired, even if they are still rooted in history.

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AREA

S TA R P R O F I L E

W I L D R I DE

Night owls are gathering under a blanket of stars at festivals, markets and installations across Canada.

SCENE

H I DDE N G E M S

110

G E TA W AY

S A LT O F T H E E A R T H In the Magdalen Islands, nature changes everything.

S TAY S

T OW N & C OU N T RY Five of our favourite getaways around the globe, from organic farms to summer chalets.

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Canadian jewellery designers are mining the landscape for artistic inspiration.

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T H E H OM E C O M I NG S Journey to two Scottish estates saved from ruin to live again as storied hotels.

A decade after his coming-of-age hit C.R.A.Z.Y., Montreal director Jean-Marc Vallée is having his Hollywood moment.

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JETSET

SOCIET Y

P E O P L E & P L AC E S Step out with Mercedes-Benz at this season’s hottest events, from auto shows to award galas.

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ONLINE

mercedes-magazine.ca Stay connected on the go with the new Mercedes-Benz magazine website.

15 • S PRING / SUMME R SPOTLIGHT

BULLETIN

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P R E S I DE N T ’ S NOTE

27 IC O N S

Whether it’s in the air, underwater, or on land, pressure change is inevitable, as these facts reveal.

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PHOTO DOMINIQUE L AFOND (MAGDALEN ISL ANDS)

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M O T I O N P IC T U R E D Nova Scotia painter Tom Forrestall wanted to honour his vintage 300 SD, so he turned it into a work of art.

EY ES ON THE FUTUR E Copenhagen is green, modern and lively. And with the invention of Nordic Cuisine, the Danish capital has also become a mecca for gourmands.

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G O L F ’ S H O LY G R A I L No sporting event values tradition more highly than the Masters at Augusta National, the world’s premier golf tournament.

106 I N NOVAT I O N

From Polaroid prints to biofuel, here’s where high-tech meets fine design on the international stage.

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D OW N T O T H E LAST LETTER New model designations at Mercedes-Benz mean that in the future, it will be clear which model class a vehicle belongs to.

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Y E L L OW G O L D The Mercedes-AMG GT is a combination of biturbo front mid-engine, magnesium and lashings of aluminium.

DI G I TA L T R E A S U R E S The Internet is strewn with hidden gems – you just need to know where to look. Here are a few hot tips for the digitally adventurous.

D OU B L E L I F E The new GLE Coupe from Mercedes-Benz combines the dynamic prowess of a coupe with the robust authority and assurance of an SUV.

S O L I TA RY S P L E N D OU R The unique Streamliner, created in Sindelfingen in 1938, expressed its function – speed – through its form.

P R E S I D E N T ’S N O T E

A S W E C E L E B R A T E Mercedes-Benz’s 60th

anniversary in Canada this year, I would ask for your indulgence to allow me to use this message to say thank you to the employees who have worked here – some for a longer period of time than others – and whose pioneering spirit has helped build a truly well-respected company which now ranks ninth among all national Mercedes-Benz divisions.

When I joined Mercedes-Benz Canada four years ago, I immediately realized how fervent the employees were –‒their passion palpable on so many fronts and their dedication on display at every chance to make a difference. It would also be remiss of me not to mention that our impressive successes and accomplishments would never have been possible without you, our valued customers. I wish us all a very happy anniversary and many happy returns!

We’ve come a long way, and I’m thrilled to say that the future augurs well.

Mercedes-Benz has often been the subject of artistic inspiration, and some of the resulting works have been acquired through the internationally renowned Daimler corporate collection that was started in 1977. In one instance, the art of the automobile quite literally blossomed over the course of a six-month sojourn in the showroom of O’Regan’s Mercedes-Benz in Halifax. When world-respected Nova Scotia realist artist Tom Forrestall approached us with the idea of painting the Canadian four seasons on his vintage 1980 Mercedes-Benz 300 SD, we had no idea how this unusual canvas would beautifully shout out Tom’s undying love affair with his most trustworthy car, as well as his love for this country’s natural splendour, which he has captured for more than six decades (page 36).

Mercedes-Benz is no stranger to being applauded for carefully thinking things through, but when it recently announced a reorganization of its brand portfolio, which included a new designation system for its models (mostly on the SUVs), some at first questioned the change. Once you see the rationale which now clearly specifies which model class a vehicle belongs to – even if you have never heard its name before – you’ll nod in full agreement. It just all makes sense (page 26).

This change also comes at a time when in response to customers’ wishes for more variety and individuality, we have embarked on yet 8

another aggressive expansion of our product portfolio, in this case through the introduction of the all-new GLE Coupe (page 56). This new model pushes the long-standing coupe tradition of Mercedes-Benz to new heights, with sensual lines, a stretched greenhouse and striking front grille combined with SUV characteristics such as muscular shapes, large wheel arches and a high belt line.

This issue of Mercedes-Benz magazine coincides with the much-anticipated release of the MercedesAMG GT S here in Canada (page 28). The new model is an achievement of intense passion: breathtaking performance, scene-stealing looks and a growl unlike any other. Handcrafted by racers in Affalterbach, Germany, the MercedesAMG GT S features an all-new 4.0-litre, 503-hp V8 biturbo engine and a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission that have set new standards for precise and dynamic performance.

The new Mercedes-AMG GT is the first model in the history of Mercedes-Benz to bear the GT abbreviation in its name. And yet, since the beginning of the 20th century, Mercedes-Benz has been manufacturing models that have created unprecedented milestones in the history of the automobile. The recently restored and reconstructed 540 K Streamliner, dating back to 1938, is a prime example (page 90). At a time where aerodynamic styling was becoming a more important factor in automotive design, the “special vehicle production unit” in Sindelfingen created this one-off model. With a cd figure of 0.36, the Streamliner was outstandingly aerodynamic for its time and underlined the innovative strength of Mercedes-Benz. It was one of the many precursors of great things to come.

I hope you enjoy reading our spring/summer 2015 issue!

Sincerely,

Tim A. Reuss President & CEO

NO MATTER WHERE YOU’RE DRIVING, YOU’LL ALWAYS FIND YOUR SOUND.

SiriusXM is available on most new Mercedes-Benz vehicles. Enjoy a complimentary 6-month trial with FREE online listening. Add some joy to your ride. © 2015 Sirius XM Canada Inc. “SiriusXM”, the SiriusXM logo, channel names and logos are trademarks of SiriusXM Radio Inc. and are used under license.

PU BL ICAT ION DE TA I L S Published by Daimler AG · Communications · HPC E402 · D-70546 Stuttgart Responsible on behalf of the publishers Thomas Fröhlich · Mirjam Bendak Publisher’s Council Ola Källenius (Chairman) · Thomas Fröhlich · Christoph Horn · Jörg Howe Gesina Schwengers · Natanael Sijanta · Dr. Jens Thiemer · Andreas von Wallfeld Canada Mercedes-Benz Canada Inc., 98 Vanderhoof Ave., Toronto, ON M4G 4C9 President and CEO Tim A. Reuss Vice-President, Marketing Gavin Allen Director, Communications and PR JoAnne Caza Manager, National Marketing Communications Virginie Aubert Supervisor, Customer Relationship Management Lisa Hynek Supervisor, PR Nathalie Gravel C O NC E P T A N D E DI T I N G Germany Condé Nast Verlag GmbH · Karlstrasse 23 · D-80333 München Contributors Markus Bolsinger, Leandro Castelão, Jochen Fischer, Mitch Fogerty, Gero Günther, Christoph Henn, Petra Himmel, Enno Kapitza, Holger Karius, Gunnar Knechtel, Sebastian Krawczyk, Anke Luckmann, Le Ann Mueller, Julia Pelzer, Cristiano Rinaldi, Anna Schäfer, Jan Wilms Canada Spafax Canada, 4200, boul. Saint-Laurent, suite 707, Montreal, QC H2W 2R2 President, content marketing Raymond Girard Executive vice-president, content marketing Nino Di Cara Senior vice-president, content strategy Arjun Basu Director, brand alliances, marketing and PR Courtney MacNeil Senior strategist, luxury and lifestyle brands Christal Agostino Account manager, luxury and lifestyle brands Celyn Harding-Jones Editor-in-chief Natasha Mekhail Associate editor Eve Thomas Contributing editors Christopher Korchin, Mélanie Roy Digital editor Renée Morrison Editorial intern Christina Rowan Contributors Maarten de Boer, Michael Crichton, Steve Farmer, Joanna Fox, Serge Kerbel, Dominique Lafond, Jasmin Legatos, Brendan MacNeill, Paige Magarrey, Celeste Moure, Dan Rubinstein, Isa Tousignant, Chantal Tranchemontagne, Nick Webb Art director Guillaume Brière Graphic designer Marie-Eve Dubois Photo researcher Julie Saindon Production director Joelle Irvine Acting production director Maureen Veilly Production manager Jennifer Fagan Ad Production manager Mary Shaw Production and circulation coordinator Stephen Geraghty Fact checker Jessica Lockhart Proofreader Katie Moore Advertising sales Spafax Canada, 2 Bloor Street East, Suite 1020, Toronto, ON M4W 1A8, sales@spafax.com Media director Laura Maurice, Tel. 416-350-2432, lmaurice@spafax.com Rights ©Copyright 2015 by Mercedes-Benz Canada Inc. All rights reserved. Reprints and use, as a whole or in part, only with the express written permission of Daimler AG. No responsibility can be taken for unsolicited texts and photographs.

Signed articles do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the publisher or the editors. Some vehicles may be shown with non-Canadian equipment. Some vehicles may be shown without side marker lights. Some optional equipment may not be available on all models. For current information regarding the range of models, standard features, optional equipment and/or colours available in Canada and their pricing, contact your nearest authorized Mercedes-Benz dealer or visit mercedes-benz.ca.

All other content in this magazine has been compiled to the best of our knowledge, but no guarantee is given.

Return undeliverables to Spafax Canada, 2 Bloor Street East, Suite 1020, Toronto, ON M4W 1A8 Printed on paper bleached without chlorine Printed in Canada ISSN 1925-4148 Canadian Publication Mail Agreement 41657520

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18 ct rose gold case. Also available in stainless steel.

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GOODS

STYLE

C U LT U R E

TR AVEL

The List DINING

FUTURE OF FLAVOUR S C I E N C E W H I Z Irwin Adam Eydelnant wanted a public platform for I&J Ideations, his Toronto-based food and beverage research studio, so he created one: BevLab. The Queen Street West space operates as a café with artisan pour-over coffee by day, and by night transforms into an experiential and educational bar. By tapping into the minds of engineers, designers, architects, computer programmers, educators and mixologists, BevLab helps patrons explore and engage with potential ideas for food and drink. Their “Future of Beverage” series, where participants can work with beakers and burrettes to create their own bottled beverages, continues throughout the summer of 2015. BEVLAB.CO

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DINING

Stranger, by Felix & Paul Studios

CULTURE

THEIR WILDEST DREAMS

W H E N T H E P R O D U C E R S of the 2014 Hollywood hit Wild wanted to promote their feature-length film, they turned to Felix & Paul Studios. The Montreal-based company, founded by Félix Lajeunesse and Paul Raphaël, is the leader in cinematic virtual-reality experiences, immersing the audience in 3-D, 360-degree live action. Wild: The Experience, their three-minute VR journey, was showcased at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, and other works have been screened at SXSW Interactive and the Tribeca Film Festival, garnering the studio attention from major film studios. While they are tight-lipped on what comes next, you can be sure it will be cinematic. FELIXANDPAUL.COM

STYLE

SPARKLE AND SHINE

I N T H E 18 T H C E N T U R Y,

GOODS

SKIN DEEP I N S P I R E D B Y traditions in skincare from around the world, Artifact Skin Co.’s six facial masques bring an exotic flair to the everyday beauty

ritual. The line is the brainchild of Narae Kim and Elie Nehme, a Toronto couple who wanted to imbue their natural products with the aromas, memories and rites of faraway destinations.

There’s a masque for every skin type, and the ingredients – like vanilla monoï, raw honey and

rhassoul clay from Morocco’s Atlas Mountains – are intended to transport you to another place. This spring, look for Artifact products in retail outlets across North America and Europe, as the brand branches out from its online-only format. ARTIFACTSKIN.COM

Jaleh Farhadpour’s Persian family owned two of the world’s largest diamonds. With her family history, keen eye for fashion and love of gemstones, it was only natural that the Iranian-born Canadian became a jewellery designer. Renowned department stores and shops coveted her arresting one-of-a-kind pieces (such as her Butterfly Ring, pictured), and this success prompted her to open Archives, a boutique and gallery in the Four Seasons Toronto building. Farhadpour’s statement pieces are showcased alongside carefully curated collections from international names like Romebased Delfina Delettrez, great granddaughter of the Fendi founders, and former Oscar de la Renta jewellery designer Iradj Moini of New York. ARCHIVESLTD.COM

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“Perdu dans la nature” (1998)

by BGL features a Mercedes-Benz vehicle crafted entirely of wood.

MATERIAL WORLD

D R Y W A L L , cardboard, Christmas ornaments… Quebecois art collective BGL is known for using non-traditional materials to create their provocative, humorous sculptures. Now the trio is hoping to catch the world’s attention at the 56th Venice Biennale. Opening in May and running until November, the Biennale is widely considered the art world’s most prestigious international event. BGL (made up of Jasmin Bilodeau, Sébastien Giguère and Nicolas Laverdière), who started working together in the mid-1990s, will present a piece titled Canadassimo. Expect a wry look at national identity as well as audience participation – one of their best-known pieces was a working carousel made using lampposts recovered from Montreal’s Champlain Bridge. BRAVOBGL.CA

TORONTO’S CANADIAN OPERA

CULTURE

THAT’S AMORE 14

Company kicks off the 2015–2016 season with a new production of La Traviata, composer Giuseppe Verdi’s tragic Italian love story. Directed

by New York’s renowned Arin Arbus, who was hailed by The New York Times a few years ago as “the most gifted new director,” the tale of passion and sacrifice is set in glamorous 19th-century Paris and will feature elaborate costumes by visual artist and designer Cait O’Connor. Eleven performances of La Traviata will run in October and November. COC.CA

DINING

SPIRIT QUEST I N A N I N D U S T R Y flooded with Russian and Polish vodkas, Canada has a secret weapon: one of the world’s purest water sources. Launched last fall, Quartz vodka is made using glacier water filtered through an 8,000-year-old esker in northern Quebec, resulting in a remarkably smooth spirit set to take the world’s bars by storm. The vodka was created by Domaine Pinnacle in partnership with Montreal beauty entrepreneur Lise Watier. Watier recently stepped down from managing the eponymous brand she founded in 1968, but she’s not completely over with it – her life and business are the subject of a documentary set for a midsummer release.

QUARTZVODKA.CA

PHOTOS LYRIC OPER A OF CHICAGO, 2013, BY TODD ROSENBERG ( L A TRAVIATA ); MARIE- HÉLÈNE LÉPINE (BGL)

CULTURE

Handcrafted by racers.

A Daimler Brand

The new Mercedes-AMG GT.

Š 2015 Mercedes-Benz Canada Inc.

THE LIST

STYLE

AMG OUTFITTED Show the world that you drive in style with elegant clothing and accessories from the AMG Collection.

THECOLLECTION.CA

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DINING

CANCON CUISINE FOR MORE THAN a year,

AMG CAPS include a cool cotton lining and adjustable metal clasp.

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ESPRESSO CUPS and saucers’

award-winning food writer Chris Johns and Derek Dammann, chef of Montreal’s fêted restaurant Maison Publique, travelled to the ends of the Canadian landscape, from Newfoundland to Vancouver Island. The pair met with local food and drink suppliers – including farmers, chefs, winemakers and fishermen – documenting and experimenting with the country’s

Derek Dammann and Chris Johns

best ingredients. What came of this can only be described as an instant classic: a cookbook focusing on modern Canadian cuisine. True North, due to be released in September, is divided

into chapters by regional offerings and features over 100 recipes conceptualized by Dammann, as well as intimate essays penned

by Johns outlining their culinary adventures. HARPERCOLLINS.CA

design is inspired by carbon fibre.

FUNCTIONAL JACKETS are wind- and water-repellant.

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AVRILLORETI.COM

HOLDALLS double as sporty weekenders or sleek gym bags.

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iPHONE CASES keep smartphones safe and stylish.

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PRETT Y IN PRINT The handkerchief revival is given a beautiful boost thanks to Toronto-based designer Avril Loreti, whose unisex cotton hankies are inspired by retro fabrics and printed with ecofriendly water-based inks.

GOODS

SCENTS OF PLACE FOR THE SMELLS Like Canada line, Toronto’s Natalie Gluic blends fragrances for candles, soaps and salves that conjure up a Cape Breton clover field or a Quebec sugar shack.

Each of the brand’s 16 handpoured soy candles also feature a real wood label made from birch and cherry veneer. The Cottage Kit, which comes with three themed scents (Up North S’mores, Muskoka Campfire and On the Dock) and a brass compass, makes a nice touch for summer nights at the cabin – or for anytime you just want to relive them.

SMELLSLIKECANADA.CA

PHOTOS FAR AH KHAN ( TRUE NORTH ); X AVIER GIR ARD L ACHAINE (JOHNS AND DAMMANN)

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These aren’t rocks, they’re milestones Official dealer of: Rolex Piaget Vacheron Constantin Breguet Audemars Piguet Roger Dubuis Franck Muller Harry Winston Blancpain Girard-Perregaux Jaeger-LeCoultre Hublot IWC Backes & Strauss Chopard Omega Tudor Pomellato Ippolita

DESIGN

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Of the Wall

Forget the days of wall-to-wall rococo: The latest wall coverings are far more inspired, even if they are still rooted in history. Canada’s top creators are using bespoke art, archival designs, digital printing and three-dimensional techniques for everything from stand-alone statement walls to elegant and subdued backdrops.

