The Rise And Rise Of New York’s Billionaire’s Row
With breath-taking views, luxurious interiors, endless amenities and eye-watering price tags, this new wave of properties are strictly for those with a 10-figure bank balance. But how did this area come to be? What sparked its growth in this particular district? How were planning controls addressed?
How Poor Americans Get Exploited By Their Landlords
It is a mistake to see slums as a byproduct of the modern city, rundown areas that occur by accident. Instead, researchers contend that the slum has long been a “prime moneymaker” for those who profit from land scarcity, racial segregation, and deferred maintenance.
The Playboy Serbian Spy Who Inspired James Bond
His name was Popov. Dusko Popov. As a Serbian double agent during the Second World War, Popov was an expert gambler, known womaniser and even crossed paths with James Bond’s creator Ian Fleming. But was he really the inspiration behind 007?
Inside Hong Kong’s Cage Homes
Hong Kong is the most expensive housing market in the world. It has been ranked as the least affordable housing market on Earth for eight years in a row. The inflated prices are forcing Hongkongers to squeeze into unconventionally small spaces that can affect their quality of life.
Ripples Of Time Sand Clock By Studio Ayaskan
The Ripples of Time Sand Clock allows natural materials to be shaped by time, reminding us of its presence. The installation consists of two complementary clocks; Sand and Water. Sand, inspired by Zen Gardens, is the gradual formation and flattening of a ripple pattern over a period of twelve-hour cycles.
Tech’s Most Controversial Startup Makes Drone-Killing Robots
Founded by Palmer Luckey and backed by Peter Thiel, Anduril is rekindling the connection between the American military and Silicon Valley. The company’s surveillance technology consists of large towers, packed with sensors, and small surveillance drones that can be set up to guard the perimeter.
“Seoul Wave”, A Short Film About South Korea’s Futuristic City
Filmmaker Brandon Li made a thrilling 7-minute film on life in the South Korean city of Seoul. Li’s distinctive filming style is present—swooping gimbal shots, push-ins, a saturated vibrancy.
“Ten Meter Tower”, Award-Winning Doc About Fear
To jump or not to jump? The premise at the heart of Axel Danielson and Maximilien van Aertryck’s “Ten Meter Tower” might seem simple, but the award-winning documentary is a deceivingly smart portrait of human behavior in the face of fear.
Disneyfication: Oversize Commercial Images Covering Up Less Glamorous Reality
Theo Derksen’s Disneyfication has been over twenty years in the making. A book of vivid color double-page spreads, it offers a global vision of the oversize invasion of visual imagery in metropolises including Bucharest, Berlin, Egypt, Tokyo, Dubai, Chongqing, Shanghai, Beijing, Singapore and Las Vegas.
The Death And Afterlife Of The Mall
Once a cornerstone of American consumerism, shopping malls are now mostly ghost towns. In a new episode of The Atlantic’s Idea File, staff writers Jim and Deb Fallows explore the phenomenon of the dead mall, and its emerging afterlife.
How Do Airlines Price Tickets?
To the average buyer, airline ticket prices appear to fluctuate without reason. But behind the process is actually the science of dynamic pricing, which has less to do with cost and more to do with artificial intelligence.
How Airlines Make Meals For Thousands Of People
For many people economy class used to mean soggy pasta, rubbery eggs and dried-out chicken. For a time U.S airlines even stopped serving free meals altogether in economy class. But in 2019 U.S. airlines posted their tenth straight year of profitability and premium and economy cabins are seeing more food options than ever before.
Hotel Chevalier: A Short Film By Wes Anderson
Natalie Portman and Jason Schwartzman are lovers who reunite in a Paris hotel room, in Wes Anderson’s 2007 prelude to The Darjeeling Limited. All cunningly soundtracked by Peter Sarstedt’s 1969 hit, “Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)?”
Francois Prost Returns, Photographing Venice And Its Worldwide Doppelgängers
As a follow-up to his successful series Paris Syndrome, Francois Prost is yet again photographing architectural replica cities, creating almost identical compositions. Venice is compared to a Chinese replica but also to the Las Vegas replica.
‘Station Of Being’ Is An Interactive Arctic Bus Stop
Architecture studio Rombout Frieling Lab and Research Institutes of Sweden have created the Station of Being as a prototype bus stop. The bus stop in Umeå, Sweden, was designed to improve the waiting conditions for passengers using public transport in cold weather conditions within the Arctic region.
Wild Juxtapositions Of Saudi Arabia Modern And Ancient
Few countries in history have experienced as sudden a transformation as Saudi Arabia. The discovery and exploitation of oil brought an unprecedented influx of wealth. Photographer Peter Bogaczewicz captures the past and present of the oil-rich kingdom as it undergoes dramatic transformation.
A Mid-Century Modern Shipping Container Home
This midcentury-inspired container home is located in Salida, Colorado, on the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The house was designed to serve as a vacation rental and you can check it out on Airbnb. The eye-catching structure with bright orange exterior contrasts with everything else around it.
How Leonardo Da Vinci Made A “Satellite” Map In 1502
When infamous Italian politician Cesare Borgia brought Leonardo da Vinci — the guy who drew this portrait — to the city of Imola, it was as a military engineer. When Leonardo was installed at Borgia’s newly acquired fort, one of his duties was to help Borgia learn the territory.
The Story Of Freedom Ship
Back in the 1990’s a man started a project from a dream he had to build not only the largest ship ever conceived, but to combine a family cruise line, airport and residential community all in one. His dream carried on through decades after and now seemingly stalled, a new CEO is taken the helm.
The Story Of A German Conman
It was one of the biggest white-collar scams in German history. In the 1990s, Manfred Schmider and his company FlowTex took investors for more than two billion euros. Today, the conman himself can’t believe how easy it was to get away with a major fraud.
The Cost Of Keeping Singapore Squeaky Clean
Founding father and first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew kicked off the Keep Singapore Clean campaign 50 years ago. The aim wasn’t just to make the city more pleasant. A cleaner city, Lee Kuan Yew reasoned, would create a stronger economy.