In the competitive world of sports, Richard Mille has partnered with some of the finest athletes in the world. Over one weekend, four of the brands partners clinched the top prizes in their respective areas. Each hailing from various sports, the partners have certainly proven that the luxury watch brand has forged relationships with great competitors.
The first of the talented quartet, is Alexander Zvrev who beat Novak Djokovic at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 in Rome. The 20-year old Italian broke the ATP top ten in a final that has been dubbed one of his best matches to date, and even beat the world’s number two-ranked player. The second athlete to gain recognition for their achievements is sprinter, Yohan Blake, who clocked in the third-best time for 2017 in his first race of the season. The Jamaican sprinter completed his 100-metre run in 9.93 seconds at the Jamaica International Invitational in Kingston.
Over at the Vodafone Rally de Portugal, Sébastian Ogier not only managed to earn his fifth victory, but also sits on par with another five-time record holder, Finnish driver Markku Alén. Ogier was able to fend off Thierry Neuville by holding the lead at Special Stage 12. The final athlete to round off the list is Sébastien Buemi who raced his way to his second Paris ePrix. Earning his fifth title victory out of six races the Brazilian has secured his lead with the race.
No stranger to the world of sports, Richard Mille has long been a supporter of various athletes. One such name that many would be sure to recognise is Rafael Nadal who has not only been an ambassador of the brand but also sported timepieces created specially for him during his matches. The brand is delighted to honour the achievements of its sporting partners and is proud to have forged relationships with some of the greatest competitors.
Referring to his artworks as “real landscape” instead of abstract art, Spanish artist Carlos Munoz Luque with his exhibition titled ‘Geologica’ at Fabulation brings natural elements into his canvas, keeping them alive with its three-dimensional forms. “It is like taking a picture, yet keeping all of its elements intact as much as possible. You get to see the landscape in whole, not just a flat image,” says Luque. The artist explores river streams, tree branches, also varied surfaces of soil through his works, with their realistic rendition appearing to live beyond the medium’s boundaries.
Carlos M. Luque, ‘Geologica 6’, 2016-17.
Throughout the series, Luque consistently highlights the element of nature. With the artwork titled ‘Tree of Life’, the artist depicts the growth of the living subject in a realistic manner. Each part of the bark is depicted true-to-life through a mixed media of acrylic ink, ceramic, natural resin, and wax. Created in almost life-size scale, viewers are brought to nature when gazing at the work. “I am highly inspired by the natural environment of Singapore, the trees and gardens that is everywhere in the city,” says Luque.
Creating not only realistically large-scale pieces, Luque also creates smaller ones with detailed observations of landscapes in ‘Mixing Life’, ‘Night See’, ‘Moon Shadows’, and ‘Landslide’. The artist depicts the surfaces of each environment in microscopic details, such as the moon’s rocky plane and the roots of plants.
Carlos M. Luque, ‘Night See’, 2016-17.
Considering his artworks as both painting and sculptures, he mixes paints with a variety of mediums and molds them onto the canvas. For his artistic process, Luque mentioned the influences of Spanish artists in his method, noting their bold and extravagant approach to be key in his work. However, the artist cites Singapore verdant landscape as his main inspiration.
Luque began making art as a child growing up in the South of Spain, playing with natural materials and examining how streams of rivers and waves of beaches shape the soil and sand beneath them. Trained as an architect, Luque created these artworks as a way to adjust to the new city and culture.
For future artworks, Luque intends to continue taking inspiration from nature, progressing to other living beings as his subject. For one, he likens his artworks to the natural world and wants to grow beyond the medium. The artist believes that his art should be a source of pleasure to his viewers, just as it has been for him creating them. He prefers to steer clear from political messages and connotations when it comes to his artworks, as he believes that art should be an escape, and a delightful experience going back to nature.
‘Geologica‘ is exhibiting at Fabulation from 2 June until 2 July, with viewings by appointment only.
On Thursday at its AGM in Neckarsulm, Germany, Audi laid out its ambitious plans for the future including bringing autonomous cars and electric vehicles to market before decade’s end and overhauling five of its most popular models before the end of 2018. “We are rejuvenating our model portfolio enormously,” said company chairman Rupert Stadler of Audi‘s product roadmap. And the refresh will start in July in Barcelona with the official unveiling of its flagship A8 luxury sedan, a car that is going to have to compete with the technological cutting edge that is the latest BMW 7 Series and the effortless comfort and active safety of the Mercedes S Class, itself just seriously overhauled for 2017.