W O R DS PAIGE MAGARRE Y

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BESPOKE

HISTORIC

ROLLOUT.CA

THOREAUX.COM

1 . Rollout’s Poured

2 . Wallpaper company Thoreaux was launched as a side project for Toronto branding studio Whitman Emorson earlier this year, but it’s already gained an ample following.

Its initial line of eight designs offers modern twists on archival textiles, patterns and drawings; one is based on the lavish wallpaper used in Paris in the 1850s, for example, while another evokes an 1874 lithograph by Didot.

Royal Road, shown here, is inspired by the motifs on a 19th-century porcelain bottle.

wallpaper was designed in collaboration with Robert Sangster Surface Design, a Toronto studio that plays with everything from wax to stucco to create envelope-pushing wall treatments. The tone-on-tone motif was created exclusively to sell at design showroom Hollace Cluny. Digitally printed on commercial-grade wall covering with water-based inks and no VOCs, it can be custom scaled to fit any wall (with no repeats).

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TROMPE-L’ŒIL

OTHERWORLDLY

HANDCRAFTED

TEXTURED

MUR ALUNIQUE.COM

MARBURG.COM

WALLSOFIVY.COM

KEIOUDESIGN.COM

3 . Donn Petelka is behind the

4 . Raised in Canada and currently based in the United States, Karim Rashid has a 20-year repertoire of bold and bright creations (beginning with his now iconic Garbino Can for Umbra) that are among the most well-known industrial designs in North America. The designer’s third collection for German wallpaper manufacturer Marburg is entitled Globalove, and it takes its inspiration from social interactions, global economics and political themes – though the 47 different patterns are far more likely to make you feel as though you’re peering into a kaleidoscope.

5 . In a world of digital

6 . Vancouver design studio

printing, Walls of Ivy’s papers are lovingly handmade in every way. The Montreal studio screen-prints every roll onto nonwoven, unpasted paper, and the patterns – everything from quirky animal drawings surrounded by ornate frames to simple geometric shapes – are created by Collectif Textile founder Audrey Fortin.

The Made in Quebec pattern, shown here, features a hand-drawn take on the classic chevron motif.

Keiou is currently at work producing its new collection of three-dimensional wall coverings.

The continuous relief panels feature textures that range from 20 to 50 millimetres in depth. Made of environmentally friendly plastic, the lightweight panels install like regular wall tiles and can be used both indoors and out. Though they can also be primed and painted to suit any space, they look equally dynamic in white, interacting with surrounding light sources to create dramatic shadow play.

incredibly lifelike photos in Quebec manufacturer Mural Unique’s new line of high-resolution murals, which feature nature scenes as well as brick, stone and wood planks in various hues (such as Barn Wall, shown here). The Toronto photographer takes multiple images, sometimes up to 80 different shots, and combines them into one seamless look. Available in wallpaper-like murals ranging from 1.8 metres to 8.2 metres wide, the product is pre-pasted, washable and easy to move or reconfigure.

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EVENTS

JASPER, ALBERTA

DARK SKY FESTIVAL JASPERDARKSKYFEST.COM

O C T O B E R Preservation takes on cosmic proportions at Jasper National Park, which was designated a Dark Sky Preserve by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada in 2011.

Charged with protecting and promoting the nocturnal environment and clarity of the dark skies, Jasper puts on an annual festival that features celestial adventures for everyone – including nighttime photography workshops, live music (Colonel Chris Hadfield performed in 2014) and, of course, stargazing.

Night Lights

The night skies have always drawn people outdoors to be inspired, to reflect, to create and simply to look up. Now night owls are gathering under a blanket of stars at festivals, markets and installations everywhere from the beaches of Vancouver to the streets of Toronto.

WORDS CELESTE MOURE

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VANCOUVER, B.C.

SAKUR A ILLUMINATION VCBF.CA

A P R I L 3 To celebrate the blooming of thousands of cherry blossom trees, which marks the arrival of spring in Vancouver, light artist Stuart Ward illuminates the pink and white flowers at Sunset Beach Park with LED lanterns and projected patterned video. Under an ethereal canopy of lighted flowers, festival-goers at the one-night event are encouraged to reflect on the beauty and impermanence of it all.

OT TAWA, ONTARIO

GLOWFAIR FESTIVAL GLOWFAIRFESTIVAL.CA

J U N E 19 – 2 0 On the weekend that kicks off summer, eight city blocks in the heart of Ottawa’s Centretown transform into an outdoor nightclub complete with live music, electronic DJ performances and restaurant patios that spill

onto the sidewalk, all lit up by glow-in-the-dark installations and light projections on Bank Street’s heritage properties (like the Art Deco building that once housed the Ottawa Hydro Electric Commission).

Revellers might catch a flash-mobstyle fashion show or gather a few friends to play a street game (pickup hockey, anyone?).

Daredevils can even light up their bikes with glow sticks and attempt a trick on a half-pipe.

PHOTOS CALLUM SNAPE (DARK SK Y FESTIVAL); HFOUR (SAKUR A ILLUMINATION); THRONE PHOTOGR APHY (GLOWFAIR); MOMENT FACTORY (FORESTA LUMINA)

GIMLI, MANITOBA

GIMLI FILM FESTIVAL GIMLIFILM.COM

J U LY 2 2 – 2 6 Armed with cozy blankets, chairs and picnic baskets, locals in this lakeside Prairie town head to the beach over five consecutive nights in July to watch films, documentaries and shorts by some of the best filmmakers from Manitoba and beyond.

Paying tribute to its Icelandic heritage (the region was affectionately dubbed New Iceland due to its high concentration of immigrants from that country), the festival also features a Northern Lights Film Series, which showcases movies from Canada and Iceland as well as other circumpolar nations.

TORONTO, ONTARIO

TWILIGHT TUESDAYS DR AKEONEFIFT Y.CA

COATICOOK, QUEBEC

FORESTA LUMINA FORESTALUMINA.COM

M AY– O C T O B E R In Quebec’s Eastern Townships, the 50-metre-deep canyon at Parc de la Gorge de Coaticook comes to life with magical scenography, twinkling lights, video projections and a soundtrack of forest animals and mythological creatures designed to delight and fright.

Think of it as A Midsummer Night’s Dream meets a PG-rated The Blair Witch Project, wherein the hike through the gorge’s eerily lit forest and across a suspended footbridge has been turned into a multimedia experience like no other.

A U G U S T Every Tuesday in August, Toronto’s hipsters descend upon a section of York Street where Drake One Fifty converts a park into a night market complete with food stalls (don’t miss the watermelon slushies), live music by local indie rock bands (singersongwriter Tim Moxam played last year) and a Drake General Store kiosk hawking quirky curiosities (think foosball-player bottle openers). Surprise guests, like an artist who’ll draw your portrait on the spot, make each Tuesday a different experience.

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AREA

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Tofino 2.0

What to see and do in the Pacific Northwest’s coolest town.

W O R D S N ATA S H A M E K H A I L

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THE SCENE

THE STAY

It’s not your typical beach vacation.

Tofino, on Vancouver Island’s west coast, sees more days of rain than sun per year, and its summer highs sit closer to the teens than the thirties. But the draw of this chilled-out surfer town lies in its misty beaches, ancient rainforests and moody seascapes. Most notable is how this remote outpost caters to a diverse clientele of wave chasers, artists, outdoorspeople and holidaying urbanites with a brand of hospitality that both respects the local environment and raises the bar for service across Canada. We take a look at what’s new – and what they’ve always done right – in the Pacific Northwest hot spot.

Tofino may have a Main Street, but the real action is at Cox Bay. It’s here that surfers take to the waves and locals stroll the bullkelp-strewn beach. It’s also home to Pacific Sands Beach Resort.

For a defining Tofino stay, look no further than its three-level beach houses. Great pains were taken to ensure unimpeded ocean views, which you can take in from the four-metre windows, glass balconies and, best of all, the master bedroom’s double soaker tub (there’s room enough for two).

Hang out with a book and a glass of wine, and when you’re ready to hang 10, let the Pacific Sands team book you a surf lesson.

PHOTOS JEREMY KORESKI/TOURISM TOFINO (SURFER); CHRISTOPHER POUGET ( WOLF IN THE FOG)

TRAVEL

1. A landscape of mountains, coastline and forests converge in Tofino. 2. Beach houses at Pacific Sands Resort nestle right into Cox Bay. 3. Wolf in the Fog staff, including Chef

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Nutting (second from right) prep a West Coast meal best washed down with the restaurant’s signature Cedar Sour.

4. Chocolate Tofino’s master chocolatiers tap the flavours of the Pacific Northwest for their confections. 5. Local jeweller Christy Feaver draws inspiration from the ocean.

6. “Absolutely Oystercatcher 2012” is made up entirely of marine debris collected by artist Pete Clarkson.

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DINING

GOODS

CULTURE

THE MENU

THE SHOPS

THE ARTS

The potentially habit-forming Habit boutique stocks beachcomberchic gear like hand-knit Wooden Ships sweaters and a spectrum of rain boots. A few streets over, metalworker Christy Feaver makes fun statement jewellery like reversible rings and “Traveller’s Coin” necklaces – stylish talismans for frequent flyers.

On Industrial Way, beer aficionados will love the newly expanded tasting room of the Tofino Brewing Company.

Try a flight of its popular brews (including the bestselling Fogust Wheat summer ale), and take home a refillable growler. For kids, Chocolate Tofino’s milk-chocolate bears, filled with a secret stash of choco-fish and sea creatures, make a sweet souvenir.

Pacific Northwest art draws on a colourful, symbol-steeped artistic tradition often associated with totem poles. In Tofino, find modern examples at the Eagle Aerie Gallery of Roy Henry Vickers, whose poignant, almost cartoon-like paintings of native legends contain hidden images only visible from certain angles. Drawing inspiration from First Nations artwork is Pete Clarkson, whose sculptures and wall hangings are created from marine debris, including driftage that washed up from the Japanese tsunami. Sol Maya, meanwhile, produces Chihuly-like glassworks. Find him in his Spirit of the Fire gallery – a charming hobbit-hole of a workshop – on the south edge of town.

Opened last June, chef Nicholas Nutting’s Wolf in the Fog has already carved out a presence on the Canadian culinary scene, topping enRoute magazine’s 2014 Canada’s Best New Restaurants list. But aside from his skillfully prepared dishes, the beauty of this restaurant is how much fun Nutting and his “pack” have with food. The fruits of their foraging excursions regularly end up on the nightly menu, and there’s no shying away from experimental cuisine (think merguez sausage with Humboldt squid and quinoa-crusted sweetbreads). Meanwhile, mixologist Hailey Pasemko’s drinks menu, including shareable punchbowls and a section devoted to beer-based

cocktails, is as full of flavour as it is inside jokes (try the restaurant’s signature Cedar Sour and ask about Jamie’s Tears). Also new to Tofino are two raw bars. At the Fish Store & Oyster Bar, the intimate counter is the only place in town to sample the locally farmed Clayoquot Climax bivalves. For more oysters with a view, look to Ice House Oyster Bar, which took over a former fishing pier. Tofino’s culinary old guard also has nouveautés on offer. Locavore restaurant Shelter introduced a four-season terrace with chill-chasing gas fires at the table, while pescatarian bistro SoBo released a cookbook, with foreword by longtime customer (and big-time fan) songstress Sarah McLachlan.

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S TA R P R O F I L E

Wild Ride

A decade after his coming-of-age hit C.R.A.Z.Y., Jean-Marc Vallée is having his Hollywood moment. But while the director of Wild and Dallas Buyers Club may be climbing the ranks, he’s not planning to leave Montreal any time soon.

W O R D S J A S M I N L E G AT O S P H OTO M A A R T E N D E B O E R

D

24

irector Jean-Marc Vallée isn’t afraid to push his actors to the limit. In Dallas Buyers Club, Matthew McConaughey dropped nearly 40 pounds to play cowboy turned AIDS activist Ron Woodroof, winning an Oscar for his brave portrayal. In Wild, the real-life tale of one woman’s soul-searching solo hike along the Pacific Crest Trail, audiences saw Reese Witherspoon as never before: without makeup and raw, with mussed-up hair to match her character’s messed-up life. And as with McConaughey, Witherspoon’s trust in Vallée’s vision paid off: The performance garnered a slew of award nominations, including nods from the Oscars and Golden Globes. During the shoot, Vallée covered mirrors in Witherspoon’s trailer and had her carry around an enormous 75-pound hiking pack – all in the service of believability.

“I’m trying to be real. I want the audience to know that my movies are about storytelling and acting,” says Vallée over the phone from his home in Montreal, shortly after wrapping up production on Demolition, his third picture in as many years.

Slated to open this fall, it stars Jake Gyllenhaal as a New York investment banker whose life unravels after the death of his wife, and Naomi Watts as the woman who saves him. Next up is the much-anticipated Janis Joplin biopic, Get It While You Can, with Amy Adams in a lead role that will likely require another dramatic physical transformation.

Hollywood is clearly calling, and though Vallée is listening, he’s not planning to permanently decamp for the sunnier climes of Los Angeles. At 52, he’s succeeding on his own terms, proving that even as a member of the Hollywood elite, he can still make movies with the same integrity and heart that propelled him onto the interna­­­ tional scene in 2005 with C.R.A.Z.Y., his beloved

RADIO HEAD

WHEN I’M filming and I yell Cut!, sometimes I’m still laughing out loud or on the verge of tears. coming-of-age tale about a gay teen growing up in 1960s Catholic Quebec. Studios want to buy his movies, audiences want to see them and actors like Witherspoon – who handpicked Vallée to direct her in Wild after seeing a rough cut of Dallas Buyers Club – want to star in them.

Despite his strong ties to Canada, Vallée doesn’t see himself as an outsider in Hollywood: “I feel I’m accepted.” Nevertheless, he does talk up Quebec cinema whenever he can, and considers himself an ambassador. He also continues to support the local film industry, completing post-production on his movies in Montreal surrounded by long-time collaborators, notably VFX supervisor Marc Côté.

On set, too, he often rounds out his lean crews with hometown talent like cinematographer Yves Bélanger. Bringing the post-production back home is one of his trademarks – it’s where he’s most comfortable. “I’m a sucker for Montreal,” Vallée says.

He’s also known to let actors act, putting them through long takes rather than pasting their performances together in the editing suite.

He wants audiences to feel what he feels on set.

“When I’m filming and I yell Cut!, sometimes I’m still laughing out loud or on the verge of tears.” As a director, he isn’t heavy-handed: “I don’t want the audience to spot me. I want to be invisible.”

VA L L É E ’ S T H E O RU M New to the director’s movies? We present a (subjective) summation.

+ PHOTOS AL AMY (MOVIE STILLS)

Into the Wild

= Eat Pray Love

+ American Beauty

= Velvet Goldmine

+ Philadelphia

Wild

C.R.A.Z.Y.

= Brokeback Mountain

Dallas Buyers Club

VALLÉE PREFERS SOUNDTRACK TO SCORE. HERE’S A SAMPLING OF HIS FILMS’ GREATEST HITS. WILD “TOUGHER THAN THE REST” (BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN) “GLORY BOX” (PORTISHEAD) “SUZANNE” (LEONARD COHEN) C.R.A.Z.Y. “CRAZY” (PATSY CLINE) “SPACE ODDITY” (DAVID BOWIE) “EMMENEZ-MOI” (CHARLES AZNAVOUR) DALLAS BUYERS CLUB “PRÉLUDE” (ALEXANDRA STRÉLISKI) “SWEET THANG” (SHUGGIE OTIS) “SHUDDER TO THINK” (TEGAN AND SARA)

Which is not to say that he doesn’t have a signature: If anything, it’s his quiet, selfless approach. Vallée is at his best when he doesn’t rely on big effects (artificial lighting, dolly shots or even score) to capture moments. Instead, he uses what’s available: the last glimmer of light from the setting sun, a handheld camera navigating the terrain alongside his actor and music playing from a radio that might actually fit in with his characters’ lives.

Some might say this philosophy is quintessentially Canadian – a humble, don’t-look-at-me attitude. But Vallée is no wallflower, and he recognizes that the ride he’s on is thanks in part to chance, but also to hard work. “I’ve been fortunate enough to be at the right place at the right time to receive great material. But the actors and the crew, we all agree to push ourselves, knowing that even though it’s going to be tough at times, the story is worthwhile.”

Although his next few projects are all Englishlanguage films, Vallée promises that he’ll return to Quebec to make another movie (since C.R.A.Z.Y. he has only made one other French film, 2011’s Café de Flore). In 2009, he bought the film rights to On the Proper Use of Stars, a novel by Quebecois writer Dominique Fortier about the ill-fated Franklin expedition. He also has three other French-language movies in the works.

Whether they get made might just depend on the Hollywood scripts that are sure to keep landing on his doorstep, and the long line of A-listers waiting to work with him. Regardless, if it took a while for Hollywood to discover Vallée, he’s more than making up for it now. mercedes-magazine.ca

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SPOTLIGHT

DOWN TO THE LAST

LETTER

New model designations at Mercedes-Benz mean that in the future, it will be immediately clear which model class a vehicle belongs to – even if you’ve never heard its name before.

