Dubai loves an engineering challenge and the new Burj Al Arab sea terrace is up there with the biggest September 26, 2016 As engineering feats go, one that is half the weight of the Eiffel Tower and slightly larger than the size of a football pitch is pretty significant. Add the fact that the brief was to create an ultra-luxe, environmentally sensitive terrace extension to the 7-star hotel Burj Al Arab, whilst it remained open, and you [...]
The glorious bus stops of the former USSR, as shot by photographer Peter Ortner September 26, 2016 Even in the often stifling artistic conditions that existed in the outer reaches of the Soviet Union, creativity found a way. While Soviet architects experimented with startling modernist buildings in Mother Russia, the outposts largely had to settle for endlessly repeating brutalist tower-blocks, each one as punishingly grey as the last. Municipal buildings – and [...]
Julius Shulman: the photographer who helped to define LA September 26, 2016 Many architects have made their mark on a place, planting seeds of creation that go on to define a street or neighbourhood. A select few become synonymous with a certain style, or even an entire city. But not many shape the way people think about an entire state; Julius Shulman achieved just that without designing [...]
Forget houses, why not live in the world’s most expensive van, or up a tree, or under the ocean? September 26, 2016 People are always nattering on about “the property market” and “having a roof over your head” and “why have you not been paying the mortgage?” But do we really need houses? Could we just go and live, say, at the bottom of the ocean, or in a cave, or maybe just in the back of [...]
Long Weekend review: Stunning architecture and peerless service make Budapest a serious rival to more famous European cities September 23, 2016 The city: It’s not difficult to see why the so-called Paris of the East draws favourable comparisons with more famous capital cities. It has the majestic architecture, such as the stately parliament buildings and Buda Castle, skirting a suitably imposing river, but also a faded grandeur bestowed by its array of elegantly decayed public baths [...]
Cradle baby alligators and zoom along the Everglades in a weird boat – it’s Florida baby! September 23, 2016 F lorida has a fearsome reputation for hurricanes, alligators and hanging chads, but in this vast sea of crazy, there is an island of tranquility. Its name is Fort Lauderdale. Long established as a place to go for fun in the sun, with a long sandy beach, the wild beauty of the Everglades, and easy [...]
Focus On Regent’s Park: Celebrity-packed Nash terraces and luscious parklands make NW1 “super-prime” London September 23, 2016 If you want to go celebrity spotting in London, you could do a lot worse than Regent’s Park. High profile residents of this historic area surrounding the royal park of the same name include Damien Hirst, Christian Candy, Gwen Stefani, Jamie Oliver and Kate Moss, not to mention all the Middle Eastern royalty and Russian [...]
Interiors: We pick our top five exhibitors at Decorex 2016, London’s 39-year-old interior design festival September 23, 2016 London Basin Company When interior designer Anna Callis couldn’t find painterly handfinished porcelain basins for her commissions, she and her daughter Nathalie decided to have them made. The results she now sells online are eyecatching, exotic, high-quality porcelain washbasins, for around £600. Made in the home of porcelain, China, in 8-10 weeks, each of the 10 [...]
Holiday Homes: We fly out to Tenerife and find a volcanic paradise that’s a far cry from high rise tower blocks September 23, 2016 Tenerife was once synonymous with cheap package holidays and unsightly high rise tower blocks. Lately, however, the volcanic paradise isn’t just a place where baby boomers go to burn – it’s also where they go to buy. According to Spanish Property Insight, the Spanish property market has grown 23 per cent since 2015 – the [...]
Garden Bridge designer unveils a ‘stairway to nowhere’ – for New York September 23, 2016 The designer behind London’s Garden Bridge project over the River Thames, which continues to stir much controversy here, has unveiled another ambitious project. Thomas Heatherwick’s latest design, titled ‘Vessel’, was unveiled in New York last week. It depicts an enormous honeycomb-like structure with a free-standing collection of multi-level staircases. But the scheme is set to [...]