The Unmonday Model 4.3 speaker represents an extremely complete solution to a very specific problem. The goal in the creation of the speaker was to fabricate something truly wireless and flexible, without compromising on sound quality and design sensibility. As a result the system streams audio from any Apple AirPlay compatible device across one to five speakers allowing for mono, stereo, multi-room or surround sound. Even if there is no WiFi available. But besides being very pragmatic, the Unmonday Model 4.3 is also hand-made by professional craftsmen; from the vitro porcelain enclosure to the custom-made amplifier, the speaker needed to be perfect in every sense. The speaker is even designed to stay on top over time. It can be updated simply by swapping out the hardware and downloading software updates, without renewing either the durable porcelain housing or the driver. The Unmonday Model 4.3 is therefore a remarkable speaker in every aspect. [ Continue reading ]
Wanderlust is one of those experimental boutique hotels with a very bold overall aesthetic one sees very little. The hotel, founded by hotelier Loh Lik Peng houses in a building which originally was a school built in the 1920s in an area called Little India; a bustling cultural enclave where Indian immigrants once settled in Singapore. The hotel features thematic levels of 29 rooms by different award winning Singapore design agencies, who were all given full creative freedom. This resulted in a bold and beautiful hotel catering to all sorts of aesthetic preferences without taking it too far. [ Continue reading ]
The Bezau, Austria-based Hotel Post is one of those places with a long and rich history which we really appreciate. It starts in 1850 when Susanne Kaufmann's great-great-grandfather, Postmaster Johann Kaspar Natter, opened the first K.u.K Post Office in the Bregenzerwald Forest in the far West of Austria. Mail coaches were the most important means of overland transport covering up to 100 kilometres a day at that time. Therefore a small inn was added to the Bezau Post Office where passengers could refresh and rest from the coach rides. Johann Kaspar Natter's son Franz Josef took over the tavern and extended it so that in 1920 the inn had 28 beds. From 1926 the Post Inn was run by Oskar and Irma Natter. They passed on the reigns in 1968 to their daughter Rosemarie and her husband, the architect Leopold Kaufmann. Under their management the house underwent large changes paving the road to the hotel four star spa hotel one sees today. [ Continue reading ]
We have been a fan of the work of New York-based Mikael Kennedy for some years now and really appreciate his latest series 'California'. The series captures one week in California in which the photographer is clearly on the move. The beautiful photographs with the familiar toned down color palette show the wide landscapes of the American state with only sometimes allowing traces of civilization to play a minor role within the frame. A road, roadside fences, an electrical cable, the inside of the car a photograph was taken in, and just a little glimpse of a house. Kennedy places the geographical entity of the state of California first and its inhabitants second. The pictures therefore evoke somewhat of a lonely and melancholic sentiment within the beauty of the depicted landscapes, making the urge to visit the beautiful area even greater. 'California' has been published by Done To Death Projects in a limited quantity zine of 100 pieces which sold out within four days. [ Continue reading ]
Since we discovered it, whenever we visit Antwerp the only address we want to stay is the extraordinary Boulevard Leopold. Owned by the warm hosts Bert Verschueren and Vincent Defontainers, Boulevard Leopold is located in a 19th Century house in the Belgian city, between the Albert Park and the City Park which is right in the Jewish Quarter. The two owners say their aim in the interiors was to create a sense of "forgotten glory", which in our eyes is the exact sentiment Boulevard Leopold evokes. Entering Boulevard Leopold is like entering the house of a libertine nobleman from the 19th Century living in contemporary times, cherishing all his old belongings hinting and long-gone times, completed with modern elements where needed. With three regular rooms for rent and two larger apartments available on longer terms, the bed and breakfast, built in 1890, is a beautiful hybrid of antique and contemporary design. [ Continue reading ]
In his project '52 Weeks, 52 Cities', developed exclusively for German museum Marta Herford, my brother Iwan Baan takes the spectator on a one-year photographic journey around the world. Always on the lookout for ingenious homes in unexpected places and outstanding construction projects. Süddeutsche Zeitung described the influence of Iwan: “our image of architecture like no other”. He has been working, very successfully, worldwide for architects including Rem Koolhas, Herzog & de Meuron, Toyo Ito or Zaha Hadid. A characteristic of his pictorial language is the engagement with the close relationship between human and architecture, between social use and the various spatial situations. [ Continue reading ]
We are very thrilled to give another fantastic preview of a feature story by the highly inspiring online platform Jungles in Paris. This story focusses on the environment of the Weddell seals and is an outtake of the beautiful book The Last Ocean by photographer John Weller. Weddell seals live in Antarctica, and unlike other large animals there, like for instance whales, other seals, or penguins, they don't migrate North during the winter. No other mammal on earth lives this far south. They have extraordinary diving abilities, can go as far as 700 meters below the ice in their search for fish, and stay underwater for as long as an hour. [ Continue reading ]
Ka'ana is a lovely resort that was founded by the brothers Ronan and Colin Hannan in 2007 as a tribute to the rich heritage and natural beauty of Central American country Belize. The resort is located in Belize's western Cayo district and offers personalized service and modern design that respects the country's culturally rich past. Located closely to areas where the ancient Maya civilization resided and surrounded by marvelous jungles, Ka'ana's tour excursions for exploration of the beautiful country are completely altered to the visitors' wishes to ensure an exclusive and most likely overwhelming experience. [ Continue reading ]
