blog — casa ung

Apple AirPods Max

I have been in the market for a new pair of over-ear headphones for a while now. One that offers good performance without compromising on aesthetics. 

A few years ago, I owned the wired version of the Bowers & Wilkins P7. They were beautiful and sounded great but I eventually decided to let them go. That wire was always getting in the way and I wanted to have noise cancellation for the occasional flight. I thought I would stick to B&W but since they decided to throw aesthetics out the window when they released the P9, I started looking at other brands.

Most people nowadays recommend the Bose 700 or the Sony WH-1000XM4 but, no matter how good they sound, I would never allow either one into my home. Those two models just feel so dirty and unsophisticated (if you don’t believe me, watch them side by side in this video from CNET). To me, they are failed, unnecessarily complicated attempts at producing modern-looking design. Plus, the rose gold coloured Sony logos on the XM4s are such an eyesore!

I heard rumours about the AirPods Max for years and I am excited to see that they are finally being released! The design is so clean and simple, like a pair of smooth pebbles. They also work seamlessly with all Apple devices so there won’t be any need to wrestle with some glitchy third-party app. If like me, you have read a lot of negative comments on Twitter, I tell you this: Don’t listen to all those ignorants! What do they know about design? 

See you next week AirPods Max!

Jason Momoa as Duncan Idaho in Dune (2021)

Forget the spice, the fabric must flow! Swoosh!

This is as if someone has been reading my mind. I simply cannot wait.

Reading digital

I love reading! I am constantly buying books but, unfortunately, I am not able to read them as fast as I acquire them. They also take up a lot of space, so some people suggested that I start buying ebooks instead. I can definitely agree with some of the issues that ebooks provide solutions for:

Sometimes the format makes a printed book difficult to hold or carry - even at home.

Sci-fi titles (one of my favourite genres) usually have covers that would be really out of place at home so I don’t even buy them in the first place (What’s with all the blue and orange?).

Wouldn’t it be great to have to have your entire library with you at all times?

ebooks have been available for a long time but I never considered them an option for me. They always felt like a compromise - where you give up the experience of a real book (smell and all) for something that feels mediocre at best. To me reading on a Kindle is more like reading out of a calculator from The Sharper Image, but on the iPhone, I have discovered that it is different.

On iPhone, words manifest out of a sea of pure blackness. In the past, Jony Ive has referred to the screen as an “infinity pool” where you don’t see the edges but to me, it feels more like a slab of granite. And I’ll be damned if I am not going to read out of black granite!

John Pawson and Annie Bell: Living and Eating

Discovering minimalism in the 90s sparked an intense flame of curiosity in me so, naturally, I asked my mother to bring me to a bookstore to see what could help me tame the fire. I was already a voracious reader but until then I mostly consumed palaeontology and astronomy titles. This would be my first design book purchase ever.

Because I knew nothing about the subject, I had little idea of what to look for once we got to the store. It didn’t help that back then Mexico City suffered from a notoriously limited book selection (sadly, it has not gotten any better) but one could still find a few coffee table books from Taschen and Phaidon. After browsing for a while, I picked John Pawson’s Minimum in mini format. It was not such a hard choice after all - Minimum seemed more thoughtfully put together than the other books available and I recalled Pawson’s name from an article about Calvin Klein (who I already admired at the time) that I had read in one of my mother’s fashion magazines.

At first, Minimum caused me much frustration and disappointment. I could not understand what made those photographs special or what I could learn from them. I was used to lengthy explanations and in-depth analysis and in Minimum I could not find either.

Thankfully, many years and much knowledge later, I am now in a position to understand. And since I have become concerned with finding what is truly important in life, I was excited to read Living and Eating - another title by John Pawson in which he collaborates with food writer Annie Bell to share their vision of what simple living should be like. Unfortunately, I was not able to purchase a copy during its original publication run but I recently got lucky and found a used one in good condition.

The recipes contained within can be easily reproduced at home (which is great, since I am honestly not trying to make or eat anything in foam form) and Pawson’s recommendations to design and furnish a living space make me feel nostalgic for that 90s optimism we desperately need right now. I would recommend against using this (or any) book as a step-by-step guide but I find it can be a heart-warming read for someone that grew up with an interest in finding simplicity and true sophistication.

Havaianas

The fashion industry caught my attention when I was around fourteen or fifteen years old. As with other subjects of my interest, I wanted to know it all and I didn’t want to have any doubts about my knowledge, nor hesitations regarding my choices. And since one can only learn about quality and taste through trial and error, I tried to experiment as much as time and money would allow.

Take footwear, for example. I have worn lots of different kinds: Adidas Superstars, a pair of Calvin Klein shoes that I adored, those Gucci velcro sneakers that were so popular in Europe, Birkenstock suede Arizonas, Superga 2750s, Church’s Consul oxfords, Saint Crispin’s loafers, FEIT Hand Sewn Slippers and many, many more.

After all these years, one option stands out amongst the rest - black Havaianas Top. Those who know me know that I care deeply about details. When I moved from Switzerland to Thailand, I suffered because there were no simple flip flops available on the market. Who in their right mind would want to wear Billabong, with their wave prints on the soles and webbing straps? No one, of course! But for the next six months, I walked around Phuket in an electric blue and black pair like an Aussie bro does through Bali. It seems crazy to think about it now but back then I longed for a pair of Havaianas. 

