Our Zoom Date Backstage at the Natural History Museum in London

James Maclaine has been working at the Natural History Museum in London since the late 90s. He pretty much had the whole place to himself during the lockdowns, caring for thousands of specimens including the museum’s mind-boggling collection of pickle jars, some of which contain creatures that date to the voyages of Charles Darwin. We were…

The Strange Tale of the Identical Twins’ Mirrored Mansion

Just outside a small, rural Wisconsin farm town, lay the ruins of a grand mansion. In stark contrast to the flat, surrounding fields and scattered barns, was the peculiar sight of a once opulent home that wouldn’t have looked out of place on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue during the Gilded Age. For years, mystery surrounded the…

Inside the Imaginarium of a Solarpunk Architect

Imagine a world in which nature is intertwined with the industrial: giant lotus flowers replace concrete skyscrapers; an urban forest forms a city constantly in shift through a tree’s life cycle. This is the imaginarium of Belgian architect Luc Schuiten. To discover his work is to fall under the spell of a colourful cosmos, where…

I Have This Thing with Swedish Stoves

Ask someone to describe Swedish interior design and they’ll probably give you a one word answer: IKEA. But here’s another word: kakelugn. No, it’s not the name for another ready-to-assemble IKEA product line, but rather, the exquisite and unique tiled stoves found in homes throughout Sweden since the 18th century. Looking like giant elaborate chess…

Why Are Women Still Fighting for their Chance to Compete in the Tour de France?

It’s 1st July 1903, we’re in Montgeron, a southeastern suburb of Paris positioned in front of the Reveil Matin café on the rue Jean-Jaurès. Excitement is in the air as 60 hopeful male cyclists line up at the starting line, eager to test their stamina in a new competition called the Tour de France. The…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. DLVII)

1. Diaolou — multi-storey defensive watchtowers of China Found in rural Guangdong, generally made of reinforced concrete, diaolou structures are one of the most spectacular and eclectic examples of fusion between Chinese and Western architecture. Found on Urban Foxxxx via This isn’t Happiness. 2. A Secret garden of mini Italian buildings to be conserved Off…

K-pop Con Artists: A Cautionary Gen Z Tale

If you need a beginner’s introduction to the Gen Z world of K-pop, it’s advisable to do so by removing our rose-tinted glasses first. Over the last ten years, K-pop has become rooted in the Western musical landscape. This is due in large part to the intense fanbase that K-pop idols have managed to amass…

Here’s What a Futurist World’s Fair Looked like Behind the Iron Curtain

The World’s Fairs used to capture the public’s imagination. From the millions who attended such iconic Fairs as the ones held in New York in 1939 and 1964, to the nostalgia they’re viewed with today, the World’s Fairs were places where people could catch glimpses of a futuristic better world; seeing such technological marvels as…

The Endlessly Inspiring DIY World of Maude Smith

I’ve just found another kindred spirit. Someone who understands my deep-rooted Capricorn need to find new uses for old or unwanted things. Maude Smith is the kind of person that will cover her entire kitchen in wine corks, shells and pieces of broken crockery. Rather than re-tiling her bathroom, she’ll meticulously paint every single tile…

America’s “Best Dressed Woman”, the Original Flapper who got the World Dancing Again

You might not know her name, but a century ago, Irene Castle was the household name at the dawn of the Roaring Twenties. Historians consider her to be the first original flapper but in her lifetime, Irene wore many hats: dancer, model, actress, animal activist, and fashion trendsetter. She left an enormous influence on American…