Minimalist architecture: homes that inspire calm

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Proper Snacks breaks the mould for workplace design

Good design, innovative thinking and doing things properly are core values embedded in the culture of Proper Snacks since its inception in 2011; and the brand’s new central London HQ delivers on both style and substance. While Proper has always supported working from home, in the post-pandemic world, founder Cassandra Stavrou MBE, set out to create a workspace that people actively wanted to show up to. To do this, Proper worked with a behavioural science consultancy to ensure the office design would be perfect for a new generation of hybrid workers, with an emphasis on wellbeing and biophilic design. Jonathan Blake of Jeremy Blake Architects was chosen for his research into the interface between architecture and wellbeing. Blake began by stripping the whole space, discovering hidden features in the industrial columns and ducts beneath a generic office shell of harsh white stud walls and grey carpet tiles. To deliver the aesthetic, Stavrou drafted in interior designer Rebecca Sicardi. Cassandra Stavrou at the Proper Snacks headquarters ‘I’d designed Cassandra’s house, we work together in a symbiotic way and she trusts my sensorial approach,’ says Sicardi. It wasn’t a problem for Stavrou that Sicardi hadn’t worked on other commercial projects, ‘because Cassandra wanted a totally non-corporate approach, a home-from-home’, Sicardi continues. Workplace specialist Thirdway supported Sicardi to implement the design and ensure that the materials chosen were up to the rigours of a work environment. Gone are the days of the one-size-fits-all open-plan layout: ‘A good team mixes extroverts and introverts; we’ve taken personality type into consideration with different types of work area,’ says Sicardi. As well as ‘connected clusters’ of desks and light, airy meeting rooms, there are standing desks, meeting pods and one-person ‘phone booths’ for focused working and distraction-free calls. ‘The architectural concept focused on the creation of a seamless and connected space that would at the same time offer moments that felt private. It’s about making space for different ways of thinking, working and being creative,’ says Blake. Taking her cues from Proper’s products, which celebrate simple, authentic ingredients, Sicardi has devised a palette of honest, unpretentious raw materials; plywood booths, cork panelling, cotton muslin curtains and paper light shades. The look is finished with contemporary furniture, featuring pieces by London designers and makers, including Dean Edmonds, Martino Gamper and Craftworks Productions as well as countless air-purifying plants. Playful art and signage – the latter by Proper’s in-house creative team – provide moments of light relief that feel right for a snack brand that does the same. Cleverly zoned by its orange-painted ceiling, the ‘out of office’ area includes a spacious kitchen, where the in-house chef prepares simple, healthy breakfasts and lunches, encouraging the team to hit pause together in cosy plywood booths. ‘Reciprocity and generosity are key terms on this project,’ says Sicardi. The nearby lounge provides space for thought-provoking talks and the kind of laid-back chats that spark creative moments. True to its name, the ‘out of office’ area is the equivalent of working in a café. ‘It’s strictly “do not disturb” if you’re working here,’ says Sicardi. ‘With this workspace, we are asking how can we do things differently? How can we make working work better?’ §
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Best 13 contemporary art books: a guide for 2022

When the pandemic arrived, art galleries shut, but books were opened. Physical book sales reached an eight-year high in 2020, so contrary to popular pessimism, print still very much has a pulse.  From maverick monographs and topical tomes to coffee table icebreakers, these are the best art books for 2022 The top 13 art books for 2022 LOG, by Roni Horn Between 22 March 2019 and 17 May 2020, New York-based artist Roni Horn created a piece of art almost daily. This culminated in 406 drawings, quotations, collages, photographs, casual commentaries, news, weather, and original texts, detailing the joys and mundanity of human existence, which debuted in the exhibition ‘Roni Horn Recent Work’ in 2021 at Hauser & Wirth New York, and now in a new book. LOG published by Ze Books, is a poetic, diary-esque take on the state of the world; the uncertainty as the global pandemic emerged, a political system at breaking point, local animal life, and the radical shifts in weather. Horn traces life as a series of anecdotes, finding poetry, humour and strangeness in everyday existence.  