GL GLA

GLE

GLC formerly GLK

GLS

formerly M- Class

f o r m e r l y G L- C l a s s

N E W A B B R E V I AT I O N S An additional lower-case letter identifies the drive system

c

d

e

f

h

stands for COMPRESSED NATURAL GAS

is for DIESEL (replacing the BlueTEC and CDI labels)

designates all ELECTRIC vehicles including plug-in hybrid models

signifies FUEL CELL technology

is for Mercedes-Benz HYBRID models

T

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he simplest names are usually the easiest to remember: For more than 20 years, drivers have known which vehicles were the S-Class, E-Class or C-Class. A single letter was enough to differentiate the various model series. However, by the year 2020, there will be no fewer than 30 different Mercedes-Benz models on the market, 11 of which are not even included in the company’s current portfolio. Faced with this wide range of body types and drive systems, Mercedes-Benz has decided to make its system of nomenclature more straightforward and easier to understand.

In the future, every vehicle will bear a name consisting of one to three capital letters. The five core models – A, B, C, E and S – will continue, but for all other vehicles, the third letter of the model

designation will indicate which of these classes they belong to. In addition, the drive system will be indicated by a final lower-case letter – for example, d for diesel and h for hybrid (see above).

All SUV models will start with the letters GL, the G indicating that they are derived from the legendary G-Class, while the letter L traditionally serves to make the Mercedes-Benz nomenclature easier to pronounce. The GLA is thus the SUV version of the A-Class, and the GLC is the equivalent C-Class vehicle that was known up until now as the GLK. Only the classic G model retains its name. In the case of the four-door coupes, the nomenclature follows the same principles, with the first two letters being CL. And from 2016 on, all roadster versions will have an SL in their name.

BULLETIN

ICONS AIR PRESSURE

WORDS CHRISTOPH HENN ILLUSTRATION LEANDRO CASTEL ÃO/DUTCHUNCLE PHOTOS VISUM TR AVEL; BILDAGENTUR FNOX X/ARNULF HET TRICH; FOTOLIA; PRISMA; GET T Y IMAGES; DAIMLER

PRESSURE IN DEPTH Underwater, pressure increases by one bar (14.5 psi) per metre of depth, while oxygen toxicity also rises. The record for the deepest non-submersible descent is 701 metres, achieved in a pressure chamber. The decompression phase – vital to survival – lasted over 550 hours.

A MATTER OF TASTE

POP GO YOUR EARS

How tomato juice tastes depends on the altitude. Studies have shown that in the low-pressure environment of an airplane, it has a fruity, sweet flavour, while on the ground it has a more earthy taste. Many ordinarily flavoured foods taste slightly bland at cruising altitude.

The world’s fastest elevator is slated to begin operation in China in 2016.

To reduce the aural discomfort that many people would otherwise experience while ascending at a rate of 4,000 vertical metres per minute, the engineers have designed a system that minimizes air-pressure fluctuations inside the elevator car.

THE TIRE PRESSURE INDICATOR shows whether or not a car’s tires are adequately inflated. But air pressure also plays an important role elsewhere, as our six examples demonstrate.

PEOPLE UNDER PRESSURE

PUMP IT UP

The average air pressure at the Earth’s surface is 1,013 hectopascals – equivalent to 14.7 psi. So why don’t people feel any of that pressure?

Because the forces are equally distributed on all sides of our bodies, in effect cancelling themselves out.

The bigger the tire, the lower the air pressure: Tractor tires need less than two bar (29 psi), while much thinner race car tires can handle up to 130 bar (1,885 psi).

The reason? Larger surface areas allow more moving air particles to impact against the inner tube, bringing far greater force to bear.

GONE WITH THE WIND Wind is mainly caused by pressure differentials between adjacent air masses.

Mount Washington in New Hampshire is a good place to observe this – its summit is home to some of the worst weather on the planet. The secondfastest wind velocity of all time was recorded there: 372 km/h.

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SPOTLIGHT

28

YELLOW

GOLD

An enthusiast’s sports car: What exactly does that mean?

The answer comes in the shape of the latest creation from Affalterbach, the Mercedes-AMG GT, a combination of biturbo front mid-engine, magnesium and lashings of aluminium – a heady mix that is addictive even in small doses.

W O R D S MITCH FOGERT Y

P H O T O S MARKUS BOLSINGER

SPOTLIGHT

V8 BITURBO, TOP SPEED 310 KM/H:

PRIMED FOR ACTION

30

IDEAL WEIGHT At a mere 3.3 kilograms per hp, the GT is an elite athlete.

SPOTLIGHT

H Handcrafted by Racers: Tobias Moers needs little more than the company slogan to sum up the essence of the latest sports car to come out of AMG headquarters in Affalterbach, Germany.

However, it is mainly the hand gestures with which he describes the details of the new front mid-engine projectile that punctuate his words with a big imaginary exclamation point. Is it a coincidence that, even here, Moers only rarely moves his hands from the 9 o’clock and 3 o’clock positions that are de rigueur for achieving fast laps? Even in conversation, he seems poised to instantly nip any rear oversteering in the bud with the determination of a professional race driver.

Prior to his current position as Chairman of the Board of Management of Mercedes-AMG GmbH, Moers was Head of Development at AMG until 2013. And it goes without saying that he was the man behind the wheel during the latest GT’s final acceptance run on a dried-up salt lake in Bonneville, Utah. He sums up the thinking behind the new two-seater: “We wanted to bring the fascination of motorsports into everyday life.”

Lap record on the Nürburgring Acoustically, the Mercedes-AMG GT is proving to be an overwhelming success – though the aural spectacle it produces is anything but routine. Christian Enderle is the concertmaster, as it were, who conducts the powerful cylinder octet that resounds so thrillingly in the ears.

Not inside the car, mind you – this aural display of power is being staged on the in-house AMG engine rig in Affalterbach, which is firmly bolted to the floor. Initially, the virtuosity with which the V8 biturbo unit attacks its performance can only be guessed at from the hot orange glow of the coiling exhaust system that is visible through the bullet- and soundproof glass.

“This engine is just setting a new lap record for the Nürburgring,” explains Enderle, “although it doesn’t know it yet.”

32

Finally, the engine chief presses a button and the sound of the powerplant – built on the “one man, one engine” principle (each unit is assembled by a single master mechanic and, at the very final stage, endowed with his personal signature) – is relayed over the facility’s loudspeaker system. Suddenly, it dawns on us: That was the tricky Hatzenbach section, and now it’s uphill to Breitscheider Brücke.

But there’s no need to go all the way to the Nürburgring to experience such spectacular soundscapes: Thanks to adjustable exhaust flaps, the GT driver can modify the sound of the supercar at will.

PERFECT AERODYNAMICS Depending on the drive program selected, the rear aerofoil extends and retracts at various speeds. The shape of the underbody guarantees effective airflow to the rear diffusor.

90 PERCENT OF THE SPACEFRAME IS

ALUMINIUM Resetting the benchmark

EYE- OPENER

LED High Performance headlamps with daytime running lights forming a stylized eyebrow and turn signals lend the GT its unmistakable look.

The AMG GT is a textbook of modern sports car construction. The engine comes in two power bands, the GT unit developing 456 hp and the GT S, with identical displacement (3,982 cc), offering 503 hp. Top speed: 304 km/h and 310 km/h respectively – figures worthy of a sports car engine designed according to the “hot inside V” principle.

In short, this means the turbochargers are mounted inside the cylinders’ V configuration rather than outside on the cylinder banks. This facilitates a compact engine design with low exhaust-gas emissions thanks to optimum airflow for the close-coupled catalytic converters, while the chargers ensure optimum responsiveness. And the technology doesn’t end there: The model boasts a locking differential and seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. mercedes-magazine.ca

33

SPOTLIGHT

With the transmission in transaxle configuration and the V8 biturbo mounted as a front mid-engine with dry-sump lubrication, the concept brings with it an ideal weight distribution of 47 percent to 53 percent between the front and rear axles. A curb weight of just 1,540 kilograms makes for a power/weight ratio of 3.3 kilograms per hp, propelling the car to the top of its segment.

On the wings of design The design of the sports car plays with the brand’s tradition (witness the side air vents with hallmark double fins), while at the same time striking a futuristic note with its LED High Performance headlamps and aggressive, openmouthed front splitter beneath the stretched hood, whose pronounced power domes evoke the flexing of muscles. The retractable rear aerofoil and the new turn signals at the rear (18 individual LEDs on each side that indicate the driver’s intention with sequential lighting) can only be fully appreciated when the car is operational. Inconspicuously out of sight, meanwhile, are the antennas for (among other things) the navigation system, configured in such a way as to not compromise the overall appearance of the car.

There’s little time to explore where the antenna technology might be concealed as we turn to the compelling narrative of Raphael Winter, Head of Development – Chassis Systems, who is elaborating on the new GT’s extremely firm suspension. He draws our attention in particular to the sports chassis, with its aluminium double wishbones. He is also particularly proud of the elastokinematics of the

AMG GT Engine/Performance 4.0-litre V8 biturbo, 456 hp (GT S: 503 hp); max. torque 479 lb-ft at 1,750 to 4,750 rpm

Transmission AMG SPEEDSHIFT DCT 7-speed dual-clutch automatic

From Comfort to Sport Plus Sports suspension with electronically controlled damping comes standard on the Mercedes-AMG GT S and is available as an option with the GT. Damping characteristics are controlled at the push of a button by selecting one of three settings.

Ceramic takes the heat Reduced weight, longer service life and even better fade resistance – these are the benefits of the optional ceramic high-performance composite brake system. Brake disc diameter: front 402 millimetres, rear 360 millimetres.

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

M E R C E D E S - B E N Z . CA

HANDS - ON RACING

Performance steering wheel in three-spoke design with 12 o’clock marking, flattened bottom section and aluminium shift paddles.

chassis attachment, which ensures the high-precision wheel control one expects from a car built to exacting motorsports standards.

Another advanced high-tech feature is the control electronics in the GT S – known as the AMG CHASSIS CONTROLLER (ACC). This unit allows the dynamic engine mounts and rearaxle transmission mounts to be actuated independently of one another and continually adjusted for stiffness – in a matter of milliseconds – to suit prevailing driving conditions.

Accept no compromise By now, the basic philosophy underlying the GT and GT S is clear: First off, the hardware – the mechanical basis – had to be right before work could start on the fine-tuning, such as the three-stage ESP or the speed-sensitive sports steering with its variable steering ratio that responds according to speed and lateral acceleration.

And let’s not forget the obvious: What is the AMG GT actually made of? The intelligent material mix betrays the complex approach: The entire chassis, including greenhouse and body, is made of light alloy, and 90 percent of the spaceframe body – the body shell – of aluminium. Tipping the scales at just 231 kilograms, it sets a new benchmark figure in the sports car segment. Surprisingly, perhaps, the trunk lid is made of steel; in practical terms, this is the lightest solution. The front deck, meanwhile, shuns the usual compromises and is made of ultralight magnesium. You could listen to the explanations of the experts for hours; the terms they use – “smooth underbody” or “rear diffuser” – hail from the vocabulary of sports car design.

As we turn our focus to the cockpit, the long-awaited test drive is starting to draw nearer. The seating position is low and the dashboard boasts wing-like styling with perfectly integrated air vents, while the freestanding central display with information systems conveys an almost magical feeling of lightness.

With styling reminiscent of a race car, the centre console is at once elegant and dynamic, while also exemplifying outstanding ergonomics. The hand goes to individual functions as if of its own accord, and everything seems to have been conceived and designed by true enthusiasts – Handcrafted by Racers. It’s high time to experience it for ourselves…

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SAN FRANCISCO . VANCOUVER . CALGARY . EDMONTON . REGINA . WINNIPEG . TORONTO . OTTAWA . MONTREAL . ST JOHN’S ©2015 BONE Structure® Inc. The illustrations can differ from the actual model. Architectural works relative to BONE Structure homes are subject to international copyright law. The simple fact of using or copying the plans of BONE Structure Inc. in whole or in part or to fabricate or build directly or indirectly a home based, in whole or in part, on plans, scale-models or model homes of the former, without the express written consent of BONE Structure Inc. might constitute an infringement to international copyright laws.

BULLETIN

MOTION PICTURED Nova Scotia painter Tom Forrestall wanted to honour his vintage 300 SD, so he turned it into a work of art.

PHOTOS STEVE FARMER/BEAVERBROOK ART GALLERY

WORDS NICK WEBB PHOTOS STE VE FARMER

THE ARTIST’S WAY Tom Forrestall painted A Car for All Seasons in the showroom of the Halifax Mercedes-Benz dealership over six months. Vistors were invited to watch and even to contribute.

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BULLETIN

MOVING CANVAS

F

38

or artists, ideas often emerge from casual moments – a cup of coffee, a glass of wine. Such a moment arose for painter Tom Forrestall in the fall of 2013 on the porch of his grand Victorian merchant’s house in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, during a conversation with his friend Mary O’Regan, about the future of his 35-year-old car.

The vehicle in the garage was an icon, a 1980 Mercedes-Benz 300 SD. Forrestall had put it up for sale, but the first tire-kicker at his door made him realize that the vehicle needed to be retired with more grace than a Kijiji ad could muster.

O’Regan suggested he honour the car the way he knew best: by painting it. “Not many cars could survive our climate for over three decades and look this good,” says Forrestall, “the seasons would be the perfect theme.” And so the art project that O’Regan immediately dubbed A Car for All Seasons was born.

Ideas began to flow and the Mercedes-Benz dealership in Halifax offered its round, glass showroom as a studio. Forrestall worked meticulously while customers and passersby checked on his progress. “I often invited them to contribute a brushstroke or two,” says Forrestall. “Art should be accessible and involve the community.”

Six months, thousands of painted leaves and 16 layers of clear coat later, a unique 300 SD began a second life as a work of art.

Born in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley, Forrestall has enjoyed a 50-year career that has been rewarded by induction into the Order of Canada and the Order of Nova Scotia as well as by receiving the Queen’s 50th Jubilee Medal, Canada’s 125th Anniversary Medal and two honorary doctorates. His reputation as a

I WANTED the seasons to be draped over the car like a tapestry.

landscape painter has been built on watercolours and ancient egg-tempera techniques that he learned from artists like Alex Colville – not on using a car as a canvas.

But for Forrestall, his 300 SD was more than a mere object, it was a piece of his personal history, one that allowed him to drive to and discover the landscapes he painted. “This project was never for me just an automotive paint job. It is about me, my painting, the car and living in Canada,” he says. “It was a car that I could feel affection for – the car and me, separate but a partnership – I wanted the seasons to be draped over the car like a tapestry.”

Tracing the progression from spring at the front of the vehicle to winter at the rear, the intricate design rewards a closer look. Among the painted foliage, viewers will discover portraits of legendary automotive engineers Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler, as well as a portrait of Mercedes, daughter of Emil Jellinek, the AustroGerman businessman who, in the early 1900s, commissioned custom Daimler cars which he raced under her name. Benz and Daimler eventually consolidated their expertise and drew on Jellinek’s racing pseudonym to found the Mercedes-Benz brand. Forrestall acknowledges this partnership on the trunk lid with reproductions of their early company logos. In the profusion of plants painted onto the hood, Forrestall also included a special note of thanks to Mary O’Regan for her inspiration and support throughout the project.

Mercedes-Benz Canada is now the new owner of A Car for All Seasons and intends to send it on tour to showrooms and galleries across the country. Its first stop in March and April was the Beaverbrook Art Gallery in Fredericton, New Brunswick – look for it as it moves west throughout the year. (With A Car for All Seasons in new hands, you may wonder what marque the artist is driving now – need you even ask?)

Asked whether the car was the way he had pictured it on the porch all those months ago, Forrestall replies, “You get glimpses at the beginning. Painting just makes things clearer.”

PHOTO JOE ELIAS (L AKE BANOOK)

A “Before” photo of the 300 SD, taken in 1981 at Lake Banook, N.S., with Forrestall, seated left, and friend Joe Elias; planning sketches of A Car for All Seasons (below).

STORIED LINES Worked into the painting’s intricate foliage are several nods to the history of the Mercedes-Benz brand, including portraits of founders Gottlieb Daimler (above) and Karl Benz.

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SCENE

HIDDEN

GEMS Canadian jewellery designers are mining the landscape for artistic inspiration.

WORDS ISA TOUSIGNANT PHOTOS MICHAEL CRICHTON STYLING SERGE KERBEL

WATER WAYS Rudi Peet (Canmore, Alberta), briolette-cut aquamarine necklace

T

he winding road cuts through rolling hills of lava rock, wispy silver birch trees and fields of golden corn – the perfect setting for the simple beauty of Walter Van der Molen’s jewellery. I’m on Highway 50, halfway between Montreal and the designer’s home studio in Luskville, Quebec, a picturesque community on the outskirts of Ottawa where, after a long day in the capital, residents commute home to a rural retreat that includes red cedar-lined hiking paths and sparkling views of the Ottawa River.

Van der Molen’s brand, WJewellery, is the epitome of sophisticated simplicity. Made of recycled gold and sustainable gems and pearls, his designs refine the idea of the precious object to its most minimal components: delicate filaments of metal adorned with the subtlest scintillating touch of a two-millimetre stone. A WJewellery piece says what it needs to with a whisper rather than a shout.

Van der Molen is not alone in this elemental approach to beauty. He is part of a new wave of Canadian jewellery designers who, by emphasizing subtlety and embracing imperfection, express a veneration of natural materials and forms in unique pieces that go leagues beyond bling.

optional white Canadian diamond. Rosen’s designs are inspired by the Nova Scotia shoreline and her study of the line, which she says is the foundation of all of nature’s patterns, from the horizon to striations in leaves and the motifs that ocean waves leave on a sandy beach.

On the opposite coast, in Vancouver, Leah Alexandra also draws inspiration from the ocean.

