THE COQUI COQUI EMPIRE OF SENSES

Necessity is the mother of invention – illustrated through the fact that Francesca Bonato and her business partner Jacopo Janniello Ravagnan‘s accessories line: ”Hacienda Montaecristo” was born of necessity when Francesca and her husband, Nicolas Malleville, a contemporary landscape architect and perfumer, opened their first Coqui Coqui boutique hotel on the Yucatán Peninsula in Southeastern Mexico.

”We all needed to supply our homes, the hotels, the boutiques, so we started working with local artisans and weavers to create these pieces. I started collecting the traditional Mexican shawl called rebozo.” Francesca Bonato

It was back in 2003 when the couple opened their first bohemian chic boutique hotel in TULUM near a former hippie outpost which has today become one of the most stylish and high-end beach destinations in Mexico. With the never ending coconut trees and white sandy beaches, nothing else but nature’s pure resources, are the inspiration behind the Coqui Coqui experience.

The jungle, the Caribbean Sea, the ruins, and the local architecture are the backdrop and magnificent canvas to this bohemian chic contemporary designed hotel – where pure, elegant, stylish, and rustic are just a few of the feelings which the hotel exudes.

Unified in a tranquil beachfront environment, they provide guests with a truly majestic and extraordinary hospitality.

Today, a decade later, this peaceful and relaxing sanctuary has definitely become an integrated part of the Yucatán Peninsula, both in charm and in culture.

In addition to the two smaller properties that followed in VALLADOLID and COBA, in September 2011, the couple turned a turn-of-the-century building in MÉRIDA’s historical center into another Coqui Coqui guest house which stands next door to the second Perfumeria after its flagship sibling in Valladolid.

The youngest residence next to the Perfumeria in Mérida is the latest addition to the Coqui Coqui Empire, complete with its Venetian plaster walls, marble baths, red velvet settees and original ornate tile work. Its design reflects the metropolis’ vibrant life whilst keeping its elegant and sophisticated époque design intact.

Inspired by the synchronicity of local and colonial traditions, the romanticism of the past and Mexican culture, the Coqui Coqui Empire embodies the owners’ passion and love for culture and tradition. And that is what makes it so unique, something definitely worth seeing, staying in, smelling and ultimately, wearing.

http://www.yatzer.com/coqui-coqui

GREEN NUANCES III

Spiegel Editorial Staff House in Hamburg by Verner Panton.

 

 

THE SPIEGEL

In January 1969 the Spiegel Publishing Company and Spiegel Editorial Staff entered in a new Hamburg Company Headquarters (the 3rd in its history). Located in the old town of Hamburg Spiegel Publishing House  was one of Verner Panton’s most unique interior creations and one of the few that continue to exist today. Panton is considered one of Denmark’s most influential 20th-century furniture and interior designers. All the designs of this interior were his own; the colour scheme, lamps, textiles, wall claddings – only the furniture had to be imported from Knoll International. At that time Spiegel manager Hans Detlev Becker gave the order to fill the cold cover inside with warmth.

Unfortunately, the swimming pool for the employees in the basement (above) was completely destroyed in a fire and redesigned in the 1990’s. Swimming here would have been a psychedelic experience.

Exterior. The “decorative extravaganzas” as an amalgamation of geometry, color, murals, glass and glimmering light.

Above the hallway. The specially designed mirror lighting used on walls and ceilings was of major importance.

Above the work area.

Above the conference room – chairs by Eero Saarinen.

Above the waiting room.

Above and below the Spiegel canteen – wire chairs by Harry Bertoia.

The space resembled more like an avant-garde restaurant than a company canteen.

Before their renovation in summer, 1998 canteen and snack bar were put under conservation of monuments and historic buildings.

Above and below the snack bar.

