MONEY Apr/May '12 - ISSUE 12

THE DESIGN ISSUE Issue 12 April/May 2012

€5 WHERE SOLD

The architects of the future KTP President Vincent Cassar on good planning

Form or function?

Paco Rabanne – the architect of fashion

Welcome

Contents On the second year anniversary of Money, it’s apt to look back over our shoulder and appreciate what we’ve achieved. With a tight team and a small budget, we’ve managed to combine a finance, lifestyle and design read better than any other local business publication. And all in a quality designed package.

When we first sat down to give birth to our concept, top of our list was good design.

Because while words are important, visuals are the vehicle that earns a publication a second and third read, extends a publication’s shelf life and attracts our readers’ attention.

In this issue of Money, we focus on what makes good design.

In an interview with Kamra tal-Periti president Vincent Cassar, Vanessa Macdonald discusses how good planning is about volume, public spaces, urban context and aesthetics.

Senior architect and MJMDA founder and director Matthew James Mercieca discusses how the basis of good design is a healthy investment in planning, while Italian journalist Michela Moro Journo visits the Salone di Milano.

Photographer David Pisani hails Valletta as a modern city, Mona Farrugia gives her views on how a well-designed shop window looks into the soul of a shop, and Sean Patrick Sullivan celebrates simple yet eternal design.

In this issue of Money, we also interview Formula One racing driver Jenson Button, book a flight on board Carl Dietrich’s roudable aircraft, and meet the architects and designers of the future.

Read on and enjoy.

9 Blueprint for success

Good planning is not about aesthetics but also about volume, public spaces and urban context, KTP President Vincent Cassar tells Vanessa Macdonald.

13 The future of design

Money meets architecture and design students and imagines what tomorrow’s forms and functions will look like.

17 Salone del Mobile

Michela Moro Journo on the most important design event of the year.

22 Pop goes the easel

With my brilliant ideas, I can change the world of art, says Rinat Shingareev.

25 Capital design The Corinthia Hotel London is a testament to craftsmanship, passionate design and beautiful interiors. GA Design tell Money about how they created a timeless ambience.

29 The road to the sky Editor Anthony P. Bernard Email: anthony@moneymag.me Consulting Editor Stanley Borg Email: stanley@moneymag.me Cover illustration Rinat Shingareev Design Porridge Email: hello@weareporridge.com Printing Progress Press Distribution Mailbox Direct Marketing Group

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For Terrafugia’s Chief Executive Officer Carl Dietrich, the sky is no limit as he sets flight in his roadable aircraft, the Transition.

33 Simple is beautiful

Sean Patrick Sullivan cherishes low-tech paragons of industrialdesign minimalism.

36 Back to Modernity

Renzo Piano’s City Gate project could grant access to people and new ideas, says David Pisani.

40 Design response cloud

Matthew James Mercieca outlines his methodical approach to design.

45 SMEs – cash or credit?

A solid credit history helps in the growth of SMEs, says Remy Damato.

47 He’s the boss

Jenson Button does a fast lap on mental preparation, success and fragrance.

50 Land of the disappearing sun Did Japan’s success make it vulnerable to decline, asks Vanessa Macdonald.

58 In the line of beauty

Money lives the beautifully designed life.

61 Window shopping

A well-designed shop window looks into the soul of a shop and acts as a beautiful invitation, says Mona Farrugia.

66 Beauty is in the eye of the consumer

Design can turn a mundane object into a unique experience, says Amit Raab.

Money is published by BE Communications Ltd, 37, Amery Street, Sliema, SLM 1702 All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part is strictly prohibited without written permission. Opinions expressed in Money are not necessarily those of the editor or publisher. All reasonable care is taken to ensure truth and accuracy, but the editor and publishers cannot be held responsible for errors or omissions in articles, advertising, photographs or illustrations. Unsolicited manuscripts are welcome but cannot be returned without a stamped, self-addressed envelope. The editor is not responsible for material submitted for consideration.

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Interview

Vanessa Macdonald is a freelance journalist in her spare time, covering a wide range of lifestyle and economic issues.

Blueprint for success Good planning is not about aesthetics but also about volume, public spaces and urban context, KTP President Vincent Cassar tells Vanessa Macdonald. Photos by Christian Sant Fournier.

by 2013, something the KTP has been advocating for a number of years. The policy also proposes the setting up of a Centre for Architecture and the Built Environment, another KTP initiative.

The idea of planning applications being vetted is not new. Until MEPA was created from the ashes of the PAPB, there was an Aesthetics Board, whose handful of members – mostly architects – scrutinised the details of the applications and suggested changes to everything from cornices to corbels.

The intentions may have been good but the enforcement of these minutiae resulted in drab designs, as architects avoided innovations which might result in bureaucratic delays.

The KTP’s concept is different as it is one based not on the largely subjective details of the design, but on the entire context of the development – a concept which extends to not only the visual aesthetics compared to the surroundings but also to design within the development context, traffic management and even economic realities. In fact, it envisaged that these panels are not made up of architects only but also of experts in other fields, ranging from landscape architects to sociologists, and their composition would actually be tailored to the needs of the project.

T

he Kamra tal-Periti has been preaching for so long about the need for quality in design that it is hard to believe that there is actually light at the end of the tunnel.

There is though. The recently published draft of the National Environment Policy includes a number of crucial decisions, including the introduction of Design Review Panels

“Good planning is not about aesthetics but also about volume, public spaces and urban context. It is really not MEPA’s remit to judge aesthetics, either, but the reality is that the Environment and Planning Commissions do comment on the smallest details. There are of course areas where their comments are merited – such as the use of materials in Urban Conservation Areas. But if you allow such subjective criticism, then you stifle creativity,” KTP president Vince Cassar says.

Money / Issue 12 - 9

Interview

Perit Alberto Miceli Farrugia, KTP member, Perit Simone Vella Lenicker, KTP Vice President and Honorary Secretary, Perit Vincent Cassar, KTP President.

There are calls by some NGOs for the Aesthetics Board to be reinstated but the KTP’s panels would be a very different set-up. For a start they would be independent of MEPA and government.

Peer review would also be optional for private developments – prior to submission to MEPA – but would be mandatory for all government projects.

“It is important to understand that a panel might recommend that developments should be scaled back from what is actually allowed under MEPA policies – such as maximum heights,” he explains.

This point came to the fore recently when the media highlighted complaints that developments were ruining the view of those who were there before – and that the price paid for the original developments had included a premium for that very view which was now being obliterated. This is not an easy

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one to solve: on what grounds can a development within current policies be curtailed, even if it has an impact on others’ view and access to sunlight?

A workshop was held recently under the experienced hand of Dr Richard Simmons, a former CEO of the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, which enabled the KTP to assess best practice of similar panels set up in the UK and the Netherlands.

“We are now in a position to assess much more how it would work in practice, which means that we should be able to communicate this to our members more persuasively,” Cassar says.

The KTP worries about several aspects of the built environment, one of which is clearly density. However, on this aspect, they are seeing welcome signs that the situation is becoming stable through the effect of market forces, as the smaller

units crammed into developments are often not selling.

“It is always going to be necessary to find the right balance between quality and the return on investment. But developers are learning that one good apartment has a better chance of selling than two small ones. There are minimum floor area requirements but it is not always enough to meet these, as they do not take into account the size and shape of the plot, for example,” he says, adding that although there are footprint requirements, there are no spatial ones.

Which leads to another area that the KTP is unhappy with: building regulations. For example, the sanitary requirements were drawn up in the 1920s and are seriously in need of updating – especially since technology has changed such aspects as ventilation provision, which has not been reflected in the regulations.

The KTP had also been quite active in promoting energy certification but is disappointed that it is taking so long for their use to become the standard. By law, all new residential builds should have a certificate, not to mention sales and rentals. But with some 2,000 notarial contracts signed every year, only 350 energy certificates a year are being issued.

There is another policy that has remained on the drafting table – the high-rise policy is still awaiting official approval, even though dozens of applications for high-rise buildings have already been submitted. The policy would introduce floor-area ratios, which would allow buildings to be higher if they created more public spaces, but as it is there are few incentives for any developer to leave open areas.

Still, the KTP is not quite convinced that such open spaces would be well used anyway – its council firmly believes that there should be many more competitions for the design of public open space.

Design competitions should be a sine qua non for all public projects and a desirable option for private ones.

“The Hagar Qim and Mnajdra visitor centre is just one example of how effective design competitions can be.”

“The Hagar Qim and Mnajdra visitor centre is just one example of how effective design competitions can be,” Cassar says. “The approach could be extended to so many other projects and would encourage students as well as create more awareness of budding talent.

You have to encourage innovation and quality – and recognise it.

“The KTP would love to organise awards as a way to recognise talent and promote best practice – but this would

require funding through sponsorship.

At the moment, though, we are already organising a programme for primary school children under the title ‘Children and Architecture’, as a way to instill a love for quality and for creative thinking,” he says.

Of course, the KTP can lobby for regulations, lobby for their enforcement and lobby for structures and systems, but at the end of the day, its members are paid by their clients – and the client is not always right. Some periti do their best to guide and nudge their clients in the right direction, but not all take the trouble and not all are effective when they do. Which brings us back to the idea of the Design Review Panels.

“We have to find a way to make the public aware that quality comes from good designs, good construction and getting a good service. We believe that having Design Review Panels – which would represent the interests of the public, of the community – would be a very important step in the right direction.”

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Jaguar’s intelligent use of technology and driver-friendly touch-screen controls add new layers of comfort. Every level of audio system features at least eight speakers, with a premium system designed in association with audio specialist Bowers & Wilkins available on range-topping models.

Every XF model has shift-by-wire transmission control, with Jaguar’s class-leading sequential shift system for rapid and very smooth gearshifts. The JaguarDrive Selector is an industry-first rotary shift interface that combines precise, intuitive control with space-saving packaging. The XF’s body structure maximises strength and minimises weight to give the XF superb performance and efficiency across its range of V6 and V8 engines. Engines include the quietest diesel engine in its class and a supercharged V8 that delivers outstanding performance.

Other features include JaguarVoiceTM control to operate audio and telephone functions, Blind Spot Monitor, Front and Rear Parking Aids and Rear Camera Parking Aid, Adaptive Cruise Control, Automatic Speed Limiter, Tyre Pressure Monitoring System and Electronic Parking Brake.

