Destiny: Rise of Iron – another lease of life for the space shooter, but it falls short of the Bungie’s inspirational best September 27, 2016 Destiny’s previous expansion, The Taken King, was a bit of a relief. It simplified the space odyssey’s more frustrating elements, meaning, for example, that when you finally obtained a much-sought after piece of gear (one that you had killed countless sentient beings for) you could start using it right away, rather than having to collect [...]
Our resident chef Mark Hix on why these orange giants should be eaten all year round September 27, 2016 Pumpkins and squashes aren’t just for Halloween. We should eat them like we do other more mainstream root vegetables, because they are equally delicious. The pumpkin and squash family, collectively known as cucurbits, are actually a fruit. They have hundreds of relatives; nearly a thousand to be precise, including melons and cucumbers. Years ago you would [...]
A Dutch artist is creating tiny worlds suspended inside fragile glass tubes September 27, 2016 Standing at just a few inches tall, these lilliputian constructions from Dutch artist Rosa de Jong are the architectural equivalent of ships in a bottle. The series, entitled Micro Matter, presents miniature vertical townships of alien proportions, each suggesting a wider and more fantastical world beyond. Indeed, de Jong says she had initially intended to [...]
My house: Hairdresser to the stars Paul Edmonds, whose clients include Emma Thompson and Mad Men’s Christina Hendricks, tells us about his brutalist home September 27, 2016 Hairdresser to the stars Paul Edmonds, who is soon to open a salon in Battersea Power Station, talks about his brutalist house in Lambeth I must be drawn to brutalist architecture – I used to live in the Barbican. I can remember my grandmother visiting and saying it looked like a prison; she couldn’t believe [...]
Rolling out the rad carpet: How two sisters have collaborated on a collection of psychedelic rug designs September 27, 2016 When sisters Amy and Lucy Kent decided to collaborate on a series of eleven rugs, the result was something unexpectedly beautiful, a “greater than the sum of its parts” deal that merged Amy’s bespoke rug making business with Lucy’s abstract painting. “Painterly designs are becoming increasingly popular,” explains Amy, “and I knew that Lucy’s abstracts [...]
How boutique architects Russian For Fish turned a damp terrace into a spectacular modern home September 27, 2016 This property in Kensal Green had been empty for a while when we were approached to work on it, and it was looking a bit sad. The couple that had bought it were both graphic designers and they had very specific ideas about what they wanted out of the renovation. The property was very typical [...]
Ferrari GTC4Lusso review: The four-seater is now even more likely to scare its three passengers witless September 26, 2016 If you own a Ferrari, you sometimes get sick of driving. Turn up to a birthday party or a barbeque and you literally have to spend hours giving people joyrides, one by one, when you’d rather be eating burgers. Or trying to fully savour the jealousy of your ex, who’s now married to a Hyundai-driving [...]
This Victorian home was turned into a House of the Year contender by two enterprising engineers September 26, 2016 When Tim Lucas searched for a family-size property under £500,000 on his local estate agents’ website, he was offered a crumbling collection of stables that hadn’t seen a horse since Queen Victoria was on the throne. This was London after all, what did he expect for that money? Most househunters would have shrugged their shoulders [...]
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 [...]