23
Mrz

Lovely Home in England

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A moment of calm in a lovely Bristol apartment. Take care, everyone. We’re all one team. Act in solidarity with those at risk. We’ll get through this. Believe. ️

photos: the modern house

16
Mrz

Green Home in Barcelona

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Schöner Wohnen mit Pflanzen in einem Zuhause in Barcelona. Design: Sirëe. Stay safe, friends!

A look inside a green home in Barcelona designed by studion Sirëe. Stay safe, friends!

mi casa

9
Mrz

Beautiful Home in Paris

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Ein Blick nach Paris in dieses wunderschöne Zuhause. Guten Wochenstart!

A look inside a beautiful home in Paris. Happy new week!

vtwonen

2
Mrz

Interview with Maria Antònia Marqués

Designer, Interviews

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“Believe in yourself! Decorate step by step. Choose carefully the pieces that will form your home. I always say that decorating takes time. If you decorate one step at a time and have patience, the result will be extraordinary.”

Maria Antònia Marqués

Con Alma Design

Wooden tables of timeless design… sustainable cutting boards I love to use every day… amazing studio located in the heart of Mallorca… In two words: Con Alma Design. A week ago I had the pleasure of interviewing the lovely Maria Antònia Marqués – interior designer and co-founder of Conalma Design, – speaking about success, daily routine and favorite movies. I hope you enjoy the interview as much as I did.

What does a happy day in the life of Maria Antònia Marqués look like?

Every day is a happy day! I wake up at 7 am. It’s so quiet at that time in our house. I make coffee and enjoy the tranquility. Some minutes later the morning chaos starts – the children wake up. We make breakfast and prepare them to go to school. My husband and I work together in a beautiful studio surrounded by nature. We feel very grateful to work in such an environment. We usually work with relaxing music in the background. At 5 pm we pick up the kids from school and take a walk with our beagle Murta. After the walk we go home, light candles and prepare the evening meal. Once the children fall asleep, I read or watch TV.

Do you have a daily routine?

Every day is different. Exept Monday morning when we have more organizational stuff.

When did you first discover your love of interior design?

It was born out of pure curiosity. As a child I loved to imagine what the abandoned houses I saw in the countryside would be like. During first year at the university it was not very clear if interior design was the thing I was looking for. During my final project I felt in love with interior design. I finally had a really good time creating something from nothing. I felt fulfilled. From the subsequent work in companies I would have to highlight my time at Denys & von Arend where I learned a lot. Basics, dealing with clients, choosing materials, making moodboards. With that knowledge we – my husband and I – found Conalma Design six years ago. A labour of love.

Looking back at your first project, what design knowledge do you wish you had back then?

I think time teaches. The mistakes teach us too. Each project teaches us to improve certain things and not to do others. It’s all about teaching.

What interior design moves you most?

I love relaxing interiors. Unpretentious and functional. Homes full of life.

How does your home look like?

It’s constantly evolving. We have two young children and our home looks often chaotic. But I love the atmosphere. It feels cozy. We live a small house in the town of Alaró. With stone walls and white walls. I love putting soft carpets for more comfort. We use our wooden f Conalma furniture – tables, lamps and stools at home too. I love the fireplace and the neutral colors scheme. Our favorite place is our garden where children often play.

When designing a home, what was your first source of inspiration?

The first thing I notice is the natural light that enters a house. I look for the spirit of the home and the client’s needs.

How do you achieve such a good scale? Scale is really an interesting and difficult topic.

The scale is the factor that makes everything proportionate but you don’t have to be overwhelmed by it, just doing a good study first of all guarantees a good result. Our pieces are always adapted to space. We do not have standard measures. It’s a design according to space.

What is your best advice on color?

The main color of our pieces is neutral. If you like it colorful, just choose a color that you are never tired of.

What do you suggest people to transform their homes?

Believe in yourself! Decorate step by step. Choose carefully the pieces that will form your home. I always say that decorating takes time. If you decorate one step at a time and have patience, the result will be extraordinary.

What do you love to do when you are not designing?

I love building Lego and 3D puzzles with my oldest son, going to the beach in winter, traveling. I also have a lot of fun baking bread and cookies with my children. I love to read and going to the movies.

What are your favorite books?

I don’t have a favorite book. There are so many that I like depending on the stage of my life. I like The Child of Isaacson Rupert’s Horses, Knowing How to See the Architecture of Bruno Zevi, Madame Bovary de Flaubert, The Garden of the Finzi-Contini of Bassani, The Little Prince of Antoine de Saint Exupery. I have now finished The Villa of the Fabrics by Anne Jacobs. It is also a delight to read books about landscaping.

What are your favorite movies?

Singing in the Rain, West Side Story, The Wizard of Oz. Even today I love watching The Wizard of Oz with my children. I love the set of the movie and I always discover new details there. I like a lot The Godfather Part II. There are many great movies but there is a movie that I’m in love with because of the meaning: About time – written and directed by Richard Curtis. It’s a charming, funny and entertaining film that touches and makes you value the little things in life. Oh, and Disney… I like happy ending … always…

What are your favorite places in Mallorca?

Sóller and Formentor.

What does success mean to you?

To know that our design pieces last forever in the homes of our clients. That every time they look at our piece they think about the beauty of the creation process and that an exclusive piece emerged simply from nowhere.

Imagine you’re teaching a class in the school of life. What would be your tips?

Do not hurry, be patient and enjoy every moment – it is unique and flies by. Work hard and be nice to people.

17
Feb

Dream House in Mallorca

House Tour

4 comments

Traumhaus auf Mallorca gefunden… Es steht zum Verkauf über Fantastic Frank aber bis eine glückliche Familie einzieht, können wir zum letzten Mal eine House Tour voller Licht, Blumen und einer atamberaubender Aussicht genießen. Guten Wochenstart!

