Renovations: A Tour Of A Modern Home In Sydney

The Local Project (June 13, 2023) – Inspired by the familiar warmth of a family home, Luigi Rosselli Architects has renovated an ageing house in a thoughtful and fluid way.

Video timeline: 00:00 – Introduction to the Family House 00:31 – An Eclectic Layered Home 01:13 – The Location and A Walkthrough of the Home 02:07 – The Brief 02:51 – A Focus on the Fire Place 03:07 – Glowy, Warm and Textural 03:25 – A Beautifully Crafted Kitchen 03:50 – The Feature Staircase 05:40 – Positive Outcomes 06:09 – Proud Moments 06:22 – Favourite Aspects of the Home

Structural interventions and refreshed interiors keep valuable portions of the home whilst welcoming in contemporary layers to fit a modern context. Upon entering the house, one is greeted by an old hallway and a beautiful, robust spiral staircase designed by S&A Stairs, which binds the home together.

The stairs demonstrate fine craftsmanship and attention to detail, featuring a continuous handrail with a smooth elliptical curve and a unique curved bend. At the top of the stairs is a lightwell that bathes the long hallway in light. Down the hallway are five bedrooms, three bathrooms and a sunken lounge that extends into the kitchen and dining beyond – all of which are bordered by a lush tropical garden.

The renovation is defined by a tangible fluidity, with one of the main reworkings being the relocation of the garage, which was previously located in the centre of the house. Instead, the garage has moved below the existing house to make room for the sunken lounge, creating a well-connected home with more usable space. The fireplace lies at the centre of this new area, adding to the warm and welcoming nature of the open living area, and features a fluted travertine around the edges which not only reveals the curves of its unique form but also brings texture into the lounge room.

Art & Architecture Tour: Château La Coste, France

Château La Coste is a unique mix of contemporary art, architecture, and wine culture. A succulent cocktail for the eyes and the tastebuds.

Across 200 hectares (130 of which are full of grape vines), vineyards, chestnut forests, and olive tree fields spread as far as the eye can see into the Provençal horizon. It’s an invitation to take a walk for a veritable symphony of the senses, magnificent enough to have its own name – the Promande Art & Architecture.

The path – about a two-hour walk – will take you through a series of artworks and installations from contemporary artists invited to work on site. Just off the path, sitting atop a vast lake, admire the immense spider created by Franco-American artist Louise Bourgeois. Sitting at the top of the hill, next to the chapel created by Tadao Ando, raise your eyes and take in the great red Murano glass cross, imagined by Jean Michel Othonel.

The jaw-dropping surprises will lead you to the center of a forest, where you’ll find yourself face-to-face with foxes – but don’t worry! The creatures are cast in bronze, borne of the talent of American artist Michael Stipe.

Harvard Business Review – July/August 2023 Issue

Harvard Business Review (June 12, 2023) – Gen AI and the New Age of Human Creativity: How revolutionary technology can enhance, rather than replace, our powers of imagination.

How Generative AI Can Augment Human Creativity

Use it to promote divergent thinking. 

There is tremendous apprehension about the potential of generative AI—technologies that can create new content such as audio, text, images, and video—to replace people in many jobs. But one of the biggest opportunities generative AI offers to businesses and governments is to augment human creativity and overcome the challenges of democratizing innovation.

The TV You Watch When You’re Young Can Make You More Entrepreneurial

Having studied TV signals in East Germany from the 1960s to 1989 and rates of entrepreneurship there after German reunification, the researchers found that people in households with access to West German broadcasts were more likely than other East Germans to launch companies later in life.

Tours: Brooklyn Botanic Garden Bonsai Museum

Eastern Leaf Films (June 12, 2023) – A walking tour of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s Bonsai Museum. The museum is curated by David Castro, who does an amazing job of caring for the trees and their presentation.

Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s world-class bonsai collection is displayed in the C.V. Starr Bonsai Museum. Some of the trees are well over a century old, with many still cultivated in their original containers.

The display changes with the seasons, and as many as 30 specimens are on exhibit at any given time. More than 400 temperate and tropical bonsai trained in classic modes such as the windswept, slanted trunk, rock clinging, and forest styles are included in the collection, one of the largest on display outside Japan.