As her love of turquoise and aquamarine would suggest, Alexandra was a water baby – her grandmother lived in Barbados, her first job was in Cape Cod and she spent every summer in the Hamptons. Now she has become the go-to girl for people looking for eminently wearable gemstone pieces, with fans including Jessica Alba and Reese Witherspoon. In an ode to uncomplicated prettiness, Alexandra places her stones in

DOWN TO EARTH Leah Alexandra (Vancouver), Labradorite “Armour” necklace on a gold-plated chain

Change of scene Before moving to Canada in 2007, Van der Molen worked in his native Holland as a jeweller, watchmaker, goldsmith and, eventually, jewellery store owner who travelled frequently to trade shows and fairs in Antwerp, Basel, London and beyond.

“That stuff doesn’t do it for me anymore,” he confesses of his past careers, contrasting them with his current life in Canada with his wife and two young children. “WJewellery is closer to myself. I was putting slate steps next to my chicken coop the other day, and it sounds silly, but that’s a million times more inspiring to me than trade shows.”

Out of that everyday experience came the idea for his first Stepping Stone ring, a fine band of hammered solid gold topped with a delicate display of different-size gold pellets that recalls the beauty and function of a stone path or steps.

In its refined simplicity, Van der Molen’s work is similar to the jewellery of Dorothée Rosen, from Halifax, who is most famous for her Onefooter Ring, made of a foot-long wire of 18-karat gold wrought and coiled by hand into a chunky oneof-a-kind criss-crossing spiral, enhanced with an mercedes-magazine.ca

41

SCENE

the simplest of settings, keeping her bands thin and her chains fine in a way that lets the natural beauty of the gems speak for itself.

“I work with a lot of stones that are accessible to more people because they have flaws, like opaque rubies or moss aquamarine, which has lots of inclusions and cloudiness, and a beautiful blue-grey colour,” she explains. “Some of those flaws make them look like different stones entirely, and I think that’s part of their beauty. It’s so easy to replicate that perfect diamond or that clear aquamarine with glass or manmade materials, while you just can’t replicate the organic beauty of stones that hold such character.”

BY EMPHASIZING subtlety and embracing imperfection, designers express a veneration of natural materials and forms.

Mine and yours While there are exceptions – last year, for example, acclaimed Toronto-based jeweller Reena Ahluwalia created the world’s first designer jewellery line made exclusively with lab-grown diamonds – most Canadian designers see the future of the trade firmly rooted in nature’s bounty. With mines all over northern Canada, the supply of ethically sourced, impeccablequality diamonds is plentiful.

Plus, as Van der Molen argues, the Canadian identity itself is entrenched in the land. “The space, the living, the experiencing of the seasons, is so much stronger here than in Europe.

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NEST EGG Mark Lash (Toronto), 18K white gold cuff with sapphire slices and diamonds

And the biggest difference of all is this,” he says with a sweep of his arm. I peer out at the landscape around Van der Molen’s home as we stroll through his garden, and I feel as if I’m walking through a Tom Thomson painting. “In Europe, everything and everyone is just a tiny bit too close.

Canada is so vast.”

This reminds me of something Lisa Elser told me a few days before. One of Canada’s very few gem cutters, the Swiss-trained, British Columbiabased artisan has won international recognition for the precision and creativity of her work with tourmalines, spinels, sapphires and garnets. “I do think that as Canadians we have a better sense of ourselves in nature,” she told me from her home studio. “From my kitchen window, I can look out through the forest at the Burrard Inlet and see deer, sometimes bears and coyotes, walking past. That’s very important to me.”

Elser came to the trade relatively late, leaving a well-established career in IT to pursue an entirely different way of life. “Good women do not sit with empty hands,” she laughs. “I knit, I weave, I sew, and I wanted to get out of what was mostly a life of conference calls and writing papers. The idea of making something beautiful with my own hands was very compelling for me.” The new career also fit well with a taste for travel. “My husband and I are birdwatchers, and the very good gem places are also very good bird places. So we decided to go to the source.”

Today, the Elsers travel the world – Tanzania, Kenya, Madagascar, Sri Lanka – to source the stones they bring back to Canada to cut. Aside from the custom designs and quality that make their product so coveted by goldsmiths near and far, there is another unique aspect to their business practices: They donate 20 percent of their profits to the communities that provide them with the gems.

“We gave an ultrasound machine and a trinocular lab microscope to a free clinic in Nigeria,” says Elser. “We donate to schools, we donate to women’s groups throughout Africa and Asia.

That’s part of what we do and how we stay close to our providers.”

Elser isn’t the only generous jeweller on the scene. Winnipeg’s Hilary Druxman has made designing charity pieces a personal calling: Since her first design for the Canadian Museum for Human Rights seven years ago, she has created custom pendants for over 30 organizations – and the list is growing. Druxman designs widely accessible pieces out of sterling silver, mostly

ROCK STEADY Anouk Jewelry (Toronto), 14K gold “Underwater Vision” ring with chrysocolla stone

inspired by organic shapes such as fossils (in aid of the Manitoba Museum), pebbles (to raise funds for United Way Winnipeg) and forget-me-nots (for the Alzheimer Society).

“So many of our customers are involved in fundraising galas and charity work,” explains Druxman, “creating these pieces just felt natural.”

CRYSTAL CLEAR Dorothée Rosen (Halifax), 18K gold “Onefooter Ring” with a 0.25ct Canadian diamond

Romancing the stone Walking into Galerie Noel Guyomarc’h in Montreal or Rubaiyat on Calgary’s 17th Avenue feels more like entering a contemporary jewellery museum than a jewellery store. Both showcase the natural themes common to Canadian jewellery design.

The collections run the gamut, from Dorothée Rosen’s leaf-imprinted rings to Rudi Peet’s elliptical shapes and angles. Originally from the Netherlands, Peet calls Canmore, Alberta, home, and he finds an unending source of inspiration in both the nuances and raw grandeur of the Canadian Rockies. This translates into designs that are miniature wearable sculptures, where with the subtlest of allusions, a frosted gold surface indented with tiny diamonds can hint at the sparkle of sunlight on a snowy mountain range.

With her predilection for blue-greens, teals and aquamarines, Anat Kaplan is influenced more by things aquatic than mountainous. The Moscowborn, Israel-raised and now Toronto-based designer behind the brand Anouk Jewelry makes 44

pieces so eternal that they look like they could have been found in an ancient Egyptian pyramid somewhere along the Nile.

“It’s so much about water for me. The flow of water, the shimmer of water and all the textures that go with it, like sand, rocks and cliffs. Without being too figurative, I want to evoke that feeling. It has a very soothing and centring effect on me – it’s what I crave when I’m running around downtown Toronto!”

Kaplan spent most of her adult life making art and studying art history, never dreaming she would become a jeweller. Then, during her studies, she came across images of ancient Roman and Greek jewellery, and inspiration struck. Kaplan’s designs stand alone in their mix of solid-gold ruggedness and fairylike delicatesse, her signature stones being green sapphires and rough diamonds. She capitalizes on their earthy sparkle and encases them in pockmarked, nearly rustic bands.

“We live in such a structured world, and when we see shapes that are more organic, it’s as if our eyes rest,” she says. “There’s something very soothing about forms that flow and aren’t perfect.”

In order to enhance this connection between object and wearer, Kaplan sidesteps digital design and measuring tools. Instead, a consultation with her clients about a ring, for instance, focuses on translating their story into an object that is meaningful to them, what she calls their own “personal talisman.”

After sketching the design, she hand-sculpts the ring in wax before casting it in metal and adding precious gems.

Back to basics

A FROSTED gold surface indented with diamonds can hint at the sparkle of sunlight on a snowy mountain range.

Back in Luskville, Quebec, Walter Van der Molen is just as invested in the personal touch. As two tabbies intertwine around his legs, he shows me the ins and outs of his home studio, which, like his jewellery, is tasteful and understated. Since his studio is in his family home, he doesn’t like using harsh acids and chemicals, so he works with natural gas and citric acid made from orange rinds. He says he just isn’t the industrial type. Even his workbench is recuperated, a discard from George Brown College in Toronto that he has breathed new life into, and which is now scattered with glimmering bits and pieces – small pearls, shimmering stones and scraps of precious metals half-fashioned into future keepsakes.

“I like the idea of craftsmanship, and I love the tools of the trade,” says Van der Molen. “I like sitting behind this bench, feeling its history and showing people that yes, you can still produce beautiful things by hand.”

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Salt of the

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Earth In the Magdalen Islands, nature changes everything.

WO RDS MÉL ANIE ROY PHOTOS DOMINIQUE L AFOND

egend has it that you return from the Magdalen Islands a different person. The thought enters my mind just as I spot the first signs of terra firma on the horizon. Five hours have passed since the ferry set sail from Souris, Prince Edward Island, on its way to this tiny archipelago of 14 islands (six of which are joined) in the heart of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence.

In the distance I spot the magical mix of quartz and iron oxide that makes up the Magdalen Islands’ red sandstone cliffs. The deep striations and spectacular geometric shapes created by erosion show just how relentless the sea’s assault has been on this part of the earth. Further on, the hills and cedar clapboard houses, despite their cheerful paint jobs in red, blue and mint, are pounded relentlessly by a wind that rarely stops to catch its breath. Here, nature never sleeps. It whips and whirls everything in its path, leaving its trace everywhere – including on the local bounty I’ve come here to discover.

Feeling like I have one foot in Quebec and the other on the edge of the world, I disembark at the dock in Cap-aux-Meules, a town that serves as the gateway to the islands. The air is dense, infused with the mineralized smell of the sea. I take a deep breath: It’s been a long voyage, but the islands’ remoteness makes me feel that I’m on a genuine expedition. One full of possibilities.

Ship in a bottle

ON MARI-TIME Clockwise from top: Dominique Arseneau from Fromagerie du Pied-de-Vent; the apple in each Poméloi brandy grows inside its bottle; the spectacular landscape of the Magdalen Islands.

My first port of call is the Chez Denis à François inn, in Havre-Aubert, on the southern tip of the archipelago. It’s painted pineapple yellow and has the look of a miniature manor, with its dormer windows jutting out proudly. It’s steps away from the historic site of La Grave, protected since 1983, the former centre of commercial fishing activities in the area. You can still see the original wooden shacks where fish was once salted before being dried in the sun on the pebble beach.

I get out of the car and stand captivated by the view of the ocean before me, as far as the eye can see. My host doesn’t seem surprised when he finds me in this enraptured state, a piece of luggage in each hand. He grabs my bags and cheerfully beckons me inside. Denis, who lent his name to the inn (the “à François,” a local way of tracking lineage, means “son of François”), leads me to my room in mercedes-magazine.ca

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a newly opened wing. It’s homey, cozily decorated in country style.

No sooner am I settled than I head out again, back onto the main road, the 199, in search of P’tit-Bois Nord lane, which runs through the village of Bassin. I’m expected at the Poméloi orchard, where for over 20 years now Éloi Vigneau and Monique Solomon have miraculously managed to grow apples under the most rugged conditions. Apple trees are fragile, and not supposed to withstand short growing seasons, violent winds and the salty sea air’s tendency to burn foliage. “The project developed over time,” explains Éloi. “As the years went by, there was a period of natural selection. Only the varieties able to survive without chemical fertilizers have endured.” He climbs the hill of the steep orchard at an athletic pace, excited about showing me the 550 trees planted tightly side by side, as Monique lags behind in an effort to slow him down. I trudge along between them, panting slightly and listening to their story.

It goes like this: One season, having harvested so many apples that they didn’t know what to do with them, the couple was encouraged by a local seaman, a Breton who had relocated to the Magdalen Islands, to make cider according to traditional Brittany methods. The experiment was a success. Today, they create, not one, but four elixirs in their small cider house, including the flagship Poméloi, a mixture of cider and apple eau-de-vie. Every narrow-necked bottle contains a whole round apple, a clever trick they pull off by growing the apple inside the bottle right there on the tree.

Taming Magdalen Early the next morning, I’m motoring along the Pointe-Basse coast on Havre-aux-Maisons Island, on my way to the Léo & fils farm, home since 1998 to Pied-de-Vent cheese. I find Dominique “à Jérémie à Léo” Arseneau in the stables, herding his dark, sturdy Canadian cows. Their bovine ancestors arrived here by boat along with early settlers.

Curious about the newcomer, the beasts give me the once over with big brown eyes before filing out over the hillock that leads to their pasture.

They’ll spend the day grazing on the dry grasses that are sown by gusts of sea breeze – it’s the salty secret behind the unique flavour of their rich and creamy milk.

The cheeses produced here – in particular the signature Pied-de-Vent, a washed-rind cheese 48

HERE, nature never sleeps. It whips and whirls everything in its path, leaving its trace everywhere.

FATHER AND SON Daniel “à Ben” (above) of the Fumoir d’antan and his brothers smoke herring using techniques practiced by their grandfather.

with delicate notes of hazelnut and mushroom – have greatly contributed to the reawakening of the local economy and have gone a long way towards putting the Magdalen Islands on the gastronomic map. As he closes the gate behind the cows, Dominique explains that this culinary renaissance has created a spirit of solidarity among islanders. Here, nothing is wasted. The whey – the liquid left over after the milk has coagulated – is used to feed the wild boars raised

by Jeannot Aucoin. The calves from Léo & fils farm are sent to be raised by their neighbours, the Nathaëls. Johanne Vigneau, who runs the Gourmande de nature boutique as well as the acclaimed Table des Roy restaurant, two essential stops in L’Étang-du-Nord for those looking to taste the delights of island heritage, creates ice cream flavoured with local cheeses.

Atop a windy hill on the farm, I look to the sky in search of a pied-de-vent, the local French expression for the phenomenon in which a ray of sunshine pierces a cloud to form an impressive beam of light. To sailors, the sight is welcome. It indicates strong winds ahead.

But no such luck today: The sky is clear and a brilliant blue.

Nearby, a free-spirited black Lab named Smokey welcomes me to the Fumoir d’antan with a wagging tail. Behind him, a tall man with an anchor tattoo on his arm appears in the doorway. It’s Daniel “à Ben” Arseneau. In 1996, he and his brothers restored one of the two smokehouses owned by their grandfather, structures that were able to survive the near disappearance of herring fishing in the 1970s. (The other building now houses a small museum.) Today, the smokehouse is more of a craft operation than a large commercial one, explains Daniel in his singsong accent that tends to skip over Rs. Thousands of golden fish speared on spokes as high as the ceiling shimmer in the large wooden hangar. The maple-wood smoking fires that flavour them have to be fed night and day for two long months. The Arseneaus specialize in herring, mussels, salmon and mackerel, but they also smoke the cheddar created by their neighbours at Pied-de-Vent and the malt used by local microbrewery À l’abri de la tempête. (The brewers make a strong, woodsy barley wine with grains that have roasted alongside the fish.) Clearly the islanders’ location, so far from the mainland, has moulded this crafty community into a strong, tight-knit circle.

GO FISH Café de la Grave, located in the old home of the fishing industry, carries more than 30 years worth of local flavours on its menu, including clam chowder in a bread bowl.

Edge of the world The next day, I head to Auberge La Salicorne in Grande-Entrée, at the archipelago’s northern tip.

To get there, one must cross Grosse-Île, one of the area’s two English-speaking villages (the other is on Île d’Entrée island), mostly inhabited by the descendants of Scottish shipwreck castaways.

After 80-odd serene kilometres bordered by sea on both sides, I reach Grande-Entrée Harbour, where lobster boats bob on the water. It’s the first week of May – the official start of lobster season – and the fishermen have spread out into the bay to launch their traps. The seabed here is

LAND AND SEA The view from the top of a hill on Havre-aux-Maisons Island. In the distance you can just spot the smallest lighthouse of the islands on Cape Alright.

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rocky, not muddy, which is what aficionados say makes Magdalen Islands lobster the very best in the world.

Soon, I reach the end of the 199. The road ends abruptly in front of me, giving way to an enormous lagoon. By my side, two intrepid cyclists stop to catch their breath and take in the view before turning back. (The islands offer nearly 100 kilometres of cycle-friendly roads.) I’ve got that strange feeling again that I’m standing at the edge of the world. Moved by the thought, I make a U-turn and notice an impressive lime green building on my left for the first time.

La Salicorne was set up as an NPO in an effort to create jobs in this wilder, more tucked-away part of the islands, where fishing is still the primary pursuit (70 percent of jobs in the Magdalen Islands remain in the fishing industry).

The inn specializes in nature expeditions: underwater cave explorations, kayak excursions, diving for shells.

“The inn practically appeared out of nowhere!”

I say later to my hostess Lucie Longuépée, who

O CAPTAIN! From top: Lauréat Déraspe weaves a lobster net; Grande-Entrée Harbour, where most lobster boats dock.

AFTER DAYS spent living with the rhythm of the tides, I feel like I’m coming down with a reverse form of seasickness – a fear of missing the unique, magnetic beauty of the ocean.

LOBSTER FEST At Bistro du Capitaine, on Havre-aux-Maisons Island, a poutine topped with freshly caught lobster is the menu’s show stopper.

smiles sympathetically. I’ve only just finished my plateful of Coquilles Saint-Jacques when she (an energetic spitfire of a guide) tells me to follow her. She takes a look at the sky and puts on a thin summer tuque. “There’ll be a chill later today,” she decides.

Lucie knows the Magdalen Islands by heart and gives me a crash course on how they formed atop salt beds. She recounts the history of shipwrecks in the area, too – there have been over 400, which has given the islands an unfortunate reputation as a marine cemetery. Lucie takes me to the Grande Échouerie, where seals come to sunbathe on the big flat boulders, and teaches me to identify local marine plants like sea rocket, beach grass and Scotch lovage. They grow in the dunes all over the islands and are highly prized by local chefs.

