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About cosmopolitanscum

Journalist, writer, commentator, blogging about architecture, urbanism and design from a humanist perspective.

At Home With Jimmy Carter and Don DeLillo

Posted on April 25, 2012

I read White Noise recently and noticed by chance that Picador have bizarrely just published a 40th anniversary edition of Don DeLillo’s book, although it was first published in 1985. Perhaps it is the accumulated prescience of the book that … Continue reading →

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Living Inside Dead Turtles.

Posted on April 24, 2012

What is happening in this image below, badly captured on my phone? Is it a picture of a man under threat from a natural disaster? Is it a warning? If it is, what is it a warning against? The man … Continue reading →

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Inspiration: Nigel Peake

Posted on March 2, 2012

I have been following the work of illustrator Nigel Peake since I published his student thesis in the Scottish architecture magazine Prospect just before he won a Silver Commendation in the RIBA President’s Medal in 2005.  Since then he has … Continue reading →

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Live at the Aquatic

Posted on February 21, 2012

18th Fina Visa Diving World Cup, Monday 20 February 2012 at the Aquatics Centre in the Olympic Park London. First competitive use of the Aquatics Centre diving boards.

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Price Was Right

Posted on February 20, 2012

Fantastic news that the Cedric Price Potteries Thinkbelt exhibition curated by Barnabas Calder and designed by Alan Pert of Nord has made it to London from the Lighthouse in Glasgow. This great exhibitions reinvigorates Price’s plans and drawings as a … Continue reading →

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UNESCO and its discontents

Posted on February 19, 2012

Reblogged from citythreepointzero: Edinburgh Castle and the Old Town, from Salisbury Crags A question via twitter from ‘Feria Urbanism’ (hi there..): should Liverpool fear the loss of UNESCO World Heritage Site status? The question refers to Peel Holdings’ ‘Liverpool Waters’, … Continue reading →

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Welcome To The Velodrome

Posted on February 17, 2012

UCI Track Cycling World Cup, Thursday 16th February 2012, Men and Women’s Team Pursuit Qualification. First time the Olympic Park Velodrome in London is used for competition.

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All Your Base Are Built By Us.

Posted on February 8, 2012

As the BBC former Economic Editor Evan Davis pointed out in his recent TV series Made in Britain, not only is the UK still the 5th largest industrial nation, but it reached its peak industrial production not in 1890 or … Continue reading →

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What Did the Constructivists Ever Do For Us?

Posted on February 2, 2012

With the exhibition Building the Revolution now closed in London,  it is worth reflecting on the way in which the achievements of the Constructivists have been revisited and reinvented. Indeed, I would argue that this process rather than any slavish … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Isi Metzstein 1928 – 2012

Posted on January 11, 2012

I didn’t know Isi Metzstein as well as those who worked with and studied under him nor, of course, his family. Two days after his death now, there will be individuals he worked alongside at the Glasgow School of Art … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment