Hobart has experienced not so much an evolution as a revolution. The vibrant and edgy-yet-organic city has grown into an art, design and culinary hub. Designer Jean-Pierre Biasol, founder and director of awardwinning multidisciplinary design studio Biasol, is here to check the city's creative pulse and pay a visit to one of his recent projects, Sandy Bay café Sisterhood. JeanPierre's parents are Italian and he studied in Europe. Does European design inspire and inform his work? "Absolutely! I love capturing the quality and craft of Europe, but I use the filter of tone and colours that are unique to Australia to suit our audience and conditions."
The car for our two-day tour of Hobart's design hotspots: the new Lexus NX 450h+ plug-in hybrid. The electric motor paired with a petrol engine gives drivers the best of both worlds. Around town you can drive on electric power only, but for longer distances or sudden bursts of acceleration the car seamlessly adds in the petrol engine. According to Lexus, when the battery's running low, the car switches to its hybrid drive mode. The petrol engine is then assisted by the electric motors to propel the vehicle and maintain the battery's charge.
Fortunately there's no fear we'll run out of power when touring Hobart, given the city's close proximity to Jean-Pierre and Heidi's pick of local establishments.
THE ROX
In typical Tasmanian style, historic buildings nestle among striking new developments with an easy simpatico. One of the best examples of this is The Rox, which includes apartments in both the new and heritage parts of the site. Below sits the Lexus showroom where we pick up the NX. Painted in Khaki Metal it is undoubtedly one of the more contoured and contemporary looking mid-sized SUVs.
This story is from the June - July 2022 edition of Belle Magazine Australia.
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This story is from the June - July 2022 edition of Belle Magazine Australia.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
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