< Previous90 AR E N A/ C a pe T o wn AD_033_86-95_Arena_Cape Town_11270165.indd 9024/06/2020 10:01:46 PMAR E N A/ C a pe T o wn 00073 The grey granite and marble clad indoor pool. The armchair and footstool are by Patricia Urquiola for B&B Italia. OPPOSITE PAGE: The stairwell, fl ooded with natural light from a skylight above, forms a planted atrium. AD_033_86-95_Arena_Cape Town_11270165.indd 9124/06/2020 10:01:56 PMswimming pool and guest bedrooms. Up one more level there’s the main living area with a lounge, dining room and kitchen. “The top level is made up of two sweeping fl ying saucers and a bridge that links them,” explains Rech. “It has one of those timeless, endless views that is just so magical. It gives you this larger-than-life way of looking at things. I fi nd it very uplifting.” Across ‘a green lawn in the sky’ is a circular concrete party pavilion with a swimming pool, spa and sunken bar. For a time, the SRLC studio was fi lled with iconic photog- rapher Slim Aarons’ images of poolside glamour (which came to symbolise American modernism as much as the architecture did), and watching vintage Bond fi lms be- came mandatory for the design team. Although they sourced key furniture items (Platner tables and chairs with mustard upholstery, for example) Rech and Carstens also designed an array of bespoke furnishings and fi nishings for the house, including bar counters, so- fas, bed units and desks. Like the architecture itself, their approach to the inte- rior architecture wasn’t simply a matter of duplicating Lautner’s interiors – it was more a matter of translating and adapting it for a new place and time. The young Laut- ner was a protégé of Frank Lloyd Wright, and, like his mentor, he was fastidious about the detailing and materi- ality of the fi nishes, something the duo embraced. Rich Palissandro Brasil wood panelling – much of it with acoustic treatment – lines the walls. It brings a luxu- rious warmth and velvety quietness to the interiors, con- trasting with the rawness of the concrete that peeps through. White terrazzo fl oors and large sheets of granite chime with the mountainside. Even the indoor swim- ming pool is lined with marble and granite, making it seem like a glamorous stylised grotto. The main living area was designed to look like a patch of the beach below the house had ‘sprung up’ and recon- fi gured itself as a plush living room. Its sunken fl oor is covered in a ‘very soft pale grey carpet’ as if it were a luxu- rious patch of sand. Lush indoor planting pushes up be- tween the volumes of the stairwell and sheets of water, such as the pond at the entrance, with that copper-clad wall behind it, represent something elemental at the heart of the house. The bold architecture and rich detailing is also con- ceived as a springboard to the kinds of parties that Aarons might have liked to photograph and has the power to make anyone who crosses the threshold of the house to feel like a fi lm star. “This era [LA in the 60s and 70s] had such a clear understanding of what style should be,” says Rech. “In those days, design was seen as a leading infl u- ence in lifestyle.” He goes on to quote Lautner on the sub- ject: “To me, architecture is an art, naturally, and it isn’t architecture unless it’s alive. Alive is what art is.” Silviorechlesleycarstens.co.za; peerutin.co.za 92 AR E N A/ C a pe T o wn In the master suite, the bathroom has enviable views. OPPOSITE PAGE: The bed been designed with a retractable television beneath it which “slides out and up in a secret Bond-like way.” AD_033_86-95_Arena_Cape Town_11270165.indd 9224/06/2020 10:02:08 PMAR E N A/ C a pe T o wn 000 AD_033_86-95_Arena_Cape Town_11270165.indd 9324/06/2020 10:02:20 PM94 AR E N A/ C a pe T o wn “ The top level has one of those timeless, endless views that is just so magical ” The pool pavilion, opens onto grand views of the ocean. OPPOSITE PAGE: The covered sunken bar area features a curving marble counter that cantilevers out over the water. The bar and Counter Stools were designed by Reza Feiz for Phase Design. AD_033_86-95_Arena_Cape Town_11270165.indd 9424/06/2020 10:02:27 PMAD_033_86-95_Arena_Cape Town_11270165.indd 9524/06/2020 10:02:39 PM96 AR E N A AR E N A/ / S us ta inabili ty S u s tainabili ty NATURAL CHARM Mexican designer Fernando Laposse’s plant-fibre creations combine environmental awareness with joyful creativity Words Amy Bradford Portrait Pepe Molina AD_033_96-99_Arena Sustainability Fernando Laposse_11310652.indd 9625/06/2020 04:40:07 PMAD_033_96-99_Arena Sustainability Fernando Laposse_11310652.indd 9725/06/2020 04:40:19 PMhat do you think of when you hear the word “loo- fah”? It’s almost always a somewhat retro, raspy bathroom sponge, of natural but obscure ori- gins. In the hands of London-based, Mexico-born designer Fernando Laposse, though, it represents a world of possibility. His 2012 Lufa series sees the cucumber-like gourd – which attaches itself to trees before being harvested, dried and processed to remove everything but its fi brous core – fashioned into lampshades, cushions for simple wooden daybeds, and dividing screens, where it’s cut in cross sections to reve al its irregular