Mercedes-Benz magazine – Spring/Summer 2018

SPRING . SUMMER

MERC EDES

2018 . $12.95 

future forward

Entering the bionic era

A-Class

Meet the minds behind it

Light Years

Delve into Canadian design

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THE PARFUM. NEW.

The power of attraction.

The 2018 S-Class Cabriolet. Let it captivate you. Combining a sporty, dynamic silhouette with timeless elegance, the S-Class Cabriolet pulls you in with its expert craftsmanship and sensual interior. All while offering groundbreaking intelligent features that will keep you comfortable and safe on the road. It’s exactly where you want to be.

Š 2018 Mercedes-Benz Canada Inc.

CONTENTS

Start

Imagine

26 32 T aking Flight How Festo’s bionic robots borrow from nature.

42 F ood for Thought Arlene Stein takes her Terroir Symposium on the road. et’s Play!

46 L Inside a phenomenon that’s electrifying fans around the world: eSports. tay Focused 50 S Experts want to teach better concentration.

Harbourfront

54

See what’s new and next in Toronto’s lakeside neighbourhood.

In every issue 8 Forward 10 Masthead 112 Society

32

Bionics Scientists working on bionic robots draw inspiration from animals, including elephants (and their dexterous trunks).

Tofino Explore the surf town’s changing landscape.

14 I nnovation Ideas and tech he List 18 T Arts and culture esign 22 D Inspired lighting

114 Finish rend 24 T Creative 3-D rea 26 A Toronto’s Harbourfront otels 28 H Global getaways

Stay Connected Scan this QR code to check out the magazine (and more) online. mercedes-magazine.ca

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CONTENTS

Drive

98

G-Class Witness this legendary vehicle’s past and future.

54 R iding the Wave From surfing spot to modernist mecca, Tofino is a pro at reinvention.

66 Scents of Place Perfumers putting Canada

on the fragrance map.

72 S ustainably in Style Costa Rica is breathing new life into green tourism and eco-luxury.

46 eSports 80

Go inside a global gaming movement.

The A-Team The employees behind the A-Class reveal their inspiration and approach.

88 Warsaw’s New World Poland’s capital has

evolved into a cool,

creative city.

88 Spring - Summer 2018

98 T ruly G The 1979 SUV icon reinvents itself for the open road. he Future Is Now 106 T Sci-fi visions of yesterday turned reality.

ark and Go 97 P The world premiere of Daimler’s Automated Valet Parking is here.

Warsaw Tour the city in a GLA. 7

Mercedes

FORWARD

President’s note

A

s the coolness of spring gives way to the long, hot days of summer, it’s easy to find excuses to seek out adventure, whether closer to home or further afield. Shaking off a long winter means seeing the world from a different perspective, and possibly even undertaking a personal reinvention. With this issue, we are pleased to present our own fresh take on a long-established classic: Mercedes me magazine has replaced Mercedes-Benz magazine not just in name, but with a new look and new sections to match.

Leaving the natural sights and smells of the West coast, we’ll check in with homegrown perfumers who are transforming our landscape in their own way, making their mark across the country as well as at top international fragrance awards (page 66). From there, we’ll head to Toronto, where we’ll explore the Harbourfront area and learn about the ways in which the tech hub of the future is embracing the arts today (page 26). Finally, we’ll travel to Berlin to learn how one of Toronto’s culinary innovators, Arlene Stein, is bringing her Terroir Symposium to the world (page 42).

Switching gears, we’ll be venturing into the world of automotive, meeting the team behind the new A-Class, a benchmark in the compact class that will be making its Canadian debut in late 2018 and promises to revolutionize the segment (page 80). We’ll also take a closer look at the new G-Class – an icon that has maintained its signature style, but has been given an extensive overhaul to deliver peak performance in rugged terrain, while being better equipped than ever to deliver luxurious everyday driving (page 98).

These modifications reflect the broader changes that surround us every day: exciting new technologies, shifting mobility requirements, and increasingly rapid social evolution. Mercedes me magazine is perfectly positioned to keep you at the leading edge of global transformations thanks to a wealth of useful insights and information. The new IMAGINE section (page 31) highlights current social and technological changes, with a special focus on creative, innovative people.

And the DRIVE section (page 79) features the products our customers and fans have grown to love, with compelling stories that illustrate how Mercedes-Benz vehicles have become such an integral part of people’s day-to-day lives.

I’ve mentioned just a few of the highlights that can be found in this new issue, and invite you to take your time discovering your own “best-of” selection. I hope you are left feeling inspired to see the world around you through a new lens, and to make the most of the opportunities that the warmer months will bring.

Though the format may have changed, our vision is as full of possibility as ever. We’ll still be taking you on fantastic journeys across Canada and beyond, sparking ideas and inspiring you to book your next once-in-a-lifetime adventure. In this issue, for example, we travel to Costa Rica, a popular vacation destination for Canadians, which is managing to meet its environmental goals in style (page 72). We’ll also visit a lush spot that’s closer to home: Tofino, B.C., where modern architecture meets natural beauty – with striking results (page 54).

Brian D. Fulton, President and CEO, Mercedes-Benz Canada

Our magazine has been around for 63 years, during which time its format has changed many times.

1955 Mercedes

1970

2017

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2018 Mercedes-Benz

MASTHEAD

Creators

Susan Nerberg – writer Riding the Wave

Born in Finspång, Sweden, and based in Montreal, Susan Nerberg is an outdoor enthusiast who’s written about winter camping in Manitoba and mountain biking in Morocco. Her experience as an editor at Azure and enRoute made her the perfect person to investigate architecture in Tofino.

“Despite a big influx of visitors, the place has managed to keep its friendly, small-town vibe.”

Publishers

Made up of Martin Flamand, Rodolphe Beaulieu, Lucas Bayzelon and Gabriel Carbonneau, Le Quartier is an award-winning creative studio based in Montreal that has created campaigns for everything from eyeglasses to maple syrup. For this issue of Mercedes me they explored the ingredients that go into Canada’s best perfumes.

Le Quartier – creative studio Scents of Place

Jeremy Koreski – photographer Riding the Wave

Growing up in Tofino set the stage for Jeremy Koreski’s high-octane career and a client list that includes Patagonia, Adidas, ESPN and National Geographic Explorer. “I started out in high school taking photos of my friends surfing our home beaches, and since then my work has focused on surfing, fishing, and the life and culture of the Canadian coast.” In addition to shooting this piece, he also dished on his favourite local restaurants.

Published by

Publisher’s Council

Canada

Daimler AG · Communications · HPC E402 · D-70546 Stuttgart

Ola Källenius (Chairman) · Thomas Fröhlich · Bettina Fetzer · Jörg Howe · Gesina Schwengers · Dr. Jens Thiemer · Andreas von Wallfeld

Mercedes-Benz Canada Inc., 98 Vanderhoof Ave., Toronto, ON M4G 4C9

Responsible on behalf of the publishers

President and CEO Brian D. Fulton Vice-President, Marketing Virginie Aubert

Thomas Fröhlich · Mirjam Bendak

Director, Communications and PR JoAnne Caza Corporate Communications Specialist Lindsay Archibald

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MASTHEAD

Spring - Summer 2018

Concept and Editing

Concept and Editing

Germany Condé Nast Verlag GmbH · Karlstrasse 23 · D-80333 München

Canada Bookmark Content and Communications, a Spafax Group Company

Contributors Marc Bielefeld, Ina Brzoska, David Daub, Tillman Franzen, Peter Glaser, Jörg Heuer, Maya Morlock, Iris Mydlach, Pow!!!/Die Illustratoren, Johannes Schweikle, Laura Wagner

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Photo Researcher Vanessa Basille

CEO, Bookmark Raymond Girard EVP, Luxury and Lifestyle Group Kristin Izumi Vice-president, Content and Creative Strategy Ilana Weitzman Senior Account Manager, Luxury and Lifestyle Group Elana Crotin Editor-in-Chief Elio Iannacci

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© Copyright 2018 by Mercedes-Benz Canada Inc. All rights reserved. Reprints and use, as a whole or in part, only with the express written permission of Daimler AG. No responsibility can be taken for unsolicited texts and photographs. Signed articles do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the publisher or the editors. Some vehicles may be shown with non-Canadian equipment.

Some vehicles may be shown without side marker lights.

Some optional equipment may not be available on all models.

For current information regarding the range of models, standard features, optional equipment and/or colours available in Canada and their pricing, contact your nearest authorized Mercedes-Benz dealer or visit mercedes-benz. ca. All other content in this magazine has been compiled to the best of our knowledge, but no guarantee is given.

Managing Editor Eve Thomas Contributing Editors Violaine Charest-Sigouin, Christopher Korchin

Group Design Director Guillaume Brière Art Director Annick Désormeaux

Director of Project Delivery Alain Briard Senior Project Manager Jennifer Fagan Senior Ad Production Manager Mary Shaw Ad Production Coordinator Joanna Forbes Fact Checker Jessica Lockhart

Contributors Lucas Bayzelon, Rodolphe Beaulieu, Gabriel Carbonneau, Sarah Daniel, Martin Flamand, Valerie Howes, Julie Simard Jones, Thomas José Henri, Jeremy Koreski, Lauren McKeon, Katie Moore, Susan Nerberg, Brett Schaenfield, Barb Sligl, Isa Tousignant, Debra Weiner Advertising Sales sales@ bookmarkcontent.com Vice-president, Media Laura Maurice, laura.maurice@ bookmarkcontent.com National Sales Director Tracy Miller, tracy.miller@ bookmarkcontent.com Senior National Account Manager, Quebec and Eastern Canada Dominique Beauchamp, dominique.beauchamp@ bookmarkcontent.com Senior National Account Manager, Western Canada Barb Welsh, barbwelsh@shaw.ca

Senior Editor Renée Morrison Assistant Editor Kelly Stock

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Start Innovation Ideas and tech

In the near future, city dwellers could use the Volocopter to escape traffic jams.

The flying taxi

Before long, a new solution to traffic congestion in major cities may be taking flight: Why not let the Volocopter fly you to your next appointment quietly and safely?

PHOTO VOLOCOPTER/PR

It is white, slender and streamlined: two skids and an elegant cockpit. The Volocopter looks like a cross between a helicopter and a drone – which is exactly what it is. Running entirely on electric power and capable of vertical takeoff, the autonomous Volocopter has zero local emissions and is currently being tested in Dubai. Those who prefer to handle the steering themselves will be able to do so intuitively using a joystick controlling 18 small rotors, thanks to simple mechanics. The German company Volocopter hopes this vehicle will be able to reduce traffic in major cities. “What we saw with the live demonstration in Dubai was a historic moment for the future of mobility in the third dimension,” says Susanne Hahn, Director of the innovation laboratory Lab1886 at Daimler AG, which has a stake in the Volocopter. “It made it clear that implementing fully autonomous electric-mobility solutions in the urban sphere is realistic and within reach.” volocopter.com

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START

3

Hidden gems Cinderella Garbage is a jewellery line that lives up to its cheeky name. Its designers work with Canadian waste company PyroGenesis to turn organic and inorganic matter into clean energy and nontoxic, vitrified material – what they call “contemporary diamonds,” which are then sculpted into stones for use in rings, pendants and more.

seconds

That’s how often a Car2Go trip is taken in Canada and the United States – with over 32 million trips taken since its launch in North America. car2go.com/ca

cinderellagarbage.com

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PHOTOS WIM WENDERS COURTESY WWW.SEDITIONART.COM; GOOGLE STREET VIEW; DAIMLER AG

The number of annual visitors welcomed by Quttinirpaaq, Canada’s northernmost Arctic park. (Add to that number several scientists who are there to study conditions.) But thanks to a partnership between Google Street View and Parks Canada, anyone can now explore its pristine glaciers and fjords from the comfort of home.

Screen time

The online portal Sedition offers limited-edition works from renowned artists for your smartphone, tablet and more.

A genuine Wim Wenders photograph (above) for $10? An original piece by Tracey Emin for $15? It’s a deal! In 2008, Damien Hirst, whose artworks are among the most expensive in the world, called for democratization in the art industry and began selling his pieces directly at auctions

Spring - Summer 2018

without a broker. He was also one of the first artists to offer digital, limited-edition works at bargain prices through Sedition. Since then, the portal has become an art exchange where collectors can resell their works. You can download the pieces directly to your tablet. seditionart.com

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Google Street View’s Trekker camera rigs helped capture the remote landscape.

Mercedes

START

shé: kon

Doctor’s orders

That’s “hello” in Mohawk, a language spoken by about 2,350 people in Ontario and Quebec.

It’s a number set to rise thanks to Speak Mohawk, a Duolingolike app developed by Ontario’s Six Nations Polytechnic students and Thornton Media, a Native American company intent on supporting and reviving Indigenous languages.

Sleep on it

It’s an age-old problem for cohabitating couples: One person likes things cool, while the other overheats. Founded by Quebecer Tina Cayouette, Smartduvet lets people control the temperature in different zones of a specially designed duvet insert using a custom app. By heating or cooling the blanket rather than the house, it also reduces energy consumption (though it can’t stop anyone from stealing all the covers). smartduvet.com

Infrared light shows the Smartduvet in action.

Joanne Pransky – known as “Dr. Joanne” – is a robotics expert who advises companies. She also considers herself to be the world’s first robotic psychiatrist.

Do you get them to lie down on the couch, Sigmund Freud-style?

That can happen. A robot might come to me next week and say, “I’m being sexually harassed in the workplace.” Or a family might send a robot to me to treat his insane jealousy of his human siblings.

Okay, let’s be serious now…

I focus on what we call HOS: the Human Operating System. I try to help people overcome their fear of artificial intelligence. We can either use this new technology for our benefit, or we can take a critical and fearful stance toward it. It’s also a matter of raising ethical questions for programmers and users.

What does that mean in practical terms?

My aim is to enlighten people and help them understand their own emotional, social and psychological reactions to robot technologies, and to deal with those. These technological developments will inevitably affect Mercedes

every aspect of our lives – and in the very near future.

1

Temperatures can be pre-set for both sides.

2 An infrared camera shows off the results.

According to one Oxford study, almost half of all people in developed nations will lose their jobs to robots in the future, which creates a sense of anxiety.

But will that also create some opportunities?

These kinds of studies are a little misleading, because it’s not about jobs, it’s about productivity. Robots won’t replace any professions, only functions – those that people find boring, dirty, annoying or dull.

In fact, robots will create jobs, not destroy them.

PHOTOS DAIMLER AG; TIMOTHY ARCHIBALD; HELGE BENDL

What exactly do you do as a robotic psychiatrist?

I make it easier for robots to engage with the human species, and I help them with any problems they may have.

And how do you deal with the fear of loss of control?

That comes down to how you look at it. It’s a matter of perspective. We already have a lot of computers that are more intelligent and precise than humans in terms of computing power.

