Last updated on June 4th, 2021My visit to Steinway pianos factory in Hamburg was a trip down black and white nostalgia lane. The first piece I ever penned for my creative writing degree was a portrait of my piano teacher, Sharko Hilbert. I chose her as my subject matter because I was still rooted in…
A Tour of Strawberry Hill House in Twickenham
Last updated on May 15th, 2022Strawberry Hill House in London’s leafy suburb of Twickenham is possibly the most unusual house in London. If Oscar Wilde and Nicky Haslam had sired a love child in the eighteenth century, I think it would have been its architect, a Horatio “Horace” Walpole. He had wit, he had style,…
Behind the Scenes of the new Royal Academy
Last updated on January 19th, 2019 The Royal Wedding isn’t the only big event in London on Saturday 19 May. The Royal Academy opens its newly buffed doors to a new two-acre campus with 70% more public spaces and a bridge linking Burlington House on Piccadilly to 6 Burlington Gardens in Mayfair. And to mark…
Azzedine Scissorhands
Last updated on September 1st, 2018He was small in stature, but he was an exalted giant in the world of fashion. Azzedine Alaïa was the wizard who fashioned wearable works of art for the likes of Greta Garbo, Grace Jones, Michelle Obama, Tina Turner, Lady Gaga and the Crazy Horse girls. And an exhibition, Azzedine…
A Tour of Turner’s House in London
Last updated on May 15th, 2022Most people I speak to don’t know about Turner’s house in Twickenham. You won’t see his famous seascapes in Sandycombe Lodge, his west London home in the borough of Richmond-upon-Thames, but you will be in the presence of the only three-dimensional work of art Joseph Mallord William Turner’sleft behind: the…
Art Review: Imagine Moscow
Last updated on March 14th, 2018If you’re a fan of Fritz Lang’s futuristic Bauhaus-inspired science fiction film Metropolis, then you’ll be a fan of Imagine Moscow: Architecture, Propaganda, Revolution which opens today at the Design Museum in London. Imagine this: a Moscow city centre which rivals Manhattan and which includes a network of horizontal skyscrapers and…