zebooks.com A Brief History of Protest Art, by Aindrea Emelife Cildo Meireles, Insertions into Ideological Circuits: Coca-Cola Project 1970, Three glass bottles, three metal caps, liquid and adhesive labels with text. © Cildo Meireles/Tate Art and protest have long been entwined. Throughout history, art has been used as a platform to challenge, critique, and draw attention to injustice and inequality. In A Brief History of Protest Art from Tate Publishing, curator and art historian Aindrea Emelife spotlights 50 artists who have confronted the most pressing social and political issues of their time from Picasso (Guernica), through to those responding to war, gender inequalities, the AIDS epidemic, LGBTQ+ rights, the Black Lives Matter movement and the climate crisis. As Emelife says: ‘Art lives forever and I hope this book becomes a reminder and rallying call to arms to keep going – to keep fighting, keep striving. Protest art makes apparent the deep inequities, injustices and truths of our time. It is powerful artillery.’ Featured artists include Ai Weiwei, Kara Walker, Jeremy Deller, Yoko Ono, Barbara Kruger and Theaster Gates. £15, available from 3 March 2022. tate.org.uk Call and Response, by Christian Marclay and Steve Beresford Call and Response by Christian Marclay & Steve Beresford, Siglio, 2022 Swiss artist Christian Marclay has a knack for finding music and sound in obscure places. In 2020, as the pandemic silenced London, Marclay began photographing the empty city streets and imagining music in the muted landscape. After capturing an image of an iron gate adorned with decorative white balls that evoked a musical score, he sent it to his friend, composer Steve Beresford. This sparked a virtual collaborative project translating visual moments of London into music, now documented in an elegant yet haunting forthcoming book: Call and Response, published by Siglio. Featuring 20 of Marclay’s photographs paired with 20 of Beresford’s scores, this is an audiovisual record of an extraordinary time. $29.95, available from 17 May 2022. sigliopress.com Marcel Duchamp Marcel Duchamp. Artwork by Marcel Duchamp © AssociationMarcel Duchamp / ProLitteris, Zurich, 2021, Courtesy Hauser & Wirth Publishers Marcel Duchamp means different things to different people. To some, he fathered the readymade, to Willem de Kooning in 1951, he was a ‘one-man movement’. Published in 1959, the book Marcel Duchamp became the bible of the artist’s work. It was the result of years of Duchamp’s collaboration with its author, art historian and critic Robert Lebel, and offered a comprehensive and penetrating study of the artist: from his early painting, subsequent farewell to painting, to his fixation on the fetish. Marcel Duchamp went out of print for 60 years, but the Grove Press English edition is now back in circulation with Hauser & Wirth Publishers’ authorised facsimile. hauserwirth.com The Women Who Changed Art Forever: Feminist Art – The Graphic Novel Spread from The Women Who Changed Art Forever – Feminist Art Graphic Novel, by Valentina Grande and Eva Rosetti, published by Laurence King In 1971, art historian Linda Nochlin asked, ‘Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?’ The issue, she wrote, ‘lies not in our stars, our hormones, our menstrual cycles, or our empty internal spaces, but in our institutions and our education’. There had been great women artists, they had just been denied the opportunity of greatness. The Women Who Changed Art Forever by Valentina Grande and Eva Rosetti tells the story of four trailblazers of feminist art: Judy Chicago, Faith Ringgold, Ana Mendieta and the Guerrilla Girls. The fight for equality is a long road. The graphic novel narrates this unfinished story with vibrance and accessibility through those that paved, and continue to pave, the way to a more equal art world. laurenceking.com The Hotel by Sophie Calle  Sophie Calle, Room 28. Both in the book The Hotel by Sophie Calle, Siglio, 2021 Privacy. These days, it’s everywhere, and nowhere. In 1981, Sophie Calle took a job as a chambermaid to breach it, for art. At the Hotel C in Venice, the French artist snuck a camera and tape recorder into her mop bucket. As she cleaned, she voyeuristically and methodically documented the personal belongings of guests; their bedding, books, postcards, and toiletries. She rifled through rubbish bins, diary entries, letters and family photographs. She eavesdropped on arguments and sex and sprayed herself with perfume that wasn’t hers. The Hotel, published for the first time as a standalone book in English, is a provocative examination of privacy, lack thereof, and what fragmented possessions might reveal about our lives – all told through belongings that were never meant for Calle, or us, to see.  sigliopress.com 1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows, by Ai Weiwei  1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows: A Memoir, by Ai Weiwei, published by Penguin Random House Experiencing the art of Ai Weiwei is like biting into a scorpion. Plenty of sting, searingly sharp, and hard to swallow. And so it should be. The Chinese artist has dedicated his life, career and freedom to exploring some of the most pertinent issues facing humanity. His long-awaited memoir, 1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows, is a century-long epic tale of China narrated through his own life and the legacy of his father, the celebrated poet Ai Qing, who was banned from writing and subjected to hard labour for 20 years. As Ai told us in an interview this year: ‘I [decided] to write a book about what was happening, so my son knew his grandfather and his father, from their own words.’ penguin.co.uk From the Sculptor’s Studio: Conversations with 20 Seminal Artists, by Ina Cole Anish Kapoor, Mother as a Mountain, 1985, Wood, gesso and pigment. In From the Sculptor’s Studio, by Ina Cole There’s a majestic quality to the artist’s studio; a sense of potential in the often-private to-and-fro of an artist as they wrestle with concept, form and execution. From the Sculptor’s Studio, published by Laurence King, is a record of where the magic happens. Writer Ina Cole conducted conversations with 20 seminal sculptors, exploring the artists’ lives and work in their own words, in their own environments. The book features 165 images of studios and artworks, alongside portraits of each sculptor, which includes Phyllida Barlow, Anthony Caro, Antony Gormley, Mona Hatoum, Anish Kapoor, Richard Long, David Nash, Cornelia Parker, Marc Quinn, Eva Rothschild and Rachel Whiteread. laurenceking.com Photography Now, by Charlotte Jansen Cover of Photography Now: Fifty Pioneers Defining Photography for the Twenty-First Century, by Charlotte Jansen, published by Octopus Publishing Group For photographers in the 20th century, things were more straightforward. Whole genres could be sparked by a single photograph of something the world had never seen. These days, standing out in an image-saturated post-Instagram world is tough. In this comprehensive, authoritative and international book, writer and longtime Wallpaper* contributor Charlotte Jansen surveys the 50 most significant photographers working today, with high-quality reproductions of their work, commentary and interviews. Artists featured include Nan Goldin, Wolfgang Tillmans, Hassan Hajjaj, Andreas Gursky, Juno Calypso, Zanele Muholi, Shirin Neshat, Catherine Opie, Martin Parr, Cindy Sherman, Hiroshi Sugimoto and Juergen Teller. It’s an important book in an age when society faces the increasingly heavy social responsibilities of photography, and visual communication more broadly.  octopusbooks.co.uk Wonderland, by Annie Lebowitz Karl Lagerfeld, Paris, 2018. © Annie Leibovitz. From Annie Leibovitz Wonderland, published by Phaidon Wonderland is the first book to chronicle Annie Leibovitz’s encounters with fashion. From her early work at Rolling Stone in the 1970s to the present day. More than 340 photographs spanning five decades chart her distinctive style, sharp eye and knack for transforming her subjects into cultural icons. Published by Phaidon, Wonderland documents Leibovitz’s most ambitious fashion shoots – including looks by designers such Alexander McQueen, Yves Saint Laurent, and Rei Kawakubo. These sit alongside portraits of everyone from Karl Lagerfeld to Serena Williams, Nancy Pelosi to Queen Elizabeth II, Lady Gaga, to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.  phaidon.com Peter Blake: Collage Peter Blake: Collage published by Thames & Hudson. Image credit and design by Praline Throughout his seven-decade career – which included co-designing The Beatles’ Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album sleeve – artist Peter Blake has redefined what collage can be: a collision of media, genre, time and space. Peter Blake: Collage reveals the British artist’s knack for extracting fragments of banal reality, and transforming them into compositions that could only exist in imagination. It also captures the artist’s flair for fusing seemingly disparate, distinct items, figures and scenes into one cohesive artwork, one that has cemented his status as the ‘Godfather of British pop art’. As old school friend David Hockney notes in the book’s foreword: ‘Peter understands that collage places one time on top of another’.  thamesandhudson.com The Soul of a Nation Reader: Writings by and about Black American Artists, 1960-1980 Spread from The Soul of a Nation Reader: Writings by and about Black American Artists, 1960-1980, edited by Mark Godfrey and Allie Biswas; published by Gregory R. Miller & Co. What is ‘Black art’? This question was often asked between 1960 and 1980 by the artists, curators and critics living through social and political turbulence in America. This was a period when civil rights became law, but civil rights in practice was another story entirely. Artists documented segregation, appealed for integration, and staged a multifaceted cultural revolution. Conceived as a reader linked to the 2017 Tate show ‘Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power’, the book highlights the vital and transformative contributions of Black artists over two decades. Edited by exhibition curator Mark Godfrey and writer Allie Biswas with afterword by Zoé Whitley, the anthology offers 200 texts and visual records from those who confronted the sociopolitical landscape of their time. Half a century later, their impact on contemporary art and activism remains palpable.  