Zhang Xin, the renowned Chinese entrepreneur who used her love of architecture and brilliant business acumen to reshape Beijing and Shanghai’s skyline, has turned her attention to a new challenge: film producer. In September 2022, the billionaire businesswoman — who spent her teenage years working in Hong Kong garment and electronics factories — resigned as CEO of Soho China, one of the world’s preeminent real estate companies she built with her husband, and took up permanent residence in New York City.
Zhang will celebrate the one-year anniversary of leaving Soho at the 2023 Toronto Film Festival, where the Manhattan-based Closer Media, the startup indie production and financing venture she runs with veteran indie producer William Horberg, has no fewer than three films screening. Horberg’s numerous credits include The Queen’s Gambit and The Kite Runner.
Their Toronto lineup includes the Tony Goldwyn-directed Ezra, a dramedy about an autistic 11-year-old who embarks...
Zhang will celebrate the one-year anniversary of leaving Soho at the 2023 Toronto Film Festival, where the Manhattan-based Closer Media, the startup indie production and financing venture she runs with veteran indie producer William Horberg, has no fewer than three films screening. Horberg’s numerous credits include The Queen’s Gambit and The Kite Runner.
Their Toronto lineup includes the Tony Goldwyn-directed Ezra, a dramedy about an autistic 11-year-old who embarks...
- 9/9/2023
- by Pamela McClintock
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
In Sophie Barthes’ third feature, sci-fi satire “The Pod Generation,” which plays in the Premieres strand at the Sundance Film Festival, the French-born director explores A.I., commodification, motherhood and our relationship to both technology and nature, as well as critiquing progress, consumerism and our way of life.
“The Pod Generation,” which Barthes also wrote and exec produced is the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize Winner, and follows Rachel (Emilia Clarke) and Alvy (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a New York couple who are ready to take their relationship to the next level and start a family, embarking on a pregnancy journey via detachable artificial wombs.
“Although we conceived the technology, it should be here to help us, but I actually think it’s making us disconnect from our instincts” Barthes tells Variety. “We tend to put so much faith now in the fact that technology can do so many things for us.
“The Pod Generation,” which Barthes also wrote and exec produced is the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize Winner, and follows Rachel (Emilia Clarke) and Alvy (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a New York couple who are ready to take their relationship to the next level and start a family, embarking on a pregnancy journey via detachable artificial wombs.
“Although we conceived the technology, it should be here to help us, but I actually think it’s making us disconnect from our instincts” Barthes tells Variety. “We tend to put so much faith now in the fact that technology can do so many things for us.
- 1/21/2023
- by Tara Karajica
- Variety Film + TV
Ever wondered what it’s like to live the life of a luxury real estate broker in New York City? Bravo has you covered. “Million Dollar Listing New York” follows five of NYC’s best real estate agents as they take you through selling properties in the big city. From listing properties to open houses to final sales, fans get to see where the wealthy call home.
This Emmy-nominated show is a spin-off of Bravo’s popular “Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles.” But instead of focusing on selling mansions in LA, this series takes fans inside the penthouses of Manhattan. It follows a unique cast of big-selling real estate agents that come from all corners of the world. While viewers always love seeing the glamorous side of New York, it’s the cast that keeps fans coming back.
Who Are the Realtors on “Million Dollar Listing New York?”
The cast...
This Emmy-nominated show is a spin-off of Bravo’s popular “Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles.” But instead of focusing on selling mansions in LA, this series takes fans inside the penthouses of Manhattan. It follows a unique cast of big-selling real estate agents that come from all corners of the world. While viewers always love seeing the glamorous side of New York, it’s the cast that keeps fans coming back.
Who Are the Realtors on “Million Dollar Listing New York?”
The cast...
- 7/8/2022
- by Buddy TV
- buddytv.com
Ride Along
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Life Goals
The Quarto Group Little People, Big Dreams book set spotlighting Coco Chanel, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Audrey Hepburn, Iris Apfel and Zaha Hadid (other sets include Women in Art and Black Voices); Oprah Winfrey just named them one of her favorite things; $80, at neimanmarcus.com
NYC vs. L.A. Smaller Things
“Good Night, New York City” and “Good Night, Los Angeles” organic cotton printed PJs (kids sizes 2 to 10); $38 each, smallerthings.com
Empowering Pals
Piccolina Trailblazer dolls including Frida Kahlo, Rbg and astronaut Mae Jemison; $50 apiece, piccolinakids.com
It’s Showtime
Wireless ...
Ride Along Ambosstoys Primo Classic balance scooter (ages 1 to 5 years); $199, amazon.com
Life Goals
The Quarto Group Little People, Big Dreams book set spotlighting Coco Chanel, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Audrey Hepburn, Iris Apfel and Zaha Hadid (other sets include Women in Art and Black Voices); Oprah Winfrey just named them one of her favorite things; $80, at neimanmarcus.com
NYC vs. L.A. Smaller Things
“Good Night, New York City” and “Good Night, Los Angeles” organic cotton printed PJs (kids sizes 2 to 10); $38 each, smallerthings.com
Empowering Pals
Piccolina Trailblazer dolls including Frida Kahlo, Rbg and astronaut Mae Jemison; $50 apiece, piccolinakids.com
It’s Showtime
Wireless ...
- 11/20/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Ride Along
Ride Along Ambosstoys Primo Classic balance scooter (ages 1 to 5 years); $199, amazon.com
Life Goals
The Quarto Group Little People, Big Dreams book set spotlighting Coco Chanel, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Audrey Hepburn, Iris Apfel and Zaha Hadid (other sets include Women in Art and Black Voices); Oprah Winfrey just named them one of her favorite things; $80, at neimanmarcus.com
NYC vs. L.A. Smaller Things
“Good Night, New York City” and “Good Night, Los Angeles” organic cotton printed PJs (kids sizes 2 to 10); $38 each, smallerthings.com
Empowering Pals
Piccolina Trailblazer dolls including Frida Kahlo, Rbg and astronaut Mae Jemison; $50 apiece, piccolinakids.com
It’s Showtime
Wireless ...
Ride Along Ambosstoys Primo Classic balance scooter (ages 1 to 5 years); $199, amazon.com
Life Goals
The Quarto Group Little People, Big Dreams book set spotlighting Coco Chanel, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Audrey Hepburn, Iris Apfel and Zaha Hadid (other sets include Women in Art and Black Voices); Oprah Winfrey just named them one of her favorite things; $80, at neimanmarcus.com
NYC vs. L.A. Smaller Things
“Good Night, New York City” and “Good Night, Los Angeles” organic cotton printed PJs (kids sizes 2 to 10); $38 each, smallerthings.com
Empowering Pals
Piccolina Trailblazer dolls including Frida Kahlo, Rbg and astronaut Mae Jemison; $50 apiece, piccolinakids.com
It’s Showtime
Wireless ...
- 11/20/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Production designer Ruth Ammon has worked on iconic films and television shows from “Drop Dead Gorgeous” to “Heroes” and “Smash,” but the one area she has long wanted to play in was space. Working on Amazon Prime Video’s anthology series “Solos” finally gave her that chance. She describes the show as “The Great British Baking Show of Scenery Design” because of how each episode required completely unique settings to bring its story to life.