After going for a month to India, a few weeks in Patagonia, and a few in Nepal, the idea grew in 24-year-old Ruben Brulat's mind to go for a long and unstopped journey, an aesthetic travel, leaving from Gare de Lyon, Paris. Brulat decided to go East. From Europe to Asia by land only, through Iraq, Iran, onto Afghanistan, Tibet until Indonesia, Japan and Mongolia. Inspired by his first trips, Brulat realised that he wanted to see and share the experience of giving yourself away to nature in a photography-project. Early january 2011 the Frenchman asked the first person to pose naked in a landscape for him to photograph, trying to create a symbiosis with the surroundings. Last September Brulat succeeded in finding funds to release a beautiful self published book of this series of photographs taken all over the world which was named Sharing Paths. [ Continue reading ]
Traveling has been an integral part of Ruben Kosenda's life since he was a young boy. All this time on the road and in the air has now been translated into the design of a new hotel in the place Kosenda calls home: Indonesia. Named after its founder, the Kosenda Hotel in Jakarta is the work of local talents, artists, designers, and architects. Located on Wahid Hasyim road, this 8-floor hotel is an ode to the angular geometries of Betawi architecture, while simultaneously paying tribute to the surrounding environment. [ Continue reading ]
We are highly inspired by the online platform of writer Darrell Hartman, writer for among others New York Magazine, Travel + Leisure, Details, and the Wall Street Journal, and his brother Oliver Hartman, called Jungles in Paris. It aims to redefine armchair travel using a global network of professional photographers and filmmakers, it produces and presents short, focused stories on culture, craft, geography, and wildlife around the world. Instead of splendour the Hartman brothers aim to go small and observe with an highly critical eye by focusing on the unexpected surprises uncovered by the careful traveler, from ritual skin-piercing in Ethiopia’s Omo Valley to the beautiful aesthetic of the colourful house fences one finds in Rwanda. [ Continue reading ]
Some people don't travel, they explore. They explore new ways of crossing the world, they explore new places and new boundaries. Rob Lutter is one of those people. Two years ago, on a windy day in London, Rob Lutter got on his bike and cycled down the road, and he didn't stop. Day after day, for 24 months, he cycled more than 15.000 kilometer all the way to Hong Kong to raise money for charity. As he has reached his initial destination and his hunger for exploration hasn't been stilled, Lutter is now raising funds from Hong Kong for the next stage of his journey. The aim is to cross South East Asia, Indonesia, Australia, the US from west to east, with a final stretch from Scotland to England. [ Continue reading ]
To celebrate their 40th anniversary, California-based outdoor clothing brand Patagonia have released The Legacy collection. A collection that solely takes inspiration from Patagonia’s iconic pieces located in their archives. Down jackets, fleece vests, multi-paneled rock-climbing pants, and element-repelling outerwear which made Patagonia the well-known brand it is today are being reproduced in their original styles. Photographed by Foster Huntington, the lookbook created for the collection shows Foster's friend Trevor, with whom the photographer took a trip in a 1991 Jeep Comanche, which Trevor bought, all the way from Fort Collins in Colorado back to California dressed in different pieces of the collection. [ Continue reading ]
During our last visit to Gent we discovered another gem that made our stay in the historical Flemish city more then satisfying. Jigger's the Noble Drugstore was opened in September 2011 and is the brainchild of Olivier Jacobs, who named his cocktail bar referring to the American prohibition which was named 'The Noble Experiment' by the American government. And not just the name bears a connotation to the period in which alcohol was forbidden in the USA as the window display of the bar has nothing but a stuffed fox wearing a monocle in it, making it impossible to recognize it as an actual bar without any foreknowledge. [ Continue reading ]
When we visited Gent this month we really enjoyed our stay at the inspiring and wonderful bed and breakfast Le Jardin Bohémien of interior designer Jeanpierre Detaeye and his wife Kristine Dehond. The beginning of Le Jardin Bohémien lies in 2011 when Jeanpierre's collection of vintage furniture had no more room to expand and he decided to open up his vault for others. In his quest for a space to offer his gems to the public Jeanpierre found the location at the Burgstraat, close to the Gravensteen, which now houses Le Jardin Bohémien. The seventeenth century building, with a fourteenth century pilar in it, inspired Detaeye to expand his horizon beyond just selling vintage and together with his wife the decision was made to also open a lunchroom in the spacious ground floor. After the lunchroom had been open for 1,5 year, another expansion took place within Le Jardin as the room sitting next to the end of the monumental stairs to the first floor was designed and set up for the public as a bed and breakfast. [ Continue reading ]
After a hot summer full of travels, seeing beautiful places and meeting amazing people, we are very happy to share this series of images, taken on a glorious day at Lake Como, Italy, by Sydney-based photographer Akila Berjaoui. Her work is very much a reflection of how she feels whenever she takes the photographs. As she states it herself: "it's a visual diary of my ups and downs." When the photographer chooses location, subject matter and model, her personal sentiment always shows one way or the other. [ Continue reading ]
The latest series of Croatia-based photographer Katja Kremenić named 'Rip Currents' is a lovely one. The series documents Kremenić' stay in Costa Rica over the course of January to April of this year. Kremenić beautifully translated the abandoned and romantic scenery of the beaches of Costa Rica, creating the feeling that she and her companion were there only to be greeted by palm trees, tropical butterflies, and playing dogs in the water. The aesthetics of documenting and editing the story follows the concept which was started by Kremenić in her earlier series called Corse Noir shot during a month in Corsica, and recently awarded an honorable prize at the Slovenia Press photo awards. [ Continue reading ]
Staying online is becoming almost a necessity while on the road. With services like Data Roam we can stay online 24/7, wherever we go. This makes the moments we are offline, out of reach of any transmission towers, with the nearest WiFi days away, real unique experiences.