But storage computers don’t control us. We use them as tools to make our lives easier. That’s how it will be with robots, too. Humans and machines will work together to develop new solutions, like curing illnesses. It is all to our advantage. robot.md

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START

The moment Singapore, a day of joy: The Khoo family and their 1955 model 220a are ready to roll.

Art in motion

Can a GIF be fine art? It’s a truly 21stcentury question, and one that Canadian artist and activist Jess MacCormack, aka Jess Mac, attempts to answer using Tumblr.

There, pop culture and politics mix into deceptively digestible flashing icons featuring everything from emojis to Renaissance paintings to Kardashians clips. “I’m very interested in how millennials kind of live in post-history, like a completely decontextualized and fragmented world that allows for non-dominant narratives to surface,” says MacCormack, who currently coordinates the Living Labs at Emily Carr University, and was once commissioned to create GIFs for the official Obama-era White House Tumblr. jessicamaccormackrmack.tumblr.com

Spring - Summer 2018

The Khoo family’s classic Ponton takes to the streets of Singapore. Inside, Khoo Yeow Khim (at the wheel) drives Irene Kuok (left), their son Khoo Kay Hong, his wife Ran, and little Vera.

The Mercedes-Benz 220a has been in the family for 63 years – as a dream car, as a wedding car, as a source of great pride. Khoo Yeow Khim is now 89 years old. He has been caring for his spacious Mercedes-Benz Ponton on behalf of subsequent generations for quite some time.

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The List

Arts and culture

The father-daughter team behind housewares company Herriott Grace live 4,606 kilometres apart, but they work together to bring elegant objects from his workshop in Victoria, B.C., to her Toronto studio. The result: heirloom-worthy pieces, from rolling pins to wooden spoons, as well as small-batch porcelain from select artists. herriottgrace.com Mercedes

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Herriott Grace puts extra care into product shots of porcelain plates – a strategy that has gained them thousands of devoted Instagram fans.

Mercedes-Benz

PHOTO HERRIOTT GRACE

All in the family

START

Northern light Todd Saunders put Newfoundland’s northeast coast in the spotlight with the award-winning Fogo Island Inn. Now, he and Blue Rhino Design are hoping to do the same for Labrador’s most northern community, with the Illusuak Cultural Centre. Set to open in late 2018, it is designed to both showcase local Inuit culture and be a gateway to Torngat Mountains National Park. bluerhinodesign.com

85%

PHOTOS DAVID LACHAPELLE (MUGLER); HAMLIN LAMPE (ILLUSUAK CULTURAL CENTRE)

Canadian connections After working on a project for the Vancouver Olympics, Greg Durrell (of Vancouver design firm Hulse & Durrell) realized there was a major gap in his reference materials: a definitive guide to Canadian design, from Montreal Expos merch to the everevolving CBC logo. So he teamed up with Brooklyn’s Film First to produce Design Canada, an upcoming documentary that explores the country’s graphic icons and how they’ve shaped our national identity. hulsedurrell.com

That’s the percent of consumer purchases women are responsible for, according to Project Her. The site, operated out of Vancouver, is the first Canadian crowdfunding initiative devoted to female entrepreneurs.

Gallery gowns

Though it’s only set to open in February 2019, fashion fans the world over are eagerly awaiting Thierry Mugler: Creatures of Haute Couture at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. The museum’s first foray into high fashion was in 2008, with an Yves Saint Laurent retrospective, followed by one on Jean-Paul Gaultier (and another devoted entirely to Gaultier’s bridal wear). Mugler’s work will certainly make for a truly multi-dimensional exhibit – the couturier has created costumes for Cirque du Soleil and even directed the music video for George Michael’s “Too Funky.” mbam.qc.ca

projecther.com

Head of the class When Toronto/Los Angeles culture blogger and mom-about-town Ashleigh Dempster co-founded AKID, she created childapproved footwear that trendy parents could covet. Her latest line, designed with actress Jaime King (a friend and fellow mom), includes more statementmaking styles like red suede and faux fur pompoms. akidbrand.com Spring - Summer 2018

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START

Peace of art

PHOTOS JENNIFER MAY (MEREDITH ERICKSON); FELIX BERNIER (PHONE, LOCKER); JILL CHEN/STOCKSY (DRINK); ABITIBI & CO (CANOE)

Erickson co-authored the first cookbook from London, England’s historic Claridge’s Hotel.

When Montreal’s Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth reopened after a year of major renovations, the grand hotel revealed the fruits of a partnership with agencies Sid Lee Architecture and MASSIVart: a permanent, 123-piece collection of Canadian art (including works from Jessica Eaton and Axel Cohen) as well as a veritable mini-museum in room 1742 (pictured below). It was there that John Lennon and Yoko Ono held a Bed-in for Peace and recorded the anthem “Give Peace a Chance.” Modern visitors can explore memorabilia from the couple’s stay, including reproductions of vintage room-service menus, a telephone loaded with old interview clips and an immersive VR experience. fairmont.com/queen-elizabeth-montreal

Secret recipe When chefs want to tell their stories, they turn to Windsor, ON, cookbook author Meredith Erickson. Here’s how she got her start and what she’s working on next. mereditherickson.com What was the first cookbook you read?

The New Basics Cookbook is the first book I cooked from, as it was the lowest on the shelf at my mom’s. The French Laundry Cookbook was the first one I actually read.

What are you working on now?

I just completed the second Joe Beef book, Surviving the Apocalypse, out in Fall 2018.

I am currently writing my first solo book, Alpine Cooking, out in Fall 2019. And I am also co-authoring the Frasca Cookbook: A Love Letter to Friuli with American sommelier Bobby Stuckey.

Do most people want a story with their cookbooks, or just recipes?

The story. A good cookbook should teach, entertain and inspire – and hopefully make you chuckle.

Do you have a dream project you’d like to work on one day?

I had the privilege of working with Claridge’s Mercedes

Hotel chef Martyn Nail on their cookbook last year, which was pretty dreamy. I have a couple of projects outside of the food world, but mum’s the word, as I don’t want to jinx them. I will say I’m ready for my first big New York City restaurant book.

How do you decide which projects to take on?

It has to be something I haven’t done before.

I have to learn something, contribute and create something new. I also have to be willing to live in that world for a couple of years.

What’s the best meal you have had recently?

I took my parents to Le Bernadin in New York for Christmas. That was pretty spectacular. I also eat at Leméac once a week when I’m in Montreal, and that’s always great because I’m with friends – because really it’s the people who can make a dinner “the best.”

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Into the wild

Now that glamping is a household word (and in the Oxford English Dictionary), connecting to the outdoors has never been easier. These innovative Canadian companies will help you get outside without compromising comfort or style.

Abitibi & Co. makes kayaks and canoes in Quebec with minimal impact on the environment and using traditional regional methods. abitibico.ca Norquay Co. founder Natasha Wittke paints and sells custom “artisan paddles,” both water-ready and to hang as wall art. norquayco.com Camp Lifestyle & Coffee Co. is a Whistler, B.C., shop specializing in wilderness-inspired wares like pillows and enamel cups (perfect for the tent and apartment). camplifestyle.ca

Glass half full Whether it’s for health reasons or just plain personal taste, a mocktail revolution is happening across Canada, and teetotallers no longer have to settle for a Shirley Temple. Instead, they can indulge across the country, starting with the fresh-juice pairing menu at Edmonton’s awardwinning Alder Room (expect inventive flavours like Labrador tea kombucha). At Toronto bar Pretty Ugly, the “placebo cocktails” menu recreates classic cocktails like the amaro spritz sans spirits.

Finally, those who want to mix their own can buy artisan syrups from Montreal’s Djinn (try the apple-cumber), which also offers a service setting up mocktail-only bars at parties and events. alderroom.ca

prettyuglybar.com

djinnsirops.com

“Welcome World! Come for the art, stay for the people.”

Good timing New this spring from Mercedes-Benz, his and hers watches feature Swiss movements and stylish accents, as well as steelcoloured hour markers (left, his) and a Milanese mesh strap (right, hers).

– A tweet from Saskatoon mayor Charlie Clark after The New York Times declared the city one of 52 places to visit in 2018 (thanks in large part to the new Remai Modern museum).

thecollection.ca

Spring - Summer 2018

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Design

Light years ahead

Bright creations

by Canadian designers make light work of far-out inspirations, from bubbly libations to aurora borealis.

TEXT BARB SLIGL

Off the wall Nanoleaf, a modular lighting system created in Toronto, brings colour therapy home with smart LED panels that mimic the northern lights – or whatever scene or mood your inner artist can tap into. Up to 35 triangular panels (per controller) connect together into almost limitless shapes and adhere to any flat surface with simple double-sided tape, transforming walls into personalized and luminous canvasses. nanoleaf.me Mercedes

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“I enjoy creating lighting fixtures that are minimal and sculptural – yet full of movement and sensuality.”

The Halo light, by Vancouver designer Matthew McCormick, is a series of gleaming rings inspired by the effervescence of prosecco. With stripped-down geometry emulating rising bubbles, it’s a fizzy flight of light. matthewmccormick.ca

Wax and wane

The glow of Edmonton designer Jordan Tomnuk’s Lune Lighting Collection (Launch Pad winner at 2016’s WantedDesign show in New York) comes from two discs set on a rotatable axis – much like the ever-shifting light cast by the moon itself.

Raw beauty

Collaborative design studio Lambert & Fils melds poetic simplicity and hands-on craftsmanship in sleek, modern lighting that’s been showcased at Salone del Mobile’s prestigious Euroluce exhibition in Milan. Founding designer Samuel Lambert started the workshop on rue Beaubien in Montreal, and the eponymous linear Beaubien light reflects his design ethos: deceptively minimal objets d’art manifested in various adjustable lighting formats – floor, wall, ceiling – to maximum effect. i

lambertetfils.com

Plastic fantastic

The Gweilo consists of thin sheets of LED bulbs hand-moulded into dynamic sculptures that drip and drape radiance. “We have been trying to create light that is light itself, rather than a fixture or housing or clothing for standard bulbs,” says designer and co-founder Alexander Josephson of Partisans, the Toronto-based group of architects behind the innovative design (along with Spanish producer and distributor Parachilna).

tomnuk.com

i

Spring - Summer 2018

In the Beaubien light collection, brass connectors are a chic contrast to black powdercoated rods.

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partisanprojects.com

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Trend

Next-gen 3-D

Canadian innovators are using 3-D printers to reimagine entire industries, from fashion to medicine.

“I had to rethink what I knew about ceramics, which allowed me to explore connections that could only be possible with 3-D printing.”

TEXT BRETT SCHAENFIELD

One-on-one Alberta-born, Montreal-based object and furniture designer Zoë Mowat is known for her simple, sculptural pieces, and her collaboration with New York City’s OTHR is the epitome of modern minimalism. Like all of the company’s products, her porcelain Trestle Bowl set is only 3-D printed on demand so there is no overstock. othr.com Mercedes

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Each piece is a one-of-a-kind, numbered edition.

Mercedes-Benz

PHOTOS OTHR (TRESTLE BOWL SET)

– Zoë Mowat, designer

START

In their bones

Scientists and doctors are proving that 3-D printing is more than a mere novelty. At Toronto’s Mount Sinai Hospital, plastic and metal prosthetics are being replaced with ones printed from a bone-mimicking calciumphosphate compound. In Alberta, paleontologists at the Royal Tyrrell Museum have 3-D-printed plesiosaurs (pictured below) to test theories on how the prehistoric marine reptiles moved. And in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, a project aims to turn household waste like coffee grounds and gelatin into bioplastic, then use that material to print household goods and teaching tools for the tiny northern community.

Print partners

As the price of 3-D printing comes down and its popularity soars, machines are popping up at maker spaces and dedicated companies across the country. One stand-out: Toronto’s Hot Pop Hot Pop Factory co-founders Matt Factory, which brings digital ideas into the physical world using Compeau and Biying Miao printed plastic, nylon, sandstone and alumide (as well as techniques A 3-D printed model of the Royal like laser cutting and engraving). They’ve created products and

Ontario Museum prototypes for everyone from architects to accessory designers.

Eames-inspired chairs printed at different,

PHOTOS ROYAL TYRRELL MUSEUM (DINOSAUR), HOT POP FACTORY (3-D PRINTER, OBJECTS); JOHN BIEHLER (3DCANADA)

hotpopfactory.com

A perfect fit Designed by a team of engineers in Montreal, the 3D-printed Uclip is the only universal clip for mobile devices.

It attaches snugly to flat surfaces and edges like those found on treadmills, kitchen counters and car vents. uclip.ca

easily scalable sizes

Shawna Tabacznik’s Shimon necklace

Solid selfies Silver lining

Toronto-based artist Shawna Tabacznik’s sterling silver jewellery combines traditional hand-cast techniques with 3-D printed materials. A graduate of OCAD University, she gathers inspiration from her cultural heritage (she’s lived in Israel, Colombia and Canada) and her work includes a mix of modern geometric shapes. shawna-tabacznik.com Spring - Summer 2018

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Author and artist Douglas Coupland helped bring 3-D printing to the masses with 3DCanada, an art project that had him scanning volunteers at department stores across the country.

Shoppers went home with a mini bust of themselves, while Coupland turned about 1,000 busts into a sculpture called “The National Portrait.” The work debuts June 29 at the new Ottawa Art Gallery and is on display for a month. coupland.com Mercedes

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Harbour master

Toronto’s Harbourfront is getting a futuristic makeover.

Sidewalk Labs, a subsidiary of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, will soon transform a five-hectare slice of industrial land into the futuristic Quayside, featuring self-driving “taxibots.” The area will also welcome a new light-rail line and cool condo developments from Danish architects 3XN. The Jetsonslike vibe is sure to complement the already thriving cultural hub.

TE X T L AUREN McKEON

A real estate development from 3XN inspired by the waves of Lake Ontario

PHOTOS 3XN ARCHITECTS (CONDOS); TOM BILENKEY (HARBOURFRONT CENTRE); TONI HAFKENSCHEID ( COLOR ME BADD )

Area

The arts

Former Sydney Biennale CEO Marah Braye has helmed the Harbourfront Centre since 2014, overseeing a $30-million-plus annual budget and transforming it into a dominant cultural force.

Bookworms will want to start at October’s International Festival of Authors, which has welcomed 9,000-plus writers, including Isabel Allende, Pico Iyer and next-gen CanLit luminaries like Sheila Heti and Vincent Lam. This July will see the centre’s inaugural, multi-disciplinary Brave Festival, which is themed around risk and failure – look out for a talk led by legendary director John Waters. Yearround there’s contemporary dance at the Fleck Dance Theatre and bold pieces from the centre’s artist residency program, HATCH. Also be sure to check out the centre’s Bill Boyle Artport, a trucking garage transformed into an exhibition space. harbourfrontcentre.com

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The shops

For a truly one-of-a-kind souvenir, the Centre Shop features original work from their artists-in-residence, including slipcast porcelain pieces from ChengOu Yu, as well as gifts like Canadian-made stationery and accessories from Couple d’Idées (pictured below).