Each episode’s set for “Solos” is such a focal piece of the individual story, yet self-contained as well as varying in size and detail. How did you approach the builds when it came to whether or not you could work on multiple ones simultaneously?
We had two stages and we did flip-flop: we built on one stage and then built on another and flip-flopped back and forth. The space pod was quite small, so...
Each episode’s set for “Solos” is such a focal piece of the individual story, yet self-contained as well as varying in size and detail. How did you approach the builds when it came to whether or not you could work on multiple ones simultaneously?
We had two stages and we did flip-flop: we built on one stage and then built on another and flip-flopped back and forth. The space pod was quite small, so...
- 6/9/2021
- by Danielle Turchiano
- Variety Film + TV
Ariana Grande and Pete Davidson have been moving fast since they hooked up, and now it's onward and upward in the form of a super deluxe apartment in the sky. The newly engaged couple just moved into a $16 Million apartment in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood ... it's a new luxury complex designed by famed architect Zaha Hadid. Their unit is more than 4,000 sq. ft. with 5 beds and 4.5 baths, and features amazing views of the city and the Empire State Building.
- 6/20/2018
- by TMZ Staff
- TMZ
With singular Netflix cyberpunk series Altered Carbon, production designer Carey Meyer spent over two years in contemplation of an incredibly complex sci-fi world, figuring out how he would bring scope, texture, and authenticity to the project.
Based on an acclaimed novel by Richard K. Morgan, Altered Carbon is set in the three-tiered megalopolis Bay City in the year 2384. As it happens, this awe-inspiring city epitomizes the depth and intelligence of Laeta Kalogridis’ series, which must also be broken down on multiple levels.
Set in a world where human consciousness can be stored on ‘stacks’—or miniature disks implanted in the neck—Altered Carbon follows Takeshi Kovacs (Joel Kinnaman), a political operative brought back from death after 250 years to crack a murder case. Above and beyond plot, the series is a meditative sociological portrait, examining the consequences of technological evolution in a world where the 1% has become the .1%.
In this world,...
Based on an acclaimed novel by Richard K. Morgan, Altered Carbon is set in the three-tiered megalopolis Bay City in the year 2384. As it happens, this awe-inspiring city epitomizes the depth and intelligence of Laeta Kalogridis’ series, which must also be broken down on multiple levels.
Set in a world where human consciousness can be stored on ‘stacks’—or miniature disks implanted in the neck—Altered Carbon follows Takeshi Kovacs (Joel Kinnaman), a political operative brought back from death after 250 years to crack a murder case. Above and beyond plot, the series is a meditative sociological portrait, examining the consequences of technological evolution in a world where the 1% has become the .1%.
In this world,...
- 6/18/2018
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Zaha Hadid, Visionary Iraqi-British Architect Behind 2012 London Olympics Aquatic Center, Dies at 65
Dame Zaha Hadid, the first female recipient of the coveted Pritzker Architecture Prize and the designer behind the futuristic venues of the 2012 London Olympics, has died. She was 65. Hadid passed away on Thursday in a Miami hospital, where she was being treated for bronchitis. She had a heart attack during her stay, Zaha Hadid Architects in London confirmed, according to the AP. The Iraqi-British architect worked on projects across the world, including the Guangzhou Opera House in China, the Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art in Cincinnati and the Vitra Fire Station in Weil Am Rhein, Germany, according to the New York Times.
- 3/31/2016
- by Lindsay Kimble, @lekimble
- PEOPLE.com
Zaha Hadid, Visionary Iraqi-British Architect Behind 2012 London Olympics Aquatic Center, Dies at 65
Dame Zaha Hadid, the first female recipient of the coveted Pritzker Architecture Prize and the designer behind the futuristic venues of the 2012 London Olympics, has died. She was 65. Hadid passed away on Thursday in a Miami hospital, where she was being treated for bronchitis. She had a heart attack during her stay, Zaha Hadid Architects in London confirmed, according to the AP. The Iraqi-British architect worked on projects across the world, including the Guangzhou Opera House in China, the Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art in Cincinnati and the Vitra Fire Station in Weil Am Rhein, Germany, according to the New York Times.
- 3/31/2016
- by Lindsay Kimble, @lekimble
- PEOPLE.com
Steve Gebhardt, the Cincinnati filmmaker who died last month of heart failure at age 78, made films with or about such fascinating cultural figures as John and Yoko, the Rolling Stones, John Sinclair, Jonas Mekas, Jazz Composers Orchestra, architect Zaha Hadid and bluegrass pioneer Bill Monroe. Yet for all his impressive work and connections, he never really became well-known. And it was often a struggle for the films he worked on to get released, or for him to get what he felt was proper credit. "He was very good working with other people," said Mekas, a mentor and confidante. "Sometimes he did not get credit for it. I think he helped a lot with what John Lennon and Yoko Ono did. And he was dedicated, selfless. He did not work for credit; he just did what he liked to do and was very helpful to many people." After graduating from Cincinnati's Walnut Hills High School,...
- 11/11/2015
- by Steven Rosen
- Indiewire
Propose a large, white, disclike building and someone will always call it a “spaceship.” Apple’s planned headquarters, the renovated Soldier Field, the Beijing Opera House, and almost anything by Zaha Hadid or Santiago Calatrava have all reminded scoffers of a nonexistent typology, the galactic passenger vessel. In the case of the Museum of Narrative Art on Chicago’s lakefront, the nickname makes more sense, since the man who would fund, build, and fill it with his personal collection is George Lucas, the emperor of Star Wars. Actually, the design that Lucas commissioned from the Beijing-based Mad Architects is utterly earthbound, a gooey, mountainous slug of a building with two squinty windows and a silvery halo, making it look like a sainted Jabba the Hut.Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel fought hard to wrest Lucas’s museum from San Francisco, offering him a highly visible 17-acre site right next to Soldier Field.
- 11/6/2014
- by Justin Davidson
- Vulture
A new series from Al Jazeera, titled "Rebel Architecture," uncovers architects who shun the limelight that comes with being a "StArchitect" (essentially, architects that have become celebrities in their own right, like a Rem Koolhaas or Zaha Hadid), and focus their on using design to tackle the world’s urban, environmental and social crises. Nigerian architect and urbanist Kunlé Adeyemi is 1 of 6 ground-breaking international architects profiled. The episode featuring Adeyemi, titled "Working on Water," focuses on his partnerships with coastal slum communities to pioneer floating buildings, including a...
- 8/13/2014
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
A digital artist-in-residence has been given a free hand to create the ambience for London's new supercasino
A non-gambler might imagine the casino to be a dingy, smoke-filled basement where booze is trafficked and the sun never shines. That's how it was. But it might be time to revise your preconception as London's biggest and newest casino has the gambling joint of old graduated to a centre of entertainment, and this one has turned to art to make its atmosphere new and unique.
The Hippodrome Casino has commissioned the country's first digital artist-in-residence, whose task is to capture "the spirit" of the Hippodrome. It seems an anomalous combination – gambling and aesthetics – but it's in the ethos of a new kind of supercasino this place is introducing.