News: Trump Arraigned In Miami, Counteroffensive In Ukraine, Oslo Forum

The Globalist Podcast, Tuesday, June 13, 2023: Donald Trump is set to be arraigned in Florida today. We head to Miami for the latest.

Plus: Ukraine’s counteroffensive, NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg’s possible replacements and why are Germany and France celebrating their friendship with free train tickets?

The New York Times – Tuesday, June 13, 2023

Image

NATO Members Use a Major Air Exercise to Send a Message to Russia

Lt. Gen. Ingo Gerhartz, second from left, of the German Air Force at the military air base in Wunstorf, Germany, on Monday.

More than 200 planes from 25 countries gathered in Germany for the largest-scale war games in decades, held with an eye on the war in Ukraine.

Fear and Mayhem as Russia’s War Comes Home

Attacks from Ukraine have killed at least a dozen Russian civilians and displaced thousands. But they have not fundamentally changed the calculus for Vladimir Putin.

Silvio Berlusconi, a Showman Who Upended Italian Politics and Culture, Dies at 86

He introduced sex and glamour to Italian TV and then brought the same formula to politics, dominating the country and its culture for more than 20 years.

JPMorgan to Pay $290 Million in Settlement With Epstein’s Victims

The proposed deal would settle a suit on behalf of victims who were sexually abused by Jeffrey Epstein, over claims the bank ignored warnings about him.

Travel Tour: Iseltwald On Lake Brienz, Switzerland

Jeka Traveler Films (June 12, 2023) – Iseltwald is a small fishing village that’s situated on the edge of Lake Brienz – one of the most stunning turquoise lakes in Switzerland. It’s part of the Jungfrau Region in Bernese Oberland and is not too far from the increasingly popular town of Interlaken.

Filmed on June 1, 2023

Travel Guides: A Tour Of Geneva, Switzerland

Attaché Travel Films (June 12, 2023) – What a great time we had filming in Geneva, Switzerland. I’m joined by my dear friend Paul Papadimitriou, a native Genevan, as we explore everything Geneva has to offer.

Video timeline: 00:00 – Intro 00:59 – Transport 07:10 – Sponsor 08:09 – Food 16:40 – Money

Paul offers many insider tips for making the most of your time in this Swiss city, including all the delicious food offerings that Geneva has to offer; Swiss chocolate, fondue, and…bison?!

Opinion: Ukraine Strikes Back, Apple’s Vision Pro, The Global Cities Index

‘Editor’s Picks’ Podcast (June 12, 2023) A selection of three essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist – Ukraine strikes back, why Apple’s new Vision Pro gadget matters (9:00) and the results of our new global cities index (13:35).

Ukraine strikes back

The counter-offensive is getting under way. The next few weeks will be critical

Trailed ten days early with a blood-stirring video in which Ukrainian troops asked God to bless their “sacred revenge”, Ukraine’s counter-offensive is under way. For weeks its armed forces have conducted probing and shaping operations along the 1,000km front line, looking for weaknesses and confusing the Russians.

Apple’s Vision Pro is an incredible machine. Now to find out what it is for

The Apple Vision Pro headset in a showroom on the Apple campus in Cupertino, California.

The meaning of “spatial computing”

Apple’s message is clear: after desktop and mobile computing, the next big tech era will be spatial computing—also known as augmented reality—in which computer graphics are overlaid on the world around the user.

Amoral cities are flourishing in a turbulent geopolitical era

Visitors at Jewel Changi Airport mall in Singapore

Our index ranks economic performance over the past three years

 In order to assess which are thriving in this new era, The Economist has compiled a rough-and-ready index. It scrutinises a sample of ten locations, looking at changes in four measures—population, economic growth, office vacancies and house prices—over the past three years.

Reviews: The ‘African And Oceanic Art’ Collection Of France’s Hélène Leloup

Sotheby’s (June 12, 2023) – Hélène Leloup is one of the art world’s true pioneers, bringing together a spirit of adventure, a detailed anthropological approach and deep knowledge to become one of the foremost specialists in African and Oceanic art in Paris and New York. 

Now aged 96, Hélène is regarded as France’s most important and passionate dealer of sub-Saharan and Oceanic art, an adventurer and explorer, ground-breaking gallerist and collector, and eminent specialist in Mbembe and Dogon art, ever since her first foray to Dakar in 1952.

News, Views and Reviews For The Intellectually Curious