Design icons: Francisco Mañosa
From a series written for ABC Radio National’s Blueprint for Living. Francisco Mañosa was first broadcast on 25th March 2023. You can listen to the audio here. * Is there such a thing as Filipino...
View ArticleDesign icons: the Better Shelter and refugee housing
From a series written for ABC Radio National’s Blueprint for Living. This one was first broadcast on 8th April 2023. You can listen to the audio here. * Flatpack furniture made its first appearance in...
View ArticleDesign icons: the Windsor chair
From a series written for ABC Radio National’s Blueprint for Living. The Windsor chair was first broadcast on 22nd April 2023. You can listen to the audio here. * Why is it that certain designs become...
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History repeating
My recent trip to Britain took me back to old friends. Not only the human kind but also the buildings of my childhood. My sister and I promised long ago that one day we would return to the town on...
View ArticleDesign icons: the Mercedes Gullwing
From a series written for ABC Radio National’s Blueprint for Living. Mercedes Gullwing was first aired on 15th July 2023. You can listen to the audio here. * What’s the most stylish car ever produced?...
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Building for the soul
I’ve been familiar with the Goetheanum since I was a teenager and yet it was only last month that I managed to visit it. Even if you think you know a building, being there can change your...
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Prince Harry
We’ve got five more mouths to feed at the moment. Beaks, actually. After several months of being on his lonesome, Harry the guinea fowl now has a new family. Two of them are the traditional...
View ArticleDesign icons: the Hoover Dam
From a series written for ABC Radio National’s Blueprint for Living. The Hoover Dam was first broadcast on 12th August 2023. You can listen to the audio here. * Water is life, which is why we relish...
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Here or there?
It’s a truth universally acknowledged (at least in my household) that I am an inveterate dreamer. I am also, according to Chinese astrology, an Earth Pig, and that means a home lover. So when I...
View ArticleDesign icons: the Norwegian sweater
From a series written for ABC Radio National’s Blueprint for Living. The Norwegian sweater first aired on 2nd September 2023. You can listen to the audio here. * A national costume can seem overly...
View ArticleDesign icons: the cog railway
From a series written for Radio National’s Blueprint for Living. The cog radio first aired on 9th September 2023. You can listen to the audio here. * In 1811, British engineer John Blenkinsop couldn’t...
View ArticleDesign icons: the perfume atomiser
From a series written for Radio National’s Blueprint for Living. Thisicon first aired on 7th October 2023. You can listen to the audio here. * According to Coco Chanel, a woman who doesn’t wear...
View ArticleDesign icons: Ebenezer Howard
From a series written for ABC Radio National’s Blueprint for Living. First aired on 4th November 2023 (you can listen to the audio here). * The idea of planned cities is as old as cities themselves...
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How’s the serenity?
Japan is good for me. It has sublime architecture and breathtaking landscapes, it’s incredibly well-organised and it’s just a little bit bonkers. I can’t think of a single negative experience I’ve had...
View ArticleDesign icons: Mason jar
From a series written for ABC Radio National’s Blueprint for Living. This piece first aired on 18th November 2023. You can hear the audio here. * For those of us of a certain age, a Mason jar was a...
View ArticleDesign icons: Yoyogi gymnasia
From a series written for ABC Radio National’s Blueprint for Living. This piece was first broadcast on 2nd December 2023. You can listen to the audio here. * The Yoyogi National Gymnasium, built for...
View ArticleDesign icons: Christmas
From my series written for ABC Radio National’s Blueprint for Living. This end-of-year special was first broadcast on 16th December 2023. You can listen to the audio here. * The birth of a baby in...
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Summer daze
When you live in Australia, it’s hard to avoid the feeling that, one way or another, nature is going to get you. It’s why first-time tourists get so nervous, having heard stories of shark attacks,...
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Strike a light!
Can you feel change in the air? According to Chinese tradition, time is divided into twenty year periods, each with a dominant energy, and we’ve just shifted into a new one. It’s a Nine period, which...
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Buildings and baguettes (and my new book)
France gets under your skin. It is, to borrow LP Hartley’s phrase about the past, another country: they do things differently there. Which might be stating the bleeding obvious but it was precisely...
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