Money / Issue 12 - 11

Trade Enquiries VJ Salomone (Marketing) tel: 8007 2387

Design

The future of design Money meets architecture and design students and imagines what tomorrow’s forms and functions will look like.

Photo by Nicky Scicluna

Jonathan Vella 22, BSc Architecture, 1st year Q What attracted you to architecture and design?

A Rather than attraction, it’s more of a guidance. I didn’t know what I wanted to be when I grew up until I had to choose my A-Levels upon entering Junior College, so I had to figure out what my qualities were and what subjects interested me.

Q What, for you, defines good architecture and design?

A For me, good architecture

and design is when a building or a structure serves its purpose and function while being able to make people stop and look at its beauty, irrelevant of the style used.

Q How do you marry form and function?

A By using geometry. In mathematics you know that two and two make four – in architecture and design it’s the same when using geometry, with the difference that it’s more interesting.

If every line or circle or any

other shape in your design has a meaning, at some point all that you would require is the addition part to achieve your answer.

light. This is achieved by the appropriate design of windows, in terms of size and position, after the study of daylight on site.

Q How can design take further into account eco and sustainability considerations?

Q What about your projects?

A There are a lot of considerations. One example is the maximum use of daylight during the day, without any glare but sufficient enough to be able to work without using artificial

A This semester’s design brief deals with spatial organisation and space relationships – in simple terms, volumes. We are to propose a new entrance to Manoel Island by integrating these volumes with the surrounding buildings.

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Money / Issue 12 - 13

Design

Andrew Agius Delicata 21, BE&A Hons., Structures, 4th year Q What attracted you to architecture?

A I always look for a challenge in everything that I do. Architecture and civil engineering seemed to be a challenging job because in this line of work you rarely repeat the same work.

Q What, for you, defines good architecture and design?

A Good architectural design is one which is simple in terms of function and shape, flows and blends in with the surrounding environment, and does not necessarily stand out. It’s a balance between form and function and not a competition between the two.

Q Architecture is not simply about design – how does good design integrate and work within a context of functionality, public space, and the well-being of society?

A: Design can be termed ‘good’ if it is functional and contributes to the well-being of society. The mixture of every aspect mentioned has to be taken into consideration and joined into one. A good architect is not one who creates appealing designs only, but also communicates with society through designs – not only aesthetically but also functionally – without disturbing the context in which it is situated. An architect needs to form part of the society he is working within, to get a feel of what is needed and what effect his design will have.

Q In your opinion, what does Maltese architecture currently lack?

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A Unfortunately, time and money lacks in most of the designs of Maltese buildings.

In the past one or two decades there has been a boom of new developments and apartments being built all over the island.

The problem is that not enough time, money and effort are put into designing these structures.

If you go for a drive around the island, this is clearly visible as you rarely find one block of apartments which flows with the adjacent one. Also space is a big issue. Every extra square metre gained in every property costs thousands and this is without taking into consideration the shape of the space. I think Maltese architects need to go to Hong Kong to appreciate what a good use of confined space really means. A small space should not limit creativity in design and functionality.

Q Do current design and building regulations limit creativity?

A Personally, I think that a good architect is one who manages to overcome these obstacles and take advantage of them by integrating them in his design. This is easier said than done, and one must admit that these regulations can become tedious to deal with when one is working against a tight deadline. I think that some of these regulations might

need updating to reflect the current local situation, but I also appreciate the fact that changing such regulations can cause clashes with ongoing constructions, even though some things should not have been the same from the start.

many a sleepless night on these projects, but although my course involves a lot of stressful moments, I’m very happy that I chose it because it is what I love doing and every new project presents new challenges.

Q How can design take further into account eco and sustainability considerations?

I also had the opportunity to study for one semester at a renowned university in Italy.

This experience opened my eyes on the way I look at things – when you experience a new culture you learn a lot from it.

A Design should not take into consideration eco and sustainability, but it should be an integral part of it from the start. Malta has a long way to go before we can say that we are being sustainable.

Being sustainable does not mean putting a solar panel on the roof – sustainable design means designing the building with nature and not trying to invent things to go against it.

The sun and wind are two elements that have a great impact on the Maltese environment. We need to acknowledge that they can be a great advantage to us if we manage to harness their energy and make them work in our favour.

Q What about your projects?

A During my studies, I’ve done a lot of projects, from garden landscaping to restoration and rehabilitation of buildings. I’ve dedicated

This year I chose to specialise in structural engineering and my latest project was the design of a lightweight roofing structure. It was very interesting for me since I tried to use my knowledge as a sailor to integrate it in my design, and I think it evolved into a very interesting and elegant design. The more projects I have, the more I learn about new materials, their use and integration, and how to stretch my imagination to come up with the most suitable design possible. It was not easy getting used to radically changing an idea which I would have worked on for some time and start a new one knowing that the submission date is close. But in life this is what we have to deal with, constantly reflecting the wishes of our future clients while managing to innovate and finish on time.

Stephen Xuereb Archer 21, BE&A Hons., Architecture and Design, 3rd year Q What attracted you to architecture?

A I’ve always loved buildings, construction and creating things. I remember when I was a little kid I used to watch construction sites for hours. I always found a compelling expression in a built space. When I was 12 years old I asked myself what I would like to do when I grew up and decided to choose a profession that would allow me to do what I love.

Q Architecture is not simply about design – how does good design integrate and work within a context of functionality, public space, and the well-being of society?

A Good design achieves the goals the creator wanted and any goal that will leave a positive effect has various dimensions to it, functionality, public space, and the well-being of society being among them.

A They do because the regulators do not use them as guidelines. Regulators use number crunching and criteria to judge a project born out of certain building typologies. Then if someone creates a project that positively effects all the parties involved though in a new way, the regulators will struggle to adapt the project to fit in with their numerical checklist and more often than not, refuse it. There are exceptions of course.

Q How can design take further into account eco and sustainability considerations?

Q What, for you, defines good architecture and design?

Good design has to consider these factors before any manifestation can begin.

A Good architecture is that which first and foremost has the human experience at heart. What will the user or visitor take from being in this space is a question which has always been the focus of my process in any project.

Many people speak of these factors (especially functionality) as limitations or problems while in fact they are telling you from the start what the intervention wants to be and what are the biggest inspirations.

If a space ennobles an individual, I believe that is good architecture. Generally it manifests itself in pleasant spaces but it can also – like Daniel Libeskind’s Jewish Museum – provide disturbing yet eye-opening experiences that we all need to acquire.

Q In your opinion, what does Maltese architecture currently lack?

Good design then is simply how well has the creator achieved the goals which he wanted to achieve, irrespective of whether this is a door handle or a home.

A It lacks feeling. I am also tempted to say that there is even a lack of dedication towards the users. Through my inexperienced eyes, some buildings look like a list of things which an architect squeezed together.

Q Do current design and building regulations limit creativity?

A By considering them in an integrated manner. If you try to add such important criteria after you have completed a building, it will be a nightmare. Eco and sustainability considerations can actually provide great design and spatial opportunities by way of providing natural light and ventilation, natural materials, shading and shadow, orientation and more.

Q What about your projects?

A In my own projects you can see a lot of these themes coming together in practical manner.

In the first semester of my second year, I had to design a home for a (fictitious) Iranian political exile who came to Malta to continue the struggle of the Iranian opposition from abroad.

The project, located outside

Mellieha, revolved around finding ways of making the client more motivated to continue his struggle. The design used symbolisms from the site to remind him of the struggle and encourage him to carry on. And since these lay in a linear fashion on plan, the house evolved in a linear fashion so that every movement of the house was another successful step to achieving his goals.

The second semester project was student housing in Wied Ghollieqa near Gzira – this tried to give students the full beauty of this natural site surrounded by a completely built landscape. It opened up the valley to be a fully public park, which would contribute positively to the life of the surrounding inhabitants.

The last project I completed was the design of a nightclub in a Qrendi quarry – I wanted to create the ultimate clubbing experience in this beautiful location. Basically, the experience designed itself.

There is always a humancentered approach to my design philosophy that lets humans feel something rather than being subjected to bland or over-pretentious buildings that impose themselves. It will be exciting to see how this process can be applied in Rome where I am currently studying – we’ve been given a 27,000m2 mixed use development in the heart of the popular Scala San Lorenzo district.

Money / Issue 12 - 15

Trade Enquiries VJ Salomone (Marketing) tel: 8007 2387

Salone

Salone del Mobile Michela Moro Journo on the most important design event of the year.

S

appointment on the design calendar – a week packed with events, exhibitions and presentations.

First organised 51 years ago as the Fiera del Mobile, along the years this event has confirmed itself as the most important annual

The main event is I Saloni: 2,500 exhibitors who occupy a 209,000m2 exhibition space at the Fiera Milani at Rho. A number of concurrent trade shows are organised, from the Salone Internazionale del Mobile, EuroCucina, and il Salone Internazionale del Bagno

alone del Mobile, Milano Design Week, FuoriSalone – various ways to recount an event which, from April 17-22 will once again transform Milan into the design capital of the world.

to il Salone Internazionale del Complemento d’Arredo and il SaloneSatellite, which is dedicated to young exhibitors.

Other areas around Milan are transformed into satellites for the event – Lambrate and Via Tortona, for instance, have become synonymous with young designers, while the centre of Milan is transformed into a showcase for key brands such as Driade, Meritalia and Moroso.

Every year, more than 300,000 visitors flock to Milan to visit the Salone and see the creations of renowned architects and designers, including Philippe Starck, Ron Arad, Antonio Citterio and Zaha Hadid.

The Salone is not just the present, but also the future, shaping design for the years to come.

It’s the one Dolce & Gabbana is a passionate and provocative brand, the essence of Mediterranean indulgence.

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Money / Issue 12 - 17

Salone

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Money / Issue 12 - 19

Salone

The Salone in Fiera in numbers More than 300,000 visitors 50 per cent of visitors from over 160 nations Over 5,000 Italian journalists representing more than 750 Italian publications 1,100 journalists from 65 countries

2,500 exhibitors

Shine on Damiani, leader in Italy in manufacturing and marketing high-end jewellery, has opened its second boutique in Osaka, Umeda. It’s the first Damiani flagship store in the Kansai district on the first floor of the Hilton Plaza West near the Louis Vuitton flagship store. It’s also the second Damiani flagship shop in Japan. The boutique is inspired by a Mediterranean atmosphere, with the warm and intense shades of natural tones, bronze, gold and copper. The project was studied internally at Damiani by an all-Italian creative team and all furniture was designed and made in Italy.