For those looking to embrace their inner harbour master, the Dock Shoppe offers gifts ranging from practical Martinique time and tide clocks to quirky Weems & Plath stormglass sets (a similar instrument was used to predict weather during the HMS Beagle’s famous second voyage). Nearby, Nautical Mind is a store dedicated entirely to sailing books, charts and cruising guides. harbourfrontcentre.com/shop nauticalmind.com

thedockshoppe.com

A work from Julia Dault’s Color Me Badd exhibition at The Power Plant

The scene

The Power Plant isn’t just a bright spot in Toronto’s cultural scene, it is Canada’s leading gallery devoted to contemporary art and a crucial venue for innovation. Head there for the International Lecture Series (featuring artist talks and workshops, like Making a DIY Camera Obscura), the Sunday Scene speaker series (2018’s line-up includes poet Lee Maracle and journalist Kamal Al-Solaylee), as well as performances, films and rotating gallery exhibits. Or seek out an invite for the annual Power Ball party, which welcomes 1,500 guests to an immersive experience – last year’s “Stereo Vision” theme drew on alternate realities, while 2015’s “Appetite for Excess” focused on edible art. thepowerplant.org

The menu Between the steakhouses and seafood spots, Boxcar Social offers carefully curated cups of joe from Canadian roasters like Calgary’s Phil & Sebastian and Nova Scotia’s Anchored Coffee, as well as an impressive list of Niagara wines, Quebec beers and snacks to sate a healthy appetite (think avocado toast and patatas bravas). Hit the Harbourfront in August for the Summer Craft Beer Festival, an event from Steam Whistle brewery showcasing 40 kinds of Ontario beer and cider. To cool off, head to Joe Bird and The Fix Ice Cream Bar. The recently-opened spot is drawing crowds with epic creations like hoisin tamarind chicken (pictured right), s’mores sundaes and churro ice-cream sandwiches. boxcarsocial.ca

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steamwhistle.ca

joebird.ca

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Hotels Our favourite getaways from around the globe.

Toronto

Star stay

PHOTOS CHRISTIAN HORAN (FOUR SEASONS); MATHIEU BITTON (LENNY KRAVITZ)

Toronto’s newest boutique hotel, Bisha, is a celebration of collaboration. The 44-storey property in the entertainment district includes an entire floor designed with rock star Lenny Kravitz (pictured), and a restaurant helmed by celebrity chef Akira Back. One more strategic – and patriotic – partnership: Amenities come care of cult perfume brand Byredo, whose founder, Ben Gorham, was raised in Oakville, Ontario. bisha.com

New York

Serene in the city

It’s hard to believe a tranquil escape is possible in the bustle of Tribeca, but the Four Seasons Hotel Downtown New York is just that. It’s one of the city’s tallest residential buildings, boasting sweeping views of Midtown skyline and the nearby One World Trade Center. It’s also worth a visit for the spa alone, which includes a stunning, 23-metre lap pool set against a wall of windows – a rare find in Manhattan. The hotel’s 189 guest rooms, designed by Toronto- and Soho-based superstars Yabu Pushelberg, feature warm wood panelling and soft pastel hues, and four of the suites have outdoor terraces. For the ultimate indulgence, book the Royal Suite, featuring galleryworthy art and a private media room. fourseasons.com/newyorkdowntown Mercedes

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A ballroom at the Shangri-La Hotel Paris hints at its former owner: Napoleon’s great-nephew.

A suite’s terrace view of the nearby Eiffel Tower.

Bali

Blessed journey

Bali may be a bustling tourist destination, but at Amandari, traditional island life thrives alongside terraced rice paddies and the Ayung River gorge. Mid-mornings, watch as a community elder blesses the resort’s sacred spirit shrines with jasmine and incense.

Afternoons, the teak pavilion near the open-air restaurant doubles as a Balinese dance school where village children practise their graceful, ritualized moves accompanied by live gamelan music. Later, at the spa, get a full-body rice exfoliation or relax in a bath of coconut milk. aman.com/resorts/amandari Paris

Gilded age The Eiffel Tower may be easy to spot in central Paris, but perhaps no vantage point is more opulent than the Shangri-La Hotel Paris, located just across the Seine. Everything from the decor (gold-leaf mosaics, silk wallpaper, crystal chandeliers) to the state-of-the-art CHI spa and the large, light-flooded indoor pool gives patrons a feeling of an exquisite insider’s club. Which is no surprise, given its origins – the main building was built in 1896 for Napoleon’s great-nephew, and much of it is classified as a French historical monument. shangri-la.com/paris/shangrila Spring - Summer 2018

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PHOTO FESTO AG & CO. KG, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Imagine

Modelled after jellyfish, these graceful AquaJellies communicate through LEDs.

What do ants, elephants and jellyfish have in common?

They all inspired bionic robots at Festo, a Daimler AG supplier.

To welcome you to Mercedes me magazine’s inaugural Imagine section, we invite you to take a closer look at how wild animals’ anatomy is influencing the mobility of tomorrow.

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Bionic animals Terroir’s Arlene Stein Intro to eSports Staying focused Tofino design Canadian perfume Eco Costa Rica Mercedes

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The eMotionButterfly in action. It flies in a swarm and requires little energy. Its sensors are so tiny that they are barely visible.

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Taking Flight Intelligent butterflies, ­autonomous ants: With its bionic robots, Festo, a Daimler AG supplier, is exploring the mobility of tomorrow – and achieving fascinating results.

TEXT MARC BIELEFELD

PHOTO FESTO PR

PHOTOS TILLMANN FR ANZEN

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IMAGINE

The handling assistant is modelled after an elephant’s trunk, the flexible gripper after a fish fin. It can grasp apples, tomatoes, and even raw eggs.

Bionic engineer Sebastian Schrof with an artificial kangaroo.

It moves with a springy hop, and with each hop it recaptures energy.

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1 Legs

Piezoceramic bending transducers move the six legs.

2

3

4 2 Processor

This distributes signals and controls the legs and small grippers.

3 Energy

The charging circuit converts 8.4 volts to 300 volts.

4 Ring circuit

Its output stages are the interfaces to the actuator technology.

5 Batteries

Two lithium polymer cells deliver 8.4 volts (for up to 40 minutes).

6 Sensor chip 5

6

7

8

9

A chip scans the floor and calculates distances.

7 Eyes

3-D stereo cameras detect surroundings and objects.

8 Grippers

These can grasp, pull and push an object.

9 Antennae

These enable the ant to dock with the charging base on its own.

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t scampers across the floor, raising and lowering its six little legs as its eyes inspect the world around it. Two thin antennae project from its head; a gold-coloured pattern runs along its black body.

Current flows through two tiny wires as if through an open nervous system. This small, artificial ant looks intelligent. You almost expect it to smile.

The bionic insect is controlled by algorithms.

Stereo cameras are concealed in its head, sensors in its belly, antennae in its interior. Piezoceramic bending transducers (more on those later) move its legs; threedimensional conductors are attached to its body. All this allows the ant to see, walk, pull and grab. It can call for help and communicate with others of its kind. The BionicAnt functions autonomously. It can make decisions

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and engage in co-operative behaviour. And thanks to the latest technologies and its diminutive size (just 14 centimetres long), this tiny robot, which imitates its natural counterpart, lends itself to deployment in the tightest of spaces.

Created by the German company Festo, the BionicAnt is a particularly vivid illustration of the revolutionary times in which we live. Never before have so many different fields of research intersected, wide-ranging innovations complemented one another so effectively, or globally networked companies been able to bring their ideas to fruition so quickly. The astonishing result is exponential growth in the rate of technologization, which has an established hold in the field of mobility and will continue to shape its future.

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Small but clever: The BionicAnt is full of technology and reacts like a real ant. It imitates swarm behaviour.

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The keywords for this new era? Robotics, sensor technology, automation. Connectivity, 3-D printing, lightweight construction. Kinematics, adaptivity, miniaturization, integration of multiple functions in a tiny component. Then, add the power of algorithms. Artificial intelligence. Self-learning systems.

Confused? Many of us are. The artificial ant is a project that provides concrete illustrations of these concepts and can help us understand them. It was developed by the Bionic Learning Network, a research partnership under the direction of Festo, a company based in Esslingen, Germany. With its 18,800 employees, the company is one of the world’s leading specialists in automation technology and a long-standing Daimler AG supplier. In its bionics team, Festo has a very special think tank where engineers and designers, biologists and software specialists develop the “concepts of the future.” The team draws inspiration from a model that is millions of years old: nature itself.

Sebastian Schrof, an industrial designer who specializes in robotics and helped develop the ant for Festo, takes the bionic insect and puts it back into its plastic case. It is one of 12 artificial ants that demonstrate what they can do at trade exhibitions and technology shows all over the world. And the spectators are usually wide-eyed in amazement. Not only do the BionicAnts copy the delicately intricate anatomy of real ants, but algorithms allow them to imitate ants’ cognitive functions.

Once on its legs, each ant first makes a map of its surroundings and communicates that to the other ants. The robots soon “know” where they themselves and all of their companions are. If they wish to move an object, they radio their colleagues. The other ants quickly come crawling over to pitch in. Their knowledge has been stored: They are stronger in a swarm, and with joined forces they haul the lump away – without the help of anyone sitting at a remote-control unit.

Festo’s bionics team in their think tank. Working with universities and experts from other companies, they create new artificial animals every year.

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with one another. Collectively, they take on tasks that a system would not be able to manage by itself.” To move the insect’s legs, Festo uses something known as piezo technology. If a voltage is applied to a special crystal, the crystal reacts mechanically. The surface changes its shape, stretches or contracts. The mechanical tension induces the piezo crystal to produce a voltage – an extremely effective reciprocal effect.

The ant also makes use of the “moulded interconnected device” (MID) method, which is used to attach visible three-dimensional conductors to the surfaces of the 3-D-printed components. The result is a contoured component that performs mechanical and electronic functions simultaneously.

Such new technologies inspire the imagination. At Festo, even an artificial kangaroo has been seen hopping around the office. The bionic engineers had observed something amazing in real kangaroos: Much like a rubber ball,

A brain consisting of numbers Nadine Kärcher, a member of Festo’s bionics team for the last six years, develops software for the artificial creatures. She collaborated with IT experts at Germany’s University of Ulm to write, among other things, the algorithms needed to transform the ants into acting entities: complex equations based on the most minutely defined steps. Kärcher explains how we should imagine the process: “We teach the ant that, when this occurs, you do that. If your sensors detect something on the right, then you go left to avoid it. And if your battery is empty, you go to the charging station.”

Algorithms are virtually endless strings of numbers that act upon the processors.

The processor, a sort of brain that processes and distributes signals and controls the legs and grippers, is located in the ant’s posterior. Its most mind-boggling ability is that it can simulate a collective “swarm intelligence.” Explains Kärcher: “Individual systems coordinate 37

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Robo calling: Nadine Kärcher’s role within the team is to develop software and complex algorithms. For the BionicCobot, she devised an entirely new user interface.

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The mobile future is picking up speed

PHOTOS ROMAIN TRYSTRAM/DAIMLER (SIDEBAR)

Platooning, bionic cars, intelligent robotics: Mercedes-Benz is fast-tracking many new technologies to make vehicles and to produce urban design concepts and smart sharing models that are fit for the future.

Spring - Summer 2018

There are many paths leading to the digital world of tomorrow. Things are moving at a fast pace, and the convergence of new technologies is revealing entirely new prospects. Mercedes-Benz opened a development centre in Silicon Valley 20 years ago. Today, connectivity and autonomous driving, shared services and electromobility are the major mobility trends. And artificial intelligence is having an ever greater impact on our everyday lives. Mercedes-Benz is at work in many fields, not only to identify visionary concepts, but also to generate and further them. Designers have conceived a bionic automobile with a boxfish shape and sensational drag coefficients. The car is at the centre of an array of new projects that use neuronal networks and interact with the environment. The F 015 research vehicle illustrates a number of revolutionary concepts.

It recognizes its surroundings and co-operates with them. It also offers innovative approaches in sensor technology, lightweight construction and connectivity. Other developers at Daimler AG are working on the networked vehicle fleet and intelligent car sharing. Employees in Sindelfingen are testing robots for the factory of tomorrow, while Daimler Trucks is testing the use of digitally linked trucks in convoy travel, referred to as “platooning.” One source of inspiration is birds flying in formation. The objective: fuel efficiency.

these animals recapture energy with each landing, using it for the next hop. Kangaroos also shift their centres of gravity to jump in different parabolas. Elias Knubben, who has headed the bionics team at Festo since 2012, explains: “We took a close look at what was happening – the linear axes and impulses that have to be set in motion and braked. And we learned how to handle energy in an extremely economical way. With each hop, the kangaroo regains 80 percent of its energy. You only have to apply another 20 percent to arrive at full jumping power again. An ingenious principle.”

The bionic engineers at Festo have also emulated the tongue of a chameleon, a project that ultimately produced the FlexShapeGripper. Like a real chameleon’s tongue, 39

Daimler Trucks’ fleet tests the use of digitally linked trucks, referred to as “platooning.”

Once all vehicles can think, autonomous driving will acquire a new dimension.

this gripper extends over objects to snatch them with the help of an elastic silicone cap. They have also copied the tentacles of an octopus. The artificial octopus arm is flexible and is operated pneumatically. It wraps around objects, and suction cups allow it to create a vacuum and grip smooth surfaces, including panes of glass. Elephant trunks and fish fins have also served as blueprints for extremely capable gripping arms. These robots can pick up tomatoes, apples, and even raw eggs.

“With each new project, we learn an enormous amount from nature,” says Knubben, “and much of that has found its way into production.” Basic research is, after all, no end in itself. The aim is to use new materials, test the use of sensors in a new context, or to ask: What Mercedes

IMAGINE

happens when information technology and biology meet?

The ultimate goal is to identify and exploit the possibilities of the dawning age.

The future in motion Robotics can most effectively streamline the automobility of tomorrow during the production process. The robots of the future could leave their cages and work alongside people. They are able to apply fine motor skills to their movements. Their sensors enable them to determine when they need to stop.

Prototypes such as the BionicCobot dispense with steel and electric motors entirely. Compressed air moves their joints, the axes in their elbows, lower arms and wrists.

They can exert a strong grip or gently lift objects, firmly press something shut or even tap an employee on the shoulder – as if to say, perhaps, we still have to insert this screw or tighten that bolt.

At Daimler AG, such developments are being followed with keen interest. “We want intelligent robots that detect mistakes, that can follow along with what we are doing and react accordingly, and that can be operated as intuitively as a smartphone,” says Simon Klumpp, a process developer at Daimler AG in charge of assembly, robotics and automation.

With the aim of providing the customer with as personalized a product as possible, the various steps in the production process must be engineered with ever greater variability and individuality. “Collaboration between people and robots will assume greater importance in the future,” says Simon Klumpp. “For that, however, sensors must be fused, machines must become more sensitive, be better able to see, to grasp and ideally be able to continue learning in the process.”

