Design
Design
"I hope the Smithsonian uses this whole debacle to rethink the Cooper Hewitt"
The upset caused by the resignation of Cooper Hewitt director Caroline Baumann is the least of the design museum's problems, says Aaron Betsky. More
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Architecture
Architecture
"Traditional architecture has frequently been leveraged to support violent political agendas"
A draft order by Donald Trump to make all new federal buildings classical is the latest example of how traditional architecture is used to disguise racist agendas, says Phineas Harper. More
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Architecture
Architecture
"Is it a greater offense to destroy all of the buildings of Frank Lloyd Wright, or the ideas he established?"
Following the news that Frank Lloyd Wright's School of Architecture at Taliesin will close this year, first-year student Alex Martinec reflects on how it marks not just the end of a physical institution, but the architect's way of thinking. More
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Architecture
Architecture
"Too much is at stake to leave architecture to architects"
The emotional and economic impacts of cities are closely connected, but this is lost in a proliferation of meaningless phrases like "healthy placemaking" and "human-centric design", says Reinier de Graaf. More
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Interiors
Interiors
Sexy eco, monochrome and plus-size furniture: interior design trends for 2020
Interior design will evolve, innovate, adapt and improve in 2020, says Michelle Ogundehin. Her trend report includes provocative collaborations, Ukrainian design and a rejection of digital technology. More
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Architecture
Architecture
The 2020s "will see the return of the real" argues Aaron Betsky
As the 2020s begins, Aaron Betsky predicts that architects in the new decade will focus on reuse, flexible spaces and earthy materials. More
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High-tech architecture
High-tech architecture
"High-tech now looks very much like another post-imperial delusion"
High-tech architecture aligned with the revival of Victorian values in the 1980s, but did not end up producing the factories of a new period of British creativity, says Owen Hatherley. More
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Technology
Technology
"Sexist advertising for the Escobar phone is everything tech wishes it could still get away with"
Holly Brockwell is unimpressed by the sexist advertising for the gold folding phone launched by Pablo Escobar's brother, but is not surprised. More
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Design
Design
"In choosing blue, Pantone has missed the mark once more"
Pantone played it safe and still missed the mark by picking Classic Blue as its colour of the year for 2020, says Michelle Ogundehin. More
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High-tech architecture
High-tech architecture
"High-tech was a supreme toys-for-the-boys moment"
Continuing our high-tech architecture series, Catherine Slessor looks at how the women in Team 4 helped shape the narrative of the movement. More
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Architecture
Architecture
"Whoever wins the general election will bring radical change for better, or worse"
The leading parties' manifestos contain bold pledges that will change Britain's cities for generations, says Phineas Harper. He takes a look at the architecture and housing policies ahead of the UK's general election. More
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Architecture
Architecture
"We must recognise the workers who make museum-going a smooth architectural experience"
Following protests about working conditions at well-known museums – like the Marciano Art Foundation and MoMA – Mimi Zeiger says it's time to address architecture's relationship to unfair labour practices. More
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Design
Design
"Cybertruck represents a highly conservative continuation of the status quo"
Tesla's electric Cybertruck is billed as a radical redefinition of the car, but in fact draws on old-fashioned ideas of escape, argues Elizabeth Bisley, co-curator of the V&A museum's new exhibition about car design. More
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Architecture
Architecture
"We have to do better than ugliness and incoherence. We can be woke and good designers as well"
The current way architecture is critiqued and presented at biennials and exhibitions is ugly, but it doesn't need to be, argues Aaron Betsky. More
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Design
Design
"The creative industries are misreading the public"
By voting for Brexit, the British people have shown a greater appetite for risk than the creative sector, which needs to take the public more seriously or risk becoming irrelevant, says Martyn Perks of the Dissenters Design Network. More
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High-tech architecture
High-tech architecture
"High-tech is ever edging away from its ecological and humanistic roots"
High-tech architecture has strayed far from its environmentally conscientious beginnings, but could rise again if it returns to them, writes Phineas Harper. More
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Design
Design
"The traditional model of philanthropic support is an ongoing act of self-harm"
In the wake of recent controversies surrounding the funding of major institutions – dubbed "toxic philanthropy" – we must rethink the system for supporting culture, says Forensic Architecture researcher Robert Trafford. More
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Architecture
Architecture
"Charles Jencks' provocation and ever-enquiring spirit has never been more important"
Charles Jencks, the critic who helped bring postmodernism into existence, died this week. With populism on the rise, the pluralism of the movement is needed now more than ever, argues Owen Hopkins. More
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Design
Design
"To end plastic pollution, we first need to eliminate language pollution"
Designers' efforts to reduce the environmental impact of their products are being hampered by confusion over terminology and rampant greenwashing, writes Marcus Fairs. More
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Architecture
Architecture
"Attempts to stop terrorism at the fringes of architecture are becoming increasingly useless"
Architects and designers can't design ways to protect mass terror attacks in America's public spaces, but they should join the fight to eliminate the problem at its cause, argues Aaron Betsky. More