Group President and CEO Guido Damiani was present for the inauguration, along with VIP, press and local celebrities. Japanese actress Yoshino Kimura was guest of honour for the event.

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Art

Pop goes the easel With my brilliant ideas, I can change the world of art, says Rinat Shingareev, a 25-year-old Russian artist currently living in Italy.

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I need to travel, discover new places and meet new people to constantly evolve my art and enrich it with new elements.

underscore that I have nothing but respect for the personalities in my paintings, and that I do not render political beliefs through my work.

M How humorous do you consider your art to be?

RS I don’t consider my art humorous. Perhaps the fact that I depict familiar characters in unusual situations may cause a similar reaction in people.

emotions. But then art is frequently born out of despair. Do you find this incompatible?

RS Every work of art reflects the inner world of the artist, their thoughts and ideas. In this case, I can only speak about my art, which has a positive attitude, but there are also works born out of despair. Every artist has the freedom to choose what works to create.

M On your Facebook page, you describe yourself as ‘the best artist alive’. What makes you think that?

MONEY When did you start drawing?

father, an architect, who was constantly creating things.

RINAT SHINGAREEV I’ve always had an overwhelming urge to draw, create something new and explore my artistic abilities. I was six years old when I began studying at art school and in those early years I came to understand that art was the driving power and meaning of my life. I knew at a very early stage of my life that only through my art I am able to completely communicate my thoughts, talk about myself, things that surround and inspire me and the times I am living in. I also believe that through my art, I can change the world for the better, by changing the inner world of at least one person.

M Where did you study art and design?

I see myself being an artist as a destined fate, and that was pretty much clear to me from the moment I first picked up a brush and applied my first lines to the canvas. “What’s meant for you, won’t pass you by” – the saying applies to me perfectly.

I was also inspired by my

RS I started my art education in Russia – when I finished from fine arts school, I took a multitude of courses, from interior design to web design. At the time, I also showed a lot of my paintings in galleries. Later on, I continued my studies in Italy, where I graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts with honours. From there I continued painting and exhibiting in group shows throughout Italy, Germany and Austria.

M Through your art, you place politicians, artists and other icons in unusual situations – is this a political statement or an attempt at making icons more approachable?

RS I invite you to look at these unapproachable personalities from a different point of view, one which reveals their human qualities. I would like to

M What are your sources of inspiration?

RS I just give form to my ideas in the best way I can. If I waited for any special inspiration, probably I would paint one picture in a year. I would say that my main inspiration is my desire to see the final result.

RS I drew an analogy with musician Lil Wayne, who is young yet has already achieved huge results. I’m also young and have only just started my journey – yet I am sure that with my brilliant ideas I can change the world of art. I work 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, introducing new elements in my works and developing ideas of pop art. The Italian magazine Maxim also called me one of the most talented artists in the world.

M You’ve lived and worked all around the world – is yours a gypsy soul?

RS I need to travel, discover new places and meet new people to constantly evolve my art and enrich it with new elements. The artist must be free to create masterpieces.

M You say that your art is aimed at creating positive

Money / Issue 12 - 23

Hotels

Capital design The Corinthia Hotel London is a testament to craftsmanship, passionate design and beautiful interiors.

GA Design tell Money about how they created a timeless ambience.

MONEY What are the main elements that differentiate hospitality design from, for instance, commercial, retail or residential design?

GA Hospitality design is often seen as

luxurious design – a hotel must be globally accessible to international travellers while remaining loyal and safe to those who will use it regularly.

In hospitality design we must create a home from home feel to the guestroom environment which satisfies every guest’s taste. We achieve this by using classic, familiar furniture layouts, colour schemes and functional usability.

M How did the location as well as the history of the building influence the design of the hotel?

GA Following research of London itself and other major European cities, it was clear that the location was to be key in most design decisions. A grand London residence was introduced as the brief and Whitehall makes a unique address. It was clear from the beginning that the existing building was to have enormous expectations bestowed upon it – the classic British architecture of the building was to be endorsed by strong but considered styling.

M What inspired the choice of colour palette?

GA In considering the grand London residence brief, a timeless ambience was to be key in the interior schemes.

Neutral tones of lavender, creams and yellows were accented by slightly bolder greens, blues and purples.

M In what way was natural and artificial light incorporated in the design of the hotel?

GA The subject of natural light is a very important aspect. When consulting the original Victorian Hotel floor plans, it became clear that it would be feasible to get natural daylight into most guestroom bathrooms – this is fairly unique for a city centre hotel. The main public areas benefit from double height and are all connected to the lobby lounge, itself the heart of the hotel within the central courtyard area. A huge glass dome covers the lobby, allowing light to flood through.

A great deal of time was spent considering the artificial lighting – the spa for example, which starts on the second floor and descends four floors down, was designed so as guests would enter a light and airy environment and as they descend the ambience becomes moodier and therefore much richer and luxurious.

M What are the different designs that you adopted for the various room and suite categories?

GA In general there are two main guestroom schemes. In the more classic variant, half height marble and half height polished plaster features in the guest bathrooms and traditional detailing appears in the guestroom itself.

In the second typical guestroom type, we give full height marble in the bathrooms along with a different colour scheme for the guestroom. Due to the unique triangle shape of the building, each room is different – returning guests are unlikely to see exactly the same layout, scheme or view on return visits.

The seven penthouse suites which occupy the top two floors of the hotel are each individually designed and truly unique. Each suite takes its design theme from local figures of the building past – Winston Churchill had an office in the building, while the Lady Hamilton Suite takes a view out of the window looking directly at Lord Nelson on his column in Trafalgar Square (they were lovers).

There are further junior suites – these are the River View Suites housed in the ‘nose’ of the building, each with river views and then the Trafalgar Suites

Money / Issue 12 - 25

Hotels

which look up towards Trafalgar Square, each suite complimented by its own colour scheme and furniture variations.

M What does the design of the hotel’s public areas aim at achieving?

GA It has to re-affirm that feeling of timelessness, to give a grand classic yet contemporary feel throughout. The original layout of the building gave us the space in which to create the lobby lounge which is light and airy with eclectic mix of furniture and art. A relaxed atmosphere was created in which the hotel to welcome the guests.

Passion wins The sixth generation of the BMW 3 Series Sedan, the world’s best-selling premium car, represents a fresh interpretation and conscientious development of traditional BMW design cues. The sixth generation of the 3 Series has grown in size – inside the increase in space benefits the rear passengers above all. The BMW 3 Series range is also available in a trio of trim and equipment variants – the Sport Line, Luxury Line and Modern Line.

The new sports sedan comes as standard with a cutting-edge six-speed manual gearbox. An eight-speed automatic, which supports the Auto Start-Stop function, can be specified as an option in conjunction with all engines. As components of the BMW EfficientDynamics technology line-up, the Auto Start- Stop function, Brake Energy Regeneration and Optimum Shift Indicator play their part in reducing fuel consumption. Added to this, the new Driving Experience Control switch offers Comfort, Sport, Sport + options, and ECO PRO mode – the latter gives all the models the potential to further improve these figures.

26 - Money / Issue 12

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Flight

The road to the sky For Terrafugia’s Chief Executive Officer Carl Dietrich, the sky is no limit as he sets flight in his roadable aircraft, the Transition.

(LSA) rule which significantly lowered the barriers to bringing a new LSA to the general aviation (GA) market. I recognised that this new rule might be leveraged to bring a flying-driving vehicle to market while still potentially providing an attractive financial return for myself and the other investors I wanted to bring into the project. It wasn’t until I became convinced that the business model could work, that I started to get serious about the idea of creating the Transition®.

M What niche market does the Transition® address?

MONEY What fuelled your interest in design, in particular that related to aeronautics and aerospace?

CARL DIETRICH My dad used to build

plastic model airplanes that we would hang in my room as a kid. He was a perfectionist with an outstanding attention to the detail of the build. I used to watch him assemble these plastic models for me while he would tell me stories of each airplane and its role in WWI or WWII. I had a huge amount of admiration for my dad, and I saw how much he respected those people and machines that gave us the life that we take for granted today.

We did not have lots of family pictures around our house, but he kept one picture of my grandfather standing next to the propeller of his Curtiss JN-4 Jenny while in training for WWI. When I was a bit older, the idea of the freedom and inspiration of flight combined with my love of building the things of my imagination pushed me to learn everything I could about aerodynamics and design.

M What was your first aeronautic design?

CD I had built and crashed a number of rubber band-powered balsa wood flying models and remote controlled aircraft between the ages of eight and 14. By my junior year of high school, I had read

textbooks on aerodynamics and airplane design, so I designed a remote controlled aircraft in a configuration that would protect the most expensive part – the engine – if I crashed it. I took great joy from the intellectual challenge of the aircraft design, build, and test process.

By the end of high school I had earned my private pilot’s licence, which I had been saving for since I was eight, and had created my first conceptual design for a general aviation airplane.

M When was the Transition® idea born?

CD People have been dreaming about combining flying and driving vehicles since before the Wright brothers’ first flight. In 1918, Glenn Curtiss actually built a flying driving vehicle that hopped up a few feet, but could not get out-ofground effect.

Because of my fascination with the sort of challenging design problem represented by the concept, I had created a number of conceptual designs through the years – this was all just for fun because I had known since high school how challenging it was to actually start a successful business in the general aviation market.

It wasn’t until late 2004 that I started to think more seriously about the idea.

In September, 2004, the FAA enacted the Sport Pilot/Light Sport Aircraft

CD The Transition® is an exciting product that fits into multiple market segments. We have some customers who buy it simply because it is considered by many to be the first practical flying car – for them it’s a really neat toy to add to the collection.

We also have customers who want to use the Transition® as a practical travel tool.

These customers care less about the cool factor and more about the functionality.

There are existing pilots and non-pilots in both segments, though the majority of our early customers are already pilots.

The Transition® is the lowest price point aircraft that can be counted on to go when and where you need to go, even in bad weather. The overall proposition is very attractive to customers who value freedom, flexibility, and fun.

M You describe Transition® as a ‘roadable aircraft’ rather than a ‘flying car’ – what is the main difference between the two?

CD A ‘flying car’ is a car that flies while a ‘roadable aircraft’ is an airplane that drives. We describe the Transition® as a ‘roadable aircraft’ or a ‘street-legal airplane’ but not a ‘flying car’ for a two reasons. First, the term ‘flying car’ brings with it a lot of expectation about what a flying car is from pop culture fiction. Movies, TV, and magazines have talked about ‘flying cars’ for over half a century, and the general public has had their expectations set by those fictional accounts.