Dream home in Costa de la Calma found… The house is for sale via Fantastic Frank but till one lucky family gets to move in, let’s enjoy a tour full of natural light, bloomy flowers and an incredible view. Happy new week!

fantastic frank

10
Feb

Interview with David Godshall

Designer, Interviews

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“Projects with huge budgets are gross and often quite inappropriate to me. I abhor the word “luxury” to be honest. I prefer responsible, efficient, appropriate design that is both cost-effective and challenging. The most revolutionary thing to me is taking the normal, mundane thing, and using it in a way that no one ever expected…

…I find everyday, residential gardens of working class people to be profoundly interesting as well. They tend to be egoless exercises in decoration, organization and need, and there’s a clarity and honesty to them that’s endlessly remarkable.”

David Godshall

Please come with me to LA to meet David Godshall, landscape architect and co-founder of Terremoto Landscape. Grab a cup of coffee and sit down for a little virtual conversation. It’s about gardening, daily routine and some of David’s favorite things. And of course… about Terremoto’s natural, brave, pure, wild, warm and adventurous projects.

What does a happy day in the life of David Godshall look like?

Every day is awesome! At about 6am, my wife yells “PAPA!” because my youngest son Calder, who is 16 months old, wakes up at about 6am, so he and I get up before the sun rises and go upstairs so she can sleep longer, and we read books and hang out. Then we eat breakfast, get the boys ready, I drop my four year old boy Wolfgang off at school, which I love to do, and then I drive five minutes to our cool new office, blasting heavy metal obviously. My favorite days are when I get to be in the office all day, but that rarely happens, usually about half the day I’m driving around to check in on construction, meet new clients, have design presentations, etc. I hate my inbox, but keeping up with that is part of the job, so I keep up with emails, maybe update our website, check in with everyone on their various projects, if I’m lucky I’ll get to draw for ten minutes at some point. Home around 5.30pm, dinner with the wife and boys, everyone goes to bed early, so at 8pm I either write a project narrative or drink a gin and tonic and watch a movie and let my mind unwind. I enjoy my work immensely but it’s often quite intense, and I have to make about four thousand decisions at work every day, so when I’m home I basically turn my phone on airplane mode and don’t think about it. About a year ago I made the decision to get serious about work + life balance after letting Terremoto run my life for the last 5 years and well, it’s awesome. I don’t check emails on the weekend, once I’m out of the office, I’m out.

Do you have a daily routine?

The start and end of the day are routine oriented, what happens in the middle is completely different every day. I like that.

When did you first discover your love of landscape architecture?

There was never a succinct, clear moment where I declared my love for the profession. I went to graduate school not knowing what it was exactly, the first office I ever worked at was a somewhat terrible place, but the second office I worked at was maybe when I found out how amazing landscape architecture is. I have Surface Design to thank for that – James Lord, Roderick Wyllie and Geoff DiGirolamo were my bosses and I had the incredibly good fortune to land in an office that encouraged conversation, experimentation, friendship and hard work. It was at Surface Design that I realized the incredible depth and breadth of the profession, and that landscape architecture was almost a lens through which you could live your life.

What landscapes move you most?

To be honest, I prefer pure wilderness and nature to designed landscapes. I hike every chance I can get – and just walking and looking at nature and natural systems is #1 in my book. I find everyday, residential gardens of working class people to be profoundly interesting as well. They tend to be egoless exercises in decoration, organization and need, and there’s a clarity and honesty to them that’s endlessly remarkable.

Is there one bodily sense – as in touch, sight or hearing – that is most powerful in experiencing a place?

I guess sight is the primary sense in interpreting a landscape, but they’re all really inseparable, so it’s hard to say.

How does your home garden look like?

It’s a wild, messy, mostly native garden. There’s a hippy little deck and tree house that the kids play with often, tree stumps and driftwood for climbing and moving around. It’s a work in progress, but it was planted about three years ago and it’s starting to hit it’s stride and feel stron.

What do you suggest people to transform a small garden?

Spend a lot of money on one huge tree. Or one huge boulder. Rather than trying to do a lot of little things, just do one or two big moves. Or, conversely, plant a ton of natives and just enjoy a wild garden in which native insects, birds, and all sort of animals will pass through and enjoy.

If you had no limits, what would be your dream project?

I like limits! I love constraints! Projects with huge budgets are gross and often quite inappropriate to me. I abhor the word “luxury” to be honest. I prefer responsible, efficient, appropriate design that is both cost-effective and challenging. The most revolutionary thing to me is taking the normal, mundane thing, and using it in a way that no one ever expected.

What do you love to do when you are not designing landscapes?

Hiking, running. Exercising. Being in nature, looking at the mountains, admiring the grandeur of natural systems. Being with my family. Cheesy, but the cheese is true.

What are your favorite books?

This is a random grab……….

Distance and Engagement by VOGT

Everything ever written by Gilles Clement

Anything by OFFICE: Kersten Geers and David van Severen

PRAXIS: Studio Mumbai

I love the writing (it’s online) of Georgina Reid of the Planthunter website.

I love the writing (it’s online) of my friend the plantsman Jonathon Froines.

What does success mean to you?

Getting to build long lasting, meaningful, challenging gardens and spaces that let individuals, families and communities experience landscape in ways pleasant, simple, and complex.

Imagine you’re teaching a class in the school of life. What would be your tips?

The moment you feel your time is being wasted, or someone isn’t speaking to you honestly and directly, move onto the next thing. Have exactly zero patience for bullshit.

3
Feb