Design hit list: Mark Knott's 10 Favourite Things

Marc Knott combines contemporary New Zealand design with retro items at Kingsland shop Mixt. Picture / Greg Bowker

Kingsland store Mixt combines Marc Knott's interest in mid-century design with Miranda Pritchard's nous in contemporary New Zealand design.

"At Mixt we made a conscious decision to stock contemporary local artists and have selected pieces of New Zealand design to complement the ever-changing array of retro items. Retro is perhaps an overused term these days but for us it describes anything from the 1950s to the 1980s with a strong, identifiably modernist design element," says Knott.

He has been involved in the antique and second-hand trade for most of his working life and has owned several shops in Auckland, including Ponsonby's Style Gallery in the 1980s.

He and Pritchard opened Mixt two years ago, with the aim of also promoting recycling in a throwaway age by selling second-hand goods.

1. Ashton Bribiesca jewellery. Designed in the late 1960s by architect Jose Bribiesca and Lois Quaid Ashton and still produced in Auckland. These pieces of mini-modernist beauty have stood the test of time. Whenever we get a new range of Bribiesca rings and earrings at Mixt they sell out fast.

2. The Architectural Group. Emerging from the Auckland School of Architecture in the late 1940s, the Group comprised a diverse collection of architects who designed numerous houses in the 1950s and 60s. We recently visited a Group house in Mt Albert owned by a customer and fell in love with the open-plan simplicity, clever space-saving elements and the internal Japanese-style courtyard.

3. Littlecove cushions. Designed by Marie Low, these cushions are beautifully hand-stitched pieces of retro-inspired New Zealand design.

4. Art in public places. Paul Hartigan's neon sculptures, John Pule's mural in Grey Lynn, Mark Davidson's pebble mosaic in Western Park. It is easy to take these details for granted but they contribute to the character of our city and provide an interesting backdrop to our busy lives. 
5. Garth Chester's Curvesse chair. Designed in the mid-1940s and manufactured primarily from a single sheet of plywood, this chair represents an international design innovation. Original examples are keenly sought after by those wanting a cool-looking piece of furniture and serious collectors alike.

6. Art by Jessica Pearless. For the retro-appeal of her recent work on mahogany discs. Check out an example of the large-scale murals from her latest installation, on show at Webb's Cafe in Newmarket.

7. Contemporary New Zealand pottery. Pioneered in the 1970s by Studio Potters and continued today by a growing number of new ceramic artists. It is hard to pick favourites, but Len Castle is the iconic studio potter - his career is beautifully summarised in Ron Sang's 2002 book Len Castle Potter. We really like the new work of John Parker, Paul Mayseyk, Jengis Poor and Peter Collis.

8. Dominic Burrell Glass. We sell a lot of vintage Italian glass at Mixt and are interested in the growing popularity of glass as a medium used by contemporary New Zealand artists.

9. Pacific-inspired design. Reflecting our growing diversity. We love seeing the Pacific influence in all areas of design and popular culture.

10. New Zealand-made Scandinavian-style furniture. The most popular style of furniture that we sell at Mixt. Strict import regulations in the 1960s and 70s saw the growth of a number of New Zealand-based furniture manufacturers such as Otto Larsen, Don Furniture and Danske Mobler who drew on the Scandinavian style.

The quality of these vintage pieces and the timeless simplicity of their design mean that they are easily incorporated into contemporary interiors.