‘High-tech’ homes in NW1 listed July 26, 2019 Do you love them or hate them? Whatever your opinion, the row of homes at Grand Union Walk in Camden Town is now officially architecturally significant, having been awarded grade II listed status by Historic England last week. The ten three-bedroom houses and two flats in NW1 were designed by Sir Nicholas Grimshaw in the [...]
Let’s Play: How Youtubers are making millions playing video games July 25, 2019 For the past decade, largely unnoticed by traditional media, scores of YouTubers have been racking up millions of views by posting videos of themselves playing video games. These videos, called Let’s Plays, occupy a niche position in the new online ecosystem. Let’s Players aren’t competitive gamers; in fact, they’re often pretty hopeless at video games. [...]
The rise of the ASMR-tists: The online phenomenon touted as an antidote to anxiety and insomnia July 25, 2019 The slurp of a woman eating soup; the abrupt snip of scissors through hair; the crinkle of tinfoil being scrunched into a ball. For some people, these everyday sounds ignite a mysterious, near-ecstatic sensation known as Auto Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR). This reaction is characterised by a kind of low-level euphoria, similar to the prickly [...]
Mauritius: Paradise, but not as you know it July 24, 2019 This tropical island offers the cliched white sands and blue seas, but there’s more to discover at this most unusual of holiday destinations Pop quiz: What is the only tropical island to host its own classic car rally? This November, Mauritius will be the unlikely home to some of the rarest and most expensive classic [...]
How to host a dinner party: Top tips to ensure guests leave happy July 24, 2019 My editor asked me to write about how to throw the perfect dinner party. But there’s a problem: while I host quite a few myself – and pull them off pretty well, I think – I don’t have much to compare them to. You see, nobody ever invites me back. Read more: Trisara hotel review [...]
The most divisive tower blocks in the country, the Barbican Estate, have reached their half century July 24, 2019 Rising from the literal ashes of World War 2 bombs, the Barbican Estate has always been far more than a housing development. Designed by architects Chamberlin, Powell and Bon, it was envisioned as a utopian blueprint for post-war British living – a tower block that wasn’t just about cramming in as many people as possible, [...]
Could magic mushrooms fix your brain? We try Europe’s first legal psychedelic therapy retreat July 24, 2019 Ten of us sit in a semicircle around a makeshift altar. In front of us lies a small statue of Buddha, various rocks and crystals, some pine cones, a carved mushroom, a small chemists’ weighing scale, and a wooden bowl filled with psychedelic ‘truffles’. We’re in a lodge on the outskirts of Amsterdam overlooking woodland [...]
Office Space: Step into Sessions House, the courthouse HQ of Ennismore, the company behind The Hoxton and Gleneagles July 24, 2019 From the outside, Sessions House is a slightly menacing proposition. Squat and grimly imposing, it looks mistrustfully out onto Clerkenwell Green, seemingly miles removed from the surrounding buildings. If you’re a frequent visitor to central London, you might recognise its austere, almost gothic facade, all dreary grey brick and prison-bar windows. Upon entering the building, [...]
Naked houses: Unfinished homes give buyers a discount price – but are they practical? July 24, 2019 In case you hadn’t noticed, Britain is in the grip of its worst housing crisis since the 1940s. The verdict, delivered in a recent report from the Centre for Policy Studies, will be endorsed by anyone who has endured the vagaries of the London rental market, where a ‘cosy one-bed’ can be a garage with [...]
Phantom islands thought to exist for hundreds of years are being “undiscovered” July 24, 2019 On a voyage from Manila to Mexico in 1528, the Spanish captain Alavaro de Saaverda reported stopping off at a pair of islands a few thousand kilometres north of Papua New Guinea in the Philippine Sea. He named the islands Los Buenos Jardines, and wrote in his diary about the friendly natives he’d met there. [...]