One would think that because Havaianas are designed after zōri, there would be strong Japanese contenders, right? Wrong! I would expect MUJI to offer a better flip flop but for all their talk about simplicity and sophistication, in this case MUJI is not enough. The ones they sell are hard, feature transparent, yellowing straps and would never look good, not even if worn while cleaning the bathroom.

Luckily, Havaianas has grown globally and I am now able to purchase a new pair whenever required - which is increasingly often since it is the only footwear I want to wear lately. I love to glance at the clean reinterpretation of a timeless Japanese design. Even though they incorporate a Greek key pattern on the strap, a rice grain pattern on the footbed and a brick pattern on the outer sole, they still feel tasteful, subdued, modern and most importantly, global. Exactly what I think the future of humanity should be like!

Lauren Manoogian Autumn/Winter 2020

Why is it that no one is making clothes like these for men? As a man, you currently have three options - you wear a suit and pretend that you live in Prohibition-era Chicago, you dress in the latest logo tees and hoodies and go shoot videos of you and your friends doing parkour/skateboarding/not showering for a living or you buy chinos and oxford button-downs at the mall inside a store awash in the most depressing, unflattering white light.

There is an opportunity for someone willing to make simple, sophisticated, high-quality, forward-looking-yet-timeless garments in natural fabrics and colours. Who is willing to take it? And once you make these clothes, can you please sell them and not just show them? I’m looking at you Hed Mayner. Thank you.

Tech Dreams

Having grown up in less developed environments during the early years of my life, I always longed to live in a place that was at the cutting edge of technology. 

A lot of the media I consumed at the time helped me feed those dreams. It could have been just seconds, but I would sometimes catch a glimpse that would make me jump with excitement - like the lift-off preparations for the plane bound for Fhloston Paradise in the 1997 film The Fifth Element (see .gif above).

Looking back, I realise that unconsciously, these became important influences that helped me develop a style that is uniquely my own - where I marry my love for the natural, rustic elements from my childhood home with my futuristic, technological dreams.

Rustic Future

We live in a time where everyone seems to be confused about what is the best way forward. Our world is overwhelmed with pollution and our societies are fracturing beneath the feet of those that use fear to gain power. We are not able to see ahead because we do not remember what is behind.

Over millennia, we have learnt what works for humanity - what makes us feel healthy, happy and safe. For example, linen is an environmentally friendly fabric that originated around 36,000 years ago. It creates no waste in its production, ages gracefully and is also cozy. Instead of associating it with hippie culture, we should embrace it as part our collective, global heritage. It deserves a place in our every day and to displace those cheap plastic fabrics that choke our lives.

At the same time, we constantly develop new skills and technologies that make us smarter, more efficient and connected. Unlike others that hide behind nostalgia and denounce progress, I welcome tech - as long as design and production take into consideration the impact that making something will have on our planet. No one needs a mediocre folding smartphone rushed out the door to meet a deadline so that stock prices can increase a few cents before the quarter ends. But a product like the HomePod I recently got for our home, thoughtfully designed and beautifully assembled has the power to make us dream of what can come next. Whenever I catch a glimpse of it, I feel like it could have been carved by Masatoshi Izumi, if only he lived in the year 3,000! And despite being a speaker, it does not feel out of place next to an African mask or a stone bowl.

This is what I call Rustic Future. A visual language that reconciles our primal instincts with our illuminated consciousness. I hope you feel both the past and the future coming together in what we do at casa ung. It is what we feel passionate about.

Black Sun

In the past, I did not give a second thought to Isamu Noguchi’s Black Sun. Now, whenever I come across a picture of the sculpture, I wonder about the reason behind its every detail. How did Noguchi decide which parts to curve and which ones to flatten?

I cannot wait until the day I get to see it in person. Hopefully, I’ll get to touch it too!

Proportio booklet

I am thrilled to have recently acquired this booklet. It was originally handed out to visitors of the “Proportio” exhibition, which was organized by the May & Axel Vervoordt Foundation and the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia at the Palazzo Fortuny during the Venice Biennale in 2015.

Unfortunately I was not able to travel to Italy that year. However, reading in the booklet about the pavilions that Axel Vervoordt, Tatsuro Miki and Jorgen Hempel erected at the Sala Gondola on the ground floor of the Palazzo has the power to transport me to those monolithic, simple and deeply considered spaces.

This is certainly one of the most important pieces in my library. In the end, it is the things that make the heart race and the mind wander that become close to one’s soul. And despite what is commonly thought, they are never the most expensive, just the most valuable.

Japanese Zen monk in the snow

Every time I pick up a scarf, blanket or shawl I have fantasies of traveling the world by foot. Walking against the blow of cold winter winds and desert sands, I’d carry with me nothing but the most essential and, at the same time, precious possessions. All in the search for universal truth.

casaung.com

We have taken the first steps towards launching our new website in 2019. 

RH Cloud Leather Left-Arm Chaise

Thank you for the Christmas gift... in advance!

Phum Baitang

A dream for many years, turned reality.

Angkor Wat

A veritable masterpiece, Angkor Wat stands out from other temples in Siem Reap - both in scale and complexity.

Next time I visit, I will skip the rest and just spend my time here instead.

Action

Action makes all the difference in our lives. The abyss that we feel separates our dreams from reality is usually nothing more than just a crevice.

After wanting to visit Siem Reap for a few years, we finally decided to do it. And just like that, it happened. 

The memories of our trip will continue to serve as reminders that it takes but one step to complete a journey.

casa ung | sunday nineteen

urn / genesis / fate / vessel