James Taylor-Foster

Details About Colomina and Wigley’s 3rd Istanbul Design Biennial—”Are We Human?”—Revealed

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The European Space Agency's vizualisation of space debris orbiting Earth. Image Courtesy of "Are We Human" / 3. Istanbul Tasarim Bienali

The 3rd Istanbul Design Biennial, which will officially open on the 22nd October 2016 and last for four weeks, will ask the question: Are We Human? Encompassing a wide range of ideas related to The Design of the Species, from timeframes of 2 Seconds to 2 Days, 2 Years, 200 Years and 200,000 Years, the international show will revolve around one pressing provocation: that design itself needs to be redesigned. It will do so by exploring the intimate relationship between the concepts of "design" and "humanity."

Five primary venues—the Galata Greek Primary School, Studio-X Istanbul and Depo in Karaköy, Alt in Bomonti, and the Istanbul Archaeological Museums in Sultanahmet—will house more than 70 projects by designers, architects, artists, historians, archaeologists and scientists from thirteen countries. In order to "rethink design from the very beginning of humanity," the Biennial will be organised into four overlapping

Chinese public health poster depicting the body as a machine (1930). Image Courtesy of "Are We Human" / 3. Istanbul Tasarim Bienali

Monocle 24 Ask: Why is Architectural Preservation Important?

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With UNESCO's recent announcement that 17 buildings by Le Corbusier are to be added to the World Heritage List, Monocle 24's Section D speaks to a number of organisations—including the Twentieth Century Society, devotees of Frank Lloyd Wright in Arizona, London's Victoria Albert Museum, and the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian in New York City—in order to understand why architectural preservation is important, and who decides what’s worth saving.

Find out more about Monocle 24's Section D here.

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Ando, Botta & Glancey on the Dream of Venice, Photographed by Riccardo De Cal

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© Riccardo De Cal Dream of Venice Architecture, the second in a series by Bella Figura Publications, has brought together a collection of contemporary architects and architectural writers to share their personal experiences of La Serenissima: the great Italian city of Venice. "Water runs through her veins," Editor JoAnn Locktov writes. "Bridges, palaces, churches – every structure is a testament to the resiliency of imagination."

What can we learn from a city that is over 1,500 years old? How does her immutable reality challenge our own sense of urban living? Venice was built where no land ever existed.

"Riccardo De Cal took a photograph for each essay," Locktov continues. "He has illustrated the words with an evocative Venice; one that basks in blue winter light, sleeps quietly and becomes an apparition when shrouded in fog. This is the Venice that

Round-Up: Tall Stories From Monocle 24’s ‘The Urbanist’

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Courtesy of Monocle A new collection of five minute-long Tall Stories—developed by the team behind The Urbanist, Monocle 24's weekly "guide to making better cities—guide the listener through the condensed narratives of a series of architectural projects from around the globe, encompassing their conception, development, use and, in some cases, eventual demise. We've selected eight of our favorites from the ongoing series, ranging from London’s Casson Pavilion to Honolulu's Waikiki Natatorium War Memorial, and the Estadio Centenario stadium in Montevideo.

Find out more about Monocle 24's The Urbanist here.

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It’s All in a Cup of Coffee (or, Indeed, Tea): Does Café Culture Embody the Idea of Europe?

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Da Florian in Venice (2013). © Gianni Berengo Gardin. Image Courtesy of Caffe Florian

In 2003 George Steiner—a Paris-born, American, UK-based literary critic, philosopher and essayist—gave a lecture in Tilburg, a small Dutch city on the Belgian border. His talk, which he called “The Idea of Europe,” was delivered through the Nexus Institute, making some waves in certain circles but, ultimately, was not widely discussed. I found a copy of the transcript earlier this year in Amsterdam’s Athenaeum[1], who had tucked it in the corner of a sunken room on a shelf devoted to "Brexit." I read and read it the following day while on a journey to Brussels.

As I trundled across the Flemish hinterland Steiner’s words, delivered with judicious insight and a reassuring cautionary edge, served as a reminder of one irrevocable fact: that Europe is a continent “of linguistic, cultural, [and] social diversity;” a “mosaic”[2] of communities that have

The Floating Piers Opens on Lake Iseo Allowing Visitors to “Walk on Water”

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© Christo Beginning this week, and lasting for only sixteen days, visitors to the Italian Lake Iseo can "walk on water." The Floating Piers is the work of Christo and Jeanne-Claude, based on an idea first conceived in 1970. Built using 100,000 square meters of shimmering yellow fabric, carried by a modular floating dock system of 220,000 high-density polyethylene cubes, the installation—which sits just above water level—undulates with the movement of the lake. According to Italian news source, Leggo, two people were "seriously injured" and the installation was "evacuated" on its opening day due to the quantity of visitors and inclement weather conditions.

Those who experience The Floating Piers will feel like they are walking on water – or perhaps the back of a whale.

From June 15 until the afternoon of June 17, the teams deployed 100,000 square meters of bright yellow fabric on the quays and pedestrian streets in Sulzano and Peschiera Maraglio. Image © Wolfgang Volz

April 2016: Workers begin to surround the island of San Paolo, with the first floating elements. Image © Wolfgang Volz

Gallery: Wolfgang Buttress’ Relocated Expo Pavilion, The Hive, Photographed by Laurian Ghinitoiu

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© Laurian Ghinitoiu Wolfgang Buttress’ The Hive, a Gold Medal-winning UK Pavilion originally built for the 2015 Milan Expo, has been relocated to the Kew botanical gardens in central London. The striking (and photogenic) "beehive" was designed by the British practice to provide visitors with a glimpse into the life of a working bee; its 169,300 individual aluminium components—reaching 17-meters tall and fitted with hundreds of LED lights—created a multi-sensory experience that shed light on the importance of the pollinator. Following its relocation, photographer Laurian Ghinitoiu has turned his lens to this installation and its new home.

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