Travel experts at Lonely Planet have named Zagreb, Croatia the top destination in Europe for 2017, in a list that aims to highlight emerging, up-and-coming hotspots that are poised to become “the next traveller find.” While Croatia has become wildly popular as a travel destination in recent years, most visitors are headed to the country’s coastline in search of beaches and island getaways.
But Zagreb is also worthy of a stopover, editors say, with its Austro-Hungarian coffee squares, cafes, street art, Neo-Gothic architecture and an urban regeneration that has created a cosmopolitan and edgy capital. A new airport terminal is also expected to make air travel cheaper and easier to the city.
“Zagreb tops our list because it ticks all of these boxes,” said LP’s editorial director Tom Hall. “Croatia is one of Europe‘s hottest destinations right now but many people head straight to the coast, meaning they miss out on visiting a city that has a dynamic cultural offering, a thriving food and drink scene.” After Zagreb, the travel guide spotlights Gotland, Sweden’s largest island and home to the medieval walled town of Visby, also a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Other notable destinations include Moldova, for its cliff-perched monasteries and wine cellars; Le Havre, France for celebrating its 500th anniversary this year; and Pafos, Cyprus, this year’s European Capital of Culture.
Here are the top 10 destinations in Europe for 2017, according to Lonely Planet:
1. Zagreb, Croatia
2. Gotland, Sweden
3. Galicia, Spain
4. Northern Montenegro
5. Leeds, UK
6. Alentejo, Portugal
7. Northern Germany
8. Moldova
9. Pafos, Cyprus
10. Le Havre, France
In his own words, Aldwin Ong started his career in design from humble educational beginnings. However, he was always pushing the envelope in where he gained his inspiration. From outside passions away from the industry, to attending classes unrelated to his field during university, his thirst for knowledge has given him a different insight. Based in Singapore with Wilson Associates, he has worked on diverse hotel projects such as the Four Seasons Serengeti and the New World Hotel in Beijing, experiences which give him an excellent viewpoint on the changing design landscape of the region.
What inspired you to take the leap into the industry?
Early on in my career, I had the pleasure of meeting a client who wanted to create the “best” hotel in honour of his late wife. It was his legacy to her. The tides were against him; time, the Asian financial crisis, and family and friends who did not share the same faith that he could complete his dream. Every single detail was scrutinised as I toiled with him for 18 hours a day to make his dream a reality. The experience I felt when we successfully opened the hotel was immeasurable. This further spurred my drive to give each project my ultimate effort.
What is a driving force in your design ethos?
I’ve always been fascinated by relationships and diversity. It is remarkable to see such a range of worldly cultures and yet to find a homogenous connection between them too. One can see it when travelling to remote destinations, only to see a familiar corner, or smell a particular scent that gives a sense of belonging. Best of all is in the common denomination of how food culture is experienced. The spirit of hospitality in every culture is communal; it has no divide. I’ve always wanted to capture that experience, so hospitality design was a natural inclination for me. I want to create designs with a soul.
Do you have a particular mentor who challenges and inspires you?
Four Seasons Serengeti
Architectural visionaries such as Mies Van der Rohe, Frank Lloyd Wright and Tadao Ando; industry design leaders as Tony Chi, Yabu Pushelberg; and gastronomy mavericks like Heston Blumenthal. Each of these individuals do not compromise on the quality of their work and fight hard (despite obstacles in life) to aim for their ultimate goal; achieve the highest possible level of quality, and breaking boundaries.
Where do you draw your ideas from?
Design should be organic and unrestrictive. It does not mean that we do not conform to standards or rules, but guidelines need to be challenged. It is important to engage the client in this process and see how far we can go. By drawing upon stories that surround the locality– a colour, perhaps a game or even the direct opposite of what is expected– we take the client on a journey to discover and unravel layers in our design. We like to re-invent, and we like to play with contrasts; calm and frenzy, nostalgic and provocative, black and white. Lastly, details, details, details; I’m a self-professed control freak. I’m still under therapy for this!
Away from the studio, you are a prolific chef. How does the gourmet and the designer combine?
There is a fascinating symbiotic relationship between a chef and a designer. Both are passionate about their creations, take immeasurable time and effort to search for the perfect concept, then test, re-test and finally craft the “dishes” to solicit the ultimate response from the guest. It is interesting to see how chefs and designers hide in the background, hands clenched just anticipating how their work will be received.
Just like in design, I do not have a signature style or dish. I let my inspiration, audience and the moment influence what I create. When we conform, it makes us victims of cookie-cutter techniques.
You are also a keen photographer. Do you draw on this passion in your “day job” too?
Swimming pool at the Hilton Jinan
Photography, for me, is a way to capture feelings. In another life, I would be a portrait photographer as I find human emotions the most fascinating subjects to focus on. I draw on both of my passions and many many other influences every second I am conceptualising my designs. My culinary and photography obsessions guide me to study material or design proportions carefully as an incorrect furniture size or scale can destroy an entire space. It takes a while to ensure every piece fits the puzzle.
