Nature vs Nurture
Boyd Ferguson
Boyd Ferguson, owner and design director of leading architectural and interior
design house Cecile and Boyd, has created some of the most desirable spaces in Africa.
Nature is the source of many of them, so it is not surprising that he has chosen Cape Town as
his base. Both beautiful and harsh, the city provides the vibrant contrast which he lives – and
works – for.
I came to Cape Town from Durban looking for a gentrified African experience but it is here that I’ve found the grit. Cape Town is extreme – the incredible natural beauty and physical splendour exist alongside a very real human condition. It is both spectacular and diseased.
Opposites are very powerful; they highlight each other. It is the grit here that expresses the glamour. I want to be a part of both; I don’t want to isolate myself in a First World bubble. Living here has taken me out of fantasy and changed my definition of what is beautiful, meaningful and worthwhile. I have accepted what is actually around me instead of constantly editing and glossing over it.
Living here is thrilling from a process level if you’re someone who looks and feels and evolves. It affects the self as you are asked to respond to so much, so many different realities and situations that force you to extend. I’m challenged to be productive, creative … more. So much is possible but not everything is available and defined – there is no ‘way’ and that is very liberating.
Cape Town has a history of displaced people and there is still an energy of people looking for who they are here. There are so many cultures and types. It’s full of vitality. Africa is about earth, ground, roots (as opposed to spirit or soul the way the East is, where spirit defines the culture and architecture). There’s a sense that the West has lost its way and Africa connects people to who they are.
In my work, I’m very focused on delivering the African experience, though I have to admit that I’m still sending my friends to the ‘nice’ Cape Town places and not to the Golden Acre to buy a wristwatch. It is much more exciting as a traveller to come here and feel that you’re not home, not having a European experience. Why do we sell Cape Town as European?
I’ve come to celebrate the slower pace deliberately. I live an ‘urban village’ life in the City Bowl. There is not tons to do in the way that there is in the international centres but there’s enough to keep me happy and inspired. Cape Town is also about ease – it’s an easy place to get around, see people, walk, swim or drive. There is also a sense of community living, I can go to a lot of places in Cape Town, not just in my neighbourhood, and see at least five people that I know. I don’t need to plan to see my friends weeks in advance. I can choose to have either a social or an easy week. I can sleep on a rock under the stars and experience incredible sophistication with an award-winning wine or sumptuous meal in the same week. People are trying to create fusion but I think confusion is better. Fusion homogenises, confusion means there are lots of options and that is freedom.
We’re not over-civilised and perhaps we should reverse the aspiration to be so. This is not prescriptive living where the choices are obvious and defined, there’s a sense that we can still change the way people feel and create our own way.’
A few of my favourite things
DECOR
Walking in De Waterkant or Wynberg
ANTIQUES
Private Collections
SUNDAY
Playing tennis at The Glen Country Club
BILTONG
Gardens Continental Butchery on Kloof Street
ART
Michael Stevenson Gallery
SWIMMING
In the tidal pool at Maiden’s Cove between Camps Bay and La Med
MAD FUN
Bronx
VIEW
On my sofa covered in dogs
WINE
Meerlust White
ROAD
The contour road connecting Kloofnek to Victoria Road
SEASONS
Spring and autumn
DISH
Croquetten and ‘lite’ beer at Dutch
LUNCH
Cordon bleu sandwiches at Maxims
READ
Weekend Financial Times that arrives on Sunday, hot from London
MUSIC
Freshlyground
LONG WEEKENDS
Kleinefontein
MOVIES
Cinema Nouveau at the Waterfront
TRADITION
Milnerton market
Address Book
Private Collections
66 Waterkant Street
De Waterkant
Green Point
021 421 0298
021 425 6507
Gardens Continental Butchery and Delicatessen
120 Kloof Street
Gardens
021 423 6944
Michael Stevenson Contemporary
Hill House
De Smidt Street
Green Point
021 421 2575
Bronx
35 Somerset Road
Green Point
021 419 9216
Meerlust
R310 Baden Powell Drive
Stellenbosch
021 843 3275
Dutch
34 Napier Street
De Waterkant
021 425 0157
Cafe Maxim
126 Waterkant Street
Green Point
021 425 5102
The Glen Country Club
Off Victoria Road
Clifton (just after 4th Beach)
021 438 1512
Cinema Nouveau
KWH Kings Warehouse
Victoria Wharf
V&A Waterfront
021 425 8223