£50m has been spent on restoring the Grace II* listed building to its Edwardian splendour, adapted to the 21st century, with the blessing of...
A non-gambler might imagine the casino to be a dingy, smoke-filled basement where booze is trafficked and the sun never shines. That's how it was. But it might be time to revise your preconception as London's biggest and newest casino has the gambling joint of old graduated to a centre of entertainment, and this one has turned to art to make its atmosphere new and unique.
The Hippodrome Casino has commissioned the country's first digital artist-in-residence, whose task is to capture "the spirit" of the Hippodrome. It seems an anomalous combination – gambling and aesthetics – but it's in the ethos of a new kind of supercasino this place is introducing.
£50m has been spent on restoring the Grace II* listed building to its Edwardian splendour, adapted to the 21st century, with the blessing of...
- 3/13/2014
- The Guardian - Film News
Lego Michelangelo is a refreshing addition to the animated posse who unites to save the world in The Lego Movie – perhaps Lego should create Renaissance building kits too
The Lego Movie has lots of superheroes in it. This comic toy fest features Lego figurines of Batman, Superman – and also someone less predictable.
One of the Master Builders – an assembly of figurines who gather to save the world – is none other than Lego Michelangelo, the Florentine artist, architect and poet who created David.
Introducing him, a bearded wizard called Vitruvius – another cultural allusion, this time to the ancient Roman architectural writer Vitruvius – pronounces his name with a short i to distinguish him from the other Michelangelo in the room, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.
I love the idea of a Lego Michelangelo (the artist); I hope they release this as a real mini-figure as well as a screen character.
They might...
The Lego Movie has lots of superheroes in it. This comic toy fest features Lego figurines of Batman, Superman – and also someone less predictable.
One of the Master Builders – an assembly of figurines who gather to save the world – is none other than Lego Michelangelo, the Florentine artist, architect and poet who created David.
Introducing him, a bearded wizard called Vitruvius – another cultural allusion, this time to the ancient Roman architectural writer Vitruvius – pronounces his name with a short i to distinguish him from the other Michelangelo in the room, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.
I love the idea of a Lego Michelangelo (the artist); I hope they release this as a real mini-figure as well as a screen character.
They might...
- 2/10/2014
- by Jonathan Jones
- The Guardian - Film News
On Saturday, January 11, 2014 the National YoungArts Foundation YoungArts will host the organization's first Backyard Ball Performance and Gala to be held at the YoungArts Campus 2100 Biscayne Boulevard. The 2014 Arison Award Honorees are Pritzker Award Winning architect Zaha Hadid and Academy Award Winning singer, dancer, and actress, Rita Moreno. This year's Alumni Honoree is actor, singer and 1997 YoungArts Winner in Theater, Andrew Rannells. The celebratory evening of artistic immersion will bring together prominent artists, community leaders, philanthropists and celebrities to recognize the 2014 YoungArts Winners. The gala is YoungArts' largest annual fundraiser and the culmination of YoungArts' signature program YoungArts Week which provides 171 of the nation's most outstanding young artists in the literary, performing, visual and design arts with life-changing experiences, including master classes, workshops, inter-disciplinary activities, performances and exhibitions.
- 12/20/2013
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
The producers of the Broadway play "Orphans" announced this week that leading man Shia Labeouf has opted to leave the cast due to "creative differences."
Labeouf's exit immediately sparked rumors as to what was behind his bold move, and whether it involved co-stars Alex Baldwin and Tom Sturridge or director Daniel Sullivan. But Labeouf fans didn't have to wait long to solve the mystery, as the former "Transformers" start took to Twitter to settle the score, posting several emails exchanged with his fellow "Orphans" collaborators, reports Playbill.
A February 19 email from Sullivan allegedly reads:
"I'm too old for disagreeable situations. you're one hell of a great actor. Alec is who he is. you are who you are. you two are incompatible. I should have known it. this one will haunt me. you tried to warn me. you said you were a different breed. I didn't get it. Dan"
Another email signed "Ab" (Alec Baldwin,...
Labeouf's exit immediately sparked rumors as to what was behind his bold move, and whether it involved co-stars Alex Baldwin and Tom Sturridge or director Daniel Sullivan. But Labeouf fans didn't have to wait long to solve the mystery, as the former "Transformers" start took to Twitter to settle the score, posting several emails exchanged with his fellow "Orphans" collaborators, reports Playbill.
A February 19 email from Sullivan allegedly reads:
"I'm too old for disagreeable situations. you're one hell of a great actor. Alec is who he is. you are who you are. you two are incompatible. I should have known it. this one will haunt me. you tried to warn me. you said you were a different breed. I didn't get it. Dan"
Another email signed "Ab" (Alec Baldwin,...
- 2/21/2013
- by Katherine Brooks
- Huffington Post
Bjarne Melgaard: A New Novel by Bjarne Melgaard Luxembourg & Dayan Through December 22, 2012 I open one eye. Sunlight pours in through my Zaha Hadid-designed venetian blinds, casting horizontal shadows on the walls, turning the room into a recumbent prison cell. I was supposed to meet James Franco (who is still a little sore at me for beating him out for the part of Cocktimus Prime in Sue de Beer's hardcore version of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen) in Central Park an hour ago, but my Philippe Starck alarm clock (which I fully believe is haunted) failed to wake me. I open both eyes, decide that it is probably safe, and dress quickly: black crinolined Brioni smoking jacket, Hello Kitty T-shirt, baby seal-skin pants, and boots hand-carved in Brazilian rosewood (by some guy in Tokyo, whose name is comprised entirely of consonants and who has a nine-year waiting list) which resemble small cats,...
- 11/25/2012
- by bradleyrubenstein
- www.culturecatch.com
Glamour hosted its annual Women of the Year Awards at NYC's Carnegie Hall last night. The magazine's editor in chief, Cindi Leive, presided over the show, which acknowledged powerful ladies and their accomplishments from the last year. Top honors went to recently single Selena Gomez, who made a heartfelt and simple acceptance speech after her Getaway costar Ethan Hawke praised her many talents. Chelsea Clinton was on stage to recognize 20 female politicians, while Anna Wintour feted photographer Annie Leibovitz and NPR correspondent Nina Totenberg sung the obvious praises of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The evening's funniest moment came during Chelsea Handler's tribute to Girls creator Lena Dunham. Lena thanked her pal Chelsea, but then proceeded to take off her uncomfortable shoes. Lena memorably said, "Behind every woman of the year is a group of people who have been taking the woman's sh*t for much longer than that.
- 11/13/2012
- by Allie Merriam
- Popsugar.com
Medea, Glasgow
It's been a good year for playwright and director Mike Bartlett. Love, Love, Love played at the Royal Court and his adaptation of Chariots Of Fire is currently at the Gielgud Theatre in the West End (to 10 Nov). This latest play, which he also directs, is something very different: Euripides's tale of a woman scorned who takes her revenge on her ex-husband in the most appalling way is one of the greatest and most enduring of Greek tragedies. Now it's reinvented for the modern age in Bartlett's new version about a 21st-century woman who is unhinged by grief when her husband, for whom she has given up everything, leaves her for another woman. The excellent Rachael Stirling is in the title role in a production for Headlong, which will be touring to major venues across the UK until December.