Verner Panton (13 Feb 1926 – 5 Sept 1998) was a modest man who was crazy about design and has influenced many of today’s designers. Panton himself once said: “The main purpose of my work is to provoke people into using their imagination and make their surroundings more exciting.” He  spent little time in Denmark and many most of his celebrated works were realised abroad. He broke from the craft-based traditions of Scandinavian furniture-making and experimented with new materials and concept.

http://www.verner-panton.com/spaces/archive/phase/309/

RECYCLED BICYCLE CHANDELIERS

CONNECT is a series of chandeliers inspired by DIY and Bike punk culture combined with aesthetics rooted in the Victorian era created by LA based artist Carolina Fontoura Alzaga. Her handmade bespoke pieces evoke a strong industrial look and invite the viewer to examine them up-close in order to come to grips with their fine details and the technical precision needed to put them together. Carolina managed to master the challenges faced by resilient materials such as bicycle chains and cassettes and created a stunning collection which also addresses universal themes around sustainability and the environment. She admits to having a strong connection with  urban bicycle culture and hopes to inspire audiences to question their ideas on what is beautiful and functional.

Above and below: Connect 14a Model.

Carolina: “The idea for ‘The CONNECT Series’ began from seeing pots and pans hung from a makeshift pot rack which had been created from a used bicycle rim during a time that I was completely immersed in DIY and bike punk culture. In turn, it inspired me to make a mobile made from a bike rim, bike tube and bike gears”.

Above and below: Connect 8 Model.

Carolina: “Visual art has the unique quality of being able to relay information on a level that language alone cannot access. There’s an immediacy to this sensorial reaction that is very special. 

What I find pleasing about these bicycle chandeliers, especially when seen in person, is that they command attention. They trick the eye – most people usually confuse them with regular chandeliers but have a moment of surprise once they get closer. Most of us go about the world accepting ideas as immutable fact when in reality, things are much more dynamic and malleable”.

Above: Connect 4a Model.

Carolina:”The most challenging aspect is making each chandelier an approximate perfection despite the imperfect nature of the material. I’ve had to surrender to the rhythm of creation and accept regressing in order to progress”.

“I didn’t start out being interested in lighting but now I absolutely love it! The CONNECT Series is bound to bikes as a material so as to maintain the integrity of the concept. It can’t have motorcycle parts or anything else because then it’s not TCS, it is something else”.

Carolina: ” I’m sure that in the future I will be making other sculptures with lights in them as well as other proper lighting fixtures”.

 

 

http://www.yatzer.com/Recycled-Bicycle-Chandeliers-by-Carolina-Fontoura-Alzaga

 

THE VOLKSHAUS BASEL

Above: Bentwood stools arrayed in front of the bar.

Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron recently finished work restoring a classic 1925 building in the heart of the city. Volkshaus Basel, a onetime concert hall now bar, brasserie, and concert space, with a hotel coming soon. The world-renowned architects went to great lengths to restore the former grandeur of the space, which had been aesthetically compromised during a 1970s renovation. The architect’s stripped the building back to its original frame (the ceilings had been lowered during the renovation), and restored the original height of the rooms while preserving as much of the original detailing as possible. Using a black and white palette, the decidedly modern decor successfully restores an air of Swiss Old World glamor.

Above: Thick hand blown LED pendants are a modern take on chandeliers.

Above: Metal-topped dining tables. The architects chose materials such as metal, leather, and wood, which will gain a weathered patina over time.

Above: A table setting with embossed leather cover.

Above: The design of the chairs are based on the original Volkshaus chair model.

Above: Wallpaper with seventeenth-century etchings are used in the antechambers of the restrooms and hark back to the early days of Basel, when this area was once a medieval manor.

Above: On the wall, a mural provides a guide to all the Volkshaus ventures.