Development will proceed in the direction of smart systems that can provide people with ever greater assistance. And with the further development of artificial intelligence, even more extensive networking and a continuous flow of exchanged data, many of the innovations will end up being part of our everyday lives. The vision of automated driving and a resulting reduction in accident statistics is drawing ever closer thanks to sophisticated sensor technology. Intelligent parking searches (especially necessary in major cities) could likewise be organized with considerably more efficiency.

But nature is the measure of things in a higher sense as well. Elias Knubben of Festo talks of neuronal networks and swarm intelligence: “That would be a further technological leap.” His most recent bionic project shows quite vividly what is in store for us.

This morning, the team leader is standing in the glass entrance hall of the company headquarters – releasing flying butterflies. They flutter about nimbly, playfully, nearly poetically. There is something almost miraculous about the spectacle. It is like a feather-light example of the smart mobility of tomorrow. The eMotionButterfly is a bionic butterfly weighing a mere 27 grams and possessing Mercedes

complete command of the beating-wing principle. Its wings create thrust and lift at the same time. Its minimalistic body is the product of a 3-D printer, a wafer-thin film stretched over a carbon frame. Motors and electronics are so minimally present that they are barely detectable from a metre away. The bionic butterfly requires very little energy to stay airborne. Ten infrared cameras locate every single insect, take 160 pictures and billions of pixels per second, and track minute markers mounted on the butterflies. The butterflies do not collide, but execute masterful evasive manoeuvres, abruptly changing their direction in a swarm. And they finish by gently landing on the bionic engineer’s outstretched hand.

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Flight of fancy: Elias Knubben heads the Bionic Learning Network at Festo.

Mercedes-Benz

6:18 PM

The moment the magic of the mountains became a feast for the senses.

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For full terms and conditions, please visit fairmont.com/whistler/special-offers/hotel-offers/food-wine/fairmont-getaway

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Food for Thought

Terroir Symposium founder Arlene Stein is taking Toronto’s top gastronomic think tank on the road.

T E X T VALE R IE H OWE S

PHOTOS DITTE ISAGER/EDGE REPS (OYSTERS); JOHN GUNDY (ARLENE STEIN)

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Oysters steamed in seawater with tapioca pearls, care of Noma chef and Terroir presenter René Redzepi

Arlene Stein and guests at a Terroir Symposium gathering Spring - Summer 2018

re you okay?” René Redzepi asks a rapt audience of restaurateurs.

The Danish chef is famous for Noma’s ingenious Nordic cuisine, but that’s not what he’s here to discuss.

Instead, Redzepi reveals that while his Copenhagen creation was topping the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list for the third time, behind the scenes he was quietly having a mental breakdown.

Redzepi’s real talk is rare for the restaurant industry, but typical for the Terroir Symposium. It’s a unique meeting place where industry leaders from the world of food and drink get together to drop any artifice and inspire one another. For over a decade, this think tank has drawn heavyweights to Toronto such as Dominique Crenn, named the World’s Best Female Chef in 2016; Fäviken’s Magnus Nilsson; and Michelinstarred restaurant empire overseer Daniel Boulud. It’s an approach that’s worked so well, Terroir founder Arlene Stein is now moving beyond Canada and taking the formula around the world.

“When I tell German restaurant startups they need to take risks, like sharing the digits of their favourite foragers or opening up their kitchens for collaborative cooking sessions, they get it right away,” says Stein while serving Kaffee und Kuchen in her new Berlin home. But in 2006, before Generation 43

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Another typically quirky offering from Terroir guests Bompas & Parr: edible Valentine’s Day bouquets made of flowers and food

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Crowdsource, she was met with skepticism for even suggesting rivals assemble in one room, let alone give up their trade secrets.

“I saw an opportunity to enrich the entire industry if we all got together to learn from one another,” says Stein, who was then working as the director of catering and events at the University of Toronto’s Hart House. Over bottles of Ontario VQA wine, she and five friends (including a chef, a sommelier and a food magazine publisher) dreamed up their plan for the first-ever Terroir: a zero-budget undertaking with oversized ambitions.

Terroir is the French term used in viniculture to mean sense of place, embodying the notion that everything from the soil to the climate to the production methods used in a specific region (or winery) comes together to give a product its defining characteristics.

“I wanted to represent all of us, from the farmers to the kitchen team,” explains Stein.

Year One saw 100 delegates gather for the symposium at the oak-pannelled Great Hall at the U of T. From there, Terroir went on to become the biggest food-and-drink gathering of its kind in North America, attracting speakers from all over the world to ever-larger venues, including four floors of the Art Gallery of Ontario. And those big-name presenters didn’t come for the speakers’ fees – the non-profit event offers none. “The appeal of Terroir for chefs who take the stage is getting out of their own kitchens,” says Stein.

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Experiences beyond talks and panels were also added to the program, and presentations became ever more sophisticated. Sam Bompas, one half of the UK’s famous multisensory experience design team Bompas & Parr harnessed the natural electric charge of a dill pickle for a food-fuelled light show.

Dali Bikich and Paul Azevedo of the Playlist Company broke down their scientific approach to curating restaurant playlists to enhance the gustatory qualities of a meal.

Despite overwhelming success, Stein made 2017 her final year running the Toronto incarnation of Terroir. While she will still act as an advisor to the symposium, most of her energy will now go into global spinoffs.

They’ve already launched in Berlin and Budapest, with Warsaw and Tel Aviv in the works. “What’s exciting to me now is digging deeper into issues that affect specific regions in specific ways,” Stein elaborates, “like how communism shaped the food culture of Poland, or how young people in the Balkans are giving up office jobs to re-establish indigenous livestock on the plains.”

In these politically fragile times, Stein believes the new global direction of Terroir isn’t just about personal tales of triumph, but also about harnessing the power of gastronomic diplomacy. “The best of humanity comes out of strong and connected food systems,” she says. “After all, we are more peaceful and community-minded when we eat well.”

Mercedes-Benz

PHOTOS BOMPAS & PARR STUDIO LTD. (FLOWERS, PLATES)

Just two of 200 dishes served at Bompas & Parr’s 200 Club, a record-setting culinary event where a tasting menu was served over 24 hours

We changed timezones and drove 4 hours but the sunset was worth it.

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Melek Balgün often emcees competitions to live audiences of thousands.

Melek Balgün is the face of a global phenomenon that’s electrifying millions of fans around the world: eSports.

TE X T IRIS MYDLACH

PHOTOS BART OERBEKKE/ESL; INSTAGRAM/MELEK BALGÜN

Let’s Play!

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Tensions run high during competitions.

There’s a big emotional release afterwards.

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lunch date with Melek Balgün can be a lengthy affair. Japanese delights abound on our table as the 29-year-old talks animatedly, her eyes wide with excitement. And indeed, life is very exciting for her right now. She has just been nominated for a Grimme-Preis award in the Information and Culture category for her work as a presenter on the television program Art of Gaming, on Europe’s Arte network.

It’s an incredible achievement. “Surreal” as she puts it, considering the journey her sport has taken. Until recently, eSports was followed solely in geeky circles, but it’s now well on its way to global conquest as the digital game events fill Mercedes

The winning team at the ESL One Cologne raises a trophy worthy of any traditional athletic event.

entire arenas with dedicated fans.

C om p ut er g a me s a r e Balgün’s passion – she’s been playing them ever since she was able to sit up on her own.

Not only did she grow up in a home with four computers, her best friend’s dad was also a computer scientist. When visiting her friend, she would often see him working on computers in his workshop. “I quickly realized it was something I wanted to do, too,” explains Balgün.

game that became the subject of controversy because of its alleged glorification of violence.

The boys in the club would often laugh and whoop while playing, so Balgün asked to join in. They said the game wasn’t for girls.

This set everything in motion, recalls Balgün. After school, she stopped to visit a neighbour who was an IT technician, and the next day, her network was all set up. “I played against my little brother. After a few weeks I was so good, I beat the boys from the computer club.”

That was all 15 years ago.

Gaming has since gone from being a hobby for computer geeks to a mass phenomenon – and even a cultural one. Today, computer games are featured at MoMA. In Norway and

Not for girls?

By ninth grade, Balgün was reading IT magazines rather than teen magazines, and was the only girl in the after-school computer club. The boys sitting behind her would often play Counter-Strike, a multiplayer 48

“I played against my little brother.

After a few weeks I was so good, I beat the boys from the computer club.”

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Before becoming a TV presenter and emcee, Melek Balgün was a professional gamer.

The eSports essentials An overview of the top games and gamers What are eSports?

Single-player or multiplayer video or computer games that are played competitively.

What kinds of games?

All the sports you find in real life (football, basketball) though the scene has been dominated by real-time strategy games such as League of Legends (LoL) and Dota 2. This is where the most prize money can be won.

PHOTOS ADELA SZNAJDE; HELENA KRISTIANSSON/ESL; INSTAGRAM/MELEK BALGÜN

Who are its biggest stars?

German-Iranian gamer Kuro “KuroKy” Salehi Takhasomi and Korean gamer Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok are currently considered the world’s top eSports professionals.

Sweden, eSports are taught in school, and the first eSports degree program is being launched in the United Kingdom. Major soccer clubs like Schalke 04 have signed contracts with gamers. And Mercedes-Benz has been partnering with the Electronic Sports League (ESL), the largest and oldest eSports league, since 2017.

In recent years, the world’s top gamers have been able to fully dedicate themselves to their discipline. With worldwide eSports audiences now in the hundreds of millions, their activities are followed by everyone from middle-aged family men who like to play football on their PlayStation on weekends to teenage aficionados of League of Legends, a fantasy computer game teeming with Spring - Summer 2018

What are the most important eSports tournaments in 2018?

Held annually in Poland, the final of the Intel Extreme Masters is where you’ll find the crème de la crème of the Electronic Sports League (ESL). The 2017 League of Legends World Championship was followed online by more than 40 million people around the world.

i For comprehensive information on the ESL, important dates, eSports teams and stars, visit eslgaming.com

possible scenario together so screens. “Not everyone is lucky many times, they intuitively enough to witness a sport evolve know what moves their team- in the way eSports has. That’s mates are going to make. why we’re all a bit emotional at Elite gaming has given rise the moment,” she explains. “Our to a new type of athlete: quiet, community is growing, but I polite, focused, with remarkable still feel that strong sense of solhand–eye coordination and con- idarity from my first years on centration. In an analog world, the scene.” She routinely uses the eSports stars of today might “we” to refer to the gamer comhave become pianists, violin munity, making it sound like virtuosos, brain surgeons or the this consists of only a few hunlike. But the digital sphere is dred people as opposed to many where their virtuosity thrives. millions.

To put their art into words In 2017, Balgün completed and to make it more accessible, her degree in international marthey need presenters – people keting. She now works as a freelike Melek Balgün, who was her- lance presenter. Art of Gaming self a pro gamer for many years is just one of her many projects. and now regularly commentates For example, she and a French events such as Gamescom in colleague work with scientists Cologne, Germany, sometimes to investigate what makes peofor crowds of 18,000, while the ple want to game so badly. There footage is projected onto big is, clearly, a lot to talk about.

mythical creatures. LoL, as it’s known, can be played from any place at any time – free of charge at first, though most gamers eventually opt to pay for the chance to compete against better “champions.” Every month, some 85 million people log on to compete in five-player teams, using a virtual map to s t or m t hei r opp onent s’ headquarters.

A new kind of athlete Mastering League of Legends can also earn you millions.

There are around 10,000 professional gamers in the world today. Making up to eight decisions per second – 480 per minute – they have fared better than top US Air Force pilots in tests. Top-level teams will have gone through ever y 49

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STAY FOCUSED We’re so bogged down by emails and breaking news that it can be easy to feel overwhelmed sometimes. How is it possible to stay focused – and be more satisfied – at work these days?

Experts say it can all be learned.

TEXT INA BRZOSKA PHOTOS REINHARD HUNGER/BR ANSCH EUROPE

Mobile meditation

Smartphones can also help you to unwind. The Headspace app reminds us to pause for a moment, and meditates with us, too. headspace.com

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says. Newport sees what most of us accomplish at the office as anything but focused.

He describes it succinctly as “shallow work,” the mere processing of bureaucratic tasks or communication via email and smartphone.

Shallow work allows employees to demonstrate a certain degree of productivity without having achieved quality performance. “If the brain is the machine of the services and technology industry, then we can’t continuously interrupt it. We have to set it in motion,” he says.

“A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention,” wrote Herbert Simon, Nobel Prize laureate in economics, in 1977. This seems to ring especially true today: Everywhere you look, you see people huddled over their smartphones as Facebook notifications and email alerts from the office pop up. Companies like Daimler AG recognized early on that digital advancements didn’t necessarily ease the burden on employees, and that it was time to develop new and flexible options for teams. But what can we ourselves do to stem the flood of tasks and news? First, we have to determine where the problem lies.

Tranquility is the key to success

We spend too much time on “shallow work”

We are The average day for Cal concentrating on Newport is hardly one the wrong things we would wish for ourselves: He only recently began using a smartphone, and he refuses to use Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. And when he gives talks about why social media is superfluous, his message isn’t always greeted with approval. But his approach is worth considering. The computer scientist tells us that new technical gadgets do not

Cal Newport, a computer scientist and graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is a leading mind in the new school of concentration. His book Deep Work became an international bestseller. “For many employees, too many emails, conferences and phone calls cause stress. They feel as though they fall short on key tasks because they’re forced to finish them when they get the time,” he 50

What Newport calls “deep work” describes a form of highly concentrated action, a rush of productivity that can only be tapped by blocking out all possible distractions. It is a rejection of the eight-hour workday in open-plan offices, of the excessive meeting culture and of the expectation that employees should always be reachable. He says that spending time offline these days is of immense value if you can use it to concentrate on an important problem. He adds that being able to master the art of deep work is a key skill, especially in an age in which we are drowning in information.

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With so many stimuli, how can we know what’s really important?

Concentration is a key skill that we will need in the future.

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necessarily equate to progress. Many people are stressed because they concentrate on the wrong things. He agrees with the psychologist Winifred Gallagher when he tells us that our perceptions are influenced by our focus: “What we think and feel is the sum of the objects of our concentration.” Spending the entire day in meetings or answering emails means we are focusing on negative things, such as problems with colleagues, deadlines or other superficial matters. Those who work in such a focused way that they lose track of time and space, however, will know the sense of satisfaction one gets from deep work.

Only highly focused work brings satisfaction

Motivational psychologists described such a flow back in the 1970s: the state of losing oneself in one’s work, the sense of focus practised by writers, painters and high-performing athletes. For Cal Newport, the conditions that writers create for themselves are ideal: an isolated area, paring down technology to the essentials.

But how can this be carried over to the office?

Industrial psychologists think that getting rid of digital distractions may be a good start.