What will have the greatest impact on architectural design in the near future?
Interconnectivity is key; areas need to be multivalent. Spaces are becoming a prime commodity so they need to be multi-functional and able to fold and unfold into varying functions. Social media is dictating social behaviour. People do things at the same time and in shorter periods, so design needs to reflect that. I try to go beyond skin-deep approaches in design by trying to study social trends and human behaviour and so I need to integrate these social developments in my projects. Technology has, and always will be, a major factor in how humans interact and that dictates how we sculpt spaces. technology will be more integrated so we need to work out how to innovate this. Architects are supposed to be social sculptors and are often asked to create utopia. We may not be able to predict the future, but we can anticipate the wants, desires and needs of the people.
The International SeaKeepers Society had its annual Asia Dinner Awards in Singapore at the SEA Aquarium. Hosted by Dinner Chairs Julian and Sandra Chang, with special guests aquanaut Fabien Cousteau and marine biologist Sylvia Earle, the underwater experience was the perfect place to discuss the importance of understanding and protecting our oceans. The night saw Francis Lee and the Nature Society (Singapore) Marine Conservation take home the coveted awards for SeaKeeper of Singapore and SeaKeepers Society Asia Achievement Award 2017 respectively. A great night underlined the growth of the programme in the region and also served as the platform that announced a key partnership between Rolls-Royce and SeaKeepers.
Supporting marine science and conservation, the SeaKeepers Society use yachts to facilitate research. By reducing the use of vessels, the society is able to allocate more funds to conduct research. The involvement of the yachting community is essential in finding solutions to the problems that plague the ocean and the environment. To do your part in conserving the environment, visit SeaKeepers Society to learn more about how you can become a member of the non-profit organisation or how you can donate your yacht for the cause.
We’re only a foot into Summer and Fall/Winter collections for 2017 are already creeping up on us! Celebrating a new chapter in their history is Salvatore Ferragamo with a new shoe collection for the upcoming season. Despite being under the Pre-Fall/Winter label, the brand brings bright and bold colours in their pictorial. Under Design Director Paul Andrew’s vision, the collection debuted on May 22 alongside the brand’s digital project: #AmoFerragamo.
Dedicated to the Ferragamo women, the project captures the perfect qualities of the admirable independent, modern woman. Expressed through colour, craftsmanship and design, Ferragamo’s appreciation and reverence for today’s unique and empowered women is evident.
On top of that, the brand also revealed their muses for the project. Through a multi-chapter and multi-sensory digital journey, the Pre Fall/ Winter shoe collection for 2017 will be remixed, restyled and reimagined by it-girls from all over the globe. Nicole Warne, Julia Restoin Roitfeld, Lee Sung Kyung and others will be the face of their own chapter in the series: “Shoe La La”, “Shoe It”, “Shoe Me”, “Alphabet Yourself”, “How To”, and “Dance, Dance, Dance”. Each dressed in a spectrum of bold colours, the series showcases the different colours and characters of women today.
For this collection, Andrew marries Ferragamo’s lifelong loyalty to quality craftsmanship with state of the art technology. Classic Ferragamo motifs and designs make their comeback with a twist. The iconic ‘F’ wedge is reinterpreted in lush velvet and suede available in an array of shades. Modern silhouettes lift the ‘Flower Heel’ to new heights with a kaleidoscope of hues away from its signature black gold combination.
Paul Andrew states: “My concept for the collection was simply to highlight the fundamentals that made Salvatore such a profound and groundbreaking presence in his field and to express those values through designs that are relevant to a new generation of strong, discerning women”.
Mel Brooks wore an extra finger. Whoopi Goldberg buried her dreadlocks. Steve McQueen and actress wife Ali MacGraw did it facing the wrong way. An old aphorism says that to visit Los Angeles and not see the iconic hand and footprints of Hollywood‘s biggest stars in the imposing courtyard of the TCL Chinese Theatre is like going to the Middle Kingdom and not walking The Great Wall.
On Thursday, the world’s most famous picture house celebrates 90 years at the epicentre of the movie business, the venue of many of Tinseltown’s most glamorous showbiz moments through 16 presidents, a world war and three huge earthquakes.
The night before, veteran filmmaker Ridley Scott becomes the 304th star to sink his hands and feet into the cement squares in the theatre’s forecourt — maintaining a tradition celebrated by Hollywood‘s finest, from Mary Pickford through John Wayne and Sophia Loren to Jack Nicholson and Brad Pitt.
“It’s a real honour to get placed out in the forecourt and when you look at the people we have out there, going back now nine decades, it’s incredible,” Levi Tinker, resident historian at the Chinese, told AFP. “You have some of the biggest, brightest, most iconic names in Hollywood history.”