 

http://volkshaus-basel.ch/

http://www.architecturaldigest.com/blogs/daily/2012/06/volkshaus-basel-restaurant-switzerland

http://www.swissmade-architecture.com/?seite=Home

 

 

 

NAPA WALLEY RANCH

A cinder block fireplace, shag carpet, and “babyshit blue” colored walls were a few of the daunting details in the 1950s Napa Valley ranch house that Dione Carston and her husband, Ham, faced when they moved in several years ago. Dione, an avid equestrian and interior designer, stylist, and owner of Steed Fine Hoarding & Tack in St. Helena, has filled her own home with her far-flung collections and groupings of high and low objects, antiques, and flea finds.

Above: The large wingback chair with elephant ears was from an estate sale; Dione recovered it in vintage Kubo cloth with hemp fringe and zebra print cow hide (a vintage bear throw is draped on top). On the wall are two museum-quality hippopotamus shields from the Arussi tribe in Africa.

Above: The mahogany veneered paneled walls and lights are original to the house. Dione painted the “asylum pink” cinder block fireplace in Benjamin Moore Black Bean Soup.

Above: Crystal decanters sourced at thrift stores sit atop an R & Y Augousti tray from Paris. The reproduction drop leaf table is a consignment shop find; the Swedish Demi Lune Chairs are from Restoration Hardware. On the wall is a collection of Ham’s oil paintings, an over-sized clock from Target, and a vintage stuffed pheasant.

Above: Dione took the doors off the cupboards in the kitchen to create open shelving. The butcher block counter top came from Lumber Liquidators, with Ikea cabinets beneath (with rope for handles). The sink is also Ikea. The plate is a gift from a friend (for something similar, go to Vandalized Vintage by Trixie Delicious on Etsy), and the pendant lamp is an Alameda flea market find.

Above: A collection of cleavers from a local flea market.

Above: The side table in the bedroom was brought back from Mexico, while the chair is a consignment store score.

Above: For Dione, “Bedrooms are for sleeping and loving—nothing else. They should be simple, serene and as restful as possible. No technology or televisions, just a place for the mind to rest.” She pulled out the inbuilt closet and placed a Moroccan carved headboard in its place; the walls are painted Benjamin Moore Linen White. Dione had the custom indigo dyed rabbit pellet bed spread made to order. The Philippine rosary is a thrift store find.

Above: Dione had the shower curtain made from linen and leather remnants. On the floor is a durable coconut hair carpet (she copied the idea after spotting it in the lobby of a European hotel); she also has it on her kitchen floor.

Above: An arrangement of dogwood branches on Dione’s dressing table. Dione, a onetime make up artist, is an avid horse rider. The blind is made from bamboo garden fencing that Dione cut to size and staple-gunned into the window frame. To wit, her collection of cowboy boots, which are reflected in the mirror (including Hermes boots found on eBay).

Above: Dione hangs her necklaces from steel push pins.

Above: “I put together a room like an outfit with layers of texture and color,” says Dione of her dressing room. The leather and steel body cast is a lamp and was a find from the Les Puces at Clignancourt in Paris. On the wall, is a bear with peacock boa and tiara for good measure with a vintage zebra rug on the floor.  On her taxidermy, Dione says, “! hate hunting and the killing of animals and only buy vintage taxidermy. I feel I am giving them a final resting place. It’s my bleeding heart part of me.”

Above: On the porch off the kitchen is Dione’s “aviary real estate,” nests bought at Pier One that now house finches. The green table is an upside down cow’s watering trough. For shade, Dione installed a bamboo garden fence roof.

Above: The entrance to the ranch house is nestled among a stand of trees; Dione also keeps stables for her horses.

Above: The exterior of the nearby stables that Ham built for Dione’s two horses.

http://steedfinehoardingandtack.blogspot.it/

http://www.homedecorgroup.com/home-ideas/tough-glamor-at-home-with-a-napa-valley-designer/

http://laurejoliet.com/

http://www.remodelista.com/

ADD COLOR TO YOUR HOME

Inspired by an innovative Sydney home here are some great ideas to help you add colour to your home!