After all, it’s a question of control – of who decides what to focus on and when to focus on it. But according to the psychologist Daniel Goleman, this isn’t always as easy as it sounds. “Just like with treatment for addiction, the first step for many people is to learn how not to be distracted by digital stimuli,” he writes in his book Focus.

The mental gym

Goleman says that focus is like a muscle that we have to stretch, and that the best brain training is to take breaks to practise awareness and refocus. He goes on to list numerous neurobiological studies that show how people who have meditated for many years were able to strengthen certain links in the brain that promote concentration – for example, how they were able to more quickly deactivate the parts of their brain that cause distraction and to make better use of their prefrontal cortex, which controls our will to concentrate. “In the mental gym, as in any fitness training, the specifics of practice make all the difference,” Goleman writes. “It’s all a matter of how much you practise.”

Leadership 2020 With the Leadership 2020 initiative, Daimler aims to achieve sweeping cultural change. “The new leadership culture makes processes more efficient and strengthens the organization.

Employees then become more motivated, which fosters the will to change,” says Elmira Schmidt, who is in charge of feedback culture. Here are eight key strategies in use.

1. Giving feedback When giving feedback, you should be open, honest and prompt. Employees also evaluate their supervisors from various perspectives and viewpoints.

2. Rewarding With a new type of performance management, both joint and individual success will be rewarded.

3. Leadership development Lifelong learning is being intensified. Even top-level employees are continually taking up new opportunities for developing professionally.

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4. Best fit With the help of transparent and better job platforms, vacancies can be filled with the right candidates from around the world.

5. Digitality The opportunities new technologies present are to be individually adapted to employees and put to best use.

Making use of the “quiet hour”

6. Proposals Decisions can be made more quickly and easily. Take travel, for example. Save the hassle of filling out forms by giving verbal permission more often.

7. Collective knowledge Colleagues co-operate more often (and more efficiently) across national borders in decentralized, collaborative “swarm” organizations.

The bestseller Deep Work from computer scientist Cal Newport is available from Grand Central Publishing.

8. Entrepreneurial spirit Encouraging the exchange of ideas is essential.

Workshops promote new concepts, brainstorming and experimenting.

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As little as 60 minutes of focused work without interruptions is enough to improve work quality immensely.

This is what Cornelius König, professor for industrial and organizational psychology at Saarland University, discovered in a study of managers. König calls this making use of the “quiet hour.” The conditions are simple: Turn off your smartphone and internet, go to a quiet place and focus on the most important item on your to-do list. With a bit of practice, you will develop a flow – and it is in this moment that you will become a happy “deep worker.”

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Beginning in the 1960s, surfers helped transform Tofino from a trading post into an eco-tourist destination.

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Backcountry Hut Company’s vision for a coastal dwelling

PHOTO BACKCOUNTRY HUT (RIGHT PAGE, RENDERING)

The Wave From trading town to surfing spot to modernist mecca, Tofino is a pro at self-reinvention.

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Jeremy Koreski is waiting for a wave. He’s bobbing around in the 12-degree swell that has made Tofino, British Columbia, one of the chillest surf spots in the world. Then a big one finally rolls in. But unlike the surfers who pop up on their longboards in a snap, Koreski hangs low. So low that he can capture the dudes inside the barrel breaker with his wide-angle lens. Who needs a board to embrace the force of nature when you’ve got swim fins and a camera?

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PHOTO NIC LEHOUX FOR AA ROBINS (OPPOSITE PAGE)

Though ideal for new surfers, Tofino also saw incredible 9.5-metre waves last winter.

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A prefab house with cantilevered wings from AA Robins Architects

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Tofino’s modern tourism industry was shaped by the first surfers and campers who travelled there in the 1960s.

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Tofino is on the tip of a peninsula in Clayoquot Sound, an area inhabited

by First Nations peoples for centuries.

A helicopter helps Backcountry Hut Company build deep in the wilderness.

Plans for a surf shack from Backcountry Hut Company show how it will blend into the shore.

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he connection to wildness – to the impatient Pacific Ocean, the swaying rainforest, the unwavering rocky headlands – is the main draw for photographer Koreski and his pro-surfer friends, who literally immerse themselves in the natural world on this rugged outside coast of Vancouver Island.

The same is true for the harried city folk who increasingly come to Tofino seeking respite from asphalt, noise and traffic jams. Once there, they find award-winning food and upscale hotel accommodations – the district has developed into a popular getaway destination, especially in the past 10 years.

Once an isolated trading town known for its winter storms, Tofino’s image transformed with the arrival of surfers and campers in the 1960s, and then in 1972, when it welcomed the only paved road to the open Pacific Ocean in the country. With a permanent population of just under 2,000 people, the town has managed to retain a laid-back, worry-free vibe that makes it feel like you’ve travelled back six decades, when in reality you’ve only driven six hours from Vancouver.

“I owe a lot of my success to Tofino’s popularity as a surf spot and the fact that, when I started out, I was the only one shooting this type of stuff,” says Koreski modestly.

Tofino, transformed Over the years, Jeremy Koreski has seen a tide of people arrive in his hometown. Many come to visit – whalewatching, hiking, fishing and (of course) surfing – others to stay, but all are changing the landscape. Along with internationally recognized restaurants and awardwinning lodges, modernist architecture is finding its place here, in nature, with minimalist buildings cropping up among cedar and spruce.

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Tony Robins, the principal of Vancouver-based AA Robins Architect, is no stranger to designing homes that make the most of nature by blending in, including the house he dreamed up for a surfer and his family on a hillside overlooking Rosie Bay (widely considered the best beginner surf spot in Tofino). Built around a central courtyard, the structure floats on pillars.

“The design is very contextual. The galvanized-steel columns and the cedar deck pick up the silver colour Mercedes

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These retro Ocean Village cabins have stood at MacKenzie Beach for more than 40 years.

of the tree trunks around the house,” says Robins. A roof draped with mosses makes the home fade into the background when seen from above, and an infinity pool reflects the trees and frames the view of the ocean, a mere 15 metres away. “But when you’re standing on the beach, you can barely see the house,” says Robins. “Good modernist architecture can fit in anywhere, whether it hides in the woods and is more like nature, or is the opposite of its geographical context.”

Nature by design Integrating architecture with nature while respecting this unique setting takes many different forms, from the sleek, dark lines and rectangular volumes courtesy of Robins, to the rustic cedar cabins that have stood like upturned boats at Ocean Village on MacKenzie Beach for more than 40 years. What unites such formally different projects (other than their rainforest backdrop) is a sense of timelessness.

Ocean Village opened in 1976, and while it has a slightly hippie feel (which seems more to do with the Tofino vibe than with the era it was built in), it still fits in its context.

Aging gracefully is also the goal of the newest modernist structures on this stretch of Vancouver Island. The Surf Shack, a prefabricated structure that can be configured Mercedes

as a one-person cabin, a small family cottage or a bunkhouse for a group of surfers and their gear, depending on how many prefab modules the client chooses to put together, is designed with longevity in mind.

“The Surf Shack is an adaptation of our backcountry huts,” says Wilson Edgar, the founder (together with architect Michael Leckie of Vancouver-based Leckie Studio) of the Backcountry Hut Company. The firm started with the idea of creating mountain cabins that would be relatively easy to transport and erect in challenging and largely inaccessible terrain. “Modernist modular structures are usually a square box,” says Edgar, “but at high altitudes, you can easily get 10 metres of snow. A flat roof would never hold up to that, so we decided on a peaked roof.” This design also allows for lots of natural light: The almost eight-metre-tall structure has high ceilings for air flow and windows high up to let light flood the interior. Clad in black metal for zero maintenance, it is also built to last 50-plus years.

“The idea for the Tofino Surf Shack came after that,” says Edgar. “Backcountry Hut co-founder Michael is a surfer. He loves the coast and the Tofino area. He suggested a hut for coastal regions and modified the backcountry hut as a front-country surf shack that would feel more like a home.”

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PHOTO TARA HURST (OCEAN VILLAGE)

Tofino is gaining acclaim as a top spot for female surfers, welcoming elite competitions like Queen of the Peak.

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Where to eat & drink Local photographer Jeremy Koreski recommends his top dining spots in Tofino, sure to please hungry surfers and discerning city folk alike.

1 Wolf in the Fog “What can I say? The food is amazing, and it has the awards to prove it.”

4 Sea Monster Noodle Bar “Hyper-fresh seafood.”

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wolfinthefog.com

Sobo “Ah, the ‘Sophisticated Bohemian’ – you always find a friend or two there.”

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5 Shelter Restaurant “This is the hangout for locals.

People gather here at the end of a day of surfing, fishing or hiking for a pint and good company.”

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Kuma “Don’t miss the Yuzu Smash cocktail.”

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Piping hot ramen and art (care of Jeremy Koreski) at Kuma.

Like the mountain version, the front-country shack is also built to last. But instead of a metal facade, it’s designed with cedar siding, which not only fits in with the coastal environment where cedars grow but is also a necessity, since metal would rust as a result of the constant exposure to salt in the air. In Tofino, architecture can’t survive without embracing (and braving) the force of nature.

Back on the beach, as the tide rolls out, Koreski reiterates the importance of this relationship at every level, explaining that when people come, they let their guard – and shoulders – down. “Sure, Tofino is busier than it was 10 years ago,” he says. “But where else can you spot a pod of orcas from your kitchen window? It’s magic.”

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Breaching orcas can often be seen right from the shore.

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Even surfers will want to head inland to explore the coastal temperate rainforest.

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A new generation of cutting-edge perfumers is putting Canada on the fragrance map.

TE X T SAR AH DANIEL PHOTOS LE QUARTIER

SCENTS OF PLACE

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PROP STYLIST THOMAS JOSÉ HENRI, RESEARCHER (INGREDIENTS) JULIE SIMARD JONES

Oakmoss lichen (evernia prunastri) notes: damp soil, leaves and mushrooms

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ike so many bright ideas, Victor Wong’s occurred to him in the shower. The videogame graphics designer had long been frustrated with his 9-to-5 in Toronto, and it was while vacationing at Quebec City’s Château Frontenac that he first got inspired by the power of perfume.

He was enraptured by the hotel’s toiletries, shower gel and body lotion, which are all infused with Le Labo’s Rose 31 – a spicy floral scent that the cult perfumers developed specially for the Fairmont hotel brand. The scent’s namesake bloom, Rosa centifolia (also found in Chanel No. 5), is a prized type of the flower and is harvested in Grasse, France.

“I had never smelled anything like it,” says Wong, who promptly set out to test hundreds of perfumes and explore countless fragrance forums, blogs and books. This research ultimately led him to found Zoologist, a niche fragrance brand which features quirky yet technically sophisticated scents that are heavy on synthetic animalic notes like musk and ambergris, all meant to evoke types of wildlife.

Since then, Wong quit his job and his fragrances have earned numerous accolades (among them, Beaver was named ÇaFleureBon’s perfume of the year in 2014, and Bat won best indie perfume at the 2016 Art and Olfaction Awards) and the respect of the perfume elite, including 67

Luca Turin, author of Perfumes: The A–Z Guide and one of the industry’s most ardent critics.

Historically, Grasse has been considered the world’s fragrance capital, with perfume dynasties as plentiful as the jasmine, orange-blossom and tuberose fields that inhabit the landscape. In fact, well-documented nepotism has created a barrier to entry for those who aren’t part of the perfumery bloodline. But Wong’s success confirms that a new era is firmly under way, one in which indie perfumers – many of whom have no formal training, let alone family ties to Grasse – are carving out significant space on our vanities, and doors are opening for firstgeneration perfumers right here in Canada. According to marketing company The NPD Group, fragrance sales in the United States totalled $4 billion in 2017, with new categories turning the industry on its head. In fact, while the aughts belonged to fragrances launched by celebrities like Jennifer Lopez and Sarah Jessica Parker, “artisanal fragrances” started gaining popularity thanks to a similar trend in the food and beverage world, from microbrewed beer to handmade cheeses.

“Consumers want the same kind of quality attention and materials in their fragrances,” says Kissura Craft, fragrance-industry analyst for The NPD Group. The other part of the appeal is that these scents are harder to get your hands on, making them feel exclusive compared to the ubiquity of mainstream labels. (A recent NPD survey found that 63 percent of American shoppers say they want “a scent that is unique and different.”)

Still, while Canada can boast of being the birthplace of many globally successful makeup brands, from M.A.C. to RMS Beauty, things have remained relatively quiet on the perfume front, with the exception of Toronto-based Susanne Langmuir, who launched an exclusive fragrance line at Barneys New York before creating her Bite Beauty lipstick line. (Lang also helped Nova Scotian Barb Stegemann develop her 7 Virtues fragrance line, which features ingredients sourced from countries such as Haiti and Afghanistan, with the goal of empowering women and farmers in those regions.) There are also perfumers who outsource the actual scent-making Mercedes

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“SIMILAR TO A WINE, THE RAIN, THE SOIL, ALL OF THESE THINGS CONTRIBUTE TO THE LIFE OF THE FRAGRANCE.” Josée Gordon-Davis, founder of Reassembly

side of the business, like Ben Gorham of Byredo, and Michel Germain, who had New York’s Sophia Grojsman (the mastermind behind hits like CK Eternity and Lancôme Trésor) help him develop his women’s fragrance, Sexual, for his wife Norma. Germain, who has been in the industry for 25 years, received a lifetime achievement award at the 2016 Canadian Fragrance Awards.

Wong has adopted this outsourcing model, working closely with perfumers in the United Kingdom and elsewhere, Skyping and tinkering with the formula until it meets his expectations. But many small-batch Canadian brands are popping up across the country, helmed by founders who are creating fragrances themselves, their homes doubling as chemistry labs. Arborist turned perfumer Josh Smith is one of them. Smith launched Edmonton-based Libertine Fragrance as an alternative to what he felt were generic-smelling mass perfumes and their glossy marketing campaigns. While working on an industrial-design degree, he got interested in fragrance-making and “began to wonder if perfume could be more authentic an experience, more artful and less about fancy yachts and gendered scents.” His line

of unisex scents quickly took off, a coup he owes to living in Canada rather than fragrance capitals like Paris or New York. “There’s just so little [perfumery] going on here, that it really helped me stand out,” says Smith.

Canada’s landscape has also helped by serving as a muse, its botanicals featuring prominently in Libertine fragrances like Soft Woods, with notes of juniper berry and balsam fir, and Sweet Grass, which smells of freshly cut hay.

“A lot of the best tree essential oils come from Canada,” says Josée Gordon-Davis, founder of Vancouver-based perfume and skincare brand Reassembly. While Wong and Smith’s fragrances feature a combination of natural and synthetic ingredients, she primarily works with essential oils. “My mom was a holistic practitioner, so she had these essential oils all over the house – that’s what she wore as perfume,” says Gordon-Davis, who sometimes forages for ingredients right in her backyard.