Still, the company is hugely confident that the A8 will have the desired impact. “We will show the world everything that defines Vorsprung durch Technik and our brand,” said Stadler. The A8 will be followed by a new A7 fastback later in the year, most likely at the Frankfurt Autoshow in September.
In terms of electrification, Audi is collaborating with Porsche on drive train and architecture and aims to bring three plug-in battery electric cars to market by 2020 under the e-tron banner. Once established the company intends to start offering electrified versions of its core model range as predicted demand for electric cars increases.
And it is insatiable demand that is driving Audi to add more models to its already comprehensive SUV range. “We will expand our successful Q family by 2019 with two new concepts—the Audi Q8 and the Audi Q4,” said Stadler. The former will compete directly with the Range Rover and BMW X7 while the latter is expected to be very similar to the Porsche Macan and therefore challenge the Mercedes GLC Coupé.
During the shareholder meeting, Audi also outlined its plans for autonomous vehicle technology, now that it has been given ultimate responsibility for developing self-driving cars for the entire Volkswagen Group.
Its ultimate short-term goal is to get a self-driving system ready for market that can handle busy urban environments—a much more complex demand than highway cruising—and to roll it out to a number of compact city cars by 2021.
Auguste Rodin’s white marble sculpture of the mythical Ethiopian princess “Andromede” fetched nearly 3.7 million euros ($4.1 million) at a Paris auction Tuesday, well above the top estimated price of 1.2 million euros. The rediscovered masterpiece—created in 1886-1887 and depicting the daughter of Ethiopian King Cepheus nude and asleep on a rock—was sold by the Artcurial auction house just as Paris is marking the centenary of Rodin’s death.
An exhibit of more than 200 of his works and those of artists he influenced is showing at the Grand Palais in the French capital until the end of July.
In 1888, Rodin presented the work to Carlos Morla Vicuna, a Chilean diplomat living in Paris at the time, as a gift, said Bruno Jaubert, Artcurial’s director of the impressionist and modern art department. It has been in the Vicuna’s family ever since. “For 130 years she stayed in this family of diplomats despite the members’ different foreign postings,” Jaubert said.
The work, one of five carvings Rodin created of the subject, is especially notable for the contrast between Andromede’s smooth finish and the virtually untouched roughness of the jutting slab of rock.
The $4.1 million sale price, while substantial, is far from the record set last year for a Rodin sculpture—his “Eternal springtime” marble sculpture of lovers sold for $20.41 million at Sotheby’s in New York in May 2016.
It is somewhat of a paradox that a city known for a circus-like parade of muscle cars and string bikinis has in recent years become an international hub for art and design. But Miami has long been multilayered, flaunting its colorful art deco architecture alongside vibrant Latin influences, pristine beaches and moneyed mansions.
The city has also had its share of ups and downs. Miami’s condo market meltdown during the financial crisis saw real estate values plummet and construction came to a near standstill. But in this latest building cycle, new financial regulations and an influx of cash buyers, mainly from Latin America, have paved the way for more sustainable growth. The market has cooled over the past year, but this time it’s more of a dip than a crash. And much of Miami’s renewed sense of identity is linked to a renaissance of art and design that has accompanied the latest building boom.
In addition to Art Basel, the city now hosts America’s installment of Maison & Objet, and boasts close to 100 galleries and a dozen art museums. At December’s edition of Design Miami, which coincides with Art Basel, galleries traded in collectable furniture and décor and special pop-up exhibitions were staged at the Design District, a new neighborhood dedicated to innovative fashion, design and dining experiences.
“Over the last ten years Miami has evolved into a strong art community”, says David Martin, president at Terra Group, a Miami-based developer currently building a large-scale condominium project in Coconut Grove designed by architects OMA / Rem Koolhaas. The project is called Park Grove and will feature three curving glass towers, the largest of which has just two residences per floor and expansive ocean views. Apartments here start at USD6 million.
Henge designed this sprawling apartment at palazzo Del Sol on Fisher Island
Typical to Miami’s newest crop of luxury buildings, the project also features a special art program for residents, including a private on-site gallery and a two-acre sculpture park designed by Enea Landscape Architecture. These may seem like trendy marketing ploys, but Martin says his company works closely with artists and designers from the start of any project and considers art “a fundamental requirement of completing the design”.
Indeed, in this city the lap pool and spa are yesterday’s news. Instead, thoughtfully designed environments complete with art and landscaping have become the defining feature of luxury, and the world’s foremost architects are leading the way. The late Zaha Hadid, Bjarke Ingels (BIG), Herzog & de Meuron, Renzo Piano, Isay Weinfeld and Jean Nouvel all have projects underway in Miami.