Garden “We loved the colour and patina and wanted to use this as a garden backdrop,” says David of this back fence. “You can see this green wall as soon as you enter the front door.” The NSW Architecture Awards jury cited the “clever use” of the wall and its scene-setting presence in the garden when honouring the home in its 2012 Residential Architecture category. It evokes the area’s industrial past, too.

Tip: In an urban setting, opt for sculptural plants.

 Artwork A love of art is key to this home’s build. “I needed maximum wall space for the artwork, so there are skylights and high windows,” says owner Courtney. “Every time architect David Boyle came to me with a new window in the design, I’d scowl and ask him for more wall space.” The deck’s 4.2m roof allows the thick-glazed windows to remain uncovered to maximise light.

Tip: Protect artworks from direct sunlight with UV frames and careful positioning.

Books “Colour-coding books is entirely unoriginal and a bit design-nerd tragic,” admits Courtney. That said, it’s a system that works: “Now that I know which books are where, by dint of the colour of their spines, I can’t bring myself to go back to any other way of shelving them.”

Tip: Custom 2.5 metre-high storage maximises space and becomes a decorative feature

 Bathroom “It’s like a folly and I love it,” says Courtney of the kids’ bathroom. “I decided to not only go the bright yellow, but to go all yellow. David liked the madness of the idea.” The tub was painted in Dulux’s Golden Marguerite and her “sparky” even found a yellow power point cover.

Tip: Opt for custom Laminex wall panels for a seamless look with minimal grout lines.

Art A clever mix of ‘salon’ and ‘New York’ hangs gives a gallery sense to artwork displays throughout the home. In the master bedroom, pieces are applied straight into the wall.

Tip: “Have the discipline to leave tracts of blank wall,” says Courtney. “Otherwise it’d be like living inside the pages of a stamp album.”

Clever storage “Storage was an important part of the brief,” says Courtney. And, though her home was completed in 2010, “the built-ins are still going in, even now!” David designed the daybed nook at the end of the built-in desk in her office, and his wife upholstered the seat using Courtney’s vintage fabric.

Tip: Tame open-storage chaos with patterned boxes, such as these red and blue polka dot patterned ones.

Small spaces You can still decorate outdoors, even if you’re limited to weatherproof objects. Courtney has used sculptural baskets by Lorraine Connelly-Northey and seashells to create a comfortably jumbled look.

Tip: Use found objects to create inspired and personal displays.

http://www.homelife.com.au/homes/galleries/11+ways+to+add+colour+to+your+home,23745?pos=9

 

BOUGAINVILLEA HOUSE

It looks like a slice of meringue cake with cream and strawberries.

A LITTLE COTTAGE

A rustic little cottage painted out in white with gorgeous little touches of aqua-blue & duck-egg blue

… loving the vintage wood pieces and the fresh country appeal of this sweet cottage.

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http://shannonfricke.com/about

SARATOGA SPRING

This beautiful home in Saratoga Springs, New York has a gorgeous fresh look to it …

Scandinavian influences, lots of white and wood and styled in a really relaxed, livable way.

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A TASMANIAN COUNTRY HOME

http://www.homelife.com.au/

IDEAL C

When I found this wonderful German typewriter on a dusty and messy shelf of a Bargain Corner shop in Swakopmund, I was excited. I thought it could be a perfect happy birthday present for my husband.

This smart, deeply black metal office mechanical typewriter is an “Ideal C” model, manufactured by Seidel & Neumann in Dresen – Germany, 1917 circa. The typewriter has a universal keyboard with four rows. A lever on the left of the keyboard operated the carriage return and line spacing. The serial number 661786 is located under the carriage. My Ideal is still writing perfectly with its black ink tape.

Karl Robert Bruno Naumann (below) was born 10 October 1844 in Dresden. He was a skilled and highly trained engineer travelling around Germany as a young 16yr old repair journeyman. He has improved his engineering skills along the way, even with clockmakers. Bruno founded his own company around 1868 in Dresden, Germany on a shoestring. At first, Bruno was concentrated like many small engineering firms on mechanical repairs and small manufacturing but later, he saw the huge potential in sewing machines and bicycles. By the turn of the century, the company decided to invest in the production of motorcycles and typewriters.