Money / Issue 12 - 29

Flight

M What has been the public’s reaction to the Transition®?

The Transition® is not fiction – it is not The Jetsons. The Transition® is a real flying/driving vehicle that works today inside the existing rules and regulations.

With more than 50 years of pop culture references, calling the Transition® a ‘flying car’ implicitly sets the wrong expectations for people who haven’t seen it yet.

The second reason we use the term ‘roadable aircraft’ is because it is more accurate to think of the Transition® as a general aviation airplane that has the added capability of legally and safely driving on the road and parking in your garage. The term ‘flying car’ leads one to expect that it will be just like their car – only they would have the added capability of flying. That is not the case – you still need to be a pilot in order to fly a Transition. It is much more appropriate to compare the Transition® to a new Cessna than to a new Chevy. The terminology we use is our attempt to set accurate expectations for what our product is.

M How does the design of the Transition® address both road and air conditions?

CD The Transition® can fly like a normal GA airplane point to point at over 100mph burning five gallons per hour. It meets all the FAA and ASTM standards for Light Sport Aircraft. The Transition® can drive like a normal car at 65mph getting over 35mpg and it can park in a single car garage. It meets the required Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards for a multi-purpose passenger vehicle.

M What elements were particularly difficult to address?

CD The design problem was highly constrained by two sets of regulations, a hard weight limit, the dimensional

30 - Money / Issue 12

constraints of a single car garage, and most importantly, the demands of the customer. The most difficult challenge was to find the simultaneous solution of all the problems within all the various constraints.

The Transition® is the answer we came up with. Along the way, we developed a number of technologies including the lightest weight safety cage and crumple zone ever developed for a multi-purpose passenger vehicle, a custom vehicle computer that manages all of the unique features of the Transition, a custom power transfer mechanism that shifts power between the propeller and a continuously variable transmission to power the wheels, two issued patents, and a number of additional patents pending regarding the vehicle configuration and the fail-safe folding wing mechanism.

CD The public is curious about what has been described by many reports as the first practical flying car. There is a general fascination due to the combination of previous failed concepts, pop culture references, and the belief that many (including Henry Ford) have said that the evolution of this type of transportation should be an integral part of our future. In general, the public is waiting to see the magnitude of the impact the Transition® will have.

M Does every invention require a need, or can an invention strictly be a design exercise?

CD An invention can be just a design exercise – but even a design exercise is satisfying a need for the person conducting the exercise. In order for an invention to become a real innovation with the potential to impact many people, it must address a more broad based need.

CD At times we purchase components or contract out specific jobs to third party vendors and suppliers. For instance, we use a well-proven aircraft engine and a very capable avionics package from third party suppliers. However, Terrafugia has maintained total control over all aspects of the design and production of the integrated vehicle.

The general public is aware of the shortcomings of our current transportation system. The U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics identified 3.3 million people in the United States who commute more than 50 miles every day.

These people are spending 10 per cent of their working lives in cars. Imagine the personal and economic impact we could have if we made it easier for these people to fly at twice the speed they drive using known general aviation technology.

But if GA is potentially so great, why isn’t it used today? A team from MIT and Raytheon conducted a survey of over 1,300 pilots identifying the largest obstacles to the more widespread use of general aviation. The Transition® directly addresses all four of the largest obstacles identified in that report. It has the potential to make general aviation more useful to a broader demographic.

M How difficult was it to get the Transition® classified as legal?

M What other private aviation projects are you working on?

CD: We started talking to the FAA back in 2005 and the NHTSA in 2006, so it has been a long process. However, overall we are very pleased that the different branches of the DOT have been willing to go out of their way to work with us.

CD Terrafugia’s vision is to build the transportation of the future today. We are taking the first practical step towards that vision with the Transition®. My focus is on the success of Terrafugia and the launch of the Transition®.

M Were all the elements of the Transition® designed and manufactured by Terrafugia?

WE BELIEVE

THAT TALENT WILL ALWAYS BE THE MOST VALUABLE RESOURCE WWW.DEBONOGROUP.COM.MT

Sean Patrick Sullivan is Money’s North American correspondent.

He has lived in Boston, Chicago, Manhattan, Hollywood, and Philadelphia, and currently resides in Toronto, where he’s active as a cultural critic, creative consultant and commercial communicator.

Design

Simple is beautiful We’re only beginning to confront the consequences of our most alarming design fetish: over-hyped, over-produced, overdisposable electronic gadgetry that keeps us in a pre-determined loop of dependence and obsolescence. How to find our digital equilibrium? By choosing to cherish these low-tech paragons of industrial-design minimalism. Sean Patrick Sullivan reports.

May I be candid? There are many schools of design criticism – literally and figuratively. Entire MFA programmes are dedicated to the discipline. Yet, if you were to ask me which great intellectual inspired my own approach the most, I’d mention a certain German-born economist first, last, and only. (Hint: It’s not Karl Marx.)

E.F. Schumacher came to economics by way of commerce, agriculture, and journalism. As the author of two cross-over publishing sensations, Small Is Beautiful (1973) and A Guide For The Perplexed (1977), he refined and popularised the concept of what’s now called ‘appropriate technology.’

While definitions have varied over the

years, appropriate technology involves the development, application and valourisation of objects or systems that are small-scale, open-source, labourintensive, energy-efficient, and locally, infinitely re-produceable. The end game is to replace time-wasting, capitaldepleting, reductively economic beliefs that ‘bigger is better’ and ‘growth is good’ with a more holistic (and, one might say, more trans-culturally, trans-historically typical) emphasis upon beauty, elegance, simplicity, sustainability, and permanence.

While Schumacher’s ideas are typically applied to energy, agriculture and transportation policy, they’re crucial to understanding the impact and appeal of what we might want to call highly

inappropriate technology: e-readers, paper shredders, pod-based coffee brewers, and other single-function, time- and resource-intensive items that often become obsolete the moment they’re used.

If we do this, something delicious and peculiar might happen. We might start to resist the matrix of mobile devices, tablet computers, social networks, and planned obsolescence currently remodelling our entire lives and rewiring our collective neuro-circuitry. And we might start to fall back in love with icons of industrial design, all of which add gorgeous form and immeasurable function to our lives, all of which are built to last, and all of which work so well you’ve probably never even noticed them. Let’s begin.

The candle Candles – those ever-so-simple towers of meltable fat or wax, formed around slow-burning cords or wicks, minimising the heat and maximising the light inherent in fire – are currently appreciated for their romantic, devotional, decorative, and atmospheric purposes. But long before the 19th-century introduction of the kerosene lamp and incandescent lightbulb, candles extended working hours, causing exponential increases in human interaction and productivity, starting in China during what’s now called the Qin dynasty (221BC to 206BC), continuing through India and Japan by 1AD, at which time the art and science of candle making (through independent discovery and technological diffusion still uncharted) spread across Africa, The Americas, and The Middle East. Candles specially calibrated to keep time, rather like hourglasses, were being used by the court of Alfred The Great around 870AD and less than a century later in China, during the Sung dynasty, a period of remarkable scientific achievement and advancement.

The printing press It’s impossible to overstate how much the invention of die-cast movable type – and the printing presses it made possible – transformed the evolution of Western civilization. With ferocious velocity, Johannes Gutenberg’s ingenious wood-and-metal machines embodied every single value later prized by economists like Schumacher. Rather than alienating or substituting human labour – and without consuming significantly more resources per unit produced – movable type and printing presses used inks and papers similar to those favoured by calligraphers and illuminators to radically different effect. Now, narratives establishing religious, scientific, industrial, and political authority could be composed, revised, and circulated in far less time than required to create a manuscript. Meaning culture and civilization itself shifted and developed faster than previously possible – thanks to the industrial collision of fire, copper, sculpture, and alphabet.

Money / Issue 12 - 33

Design

The paper clip Of all the icons of industrial design, none has a more passionately contested origin than the humble paper clip. Regardless of whose story you choose to believe – alleged countries of origin include Norway, Germany, England and the States – these tiny flat loops of wire were originally used to fasten not just paper but also fabric.

Numerous variations have emerged over the past hundred years, but none have ever come close to the sales racked up by the original Gem design, perhaps due to its minimalist beauty and unparalleled performance.

The paper clip is oddly intuitive, gripping without wounding (as staples might) and stacking without mangling (as spirals might). These qualities – symbolic of non-violent, non-damaging solidarity – inspired Norwegians to wear paper clips on their lapels during the World War II Nazi occupation.

34 - Money / Issue 12

The moka Invented in 1933 by Luigi DePonti for Alfonso Bialetti, the moka is a sexed-up, high-excitement variant of old-fashioned percolation technology, which was invented in 18th-century England and perfected in 19th-century America.

Despite various extraction-technology rivals (many of them electronic) and ambitious marketing campaigns, coffee lovers all over the world, from Rome to Rio de Janeiro, still applaud Bialetti’s low-tech stove-top coffee pot for its simplicity and indestructibility, not to mention its distinctively luscious, uniquely concentrated brew. With its sexy, bevelled, hourglass shape – perhaps inspired by Cubism or Futurism – its equal parts appliance and ornament, it is a hyper-caffeinated synergy of form and function.

It should come as no surprise that the original Moka Express is in permanent collections around the world, including those at the London Science Museum and New York City’s Museum Of Modern Art. Fortunately, recent additions to Bialetti’s catalogue, including a model that generates espresso and steamed milk froth at the same time, are no less elegant in design and construction.

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Money / Issue 12 - 35

Valletta

Back to Modernity Renzo Piano’s City Gate project could grant access to people and new ideas, says David Pisani. Photos by David Pisani

E

ntering Valletta through City Gate today, you will be hard pressed to be convinced that you are at the threshold of a Baroque city that was built more than 400 years ago. Timber hoarding currently obscures the view of the impressive fortifications and the ditch below, skeletal steel structures of rigid geometric form rise to the right while an obnoxious housing estate looks down at you with disdain from the left. You know you are standing at City Gate, yet there is no gate in sight and as a tourist you would be forgiven for thinking that maybe you had been dropped off at the wrong bus terminus.

Is this Valletta? Is this Unesco’s World Heritage City and home to some magnificent Baroque jewels such as St John’s Co-Cathedral?

