City Notes
One of the many notable things about the People's Republic of China is that it's bloody huge, and the cities are no different. The capital, Beijing, is so big it even has a designated art district – the rather coolly-named 798 Art...
Stuff Crush
The Western perception of the Soviet Union was one of austerity, straight-laced, buttoned-down and under tight control for any signs of unorthodoxy. While this may have been true politically, the same can't be said for the architecture of the time,...
City Notes
Until recently, Athens was a city very high on my 'must go' list, yet for one reason or another, I hadn't got around to visiting. I'd been to Greece but - whisper it - like many, had gravitated towards the Islands, opting for sunbathing and beaches...
Journal
You have five seconds to name a Chinese designer or artist. Go. A cursory pat on the back if you came up with Ai WeiWei or Neri&Hu, bonus points for Li Wei, but take a huge bow if you managed any of the names featuring in the exhibition Chinese...
Stuff Crush
There are certainly no frills to this collection of furniture by Fien Muller and Hannes Van Severen - it's all about making it minimal, and then trimming a bit more off for good measure. Muller Van Severen's collection of shelving, storage, racks...
Journal
Romance isn't dead, at least not according to American artist and illustrator Andy Rementer. Not dead, but definitely a bit melancholy. Despite the colourful primary colours of his collection, I Wish I Knew, which debuted recently at the Mondo...
City Notes
The British have always liked exporting things to Australia, so it was a well-sailed course that led Sam Rush and Henry Allum to Sydney where they founded clothing brand Handsom (not modest, but better than calling it Ugly). Fast-forward a couple of...
City Notes
‘The Mediterranean as it once was’. Selling countries are the preserve of the tourist industry, and while I somehow doubt the veracity of the Croatian tourist board’s claim, the point is well made: Croatia’s recent history, its decades under...
Stuff Crush
This isn't a topic we've given much thought to, although considering how often we encounter it everyday and how important to our comfort it is, we can't quite work out why. Just one word for you: upholstery. In her work Zieharsofika, Meike Harde...
City Notes
It's a bad habit of mine to develop preconceptions about the aesthetic of a city before I've ever been, based on the little I know about a place. Kuwait City, for example, wouldn't strike me as a particularly stylish flag on the map, but they say...
City Notes
On the surface of it, this looks like a terrible piece of project management; they've moved the furniture in before finishing the structural renovations. If Sarah Beeny was here someone would be for the high jump. But no, this isn't a candidate for...
Journal
The use of the past tense in the title of this collection by Japanese artist Hiro Kurata suggests we are going to see something critically wrong in his examination of Western culture and celebrity, and indeed we do. Using a very modern form of...
City Notes
Salon Volta is a new barbershop in Laval, Quebec, that rethinks the familiar codes of grooming through a concept centred on craft and community. Moving away from the traditional model, the project positions itself as a space where barbering unfolds...
City Notes
Interior design studio and creative consultancy Ste Marie has completed Olia Ristorante and Mimi Bar, a pair of hospitality venues conceived as a day-to-night sequence at the base of new residential tower Citizen on Jasper. Commissioned by Corso 32...
City Notes
On a private estate in central Ukraine, YOD Group has reimagined the traditional mazanka — the archetypal rural home — for the contemporary era. These 50 square metre guesthouses reinterpret the vernacular, translating thick whitewashed walls...
City Notes
Situated at the edge of Montmartre, where Pigalle’s energy meets Parisian rooftops, Hôtel Rochechouart is a 1929 Art Deco landmark given a contemporary pulse. Design duo Festen has restored the building’s historic details while threading a...
Dispatches
Most families don’t begin with a grand financial plan. It’s usually smaller than that. A random conversation on the couch. Someone asking, “Hey, are we actually saving enough?” And then… silence for a second. Because no one really knows...
Dispatches
Scheduling problems rarely show up all at once. It starts with one double-booking. One technician running late. One patient showing up for the wrong time slot. Somebody shrugs, fixes it, moves on. No big scene. At least not yet. Then it keeps...
Dispatches
Ten kilometres west of Dubrovnik’s Old Town, on the south-facing flank of Koločep Island, there is a sea cave that briefly — and only briefly — turns the colour of liquid sapphire. The effect is physics, not folklore. For about three hours...
Dispatches
Hospitals and medical staff are held accountable for anesthesia errors through medical malpractice laws, internal reviews, and professional standards. When a mistake happens, the key question is whether the provider failed to meet the accepted...