After the phenomenal success of their “Ideal” model, which had four upgrades and their folding “Erika” typewriter, they also invented “Erika Picht” typewriter by Oscar Picht for blind people.

The Seidel & Naumann Ideal typewriter had four model changes. Their folding Erika typewriter, named after Bruno Naumann’s granddaughter, was still a best seller. The Erika No1 was the first folding typewriter in the world. Other typewriters followed like the Bijou in 1925, the Electric and the Gloria.

The Seidel & Naumann machines were used by the German Military in the 1930’s including the dreaded SS with a custom – made key which featured the “SS” symbol on the key number three. They say Hitler used a Seidel & Neumann typewriter. In addition to that, for many years Nazis hiding from justice used the number 18 in their clandestine communications. It was a code for Adolph Hitler. In the alphabet A=1 and H=8.

This is a picture of the factory before its destruction in the Dresden bombings and firestorm.

Above: this is the only copy of the giant Hamburg – Seidel & Neumann factory, that I have found. The chimneys burned black day and night producing thousands of machines 24 hours a day.

Above: the Erika portable typewriter. Here you can see just how portable the small machine was even aboard ship. Circa 1910 – 1930.

A vintage French advertising poster for Ideal typewriters.

Above: “Bargain Corner” shop in Swakopmund that is where I bought the “Ideal C” typewriter. This place had a very particular atmosphere. It was a sort of a local Flea Market selling cheap African junk and memorabilia.

 

PERFECT ARCHITECTURES

Weaver birds nest – Namibia.

Weaver birds get their name because of their elaborately woven nests (the most elaborate of any birds). The nests vary in size, shape, material used, and construction techniques from species to species. Materials used for building nests include fine leaf-fibers, grass, and twigs. Many species weave very fine nests using thin strands of leaf fiber, though some, like the buffalo-weavers, form massive untidy stick nests in their colonies, which may have spherical woven nests within. The sparrow weavers of Africa build apartment-house nests, in which 100 to 300 pairs have separate flask-shaped chambers entered by tubes at the bottom. Most species weave nests that have narrow entrances, facing downward.

Sociable weaver (Philetairus socius) nest in a quiver tree (Aloe dichotoma), Fish River Canyon, Namibia.

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SOUTH AFRICAN DESIGNERS WEAVE A TREE HOUSE FOR ADULTS

Maybe we’re crazy, but we’ve always wondered what life as a little baby bird would be like, all safe and cozy in your handmade nest. Which makes this new “Organic Lounger” designed by Animal Farm, a Cape Town design firm, so fantastic.

Inspired by a weaver-bird’s nest, the cubby has a steel frame, and walls made of woven branches. It can hold two adults and a small child, and you access it through the bottom, via a rope ladder.

The chief designer, who really does insist on being called Porky Hefer, says he’s currently working on a larger nest that’ll seat four lucky adults.

 

http://inhabitat.com/animal-farms-cozy-human-nests-hang-from-the-treetops/

A SPECIAL GUEST

KOLMANSKOP “THE GHOST TOWN”

So you build a small town in the desert and bring in 300 Germans. Of course you need a bar.

Kolmanskop had its own ice factory so in the bar you could get cold drinks like soda water and lemonade.

Already in those days a Dry Martini was a classic drink……like a Manhattan or a Tom Collins.

But most probably the poor bartender just kept on handing over a beer. Even the Jägermeister wasn’t introduced until 1935…

Kolmanskop ice factory just next to the shop owners house. Imagine this. A desert a hundred years ago with an ice factory…

Electrical panel.

In this room here below Hr Zirkler, the butcher, was hanging his meat.

