DESIGN OF THE TIMES
Whether you have secret Pinterest boards that you spend hours pinning images of your dream kitchen on, are haphazardly house-proud and like the odd scatter cushion, or motivate your décor and DIY choices based on keeping up with the Joneses, you should take note of this upcoming event.
In its second year, and following on from a debut received with much enthusiasm, Design Joburg, featuring Rooms on View, is back. It takes place at the Sandton Convention Centre next week (May 25 to 27) and promises to be a gilded nugget on the City of Gold’s décor and design calendar. The idea is that you browse the delightful stands, ooh and aah over a couple of things, bump into everyone you know and then sit down for a snack and a cocktail. Here are some highlights that we plan not to miss.
Rooms on View
Those in the creative loop will look forward to this display of fancy simulated room settings, which was a fixture on the local design scene for years. When it stopped in the 2000s, it left a palatial, wallpaper-bedecked hole in the interiors of our collective hearts. Fortunately, under the exacting eye of its founder Sumari Krige, it returned as part of Design Joburg last year. And was as top-notch as ever. This year, expect room sets from high-end international brands like Kartell, Roche
Bobois and Porcelanosa alongside local industry leaders like Black Fabrics and Anatomy Design.
Colabs
This is a space where leading interior designers and architects have teamed up with industry brands to create evocative room sets. We’re especially keen on the fact that they’ve worked with Fired Earth to create their own paint colours, which you’ll be able to see in all their glory and buy at the show (and after it too). Expect work from designers like Liam Mooney, Donald Nxumalo and Erica Schalkwyk, and creations by up-andcoming youngsters who’ve been mentored for the project.
Colab by Marble and the Hendricks Gin Bar, in association with Ardmore
Much-adored chef David Higgs and the Marble restaurant team have conjured a pop-up food experience, also called Colab, that will take its cue from both food and design fronts. Interior designer Irene Kyriacou will create a sit-down space to match the top-notch food.
The show’s creative directors Andrea Kleinloog and Megan Hesse have taken their inspiration from zany film director Tim Burton to create the Hendricks Gin Bar. They’ve used the insanely patterned, wild-animal covered fabrics by Ardmore in the mix — “If Burton went on a safari, this is what you’d get,” they say.
Architects Gallery
One of our favourite designers and architects Shaun Gaylard has curated the new
Architects Gallery. This will be a thoughtful celebration of the very best projects from various SA architectural minds — featuring both print and architectural models. Belgotex has worked with local starchitects Studiomas to create rugs for the space — to be complemented by bespoke furniture pieces by Luvarre.