36 - Money / Issue 12

Modernism, or modernity (which by the way has nothing to do with the latest fad for ‘modern’ designer everything) is a relative temporal concept based entirely on where you stand on the timeline of history. By proxy, nostalgia is what we feel when we are not standing at the point where modernity is being expressed.

When the Knights of St John built Valletta, they did not set out to build an antique city for future tourists to gaze at and photograph – they set out to build a modern city. And that is precisely what they achieved. Set on a grid pattern of streets that boldly defied any medieval notion of hide-and-seek urbanism and surrounded by what was then considered to be state-of-the-art fortifications

and military installations and further improved with a water and food supply and storage system that was the envy of many European cities at the time, Valletta was indeed a modern city.

As a port city it also welcomed a variety of nationalities which gave it a cosmopolitan populace that further enhanced the modernity of Valletta.

One came to Valletta to see what was the latest fashion, to buy the latest medicine, or the latest gadget (even if that gadget was a clever steel tool and not an iPad).

Until not so long ago Valletta maintained its desire to live up to this aspiration of being modern and cosmopolitan and I would estimate that until the 1960s there had never been

David Pisani is a photographer specialising in architecture and design. He is the author of Vanishing Valletta, an extensive photographic essay on the city.

an interruption in this respect. Several improvements to Valletta, especially after the war damage of 1945, were unashamedly modern in their approach.

However, the past 40 years have seen the city being depopulated of its core resident in search of better housing elsewhere and compounded by the strain of ever increasing traffic has made Valletta a less desirable place to be. During this period and until very recently, the unprepared visitor could walk through the empty streets of Valletta and gaze in awe at the abandoned buildings which, even in a state of decay, told of better times. This is the point where nostalgia sets in: that urgent feeling of something that was and that is now no longer; that the walls, signs and streetlamps all want to say “buzzing city life”, but all around there is only stillness and abandon.

Nostalgia is a dangerous political tool, and it feeds right into the tourism industry because travellers want to delve into the labyrinths of history and brave the enemies that once did battle on unholy ground (as long as there is an air conditioned hotel room not too far away).

Twenty odd years ago the first attempt to revive Valletta was based on the obvious premise that it was necessary to restore Valletta to its former glory, which in layman terms can be translated as clean up the old stones and fix the doors and windows so that it will look good for the tourists.

SAFER DRIVING

It has been proven that a city that enacts policy that disfavours residents in favour of tourism (for the noble reason that they bring in hard currency) will eventually die, and the face-lift approach that Valletta has been handed down (which does little more than convert it into a theme park) has brought the city very close to its death. As a resident of Valletta, I was able to experience first hand this slow process of Disney-fication – coffee shops sprouting all over the place with fake ‘Kavallieri’ décor that close as soon as the last tourist leaves at sundown and more and more genuine Valletta businesses that were all part of the hustle and bustle of city life shutting down or relocating.

Despite the enormous pressure on its infrastructure and a strong conservative lobby that amongst other wanted to see the Royal Opera House rebuilt, Valletta’s modern aspirations will not be easily defeated and the construction of Renzo Piano’s City Gate project is a landmark event that could be the turning point for Valletta to return to modernity.

The City Gate project is a bold statement that points the way forward and expresses a clear political statement to take Valletta into the 21st Century as a living modern city. However the project by itself can only make a statement of desire but does not, in and of itself, revive the city in any way.

No amount of steel and glazing can breath life into the city. For that we need people, particularly permanent

residents living, working and dining in the city – here again, policies that make a city more liveable for the locals must take precedence over the physical beautification of a misconceived past.

People bring people, who share and mix ideas. The more diverse the pool of social and cultural origins the better, because that generates energy and creativity and ultimately makes for a cosmopolitan city that pushes forward the boundaries of our innate desire to progress as human beings – and that, and not designer furniture, is modernity.

The all-new Ford B-MAX will reduce the risk of low-speed accidents and the likelihood of injuries being suffered when they are unavoidable thanks to the introduction of Ford’s low speed collision avoidance system Active City Stop. Every year, more than half-a-million people are injured in car crashes in cities in the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain alone. Of these, approximately one-in-eight are hurt in rear-end shunts, the type which Active City Stop might reduce in severity or avoid altogether. First launched on Focus last year, Active City Stop is now being launched on a compact Ford vehicle for the first time. It monitors traffic ahead and applies the brakes if it detects a collision with a vehicle in front is imminent. In tests, the system is proven to prevent collisions at speeds up to 15km/h, and reduce the severity of impacts at speeds as high as 30km/h. The system was awarded an Advanced reward by Euro NCAP in 2011.

Active City Stop is just one way in which Ford’s all-new B-MAX multi-activity vehicle is using technology to raise the safety bar in the city car sector.

Money / Issue 12 - 37

Design

Fashion revolution To finance his architecture studies, Paco Rabanne produced accessories for couturiers and became involved in various forms of artistic expression. He went on to revolutionise fashion.

MONEY How did an architect end up in fashion?

M How did architecture help you develop your career as a fashion designer?

PACO RABANNE

PR My workshop was full of inventors working with completely unexpected materials, like Auguste Perret with reinforced concrete, Jean Prouvé with metal and Jean-Louis Avril with cardboard furniture. I was surrounded by these immensely talented people who had broken away from tradition. I wanted to be like them and do the same thing with fashion. After all, with creative excitement bubbling up all around me, how could I just make dresses out of fabric, paired with a classic coat – two sleeves, four pockets, six buttons? I found the idea grotesque – other people were doing a perfectly fine job of that already.

So I began to question everything. I also thought it was about time to throw out all those restrictive rules by using new materials.

I started at the Ecole des BeauxArts in 1952 by joining the architecture workshop of Auguste Perret, who had designed many Parisian monuments, rebuilt cities and invented reinforced concrete. His workshop was also home to an incredible architect, Jean Prouvé, the inventor of aluminium houses and metal furniture. I was plugged in directly to the ideas and art of my time. I spent 10 years there studying architecture, but at the same time I was already sketching objects and fashion accessories. My architecture training taught me drawing, perspective, precision and how to control volume, while my mother, who was a première main for Balenciaga, taught me to construct a garment simply by watching her. I transitioned from architecture to fashion by synthesising the two skills.

M Who were you sketching accessories for?

PR For eight years, I did handbags for

Roger Model and accessories for top designers like Balenciaga, Givenchy, Chanel and Saint Laurent. Later I tried my hand at ready-to-wear, which was really an innovative style for its time. I was lucky enough to work with the girls who invented ready-to-wear and who are now known as the new wave: Christiane Bailly, Emmanuelle Khanh and Michèle Rosier. For them, I designed and produced handbags, buttons, belts, helmets made of linked plastic strips or octagonal patches, Rhodoïd jewellery, visors, and huge plastic earrings that became a global sensation.

M And the architect you once were helped you in that?

PR Architecture helped me enormously, since it not only familiarised me with materials but also opened my eyes to current trends and prospects for the future. We knew that everything was going to shift and we needed to innovate and find new solutions.

M Have you taken the same approach to perfumes?

PR Yes. In 1968, we created Calandre, and even the name was shocking. At the time, you were much more likely to find a women’s perfume called “forget-menot” rather than Calandre (meaning ‘radiator grille’). The bottle design is very inspired. All of our bottles follow a specific model – for Calandre, for example, it’s the UN building in New York. Meanwhile, Paco Rabanne pour Homme is very traditional and British.

Lady MILLION and 1 MILLION, the most recent, reflect the obvious symbolism, and they have metal as well.

M You are the fashion designer who has done the most to light up women – is that a fair definition?

PR I have played with light a lot. My first plastic coats were silver and gold coloured, which was inevitably taken as an attempt to be provocative. But that wasn’t the point – bold, certainly, but not provocative. I just thought it needed to be done because that’s what the times required. I will admit that I didn’t like fabrics much, since they seemed too flat to me. There wasn’t enough light in that stuff, so I used a lot of silver, gold and little mirrored sequins. Everything sparkled to show off the woman.

Light, and the sparkling, lustrous aspect of materials has always been very important to me, especially for evening wear.

Money / Issue 12 - 39

Design

Matthew James Mercieca is senior architect, founder and director of MJMDA. He is also a design tutor and lecturer at the University of Malta.

01. Office boardoom / 02. Office waiting area / 03. Office boardroom / 04. Office entrance / 05. New residence outdoor area

40 - Money / Issue 12

MJMDA RESPONSE CLOUD

INTEGRATED DESIGN BIM: BUILDING INFORMATION MODELLING DESIGN MANAGEMENT SAY WHAT INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY YOU WANT INTEGRATED PROJECT DELIVERY [BRIEF, MJMDA’s ONLINE PROFILER] ARCHITECTS STRUCTURAL ENGINEERS INTERIOR DESIGNERS [NOT HOW BUILDING SERVICES ENGINEERS YOU WANT] PROJECT MANAGERS DESIGN MANAGERS

GET WHAT YOU WANT...

BETTER, FASTER, FUTURE AWARE] [SHEDDING EXCESS]

Design response cloud Matthew James Mercieca outlines his methodical approach to design.

T

o some it would seem that preparing a design brief is somewhat of a design dogma. After all, having a way to define how a design is to perform before a design is prepared is entrenched in educative processes, part and parcel of recommended design methods formalised by institutions and associations in the sector, not to mention plain common sense.

But in the real fast-paced world and also in the local context when small scale has a bearing on possible effort, how much time are managers, on behalf of their businesses, and individuals for the sake of their lifestyle, ready to invest to better assure the results they want?

With close to 10 years since founding MJMDA and having analysed the potential start of over 300 projects, my finding on the matter is that about only one in 20 persons embarking on a project go beyond scratching the surface of what they really want. The attitude of leaving decisions for later pervades. That poses a real problem to consistently achieving positive usable results for end users.

Although it is true that things should be materialised a step at a time, planning an eventual integrated whole in piecemeal fashion does not work as well as a holistic approach. And that is what we believe design is also about, all round planning getting the best user experience possible, functionality, performance and emotional connectivity in a finalised and usable whole.

We like to assist clients to learn and discover what they like using a thorough methodical approach studied to expose as many issues as possible before the start of a project. We call it the Online Profiler. Even seasoned home builders and smooth business assemblers may know better what they are after, but asking the right questions still obtains more information and yields better results. MJMDA’s Online Profiler, a tool available for all to use, was launched for residences in September 2011 and for office design in February 2012.