The butchery was one of the shops in the “Shopping Street”

and it was neighbor to…

…the bakery, Hr Brechlin was the baker. Once upon a time this house smelled of German baked bread…

Here below the Kolmanskop Hospital. When you enter the hospital the feeling is strange and unmistakable.

It was a very modern hospital for those times, in fact it had the first x-ray machine of the southern hemisphere. The acquisition of an x-ray machine was not only motivated by concern of the people living in Kolmanskop but was also used to detect the smuggling of diamonds.

When Kolmanskop finally was abandoned the machine was sent as a gift to Ovamboland who did all the hard work mining diamonds.

The Casino today is in a good shape and the visit to Kolmanskop starts here. The entrance hall is beautiful and from it you can go left into a tourist shop where even diamonds are sold. This is the only place where you can buy diamonds direct from Namdeb.

The bowling alley looks almost the same and it is occasionally used even today.

The Namdeb management sometimes comes here for a game and then the bar opens up as well.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tea_explore/5337351492/in/photostream/lightbox/

KOLMANSKOP I

In April 1908, August Stauch (here above), the railway station master at Grasplatz registered a 6 month prospecting claim of 10 km wide along a 24 km stretch of the Lüderitzbucht-Keetmanshoop railway line.

In May 1908, Zacharia Lewala, who had formerly worked as a coachman in Cape Town and/or on the Kimberley mines picked up a diamond on a stretch of the railway line on which he was working.  He reported it to his supervisor and the news was conveyed to Stauch –  (Here below Zacharia Lewala).

In September 1908 the German Colonial Government proclaimed the “Sperrgebiet” making a large territory along the coastline from the Oranje River all the way to 26 S and 1oo km from the coastline “Forbidden Land”.

Rough diamonds.

A diamond rush followed. In 1909 Stauch found the Idatal (named after Stauchs wife Ida), a valley where the desert winds made the diamonds visible. In the moonlight men were on their knees and hands picking diamonds from the surface. (Above local miners).

In 1909 mining also started at Kolmannskuppe. The place was named after a British transport driver, called Colman.

During a desert storm he managed to survive but had to abandon his ox wagon. His wagon, standing on a hill (kuppe) became a landmark, named Colmans Hill (Kolmannskuppe) and when a town was built next to the mine the old name was kept although it is actually built on another hill opposite the original Colmans Hill.

Kolmanskop was built in this gem-rich land, in German colonial style, complete with all modern facilities, including a hospital, ballroom, casino, ice factory and sports center. Its tram and x-ray machine were the first in Africa, funded by the diamond wealth.

The Kasino. It was built in 1927 as the last building in the centre of Kolmanskop. It was used for many things. It was a big restaurant, it was a church, a theatre, a sports hall and many other activities took place hear.

The main hall was a sports hall and a theatre among other activities.

“The theatre sponsored visits of shows and operettas from overseas and a 8 – piece orchestra that played for all the formal dances as well as tea dances on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. All the ladies turned up in the latest fashions. The club served tea, coffee, beer and spirits while the orchestra played sweet music. Some couples did the tango or one step. The brave ones tried the Charleston”.  (Marianne Coleman, daughter of Ou Kat Coleman foreman at Kolmanskop)

This was the residence of the mining engineer Leonhard Kolle who stayed here with his family until 1935 when they moved to Oranjemund. A beautiful house with a huge veranda along the whole building. On the right hand side you see trees. This was not common in a desert town.

Of course there had to be a hospital in a wealthy and organised town such as Kolmanskop. The picture above shows the first hospital in Kolmanskop.

Some of the equipment used is shown in a small room in the ”Old Shop”.

Later on the hospital was enlarged to what it is today.

There were some 40 children in Kolmanskop. Of those 25-30 attended a school in Kolmanskop with classes up to grade 4. The picture above is from 1926. The teacher was Mrs Hussmann. She lived in a nice little house between the architect and the quarter master.

The shopping street – ”Kolmanskuppe Ladenstrasse”.

