Queen Elizabeth II was not just a monarch, she represented a global brand. And for the past seven decades, this brand has to some extent defined and promoted the British nation around the world. Brands are important corporate (or in this case national) assets that can burnish a company’s profile and meaningfully differentiate it from […]
Now, whatever one may believe concerning his past attempts to ‘subvert parliamentary elections’, it can be assured that Putin has affected how the UK next go to the polls. For, by invading Ukraine, Putin has had an impact on the UK’s political landscape. He has, after all, made canvassing to win votes on their traditional […]
What if it does and they do? Sea levels are rising as the polar ice caps melt and now it’s clear why Republicans are in favour of global warming, it’s a form of gerrymandering. It destroys the Democratic coasts and drives disheartened Manhattanites westward to wander lost and confused in Ohio, their sophistication shredded, their […]
Originally published July 2022. It is likely that all readers know that WFH means ‘work from home’, VR is virtual reality and crypto refers to various crypto currencies like bitcoin and ethereum, and BIM is ‘building information modeling’ and ESG is Environmental, Social and Governance, and yet few of these terms existed a dozen years […]
John McWhorter has written an important book – a heretical book, really, because in today’s America, black men are anathema if they believe what he believes, or write what he writes. McWhorter knows the bounds within which he is expected to live, but will not suffer the faux righteousness disseminated by the Elect of the […]
Originally published March 2022. There are some schools of architecture which are so ‘avant garde’ that actually proposing an architectural solution to an architectural brief is deemed to be far too conservative and more than a little dull. The AA in the 80s and 90s was one of these schools and Eyal Weizman, founder of […]
Diana, Princess of Wales, died 25 years ago after a car crash in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel in Paris. Her death led to a global outpouring of grief and media attention. Much of the public reaction criticised the royal family for what many saw as an unfeeling response to the sudden death of the […]
Tourism destinations globally are seeing a significant hit to their economies as Russians stay at home due to war-related sanctions, with possible long-term effects on international tourism. This comes as European countries with Russian borders say they may ban all Russian tourists. Russians were the world’s seventh biggest tourist spenders before the pandemic, splashing out […]
Originally published December 2017. The Barcelona Pavilion, by Mies van der Rohe. Over many years of working on numerous projects, I have always drawn inspiration from the work of some of the great architects from the past (borrowing from the past to enhance the future). Probably one of the most influential of these was Mies […]
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Chinese cities have repeatedly imposed lockdowns following their central government’s stubborn pursuit of zero-Covid. But lockdowns weren’t limited to authoritarian regimes such as China. Many democracies also imposed some form of lockdowns to curb the virus transmission. How effective were they? Was it worth it? And who was the most adversely […]