After defining design requirements, let’s design. In the design response cloud for the materialisation of architecture, one requires having a carefully considered set of tools: cutting edge IT hardware and software technologies, a comprehensive professional team that is used to working together already, including architects, structural engineers, interior designers, building services professionals, project managers, and more; and design management processes to consistently, efficiently and as regularly as possible result in longer term success.

As lifestyles continue to become more complex, and the minimum level of understanding of what design is and what it can do for us increases, the possible brief complexity will also grow significantly. And the more cutting edge tools at hand to formulate solutions, that so far we only have limited practical access to, will also develop into highly automated computational methods exploring virtually all options possible at the limits of any epoch.

Money / Issue 12 - 41

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Ideas

Bright ideas I

Intellectual property rights not only protect ideas but are also incentives for creators to innovate, says Chris Mifsud. f there is one single elegant mechanism in the processes at play within the dramatic theatre that we call Earth, it has to be natural selection.

shaking idea. The process of idea generation and its relished results, truly is one of the most astonishing and powerful processes in the modern business place.

My non-secular cohabitants of this planet will like me less for saying this, but it has to be said – natural selection really is the cat’s pyjamas of elegance. It’s a theory that has and will always be an exemplary framework in which biology, economics, politics and mathematics find solace from otherwise implausible theorists.

In no scenario is this more obvious than in the field of design. Every day, every minute actually, teams of creatives sit cross-legged and hum Hindu chants in rhythm until an invisible hand draws them to a single, unifying concept that is the answer to that timeless riddle that we call the creative brief. Well, not quite.

And it’s an elegant theory, because it is simple, intuitive and not held together by means of numerous hypotheses and assumptions like so much rusty scaffolding on an erstwhile noble structure. This means that a theory that stems from a simple concept of repeat failed attempts to succeed that eventually leaves a superior, more adapted winner to procreate, is the very epitome of elegance.

In fact, what most of the audience sees out there is but the skin of a well thought out, highly laborious, weekend working, creative concept – in itself the result of a well orchestrated team effort. I won’t delve into the process, but have merely scratched at the surface to be able to elaborate on a more recently trodden arena known as intellectual property.

Its beauty lies in its ugly duckling style of doing things, namely how a single, different mutation will discover itself to be superior to its more normalised competitors and because of its abnormality its superiority is delivered.

This single moment of unplanned mutation – that need not follow a precedent but may very well take an organism to a whole new future – is evocative of the pure, untainted moment in the less organic commercial world that results in the creation of a foundation-

The branding and design world has a congenial association with intellectual property rights and its legal frameworks, due to its very nature of being in the business of turning ideas and concepts into cash for clients. Creative sessions and design teams the world over are squeezing budgets and patience as we speak to deliver original, impactful and capable designs. They are in fact artists for enterprise.

Small wonder then that millions of chargeable hours are delivered by legal professionals on the topic of intellectual property rights.

But what does this really mean in practical terms? Let’s bring it down to basics. The words ‘intellectual property’ are themselves explanatory of individual or collective ownership (property) of matter relating to thought processes or creative outcomes of the mind (intellectual), therefore relating to intangible assets such as is the case for the design world. This – by no means a legal definition, but rather my lay interpretation – ushers us in towards the endless moral and commercial quandaries of who owns an idea, its design, associations and evolutions. To which there are several answers, some simple, some more complex.

An easy starting point is to acknowledge that intellectual property rights refer to the rights to use of the intangible asset (a song, design, motif). This might sound obvious but it helps us reaffirm that since we are not concerning ourselves with the term ‘property’ that we more commonly come across, we need to keep our perspective on the protection of an intellectual asset being used without the consent of the creator. Without entering the annals of legal passages that delineate who owns what and why, it serves to highlight that where ideas and concept generation that ultimately blossom into designs and branding material is concerned, the lines of course begin to blur.

This is also due in part to the aforementioned team element in the development of creative work. Because after all, originating an idea, developing into a concept, applying a design treatment and polishing off a final execution (so in essence from idea to concept to ad) is, if done well, the outcome of a collective effort between creative directors, art directors, client handlers, designers and copy writers.

However the most fundamental and interesting angle of intellectual property rights is the fact that in large part they originated as an incentive to reward creativity and innovation.

The legislators (particularly in the US) have devised a framework that aims at not only protecting the rights owners, but also enticing potential creators by building a protective system that allows them to cash in on the full value of their creations. So essentially, intellectual property rights are in themselves incentives for creators to innovate, experiment and adapt their work in full knowledge that their ownership or property rights are protected.

And this, coming back to my opening take on natural selection, encourages creatives in the branding and design fields (amongst others) to be bold, to innovate, to try, try and try again, in the knowledge that repeated attempts at creation will finally deliver the one surviving brand design or concept that wipes the slate clean by unleashing inspiring and winning executions the world over.

This not only rewards the creator of such designs, but at rare intervals sets a milestone for new art and design forms that carry well into multiple decades, and at even rarer intervals delivers timeless singularities.

Money / Issue 12 - 43

When using CALEX energy saving lamps, you are not only saving money, but also the environment.

Credit

Remy Damato is Business Information Services and Development Manager at Creditinfo Malta. He has been involved in the credit sector for over 38 years and has analysed local companies for international business information companies such as Dun & Bradstreet.

SMEs – cash or credit?

A solid credit history helps in the growth of SMEs, says Remy Damato.

W

ho creates money? In the most simplistic form, it is the banks and their customers, both depositors and borrowers, that create money and keep the economy functioning well and in a stable mode.

Banks lend to both the domestic and business market but it is the latter that is the greater contributor to a growing and expanding economy.

Enterprises borrow when they are looking for expansion, need to invest in new machinery and equipment or purchase new and larger premises – from inventory financing to start-up, the reasons are endless.

Referring to the local scenario, the Malta (SBA) Fact Sheet 2010/11 (http:// ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/sme – accessed 18.03.2012) states that, ‘With the exception of 48 large firms, Malta’s economy is quite essentially a small business economy… its SME sector appears to be even more dominated by micro-firms than is the case in other EU countries.’

A recent survey conducted by the General Retailers and Traders Union (http://grtu.net/data/images/Survey_ Results – accessed 18.03.2012) confirms the above as being 39.78 per cent of the sample and further reveals that these employ between two to five persons and 8.22 per cent employ one employee while 13.70 per cent are constituted by the sole proprietor. Another aspect to consider is that 79 per cent of SMEs are family owned businesses, meaning that in general terms most shall continue when the founder retires.

Without taking into account the shadow economy, according to NSO statistics, these 35,000 odd SMEs provide employment for about 88,000 persons – clearly the backbone of the Maltese economy. Therefore, it

is essential that the infrastructure, ancillary services and most important of all, the credit market are well in place.

The growth of SMEs, both in size and number, is very much dependent on the state of the economy – the rule of the thumb is that when this is booming the number increases and vice-versa.

Growth also depends on various factors such as macroeconomic factors, business environment, market opportunities and historical determinants.

The start-up cost of an enterprise is an important factor as this would eventually have a direct effect on whether the SME survives its crucial first years. In general, SMEs lack their own funds – therefore, the availability of sufficient financing is essential to help an SME sustain the initial growth and continue to function successfully.

It appears that access to financing does not appear to be a problem as only 6.96 per cent in the GRTU survey are quoted as experiencing a tough time. However, affording credit to customers is also an essential element as this may also mean success or failure. Affording credit to whom it is due may be considered in terms of additional financing and decisions require concrete and reliable information or more appropriately, a credit report.

Few realise how beneficial a credit reference agency is to a start-up SME. The credit reference agency will help establish a credible financial history of the business, ensuring a continuous access to funds and credits. This is of particular relevance when the SME operates in the importation sector – the GRTU survey indicates that 28.40 per cent of its members are active in the importation sector, valued at over €4 billion a year (http://www.nso.gov.mt/ statdoc – accessed 18.03.2012).

No credit cover will be afforded if a financial history is not in order. Export insurance companies, of whom local importers have a good knowledge of, are inclined to refuse the minimal of cover should this history fail to meet required parameters.

The policies aimed at reducing the administrative burdens of SMEs are commendable and should be adopted.

However, one must be careful not to let SMEs reduce their responsibilities and efficiency to an extent that they jeopardise their own security, protection and growth.

The availability of sufficient financing is essential to help an SME sustain the initial growth and continue to function successfully.

SMEs trade with other SMEs and here comes into play the eternal question: cash or credit? On what criteria should a credit decision be made? On the car, probably still unpaid, parked in the driveway or on financial statements?

Regardless, should SMEs be permitted to waiver the publishing of their financial statements or allowed to prepare financial statements that would make an accounts student despair, then the commercial community is in a state of tribulation. The cost of preparing good financial statements should be considered as an investment and not an administrative burden – this is why one has to be careful when introducing policies that more often than not tend to favour only enterprises that are unprofitable and inefficient.

SMEs are the backbone of the Maltese economy and their growth and sustainability should be encouraged by the availability of a good services infrastructure, political and labour stability, a reasonable tax regime, policies aimed at reducing real administrative burdens and a solid credit history.

Money / Issue 12 - 45

Racing

He’s the boss

Jenson Button does a fast lap on mental preparation, success and fragrance.

JB When you start at the front you know that two and one is going to be a lot easier because when you’re back in the pack there’s a lot of action, you’re looking in your mirrors, you’re looking in front, you’re looking for gaps whereas at the front you can concentrate a little bit more on getting the perfect start because you have less on your mind. Starting at the front is always easier and that’s why we try to qualify well.

MONEY So Jenson, how does it feel to be working for Boss fragrances?

JENSON BUTTON It’s very exciting to be working for Boss fragrance. It’s something I’ve really been looking forward to – it’s an iconic campaign. Also the idea behind it, mental preparation – it’s something that I go through 19 races in a season.

You have the qualifying, you have the race and it’s all about mental preparation. We’re all great drivers but it’s the mental preparation that can really make the success in Formula 1.

M What sort of advice would you give someone about mental preparation?

JB Mental preparation is something that you learn over the years – it’s from having good people around you also. I have my physio with me before a race – he’ll give me a massage and get me nice and relaxed. Then we’ll run through the race, I’ll run through the start of the race.

It is about being prepared and not being caught off guard in a very difficult situation.

We race round events like Monaco and we need to be

completely prepared for every eventuality during the race so it is key. We do as much fitness as we possibly can but mentally it’s a lot more draining in a grand prix than physically.

