blueprint for living

Internationally renowned designer Bethan Laura Wood is building a library like no other; she gives us a tour of Kaleidoscope-o-rama, her artwork informed by the interiors, furniture and objects that were the backdrop for conversation and knowledge exchange among women of the aristocracy in England during the Regency period of the late eighteenth to early nineteenth century.

Nam Le, award winning author of The Boat, takes us to the two places that shaped him as a writer: under the vast sky and  amidst the dramatic weather of Iowa City and a barn in Provincetown, against the howling wind of the North Atlantic, where he committed to a life in writing.

Legend of Australian gastronomy, Florentino’s Guy Grossi makes a simple braised calamari pasta and reflects on the legacy of his parents, the weight of expectation and the importance of tradition.

Besha Rodell, Chief Restaurant Critic, The Age/Good Food, casts her gaze back on the food scene that was in 2023 and makes her predictions for 2024.

Journalist and author Nathan Thrall takes us to the city he calls the most divided in the world – his home city of Jerusalem; a place of segregated neighbourhoods, 26-foot tall concrete walls, of borders and checkpoints.

For a long time, the so called Australian dream of home ownership, produced a uniformity in the kinds of homes that were built and reinforced limits on architectural possibility; Professor of architecture and host of Grand Designs: Transformations, Anthony Burke, discusses the legacy of this and the role of architecture in resisting the homogenising effects of economic insecurity.

Angela Riechers, writer, art director, educator, and author of The elements of visual grammar: A designer's guide for writers, scholars and professionals, discusses the history of Neutraface and explains how and why this typeface became so ubiquitous.

Exposed brick, smashed avocado, hanging Edison bulbs, the patina of industry and reclaimed wood furniture – this is the algorithmic aesthetic writer and critic, Kyle Chayka investigates in his new book, Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture. He discusses the political and psychological implications of this ubiquitous global ambience and what it means to live in a machine-curated world.

Former finance minister of Greece and bestselling author Yanis Varoufakis reflects on growing up in the shadow of the Parthenon, on his idyllic childhood and its contrast to the brutal political reality against which it was set, and the paradoxes of cultural, architectural and political life in Greece.

Kevin McCloud discusses the definition of good design, why Grand Designs is such a compelling proposition, and the sartorial exigencies of filming at a building site (featuring, ballerina leggings, long johns and two – sometimes three - pairs of socks).

Psychoanalyst and Professor of Modern Literary Theory at Goldsmiths, University of London, Josh Cohen,  reflects on the contradictions, conflicts and the disordered and divided appetites of the modern individual.

Fashion critic and health sandal convert, Kirstie Clements, charts the history of our embrace of comfort wear and explains how – through an appreciation of plaid, canvas chore jackets and cargo pants – she came to embrace her inner Canadian survivalist.

Author Lucy Treloar is a master of writing place. In her latest novel the near ghost-town Terowie – a place rich in metaphorical resonance - is transformed into the fictional town of Wirowie, through which she explores themes of abandonment, haunting and loss. She reflects on the way in which the past insists through the landscape and the unique, evocative character of South Australia’s geography.

When Bee Wilson’s husband of 23 years left her, amidst the shock and grief, she wondered if she’d been paying attention to the wrong things: a lifetime of food and cooking suddenly acquired a new significance.

Legendary Australian chef and owner of Brae, Dan hunter, whose stock in culinary trade revolves around produce and blindingly inspired innovation, reveals what he would make for final meal on earth.

As Victoria announces the end of native forest logging we talk to Jack Pascoe about the imposition of European style land management on the Australian landscape and what a future Victorian forest should look like. 

Architecture critic, Owen Hatherley, discusses his book, Artificial Islands - Adventures in the Dominions which explores the legacy of British-designed cities - some of the most purely artificial landscapes in the world - and the ways in which cities like Melbourne and Auckland are today reimagining their own history.

What comes to mind when you think about the word wilderness? For many, it conjures up images of pristine, wild landscapes untouched by humans. But increasingly, the term's being recast, as environmental records show that 'wilderness' is a relatively recent phenomenon.

From Gwyneth Paltrow’s court-core to Logan Roy’s baseball cap, Kirstie Clements, author and columnist at The New Daily, discusses what has been identified as the latest fashion trend - stealth wealth.

It's been dubbed the landlord special: beige-grey laminate, vast empty spaces, and colourless walls. Architecture correspondent for The Nation and author of McMansion Hell, Kate Wagner on the emergence of a disturbing new anti-aesthetic and the cultural and economic conditions in which aesthetic conformity is produced.