Our new cover: Fashion Houses

Behold! Our new cover, which New Zealand subscribers should receive today and which will hit newsstands on Monday. We hope you like it. It's a photograph by Sharrin Rees of a beautiful Sydney home designed by expat New Zealand architects Chris Adams and Bianco Pohio (who are also, as you'll see, experts at creating beautiful, calm interiors).

In the photo, the blue 'Clip' chairs are by Lorenz Kaz for Bedont, and the '91' table is by Alvar Aalto (who also designed the teaware on the shelf behind). The blue vase is by Bitossi. 

This issue is our annual focus on the connections between fashion, architecture and interior design. Some of the homes we've selected for it are owned by people in the fashion biz, and others were chosen because we think they say interesting things about the directions architecture and interior design are heading today. 

We're really pleased with the issue and hope you like it too. Thanks to photographer Sharrin and to Chris and Bianca for helping us create such an arresting cover. 

We'll preview more of the issue's content for you in our posts next week. Have a great weekend. 

Our Favourite Building: Chris Adams and Bianca Pohio

In every issue of our magazine, we devote the back page to a feature that invites architects (and regular folk) to choose their favourite buildings. Over the coming weeks we'll be posting some of these. First up, architects Chris Adams and Bianca Pohio, who divide their time between Auckland and Sydney. They like the idea of Auckland's old works depot becoming a place for art. The photograph is by Todd Eyre.

Chris: "These buildings were designed in the mid-1960s by George Kenny under Tibor Donner, Auckland’s City Architect. All the heroic core buildings in Auckland – the City Council building, the Ellen Melville Hall and the Parnell Baths – were built in this period. This one reminds us of New York’s DIA Beacon, an old factory that’s now an art gallery."
Bianca: "This is a perfect building to be a gallery. I hadn’t noticed it until I came to Deus ex Machina, the café here. It is beautifully constructed with its steel and in-situ concrete, and amazing natural light. There’s been a sense that New Zealand is a young country so you can just bowl things and build again. These buildings should be preserved to value the wonderful architecture of the era."

You can easily visit the buildings if you wish - as Bianca mentions, Shed Five cafe (also known as Deus ex Machina) is in one of them, at 90 Wellesley Street. At the moment, the area is planned to be developed as the Rhubarb Lane residential quarter. The first stage of the Rhubarb Lane development will be built in the lower part of the depot, so the sheds behind Chris and Bianca will be demolished to make way for a park space for the area. Shed Five, however, will remain in place, although its long-term future is less certain.