For instance, Mountain Milk, which features sandalwood, black spruce, fir needle and vanilla bourbon, contains evergreen tips she collects from nearby forests. Every bottle is different, depending on the season. “Similar to a wine, the rain or lack of rain, the soil, all of these things contribute to the life or breath of the fragrance. I don’t fight these natural events, but rather embrace them.”

On the other side of the country, Montreal native Julie Simard Jones takes her inspiration from both nature and her own memories, hand-blending natural perfumes for her brand Les Lares. Jones appreciates the creative freedom her home base affords. “I didn’t grow up beside a lavender field, so I can’t talk about perfume in the way that a perfumer born in France might be able to,” she says. But working here gives her the space to experiment.

It also helps that these Canadian perfumers push boundaries, without being held back by tradition.

“Bat is probably one of the first fragrances to feature synthetic-molecule geosmin, which smells like earth,”

IN GOOD TASTE

Whether it’s the rose-infused blush used by Spanish royalty during the 17th century, or the candied violet scent beloved by fans of Guerlain’s Météorites finishing powder, the way makeup smells often adds to its appeal. When you make your own lipstick at one of Canadian brand Bite Beauty’s labs in Toronto or New York, selecting a fragrance is just as important as choosing the shade. Anything off the menu of essential oils – from cherry and citrus to coconut and mint – can be blended into each bullet infused with antioxidant resveratrol and made with food-grade ingredients, so you leave with a personalized lipstick and a signature fragrance.

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Geranium (pelargonium x asperum) notes: very fresh, herbaceous, slightly floral

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Juniper (juniperus) notes: sweet, woody, reminiscent of gin

says Wong. “It’s been around for a while, but most perfumers wouldn’t use it as the predominant ingredient.”

The result is “somewhere between patchouli and a woody amber,” writes Turin on his blog, perfumesilove.com, and “the fragrance seems lit from within by the earth note.”

With its budding perfume industry, could Canada earn the nickname of Grasse West one day? It’s a lovely thought. But for now, all of these perfumers have much more humble aspirations. “I don’t want to take over the world or start a perfume revolution,” says Gordon-Davis.

“I want to make beautiful scents that speak to people.

Whether it’s six or 6,000 people, I’m okay with that.”

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BODY CHEMISTRY

Wearing more than one scent at a time is a little like wearing a bespoke suit. “You can create something completely new that only you can wear – and only you know how to put together,” says Lizzie Ostrom, author of Perfume: A Century of Scents, of the practice known as fragrance “layering.” A few tips: Layer no more than two scents at a time, and start by choosing a base-layer perfume or cologne that is musky or ambery – these “skin scents” are less likely to clash with what you layer on top. “It’s a bit like creating a mix tape,” she says, and “a lot of fun to discover how your scents interact.”

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EAU CANADA! A WHO’S WHO OF CANADIAN PERFUME Josée Gordon-Davis Reassembly, Vancouver

Josh Smith Libertine Fragrance, Edmonton

Michel Germain Michel Germain Parfums Ltd., Ontario

PHOTO ANDREW WOFFINDEN (BEN GORHAM)

Julie Simard Jones Les Lares, Montreal

Victor Wong Zoologist, Toronto

Ben Gorham Byredo Parfums, Sweden (formerly Toronto) Spring - Summer 2018

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SUSTAINABLY IN STYLE Rich with some of the world’s most biodiverse rainforests and green design, Costa Rica is breathing new life into eco-luxury.

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PHOTOS VILLA MANZU (POOL); CRUDA (SHOE); WILLIAM HEREFORD (COCKTAIL)

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hink of Costa Rica and the first thing that may come to mind is idyllic surf beaches and tropical jungles – or for the caffeine-addicted, its much sought-after coffee beans. Lately, though, this country of just 4.9 million has been making waves as a hub for sustainability. Already running on 98-percent renewable electricity sources, Costa Rica has plans to be entirely carbon-neutral within the next three years – a lofty goal that many countries are far from reaching, which proves that big ideas can sometimes come from unexpected places. So I set off to discover how everyday Costa Ricans, from individual tour guides to hoteliers and fashion designers, are personally committed to helping their country reach its eco goals.

After travelling from San José to the country’s verdant northern lowlands, I arrive at Tabacón Thermal Resort & Spa, where a series of interconnecting mineral streams and waterfalls is the perfect spot to relax after my flight.

Built with minimal impact on the surrounding environment, the streams are naturally heated by underground geothermal activity from the nearby Arenal Volcano.

This means water temperatures range between 25°C and 40°C year-round, without drawing on any electricity.

While soaking in the springs, my peace is only disturbed by an emerald-green basilisk lizard running across the surface of the water. The way the streams are built into the rainforest itself means that encounters like this are the norm.

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Cruda shoes handmade in Costa Rica from native Laurelwood and responsible leather

Villa Manzu on Guanacaste’s exclusive Papagayo Peninsula

Many hotels have phased out singleuse plastic, opting for bamboo straws instead.

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“As a country, we have a strong point of view regarding nature, respecting it, using it and giving back.”

Oscar Ruiz-Schmidt, creative director of Obra Gris

Sea kayaking in Guanacaste province

A detail from Obra Gris’s Múltipo de Cinco collection

Oscar Ruiz-Schmidt, the Costa Rican designer behind Obra Gris

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PHOTOS OBRA GRIS (PORTRAIT, RUNWAY); WILLIAM HEREFORD (OCEAN, WATERFALL)

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With over 1.7 million tourists (including some 200,000 Canadians) visiting the country every year, Costa Ricans have been hard at work making sure their most precious resource doesn’t disappear, creating initiatives like the Five Leaves Certification for Sustainable Tourism – which Tabacón holds. It’s an easy way for eco-responsible travellers to ensure they cause minimal impact during their stay, and it’s initiatives like this that have made Costa Rica a favourite destination among environmentally conscious visitors, who head to resorts like Villa Manzu. Built with Five Leaves criteria in mind – such as promoting local traditions and workers – the property, arguably one of the country’s most luxurious, was designed by Costa Rican architect Abraham Valenzuela and features custom copper doors (made by his brother Carlos), as well as furniture and sculptures all created by local small-production art studios.

First in fashion Since the late 1940s, a series of socially progressive policies (like shuttering the Costa Rican army and reallocating military funding to education and health care) has created a country with an almost unprecedented sense of community responsibility. And this even extends to the notoriously eco-unfriendly fashion industry. In fact, Costa Rica is turning itself into a world hub for sustainable luxury fashion. Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week San José is an entirely plastic-free event, and eco accessory brands like Vogue -approved Nomadic Collector Spring - Summer 2018

and Cruda create products from reforested wood and responsible leather.

Oscar Ruiz-Schmidt, the creative director behind local label Obra Gris, which exhibits at Fashion Week, returned home after studying fashion in Berlin and working in New York with the likes of Zac Posen. His thick-framed glasses, bearded face and androgynous style would look at home in Brooklyn or Montreal’s Mile End, but he works in his studio on a quiet residential street in San José.

Outside, there’s a garden with tangerine and lemon trees, a coffee plant and vibrant heliconias – his black and tan dachshund, Pantera (panther), keeps careful watch underfoot. Describing how the environment impacts his work, he says, “The green surroundings are very soothing – I want my clothes to have the same effect on those who wear them.”

Around 20 people, mostly women, create his loosely draped clothing in small workshops around the capital.

All items, from pants to tunics and kimonos, are made to be wrapped and styled differently each time they’re worn. They’re also seasonless and created from natural fibre with zero material waste. He says empowering locals – and consumers – is an important part of his ethos. “I feel an immense responsibility for my output as a designer,” he says, adding, “it is every person’s issue to become aware of the choices they make regarding what they buy, and where and how things are made. As a country, we have a strong point of view regarding nature, respecting it, using it and giving back.”

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La Fortuna waterfall in Arenal National Park

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Nocturnal animals Nothing reveals how much Costa Ricans respect nature like spending an evening with locals who make their livelihood from the jungle itself. So on my last night I head out on a nighttime rainforest walk led by a nearby family. By the time I arrive at their property in La Fortuna, a 15-minute drive from Tabacón, an evening orchestra of cicadas and frogs has already begun.

I’m met by owners José Adan Diaz Chavarria and his wife Patricia Alfaro Zuñiga, as well as their two children.

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Their property, Ecogarden Arenal, is a mix of primary (or old-growth) rainforest and secondary rainforest (much of which has been planted by the family), and is home to sloths, boat-billed herons and strawberry poison dart frogs. The diversity here highlights the real effect of Costa Rica’s environmental policies, which help ensure that wildlife is seen in its natural setting, and provides opportunities for small operators like the Ecogarden – as well as an incentive to keep the habitat pristine.

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Nature here is unpredictable and moves at its own pace.

Where to stay Eco-friendly needn’t mean sacrificing quality. Here are four of Costa Rica’s best spots to relax in Five Leaves luxury.

1 Tabacón Thermal Resort & Spa Palm and caña brava thatched bungalows surrounded by natural flowing streams make the ideal spot for open-air spa sessions.

tabacon.com

3 El Alma Designed as a “soul retreat,” this stunning private property on Peninsula Papagayo offers lessons in mindfulness, yoga and personal life coaching.

elalma.com

Finca Rosa Blanca Coffee Plantation Resort Set on an organic coffee plantation, this is the perfect place to stay for a first-hand look at the sustainable production of coffee beans.

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4 Rosewood Puerto Papagayo Overlooking the Guanacaste coast, 11 two-storey luxury tree houses, built from indigenous materials, are set to open in 2020.

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El Alma’s design highlights handcrafted wooden mandalas.

Arenal Volcano’s geothermal activity creates hot springs throughout the region.

PHOTO FRANS WILLIAM HEREFORD (MONKEY)

Spider monkeys are one of four primate species native to Costa Rica.

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two-metre-long alligator-like reptile. Even from a distance, it gives me a shiver – not to mention a good story for when I’m back home.

The next day, I’m up at sunrise for yoga in Tabacón’s open-air studio when I hear a croaking call coming from the foliage. I scan the surrounding trees, catching a glimpse of a brightly coloured creature – my first toucan of the trip. It turns its head to the side, making direct eye contact for a moment, hopping off before I can even think of reaching for my phone. But instead of being disappointed, I’m grateful for this private moment. Nature here is unpredictable and moves at its own pace, and that’s just the way it should be.

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Home to over half of Costa Rica’s 918 bird species, Arenal National Park is a hot spot for twitchers.

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As he leads me through thick rainforest with his two children in tow, Chavarria’s enthusiasm quickly spreads.

I can’t spot anything, but then I don’t have his eagle eyes.

He stops abruptly, reaching down to show me the underside of a broad-leafed plant that reveals a glass frog and its eggs. I pull back a bit and ask if they’re poisonous. He smiles and says, “We’re more poisonous than them!”

We continue, heading toward a riverbank where Chavarria starts slapping the water to mimic an injured bird. His seven-year-old daughter, Anna Claudia, is shining her flashlight out onto the water when I spot two eyes popping up from under the surface.

He’s caught the attention of the local caiman, a

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PHOTO IGOR PANITZ

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The A-Class makes its way to Canada in 2018. (European model pictured below.)

In this issue’s Drive section, we look at the team working on the A-Class at Mercedes-Benz headquarters. The model is coming to Canada later this year, but buzz is already building.

These employees prove that every inch of every vehicle has been carefully considered, from colour schemes to custom apps.

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The A-Team

REPORTING EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT PHOTOS DAIMLER AG; STEFAN FREUND; FRITZ BECK

How do you build a vehicle that instantly makes people feel understood? These Mercedes-Benz employees know the answer. They’re among the creators of the new A-Class, and here’s what they told us.

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Though it has existed in other markets, the A-Class is entirely new to Canada.

Our colleagues in Development have managed to take things further still with the new model. With its array of sophisticated functions and attractive design, I’m confident the new A-Class will be received with much enthusiasm. For one thing, we listened carefully to our customers and worked hard to incorporate their wishes into the new model. And for another, we’ve infused the new A-Class with smart technological DNA that is certain to surprise customers. For instance, our new userinterface concept serves as an intuitive connection between the car and its driver – anyone who experiences this system will immediately understand the enormous added value it offers. It enables them to communicate with their car simply by natural

speech. This is a unique feature in this class of vehicle, though I imagine it will soon become something customers expect, thereby setting a new vehicle class standard. With the new A-Class, Mercedes-Benz has proven that it is possible to incorporate cutting-edge technology into the entry-level segment. Further down the line, we’ll be releasing upgrades for the car, much like those you download for your smartphone.

Running these updates means you can ensure that your car always has the latest software installed.

One thing I particularly like about the new A-Class is how it feels when you get in: It fits like a glove. We achieved this effect through a combination of many different features, all united under one cohesive concept.

AXEL HARRIES – HEAD OF PRODUCT MANAGEMENT AND SALES FUNCTIONS

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PHOTOS DAIMLER AG; STEFAN FREUND; FRITZ BECK

We see the new A-Class as a “cool lifestyle vehicle” – that was the description the team of colour and material designers came up with. We were prepared to break new and unexpected ground, but we always kept sight of Mercedes-Benz’s colour history. So a highly creative period began. We were researching trends from the worlds of fashion and music – we read street-style blogs, attended fashion shows and went to the Milan Furniture Fair.

The colours of the new A-Class needed to be cool and stylish. What we finally came up with were trendy exterior finishes combined with progressive interior schemes. Offering a range of decorative features, including elements made of natural open-pore wood, the interior gives the A-Class an authentic and exclusive Mercedes-Benz feel. Aluminum

decorative elements complete the sporty look. Another customizable feature is the optional ambient light, which offers 64 colour settings. We also incorporated different light moods. The illuminated nozzles are a particularly cool A-Class feature, and a nod to the latest Mercedes-Benz show cars.

Because the A-Class is the sportiest, most progressive car in its vehicle class, we exterior designers focused a lot of our efforts on achieving just the right proportions for the new model.

Proportions are an essential element of car design, and Mercedes-Benz is well known for its sensational proportions.

We want to ensure that everything is in just the right place, especially because we are trying to keep things as simple and as pared-down as possible. So we’ll take away a line here and another one there. Our job is to achieve ever-greater clarity. We create form for objects not through lines, but through surfaces.

My own personal highlight of the new A-Class? That would have to be the low front section with the Panamericana radiator grille, and the elegant, highly precise multi-beam LED headlamps.

The low front section was probably one of the most radical decisions we made.

It was based on our desire to ensure that, for all its sportiness, the new A-Class also offered maximum safety for pedestrians in the event of an accident. Its big wheels – the largest in this vehicle segment – are another distinct feature.

One of the most significant challenges we encountered in designing the new A-Class was to preserve the extreme sportiness of its predecessor, while achieving a higher degree of functionality.

It’s a challenge I feel we met extremely well. A car needs to be both intelligent and beautiful, and the new A-Class certainly succeeds on both fronts.

CL AUDIA BR AUN – HEAD OF COLOUR

ROBERT LESNIK –

A N D M AT E R I A L D E S I G N

HEAD OF EXTERIOR DESIGN

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While developing the user interface, we had to contemplate many different key questions: How much information can a person process at once? Where is the driver’s focus when they look at the screen? How much information can the screen contain?

