Author: Marcus Trimble

bdonline revisits New Zealand House in London, one of the last instances of a gesamtkunstwerk and one of the earliest British examples of the podium and tower typology pioneered by SOM’s Gordon Bunschaft in Lever House.  The building was designed as the seat of the country’s high commission and as a ‘beacon for New Zealand,’…

Megumi Sasaki’s new documentary HERB & DOROTHY tells the story of a librarian and a postal worker who managed to build an  important contemporary art collection on very modest means by adhering to two limitations: the piece has to be affordable and it had to be small enough to fit in their one-bedroom Manhattan apartment.…

Stephen Bayley, The Observer’s architecture critic, reflects on the battle for Chelsea Barracks between Richard Rogers and Prince Charles: “Imagine how the medical profession would react if Charles came down against MRI scanning and advocated druidical haruscopy in its place. The equivalent has happened in architecture.” More here.

The Observer meets a new generation of British architects who claim to be forging a fresh approach for the 21st century.

Kraftwerk’s Ralf Hütter gives a rare interview to the Guardian.

Spiegel Online reports on the success of the Pirate Party in the recent European parliamentary elections where they captured 7.1 percent of votes in Sweden.  Their campaign platform consists of abolishing patents, limiting copyrights to a few years and ensuring the citizens’ rights to privacy are respected.