grmandco.com The Kitchen Studio: Culinary Creations by Artists Spread from The Kitchen Studio: Culinary Creations by Artists, published by Phaidon, featuring Charles Gaines’ Southern-Style Candied Yams recipe, photographed by Nicolas Polli for Wallpaper* As we know from our long-running Artist’s Palate series, creativity does not stop at the studio door; for many, it extends to the kitchen. This is the subject of Phaidon’s The Kitchen Studio: Culinary Creations by Artists, in which 70 leading contemporary artists present 100 recipes, illustrated with personal photographs, paintings, collages, sketches, iPhone snaps, and illustrations. Among the features – which include contributions by Subodh Gupta, Jeppe Hein, Carsten Höller, Laure Provost, Kehinde Wiley, Ragnar Kjartansson, Philippe Parreno, and Rirkrit Tiravanija – we were excited to find Charles Gaines’ Southern-Style Candied Yams, a recipe originally commissioned for the March 2021 issue of Wallpaper*.  phaidon.com  §  
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Frank Gehry’s Danziger Studio and Residence is transformed into design gallery

Hollywood’s Seventh House gallery opened in 2021 within the spaces of Frank Gehry’s Danziger Studio and Residence. A design gallery dedicated to early 20th century, postmodern and contemporary design, it made itself right at home in the cubic building. Started as an off-project of nearby Galerie Half, a Melrose Avenue gallery specialising in antiques and early 20th-century furniture, Seventh House gallery features a more modern interpretation of design, mixing earlier examples of modernism with pieces from the 1980s and 1990s, as well as contemporary design. Bed by Green River Project LLC Conceived like a house, the gallery’s interiors are curated to be in dialogue with Gehry’s original architectural features. Described as ‘an understated token of early Gehry architecture’, Danziger Studio and Residences is located at the intersection of Melrose Avenue with North Orange Drive, and appears as two offset grey cubes with a stucco façade. Designed in 1965 and commissioned by graphic designer Louis Danziger, the building explored some of the themes that would later recur in the architect’s work, including material exploration and the intersection between aesthetics and sustainability. ‘Ahmedabad Stools’ by Le Corbusier Inside, the airy structure is defined by exposed ceiling beams and tall windows, giving the space a distinct lightness. The interiors of the historic landmark were kept as a home, with each room maintaining its original function and at the same time displaying modern works by the likes of Maria Pergay, Enzo Mari and Le Corbusier. These are complemented by contemporary pieces by American designers Courtney Applebaum and Giancarlo Valle, while New York-based Green River Project LLC has created sculptural bedroom furniture among other pieces. In the compact courtyard, designs include Gae Aulenti’s legendary poolside furniture as well as 1950s lounge seats by Walter Lamb.  The house’s architecture means Seventh House gallery is completely insulated from the busy streets outside, and makes it a peaceful, quiet design escape in the city. §
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Qatar transforms into a museum of public art ahead of 2022 FIFA World Cup

As Qatar gears up for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, which will be hosted in Doha from 21 November –18 December 2022, anticipation is in the air. As part of the run-up, Qatar Creates — the year-round movement promoting cultural activities in the nation – has announced a new wave of 40 public artworks, which will be unveiled in Doha and across the nation. Over the coming weeks, a total of 100 artworks will be on view for residents and the 1.5 million international visitors expected in the capital for the World Cup, transforming the city into an ‘outdoor museum experience’. Daniel Arsham (b. 1980, United States) Sports Ball Galaxy, 2012 Cast Hydro-stone. Qatar Olympics Sports Museum Photo copyright Iwan Baan. Courtesy of Qatar Museums Among the show-stopping new additions are Jeff Koons’ Dugong (2022), a colossal polychromatic steel sculpture depicting the marine mammal that inhabits the waters surrounding Qatar; commissioned desert installations by Ernesto Neto and Olafur Eliasson; a potent light installation by Shilpa Gupta at Stadium 974 and a collection of ephemeral sculptures and installations by Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. Other international regional and native artists include Daniel Arsham, Lawrence Weiner, KAWS, Faye Toogood, Peter Fischli & David Weiss, Rashid Johnson, Ahmed Al Bahrani, Monira Al Qadiri, Franz West and Shouq Al Mana.  ‘The addition of 40 new, major works of public art this fall is a significant milestone for Qatar’s public art programme. Public art is one of our most prominent demonstrations of cultural exchange, where we present works from artists of all nationalities and backgrounds,’ said Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, chairperson of Qatar Museums, in a statement. ‘From the arrivals at the best airport in the world — Hamad International Airport — to every neighbourhood in our nation, public art is there to make your experience unique.’  Shouq Al Mana (b. 1995, Qatar) Egal, 2022 Stainless steel. Lusail Marina Photo copyright Iwan Baan. Courtesy of Qatar Museums Sculptures and installations will be located in populated public areas and those off the beaten track, from the expansive Qatari desert to the bustling Souq Waqif.  ‘These works vary in size and form, and they encompass a wide range of subject matter, but all further our mission to make art more accessible, engage our publics, celebrate our heritage, and embrace the cultures of others,’ Sheikha Al Mayassa continued. ‘More importantly, artists from every corner of the world – representing all continents – have been invited to express their artistic creativity with our very own diverse population. Our longstanding commitment to public art is visible across Qatar, and we hope these works will be welcomed by locals and enhance the experiences had by the millions of visitors we expect to welcome to Doha this year.’ § César Baldaccini (1921–1998, France) Le Pouce (Thumb), 1965-2016 Bronze with gold patina Souq Waqif Photo copyright Iwan Baan. Courtesy of Qatar Museums Subodh Gupta (b. 1964, India) Spooning, 2009 Stainless Steel M7, 2nd floor, Msheireb Downtown Doha Photo copyright Iwan Baan. Courtesy of Qatar Museums Faye Toogood (b. 1977, United Kingdom) Clay Court, 2022 Jesmonite, cement composite Various Dimensions Qatar National Theatre Photo copyright Iwan Baan. Courtesy of Qatar Museums  Simone Fattal (b. 1942, Lebanon) Gates to the Sea, 2019 Bronze. National Museum of Qatar Photo copyright Iwan Baan. Courtesy of Qatar Museums  Damien Hirst (b. 1965, United Kingdom) The Miraculous Journey, 2013 Bronze. Sidra Medical Centre Photo copyright Iwan Baan. Courtesy of Qatar Museums Shua’a Ali (b. 1974, Qatar) Milestones, 2022 Concrete, stone, bronze and paint. Grand Hamad Street Photo copyright Iwan Baan. Courtesy of Qatar Museums.  
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Fope’s flexible gold chains rethink a classic design

Fope brings an Italian elegance to intricate artistry in a new jewellery collection, ‘Luna’, which imbues heavy gold chains with effortless flexibility. The 18ct gold mesh chains encircling the wrist and neck are elasticated in a patented system, for a comfortable and flawless fit. ‘There is an incredible craftsmanship component in all Fope jewels, and the human interaction still plays a great role – but so does technology,’ says Fope product development manager Claudia Piaserico. ‘The Vicenza factory has implemented an industrial approach where every step of the process is integrated. Most of the machines here are custom-designed and sometimes custom-made in order to be able to optimise production, all the more when it comes to our patented Flex’it lines. ‘The Flex’it system is a unique invention of the Fope factory: tiny gold springs are hidden in the intricate mesh chain and make it stretchable, providing a feeling of unprecedented comfort while being precious and elegant.’ The new chunky chains, in white, yellow and rose gold, bring a contemporary edge to a classic design, although the innovative technology didn’t come without its challenges. ‘The first challenge related to design, as the new “Luna” collection features a choker-style necklace, a groundbreaking style choice for a brand like Fope,’ Piaserico adds. ‘The second challenge pertained to the technological aspects of making a Flex’it necklace – as it obviously needed a different approach from our roll-on bracelets. Our R&D team managed to create a virtually invisible clasp that blends in the 18ct gold mesh, while rendering it very easy to wear. You really need to try one on to understand how incredible the result is and how comfortable the jewellery is against the skin. These statement pieces are intrinsically Fope’s and yet they tap into contemporary trends where geometric shapes are the protagonists.’ §  
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Colorful gradient Apple logo wallpapers for iPhone

Grab a full set of Apple logo wallpapers with a colorful background gradient color splash.
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