On the way back, we stop for a visit with Lauréat Déraspe, a lobster fisherman from a family of lobster fishermen, who’s been in the business since the age of 14. Out in his shed, he passes the time between expeditions by sewing nets for lobster traps. “They’re as sturdy as the foundation of a house,” he says, and I have to agree as I watch Lauréat’s large callused hands work the delicate strings of the net. His repetitive movements, the cumulative results of nautical wisdom passed down over generations, are a mesmerizing sight to behold.

Island time I spend my last afternoon strolling the marina, reading boat names. I was told that, ironically, while islanders are known by their fathers’ names, the boats are named after their kids. My wandering brings me back to Havre-Aubert, the starting point of my journey. From the beach, I hear music wafting out of Café de la Grave, a defunct general store that was turned into a bistro in the 1980s.

The café breathed new life to an all-but-forgotten part of the island and quickly became a meeting place for both tourists and locals.

Inside, the air is thick with the mouthwatering aromas of cod cakes, clam chowder and pot-enpot (a local specialty resembling a seafood pâté).

These classic dishes have graced the menu for over 30 years. Sitting on an old piano bench, Sonia “à Denis à François” Painchaud plays a haunting melody on her accordion. She announced just this week that after eight years, she’s ready to pass the family restaurant torch in order to focus on her music career.

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ADRESSES

A Taste of the Islands À l’abri de la tempête

HOLY SPIRIT Vieux Couvent is a luxury hotel full of little nods to its former life as a seminary.

The islands’ only microbrewery is housed in a defunct fish factory.

A special tip of the hat goes to Écume, a beer that reflects its maritime origins with salty accents and refreshing bitterness with notes of grain and noble hops.

418 986-5005 ALABRIDELATEMPETE.COM

Tonight the place is bouncing with islanders, including, to my happy surprise, Monique and Éloi from the Poméloi orchard. They invite me to join their table, demonstrating once again why the islanders have such a friendly reputation.

The yellowish light of dusk is falling on the café’s mix-and-match furniture and jumbled bookshelves. Tomorrow’s departure is weighing on me. After days spent living with the rhythm of the tides, I feel like I’m coming down with a reverse form of seasickness – a fear of missing the unique, magnetic beauty of the ocean.

Its pull influences everything on the islands, including people’s moods and temperaments, and I’m definitely no exception.

I think back to the artisans I’ve met who work against the unstable elements, and conclude that this island’s wild nature is both a blessing and a

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curse. If the very act of cultivating food in such a rebellious and rugged environment is itself a miracle, then the ingredients themselves somehow become imbued with some of that magic.

They carry the flavours of their place on earth.

Sonia, who has joined us after giving up the stage to a pianist, catches my eye and seems to read my thoughts. “You’ve caught the bug!” she declares, with the certainty of someone who’s seen it happen a thousand times.

You return from the Magdalen Islands a different person. Those words echo in my mind that night, as I retreat to the Vieux Couvent, a luxury hotel located in a former seminary where the sisters of Notre-Dame used to train young schoolteachers. And so I fall asleep with the windows wide open, so I can wake to the tide’s wild roar one last time.

O N E O F T H E M O S T delightful ways to discover the Magdalen Islands is on two wheels, and the most stylish way to do that is on the new Mercedes-Benz Fitness Bike. Produced in collaboration with premium bike manufacturer Rotwild, the unisex Fitness Bike comes in three different frame sizes and features sporty white and silver trim. Weighing just 14.5 kilograms, it incorporates a high-end 27-speed Shimano DEORE shifter, a lockable Suntour suspension fork and hydraulic Shimano disc brakes. It’s also made for comfort even on long rides, with Ergon handlebar grips, wide tires, angle-adjustable stem and contoured Phorm saddle. Add an aluminium rack and pannier and you’re all set for sightseeing adventures on the islands’ quiet paved roads and red sandstone trails, plus picnics on white-sand beaches.

L’ÉTAL — Produits d’ici Locally made goods line the shelves of this stylish little food market the whole year round. The store is an initiative of Bon goût frais des Îles, a group of producers dedicated to promoting the islands’ remarkable culinary savoir-faire.

418 986-6650 LEBONGOUTFRAISDESILES.COM

Café du Moussonneur Salty coffee, anyone? The specialty beverage at this craft café is made with coffee beans soaked in seawater while still green, then sun-dried on the beach before being roasted.

418 986-6617 LEMOUSSONNEUR.COM

Gourmande de nature Chef Johanne Vigneau, owner of this boutique-workshop, transforms Mother Nature’s wild treasures into flavourful delights. Among the treats to bring home you’ll find wild rose syrup, Scotch lovage salt and lavender sugar.

418 968-6767 GOURMANDEDENATURE.COM

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SPOTLIGHT

THE NEXT DIMENSION In the new magazine Mercedes-Benz next,

ALL AMG This blog is independent of Mercedes-Benz and solely dedicated to all things AMG. Catch up on the latest models, racing news and technological innovations.

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WEB ART The Daimler Art Collection contains some 2,200 works by 800 artists, more than 350 of which – from paintings to furniture – are on view in this new online exhibition.

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ILLUSTRATION CRISTIANO RINALDI PHOTOS JOSEF ALBERS; NESTING TABLES 1926/27 DAIMLER ART COLLECTION STUT TGART/BERLIN PHOTOGR APHER UWE SEYL; STUT TGART; DAIMLER AG; MERCEDES -AMG

experts in technology and transportation express their views on important innovations and future-oriented issues – from augmented reality to robotics – through articles and videos. NEXT.MERCEDES-BENZ.COM/EN

TOTAL TECHNOLOGY Mercedes-Benz’s elaborate online TechCenter explains, in several languages, the functioning of many of the company’s innovations in the areas of safety, comfort, environment and sportiness.

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NETWORKED The social cloud page gathers posts about Mercedes-Benz from independent Web sources, including blogs, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram, as well as from the company’s social media outlets.

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PHOTO X X X X X X

DIGITAL

TREASURES

The Internet is strewn with hidden gems – you just need to know where to look. Here are a few hot tips for the digitally adventurous.

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MASTERPIECE The new Mercedes-Benz GLE 450 AMG 4MATIC Coupe at the former Expo site
in Lisbon.

DOUBLE

LIFE

Two in one: The new GLE Coupe from Mercedes-Benz combines the dynamic prowess of a coupe with the robust authority and assurance of an SUV. WORDS JAN WILMS PHOTOS ANKE LUCKMANN

SPOTLIGHT

FUN TIMES Under the hood of the GLE 450 AMG Coupe is a three-litre biturbo V6 engine. 4MATIC permanent all-wheel drive channels the power safely onto the road.

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362 HP AND ENDLESS TRACTION

PULLING POWER

SITTING PRETTY The GLE Coupe offers the seating comfort and ride quality of a sedan.

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lass canopies top the manmade forest rising up from the centre of the city close to the banks of the Tagus River. This is Lisbon-Oriente station, and out of the myriad arches of its treelike steelroof construction flows a constant stream of people. They’re all heading for the Parque das Nações, the former Expo site in the eastern part of the Portuguese capital. Little more than a decaying section of dockland 20 years ago, this waterside sliver of real estate has since become one of Lisbon’s most desirable districts, replete with postmodern architecture. The new quarter represents the latest chapter in a long history of reconstruction in a city that once ruled over a global empire.

With its eye-catching design, the new Mercedes-Benz GLE Coupe slips effortlessly into this ensemble of standout architecture. The GLE, a mixture of sporting coupe and robust SUV, provides a case study on how to constantly develop vehicles and come up with answers to new questions, while at the same time remaining true to the character and values of a brand.

Over one hundred years’ experience in building

automobiles has given Mercedes-Benz the knowledge of how to blend modern dynamism with the gifts of the past. The first time you set eyes on the GLE Coupe, you are struck immediately by the contrast bound up within its design, the best of two worlds coming together.

Up above, the flat roof with its seductive verve reminiscent of a sports coupe; lower down, the solid stance with high ground clearance and the muscular wheel arches of an SUV. The rear end, with hints of the S-Class Coupe about it, offers an understated reminder of its noble bloodline.

AT YO U R F I N G E R T I P S The COMAND Online infotainment system can be operated intuitively using the touchpad in the centre console.

Spirit and speed Of course, this vehicleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sporty lines would remain little more than window dressing <

SUN DECK The optimal panoramic glass roof bathes the passenger compartment in light.

STRIKING EXPRESSION The radiator grille with chrome louvre accentuates the car’s sporting character.

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without the inner substance to back them up. In the GLE 450 AMG 4MATIC Coupe, that substance comes in the form of a biturbo V6 engine, 362 hp and torque peaking at 384 lb-ft. The engine’s power is channelled to all four wheels via the 9G-TRONIC nine-speed automatic transmission.

Translated into the language of physics, that means the car delivers the lateral and longitudinal acceleration you’d expect of a genuine sports coupe.

And, thanks to the 4MATIC permanent all-wheeldrive system, it maintains outstanding traction at the same time. It doesn’t take long behind the wheel to experience the theory in practice. On the highway running over the Ponte 25 de Abril, one of the world’s largest suspension bridges, a light nudge of the accelerator turns the comfortable longdistance tourer into a hot-heeled bundle of power.

BOLD STATEMENTS

SPORTY AND ELEGANT

Full-blooded rumble This monumental artery over the Tagus serves up quite wonderful, if fleeting, views over the Lisbon skyline. Before the city is back upon us, there’s one more chance to overtake a column of cars. It’s a level of ambition the GLE Coupe happily indulges. A turn of the DYNAMIC SELECT controller on the centre tunnel is all that’s required to switch from cosseting Comfort mode to dynamic Sport Plus. It’s not only the responses of the engine, Sports DirectSteer and suspension that change, but also the engine’s soundtrack. From its powerfully composed base tone at 2,500 rpm, the GLE 450 AMG 4MATIC Coupe instigates a snarling crescendo that bubbles up into a full-blooded rumble on kickdown.

The interior is high-class, in the truest sense of the word, and conveys a feeling of safety, comfort and ultimate connectivity. The four-door body certainly obeys the rules of coupe-style sporty lines, but at the same time the world can be observed from a little extra elevation – as in an SUV. The AMG sports seats provide optimum lateral support, even during sharp corners, and the cockpit connects with the outside world in a variety of ways. There’s the digital path via the COMAND Online system integrated into the centre console, complete with info display and touchpad. And there’s the direct route, with the large panoramic glass roof flooding the cabin with Lisbon’s clear light.

That’s another strength of the new model: its ability to adapt to very different driving <

PAC KING IT IN The trunk swallows up to 1,650 litres of luggage – a world best for a coupe.

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TOP MODEL The GLE 450 AMG 4MATIC Coupe is the first AMG sports model. The new product line provides an attractive entry point into the world of AMG.

i GLE 450 AMG 4MATIC Coupe Engine/Performance 3.0-litre biturbo V6, 362 hp at 5,500– 6,000 rpm; max. torque 384 lb-ft at 1,800–4,000 rpm

Transmission 9G-TRONIC nine-speed automatic

Drive configuration 4MATIC permanent all-wheel drive

Press to change character The standard-fitted DYNAMIC SELECT system allows the GLE Coupe to alter its nature, as the driver desires, from blissfully comfortable (in the SUV mould) to dynamic and agile (like a pure-bred sports coupe).

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

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situations, rising to each task in turn. Inside, you can find the clearest indicators of its M-Class origins (see page 26 for more information on the new nomenclature for Mercedes-Benz model series). Like the SUV, the GLE Coupe also offers space for up to five people, and the rear seat bench is the widest in its class.

We stop off again at Parque das Nações and its elegant Portuguese pavilion with “floating” concrete cover – architecture made possible by special technology. Here, too, there are parallels with the GLE 450 AMG 4MATIC Coupe.

The car’s unusual construction has been honed by the hand of technology. For example, the centre of gravity of the new Mercedes-Benz is higher than that of a conventional coupe, placing more demands on the suspension.

To meet the challenge, the engineers came up with a combination of long-established and

fresh-out-of-the-box Mercedes-Benz technologies.

The re-tuned AIRMATIC air suspension, the now continuously variable damping system ADS Plus and the ACTIVE CURVE SYSTEM (available as an option) with active roll stabilization are a formula for assured handling in every situation – from relaxed cruises on the highway to adrenaline-pumping excursions over twisty mountain passes.

Enduring innovation Few major cities are quicker to make a stranger feel welcome than Lisbon. The locals recognize that successful links between the old and the new represent the keys to the future. The GLE Coupe also brings together tradition and innovation – and prompts the feeling that the new model will grow beyond its current appeal into a classic of tomorrow.

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Eyes on the Future

Copenhagen has become a model for urban planners the world over: The city is green, modern and lively. And with the invention of Nordic Cuisine, the Danish capital has also become a mecca for gourmands.

WORDS GERO GĂ&#x153;NTHER PHOTOS ENNO K APITZA

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COLLECTIVELY SPEAKING Copenhagen has baristas like Callum Hare of the Coffee Collective to thank for the development of its robust coffee culture, while architecture’s numberone rule – that the people using a building should feel comfortable in it – is exemplified by the university dormitory Tietgenkollegiet in Ørestad (left).

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he early-evening sunlight streams through the huge window, fanning out between the seats and sculptures, drawings and plans. Beyond the metre-high windowpane, a freighter churns its way through the blue-green sea, while on the horizon the whirling rotors of a wind generator trace a translucent circle. Sailboats glide back and forth. “Our mission is to bring a breath of fresh air to businesses and institutions,” says Rosan Bosch. Her eyes flash briefly, as if she’s demonstrating that her battery pack is fully charged. “And we happen to be in exactly the right place for doing that.”

Breaking down borders is this 44-year-old designer and artist’s specialty – an approach that works especially well in Copenhagen, a city that prioritizes movement and flexibility over hierarchical structures and tradition. Bosch has designed several schools, libraries and university buildings, and even jolted the developers of Lego with an office where they have to use slides to move between floors. “The desire to learn,” she says, “is one of our most basic instincts.”

Her schools look anything but ordinary. In place of traditional classrooms, they feature open learning zones, rest platforms and flexibility.

Bosch, who relocated to the Øresund Region years ago from Holland, favours solutions that are playful and experimental. “My first job in Denmark was designing creative office spaces for the Ministry of Economics,” she relates. “I got the job even though I was a complete unknown at the time.” That’s Copenhagen in a nutshell: People are keen to approach things differently than before.

Increasingly, Copenhagen is becoming a kind of research laboratory, a city that defines itself as a prototype for a new urbanism. In numerous surveys, Copenhagen has been consistently rated as having the highest quality of life of any city in the world. A quick stroll along the city streets and you understand what the fuss is about. The cafés and bars are packed, people bask outside in the sunshine, groups of joggers and cyclists zip past, the harbour is full of paddlers. Skateboarders, women in head scarves, bearded hipsters and senior citizens all rub shoulders in the city’s public squares. Brand new buildings like the Royal Danish Theatre or the “Black Diamond” – the name bestowed on the massive library by locals – attract hundreds of visitors daily, and the classic designs of Arne Jacobsen, Hans Wegner and Louis Poulsen are in evidence everywhere.

BIKE CITY Public spaces expert Camilla van Deurs wanted Copenhagen to be known as the world’s best city for cycling – and, lo and behold, it is.

ALL CLEAR Modern architecture meets the harbour: The Saxo Bank building (left) stands in stark contrast to the historic city centre at the Amagertorv (above).

“People ought to like the city they live in,” says Camilla van Deurs, an expert in public spaces, landscape architecture and master planning in the office of legendary urbanist Jan Gehl.

Aged 78, Gehl is one of the prime movers behind Copenhagen’s transformation. As a university lecturer, city government adviser and visionary, he worked for decades to get his ideas implemented. He envisioned a city for pedestrians and cyclists, and it appears his ultimate goal has been realized. These days, Gehl and his staff are busy exporting his success formula around the globe.

Aided by social scientists and anthropologists, van Deurs and her colleagues have amassed thousands of statistics specific to Copenhagen.

Where do people like to spend time, and for how long? How do people react to different kinds of sidewalks? When do they feel safe, and where?

“The detailed knowledge we have accumulated allows us to offer solutions tailored to specific problems. And many of our proposals aren’t expensive,” explains the 37-year-old, exuding

COPENHAGEN is exactly the right place to bring a breath of fresh air to businesses and institutions.

an optimism that has nothing to do with naiveté.

In Copenhagen, she explains, areas have been connected that previously had nothing to do with one another. As the city grew, it simultaneously drew closer together. Greenbelts were created, and formerly troubled neighbourhoods were improved through citizen-sponsored initiatives.

Of course, Copenhagen boasts sights that more than justify a visit to the city in their own right: Rosenborg Castle, the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek or the new Den Blå Planet aquarium. But what really makes the contemporary city so uniquely captivating is its densely interwoven network of greenways and water, public spaces and attractive architecture.

Copenhagen’s cityscape is not the only thing that has undergone drastic change, however. So have the attitudes of its residents and its epicurean culture. “We have become surprisingly receptive to fine food and wine,” says Peter Dupont. The 40-year-old is one of four founders of the Coffee Collective, a showcase Copenhagen company specializing in gourmet coffee. It currently has two locations in the capital’s centre: one on trendy Jaegersborggade in the Nørrebro neighbourhood, the other in the indoor market at Israels Plads. “It’s a development that would have been impossible without Noma,” continues Dupont. In his view, Noma – named the world’s best restaurant several times – has almost singlehandedly vaulted Copenhagen onto the global culinary map. Nordic cuisine has long since taken up an elevated position in the gourmet cooking world, and Copenhagen has become a foodie mecca.