I studied cognitive science, which is the science of higher cognitive functions such as visual perception, learning and emotions.

This discipline exists at the intersection between computer science, psychology, neurobiology, linguistics, mathematics and logic.

As a result, the interdisciplinary knowledge that I gained during my degree helped me to analyze the interface area between people and machines from various perspectives, and to then develop effective solutions that respond to this.

I had three main goals when developing the user experience. First, to ensure that the design of the content and controls, while thoroughly modern, also made people feel instantly at home. I wanted customers to understand the new A-Class immediately. And second, to develop something customers really liked – something they would delight in over the long term, not just for the first week or two. I wanted to ensure that every time they get into the car, they think: “Great!

My car always provides me with just the information I need.”

Third, because people are very different, I wanted to build a system that could be configured to suit different people and different moods – a system that anyone could make their own.

We developed a prototype of the new A-Class very early on in the process so that we could get inside and look outside.

We asked all sorts of everyday questions, things as simple – yet critical – as: “What can I see when I sit in this car?” It doesn’t need to give a wonderful panorama of the stars, but the A-Class driver does need to have a good view of the road. And although this is a compact car, it offers considerable spatial depth between the driver and the windshield. A slim A-pillar creates an aperture between it and the side-view mirror for better visibility. This makes it much easier to see pedestrians or cyclists located at a diagonal angle from the driver. For the doors, we really pushed design boundaries, keeping them thin and thus maximizing the driver’s elbow room.

One of my colleagues is a passionate cyclist, and he pointed out that he doesn’t want to transport his two-wheeler outside on a bike rack: He wants it in the trunk, protected. And so we made this possible. By splitting the tail light, we’ve increased the width of the hatch. All my colleague has to do now is quickly remove the wheels and his bike will fit in the back easily – with no need to fold down the rear seat.

SIMONE KUREK –

MARCO SANTI —

FRANK WEINERT –

INTER ACTION DESIGNER

USER EXPERIENCE ENGINEER

HE AD OF C OMPAC T CAR C ONSTRUC TION

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PHOTOS DAIMLER AG; STEFAN FREUND; FRITZ BECK

Among the features I helped to develop was the A-Class’s set-up assistant, something we refer to internally as the Wizard. It’s a highly intuitive system that helps customers quickly figure out how their car works.

MichelleRoss Globaly Inspired | Locally Made Handcrafted Contemporary Jewellery

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The A-Class is for young people who grew up with smartphones. Millennial customers like these can now communicate directly with the car itself, much more than ever before. And do you know what the “A” in its name stands for?

Avant-garde. This makes itself apparent in features such as the inductive charging tray – our response to a very common inconvenience. Now I just put my smartphone on the tray, and it charges automatically. I don’t need to look around

for chargers or sockets. The full potential of the A-Class starts to come to light when the car is combined with the Mercedes me app. From outside their car, drivers can view the current fuel level. The app can also show them the nearest places to park.

The uniqueness of the new A-Class interior was achieved mainly through spacious architecture and the cutting-edge design of its display and control features. Our clean, minimal design approach constitutes a revolution from within. The widescreen is fully digital, with no mechanical parts. Even the speedometer needle is entirely digital. These advancements have been available to S-Class drivers for some time, and now it’s the turn of our compact-car customers to reap the benefits. The telephone system is a standard feature of the new A-Class, and is integrated into the multimedia system that is controlled via the touchpad on the central console. I like the look of the car at night even more than during the day. Its optional ambient-light feature, which is unique in this vehicle segment, is something I’m very proud of.

Offering 64 colours and a combination of direct and indirect illumination, it can create very special light moods. I feel we’ve managed to implement this feature with an incredible coherence. This was only possible because we made interior illumination a key consideration right from the very beginning. We’ve also given the air vents a new design, so they now resemble turbines and also feature illumination. If I turn the temperature down, they go blue; if I turn it up, they go red. Details like these were important to us.

CHRISTIAN GUGEL –

HARTMUT SINKWITZ –

MERCEDES ME CONNECT

HEAD OF INTERIOR DESIGN

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PHOTOS DAIMLER AG; STEFAN FREUND; FRITZ BECK

My favourite interior feature? The big floating widescreen display.

Learn more at BONEstructure.ca

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A dynamic duo: Kasia Kausa and a Mercedes-Benz GLA are out and about in Warsaw.

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Warsaw’s New World Recent years have seen Poland’s capital evolve into a cool, modern city that is now home to many creatives. We paid the pulsing metropolis a visit in a vehicle perfectly suited to the occasion: the new GLA. TE X T JÖRG HEUER PHOTOS DAVID DAUB EUROPEAN MODEL SHOWN

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The GLA passes the 220-metre-tall Warsaw Spire (centre).

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Art star: Kasia Kausa loads paintings by Cezary Poniatowski (left) into the trunk.

Old school: The GLA deftly navigates the narrow alleys of Warsaw’s old town.

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he glittering gateway to the East.

And the West, too. Trendy city, hipster capital, rejuvenated boomtown – just a few of the terms used to describe Warsaw these days. In recent years, the Polish capital on the Vistula River has reinvented itself and cast off its former socialist character.

“It’s all true,” Kasia Kausa tells us. She has lived here for six years, and through her job has become acquainted with plenty of business people, artists and creatives. The 33-year-old is about to introduce us to her captivating city, and we’re bringing just the vehicle for the rendezvous. The new MercedesBenz GLA is the perfect companion for her urban adventures.

Kasia (pronounced “Kascha”) Kausa has a PhD in languages, is mother to a threeyear-old son and works for Photoby, a film and photography agency. Her first reaction upon spotting the GLA from the balcony of her city-centre apartment: “Wow!” She is suddenly in a rush to get downstairs, keen to see the car close up, hop in and get going. “I love the paintwork,” she marvels.

“And the black leather seats combined with the red stitching. Very elegant indeed.”

The sky’s the limit It’s early in the morning and things are just beginning to stir as we drive down one of the city’s posh boulevards. In many of Warsaw’s districts, the ongoing transformation of the city is clearly discernible, reflected, for example, in the joie de vivre with which its citizens are driving change. “Let’s begin by getting an overview of the place,” suggests Kasia. Now it’s our turn to marvel as she says, “The view from up here is amazing.”

We are at Plac Europejski, gazing up

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at the sparkling glass facade of the Warsaw Spire skyscraper: a 220-metretall building completed in 2016, at a cost of 250 million euros.

Last year, at the MIPIM Awards in Cannes, the Warsaw Spire with its two flanking auxiliary buildings, each 55 metres tall, won the award for Best Office & Business Development, beating rival contenders from London, Rome and Shenzhen, China. We take the elevator up to the 38th floor – the same level that was visited just a few weeks ago

by Prince William and Duchess Kate, when they met the founders of several Warsawbased startups. The view from here stretches out over the city, across to Warsaw’s second skyline only a few kilometres away. All around the Warsaw Spire, you can see trucks manoeuvring and people hammering, welding, soldering. Several new skyscrapers are set to spring up, providing more than one million square metres of new office space.

It’s all a question of style: Star hairdresser Jaga Hupalo (right) advises Kasia Kausa.

Magazine makers: Krzysztof Kozanowski (left) and Monika Brzywczy (right) are the publishers of the lifestyle magazine USTA.

Royal welcome Among the companies up here in the impressive office tower is Tomasz Rudolf’s The Heart, a consulting firm specializing in advice for startups. Its 30-strong staff is made up not only of Poles, but also of people from the US, England and France. Rudolf speaks excellent English – as so many do here in Warsaw – as well as German. The 39-year-old recently had the honour of spending a whole hour with the royal visitors from Great Britain as he showed them around the Warsaw Spire. He is currently working on plans to expand his company and open operations in London. In the digital world, knowledge, commitment and imagination are key competencies; Varsovians have an abundance of all three.

Kasia Kausa stands at the floor-to-ceiling windows looking out. “The city has so much energy,” she says. “Things are really growing and thriving here.”

We get back on the road. Kausa has to go to the studio of 30-year-old artist Cezary Poniatowski, at Ulica Rydygiera, to collect a few of his paintings. Poniatowski is currently preparing for an exhibition in Rome. Kasia folds down the GLA’s back seats to fit the large canvases into the car. “Great,” she says.

“As far as I’m concerned, it’s not enough for cars to just look good – they need to be practical, too.”

We don’t chat for long, as we have a hairdresser’s appointment to get to. And not Mercedes

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A stop in front of the city’s new landmark, the prizewinning Warsaw Spire.

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Warsaw old town 2

Saska Kȩpa

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3 Where to eat Choice wines and dishes made from fresh regional produce at Maciej Sondij’s Dyletanci restaurant and wine bar.

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2 Where to stroll Take a break by the Vistula River at the Copernicus Science Centre, which has interactive exhibits.

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Autor Rooms

Tips 1 Where to sleep For individualists, there’s Autor Rooms: four rooms, furnished and managed by designers and authors.

Prague

The Copernicus Science Centre

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4 Where to shop The Zlote Tarasy (golden terraces), in Warsaw’s city centre, is a large shopping mall with futuristic architecture.

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PHOTOS DAVID DAUB; SHUTTERSTOCK; MAURITIUS IMAGES (TIPS)

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Model GLA 250 4MATIC Transmission automatic Cylinder arrangement/ number I4 Engine size (ccm): 1,991 Rated output (hp in rpm): 208/5,500 Top speed 210 km/h Fuel consumption (l/100 km): 10.1 (city) 7.6 (highway) 9.0 (combined) ECO start/stop function yes The above data do not relate to an individual vehicle and do not form part of an offer but serve solely to facilitate comparisons between different models.

mercedes-benz.ca

Night moves: Kasia Kausa loves exploring Warsaw in a GLA, whatever the hour.

Vehicle location An unfamiliar city, lots of narrow winding streets – now where did I leave the car? With Mercedes me connect, your smartphone will be ready with the answer. It can locate your parked car within a radius of 1.5 km, and guide you back to it.

Remote services With Mercedes me connect, you can also remotely start your engine, lock and unlock your doors, check your fuel level, or send an address to your vehicle’s navigation system – all with the Mercedes me app.

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As night begins to fall on Warsaw, the city gradually lights up, revealing another exciting aspect of its personality. just any hairdresser. We cruise through the city in the GLA, passing shopping malls, the occasional crumbling facade and lots of newly restored historical buildings.

We navigate through narrow streets and alleys where new buildings rub shoulders with old ones. Warsaw is an exciting mix of sophistication and scruffiness. It has a distinctly cosmopolitan air about it, and is extremely clean to boot. Its various squares are filled with people of all nationalities: Japanese, Chinese, Australian, American, western European. Kasia ends up having to enter our destination into the car’s satellite navigation system, and she’s pleased with how easy it is to do, along with the fact that the screen is so large.

We leave the business district and the rejuvenated old town, and head toward Ulica Burakowska in our GLA. The street is located in an upmarket area of the city, characterized by tidy gardens and parks. Jaga Hupalo has run her salon here for the last 17 years. The star hairdresser has 8,000 followers on Instagram and almost twice as many on Facebook. Among her clients are many well-known Warsaw personalities from the worlds of sport, culture and show business, as well as some very famous French actors.

Her salon, housed in a former textiles factory, is decorated almost entirely in black, with chill-out music emanating from the speakers. Hupalo, who sports long, black hair, lives by the motto “Born to Create,” which is emblazoned on the wall above the reception counter.

Kasia points to it: “Typical Warsaw,” she laughs.

There’s a memorable motto at our next stop, too, the offices of magazine makers Krzysztof Kozanowski (publisher) and Monika Brzywczy (editor-in-chief). It seems to be a great reflection of the new Warsaw: “We eat, we kiss, we talk.” Their glossy lifestyle magazine USTA sells around 40,000 copies per issue and comes out four times a year, full of stories embodying this mission statement.

Kasia chats to the two Warsaw connoisseurs about the best travel tips to give visitors to the city. (If you’re curious to know what these are, take a look at the Tips on the left.)

As night begins to fall on Warsaw, the city gradually lights up, revealing yet another exciting aspect of its personality. In our GLA, we glide past neon signs and stylishly illuminated buildings, finally parking the car and set out to explore Warsaw’s nightlife on foot.

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Park and Go

Carsten Hämmerling (top) heads up the AVP project for Mercedes-Benz in Stuttgart, where it’s being implemented at the Mercedes-Benz Museum.

AVP is a Daimler and Bosch initiative that spawned the development of the sensors.

Carsten Hämmerling, Project Leader at Daimler, discusses the world premiere of Automated Valet Parking.

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here’s something almost eerie about them: cars that park themselves and then return to their owners as if they were sentient.

Automated Valet Parking (AVP) is a pilot project that offers a taste of what’s to come in the world of autonomous driving.

When will customers be able to use it?

We’re about to kick off the first pilot project in Stuttgart.

What are you hoping to find out with this project?

The project will help us learn a lot. Let’s say you’ve already sent your car off to go find a parking spot, and then you realize you’ve left your umbrella in the trunk. What’s the best way to solve a little problem like that?

How does automated parking work for me as a customer?

It’s simple, really. You just send a command from your smartphone and your car will drive from its parking spot to you, in the pickup area of the parking lot. Then you can get in and drive off – and if you want to park the car again, just drive it to the drop-off area, get out and send another command.

The car will drive to the parking space on its own. The time you might have taken looking for a spot can then be better used elsewhere – and you’ll spare yourself the frustration.

PHOTOS DAIMLER AG; CLAUS MORGENSTERN

How exactly do the sensors steer the car?

We can pinpoint the position of the car within a few centimetres, and are therefore able to park two cars at a distance of just 10 centimetres from one another. We’ve harnessed previously unheard-of efficiency to make use of valuable space in the car park: We can park up to 20 percent more cars than would be possible with conventional parking.

There are already plenty of sensors in Mercedes-Benz cars. Why not just use those?

We could have gone that way, but we decided to go with the external solution. And that enables even relatively unsophisticated cars to drive autonomously. One of our ideas is to allow users to subscribe and unsubscribe to AVP as a service.

INTERVIEW JOHANNES SCHWEIKLE

So you’ll use this information to improve the system?

Exactly. Especially because both automated cars and conventional cars use the parking lot – in fact, 99 percent of all cars will be parked by their drivers, the conventional way. Our two automated test vehicles will navigate the parking lot among these cars.

After we’ve gathered enough experience, we can try out new things, like using fewer sensors while maintaining the same level of safety.

How does the car navigate the parking lot?

Our project partner Bosch has developed sensors specially for this purpose, and these communicate with a central computer in the parking lot. The computer, in turn, sends commands to the vehicle’s interface, and the sensors steer the car. They are also able to detect objects and obstructions – such as a child who has wandered away from her parents – and bring the car to a halt.

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How many sensors have you installed in this parking lot?