Citizens, Thu to 13 Oct
Lyn Gardner
Kanjoos: The Miser,...
It's been a good year for playwright and director Mike Bartlett. Love, Love, Love played at the Royal Court and his adaptation of Chariots Of Fire is currently at the Gielgud Theatre in the West End (to 10 Nov). This latest play, which he also directs, is something very different: Euripides's tale of a woman scorned who takes her revenge on her ex-husband in the most appalling way is one of the greatest and most enduring of Greek tragedies. Now it's reinvented for the modern age in Bartlett's new version about a 21st-century woman who is unhinged by grief when her husband, for whom she has given up everything, leaves her for another woman. The excellent Rachael Stirling is in the title role in a production for Headlong, which will be touring to major venues across the UK until December.
Citizens, Thu to 13 Oct
Lyn Gardner
Kanjoos: The Miser,...
- 9/21/2012
- by Judith Mackrell, Mark Cook, Lyn Gardner
- The Guardian - Film News
London -- Kate Winslet has been honored by Queen Elizabeth II for her titanic contribution to the arts.
The actress, who won a best actress Academy Award in 2009 for "The Reader" and made her breakthrough as the feisty Rose in 1997 blockbuster "Titanic," has been named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, or Cbe, in the queen's Birthday Honors List, published Saturday.
Winslet said the honor made her "very proud to be a Brit."
"I am both surprised and honored to stand alongside so many men and woman who have achieved great things for our country," the 36-year-old star said.
Actor and director Kenneth Branagh was made a knight and will be known as Sir Kenneth. A respected Shakespearean actor whose films as a director range from "Henry V" and "Hamlet" to the comic-book fantasy "Thor," Branagh said he felt "humble, elated, and incredibly lucky" to get the honor.
The actress, who won a best actress Academy Award in 2009 for "The Reader" and made her breakthrough as the feisty Rose in 1997 blockbuster "Titanic," has been named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, or Cbe, in the queen's Birthday Honors List, published Saturday.
Winslet said the honor made her "very proud to be a Brit."
"I am both surprised and honored to stand alongside so many men and woman who have achieved great things for our country," the 36-year-old star said.
Actor and director Kenneth Branagh was made a knight and will be known as Sir Kenneth. A respected Shakespearean actor whose films as a director range from "Henry V" and "Hamlet" to the comic-book fantasy "Thor," Branagh said he felt "humble, elated, and incredibly lucky" to get the honor.
- 6/16/2012
- by AP
- Huffington Post
Actors pick up knighthood and Cbe while Pm revives British Empire Medal as reward for 'big society' volunteers
David Cameron's "big society" gong, the anachronistically named British Empire Medal, makes its first appearance for 20 years in the Queen's birthday honours today, rewarding "hands-on" service to local communities.
As actors Kenneth Branagh and Kate Winslet collect a knighthood and Cbe respectively, 293 BEMs, known as the "working-class gong" and scrapped by John Major in 1991 in his efforts to make the honours system "classless", are also awarded.
Revived by Cameron to encourage the "big society" and reward volunteering, Bem recipients include waitress Patricia Carter, for services to the hospitality industry, apiarist Geoffrey Hopkinson, for services to beekeeping, and many others involved with local community work, charities, and sports.
Sir Bob Kerslake, head of the civil service who chairs the main honours committee, said the re-introduction of the Bem for the Diamond Jubilee extended...
David Cameron's "big society" gong, the anachronistically named British Empire Medal, makes its first appearance for 20 years in the Queen's birthday honours today, rewarding "hands-on" service to local communities.
As actors Kenneth Branagh and Kate Winslet collect a knighthood and Cbe respectively, 293 BEMs, known as the "working-class gong" and scrapped by John Major in 1991 in his efforts to make the honours system "classless", are also awarded.
Revived by Cameron to encourage the "big society" and reward volunteering, Bem recipients include waitress Patricia Carter, for services to the hospitality industry, apiarist Geoffrey Hopkinson, for services to beekeeping, and many others involved with local community work, charities, and sports.
Sir Bob Kerslake, head of the civil service who chairs the main honours committee, said the re-introduction of the Bem for the Diamond Jubilee extended...
- 6/15/2012
- by Caroline Davies
- The Guardian - Film News
Last week our critics picked their highlights of 2011. Did they get it right? Readers respond with their own highs (and lows)
MattB75
One Man, Two Guvnors was the most fun I've had in a theatre for years – easily the best play of 2011, and James Corden best performer. The National theatre largely misfired for me: A Woman Killed with Kindness, Cherry Orchard, 13, The Kitchen, Frankenstein and Greenland were all largely disappointing.
The RSC's Homecoming was the best revival. Rupert Goold's Merchant of Venice was great fun, even if the inconsistency in Portia's characterisation (from ditzy blond Glee fan to brilliant prosecutor, hm) took the edge off it.
Tom Brooke was my favourite actor of the year – in The Kitchen, and I Am the Wind.
oogin
Frank Gehry and Zaha Hadid are still two of my least-admired starchitects. However, credit where it's due. I had the pleasure of wandering Toronto's Ago...
MattB75
One Man, Two Guvnors was the most fun I've had in a theatre for years – easily the best play of 2011, and James Corden best performer. The National theatre largely misfired for me: A Woman Killed with Kindness, Cherry Orchard, 13, The Kitchen, Frankenstein and Greenland were all largely disappointing.
The RSC's Homecoming was the best revival. Rupert Goold's Merchant of Venice was great fun, even if the inconsistency in Portia's characterisation (from ditzy blond Glee fan to brilliant prosecutor, hm) took the edge off it.
Tom Brooke was my favourite actor of the year – in The Kitchen, and I Am the Wind.
oogin
Frank Gehry and Zaha Hadid are still two of my least-admired starchitects. However, credit where it's due. I had the pleasure of wandering Toronto's Ago...
- 12/15/2011
- The Guardian - Film News
Pritzker
In a joint announcement, the Mayor of Beijing, Guo Jinlong and the chairman of the Hyatt Foundation, Thomas K. Pritzker announced that the Pritzker Architecture Prize Ceremony will be held in Beijing, China on May 25, 2012.
This is the first time in the prize’s 32-year history that the ceremony will take place in China.
“We have held ceremonies in fourteen different countries, in venues ranging from the White House in Washington DC to Todai-ji Temple in Nara, Japan. The...
In a joint announcement, the Mayor of Beijing, Guo Jinlong and the chairman of the Hyatt Foundation, Thomas K. Pritzker announced that the Pritzker Architecture Prize Ceremony will be held in Beijing, China on May 25, 2012.
This is the first time in the prize’s 32-year history that the ceremony will take place in China.
“We have held ceremonies in fourteen different countries, in venues ranging from the White House in Washington DC to Todai-ji Temple in Nara, Japan. The...