M Which race do you have to prepare the most for?

JB The most difficult circuit

to mentally prepare for is Monaco Grand Prix because you are racing around a street circuit. A Formula 1 car is very quick at the best of times but around a street circuit in Monaco, it’s pretty crazy that we race with the barriers so close to the car.

It’s also the most difficult because there are so many sponsor events and so many people around – there are so many things to distract you. So you have to go into a quiet room, be with yourself and just run through the race so you are nice and relaxed when you jump into the car.

M If you can only do one thing before a race to prepare, what is it?

JB The best time before a race is when I actually first step into the car. When you’re walking around a circuit, it’s very busy and you’re

being pulled all the time for different things so when I put my helmet on, get into the car, close the visor – it’s the most peaceful time for me. That’s a moment that is just priceless and you do need that before a race to really focus and be alone for a moment.

M What’s in your mind as you wait for the green light?

JB Before the red lights go out it seems like such a long period. We’re all sat on the grid waiting for the start of the race. You’re ready, you’ve got it in gear, you’ve got the clutch pulled and it’s possibly the noisiest time of the race because you have 24 cars with their engines revs sky high but you don’t hear it. It’s such a peaceful place for us and a moment that you need to be calm, you can’t be stressed at that moment, you’ve got to try and relax your breathing, get your heart rate down so that you can really concentrate on reacting when the red light goes out. Then all hell breaks loose, cars everywhere, action.

It really is the flip of a coin.

M Is your mental preparation different if you are on the front line or the back line?

M What role does mental preparation play in your daily life?

JB Mental preparation in daily life is different to racing.

A big part of my life is fitness training and that’s because of Formula 1 but also because I can get away from everything, I can get away from cars, I can get up into the mountains on a push bike and that gives me time to think about life and also my career. For me that’s such a peaceful time and a time where you have great thoughts and a time where you think about the past – about the good times and the bad times. I think we get caught up in the moment a little bit too much sometimes so it’s nice to get away from it and just have time by yourself.

M What’s your favourite smell?

JB The smell that really stands out for me is petrol. It’s something I’ve been using for so many years – since I was eight years old I’ve had the smell of petrol around me and I really like that smell. But also burning rubber, you know, the tyres. Burning rubber is something I’ve sort of become addicted to in a way. I think it’s also because there is so much associated with that in my life – pushing a car to the limit, pushing a tyre to the limit –

Money / Issue 12 - 47

Racing

in yourself as a person, you change your fragrance. It matters to me where I’m going and what I’m doing, I’ll wear a different fragrance for each day. It does make a difference to me – I like to smell good.

In the same way, I like it when a woman smells good. My girlfriend wears a fragrance which is normally a rose fragrance. I have lots of memories that are because of fragrances. And when you smell a certain fragrance it’s like “I remember the time, back then. I remember that fragrance from when I was younger.” So it brings back some really good memories and I think that’s the same for all of us.

M Do you have a grooming regime?

JB I wake up in the morning,

so when I smell that smell it really means something to me.

M Have you always

worn fragrance?

JB I’ve always worn a fragrance. I probably started wearing a fragrance when I was 15, maybe 14. Through those 15-16 years the changes

take a shower and make sure my beard isn’t too long. I like to have a bit of stubble otherwise I look like a 16-yearold. I’ll also put lotion on my face, moisturiser, deodorant and then after-shave is the last thing I put on before I leave. I’ll put something in my hair, something a bit waxy just to give it a bit of shape and hold. Then I’m out.

In the morning I probably take about 20 minutes to get ready comfortably and not rush because I hate rushing in the

morning. For me I need to relax, get it all done in the bedroom and then get down stairs for a bite to eat and a cup of tea.

M Is it different for the day of a race?

JB The day of a race I do exactly the same as I would do any other day of the week.

Purposefully because I try to keep my schedule the same in the mornings so I don’t have to worry about different things.

M What’s your life philosophy?

JB For me it’s trying to do the best with what I have and really pushing myself to the limit. I always try to be the best at what I do.

M Who’s your role model?

JB I have quite a few role models. One who stands out is Alain Prost. What he achieved in the 1980s and 90s – the guy had everything. He was a real thinker – he didn’t just win a Grand Prix through speed, but through intelligence, which for me, means a lot. It was very interesting talking to him as I feel we have a lot in common.

Another person I respect is Lance Armstrong. Lance has won the Tour De France for

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48 - Money / Issue 12

Get fit

so many years, sometimes in difficult circumstances.

I was lucky enough to ride with him for a few days while I was training in Hawaii, which again for me was such an experience. To be able to cycle and do something with someone you really respect is phenomenal.

M What would you be if

you weren’t a Formula 1 driver?

JB My whole life, everything has been aimed to get me to Formula 1. Since I was eight years old my father put me in a go cart and I was quite fast, but it was mostly for fun, then later on we started aiming for Formula 1. So I didn’t think of another career plan, and I think it’s probably

good that I didn’t because I was able to focus on what I loved doing and what I was good at. It would have to be something that was exciting as I get bored very easily and I need action in my life.

M What’s your definition of success?

JB Being the best, trying to be the best. Succeeding in what you love doing. I am in a very lucky position that I am good at what I love.

Having achieved a world championship in a sport that I love, really means so much to me, but the funny thing is you get that special feeling when you win the world championship, and you just want to do it again as you get that taste of success.

M How important is it to work as a team?

JB Formula 1 is a team sport.

You see the two drivers on the circuit. And some people forget how much goes on behind the scenes. We have 50 people at the circuit, mechanics, engineers, and the catering department. We all need to do our job perfectly otherwise you’ll never have a chance of winning a race. But you also have the 400 people back at the factory who are working around the clock to make improvements for the car’s reliability, and trying to do a better job than everyone else in the sport. Team effort is very important, and it’s important to make sure everyone feels like part of the team.

Dan is an expert personal trainer and nutrition advisor.

Before coming to Malta, Dan spent a year in Sydney, where the fitness industry is booming, and eight years in London. Dan is totally passionate about his work and gives his clients the respect they deserve.

“I stand by my words,” Dan says. “If you commit, I’ll deliver. I’m going through the best years of my life, and this is due to my relatively new outlook. Allow yourself to enjoy the small things in your life and your positive energy magnet will increase substantially. Make everyday a good day.”

For more information, contact Dan on 7931 8768 and dan@ancheliqueandlake.com

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Money / Issue 12 - 49

Country Profile

Land of the disappearing sun Did Japan’s success make it vulnerable to decline, asks Vanessa Macdonald.

Honda FC Sport concept car

I

t does not seem that long ago that Japan set the standard for growth that everyone else dreamed about.

Post-war, the country created an economy that produced, performed and innovated.

But if the first few decades were to be envied, eventually other factors came into play which showed that it too is just as mortal as the rest of the world’s economies.

Japan has watched its real economic growth fall from a 10 per cent average in the 1960s to just 1.7 per cent in the 1990s, as the advantages of its efficient distribution channels and strong work ethic were undermined by an asset price bubble – mostly real estate - and poor

50 - Money / Issue 12

Nikon F, 1959 Yusaku Kamekura

investment policies.

As with ancient empires, it is sometimes the extent of their own success that makes them vulnerable to decline. Take the automobile industry – Japan used to lead the way both with regards to cost and to quality. But the value of the yen coupled with the restructuring forced onto its rivals’ manufacturing base now means that Japan’s industry is no longer as competitive.

In the case of its once stellar electronics industry, the problem is innovation as well as competitiveness.

China has undercut Japan in terms of manufacturing cost while South Korea is the one churning out the must-

have accessories of today, particularly when it comes to mobile phones.

The manufacturing base is fighting back. There are efforts to find new areas of competitive advantage, focusing on high-tech and precision goods, such as optical equipment, hybrid cars, and robotics.

But it is not enough.

Factors which contributed to its stability – like lifelong employment for many of its 66 million workforce – became a millstone round its industries’ neck. Coupled with an ageing and shrinking (decline started in 2005) population, the picture started to look very different over recent years.

For a country which depended so much on exports, the decline in demand as the world slipped in recession in 2008 was particularly harsh for Japan.

The government there – as in so many other corners of the world – tried to mitigate the impact with stimulus spending. It actually worked for a while and the economy rebounded slightly in 2009 and 2010 – but then a massive earthquake hit the country just over a year ago, disrupting manufacturing and putting its power supply under pressure as its nuclear power plants were shut down following the damage to the Fukushima plant by the ensuing tsunami.

Vanessa Macdonald is a freelance journalist in her spare time, covering a wide range of lifestyle and economic issues.

02

Sayonara design Stunning Japanese design 01. Atelier Hitoshi Abe’s Ftown Building – organic architecture.

02. The 2015 Honda CBR 750 concept – the essence of power and speed, even at standstill.

03. Hello Kitty – designed

by Yuko Shimizu in 1975, it’s one of the world’s most recognisable images.

01

The damage caused by the 2011 earthquake is estimated at between $235 billion and $310 billion, and GDP declined almost 1% in the same year. Japan was also forced to import more oil, which had a disastrous effect on its trading balance, turning its surplus into negative territory.

Some figures put the situation into context. The country – not too long ago the third largest economy in the world – had a real GDP growth rate of -0.5% in 2011 (estimated), which is ranked as 201st in the world.

And its GDP per capita ranked 37th. Adjusted for purchasing power parity, it still ranked fifth, but calls for

a devaluation of the yen have already started.

Interest rates were near zero for some time until 2006 and they are still some of the lowest in the developed world. Still the Governor of the Bank of Japan, Masaaki Shirakawa said recently that deflation remained a concern and that that the bank would use monetary policy to tackle it. This includes extending a lending programme for growth enterprises by some 2 trillion yen to 5.5 trillion yen, also opening it to categories of smaller lenders who were previously ineligible.

Perhaps Japan’s problem is that expectations are so high, based on its past. In fact, when you look at the

past decade, GDP per capita growth from 2001-2010 was stronger than that in both Europe and the United States.

But while its unemployment rate is around 5%, its intense infrastructural programme resulted in massive deficits – debt stood last year at 233% of GDP. Is there any hope for the country that was once the top export market for almost 15 countries around the worldwide? From calls for deflation to improvements to land and tax laws, there is plenty of advice to be had.

But not all the solutions lie within the country’s control.

Just ask those 15 countries what their forecasts are, and feel Japan’s pain.