Sensors are mounted onto hip-level posts every six metres to ensure maximum safety.

The laser scanner is located about a hand’s width above the ground, so it can detect things like a child who has taken a tumble.

Do you feel like a pioneer in the world of autonomous driving?

We’re all a bit proud, yes. But I think we’ve earned the right to be.

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The 1979 SUV icon enhances off-road performance – its core capability – even further, and reinvents itself for the open road.

T E X T M AYA M O R L O C K A N D L AU R A WA G N E R EUROPEAN MODEL SHOWN

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To mark the launch of the new G-Class, a 280 GE from 1979 was preserved in 44.4 tonnes of synthetic resin.

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Iconic interior elements such as the three lockable differentials can be found in prominent positions throughout the vehicle. The new widescreen cockpit is also stylishly integrated.

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lmost no other model is as revered as the G-Class, which has been driven across all types of terrain since 1979 with scarcely a change to its appearance. Mercedes-Benz is now venturing to do the seemingly impossible: reinvent the G-Class while remaining true to the original. It is still an authentic “G,” yet modern and innovative. The new G-Class very much resembles the old model at first glance, though very few parts on its exterior have been adopted from its predecessor, apart from the door

handles, headlight washer casings and spare tire cover.

The vehicle is five centimetres longer and 12.1 centimetres wider, and its wheel housings and bumpers are integrated more closely into the body. The combination of the even sturdier ladder frame, the low-range gear reduction and the three fully differential locks allows the G-Class to handle gravel and 70-centimetre-deep water more agilely than ever. This is also thanks to the 24-centimetre ground clearance and the elevated electronics, exhaust system and engine air intake.

The G-Class is now some 170 kilograms lighter than before thanks to the high aluminum content of the fenders, doors and the engine hood.

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The robust ladder frame has been made even sturdier. The independent wheel suspension features a double wishbone axle in combination with the rigid rear axle.

Model G 550

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The independent wheel suspension enhances the driving experience, while standard state-of-the-art assistance systems, hand-worked details and features that live up to the S-Class reputation pamper the driver and passengers on the inside. The switching and response times for the nine-speed transmission are shorter and fuel consumption is lower. In addition to four on-road modes, there is now the new G-mode, which tells the driver that they are on unsurfaced terrain and adapts the vehicle specifically to off-road conditions. No other vehicle promises the spirit of adventure with every possible comfort quite like the new G-Class.

Stronger than time

In an homage to the original, a 1979 G-Class is preserved in 44.4 tonnes of synthetic resin.

Glimmering in gold tones, its size alone makes it impressive. But it’s what’s inside that amazes most. It’s not some million-year-old insect that the huge, amber-like block is preserving, but it’s steeped in history all the same: a 280 GE from 1979. Just like an insect in motion, the G-Class also appears to have been caught by surprise as it was driven across rugged terrain at full speed. The block measures 5.5 metres long, 2.55 metres wide and 3.1 metres high. It took 90 days to enclose the G model from the first year of production entirely in 44.4 tonnes of synthetic resin, with the layer increasing by three centimetres each day. This work of art was showcased as Mercedes-Benz celebrated the world premiere of the new G-Class at the North American International Auto Show in January. Although this vehicle series has been continually enhanced and improved since its market launch almost 40 years ago, its original character has been maintained: an iconic design, robustness on offroad terrain and elegance on the roads. Its timeless aura is now preserved for eternity in the world’s largest installation of its kind – an homage that we can greet with the twinkling of an eye. Explore the interactive installation and more online. mercedes-benz.com/strongerthantime

PHOTOS DAIMLER AG

Transmission 9G-TRONIC Cylinder arrangement/ number V8 Engine size (ccm) 3,982 Performance 416 hp @ 5,250– 5,500 rpm Maximum speed 210 km/h

Twelve centimetres wider, five centimetres longer: Drivers and passengers enjoy more legroom and shoulder room.

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The Future Is Now

The technological visions of yesterday have become today’s reality – and now it’s the researchers who are inspiring the science-fiction authors.

TEXT PETER GLASER

I L L U S T R AT I O N S P O W ! ! !/ D I E I L L U S T R AT O R E N

W The F 015 is the Mercedes-Benz vision for the coming age of autonomous driving.

e have been absolved of the feeling that something can’t be done. “Science is pulling ahead of science fiction,” says Neil Gershenfeld, head of the interdisciplinary Center for Bits and Atoms at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Researchers at MIT are hard at work developing things like computers that can be painted onto surfaces, chips made of viscous liquids and even collapsible electric scooters, which add a new sound to the orchestra of modern mobility concepts.

Much of what is part of everyday life today first appeared in literature and cinema. Take Jules Verne’s expedition to outer space, the smartphone-like communicator in Star Trek or the geostationary communications 107

satellites in Arthur C. Clarke’s work. With machine learning, cloned sheep and the global phenomenon that is the internet, we have long since been writing our own real-life science-fiction saga.

Research and the art of engineering are turning the visionary ideas of the future increasingly into reality. William Shatner, better known as Captain Kirk, demonstrates this in his book I’m Working on That: A Trek from Science Fiction to Science Fact.

Teleportation, for example, is the stuff of legend. However, in an elaborate experiment, a group of scientists headed by Austrian physicist Anton Zeilinger succeeded in “teleporting” photons for the first time in 1997. Then, in 2004, two teams from the University Mercedes

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The “communicator” from Star Trek beat the smartphone to the punch.

of Innsbruck and the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Colorado succeeded in performing quantum teleportation with atoms. In other words, they teleported physical material. Incidentally, it is not without irony that it was an Austrian, a native of a country known for a slower pace of life, who refined a method of mobility enabling movement at more or less the speed of light without having to move from the spot.

Alexander Mankowsky is the “knowledge engineer” at Daimler AG, where he is in charge of research on the future. His job is to turn technological utopias into realities.

“Ultimately, we are already living in the future,” he says. In addition to the visions that have yet to come to fruition (“Where’s my jetpack?” he chuckles) and those in which there is still much progress to be made (video chat, maglev technology, artificial intelligence), there is one category that he finds particularly exciting: when fantastical ideas come ever closer to materializing – such as autonomous driving.

The origins of sci-fi In recent times, it’s scientific reality that has been providing creative minds with futuristic material to work with. Science-fiction authors draw inspiration from researchers, whose ideas, in turn, were informed by Star Trek and other examples of science fiction when they were growing up. What were previously bold ideas, such as the coupling of computers and the brain, have arrived in the here and now. Indeed, as early as 2004, the US Food and Drug Administration approved the first clinical test in which a paralyzed person was successfully given a brain implant in the form of a brain-computer interface known as BrainGate. It was placed in the region of the cerebral cortex (the region responsible for movement) and it connects neurons with the computer using a fibreglass cable coming out of the skull. The BrainGate allows the user to control a computer or Mercedes

robotic arm with their mind. A Japanese company is already laying the groundwork for a mind-powered model train.

The British poet William Wilson coined the term “science fiction” in 1851. That same year, Jules Verne published his short story “A Drama in the Air,” about a journey in a balloon. New modes of transportation increasingly became the focus of attention for fans of science fiction. Newspaper illustrations and trading cards in cigarette packs featured spectacular images of a world envisioned 100 years into the future: Zeppelin coaches, flying cars that parked on the landing pads of skyscrapers, complex streams of traffic in big cities, maglev technology and novel forms of communication such as wireless image broadcasting.

In 1928, the Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung published an article entitled “Wunder, die unsere Kinder vielleicht noch erleben warden” (A miracle that our children might one day witness), which rings just as true today as it did back then. “It appears as though radio television, or the transmission of a live image from a broadcaster, has been possible in the laboratory for several months. Using a wireless device, possibly called a ‘Telephotophon,’ we shall be able to simultaneously see and hear our conversation partner in just a few years. There will also be a portable model that will enable us to continue a conversation we started with a friend when we are travelling or out on a walk.”

The realization of such a device in the form of gesture- and voice-controlled smartphones demonstrates just how rapidly this digital transformation has taken place. In many cases, the past has not only caught up with the future, it has surpassed it. The entire process of change has, itself, changed. In the past, there was a status quo, then a change, and then a new status quo. Now, change is the status quo.

There is also a key difference between science fiction and utopia. It relates to the 108

What’s next?

Far out ideas that could soon be commonplace.

Telepresence will render travel to dangerous regions, long flights to conferences and even the exploration of faraway planets obsolete.

In place of a real person, a robot representative – that can hear, see, speak and touch – will be sent.

We will do away with hardware and only the functions will remain.

Computers will become a part of our natural surroundings and will be invisible. And because we control them with our minds, they will silently execute our commands.

Robots will be work colleagues with whom we co-operate. In the first few decades, we will still be able to recognize who is a robot and who is a person.

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A mind-powered model train: This could be possible in the near future.

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beauty and the unattainability of goals.

Science fiction addresses technological issues, whereas utopia is concerned with societal and social concepts. A utopia can be compared with classic astronomical maritime navigation. It’s like using the North Star for orientation – it only works if it is far enough away. Once you get too close, it is no longer of any use. People need utopias.

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The roots of our fascination with technology run deep. Cultural philosopher Lewis Mumford touches on this when he describes the uncanny similarity between an ancient Egyptian mummy and an astronaut in a spacesuit: In both cases, great effort is taken to equip them for their journey into the beyond. Some visions, on the other hand, prove to be false starts in the course of history.

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While small robots like the Mars rover Curiosity have allowed us to explore our cosmic neighbourhood, manned space expeditions have increasingly proven to be astronomically expensive, inefficient and dangerous – just like nuclear technology, which was once naively regarded as the solution to the world’s energy problems. In his 1955 work Ein neues technisches Zeitalter bricht an (The dawn of a new technological era), Professor Robert Havemann writes, “Nuclear power stations offer human settlements the advantage of doing away with smoky, sooty chimneys.” He concludes that “nuclear power stations can even be built in the middle of big cities.”

Prudent foresight

A science fiction author’s prediction for the future.

In 1953, author Arthur C. Clarke wrote: “When he had tired of official reports, memoranda and minutes, he would plug his foolscap-sized Newspad into the ship’s information circuit and scan the latest reports from Earth.”

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Space travel for all Today, green fields on the outskirts of cities are increasingly occupied by data centres – the venues for trade and change in the digital world. Of the three major technologies with which we departed the 20th century and entered the promising new millennium (space travel, nuclear power and the internet) only the internet remains a global driver. In many ways, the web is the democratization of space travel. In the past, only a handful of trained astronauts were given the ticket of a lifetime to embark on a journey into space.

But now, with the internet, the vastness of the universe is right at our fingertips. We are all pilots and passengers on the ship into cyberspace.

The internet is currently undergoing major changes to make it ready to meet the many requirements of autonomous vehicles in terms of connectivity. In the coming years, sensors, actuators and electric motors in the Internet of Things will be as commonplace as oxygen and will turn the internet into a new environmental factor. It will become a machine that is not only capable of instantaneously processing massive amounts of data, but also performing what was previously described in children’s books as “wizardry.”

The internet will be a magical place. A utopian world that is ripe with innovation, where wishes are made and granted in the same moment, without delay.

At the same time, the cooperative functions of future self-driving cars – the F 015 concept car from Mercedes-Benz, for instance, communicates visually and acoustically with its surroundings – will allow people to remain in control. After all, they already understand these interconnected machines.

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Society

Step out with Mercedes-Benz.

27.10.2017 Country Hills grand opening This new addition to Mercedes-Benz Canada’s dealership network opened its doors in Calgary. It features New and Pre-Owned Service departments, as well as a Benz Bistro and lounge.

28.11.2017 The best of times. Since 1955.

1–4.2.2018 AMG Winter Sporting event After a successful launch in 2017, Canada’s premier winter driving program once again attracted participants from around the world to the frozen shores (and icy surface) of Lake Winnipeg in Gimli, Manitoba. There, with expert guidance, attendees learned how to handle a fleet of high-performance AMG vehicles on frozen, custom-carved racetracks.

20.10.2017 Kamloops reopening City council members, customers and Mercedes-Benz reps attended a grand party marking multiple improvements at the Mercedes-Benz Kamloops dealership, including a refreshed showroom and new service drive-thru.

15–25.2.2018 Canadian International AutoShow Three Canadian debuts from Mercedes-Benz were unveiled by Brian D. Fulton, President and CEO of Mercedes-Benz Canada, at the CIAS this year: the allnew G-Class SUV, the Mercedes-AMG CLS 53 4MATIC+ (new to the Canadian market) and the real star of the show, the Mercedes-AMG Project ONE. The plug-in hybrid Project ONE (pictured left) features technology from the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport F1 team and, once released in limited quantities, will boast a multimilliondollar price tag.

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PHOTOS MERCEDES-BENZ COUNTRY HILLS (OPENING); MERCEDES-BENZ KAMLOOPS (KAMLOOPS, AUTOSHOW)

The Toronto Retail Group held a customer appreciation event to mark 62 years in business. Attendees were treated to live music, great food and a fleet of selfie-worthy Mercedes-Benz vehicles on display from each decade (like the 1965 220 SL Sedan, pictured above).

Dear Aurora, I haven't slept since we met.

Nature’s best light show will have you awestruck as you experience the phenomenon of a starry night sky transforming into a moving canvas of colour. See our Aurora and you’ll understand why people from all over the world fall in love with the Spectacular Northwest Territories.

Home Away from Home A new exhibit at the Vancouver Art Gallery investigates the tinycabin craze.

TEXT EVE THOMAS

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The small-home movement has swept the nation, from reality TV shows to coffee-table books, but it’s hardly a modern phenomenon. The exhibit Cabin Fever at the Vancouver Art Gallery (on from June 9– September 30) traces the origins of North Americans’ longstanding love for micro-sized dwellings, including

log cabins, quaint forest cottages and high-design desert getaways.

Intended as both a historical and cultural survey, the show features pieces from acclaimed artists such as photojournalist Dorothea Lange, famous for her Depression-era work, and Toronto’s Richard Johnson, who has to date photographed over 114

1,000 colourful ice huts while travelling across Canada.

The curators also investigate the cabin’s recent resurgence, influenced by travel blogs and green design, ultimately “showing how this humble architectural form has been appropriated for its symbolic value and helped shape a larger cultural identity.”

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PHOTO JULIUS SHULMAN, GETTY RESEARCH INSTITUTE, LOS ANGELES © J. PAUL GETTY TRUST (ALLEN CABIN, TWENTYNINE PALMS, CALIFORNIA, 1950)

FINISH

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FOR ALL T H AT S H E IS A diamond for each of her qualities

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Freedom to be.

Some cars are meant to take you from point A to point B. The Mercedes-AMG lineup is meant for more. Discover the potential of driving with a fleet of 12 Mercedes-AMG vehicles, while sharpening a range of skills from cornering and handling to vehicle dynamics. The racetrack is yours.

Limited space. Register now. amgdrivingacademy.ca

Š 2018 Mercedes-Benz Canada Inc.