New African Style
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Book Proposal New African Style Contemporary African Interiors By Cathy O’Clery 1 Overview New African Style celebrates an innovative spirit in contemporary interior design emerging on the continent of Africa Moving beyond the well-worn cliché of safari lodge chic and Kente cloth tribal decor of the last century New African Style showcases 30 contemporary stylish spaces which share a new-found confidence of living in Africa. Today’s African interiors have a vibrant, colourful, and organic soul; they sit in harmony with their environment and are perfectly in tune with how most people aspire to live today. The fresh and inspiring spaces in New Africa Style make it a must-have book for anyone interested in the latest trends in contemporary interior design, or has an eye on what is happening in this spirited continent. Africa is a diverse and complex place, shaped and layered through ancient trade routes, long-vanished kingdoms and rich tribal cultures. It has been exploited and trampled by conquerors, and colonialists who carved up the continent arrogantly delineating where indigenous people should or should not live. For centuries much of Africa remained a mysterious and dangerous place to the outside world and even today many places are relatively unknown and rarely visited. Modern Africa still bears the scars of colonialism and the affliction of 20th century wars and man-made famines. Modern consumerism has over taken the creative forces which shaped Africa’s ancestral societies. However the African spirit has always persevered and many of its traditions and treasures remain intact or been adapted to modern lifestyles. It is the uncanny African ability to adopt what outsiders have brought in, to adapt to their own use and create something new and unique that is a never ending source of inspiration. 2 The exquisite aesthetic and enigmatic nature of African art and objects have constantly attracted the outside world to explore Africa’s cultures. Westerners have always taken inspiration from the spiritually powerful and honest pieces created by often anonymous artists and craftsmen. From great Western artists like Picasso or Brancusi to modern day designers such as Christian Liagre or Kelly Hoppen, African culture has always stimulated creativity especially throughout the 20th century. But now, in the 21st century, it is from within the continent itself that a new creative force is emerging. A fresh confidence is in the air as Africa becomes more comfortable with itself. There is better access for visitors with travel companies seeking out new adventures for everyone from the well-heeled tourist to the back-packer. This in turn has fashioned a growing trend for world-class boutique hotels, lodges and guest houses. As a result many Westerners are setting up homes around the continent drawn in by the relaxed and multi-textured life style they find, bringing with them their own fresh take on the local style. New African Style coincides with the global backlash against conspicuous consumerism, the desire for objects with soul and provenance, and a life of integrity and worth. Today in Africa age-old traditions, craft and cultural life are being reassessed and honed into a modern design aesthetic. Africans have realised what they may lack in high-tech industry they can make up for in human scale, one-off, and quirky production and they are bringing those skills to high levels. 3 In the past few years there has been a conscious movement in defining the New African Style within the continent itself. With a renewed conviction in their talents Africans can see that the world’s design elite are looking more and more to their shores for an injection of creative spirit and are meeting it head on. Indigenous methods are being married with new technologies and traditional objects are being refashioned into contemporary pieces embellishing homes around the world. Texture, whether tactile or historic is virtually owned by Africa and the world is craving it. New contemporary design hot spots have emerged throughout the continent, especially in Morocco, Tunisia, South Africa and Kenya, others like Ghana and Tanzania are waiting in the wings. In future years the creative power of countries like Mali, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia along with many others will get world recognition as young design talent emerges through better education and access to world trends. New Africa Style showcases 30 interiors capturing this new spirit. The book is divided into six chapters each exploring a different element of what makes up a contemporary African interior. The majority of the interiors have been completed in the last few years so are relatively unseen and have never before been brought together in one book. 4 Divided into six chapters, each chapter will examine the elements of contemporary style in Africa. Each chapter will cover five interiors. Each interior will be given three spreads. The chapters are.... 1 Between the Earth and the Sky How space and light and the natural environment dictate new architectural styles which work in harmony with the landscape 2 The Smell of the First Rain Rain mixed with the red earth of Africa has been an age-old building component and many of today’s African interiors celebrate indigenous methods in a contemporary context 3 Ancestral Voices Africa’s rich heritage can’t help but influence and inspire today’s interiors 4 Afro-Organic How the organic shapes and materials of traditional arts influence contemporary design 5 Afro-Pop The confident and vibrant spirit of the continent through bold colour and pattern 6 Adorning Africa The beauty of decorative African detailing interpreted in graceful modern homes 5 All text will be written by the author. There will be a 2 - 3000 word introduction on contemporary African style – offering a context and background to the forthcoming chapters. Each chapter will have an introduction on the subject matter of 750 - 1000 words. Every interior featured will have an accompanying text of 750 – 1 000 words, with detailed captions. The book will finish with a Source Book - four pages detailing suppliers of African style, in Africa and around the world. Images have been sourced from magazines, photo libraries, photographers and lodges but the author has some leads on new material which will need to be shot. To cover expenses these stories could be sold to magazines before or after publishing. At the beginning of each chapter there will be a DPS of stock images with the introductory text, depicting the inspiration for the subject matter of the forthcoming chapter. For example Chapter Two, The Smell of the First Rain, could have images of African mud/earth/mud buildings etc. To be chosen by the author and art director. 6 Chapter One Between The Earth and the Sky Cape Town SA Great Rift Valley Kenya Franschoek SA Lebombo SA Standing in an African wilderness is a primal experience. You are assured of the exquisite beauty of the world but at the same time made aware of its dangers. Underneath expansive skies in which clouds soar impossibly high the sweeping dramatic landscapes leave you in wondrous awe. The red earth and weather-worn rocks impart how ancient Africa actually is. You are conscious of the rhythm of the day; in the midday sun the heat is oppressive in its stillness but in the early morning the breeze is sweet and cool. And the afternoons are full of distant rumbling thunder and static air as evening storms approach to bring relief and freshness once again. In the past both indigenous and colonial architecture was designed to block out the harshness of the African climate and bring respite to people who chiefly lived outdoors. But thanks to a modern desire to live within the natural world and technical advances many contemporary African homes now embrace the vastness and beauty of the landscape and have opened out to greet it. Indoor/outdoor living is a way of life in Africa and today’s architecture is designed with easy access and flow in mind. The buildings explored in this chapter all successfully and poetically embrace the natural world around them. From a family wine estate near Cape Town to a hilltop hideaway overlooking the Masai Mara ‘between the earth and the sky’ celebrates bringing the landscape into the interior. 7 Chapter Two The Smell of the First Rain Namib Desert Namibia Djenne Mali Free State SA Bahareya Egypt There is nothing like the first rain after a long dry season. With the encroaching thunder storm vortexes of wind whip up the dust from the parched land and mix it with ionised air. Well before the rain reaches you can smell it from afar – the water hitting the red sandy earth. It is a truly African experience - the smell of the first rain. An essential component of traditional building in Africa is the use of mud. From the mud mosques of Mali to the rondevals of Swaziland buildings have been hand-crafted out of the basic ingredients of earth and water, dung and straw. The organic fluidity of such buildings and the sense that the building has grown from the ground up is now inspiring many modern architects. Some draw a shape in the sand and craft the building as it develops, some incorporate the raw textures in state-of-the-art environments, others bring the handmade element to the form of built in furniture almost sculpting them straight out of the earth. These sun-baked interiors offer a perfect antidote to high-tech living with a rawness which touches our primordial instincts. The houses in this chapter, from a stone and straw desert dwelling in Namibia to a hand crafted lodge in Egypt offer a glance as to how African interiors can live in harmony with the earth in its most honest and basic form.