shapes and textures. These creations are just one example of Laposse’s genius for exploiting humble organic materials in surprising new ways. There’s purpose in his creativity, too. The Central Saint Martins-trained designer is on a mission to combat unsus- tainable modern farming methods in his homeland, w improving the lives of locals in the process, and reinvent- ing natural fi bres that often receive little fanfare. “I spe- cialise in plant fi bres that are overlooked or considered waste,” he says. “I want to tell the story of their origins and of the communities that harvest them.” Laposse’s design awakening began during his student days, when he became frustrated by the academic focus on mass consumer products and packaging. “There was lots of plastic, and sustainability was always an afterthought,” he remembers. “I was always thinking about my home country – we don’t have a defi ning industry, but we do have high levels of craftsmanship and an ancestral knowledge of working with natural substances, especially among our indigenous populations. I wanted to focus on the potential for working in balance with nature.” Laposse was practising sustainability long before it became the buzzword it is now, but it would be a mistake to think of his work as purely noble – indeed, it is positively carnivalesque at times. Take his Pink Beasts installation, for instance, which brought joy to Miami Design Week in 2019. A collaboration with the fi bre artist Angela Damman and artisans in Yucatán, it deployed two very traditional Central American resources to put a new twist on our age- old obsession with colour. Strands of sisal, or agave fi bre – used for centuries to make ropes and rugs before syn- thetics were ever thought of – were dyed pink with a mixture of lemon juice, baking soda and cochineal, a Mexican insect that grows on the Opuntia cactus (or prickly pear) and is one of the world’s oldest sources of natural red dye (commonly known as carmine). These strands were then used to craft a group of smiling pink sloths, playfully swing- ing from sisal ropes, trees and arches that display the material’s hairlike fronds. AD_033_96-99_Arena Sustainability Fernando Laposse_11310652.indd 9824/06/2020 10:06:25 PMA R EEN A /S u s tai nab ilit y 99 Though you might not expect it of someone who works with dried plant fi bres, Laposse’s work is rarely devoid of colour. The design he’s most proud of – Totomoxtle, a mar- quetry-style veneer made from corn husks – is rich in nat- ural tonal variations, from deep purple to crimson, brown and cream. It’s made by peeling husks off the cob, ironing them fl at and gluing them to a paper or textile backing, which is then cut by hand or laser into small shapes for tes- sellation. The fi nished material can be made into table tops, wallcoverings, vessels and more. “The colours come directly from the plant and I have to adapt the patterns to that,” explains Laposse, “but more importantly, it has cre- ated profound positive social and ecological changes.” Totomoxtle is a response to the environmental devasta- tion wrought by modern farming methods, specifi cally in relation to corn or maize. This is the most planted grain in the world, but almost never for direct human consump- tion – mostly, it’s used to make things like sweeteners, fuel and animal feed, which means little regard is paid to its nutritional quality or ecological standards. Heavy doses of fertiliser and pesticides are common, while the ancient varieties grown for thou- sands of years by Mesoamericans are rapidly disappearing. Laposse works with indigenous people to revive heritage species, which he then uses to make Totomoxtle. “The project has reintroduced eight critically endangered species and is providing valuable employment,” he reveals. “We’re effectively creating a new craft from scratch, and in so doing we’re also taking a stance against a system that favours GM crops and puts profi t over people’s wellbeing. It is a circular business that has made me grow, not only as a designer but as a person.” Though his studio is in London and he spends much of his time prototyping, teaching and lecturing, Laposse also regularly travels back to Mexico. “I like going on craft- hunting road trips – Mexico is such a massive country, with such a diversity of local crafts,” he enthuses. “It’s about meeting people on the way and discovering local tech- niques. Getting out into nature, and having those mean- ingful relationships, is the best part of my job – even if it’s sometimes a struggle to convince clients that in order to do things sustainably, we have to slow down.” Fernandolaposse.com “IT HAS PRODUCED PROFOUND SOCIAL CHANGES” OPPOSITE PAGE CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Dubbed Totomoxtle, Fernando Laposse has developed a new material that harnesses the natural hues of heritage Mexican corn varieties; the corn husks are carefully peeled and hung up to dry; Totomoxtle lamp. THIS PAGE FROM TOP: Totomoxtle patterned vase; Lufa daybed; Laposse with some of the natural Mexican materials he transforms. AD_033_96-99_Arena Sustainability Fernando Laposse_11310652.indd 9924/06/2020 10:06:44 PMNext >