It all started when movie theatre impresario Sid Grauman, one of Hollywood’s best-known showmen, leased the former home of matinee idol Francis X. Bushman and opened the Chinese on May 18 in 1927 after raising $2 million.
Silent screen star Norma Talmadge clumsily stepped into wet cement on the construction site, witnessed by Grauman who — spying an opportunity — shrugged off her embarrassed apologies and said he would use the footprint to promote the opening.
Priceless
Stars have since seen the ceremonies as a career highlight, often going to great lengths to ensure their square stands out from the crowd.
Shirley Temple, the youngest honouree in 1935 at just five years old, appeared barefoot, quickly deciding it was a good way to distract the press from the fact that one of her baby teeth had just fallen out.
Marilyn Monroe wanted to dot her ‘i’ with a diamond before being persuaded that the precious stone would probably be stolen. She sunk an earring into her square instead and the exposed half was stolen anyway. More recently, Mel Brooks concealed until the last minute that one of his hands had a fake sixth finger.
“You think after all this time there would be hardly any room. But there’s enough space out there to go on for a number of years still,” said Tinker, although he added that some big names were missing.
Audrey Hepburn was among the few to decline, while James Dean was readying to lay his prints in the presence of “Giant” co-stars Rock Hudson and Elizabeth Taylor when he was killed in a car crash at the age of 24.
Older than the Oscars or the Walk of Fame, the Chinese was Grauman’s third LA cinema after the lavish Egyptian a few blocks away and the downtown Million Dollar Theatre.
“He wanted to out-do what he had done in those other theatres and he had gone all throughout Europe and Asia looking at different architecture styles and he was very impressed with Chinese. He had a number of artifacts and antiques brought over,” said Tinker.
The entrepreneur imported temple bells, pagodas and other pieces while Chinese poet and filmmaker Moon Quon supervised artisans from his homeland as they created the many artworks that still decorate the auditorium.
Making history
The forecourt, with its 40-foot (12-meter) curved walls and copper-topped turrets, is flanked by 10-foot lotus-shaped fountains. Two columns topped by wrought iron masks hold aloft the 90-foot high bronze roof, bordering a dragon carved from stone, while the entrance is guarded by two authentic—and priceless—15th Century Ming Dynasty Heaven Dogs.
On its opening night, tens of thousands lined Hollywood Boulevard as fans tried to catch a glimpse of their favourite stars at the packed 2,200-seat theatre for the $11-a-ticket debut of Cecil B. DeMille’s “The King of Kings.”
Some five to six million visitors from across the world visit every year—as many as the Sistine Chapel in Rome—to see their favourite stars immortalised in the cement these days. It is the only single-screen theatre to have been open continuously for nine decades—not including short closures for renovations—and hosts between 35 and 50 premieres a year, more than any other venue in the world.
Next up for the iconic institution—which is owned by a board of private investors—is an expansion, with a Chinese Theatre due to open in San Diego later in the year, and then there are plans to open in the Middle East and China itself.
Alwyn Hight Kushner, who runs the Chinese, oversaw its transformation into the world’s largest IMAX theatre in 2013, walking a tightrope between modernising and preserving its historical features. “What’s so special is it’s constantly new history. We’re making history every single day,” she said.
Apple‘s iPhone 7 and 7 Plus were, by far, the world’s two top-selling smartphones during the first quarter of 2017, according to data from Strategy Analytics. The list also features a surprise entry in third place, where the Oppo R9s rides high as the best-selling Android handset of the year so far, beating models from Samsung, Huawei and LG.
Almost nine million of the Chinese handsets were sold in Q1 2017. This 5.5-inch phone is strongly focused on photos, with a main 16-Megapixel camera with wide-angle lens and a 16-Megapixel front-facing camera for high-res selfies. It sells in China for the equivalent of just over €370/$400. The Oppo R9s takes third place in the Q1 top five, ahead of the Samsung Galaxy J3 and J5.
Top five highest-selling smartphones worldwide in Q1 2017
Strategy Analytics also reports that Chinese manufacturer Oppo is now the number one smartphone seller in China and the fourth worldwide, behind Samsung, Apple and fellow Chinese brand Huawei. Although not distributed in all global markets, the brand currently has a range of smartphones which, on paper, have little to envy of competitors.
Founded in 2004, Oppo first of all specialized in making MP3 and then Blu-ray players, before launching into the smartphone sector in 2011 and gradually branching out beyond its home market of China. The brand makes a range of well-finished products with stylish designs and unbeatable price tags compared to Samsung and Apple handsets. The firm’s higher-end models aren’t lacking in innovation either, with functions including a “flash” recharge mode to fill up the battery in just 15 minutes.
Oppo is a subsidiary of BBK Electronics, a major Chinese group that also owns smartphone brands Vivo and OnePlus. As well as China, Oppo products are currently sold throughout South-East Asia, the Middle East, the USA, Australia, and in certain European and African countries.