- 10/28/2011
- by Alexandra Cheney
- Speakeasy/Wall Street Journal
The 2012 organisers appear to be masterminding a vast operation with the eerie efficiency of the Sith lords in Star Wars
There is a quote beloved of earnest young sportsmen, and the coaches shouting pick‑me-ups at them through a loudhailer: "Life is not a dress rehearsal." It was, apparently, coined by the author Rose Tremain, who should have got a better copyright lawyer: if she had claimed royalties every time that phrase was spouted by ageing rugby players giving motivational talks to South Korean businessmen, she would be living in a house built of gold leaf and black truffle.
I would be willing to bet that there is not an athlete alive who does not have Rose's credo scrawled somewhere in their training diary or, if he or she is an endurance athlete, tattooed to the inside of the eyelids. Which makes me wonder how the swimmers, cyclists and other...
There is a quote beloved of earnest young sportsmen, and the coaches shouting pick‑me-ups at them through a loudhailer: "Life is not a dress rehearsal." It was, apparently, coined by the author Rose Tremain, who should have got a better copyright lawyer: if she had claimed royalties every time that phrase was spouted by ageing rugby players giving motivational talks to South Korean businessmen, she would be living in a house built of gold leaf and black truffle.
I would be willing to bet that there is not an athlete alive who does not have Rose's credo scrawled somewhere in their training diary or, if he or she is an endurance athlete, tattooed to the inside of the eyelids. Which makes me wonder how the swimmers, cyclists and other...
- 8/18/2011
- by Emma John
- The Guardian - Film News
A pile of discarded fridges in Hackney was the inspiration for a pop-up cinema near the Olympic stadium that aims to give recycling a sporting chance
It is Britain's coolest new pop-up cinema and the only one inspired by a load of rubbish. Films on Fridges is the brainchild of 25-year-old American Lindsey Scannapieco and it is inspired by "Fridge Mountain", the 20ft high pile of discarded fridges that towered over the London district of Hackney until its removal in 2005. Films on Fridges is an outdoor venue where the screen is surrounded by fridges, the bar is made of fridge parts, and fridge doors are incorporated into the seating arrangements.
Scannapieco was researching east London while studying City Design at the Lse when she first heard about the dumped refrigerators. "Fridge Mountain seemed to be part of urban folklore," says Scannapieco. "Something which spoke to east London's industrial past at...
It is Britain's coolest new pop-up cinema and the only one inspired by a load of rubbish. Films on Fridges is the brainchild of 25-year-old American Lindsey Scannapieco and it is inspired by "Fridge Mountain", the 20ft high pile of discarded fridges that towered over the London district of Hackney until its removal in 2005. Films on Fridges is an outdoor venue where the screen is surrounded by fridges, the bar is made of fridge parts, and fridge doors are incorporated into the seating arrangements.
Scannapieco was researching east London while studying City Design at the Lse when she first heard about the dumped refrigerators. "Fridge Mountain seemed to be part of urban folklore," says Scannapieco. "Something which spoke to east London's industrial past at...
- 8/1/2011
- by Sarfraz Manzoor
- The Guardian - Film News
Ahead of the 2012 Olympics, a dilapidated canal boat has been transformed into 12-seat theatre that navigates east London's waterways. Sarfraz Manzoor takes a cinematic tour ...
It is possibly the only cinema in the UK equipped with life jackets and buoyancy aids – and it is in the vanguard of the cultural events that will surround the Olympics. Two years ago the Cole was a tattered narrowboat with no roof, plumbing or electrics: now it has been transformed into a 12-seat floating cinema that for the next two months will be navigating the waterways of east London.
The Floating Cinema is funded by the Arts Council and commissioned by the Olympic Delivery Authority and it is the brainchild of curator Emma Underhill. "The waterways are the arteries that run through the Olympic parks," she said, "so when we were invited to put forward a proposal for a project that would engage the...
It is possibly the only cinema in the UK equipped with life jackets and buoyancy aids – and it is in the vanguard of the cultural events that will surround the Olympics. Two years ago the Cole was a tattered narrowboat with no roof, plumbing or electrics: now it has been transformed into a 12-seat floating cinema that for the next two months will be navigating the waterways of east London.
The Floating Cinema is funded by the Arts Council and commissioned by the Olympic Delivery Authority and it is the brainchild of curator Emma Underhill. "The waterways are the arteries that run through the Olympic parks," she said, "so when we were invited to put forward a proposal for a project that would engage the...
- 7/29/2011
- by Sarfraz Manzoor
- The Guardian - Film News
Where does a superhero live? In a top secret location, location, location says Steve Rose
There are a few essentials that every self-respecting superhero needs to get right before embarking on a crime-fighting career. A cool name. Some great powers. The ability to sew your own costume. But after a long night spent keeping the streets safe from supervillains, what you really need is somewhere quiet to get away from it all. So who would live in a secret lair like this..?
Wayne Manor/The Batcave
Location A very quiet corner of suburban Gotham which nobody ever drives past.
Estate agent pitch A miraculously preserved late-Gothic manor house. Breathtaking original features, oak panelling, fine carvings, suits of armour, antique butler.
Facilities The cavernous basement includes a gym, trophy room, parking for car/boat/bike/plane.
What it says about the owner Split personality alert: materialist playboy on the surface; sinister hidden depths.
There are a few essentials that every self-respecting superhero needs to get right before embarking on a crime-fighting career. A cool name. Some great powers. The ability to sew your own costume. But after a long night spent keeping the streets safe from supervillains, what you really need is somewhere quiet to get away from it all. So who would live in a secret lair like this..?
Wayne Manor/The Batcave
Location A very quiet corner of suburban Gotham which nobody ever drives past.
Estate agent pitch A miraculously preserved late-Gothic manor house. Breathtaking original features, oak panelling, fine carvings, suits of armour, antique butler.
Facilities The cavernous basement includes a gym, trophy room, parking for car/boat/bike/plane.
What it says about the owner Split personality alert: materialist playboy on the surface; sinister hidden depths.
- 7/22/2011
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Actor wins £155,000 Praemium Imperiale, sponsored by Japan's imperial family, as Anish Kapoor takes sculpture prize
Winning Japan's equivalent of the Nobel prize, the £155,000 Praemium Imperiale, has come as a great relief to Dame Judi Dench: one of the world's best-known and loved actors is out of work again and panicking.
The fear never goes away, she said after receiving the award honouring actors, artists, musicians and architects by the Japan Art Association, sponsored by the Japanese imperial family. "Trevor Nunn always said I was in floods of tears on all my first nights because I didn't know where the next job was coming from," Dench said. "I've been bumming around. I haven't worked since February, so this is very nice."
Since her professional debut, as Ophelia in 1957, Dench has seldom been out of work. Her career has been weighed down with awards including an Oscar, Tonys, Oliviers and Baftas...
Winning Japan's equivalent of the Nobel prize, the £155,000 Praemium Imperiale, has come as a great relief to Dame Judi Dench: one of the world's best-known and loved actors is out of work again and panicking.
