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Culture

Essays and videos on the arts, literature, travel, rituals and celebrations

Architecture Art Biography and memoir Dance and theatre Design and fashion Film and visual culture Food and drink Home Music Nature and landscape Rituals and celebrations Sports and games Stories and literature Subcultures Travel

3D digital rendering of a cross-section of a Roman amphitheatre, showing architectural details and a large crowd inside.

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Architecture

A 3D rendering of the Colosseum captures its architectural genius and symbolic power

17 minutes

A person is sitting on the edge of a traditional Japanese building, looking out at a lush garden. Sunlight illuminates the foliage, creating a serene atmosphere.

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Architecture

The celebrated architect who took inspiration from sitting, waiting and contemplating

29 minutes

People decorating a school courtyard with green and yellow bunting.

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Architecture

West Africa was once an architectural laboratory. Is it time for a revival?

12 minutes

Modern white tower building amidst green landscape with winding path and trees, hills and a clear sky in the background.

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Architecture

‘I listen to the land’ – poetry and greenery intertwine in Emilio Ambasz’s architecture

9 minutes

A row of traditional British terrace buildings with shops on the ground level, under a clear blue sky with some white clouds.

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Architecture

The new architecture wars

Traditionalist and modernist architecture are both mass-produced, industrial and international. Is there an alternative?

Owen Hatherley

Medieval manuscript illustration showing a cutaway view of a multi-storey castle and a fortified structure, with inscriptions and arches.

essay

Architecture

The subtle art of elevation

Architectural drawing speaks of mathematical precision, but its roots lie in the theological exegesis of a prophetic book

Karl Kinsella

Illustration of a historic round pavilion with ornate statues and columns, surrounded by trees, with people in period attire nearby.

video

Architecture

Tour the European architecture that dreamed of a wondrous, fictitious China

16 minutes

Aerial view of extremely densely packed buildings in Kowloon Walled City, surrounded by taller residential blocks and an open park area.

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Cities

The rise and fall of Kowloon Walled City, Hong Kong’s infamous urban monolith

18 minutes

Colourful ornate ceiling with intricate patterns and Arabic calligraphy in the centre, surrounded by detailed floral and column motifs.

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Design and fashion

The art of Istanbul dances to life in a tribute to the city’s timeless beauty

4 minutes

A vintage photograph of a woman with a hookah, sitting on a couch and dressed in traditional attire, looking into the lens. The colorful image has a worn, aged effect.

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History of technology

See the Mediterranean as it was captured in some of the earliest surviving photographs

20 minutes

Person in winter clothes looks up at a large metallic structure with triangle-shaped cutouts on a snowy day.

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Architecture

Modern architecture should embrace – not ignore or repel – the nonhuman world

8 minutes

A cross-section of a cylindrical building, showing multiple floors with inner curved walkways and staircases in an open atrium design.

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Thinkers and theories

Jeremy Bentham was consumed by creating a perfect prison. Here’s the result

4 minutes

Architectural drawing of a grand domed structure with detailed columns, arches, and a cutaway view revealing tiered seating and intricate interior designs.

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Architecture

The radically impractical 18th-century architect whose ideas on beauty endure

19 minutes

A man smiling and clasping his hands in front of a red wooden house with sculptures; green trees are in the background.

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Cities

Inside the unique London community built by residents to defy housing discrimination

21 minutes

A store named “BEST” with a façade designed to look like it is crumbling and peeling away. Several cars are parked in front, and a person is walking by.

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Architecture

Why a sculptor pivoted from gallery installations to big-box stores design

9 minutes

Three people constructing a traditional bamboo hut in a the highlands of Ethiopia, surrounded by trees.

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Architecture

How the Dorze in Ethiopia make ‘beehive’ houses from bamboo that last a lifetime

35 minutes

Drawing of a classical building facade with columns and a balustrade. The image showcases linear perspective and architectural detail.

essay

Architecture

Being in a building

One of the great buildings of the Renaissance reminds us that buildings are made to be explored, smelled and even tasted

David Karmon

Reflection of a structure in teal water with scattered leaves floating on the surface, creating abstract, wavy patterns.

essay

Architecture

Heritage at sea

Must we simply accept the loss of beloved buildings and cities to the floods and rising seas of the climate crisis?

Thijs Weststeijn

A person sits alone at a desk near large windows with a city skyline view. The ceiling above has a wavy, golden design.

essay

Architecture

Acoustic naturalism

Our movies and offices are engineered to sound natural based on what rang false in the theatres of 18th-century Paris

Joseph L Clarke

Rows of brown high-rise apartment buildings with balconies and numerous windows, closely packed together.

video

Architecture

A whirlwind tour of Hong Kong’s high-rises is an awesome meditation on urbanity

9 minutes

A smoke-filled tent in a snowy landscape with people and sledges under a clear blue sky.

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Architecture

Cultural wisdom begets cozy temporary homes for the Nenets of the Siberian Arctic

32 minutes

A small shack with a black front, green extension and Union Jack flag in a grassy field under a clear sky.

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Architecture

A world of shacks and shanties is a place of makeshift beauty on England’s margins

12 minutes

The intricate ceiling of the Sagrada Família basilica, showing columns and geometric, star-shaped patterns illuminated by lights.

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Architecture

Surreal, audacious, unfinished – the Sagrada Família remains a divine work in progress

6 minutes

An illustrated Ottoman map of a coastal city with walled fortifications, numerous buildings, palm trees, a compass rose and Arabic text.

essay

Cities

The city is a lie

From Ancient Egypt’s deltas to Edinburgh’s crags and peaks, the city pushes back against the dream of human separateness

Sam Grinsell