Day: 27 May 2019

The Exotic Garden of Monaco will this weekend host the third edition of an event which is now firmly anchored in its calendar: “The Exotic Garden in celebration”. On Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd of June, families will be able to discover the garden as they have never seen it before, specially designed for a weekend of fun activities for kids.

Over two days, children will be able to enjoy pony rides (child up to 12 years old) from 10am to 12.30pm and 2.30pm to 6pm. There will also be a makeup booth, mini-golf and giant wooden games. Finally, kids over three years of age will be able to discover the big interactive game, Learn-O.

At the same time, visitors can discover the greenhouses of the new Botanical Centre which are normally open for guided tours.

And for the botany lovers, two conferences are scheduled: ‘Attacks in the Exotic Garden: insects and substrates’ and ‘Hanbury Botanical Garden: a walk between history and modernity’.

As in previous editions, exhibitors will be offering succulents for sale as well as advice for their maintenance. Visitors will only have to pay the cost of an entry ticket.

Cirque du Soleil is back with a new show and a new twist. Bocca, the Canadian company’s latest endeavour, will be mixing their usual acrobatics with gastronomy to create a show that tantalises not just the eyes, but the taste buds, too.

Held at the Salle des Etoiles for five nights only, from 15th to 19th August, the SBM sponsored event will turn the Hall of Stars into a massive kitchen. As each course is served, the acrobats will perform for the audience.

 “We start from scratch to do something that will not exist elsewhere and will be presented for only five nights. It’s an amazing show that takes place at the restaurant and tells the story of different characters,” says Jean-René Palacio, SBM’s Artistic Director.

And for those who can’t get tickets, the Cirque du Soleil artists will be appearing on the Place du Casino to give everyone a chance to glimpse the special new show. Ticket prices start at €304.

Advertising space on Monaco’s new digital bus shelters will soon go to the highest bidder. Media giant Clear Channel is using the inventive approach of auctions to sell ad space in an effort to keep it fair and well-priced for participating local businesses.

On 18th June, potential advertisers will be bidding for space on 67 digital totems scattered around Monaco. Winning bidders in the auction will have their advertisements on display from 14th July through to December 2019.

Pre-registration began 22nd May and is open until 14th June at 6pm through Clear Channel. Bidding companies will then receive a link to choose which shelters they would like to bid on.

The auction is one of several efforts to make Monaco a “Smart City”, improving the efficiency of operations while boosting services to citizens and businesses.

See also: Monaco unveils ‘smart’ bus shelters

With the latest report from Savills indicating real estate in Monaco is still the most expensive on the planet, Monaco Life asked Alan Waxman, founder of the interior design specialist Landmass, how owners can be making the most of those precious square metres.

Alan, what does interior design mean to you?

Many people get confused with interior design and think of only making things look pretty, as opposed to the nuts and bolts of it. My philosophy is a little like Steve jobs with Apple. He was passionate about doing things properly to the point where it drove people mad, like making sure the screws were aligned and that the soldering was done correctly on things that people would never even see. But that gave a lot of integrity to the product, and it’s the same with what we do. We spend countless hours on space planning, because if that’s not correct it doesn’t matter how good the finishes are.

What is your impression of interior design in Monaco?

What many people are used to here in Monaco is very elaborate, fancy finishes because that is the way a lot of designers perceive what people want. It’s like – more is more.

But again I come back to Apple and when they were bringing out the first iPod, Jobs looked at 32 different shades of white before choosing the right one. It is that attention to detail that we bring to the table. We will paint one of our properties, in London at least, the same colour throughout, usually some type of off white. Firstly, the property seems bigger, but we also create excitement in the use of space. We have colour in the finishes, the tiles or wallpaper etc, so when people say what they like about the project, ironically it is “the colours”. We also generally like to use the same flooring throughout because it gives consistency.

Why are you looking to expand Landmass to Monaco?

It appears that in Monaco, much of the interior layout design met demands 30 to 50 years ago, and not much has evolved since. I think that the supply of property for purchase or rent has been so buoyant that people have had to take what they are given.

You don’t think that’s the case anymore?

I think that there is a lot more exasperation and desire, whether from a renting or purchase perspective, of wanting a better quality product, especially for the money. And this is accentuated when clients are more educated in the design side and are a lot more sensitive to it. I feel that over the next few years there will be a change in the attitude of property owners to actually improve their offerings for rent or sale.

And as you say, it all starts with the floor plan…

Often the floor plans provided by real estate agents here are photocopies of old documents with no measurements. It is quite amateurish and was done this way 30 years ago in the UK. In fact, I don’t think there is anybody in Monaco who does floor plans with proper dimensions. And it’s because no one has needed to do it and no one has done anything about it.

So you see Landmass filling that void?

In London, agents look to get an exclusive instruction and that means they want to spend a bit more money on the presentation of the product. So if they have a property to sell that has an old fashioned layout, they offer a design space planning solution to the seller as part of the package, to help them win the instruction. Then, when clients enter someone’s property the agent can explain what they can do to change it, because unfortunately many people are not visual or have that imagination.

Tell me about the philosophy behind Landmass…

We have registered as a trademark our philosophy which is called ‘Volumetric design’. In the old days in the UK, people were selling their properties based on the number of bedrooms, and then what happened is someone asked the question: “Why is this four-bedder smaller than the three bedder, what is the square footage?” And the agent didn’t know! So after that they started doing floor plans and architects began maximising density.

Now here in Monaco, many properties are still sold based on the number of bedrooms. What we do is challenge that and, for example, by putting in fewer but better quality bedrooms. People want quality space, and if they just need an occasional bedroom for guests to stay, we can put in retractable walls, for example, so for 90% of the year they can have it open.

You have to understand your clients’ needs, and the difference between us and other designers is that I have completed over 35 of my own projects as principle. Now that puts me in a different position because I am able to speak peer to peer as opposed to just a service provider. Before we even talk about finishes with clients we look at two or three different layouts to brainstorm what works best for the client, and then go from there.