These developments were not lost on the Coffee Collective’s founders, who recognized in them the nascent tenets of their own business model: green, fair and using only the very best beans available. Too fine for espresso machines, their specialty coffees have to be painstakingly brewed with filters. This preserves the delicate aromas, the product of an unusually slow roasting process. “Our coffees have a sweetness and purity that you don’t come across very often,” explains Dupont. But his ultimate goals are much higher: “As far as coffee goes, we’re just scratching the surface of the potential flavour experiences.” Copenhagen is clearly the perfect place to savour such experimentation. mercedes-magazine.ca

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BEARDS GALORE A V O I D I N G a street encounter with someone who looks like Tokes (below) would have been the recommended course of action just a few years ago.

Nowadays, tattoo-covered arms and a full beard are considered socially acceptable and cool. “Actually, I look just like most of the other hipsters in this town,” says the 31-year-old bartender with a grin. Tokes is a good-natured fellow, forthcoming and friendly, and he loves the neighbourhood in which he lives and works, Vesterbro, which once had a reputation as a den of iniquity. Though trendier now, it still preserves a few rough spots. “You come across people here from all walks of life,” says Tokes, manager of the Lidkoeb Bar, one of the city’s hottest watering holes.

Despite its size – its rooms take up three entire floors – the Lidkoeb is ultimately a cozy place, reminiscent of your living room. The cocktail menu is as lengthy as it is original. And on the topmost floor sits the dimly lit whisky bar, where overcrowding is never a problem – only 28 guests are allowed in at any time. LIDKOEB.DK

COPENHAGENERS have discovered epicurean culture, and have a burgeoning interest in wine and fine food.

COCKTAIL PARTY Lidkoeb bartender Tokes (right) can fix any kind of drink you want, from regular old whisky to fancy cocktails.

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FOOD BY THE SEA Once it sold ferry tickets, now the Standard houses three restaurants and a jazz club. Studio, run by Michelinstarred chef Torsten Vildegaard (below), is also located there.

LEEK WITH H AY A S H AND WHITE MISO MAKES 4 SERVINGS - LEEKS - 2 TSP PARSLEY OIL (MADE FROM DRIED PARSLEY AND GRAPESEED OIL) - 30 ML (1 OZ) MISO - CITRUS THYME - HAY

S H O O T I N G S TA R ON THE ØRESUND F E W C H E F S H A V E E A R N E D a Michelin star faster than Torsten Vildegaard with his Studio restaurant.

It opened its doors in fall 2013; a scant three months later, the former Noma chef had his first star. “I’m kind of an ambitious guy,” he deadpans. “Let’s wait and see when I get my second.” Vildegaard describes his dining concept as “Nordic food without restrictions.” While he prefers his ingredients to be regionally sourced, “there’s no need

to make a religion out of it.” Vildegaard’s light, modern cuisine represents culinary craftsmanship at its best. His creations are clever and complex, “but it’s good to have a decent piece of meat on your plate every now and then.” Like lamb with sorrel, for instance, or monkfish garnished with crispy pig’s ears and bergamot. With its friendly waitstaff, there’s hardly a better place in Copenhagen to dine these days than Studio. Just don’t run for cover when the sauce for the gooseberry granitas shows up in a flower vase. EN.THESTANDARDCPH.DK/STUDIO

Clean leeks. Wrap the green part in a wet dishtowel and boil for four to five minutes with only the white part submerged in the water. Briefly plunge in ice water, rub with parsley oil and garnish with citrus thyme.

Combine miso and parsley oil and refrigerate. Incinerate the hay until it turns to ash, place in a blender, then strain through a fine-mesh sieve. Coat half the plate with the marinade, then dust with powdered ash and arrange the leeks on the plate.

EYES LEFT Michelin-starred chef Christian Puglisi (far right) demonstrates how to break down culinary boundaries.

S I M P LY D I F F E R E N T S I C I L I A N - B O R N Christian Puglisi may be a Michelin-starred chef who used to work at elBulli and Noma, but nowadays he prefers things to be uncomplicated. The dishes in his restaurant, Relae, are simple yet rigorously thought out and perfectly executed.

Instead of luxury items, he likes serving up surprises like trout with chicken skin. RESTAURANT-RELAE.DK

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BREAD AS ART At the Hallernes stand, the enjoyment of smørrebrød in all its lip-smacking varieties is more than just a culinary feast.

STUFF TO SEE 1

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CLASSY QUARTER

ART BREAK

BETTER LIVING

Once the preferred hangout of the Hell’s Angels, the Jaegersborggade in Nørrebro is now the city’s trendiest promenade. In addition to 40 boutiques, bars and restaurants, it boasts an organic hairdresser, a subterranean wine bar and Meyers Bageri, an ecological baker whose owner, Claus Meyer, also counts Noma and the Standard among his portfolio.

What better place to put a museum than right on the Øresund? The sculpture park and the seashore would be worth a visit in themselves. Add to that the Louisiana museum’s world-class modern art collection and magnificent special exhibitions, and it’s a hit. The museum stays open until 10 p.m. EN.LOUISIANA.DK

Be it furniture, decor or lighting, everything bearing the most illustrious names in Scandinavian design, from Arne Jacobsen to Verner Panton, can be had at Illiums Bolughus on Amagertorv (Amager Square). Next door are stores belonging to Copenhagen’s trademark brands: silversmith Georg Jensen and Royal Copenhagen, manufacturer of fine porcelain.

GO DEEPER W A N T T O G O eye to eye with a hammerhead shark?

No problem – at Europe’s biggest aquarium, Den Blå Planet, visitors stroll underwater through glass-enclosed tunnels and imagine swimming beside a coral reef.

DENBLAAPLANET.DK

SIMPLE CHIC I F A M E N I T I E S G A L O R E are what you want in a hotel, SP 34 might not be the best place for you. There’s not even a reception desk – visitors check in at the bar. The four-star hotel’s 118 rooms are divided among three townhouses in the Latin Quarter university district. It may be restrained and minimalist, but the hotel definitely isn’t dull. Its long hallways with their artfully soiled carpeting and crumbling plasterwork are meant to convey a rough, urban sensibility. The decor is slightly retro, yet fully contemporary. SP 34’s service staff are dressed Danish casual – in shirtsleeves – and wine hour is religiously observed daily between 5 and 6 p.m., when guests are invited to help themselves to a pour or two from open bottles. BROCHNER-HOTELS.DK/OUR-HOTELS/SP34

SEASIDE DRIVE The Mercedes-Benz GLA in the fishing village of Humlebaek

EUROPEAN VEHICLE MODEL SHOWN

N E E D TO K N OW

ON THE GO I N D E N M A R K ’ S C A P I T A L , brand new bike paths crop up constantly. One of the most impressive routes runs south of the Langebro Bridge along the harbour to Bryggebroen. Cyclists pedal on undulating ramps from viewpoint to viewpoint, taking in the Cykelslangen (bicycle snake), a slender new cycling bridge that elegantly winds its way between the water and the blocks of urban architecture. Ride back on the other side, and you’ll pass by the renowned Islands Brygge open-air swimming facility. Watch out during rush hour, though, when thousands of cyclists are out!

Copenhagen Rules Name game Equality and simplicity are greatly valued in Denmark. People address each other on a first-name basis in almost all areas of life, whether it’s your co-worker, your boss or your teacher. When introducing yourself, just use your first name right off the bat.

Water ways There are few cities in the world where water encroaches as deeply into the downtown area as in the “Venice of the North.” The harbour is so squeaky clean, with its branching network of canals, that you can jump in for a dip anywhere. Many newer apartment buildings include jetties for docking boats and swimming. Some residents have even abandoned the land entirely, choosing to live on houseboats. All around the Danish capital, people are busy rowing, paddling and sailing, while at Amager Beach Park, kite-surfers clatter across the water. And as if that weren’t enough, the city limits include three overlapping lakes.

SPACE AGE Copenhagen’s urban planners know how to entice people to stop and stay awhile. The city is full of quiet zones, sitting areas and public spaces where people gather. Among the best are Israels Plads, Superkilen and the skateboarding area inside the huge Faelledparken.

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“Smørrebrød, smørrebrød røm, pøm, pøm, pøm” was the trademark Danish phrase ironically used by the Swedish chef character on the German version of The Muppet Show.

The Danes have elevated the humble sandwich to another level altogether, some so sumptuously garnished as to render the bread itself completely irrelevant.

Hallernes in Torvehallerne, an upscale indoor market and culinary hall, makes some of the best smørrebrød around.

TORVEHALLERNEKBH.DK/ENGLISH

ILLUSTRATION ANNA SCHÄFER

A slice is nice

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FLOURISHING Red azaleas skirt the 16th hole at the Augusta National Golf Club. Sinceâ&#x20AC;¨its debut in 1934, the Masters has set the benchmark for course grooming.

PHOTO MIKE BL AKE/REUTERS/CORBIS

BULLETIN

Golf’s Holy Grail No sporting event values tradition more highly than the Masters at Augusta National, the world’s premier golf tournament.

WORDS PETRA HIMMEL

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t’s like a scene from another era here in America’s Deep South. For players arriving at the gates of the Augusta National Golf Club on Washington Road in the town of Augusta, Georgia, it is the start of a journey into a different, unique world.

They are greeted by the sight of Magnolia Lane, an avenue lined with approximately 60 trees and overhanging branches. At the end stands the pristine white clubhouse, a classic example of Southern architecture. Flower beds brighten the foreground. As three-time champion Gary Player once put it, “The Masters is the only tournament I know that makes you gulp when you drive through the entrance.” And Bernhard Langer agrees: “For pros and amateurs alike, Augusta is just a dream. Everyone wants to play there.”

The famous Green Jacket This April marked 30 years since Langer, Germany’s most successful golfer, won his first major. At the presentation ceremony back in 1985, the 27-yearold in his bright red slacks and golf shirt stood on the terrace in front of the clubhouse to receive the champion’s famous Green Jacket. It was the start of a special relationship. Langer has won a total 78

of 95 tournaments around the world. Having played 96 majors, he is a true veteran among international golf greats. After winning the Masters for the first time in 1985, he took the title again in 1993. And after all these years playing golf, he is sure of one thing: “There’s something pretty unique about this tournament.”

The traditions of the Augusta National Golf Club are accorded a very special status: It is the only major tournament to be held at the same venue year after year, and the list of luminaries who have played on the hallowed turf of Augusta is long. President Eisenhower, for one, used to spend a great deal of his leisure time here during his term in office. For the fanatical bridge player, the club would have three playing partners on hand at all times in case the president – for whom a cabin was specially built on the grounds – decided he wanted a change from the usual round of golf.

Yet no matter how much he enjoyed the tranquility of the course, Eisenhower’s personal nemesis was a large pine tree on the 17th fairway, which came between his ball and the hole on many occasions. Club chairman Clifford Roberts refused < to accede to presidential requests to have

PHOTOS BRIAN MORGAN/ACTIONPLUS/CORBIS; HANS DERYK/REUTERS/CORBIS; PHIL SHELDON/POPPERFOTO/GET T Y IMAGES

A JOURNEY IN TIME Bernhard Langer hits out of a bunker on the way to his first Masters victory in 1985.

Opposite page: The 150-year-old oak tree next to the venerable clubhouse is a popular meeting place during the tournament.

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the tree removed. Known for decades thereafter as the Eisenhower Tree, it finally succumbed to an ice storm in 2014.

There’s one thing that will never change, though: the tradition of the Green Jacket. This item of clothing is a mark of distinction at the Masters, and club members in green are easily identified during tournament week. But the jacket, which is otherwise only worn by Masters champions, is subject to special terms and conditions. “I’m allowed to wear it as long as I’m attending the tournament and within the grounds,” explains Langer. It is one of many traditions at Augusta National.

No running Not even Masters winners can flout the etiquette and conventions of this club, where golf has been played since 1932. This is the only tournament where caddies are asked to dress in white jumpsuits, for example, and where coaches are denied access to the fairways even during practice rounds.

Thanks to the Masters rule book, Langer – as a former winner – is automatically <

BRIDGING THE GAP The 12th green is one of the most challenging on the course.

Jordan Spieth, winner of the 2015 Masters

The Tournament THE MASTERS Tournament, staged in April, is the first of the season’s four majors – the others being the Open Championship, the U.S. Open and the PGA. The Masters carries a total

purse of US$9 million.

As the event is by invitation only, Augusta National Golf Club reserves the right to select players.

However, all former Masters champions, including Bernhard Langer and Canada’s Mike Weir, are eligible to play.

The top 50 players in the world rankings are

usually also admitted, as are recent winners of golf’s majors, like Martin Kaymer, the reigning U.S. Open champion. A few other criteria are also considered grounds for admission, such as a top-12 finish at the previous year’s Masters.

This year, as usual, the Masters Tournament was preceded on Wednesday by the Par 3 Contest on the adjoining short course, for which most players recruited friends or children as caddies. The four days of the championship proper kicked off on Thursday, with opening tee shots from honorary starters Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer.

PHOTOS DAIMLER AG, HANS DERYK/REUTERS, FRED VUICH/SPORTS ILLUSTR ATED/GET T Y IMAGES, BRIAN MORGAN/ACTIONPLUS/CORBIS; EZR A SHAW / GET T Y IMAGES

invited back every year. Erstwhile champions traditionally introduce newcomers to the course.

Martin Kaymer, for example, has played his practice rounds with Langer at almost all his Masters appearances. The club is unique in allowing Masters participants to take a guest onto the course with them on the Sunday before the start of tournament week: “That has given me the opportunity to play with close friends or family members, which you can’t do at any other major,” says Langer. It lends the Sunday before the tournament the air of a family day. Another highlight is the opening of the tournament on Thursday, when the Honorary Starters Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer tee off at the first hole. Tiger Woods has described it as “one of the oldest and best traditions in the game.”

Even ticket sales are out of the ordinary at Augusta. Since 1972, badges can only be obtained by lottery. Cellphones are prohibited, resulting in long lines outside the phone booths.

Ice cream waffles at two bucks a go are as much a part of the standard fare as the pimento cheese sandwich for $1.50, which remains as popular as ever. French fries have never been on the menu because they were considered unhealthy by founding chairman Clifford Roberts.

And regardless of the product – iced tea, sandwich or soda pop – everything comes in bright green packaging. The only branding to appear on napkins, water bottles and T-shirts is the club’s green and yellow logo. Unlike other events in the world of elite sport today, the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club is an ad-free zone.

Small wonder, then, that such prestige is attached to the sponsorship opportunities awarded by current chairman Billy Payne to a select group of companies. Mercedes-Benz, for one, has been an international sponsor since 2008, and in 2014 became a global sponsor.

Clipped and manicured The tournament is more intriguing than any other.

“For me, the 13th is one of the most attractive and amazing golf holes you can play,” says Langer. A par-5 measuring 510 yards (466 metres), it offers an ideal blend of technical challenge and visual interest. Tall trees, a stream, a perfectly positioned green and hundreds of flowering shrubs all work in harmony to create a single entity.

Langer knows all too well the severity of the course: “These are always the 18 most complex greens we play in the entire season. When I

CULTIVATING TRADITION Few fairways are so perfectly manicured as those at Augusta National (above).

Only Masters winners are allowed to change in the champions’ locker room (below), and several players share the same locker due to lack of space.

FOR PROS and amateurs alike, Augusta is a dream.

Everyone wants to play there. This tournament is unique.

BERNHARD LANGER

played there for the first time in 1982, I missed the cut and finished 11 shots behind the leader after 36 holes. I carded 11 three-putts in 36 holes – it was absolutely crazy. I had never experienced such challenging greens, so quick and with so many undulations.”

Those responsible for running the club have set strict standards of perfect course maintenance since the first tournament was staged in 1934. The manicured blades of grass stand at attention as if clipped with a pair of nail scissors. Not a speck of dirt sullies the lush green fairways. Over the years, the deciduous trees have been systematically thinned out to ensure no fallen leaves detract from the immaculate appearance. The greens are in exemplary condition at all times, and this too calls for special measures: A custom drainage system beneath the greens removes excess water in the event of heavy rainfall. At Augusta, only the best is good enough.

A stage for champions The public gets to see this representation of perfection just once a year – at the Masters. For that is when a world concealed behind high hedges is transformed into a stage for the who’s who of golf. The pros chase birdies on holes with names such as White Dogwood and Golden Bell.

Title dreams are shattered on the challenging greens. Right on cue, the azaleas flower in wondrous shades of pink and red. The air crackles with tension and joyous excitement. And just before sundown on Sunday evening, the champion slips into the coveted Green Jacket. Nothing much has changed at the Masters – it remains unique and captivating, and year after year leaves us with the enchanting impression of being its own little universe. mercedes-magazine.ca

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JETSET

The Homecomings From the former Highlands manor of Canada’s Lord Strathcona to a nobleman’s hunting lodge on the Isle of Skye, journey to two Scottish estates saved from ruin to live again as storied hotels.

WORDS DAN RUBINSTEIN PHOTOS BRENDAN MacNEILL

PHOTO L AFAYET TE/LIBR ARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA (LORD STR ATHCONA)

A

towering Douglas fir presides over the lochan on a country estate in the Scottish Highlands. A duck sends a ring of ripples across the glassy surface, which reflects the green slopes and rocky summits that rise to the east. Neither tree nor lochan – local speak for “wee lake” – are indigenous.

Both were imagined by a Scotsman who helped lay the foundation for Canada, then returned to his birthplace and built a manor that celebrated these two cultures.

Glencoe House, the grey granite and red sandstone mansion at the heart of that estate, is now a seven-suite, five-star hotel. And that man, Donald Smith, who set sail from Scotland in 1838, a teenager hired on as an apprentice clerk in the fur trade, is better known as Lord Strathcona. He rose through the ranks to become governor of the Hudson’s Bay Company as well as a member of the House of Commons, president of the Bank of Montreal, chancellor of McGill University and the visionary behind the Canadian Pacific Railway.