The fear never goes away, she said after receiving the award honouring actors, artists, musicians and architects by the Japan Art Association, sponsored by the Japanese imperial family. "Trevor Nunn always said I was in floods of tears on all my first nights because I didn't know where the next job was coming from," Dench said. "I've been bumming around. I haven't worked since February, so this is very nice."
Since her professional debut, as Ophelia in 1957, Dench has seldom been out of work. Her career has been weighed down with awards including an Oscar, Tonys, Oliviers and Baftas...
- 7/11/2011
- by Maev Kennedy
- The Guardian - Film News
A number of stars will be present to help Women for Women International celebrate five years in the UK at a special gala event in London tonight, May 5.
Annie Lennox will be honored with a Making A Difference Award, and Sophie Ellis-Bextor will perform. Mc for the night will be Pamela Stephenson (wife of Billy Connolly), and guests will include fashion designer Alice Temperley from Temperley London, supermodel Natalia Vodianova, musician and designer Pamela Hogg, Film Director Hugh Hudson, architect Zaha Hadid, Jewellery Designer, Pippa Small, Joan and Simon Burstein, actress Rosamund Pike, Sophie Turner-Laing, MD Entertainment and News, Sky, maker of Bond films Barbara Broccoli, actress Cherie Lunghi, TV presenter and singer Claire Richards, Swarovski Creative Director Nadja Swarovski, artist Jenny Saville and Women for Women’s founder; award-winning human-rights activist Zainab Salbi.
The Live auction and pledges will be conducted by Lord Dalmeny, Sotheby’s UK Deputy Chairman,...
Annie Lennox will be honored with a Making A Difference Award, and Sophie Ellis-Bextor will perform. Mc for the night will be Pamela Stephenson (wife of Billy Connolly), and guests will include fashion designer Alice Temperley from Temperley London, supermodel Natalia Vodianova, musician and designer Pamela Hogg, Film Director Hugh Hudson, architect Zaha Hadid, Jewellery Designer, Pippa Small, Joan and Simon Burstein, actress Rosamund Pike, Sophie Turner-Laing, MD Entertainment and News, Sky, maker of Bond films Barbara Broccoli, actress Cherie Lunghi, TV presenter and singer Claire Richards, Swarovski Creative Director Nadja Swarovski, artist Jenny Saville and Women for Women’s founder; award-winning human-rights activist Zainab Salbi.
The Live auction and pledges will be conducted by Lord Dalmeny, Sotheby’s UK Deputy Chairman,...
- 5/5/2011
- Look to the Stars
Our critics pick the season's highlights: From Lady Gaga to Harry Potter, Coppélia to Tony Cragg, this summer has something for all
May
4 Film The Tree of Life
The much-delayed fifth feature from director Terrence Malick, snapped up by Icon for UK release ahead of its Cannes showing, is a multi-generational drama featuring Brad Pitt, Sean Penn – and, reportedly, dinosaurs.
5 Classical From the House of the Dead
Opera North's production of Janáek's final work, directed by John Fulljames and conducted by Richard Farnes. Stars Jeffrey Lloyd-Roberts, Alan Oke and Roderick Williams. Leeds and touring
Dance By Singing Light/Romance Inverse
National Dance Company of Wales bring Stephen Petronio and Itzik Galili's arresting double bill to Dance City in Newcastle, with the former set to the poetry of Dylan Thomas.
6 Theatre Shrek
Nigel Lindsay plays the lime-coloured, lovelorn ogre, with Amanda Holden as Princess Fiona and Nigel Harman as Lord Farquaad,...
May
4 Film The Tree of Life
The much-delayed fifth feature from director Terrence Malick, snapped up by Icon for UK release ahead of its Cannes showing, is a multi-generational drama featuring Brad Pitt, Sean Penn – and, reportedly, dinosaurs.
5 Classical From the House of the Dead
Opera North's production of Janáek's final work, directed by John Fulljames and conducted by Richard Farnes. Stars Jeffrey Lloyd-Roberts, Alan Oke and Roderick Williams. Leeds and touring
Dance By Singing Light/Romance Inverse
National Dance Company of Wales bring Stephen Petronio and Itzik Galili's arresting double bill to Dance City in Newcastle, with the former set to the poetry of Dylan Thomas.
6 Theatre Shrek
Nigel Lindsay plays the lime-coloured, lovelorn ogre, with Amanda Holden as Princess Fiona and Nigel Harman as Lord Farquaad,...
- 4/30/2011
- The Guardian - Film News
From The Fountainhead to Blade Runner, the way films portray buildings and architects has nothing to do with reality, right? You'd be surprised
Howard Roark is, up to a point, a plausible name for an architect, but I am less convinced by Stourley Kracklite. Roark, played by Gary Cooper in King Vidor's schlockfest The Fountainhead is a picture of toned muscle and angst, handy with a rock drill and brutal in his wooing. In contrast Kracklite, played by Brian Dennehy in Peter Greenaway's The Belly of an Architect, has a waistline that authentically overwhelms his belt in the manner pioneered by the 20-stone James Stirling.
Both films have always fascinated me. In the case of The Fountainhead, it's not so much Roark – a tortured genius somewhere between Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright – who's the special attraction, although it's hard not to warm to an architect who, rather than see his work compromised,...
Howard Roark is, up to a point, a plausible name for an architect, but I am less convinced by Stourley Kracklite. Roark, played by Gary Cooper in King Vidor's schlockfest The Fountainhead is a picture of toned muscle and angst, handy with a rock drill and brutal in his wooing. In contrast Kracklite, played by Brian Dennehy in Peter Greenaway's The Belly of an Architect, has a waistline that authentically overwhelms his belt in the manner pioneered by the 20-stone James Stirling.
Both films have always fascinated me. In the case of The Fountainhead, it's not so much Roark – a tortured genius somewhere between Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright – who's the special attraction, although it's hard not to warm to an architect who, rather than see his work compromised,...
- 1/21/2011
- by Deyan Sudjic
- The Guardian - Film News
Yasmin Le Bon attending Harper's Bazaar Women of the Year Awards at One Mayfair in London.Photo copyright by Landmark / PR Photos. Mariella Frostrup attending Harper's Bazaar Women of the Year Awards at One Mayfair in London.Photo copyright by Landmark / PR Photos. Natalie Massenet attending Harper's Bazaar Women of the Year Awards at One Mayfair in London.Photo copyright by Landmark / PR Photos. Natalia Vodianova attending Harper's Bazaar Women of the Year Awards at One Mayfair in London.Photo copyright by Landmark / PR Photos. Natalia Vodianova attending Harper's Bazaar Women of the Year Awards at One Mayfair in London.Photo copyright by Landmark / PR Photos. 11/01/2010 - Zaha Hadid - Harper's Bazaar Women of...
- 11/4/2010
- by James Wray
- Monsters and Critics
There's a double helping of the Dane, Wall Street returns, Wallace and Gromit take up presenting – and Robyn goes for broke. Our critics pick this autumn's hottest shows
Theatre
Hamlet
Prepare for the latest battle of the princes. John Simm is first in the field at the Sheffield Crucible; then Rory Kinnear enters the running in a Nicholas Hytner production for the National Theatre. It's not, of course, a contest – but comparisons will be inevitable. Crucible, Sheffield (0114-249 6000), from 16 September; and Olivier, London SE1 (020-7452 3000), from 7 October.