The trend is toward modern, glass-rich towers with floor to ceiling windows that offer city and ocean views. Some designs, like Zaha Hadid’s muscular tower, 1000 Museum Mile, appear like bold sculptural statements on the skyline. Other projects are more understated in their approach, drawing references from Miami’s art deco past.
Brandon Haw, a former principal at Foster + Partners who now runs his own studio has designed Faena Mar, a luxury residential building at the ambitious Faena District in mid-beach. His challenge was to engage both with the new buildings on site and existing art deco and post-war components.
“As all of the buildings are part of the Miami Beach Historic District, the project was an exercise in finding a contextual language for a contemporary architecture where all four buildings would coexist harmoniously”, he says.
The airy terrace lounge at Palazzo Del Sol
Haw’s solution re-establishes the symmetrical purity of the neighboring Versailles Hotel, Faena Mar’s undulating lines echo the rippling façade of the art deco property. However, his design also complements the modern building on the other side with its sleek luxury residences and deep balconies designed to optimise ocean views and breezes. Residences range one to five bedrooms and there’s a 9,600 sq. ft. penthouse with its own rooftop pool.
Furniture, fashion and set designers are also lending their touch to new Miami buildings. Holly Hunt has collaborated on her first real estate project, L’Atelier Miami Beach; fashion icon Karl Lagerfeld will design the lobbies at The Estates at Acqualina in Sunny Isles Beach, and Philippe Starck is designing residences at the new SLS Brickell.
Even the more traditional luxury enclaves are upping their design game. Palazzo Del Sol, a new luxury condominium on Fisher Island has a Mediterranean-style façade that is typical of the exclusive island oasis. But for the interiors, PDS Development and Fisher Island Holdings enlisted designers Antrobus + Ramirez, Artefacto and Henge to create turnkey model homes with a sumptuous, contemporary approach that makes the palatial residences feel warm and livable.
The largest residence, curated by Henge, Boffi, Listone Giordano, and Roda, has two private elevators that open directly onto the sprawling living area and nearly 10,000 sq. ft. of living space that includes five bedrooms and 7.5 bathrooms, natural wood flooring and wall accents, custom lighting, an Egeo marble dining room table and floor-to-ceiling windows (the unit is listed for USD 19.7 million). Residents in the 43-unit building have a full suite of amenities downstairs, but they can also access Fisher Island’s exclusive golf course, tennis courts, beach club and deep-water marina.
Miami’s waterways and white sand beaches are a big part of its appeal, but the low-lying city’s proximity to the water is also its greatest vulnerability. Built on a dome of porous limestone, Miami is already vulnerable to storm surges, and if climate change predictions are to be believed, large parts of the city could soon be under water.
To date, only one project has fully integrated climate realities into its design scheme. Monad Terrace, a newly launched luxury condominium in Miami Beach by French architect Jean Nouvel is elevated 11.5 ft, well above the city’s updated flood and sea level elevations. The building also features other innovations: climbing gardens, custom honeycomb screens for privacy and a sawtooth profile—a zig-zag along the glass façades that ensure none of the apartments (starting at USD 2 million) lose the view of the bay and sky. For a city so vulnerable to storms and rising sea levels, a focus on sustainable design seems appropriate. Miami may have a surplus of dazzling designs on display, but a truly sustainable urban environment will be the most important design achievement of all.
After over a decade, Starwood Capital is no longer the majority shareholder of French crystal maker, Baccarat. Founded by royal decree of King Louis XV, the 253-year-old company will now call Chinese investment company Fortune Fountain Capital Ltd its majority shareholders. The firm is parting with 164 million euros to or 222.70 euros per share to acquire the controlling stake of the Paris-based firm.
Known for its finely crafted champagne glasses and chandeliers, Baccarat counts royal families as fans of its design and can be seen around the world. From the Louvre to Istanbul’s Dolmabahce Palace, each piece crafted by the artisans is regarded as a work of art.
Owned by descendants of renowned Chinese calligrapher, Wang Xizhi, Fortune Fountain now owns 88% of the company, having bought the shares over from Starwood and L Catterton. According to Baccarat, the Chinese firm has no plans to delist the company but will offer shareholders the same price for their shares. With this new move, the brand is said to be accelerating its expansion into Asia and the Middle East and will continue to maintain production and jobs in the French town that it is named after. Baccarat has also said that Daniela Riccardi will continue to lead the company as chief executive officer. In 2005, Starwood Capital took over the brand from the Taittinger family.
While there has been declining revenue, Baccarat turned a profit for the first time in 2016. The acquisition is one of many that sees Chinese investors venturing into Europe, with France, Britain and Germany being the most popular options.