02

Japan in numbers Life expectancy

Japan’s average life expectancy grew by 4.2 years between 1989 and 2009 to 83 years. This means the Japanese live 4.8 years longer than Americans.

Internet

Of the 50 cities in the world with the fastest Internet service, 38 were in Japan.

Skyscrapers

81 high-rise buildings taller than 500 feet have been constructed in Tokyo.

Money / Issue 12 - 51

Small Dan the man town boy

Photographer: Matthew Attard Navarro / Styling: Carina Camilleri / Model: Dan

Photography: Kris Micallef Creative director: Luke Engerer Model: Danny

Red checked jacket by Hilfiger Denim T-shirt

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Gadgets

In the line of beauty Money lives the beautifully designed life.

Watching time The Patek Philippe skeleton watch is a magnificent creation that showcases the beauty of time and movement. Time has never been so precious in white gold, sapphire crystal, brass and ruby.

58 - Money / Issue 12

STRINGS ATTACHED The Yamaha THR10 guitar amplifier packs in everything you need from an off-stage amp. Spend more time playing your guitar thanks to the THR10’s real tube amp tone and dynamics, great sound at low volume and full recording capacity.

Swimming the Pacific It’s the timeless elegance of water in crystal. Designed by Thomas Bastide, the Baccarat Pacifique Vase is a handmade beauty, mouth-blown by skilled craftsmen.

Tie me up The Gibbons tie box by Tanner Krolle allows you to look elegant while on the move. Made from the finest English bridle leather, the tie box is handmade and hand-stitched and can be customised in the colour of your choice.

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The wheel deal The MINI folding bike is a modern take on the most traditional commuting solutions.

When folded, the MINI folding bike fits into the boot of almost every vehicle, including into the MINI. Just park your car outside the city centre and continue on your bike. It’s the real park and ride.

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Money / Issue 12 - 59

Member of

Mona Farrugia edits and writes for food, travel and review website www. planetmona.com

Retail

Window shopping A well-designed shop window looks into the soul of a shop and acts as a beautiful invitation, says Mona Farrugia.

Angelica photos by Brian Grech.

“This is a waste of space,” most of them told me. “You could easily fit four tables in there,” curious restaurateurs quipped.

I

The window is climate controlled. If I wanted to I could even have used it as food storage but I had no intention of this. As far as I’m concerned, packing a boutique cafeteria until it snapped was far from my intentions. Why could we not have good food and drink in a beautiful environment?

Why does everything have to be so functional as to be reduced to the greatest common denominator of table turnover?

t is in the nature of deadlines to be tight.

And tight they were, as I only had six weeks to convert what had been an old bazaar – its shutters long closed and left to the mercy of a voracious woodworm – into the café I had always dreamed about. In the sweltering August heat, against all odds, I managed to finalise a project which really should have taken six months.

lucky to have people like the amazing art director Carlo Schembri and photographer and graphic designer Brian Grech on speed dial, not to mention a host of local high-end designers and architects as customers.

They all gave me excellent advice, especially on light as an integral part of design, as we went along and the one that featured most was the Angelica window.

People were curious. They kept asking me if I was going to preserve the building, the façade, the apertures.

There was never any doubt that I would. “What about the window?” they asked.

“The window especially,” I exclaimed.

I designed our first window – it featured mountains of cupcakes, hunks of Maltese bread and bottles of champagne. In the madness of a cafeteria opening, I had not planned it out as well as my perfectionist character would have it but from day one, scores of tourists stopped by and snapped photos of the window. The Maltese in general had other ideas.

I’m a firm believer that luck and hard-work can be interchanged so I guess I’m

My greatest inspiration came from Paris and London where windows look into cafeteria’s souls. Window tables should afford a view out and less of a view in so that customers can have privacy. The classic method is net café curtains on brass rails, so that you can see that there are people inside but not necessarily who it is. I had another two metres of depth to play with and I used it to give our customers privacy through excellent design.

The most playful windows that I have seen are at Fortnum and Mason in Piccadilly, London. Last summer they literally brought beach scenes to their swathe of high-value real-estate in one of the most expensive cities in the world.

There was sand, umbrellas and even beach chairs.

The sweets seemed like an afterthought. The point of a window is, after all, to invite you in.

In Paris, modern patisseries like La Patisserie des Reves are setting new standards with their outstanding bright colours and a visual element that leads straight from the street into the interior, where there are no tables. Every single beautiful (and wonderfully flavoursome) cake and tart come in two versions – individual and family-sized – and they are all placed under glass domes. There is not a single industrial glass-façade fridge – the bane of most cafeterias in Malta – to be seen. Nothing, in fact, looks industrial. It just all looks delicious, which explains why I constantly pop into their Rue de Buci whenever I’m in the French capital.

La Patisserie des Reves’s packaging is sketched as part of their general design and is so expensive to produce (each take-out tart is presented in a pyramid-shaped, ribbon handle-topped box) that it earned them a couple of blog comments of the outside costing more than the inside.

Again, this is a nihilist view.

Packaging is about taking away with you a part of the cafeteria and whenever I open those beautiful bags, I am transported back to that sheer bright ambience no matter where I am.

Money / Issue 12 - 61

Retail

My greatest inspiration came from Paris and London where windows look into cafeteria’s souls.

Every month, like the windows in London (so important that the MTA unleashed an entire Malta campaign at Harrods in March of this year, windows so beautiful I almost burst out crying with pride when I saw them) we change the window at Angelica. For Christmas, architect Adrian Mamo and interior designer Liz Gatt managed to fit in an entire tree and a 1930s bicycle in the space. Friends picked up red leaves for us from Brussels and Sicily to create the ‘ground’.

For January, I put a semi-nude mannequin: he wore boxers with a piggy on it and our window wording said ‘The Angelica January Sale: for more information eat inside’. It was a pun on the January sales and everybody being on a diet at that time of year. Not everybody got it but our high-end customers did.

And everybody stopped to look, regardless of their level of humour.

Late February I took two of our Cupcake Queens, Camille and Pia, to Italy for coffee training. On the way there I realised that they were plotting something. “May we do the March window?” they asked with food-grade glitter in their eyes. A week later we had a sketch and a plan to co-produce a window with another customer of ours – Samantha who runs the lovely Blush & Panic in Valletta. The result was my favourite window ever: a high tea scene complete with pearls, flowers and Samantha’s clothes. The cupcakes, made of plaster, looked so good people kept stopping to say they wanted the cupcakes in the window.

After my last trip to Paris I returned and sat down with Carlo Schembri once again and he started designing. Within a couple of months we should have our own Angelica boxes and bags. Like the window, it will earn us comments about expense and waste. My accountant will probably have a heart attack as these things cost ridiculous amounts to produce. But like the window, it will give people a little bit of Angelica, no matter where they are. And that is nothing but the result of excellent design.

62 - Money / Issue 12

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Money / Issue 12 - 65

Marketing

Beauty is in the eye of the

consumer

Design can turn a mundane object into a unique experience, says Amit Raab.

I

sat at the restaurant of the Four Seasons Hotel George V, just off the Champs-Elysées and waited for my dish to arrive.

Chilled pea soup with grilled bacon cubes was my choice.

What arrived was an ice sculpture in the shape of a cube about one foot in height, with a tiny elliptical dent at the top where a small amount of green soup was elegantly placed along with one or two tasty bacon squares.

The one spoonful of soup that I could salvage from the exhibition in front of me was delicious and the one square of bacon that hadn’t jumped off the tower block onto the majestic antique table, was filled with juices and incredible flavour. I couldn’t help but think that, at the George V, priorities lay at 20 per cent food, 80 per cent design.

But don’t take my analysis as cynicism. At the George V, you save your cynicism for the bill. I chose this restaurant because of the food-as-theatre element and the incredible attention to every aesthetic detail from the clover leaf design on the silver coat hangers to the logo branded cutlery.

I am passionate about design to the point of religious fervour.

I moved to Sweden about six months ago, and part of the reason for my move was for the consistent emphasis on great design throughout daily life. Here in the Scandinavian state, design can turn the utterly mundane objects and elements of our lives into extraordinary and unique expressions of someone’s imagination, sometimes for better, and sometimes for worse.

I have always found it interesting when designers become famous culture icons and verge into random and unexpected fields. The slightly narcissistic but highly entertaining Philippe Starck, for example, shifted his focus from furniture and interior design to create his own line of mineral water bottles, probably because some five star hotel he resided in didn’t have any Evian, and he got bored one afternoon.

The design Starck came up with looks like a stretched ice cube, modern, sleek and unique, like a lot of his furniture. He managed to turn the mundane interesting, but using a disposable consumable. I doubt many people would put the bottle on their mantlepiece at home, or treasure it to get some more value from the hours of thought and anguish gone into its design.

66 - Money / Issue 12

Amit Raab is a marketing consultant working at the Duffy Agency in Malmo, Sweden.

From one disposable item to an even more ordinary and digestible one – toast.

Delicious, lightly browned, crusty toast. The folks at Pop Art Toaster have designed a toaster which burns a picture on your toast. I can’t help but think that somewhere a young, economicallychallenged Taiwanese boy is sitting looking at this machine he has been paid to make and thinking, why would anyone want to look at these flowers every morning for one minute before they bite into their crunchy breakfast? You can decide in your own time whether this is a tacky gimmick or design genius, but either way let’s all agree that buffing up a piece of toast for the minimal time before its consumption, is a useless waste of creativity.

However, sometimes decorating a piece of gluten is not a pointless waste of time, but creates an elegant treasure. As I am writing this I am dividing my gaze between my notebook and a beautifully crafted cupcake.

It is so beautiful that I cannot bear the thought of biting any part of it and ruining this aesthetic masterpiece that some baker or culinary artiste has created. This baked good, which once was

Here in the Scandinavian state, design can turn the utterly mundane objects and elements of our lives into extraordinary and unique expressions of someone’s imagination. just a ball of plain dough, now has a layer of silver sprinkled icing, a gold ring of syrup and a ball of marzipan shaped into a clover.

The delicious treat has completely confused my argument so I will conclude that design, when done right, can make the most boring, commonplace and promptly disposed objects into ocular jewels that put an interesting, creative and often positive twist to some potentially routine areas of your day.

Paris calls Furniture designer and decorator Francis Sultana has debuted at the Pavillon des Arts & Design in Paris. Sultana will present designs from his first collection of furniture ‘Homage to the Art Deco’ as well as previewing an exclusive selection of pieces from Collection II.

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