Adiós

In less than 48 hours, I'll be sitting in Buenos Aires, hopefully with a Caipirinha (I know it's acually Brazilian) in my hand and good friends by my side.
I cannot believe that this year rushed to the moment where I know that this will most probably be the last blog entry of the year. I cannot promise anything since a PC is the last thing I want to see for one entire month. We will be staying Buenos Aires for a few days, then we will be road tripping to Rosario, Cordoba, maybe Salta, Mendoza and finally Santiago, Chile. New Year's Eve will most probably be spent in Buenos Aires and then our friends will be going to Patagonia while we will be soaking up the sun on the beaches south of Buenos Aires.
I am so very excited and I promise to take lots of photos and bring back lots of stories.
So, this is me for now. We have our office party tomorrow and the flight is 09:55 Friday morning.
Merry and Happy to you all.
xxx

Abandoned buildings

I have a fascination with abandoned buildings in our city. So, this will definitely not be the last post on this subject. I even love it more when I get to be involved with the regeneration and restoring those abandoned buildings. But there's something about that emptiness, that presence of absence. For me it is like the walls and floors are the silent storytellers of the occupants over the years. I am fortunate to work on one of those abandoned buildings in Pretorius street. I cannot reveal too much of it right now but I cannot wait to start working on it next year. It is one of the few Late Art Deco buildings in the city and has enormous potential to be restored to its former glory. Here are some snippets:

The stairwell looking upwards. Very Art Deco. Note the rounded corners and the smooth plasterwork.

One of the original boardrooms. Not sure what the thing on the right was - maybe an old air-con unit? Fireplace? Note the herringbone pattern of the parquet flooring...and wait for it - this is solid oak!



The switch gear in the lift motor room. This is incredible - you can actually see these things jumping up and down as the lift buttons in the car are pressed. This is still in mint condition, most of the parts date back to the 1930's.

An old radiator in one of the offices. I think we should leave some of these original fittings as

memorabilia.



My favourite photo of this series. Because of water ingress to some of the floors, there's actually fungi growing. Isn't this a lovely contradiction - nature finding it's way into the man-made environment?

Confession #98

I love bright colours. Colours that remind me of the African skies and the Highveld grass and maize crops and happiness. My friend Nuka gave me this lovely "bitonga" skirt. Well, it's like a skirt and a short combined. It is from Mozambique. I think it will be perfect for our upcoming Argentina trip (only 58 hours to go!!!). It is soooo comfortable. I absolutely love it. Thanks babe!

Fat Camp

Jux and Schnuki will be going to Hotel Basson today. For one entire month. This is a lovely place I called home for 18 years of my life. It's also dog heaven. They get to sleep on the beds (an absolute no-no in their current home), couches or any soft horizontal surface for that matter. They are patted, stroked, talked to and played with the entire freekin' day. They get to eat their favourite human food to such an extend that I think they order from a menu.

But here's the thing: While Schnuki gains weight (my mom makes sure this skanky dog gets fed at least twice the amount than the others), Jux (the fat one, maybe a bit obese) loses weight. Hence the title of today's blog. She runs around with her best friend Nala the Great Dane and tries to flirt with Scruffy and Stoffel as a pastime.

When we come back from holiday we are usually ignored because they've been in heaven and how dare we take them away from this heavenly environment?

I'm a bit sad to see the two poochies go, but I know they will be spoiled in a way some humans can't imagine to be treated.

Jux on the left, Schnuki on the right. Photo by Riette Basson.

Jux. Photo by Thys Kotze

Hello, my name is Jux. I am two years old and I am a Dapple Dachshund. I love to lick everything in sight, especially freshly showered human feet. My name is short for "Juxtaposition" because my owners are fancy architects but I really don't care since food (and licks) is all that matters to me. I like to flirt with male dogs, especially Alfonso the Italian Greyhound.

Schnuki. Photo by Thys Kotze

Hello, my name is Schnuki. I am four years old and I am the Alpha Dog. I love playing catch (this is an understatement, I am totally obsessed) and I'm really not scared of anything, especially not dogs three times my size. I don't like small humans, they are just funny looking and they make me nervous. I also like to chase anything that moves and then dig holes in my owner's lovely garden because all things that move disappears into the ground, especially under nice blooming flowers.

Dear Father Christmas...

...or boyfriend, or parents, or rich friends...
Pleeeeeeaaaaaaazzzzeee may I have this beautiful little camera??

Image via Lomography.com

I've been wanting to be a lomographer for a few years now and this craze (or fetish or obsession) was recently fired up again. How lovely would it be to "lomograph" this city? I think I'm in love. If you don't know what I'm talking about, please educate yourself and your photographic point of view by visiting www.lomography.com. 

*Sigh*

Contemporary Capital

There was a big whoo-haaa at work today...Pieter Mathews just published a new book - Contemporary Capital - it's a collection of good contemporary architecture in Pretoria. 
I had a quick glance at it, before it disappears in the Big Black Hole of Directors. This is for all architects and architecture students. It focuses a bit too much on the fraternity (more on that a bit later) but hey, if they don't do it, then nobody will.
Go grab a copy over at Kalahari (I believe it will be available at Exclusive Books soon).