When the last spike was driven into the ground at Craigellachie, British Columbia, in 1885, Smith swung the hammer.

I am thinking about that iconic legacy while sipping a dram of peaty Laphroaig single malt whisky from the bar in the sitting room of Suite No. 3 – Lord Strathcona’s former library. A wood fire blazes in a marble hearth with a gleaming oak mantle. Outside my window, night is falling on Loch Leven and the windswept hills beyond.

There is a knock at the door. Chef Brian Gunn would like to know if I’m ready to discuss tonight’s menu. One of Glencoe House’s distinctive features is that there is no restaurant; guests take meals in their suites. “It’s cold and dark and wet outside,” says Gunn, touting the appeal of in-room dining. “The fire is on and the bar is open. You don’t want to go out.”

Such warmth in such a rugged setting – no wonder so many foreign-born Scots make the pilgrimage to their ancestral home. There is something about this land that calls its children back.

I’m here to experience this phenomenon at a pair of grand Highlands-estates-turned-hotels of similar provenance. Lord Strathcona’s homecoming begat a luxurious country retreat that visitors

HOME & AWAY Strathcona (opposite, inset) built Glencoe House as an ode to his wife. You can spot their initials engraved above windows.

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can now enjoy as boutique accommodations. Just over 100 kilometres away, at Kinloch Lodge, the reigning lady and lord returned to the family seat and saved their estate from ruin by reinventing it as a culinary destination. In Scotland, it seems, rediscovering your roots is not the final scene, but the start of a new chapter.

Scottish rogue Glencoe, a two-hour drive northwest from Glasgow, is Scotland’s most dramatic mountain valley. Steep cliffs forged by volcanoes and glaciers, and heather-clad glades that come alive with wildflowers in spring flank the waterfalls and riffles of the River Coe. The mist that perpetually swirls around the peaks gives the glen a mystical feel.

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It is also a magnet for hikers and climbers, drawn by trails that weave through the hills, by red deer and golden eagles, and by the delicious bounty harvested from saltwater lochs.

The current owner of Glencoe House, Roger Niemeyer, a hotel industry executive who has a home nearby, did not know much about Lord Strathcona when he first saw the property: “To me, he was another Victorian gentleman with a long white beard.” But as Niemeyer and his wife Julie Pate began renovating the mansion, which had been boarded up for three years before opening to overnight guests in 2012, they became enthralled by the self-made lord’s story.

In 1896, after achieving fame and fortune in the New World, Strathcona moved to London to serve as Canada’s high commissioner to the United Kingdom. Completed that year, the Highlands manor was a love letter to his wife, Isabella, who was born near James Bay of aboriginal and Scottish parentage. North American trees were planted, and the lochan was carved into a valley on what are now forestry commission lands adjacent to 10 acres of private gardens.

Architect Sir Robert Rowand Anderson, who also worked on Balmoral Castle, the Scottish royal residence, included touches such as the couple’s initials carved into the house’s sandstone exterior,

PARLOUR TALK Roger Niemeyer (below, with his dog Connor) restored the rooms of Glencoe House to their former splendour. In 2012, he and his wife reopened the house (which served for decades as a hospital) as a seven-suite luxury boutique hotel.

and a crest depicting a beaver gnawing the trunk of a maple tree above Strathcona’s one-word motto: Perseverance.

Although he lived in London and remained high commissioner until his death in 1914, Strathcona spent six weeks at Glencoe every year.

Most of the estate was sold in the 1930s, and the mansion became a military hospital during the Second World War, morphing into a maternity hospital and eventually a home for surgical convalescence and geriatric patients until finally closing its doors in 2009.

As thick coats of white paint were stripped away and the linoleum flooring was peeled off, Niemeyer found that many original features had been preserved. The ornate plasterwork ceiling of the great hall, where today’s guests are greeted with a glass of champagne, conjures the grandeur of another century. Visitors can fish, sail and kayak on the area’s sea lochs or tour coastal villages and then retreat to the hotel, where Baltic pine shutters – and that whisky – seal out the damp. A heavenly end to the day.

Call of duty The more I explore, the more stories I hear of people who felt the powerful pull of their heritage.

From Glencoe, I’m led northwest, deeper into the Highlands, stopping at the scenic Glenfinnan train viaduct, a recurring sight in the Harry Potter series. Rob Hall, our dreadlocked, kilt-clad, halfScottish tour guide – his Afro-Cuban father pretended to be a Jamaican member of the Commonwealth so he could join the Royal Air Force – recommends a panoramic viewpoint. In Mallaig, where the road and railway end, we back onto a small ferry for the half-hour crossing to the Isle of Skye.

North of the serrated ridges of Skye’s Cuillin range, Glaswegian Paul McGlynn was pressed into service on his in-laws’ oyster farm. His wife’s dad took him down to the shore at low tide one day and said, “Well, get on with it.” So he did.

McGlynn opened a market and café selling the freshest seafood imaginable. “I don’t have a liquor licence,” he winks, plunking a bottle of single malt onto a picnic table inside the

THE MORE I explore, the more stories I hear of people who felt the powerful pull of their heritage.

DREAD LOCHS Guide Rob Hall takes visitors on Highland tours.

The sights include the dramatic Glenfinnan train viaduct (below), which made appearances in the Harry Potter films.

SKYE HIGH Set on a former hunting estate, Kinloch Lodge occupies a bank of sea loch Na Dal.

ADDRESSES

Scotland Tidal Surge Handcrafted at the end of a roller coaster of a shore-hugging road, Heather McDermott’s line of silver and steel jewellery is inspired by Skye’s nautical character.

TABLE MANOR Kinloch Lodge’s atmospheric dining room is presided over by Lord Macdonalds of old.

resto-garage, “but buy a fridge magnet for £2 and you get a free drink.”

At the end of a slaloming single-track road that clings to a grassy headland on Skye’s southern Sleat Peninsula, jeweller Heather McDermott shares a work shed with her painter father. She went away to art school, then came back to a place where the brisk breeze and constantly changing light helps keep your perspective fresh. “I decided I wanted to move home,” says McDermott, “and make a go of it.”

At sunset, we reach a sheltered bay near the top of the Sleat. It was here in 1951 that Lord Alasdair Macdonald converted a 17th-century farmhouse on his family’s hunting estate into a hotel. When he died suddenly in 1970, his 23-yearold son Godfrey inherited the dilapidated, debt-ridden lodge. Godfrey and his wife Claire, the newly anointed lady and lord, could have bolted back to Edinburgh. Instead, they rolled up their sleeves and rebuilt. Godfrey ran the hotel and Claire took over the kitchen.

With a focus on fresh ingredients from Skye’s natural larder, Kinloch Lodge developed a reputation for dining. Claire became one of Scotland’s most beloved cooks and food writers, appearing regularly on television and penning 18 books, including her seminal The Claire Macdonald

WITH A focus on fresh ingredients from Skye’s natural larder, Kinloch Lodge developed a reputation for dining.

Cookbook. When she and Godfrey stepped away from the day-to-day operations in the mid-2000s, their daughter Isabella moved north from London. She refreshed the rooms and invited Marcello Tully, an inventive Brazilian-born chef with a Scottish grandfather, into the fold. Like Niemeyer, he saw the region’s rich history as a springboard, choosing culinary evolution over revolution, and earned a Michelin star.

Treasure island The evening at Kinloch begins in the cozy Talisker bar, beside another roaring fire, where a young man from New Zealand – “the Scottish part of New Zealand,” he insists – switches seamlessly between concierge, bartender, maître d’ and sommelier. Tully sends out a plate of canapés, including a shot glass of cranberry jelly topped with sweet corn panna cotta and grilled chorizo, and I select a bottle of a vibrant Spanish red before being shown to my table.

The meal that follows, in a dining room lined with ancestral Macdonald portraits, is an epicurean journey meticulously mapped out by Tully. A potage of foamed parsnip and Pernod; seared wild pigeon breast; salmon korma with caramelized banana; venison fillet with deepfried parsnip “antlers” jutting out of a

HEATHERMCDERMOTT.COM

Integrity Voyages From your base at Glencoe House, hop into Derek Gordon’s speedboat for a cruise, for a few hours to a full week, amid the lochs and islands of Scotland’s West Coast.

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Lochleven Seafood Café Local mussels cooked in cider, shellfish soup with anise and saffron or a couple of brown crabs from the tanks around back – you’ll eat well at this waterside stop.

LOCHLEVENSEAFOODCAFE.CO.UK

Clan Donald Skye Historic gardens and woodlands dotted with Sitka spruce and western red cedar, plus half-restored, half-ruined Armadale Castle, make this museum and park a must stop on Skye. CLANDONALD.COM

The Oyster Shed Peter McGlynn shucks oysters from the family farm in the loch down below while his mother-in-law cracks crab claws in the chip van out front. Go. THEOYSTERMAN.CO.UK

Patricia Shone Hand Made Ceramics A studio perched above the sea.

A kiln fired by wood from the hills.

Patricia Shone’s clay creations reflect the textures of Skye.

PATRICIASHONE.CO.UK

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JETSET

HIGHLAND FARE Try dishes such as wild pigeon breast with black pudding and lotus-root crisp.

sweet-apple-and-parsnip mash; and a lemon tart with popcorn ice cream.

“Skye is a chef’s paradise,” Tully tells me the next morning when I join him in the kitchen for a workshop. “There is water all around us, and deer and lambs in the hills.” Louis, a French chef who is working in the pastry section for the day, pulls a tray of pain au chocolat out of the oven.

Still stuffed but unable to resist, I resolve to climb one of those hills after lunch.

Stretching my legs on the path behind the lodge, I take in the view. The craggy shoreline and rolling terrain remind me of Canada’s East Coast, which once shared a landmass with this part of Scotland. The Atlantic Ocean and millions of years of continental drift now separate the two regions, but geology underpins geography, and a timeless bond endures. Looking up at the looming mountains, I understand Lord Strathcona’s affinity for the Highlands. And feel the first stir of my own ache to return.

CRAB AND SCALLOP MOUSSE “Don’t bother peeling the ginger,” says Marcello Tully, the Michelin-starred chef at Kinloch Lodge. “Life’s too short.” Try his crab and scallop mousse at your next soirée – it’s an easy way to impress.

1 CUP SCALLOPS 2 TSP SALT 1 CUP HEAVY CREAM 1 EGG 1 CUP CRABMEAT (SQUEEZED

TO REMOVE EXCESS LIQUID)

2 TSP FRESH GINGER

(FINELY CHOPPED)

1 TSP FRESH GARLIC

G R E AT S C O T S 2

3

MADE BY THE SEA

TAKE A PEAK

OPEN KITCHEN

Whisky has only three ingredients (water, malted barley and yeast) but slight variations to the recipe and process give different brands their distinctive taste. Talisker, distilled in the same remote harbourside location on Skye since the 1830s, has a smoky, peppery finish, thanks in part to the peat-fired kiln that dries the barley. Take a tour and you’ll learn that two percent of the spirit – “the angel’s share” – evaporates per year as it ages in wooden casks.

Keith Melton, of Go Glencoe Guiding, leads clients into the hills of one of Scotland’s most spectacular valleys, Glen Coe. Lace up your boots and pack a lunch for an unforgettable climb to the summit of a Munro, the term for any Scottish peak that tops 915 metres. Melton will explain the route’s history and geology as you ascend.

“Walking up a mountain is a way to reconnect with the world and with yourself,” he says. “You get a wee bit of perspective.”

DISCOVERING-DISTILLERIES.

GLENCOEHOSTEL.CO.UK/

For a behind-the-scenes, hands-on experience in a worldclass restaurant, sign up for a workshop with chef-director Marcello Tully at Kinloch Lodge.

You’ll help to prepare food items and sit in on a back-of-house chefs’ planning meeting. You’ll also taste dishes as they evolve and gain a deeper appreciation for how flavours, colours and textures layer together. “Cooking is all about temperature and time,” says Tully. “If you can get your head around that, you can do anything.”

COM/TALISKER

GO-GLENCOE-GUIDING

KINLOCH-LODGE.CO.UK

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(FINELY CHOPPED)

1 HANDFUL OF FRESH CILANTRO (ROUGHLY CHOPPED)

1F ry

the ginger, garlic and chilies for 2 to 3 minutes without browning, then set aside and leave to cool.

2 Purée the scallops, then add the salt and the egg.

Blend for a few minutes, then add the cream.

3 Fold in the ginger, garlic, chilies, cilantro and crabmeat.

4 Grease ramekins with oil or butter, spoon about 3 tbsp of mousse into each dish, smooth the surface and cover with foil.

5 Place ramekins into a roasting pan and add boiling water halfway up the height of the dishes.

6 Cook in the oven at 160°C for 15 to 20 minutes.

7 Serve hot.

PHOTO CL AIRE TULLY (MOUSSE)

1

(FINELY CHOPPED)

1 TSP RED AND GREEN CHILIES

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SPOTLIGHT

Solitary Splendour

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“Form follows function” is a universal design principle.

The unique Streamliner created by the special-vehicles department of the Daimler-Benz plant in Sindelfingen in 1938 expressed its function – speed – by means of its form.

WORDS JOCHEN FISCHER PHOTOS MERCEDES - BENZ

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The bodywork was systematically designed according to the aerodynamic findings of the time.

T

hey say a person’s character is shaped by their surroundings. And you might well say the same about automotive technology: The art of the engineer is shaped by the technical possibilities available. One of the major technical objectives over the course of the 20th century was to increase speed. In the 1920s and 1930s, for example, the automotive sector benefited from increasing road construction and a deepening knowledge of how wind resistance influences and limits the speed of vehicles.

In Germany, it was only in the 1920s that racing and test circuits were constructed whose layout and surface consistency made high speeds possible. The Avus circuit in Berlin, opened in 1921, was the first road in Europe intended exclusively for passenger cars, and in 1927 the spectacular Nürburgring race course was inaugurated.

During this decade and the next it was aerodynamics – measures for overcoming wind resistance – that increasingly dictated maximum and constant speeds, and therefore the chances of victory. The aviation sector was also a significant source of innovation during this era, as aerodynamic design and advances in lightweight construction were necessary prerequisites for successful aircraft.

And automotive engineers would benefit tremendously from this technological progress.

Speed and comfort Mercedes-Benz was a dedicated and successful participant in the race for greater speed. Indeed, in the inaugural automobile race on the Nürburgring on June 19, 1927, the brand achieved a double victory with Rudolf Caracciola and Adolf Rosenberger driving the Mercedes-Benz mercedes-magazine.ca

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Model S. Less than a decade later, the first grand era of the Silver Arrows showed how far the aerodynamic aspects of vehicle design had already come. Meanwhile, a unique automobile built by the special-vehicles department in Sindelfingen, Germany, in 1938 was likewise created to compete at the highest level. The purpose behind the development of the Streamliner was to produce a race car for the Berlin–Rome long-distance race scheduled for the late summer of 1938.

The desired attributes of this car were high constant speeds accompanied by a high level of long-distance comfort for the occupants – characteristics that describe modern luxury-class cars to this day.

One of the strongest horses in the stable was chosen as the basis for the long-distance contender: the Mercedes-Benz 540 K, Model W 29, produced from 1936, with its 5,401-cc eight-cylinder inline engine. Its constant output was 115 hp, and the selectable Roots blower (a kind of supercharger) made a peak output of 180 hp possible.

The special-vehicles department in Sindelfingen designed and produced a special aluminium body in the quest for more speed. Its aerodynamic 94

shape was a necessity for fast driving on highway stretches, and use of this lightweight material was also conducive to the desired level of performance. With this 540 K Streamliner, Mercedes-Benz temporarily reached a zenith in the design of aerodynamically efficient road vehicles.

The new “Model 500 with supercharger,” the W 29 known as the “Autobahn Courier,” had already been presented in March 1934 at the International Automobile and Motorcycle Show in Berlin, with a striking coupe body. The brochure described it as “a special version built for particularly high speeds.” Until the presentation of its successor, the 540 K, in Paris in October 1936, further one-off examples of the 500 K with streamlined bodies were produced, one of them for a customer in the Dutch East Indies, or presentday Indonesia. The special-vehicles department was also responsible for building these unique bodies, and they bore the coveted trademark “Sindelfingen coachwork.”

One of the major challenges for the Sindelfingen stylists – the term commonly used for designers at the time – working on the 500 K and 540 K models was the very tall radiator grille,

Integrating the radiator grille of the Model 540 K into a streamlined body was one of the main challenges faced by the stylists.

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SPOTLIGHT

which was to remain a distinctive feature of Mercedes-Benz models right up until the 1950s.

Integrating this into a functional, visually appealing body was one of the feats they achieved outstandingly in the 540 K Streamliner of 1938.

Present-day aerodynamics and design experts such as Professor Ralf J. F. Kieselbach emphasize that the body shape not only represented stateof-the-art aerodynamics at the time in every detail, but may well have had a strong influence on later developments. Professor Kieselbach points out that the front wings with integrated headlamps already anticipated the frontal appearance of the 300 SL of 1954, which was based on the 1952 race car. There is another parallel in the fact that the W 198 I Gullwing series likewise combined top performance with the comfort level of a roadgoing passenger car.

As it turned out, the 540 K Streamliner did not take part in the Berlinâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Rome long-distance race for which it was intended. During the short development time available, it became clear that not all the desired attributes were achievable. At

A HIGH-PERFORMANCE car for testing tires the same time, an alternative use for this one-off example presented itself: On December 23, 1937, the tire manufacturer Dunlop ordered a Mercedes-Benz 540 K from the Daimler-Benz sales subsidiary in Frankfurt/Main. The company wanted to use the high-performance car for tire testing, as the newly introduced autobahns allowing increasingly higher speeds made it necessary to produce innovative tire designs particularly for powerful, heavy and fast automobiles.