The Thrill of it All
Forced Entertainment continues the British experimental tradition with an evening of vaudevillian capers, Japanese lounge music and tarnished sequins. Nuffield, Lancaster (01524 594151), 12-13 October. Then touring.
Tribes
Nina Raine follows her impressive debut play, Rabbits, with a drama about an unconventional family that has its own private language and rules. At its centre is Billy, who is deaf and...
Theatre
Hamlet
Prepare for the latest battle of the princes. John Simm is first in the field at the Sheffield Crucible; then Rory Kinnear enters the running in a Nicholas Hytner production for the National Theatre. It's not, of course, a contest – but comparisons will be inevitable. Crucible, Sheffield (0114-249 6000), from 16 September; and Olivier, London SE1 (020-7452 3000), from 7 October.
The Thrill of it All
Forced Entertainment continues the British experimental tradition with an evening of vaudevillian capers, Japanese lounge music and tarnished sequins. Nuffield, Lancaster (01524 594151), 12-13 October. Then touring.
Tribes
Nina Raine follows her impressive debut play, Rabbits, with a drama about an unconventional family that has its own private language and rules. At its centre is Billy, who is deaf and...
- 9/14/2010
- by Michael Billington, Peter Bradshaw, Andrew Clements, Robin Denselow, Alison Flood, John Fordham, Lyn Gardner, Jonathan Glancey, Brian Logan, Judith Mackrell, Alexis Petridis, Adrian Searle, Richard Vine
- The Guardian - Film News
Everywhere you look, London's 2012 Olympics have scrapped or hedged on some aspect of their environmental goals, casting doubt on whether there's even such a thing as Green Games.
Last month, it was the little wind farm. A week ago, the waste management infrastructure. Now, it's a 427-foot wind turbine once slated for Olympic Park. Everywhere you look, London's 2012 Olympics have scrapped or hedged on some aspect of their environmental goals, casting doubt on whether there's even such a thing as Green Games.
London won the Olympic bid in 2005 on a platform of sustainability, pushing itself onto the International Olympic Committee as a model of eco-chic and onto the British public as a chance to redevelop the seedier parts of the city. The government vowed to "transform the heart of East London" and "make the Olympic Park a blueprint for sustainable living." It would be, they said, the "greenest games in modern times.
Last month, it was the little wind farm. A week ago, the waste management infrastructure. Now, it's a 427-foot wind turbine once slated for Olympic Park. Everywhere you look, London's 2012 Olympics have scrapped or hedged on some aspect of their environmental goals, casting doubt on whether there's even such a thing as Green Games.
London won the Olympic bid in 2005 on a platform of sustainability, pushing itself onto the International Olympic Committee as a model of eco-chic and onto the British public as a chance to redevelop the seedier parts of the city. The government vowed to "transform the heart of East London" and "make the Olympic Park a blueprint for sustainable living." It would be, they said, the "greenest games in modern times.
- 6/7/2010
- by Suzanne LaBarre
- Fast Company
The Maxxi. Photo by Giorgio Cosulich/Getty Images. When Romans criticize their incomparably beautiful city, they often mutter, terzo mondo—third world—and shake their heads. The sharp contrasts of Italy’s capital are part of its wonder and joy. The primness of the seat of the Catholic Church, where timid nuns scurry about in groups of two and three, stands in stark contrast to the overt sensuality—in mood and dress—of the general populace. The city is packed with more art treasures than any other in the Western world, yet, at least by European standards, Rome is an extreme backwater in terms of anything having to do with pre-19th-century art. Last week there was a sense of renewal and redemption in the air here as a new much-awaited museum devoted to contemporary art finally opened its doors. The mammoth structure, called Maxxi—short for Museo Nazionale delle...
- 6/4/2010
- Vanity Fair
Hospitals are some of the worst buildings around. But plenty of research shows that physical surroundings can improve health. Which is what makes the Maggie's Centre initiative so brilliant.
Hospitals are some of the worst buildings around--the sterile rooms, the dearth of daylight, the miles and miles of beige. But research shows that physical surroundings have everything to do with staying and getting healthy. Which is what makes the Maggie's Centre Initiative so intriguing.
Maggie's are a series of cancer treatment facilities that place architecture at the fore of healing. They don't purport to supplant chemo. Instead, they espouse basic quality-of-life stuff like natural light, lots of space, and views of the outdoors that make being sick suck a little less. Maggie's visionary and design theorist Charles Jencks calls it the "architectural placebo effect." (The centers are named for his wife, who died of breast cancer in 1993.)
So since the '90s,...
Hospitals are some of the worst buildings around--the sterile rooms, the dearth of daylight, the miles and miles of beige. But research shows that physical surroundings have everything to do with staying and getting healthy. Which is what makes the Maggie's Centre Initiative so intriguing.
Maggie's are a series of cancer treatment facilities that place architecture at the fore of healing. They don't purport to supplant chemo. Instead, they espouse basic quality-of-life stuff like natural light, lots of space, and views of the outdoors that make being sick suck a little less. Maggie's visionary and design theorist Charles Jencks calls it the "architectural placebo effect." (The centers are named for his wife, who died of breast cancer in 1993.)
So since the '90s,...
- 5/10/2010
- by Suzanne LaBarre
- Fast Company
Emilie de Ravin, Robert Pattinson, Remember Me (top); James Cameron, Sigourney Weaver, Avatar (middle); Ashton Kutcher, Anne Heche, Spread (bottom) Singer Lady Gaga, actor Robert Pattinson, artist Banksy, Apple entrepreneur Steve Jobs, Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh, talk-show hostess Oprah Winfrey, actor-tweeter Ashton Kutcher, talk show host Conan O’Brien, artist Zaha Hadid, filmmaker James Cameron, and Nelson Mandela’s wife Graça Machel have all been included in Time magazine’s 2010 list of the world’s most influential people. The "Heroes" section — kept apart from the "Thinkers" section — is particularly eclectic: action film star Jet Li, former Us president Bill Clinton, tennis player Serena Williams, World Health Organization’s Goodwill Ambassador Liya Kebede, ChildCount+’s Matt Berg, and Night at the Museum actor Ben [...]...
- 4/30/2010
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
sachin_tendulkar_11.jpg
The annual Time 100 issue names the people who most affect our world.
Indians who made it to the list are Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (3rd time), Sachin Tendulkar (1st time) and Chetan Bhagat (1st time).
Unfortunately Shah Rukh Khan (0 times) couldn't make it to the list. Preity Zinta (0 times) was also said to be in the running, but she couldn't make it either!
Interestingly, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan made a wild card entry into the Time 100 Alumnae list along with the likes of Condoleezza Rice, Sarah Palin, Alicia Keys and Serena Williams. What is interesting to note is that, where as Singh, Srk, Preity, Bhagat made (or didn't make) to the list through votes, The Time 100 alumnae list was exclusively chosen by the Time panel of judges choosing the ones from the previous lists who had made the most impact and had the highest influence on the world...
