With the dominance of ‘black box’ minimalist des
ign in the 1970s it was hardly surprising that the next big movement would head in the opposite direction, towards more decoration; it didn’t have anywhere else to go.
Once the Bauhaus mantra of ‘form follows function’ had been reduced to its absolute basic skeleton, a quiet revolution began in Italy.
New York is pack
ed with fascinating corners but few are more unique and quirkily charming than über-fashionable TriBeCa.
Gaining its name from a description of its location in Lower Manhattan (the Triangle Below Canal Street), this bustling area is bounded by Canal Street, West Street, Courtlandt Alley, Broadway and Chambers Street and was New York’s first residential neighbourhood, with suitable homes being constructed as early as the late 1700s. By the mid 1800s the tone of the area had changed completely and large numbers of store and loft buildings dominated.
To the uninitiated, the New York Yacht Club might seem just that, a yacht club somewhere in New York. For those in the know, however, the very name is legendary – and synonymous with the very best in yachting tradition.
The long-awaited showdown in Valencia between holders Alinghi and America’s Cup challengers Oracle saw this most venerated of yachting’s trophies return to its ancestral home in the US as the American team beat the Swiss champions to take the trophy back home.
The high-tech Oracle trimaran proved too strong for the Alinghi catamaran, scoring two back-to-back victories and taking the second win with a more than five-minute lead over their European rivals. Oracle’s victory was hailed in the US, as it is the first American win since 1995, when the San Diego Yacht Club beat the Compagnia della Vela di Venezia.
The Iberian Peninsula is dotted with magnificent monuments of bygone days, witnesses to some of the most intriguing chapters of European history. The great event that shook this land was the Moorish conquest, initiated in 711 with the arrival of Tariq and his forces, and the subsequent Christian Reconquest that would start shortly afterwards and culminate with the retaking of Granada in 1492.
Like a velvet revolution, a seamless new movement is making its presence felt in the upper echelons of men’s couture. Savile Row, the bastion of tailored quality, is being challenged by a new generation of couturiers that revive old-fashioned skills whilst creating exciting new designs. Oscar Udeshi is one of the leading lights of this new direction in men’s fashion.
The former banker had a career that involved travel, money and great perks, yet he gave it all up to commit himself to an entirely new calling. Rather than simply join the legions of designer wannabes, this economics and philosophy graduate really had something to say, and it’s a message that is helping to revitalise London’s luxury men’s fashion sector.
To experience the Cirque du Soleil is to embark upon a sensory voyage in which one is transported to another world where gravity seems to have no hold and shapes, colours and sound blend into one. Like Alice in Wonderland come to life, this is a successful melange of circus, theatre, art and acrobatics that transcends age in its appeal. Cirque du Soleil is hard to define because there is nothing to compare it to; this unique experience that draws from other art forms sets the yardstick for modern performing arts because it is, in effect, the greatest live show of the modern era.
BIG