On the basis of the preparatory work already done, the special-vehicles department formed in 1932 and managed by engineer Hermann Ahrens produced the design specifications for the aluminium body of the Streamliner in

Even when measured against present-day standards, the rear end has exemplary aerodynamics.

Push yourself more than the accelerator.

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Register today for the Mastering Performance program. mercedes-benz.ca/drivingacademy

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SPOTLIGHT

After the reconstruction, the Streamliner was evaluated in the wind tunnel for the first time.

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SPOTLIGHT

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Perfection to the last detail â&#x20AC;&#x201C; both in the original and in its resurrection.

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February 1938. A model of the bodywork had already been tested in the wind tunnel – a method that first became available in the 1930s. Ahrens, who had already worked in the automotive industry, had come to the attention of Daimler-Benz as a designer who was able to combine function with visual appeal, and whose vehicle bodies had won numerous prizes.

The Streamliner was delivered to Dunlop in June 1938. A Dunlop brochure from the same year describes the test activities as follows: “Our experiments with a fast, supercharged car of streamlined design on the public motorways to study the performance of the tires at high continuous speeds are a special part of our test program. The vehicle is driven constantly with changes of driver, at a speed of around 170 km/h.

Breaks are only taken to refuel and to change drivers.” The brief initial career of the 540 K Streamliner came to an abrupt end, however, with the outbreak of the Second World War, as civilian vehicle development ceased for all practical purposes.

The resurrection of this vehicle in the early summer of 2014 was hardly less spectacular than 102

its development history in 1938. Fragments of the car, which was disassembled after 1945, had already been found in the Mercedes-Benz Classic collection in 2007. After extensive research in the Mercedes-Benz Classic Archives and the unearthing of important design drawings, work on reconstructing the car commenced in 2011. In May 2014, the one-off example was presented to the public.

Wind-tunnel tests conducted at the plant in Untertürkheim – this was the first time that the Streamliner was aerodynamically evaluated following its construction – had previously shown an excellent drag coefficient of 0.36. This confirmed two things: first, the all-round efficiency of the 1938 design, and second, how perfectly Mercedes-Benz Classic had reconstructed the car over a period of almost three years. In mid-2014, driving tests were conducted on the test track in Papenburg. Shod with Dunlop tires and with the Roots supercharger in operation, the Streamliner achieved a top speed of 185.57 km/h – almost exactly the 185 km/h calculated by the engineers working under Hermann Ahrens in 1938.

One of the major difficulties during the reconstruction was the dearth of materials describing the original interior.

Style from the star

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SPOTLIGHT

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THE E ARLY DAYS OF AERODYNAMICS Increasingly high speeds became possible on racetracks and on the first autobahns during the 1930s.

Motor racing and record-breaking attempts therefore provided the impetus to think about improving the aerodynamics of production vehicles. The first wind tunnels were constructed, initially to examine models and later to complete vehicles. In 1932, driver Manfred von Brauchitsch scored a much-noted success in his Model SSKL, whose bodywork was designed by the aerodynamics pioneer Reinhard von KoenigFachsenfeld. As spectacular examples of technical progress, the wind-tunnel-tested Mercedes-Benz 12-cylinder record-breaking cars from 1936 to 1939 were able to achieve speeds of around 400 km/h.

These racing machines had only a limited influence on regular production cars. Nonetheless, the

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special-vehicles department established under designer Hermann Ahrens in 1932 also concerned itself with aerodynamics. Among the projects of this unit specializing in one-off vehicles were the streamlined bodies for the 500 K and 540 K. And the highlight of this development work was most definitely the 540 K Streamliner of 1938.

1. Hermann Ahrens (left) was one of his era’s most outstanding vehicle designers. 2. The Model SSKL race car of Manfred von Brauchitsch, with which he competed in the 1932 Avus race. 3. The Model 150 H sports sedan was ahead of its time: In 1934, six examples took part in the “2,000 kilometres through Germany” rally. 4. The W 154 record-breaking car of 1939 in its configuration for a standing start. 5. Model 500 K “Special streamlined model” of 1935 – a one-off example for a customer in the Dutch East Indies.

BULLETIN

Innovation LEADER OF THE PACK

LEADER OF THE PACK The “Nimble” backpack lacks one important feature: the bag element.

Instead, this award- winning design project offers a host of other options.

You can use straps and hooks to attach skis, snowboards, hiking equipment or other bulky objects and carry them on your back.

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PHOTO DAIMLER AG ILLUSTRATION JULIA PEL ZER

The “Nimble” backpack lacks one important feature: the bag element. Instead, this award-winning design project offers a host of other options. You can use straps and hooks to attach skis, snowboards, hiking equipment or other bulky objects and carry them on your back.

BEHANCE.NET/NANDOMB

ROCK ’N’ ROLL F A N C Y F O O T W O R K is what the developers of Rocket Skates had in mind with these rather special roller skates, which are worn like regular shoes. Tilt your foot forward, and two 50-watt motors accelerate you to almost 20 km/h. Battery charge and speed can be measured by smartphone app – and, provided no one is wearing them at the time, they can even be remote-controlled. ROCKETSKATES.COM

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COOL ST YLING C I R C U L A R V E N T S were not exactly new when they appeared in the Mercedes-Benz 350 SL in 1971 (pictured left), but it was the first time they had been placed above the centre console. Together with other details, the new, round design indicated what the 1970s models had that their predecessors – and the competition – lacked: variable adjustment to ensure virtually draft-free ventilation. After several years of absence, the centrally located vents reappeared in 2009 in the SLS AMG, and then also in the C-Class (right) and other new models. But by then, they were no longer just elements of the air-conditioning system, they had long since become iconic features identifying the vehicle as a Mercedes-Benz.

1,000

times more precise than GPS-based navigation systems: British researchers are working on a quantum navigation system that calculates the influence of the Earth’s magnetic field on individual atoms, making satellite data redundant.

Eric Krzeslo is co-founder of SoftKinetic, a Brusselsbased company specializing in gesture control for gaming consoles and cameras.

The technology will also be available soon in automobiles.

What would you like to be able to control by gesture in a car?

We are initially concentrating on areas like infotainment, navigation and air-con systems.

How does the system work?

The main element is a 3-D camera which measures distances and generates a three-dimensional image – even in the dark. The software then analyzes the image and searches specifically for hands and fingers, which it isolates from the rest of the body. It then evaluates the gestures.

How does the driver know what gestures to use?

All you need is a short training session – no more than five minutes. We keep things simple.

If you don’t want to talk on the telephone, you make a gesture of rejection. If you do, you give a thumb’s-up.

TAKE NOTE Following synchronization, sketches can be further processed on a tablet.

PAPER COMPUTER

T H E L I V E S C R I B E N O T E B O O K from Moleskine enables analog creativity to be seamlessly conveyed to the digital world: Handwriting can be transferred to an electronic device by means of a smart pen and a dot matrix. MOLESKINE.COM

Surely you could do that using speech recognition.

Yes, but if there’s background noise, you can have problems.

For us, gestures and speech recognition complement one another perfectly. You say “music” and hold up one or two fingers to select a playlist.

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BULLETIN

NEW BIOFUEL C O L I B A C T E R I A generate propane gas. By genetically manipulating the Escherichia coli bacterium, British researchers were able to generate tiny quantities of fuel that could theoretically be used to drive an engine.

Some work remains to be done to increase efficiency, but in five to 10 years, this renewable fuel source could be market-ready.

P R O F. CHRISTOPH STILLER

“In the long term, we won’t need traffic lights” The head of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, an expert in selfdriving cars, predicts that the car of the future will communicate automatically with traffic lights. It will know, for example, how much longer the lights will stay green and whether to brake or accelerate.

And in 30 years, according to Stiller, cars will communicate so well that stop lights will no longer be needed for controlling traffic at intersections – at most, they will be used to inform pedestrians who don’t have a smartphone.

SQUARE DEAL S O M E P E O P L E like to look at prints, others prefer to share their photos with the rest of the world. With the “Socialmatic” version of the good old Polaroid camera, both are possible: The integrated printer serves up pictures immediately, and via Wi-Fi you can also post them on Facebook, Pinterest and other social media.

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FINDING YOUR FEET Combined with GPS data from a smartphone, these shoes from India-based company Lechal can be used as a sat-nav: If the wearer is supposed to turn left, the left-hand shoe vibrates. At the same time, the system – also available as an insole – measures steps taken and calories burned. LECHAL.COM 108

Personalize your driving experience.

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Visit mbaccessories.ca to see your options.

Š2015 Mercedes-Benz Canada Inc.

S TAYS

Town & Country Five of our favourite getaways around the globe, from organic farms to summer chalets.

MONT-TREMBL ANT, QUEBEC

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The great outdoors

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Whether for family reunions or girlfriend getaways, big groups can get the most out of their trip with Tremblant Living’s three- to eight-bedroom rental chalets located in and around Mont Tremblant Resort village.

DESIGN Wooden beams and stone fireplaces provide

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a rustic backdrop for chic contemporary furnishings and modern, high-end appliances.

AMENITIES Request a chalet with a sauna, billiard table or even an indoor pool.

DRESS CODE Casual layers will take you from sunny daytime hikes in the Laurentian Mountains to chilly evenings around the firepit.

DRINK A pint of home-brewed beer (seasonal specials include Raspberry Ale and Oktoberfest) from La Diable microbrewery.

DISH Lobster poutine enjoyed on the terrace of Patrick Bermand’s eponymous restaurant.

OUTING Nature lovers can spend the day zip-lining above the trees and looking out at the mountains and river, while spa devotees can find bliss at nearby Scandinave Spa’s outdoor Nordic bath circuit. DON’T MISS The Pierre Plouffe Nautical Centre offers watersports ranging from tubing to wakeboarding, as well as boat rentals, for a perfect day on Lac Tremblant.

SANTIAGO, CHILE

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Named for the hip quarter in which it occupies a central address, Lastarria Hotel is the ideal launch pad for exploring the modern side of Santiago. D E S I G N Art Deco meets pop art in a setting that combines its history as an upscale 1920s residence with the bohemian character of its recently revitalized neighbourhood. A M E N I T I E S The knowledgeable front-desk staff can prepare a half- or full-day itinerary including museums, parks, shopping and sightseeing. D R E S S C O D E You’re equally at home in heels or a pair of sneakers. D R I N K Afternoon tea (a Chilean ritual) is complimentary in the restaurant every day from 4 to 6 o’clock. D I S H The Tabla Aire Mar y Tierra presents a sampling of Chilean surf and turf, all made for sharing. O U T I N G For a one-stop intro to the country’s top wines, visit nearby Bocanáriz, a restaurant where every server is a sommelier and the small-plate menu is designed around regional pairings. D O N ’ T M I S S The poolside terrace is a courtyardgarden oasis that will make you forget you’re in a city of over 6 million.

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ST. K I T TS

KITTITIAN HILL KITTITIANHILL.COM

Set over 160 sloping hectares on Mount Liamuiga, this brand new (and still growing) resort puts sustainable cuisine front and centre with an organic farm, edible landscaping and a signature restaurant that’s already one of the best in the Caribbean. D E S I G N West Indian architecture meets infinity pools and villas, plus a plantation-inspired bar built using stones from the property. A M E N I T I E S The daily fruit basket isn’t just for show – it’s full of pineapples, bananas and anything else ripe for the picking, all from the property. D R E S S C O D E Take a cue from the staff’s crisp jeans and linen shirts, created by Caribbean designer Claudia Pegus. D R I N K The cellar comes care of sommelier Isabelle Legeron, the world’s leading expert on natural wines. D I S H Harvest vegetables on the farm with the chef, then watch him turn it all into a healthy meal. O U T I N G Head down to the black-sand Dieppe Bay beach for seafood at Arthur’s. D O N ’ T M I S S The organic, Ian Woosnam-designed golf course. It’s closed one day a week for weeding and you’ll find fruit trees throughout.

Ripe mango

MIAMI, USA

SHELBORNE W YNDHAM GR AND SHELBORNEWYNDHAMGR AND.COM

Kim Kardashian

Esther Williams

Retro glamour reigns at this iconic South Beach property, first built in the 1940s then restored and reopened in late 2014.

D E S I G N Find Miami Art Deco style throughout, with vintage-carinspired decor (chrome lamps, leather accents) in the 200 guest rooms. A M E N I T I E S The prime oceanfront location means you can choose between lounging by the pool, strolling the boardwalk or heading

Rum punch

out to the beach. D R E S S C O D E Fun and floral by day, dress-to-impress from sunset on. D R I N K Cocktails in the Drawing Room are separated into categories like Aphrodisiacs and Stimulants – take your pick.

D I S H Tuna belly tartare and A5 Wagyu beef from Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto’s South Beach outpost. O U T I N G Head to Artsee Eyewear for standout sunnies and Alchemist for designer collaborations, then marvel at 1111 Lincoln Road, a parking garage/design destination by Swiss firm Herzog & de Meuron. D O N ’ T M I S S Morimoto executive pastry chef Manabu Inoue’s exotic macaron flavours – including guava, yuzu and black sesame.

PRINCE EDWARD COUNT Y, ONTARIO

THE DR AKE DEVONSHIRE INN DR AKEDEVONSHIRE.CA

This restored 1800s iron foundry building in Ontario wine country is the latest outpost of Toronto’s Drake Hotel Properties. D E S I G N Big, bold, modern design and local artist collections complement the building’s original architectural elements. A M E N I T I E S Comfy made-in-Canada “hoodie” bathrobes by Shared. Throws from PEI’s MacAusland Woollen Mills. D R E S S C O D E West Queen West cool meets country-casual. D R I N K Unwind firepit-side on the shores of Lake Ontario with a glass of Vintner’s Daughter Chardonnay by local winery Rosehall Run. D I S H Prinzen Farms rotisserie chicken and Hagerman’s heirloom tomato salad from chef Matt DeMille’s local farm-and-lake-to-table menu. O U T I N G After a day of antiquing in nearby Bloomfield and visiting wineries along the Millennium Trail, settle into the hotel’s Glass Box rec room for a rowdy game of Ping-Pong. D O N ’ T M I S S Splurge for the Owner’s Suite, an A-frame lodging with peaked ceiling, a bedside fireplace and stunning lake views from the private patio.

Bling

Board games

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SOCIETY

People & Places

Step out with Mercedes-Benz at the season’s hottest events, from auto shows to award ceremonies.

I N T E R N A T I O N A L A U T O S H O W S Three Mercedes-Benz models made their Canadian debut at this year’s Canadian International AutoShow: the GLE Coupe, the Mercedes-AMG GT S and the Mercedes-Maybach S 600. Held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, the show also included two regional premieres: the Mercedes-AMG C 63 and the Sprinter 4x4 Van. To help guests keep track of the models they liked, Mercedes-Benz introduced NFC (Near Field Communication) cards that could be swiped at stands set up alongside each vehicle, forwarding additional information to attendees’ email addresses. They could also browse and purchase articles from The Collection, Mercedes-Benz’s lifestyle and accessories line. Mercedes-Benz was also on hand with NFC cards at the 2015 Montreal International Auto Show to celebrate the Canadian launch of the new Mercedes-AMG C 63 and 2015 Sprinter 4x4 Van.

GLE Coupe

Mercedes-Maybach S 600

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PHOTOS SOMBILON PHOTOGR APHY (BOUNDARY ); GEORGE PIMENTEL/GET T Y IMAGES (SID NEIGUM)

Mercedes-AMG GT S

MERCEDES - BENZ BOUNDARY G R A N D O P E N I N G In October 2014, Mercedes-Benz Canada welcomed over 1,000 guests to the grand opening of Mercedes-Benz Boundary, a threestorey state-of-the-art dealership in Vancouver. The event included live music and was catered by the award-winning Hawksworth Restaurant. Boundary follows the “Autohaus” dealership design concept, including the extensive use of glass.

TOP 100 AWARDS At Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Awards, hosted by the Women’s Executive Network (WXN) in November 2014, three Mercedes-Benz Start Up Alumni designers – Malorie Urbanovitch, Matière Noire and Sid Neigum – donated custom-designing services to the silent auction, with proceeds going towards the WXN Foundation Scholarship Fund.

S I D N E I G U M F/ W 2 01 5 C O L L E C T I O N Alberta-born, Toronto-based 2014 Mercedes-Benz Start Up Awarded Designer Sid Neigum presented his solo Fall/Winter 2015 collection at David Pecaut Square.

The event was part of World MasterCard Fashion Week in Toronto, which took place March 23–27, 2015, and showcased collections from emerging and established Canadian designers for more than 30,000 guests and press.

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ONLINE

mercedes-magazine.ca

Stay connected on the go with the new Mercedes-Benz magazine website.

C L I C K Head to the new MercedesBenz magazine website and you’ll discover a whole new way to learn about your favourite vehicle models, get sneak peeks at upcoming Mercedes-Benz innovations and read about the latest trends in travel, fashion, food, design and more.

R E A D Missed the last print edition of Mercedes-Benz magazine?

Find full back issues online.

You can also search for the stories you want to read, whether you’re looking up stats on a specific model or need a hotel recommendation for your next road trip.

PLUS.GOOGLE.COM/COMMUNITIES/ 112138467298482284886

I N S TA N T ACCESS Simply scan this QR code with your smartphone to check out the site now. mercedes-magazine.ca

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ILLUSTRATIONS SEBASTIAN KR AWCZ YK

C A R R Y We know you’re on the move. Compatible with both desktop and mobile devices, Mercedes-Benz magazine is ready to go wherever your journey takes you.

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