essayDesign and fashion
Walk in these
Shoes are deeply personal, literally moulded to our lives. But they create our social lives as much as express them
Matthew McCormack
videoDesign and fashion
A ceramicist puts her own bawdy spin on the folk language of pottery
14 minutes
videoHome
How an artist transformed a dilapidated hunting lodge into a house made of dreams
8 minutes
essayDesign and fashion
When luxury is good
The waste and exploitation of fast fashion shouldn’t blind us to the joys of making beautiful clothing with care
Roger Tredre
videoInformation and communication
An animation built from road signs is a whirlwind study of flash communication
2 minutes
videoMaking
Trek to a remote Himalayan village where artisans craft teapots fit for kings
11 minutes
essayDesign and fashion
Sitting on the art
Given its intimacy with the body and deep play on form and function, furniture is a ripely ambiguous artform of its own
Emma Crichton Miller
videoEngineering
A close-up look at electronic paper reveals its exquisite patterns – and limitations
9 minutes
videoDesign and fashion
The ornate, the aromatic, the cruel – Valentine’s cards before the age of Hallmark
16 minutes
videoRituals and celebrations
The spectacular Mardi Gras artworks born of a unique New Orleans tradition
16 minutes
essayHistory of technology
A silken web
From its mythic beginnings in a Chinese garden, the story of silk is a window into how weaving has shaped human history
Peter Frankopan, Marie-Louise Nosch & Feng Zhao
essayNature and landscape
The mystic art of gardening
In an era of 20th-century suburban sprawl, the great designer Russell Page infused soulful philosophy into his gardens
Caleb Smith
videoDesign and fashion
From spark of inspiration to final press – how William Blake built a book of poetry
8 minutes
videoDesign and fashion
The mundane becomes mesmerising in this deep dive into segmented displays
14 minutes
videoArchitecture
Tour the European architecture that dreamed of a wondrous, fictitious China
16 minutes
videoDesign and fashion
The art of Istanbul dances to life in a tribute to the city’s timeless beauty
4 minutes
videoThe ancient world
What wine vessels reveal about politics and luxury in ancient Athens and Persia
16 minutes
videoDesign and fashion
Refined towards imperfection – a ceramic artist recreates a rare Korean treasure
15 minutes
videoDesign and fashion
Household items are reborn in a ‘visual symphony of everyday objects’
11 minutes
videoDesign and fashion
From sheep to sea – an ode to the iconic sweater that warms Cornish sailors
4 minutes
essayAnimals and humans
Semiotics of dogs
In all its baroque and sometimes cruelly overbred forms, the dog is a paramount symbol of both human hopes and foibles
Katrina Gulliver
videoHistory of technology
Unravelling the surprisingly epic story of the world’s oldest pair of trousers
45 minutes
essayDesign and fashion
The Waste Age
Recognising that waste is central, not peripheral, to everything we design, make and do is key to transforming the future
Justin McGuirk
videoInformation and communication
There are many ways to make a flat map of the world – each of them a unique distortion
10 minutes