Those moments are different than the one complaining you’re ‘out of reach’, in a tunnel or in a corner of a building where the coverage is just a little bad. It’s a complete different experience, and something that is rapidly becoming more and more uncommon. Thanks to the online world ‘getting lost’ lost its adventurous and sometimes dangerous feeling. But when you are at a place out of any cellular reach, we still can have the real ‘lost’ experience. [ Continue reading ]
Together with Fontanel, we were invited by the Guggenheim Bilbao to visit the Riotous Baroque exhibition and enjoy a little of Bilbao. While the weather in the Netherlands dipped into some early autumn, it was a good time to escape to this sunnier part of Europe. And flying to Bordeaux, driving myself along the coast to Bilbao wasn't bad at all.
After driving along one of the most beautiful coastlines of Europe, crossing Biarritz and San Sebastian, Bilbao feels like a real hidden gem, with Frank Gehry's Guggenheim as the pearl in the centre of the city. A beautiful place, in the late 20th century transformed from a dirty old port into one of the worlds most iconic art cities and very much not what you'd expect of a Spanish city. The mix of the old and new architecture, in combination with its clean streets, green parks and the fresh breeze from the sea, is beautifully translated in a new exhibition where the 17th-century baroque artists are perfectly mixed with contemporary art. [ Continue reading ]
Handcrafted at the Globe-Trotter factory in Hertfordshire, England the highly appealing Jet leather series is inspired by modern luxury travel. The bags and accessories are hand crafted from Windsor grain leather and have engraved chrome hardware. The collection’s aesthetic is fresh and smooth, following the core suitcase design. It consists of Holdalls, Briefs, and a selection of accessories in the luxurious colors black, burgundy, green, blue and navy complemented with sunshine yellow and broken white for several accescoires. [ Continue reading ]
When we visited Basel World last April we came across a wonderful store founded in 2010 by Michael Seelinger called Single Speed. The store excels in it's curation of bicycles, a broad spectrum of bicycles-accesoires and at the same time a significant selection of fashion. The bicycles (related) selection with a specific classic aesthetic determines the major part of the store, but a third of the 100 square meters of the retail space is dedicated to fashion. [ Continue reading ]
We recently came across the fascinating story behind the LZ127 blanket, made by German blanket-producer JAG Zoeppritz. The original Zoeppritz company has a long heritage and was founded 1828 in Mergelstetten, Germany by the two brothers Jacob and Georg Zoeppritz. Which inspired the 'JAG', as in Jacob And Georg, in the contemporary JAG Zoeppritz. Coincidentally 100 years after Zoeppritz was founded, in 1928, the events happened which led to the now legendary status given to the LZ127 blanket which recently was taken in production once again. [ Continue reading ]
We already wrote about the lovely bed and breakfast Casa da Diná in Alentejo’s countryside, close to the beautiful beaches of the southwest Portuguese coast. For 6 days we enjoyed this amazing place, rolling hills covered with colourful flowers and wonderful desolated beaches (note, during the summer the beaches are not so desolated anymore and there are no more flowers on the hills - but it definitely still is an amazing place!)
After 6 days we moved to Lisbon and were welcomed by Maria and her team at the Baixa House. [ Continue reading ]
Last month was a crazy one. We traveled form Amsterdam to Tokyo, to Basel, to Lisbon for both business and pleasure. In the coming days we'll share some of our experiences here. To start with Japan. Together with Menno and Rene - Tenue de Nîmes - we went to Japan to get some serious indigo and retail inspiration. Besides our amazing visit to Takeo Paper, we were invited to visit this indigo paradise of the legendary Bryan Whitehead. [ Continue reading ]