The town declined after World War I when the diamond-field slowly exhausted and was ultimately abandoned in 1954. The geological forces of the desert mean that tourists now walk through houses knee-deep in sand. Kolmanskop is popular with photographers and filmmakers for its settings of the desert sands’ reclaiming this once-thriving town.

Dust Devil is a 1993 horror film written and directed by Richard Stanley. The film was described as being like “Tarkovsky on acid” by Steve Beard of The Face.

The King Is Alive (2000) is the fourth film to be done according to the Dogme95 rules. It is directed by Kristian Levring. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival.

Samsara is a 2011 non-narrative documentary film, directed by Ron Fricke and produced by Mark Magidson. Samsara was filmed over four years in 25 countries around the world. It was shot in 70 mm format and output to digital format. The film premiered at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival and received a limited release in August 2012.

http://on-the-rand.co.uk/Diamond%20Grounds/Sperrgebiet.htm

http://stories.namibiatourism.com.na/blog/bid/270034/Kolmanskop-Swallowed-by-the-Dunes#Comments

LIKE BIRDS

A SWEDISH HOME

 

BLUE MAJORELLE

In 1919 the French painter Jacques Majorelle (1886-1962) took up residence in the Medina in Marrakech (then a French protectorate) with which he fell in love. Majorelle was the son of the Art Nouveau ébéniste of Nancy, Louis Majorelle. Though Majorelle’s gentlemanly orientalist watercolors are largely forgotten today (many are preserved in the villa’s collection), the gardens he created is his creative masterpiece.

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In 1922 he purchased a palm grove just outside Marrakech and in 1931 he commissioned architect Paul Sinoir to build him an Art-deco style workshop of astonishing modernity. He set out his primary living space on the first floor and made a vast artist’s studio on the ground floor to paint his huge decorative works.

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Fond of botany, he created a botanical garden around his villa structured around a long central pool, with a variety of over 1800 types of cacti, 400 species of palms and other rare varieties of the time. Different environments, planted with lush vegetation in which hundreds of birds nested.

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The garden is a living and evolving work of art made up of exotic plants and rare species that he brought back from his travels around the world: cactus, yuccas, water lilies, white water lilies, jasmines, bougainvilleas, palms, coconut trees, banana trees, bamboos…

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Embellished with fountains, ponds, water features, ceramic jars, avenues, and pergolas… This bold action revolutionized the way in which gardens were to be viewed.

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In 1937 the artist created an ultramarine blue that was both bright and intense: known as blue Majorelle, he used it to paint the walls of his workshop, and then the entire garden transforming it into a living tableau which he opened to the public in 1947.

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The power of the blue Majorelle is long lived and permeates the essence of what it means to live and see color in Marrakech.

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Following a car accident, Majorelle was repatriated to Paris where he died in 1962. The garden then fell into neglect. In 1980, Pierre Bergé and Yves Saint Laurent acquired the garden to save it from property developers and to bring it back to life.

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Following the death of Yves Saint Laurent in 2008, Pierre Bergé decided to donate the Jardin Majorelle to the Fondation Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent.

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The Garden welcomes over 600,000 visitors each year, tourists and locals alike.

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Mr. Frédéric Mitterrand, in the presence of Mr. Pierre Bergé, placed a plaque engraved, “Maison des Illustres” (‘House of Honor’), at the gate of the Villa Oasis, where Mr. Yves Saint Laurent came and worked throughout his life.

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Yves Saint Laurent said “A visit to Marrakech was a great shock to me. This city taught me color”.

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http://www.tuttartpitturasculturapoesiamusica.com/2011/12/jacques-majorelle-1886-1962-france.html

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http://www.travel-exploration.com/

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http://gardentoursmorocco.wordpress.com/majestic-gardens-of-morocco-tour/

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GREEN NUANCES II

“During the reign of Louis XVI, the Duchesse de Mouchy, lady-in-waiting to Marie Antoinette, occupied this bed …”