The annual Time 100 issue names the people who most affect our world.
Indians who made it to the list are Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (3rd time), Sachin Tendulkar (1st time) and Chetan Bhagat (1st time).
Unfortunately Shah Rukh Khan (0 times) couldn't make it to the list. Preity Zinta (0 times) was also said to be in the running, but she couldn't make it either!
Interestingly, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan made a wild card entry into the Time 100 Alumnae list along with the likes of Condoleezza Rice, Sarah Palin, Alicia Keys and Serena Williams. What is interesting to note is that, where as Singh, Srk, Preity, Bhagat made (or didn't make) to the list through votes, The Time 100 alumnae list was exclusively chosen by the Time panel of judges choosing the ones from the previous lists who had made the most impact and had the highest influence on the world...
- 4/29/2010
- by OMG
- Pinkvilla
It's that time of year again! This Sunday will see the announcement of the 2010 Pritzker Architecture Prize, the highest honor in the field. Every year since 1979 (when the award went to Modernist master Philip Johnson), the Pritzker has been given to an architect "whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision and commitment, which has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity and the built environment through the art of architecture." Usually they're also at least 50 years old, white, male and have at least a few major buildings under their belts.
Although everyone would love an underdog to snatch architecture's top prize--a large contingency is calling for Architecture for Humanity's socially-focused founder Cameron Sinclair to win--when it comes to the Pritzker, the winners are often fairly predictable. We've compiled a list of who we think are this year's top six picks, and why or why not they'd win this year.
Although everyone would love an underdog to snatch architecture's top prize--a large contingency is calling for Architecture for Humanity's socially-focused founder Cameron Sinclair to win--when it comes to the Pritzker, the winners are often fairly predictable. We've compiled a list of who we think are this year's top six picks, and why or why not they'd win this year.
- 3/27/2010
- by Alissa Walker
- Fast Company
Jean Nouvel, winner of the Pritzker Prize in 2008, is to design this year's Serpentine Pavilion in London. For the past decade, the gallery, situated in Hyde Park, has been home to some of the most innovative pop-up structures designed by a whole raft of architectural luminaries, including Zaha Hadid, Olafur Eliasson, and Frank Gehry, whose 2008 structure of timber and glass was absolutely breathtaking.
[youtube 5HsZbmhI954]
Previous pavilions have--with the exception, perhaps, of Oscar Niemeyer and Rem Koolhaas' designs--blended in with the Serpentine's bucolic surroundings, particularly Japanese duo Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa, aka Sanaa, with their delicate open-sided glass and chrome structure.
Not Nouvel's. The architect, who famously wears only black in winter, and white in summer, has gone for the brightest shade of red imaginable with his design, which incorporates a 12 meter-high freestanding wall which juts out of the ground at a hairy angle. It will be fascinating to find...
[youtube 5HsZbmhI954]
Previous pavilions have--with the exception, perhaps, of Oscar Niemeyer and Rem Koolhaas' designs--blended in with the Serpentine's bucolic surroundings, particularly Japanese duo Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa, aka Sanaa, with their delicate open-sided glass and chrome structure.
Not Nouvel's. The architect, who famously wears only black in winter, and white in summer, has gone for the brightest shade of red imaginable with his design, which incorporates a 12 meter-high freestanding wall which juts out of the ground at a hairy angle. It will be fascinating to find...
- 3/23/2010
- by Addy Dugdale
- Fast Company
The best way to describe Architizer might be to call it a Facebook for architects. That's probably simplifying things a bit, but for an undertaking like this, simple is the linchpin.
At Architizer's West Coast launch last week, the turnout was as diverse as the thousands of projects represented on the site. Hundreds of firms--from the big names to the no-names--have created profiles and uploaded information about their work, including photos, credits, materials, even some renderings or sketches. Each project has its own dedicated page. And--perhaps most critically--every location is mapped in Google Maps so you can actually go see the building in real life.
I put the site to the test when I was looking for a recent project I needed to reference in a story (as I often do). Locating the project on the Architizer site took two clicks, compared to two minutes and four clicks to find...
At Architizer's West Coast launch last week, the turnout was as diverse as the thousands of projects represented on the site. Hundreds of firms--from the big names to the no-names--have created profiles and uploaded information about their work, including photos, credits, materials, even some renderings or sketches. Each project has its own dedicated page. And--perhaps most critically--every location is mapped in Google Maps so you can actually go see the building in real life.
I put the site to the test when I was looking for a recent project I needed to reference in a story (as I often do). Locating the project on the Architizer site took two clicks, compared to two minutes and four clicks to find...
- 3/23/2010
- by Alissa Walker
- Fast Company
After the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, Brad Pitt called in the world's top architects for his acclaimed Make It Right project. The plan was to build green homes to replace those destroyed in New Orleans. Now the first houses are up and inhabited… so is it just a celebrity ego trip or a true regeneration?
Debra Dupar, pregnant with her fifth child, is sitting outside her new house. She is washed by the noon sun of an early spring day, nursing a pinkish-red drink and chatting to her friends. A short way off a camera crew is setting up, assessing shots, squinting at the light, chatting to potential interviewees. They are working for Spike Lee, who is making a documentary about the place where Debra lives.
A guided tour of about a dozen people tramps along the vestigial street, marked out by some sinewy evergreen oaks, or "live oaks" as they are called here.
Debra Dupar, pregnant with her fifth child, is sitting outside her new house. She is washed by the noon sun of an early spring day, nursing a pinkish-red drink and chatting to her friends. A short way off a camera crew is setting up, assessing shots, squinting at the light, chatting to potential interviewees. They are working for Spike Lee, who is making a documentary about the place where Debra lives.
A guided tour of about a dozen people tramps along the vestigial street, marked out by some sinewy evergreen oaks, or "live oaks" as they are called here.
- 3/14/2010
- by Rowan Moore
- The Guardian - Film News
2010's Brit Insurance Design Award for Architecture went to Elemental's affordable, and adaptable, housing project in Mexico, skipping over big shots like Zaha Hadid and James Corner.
Architecture had its own Oscars on Monday, and just as cinephiles everywhere sighed with relief when The Hurt Locker beat out "FernGully: Part 2," those following the Brit Insurance Design Awards cheered the triumph of the little guy. In a major upset, little-known Chilean studio Elemental beat big-budget showpieces like Zaha Hadid's Maxxi museum, Herzog and de Meuron's Tenerife Arts Space, and even the New York High Line, winning the architecture category with their Monterrey Housing Complex.
Built in Santa Catarina, Mexico, it was the studio's first project outside of Chile. The 70 connected homes were based on a similar housing complex they built in Iquique, Chile in 2004. This time, they had almost double the budget, but it was still next to nothing: about $20,000 per unit.
Architecture had its own Oscars on Monday, and just as cinephiles everywhere sighed with relief when The Hurt Locker beat out "FernGully: Part 2," those following the Brit Insurance Design Awards cheered the triumph of the little guy. In a major upset, little-known Chilean studio Elemental beat big-budget showpieces like Zaha Hadid's Maxxi museum, Herzog and de Meuron's Tenerife Arts Space, and even the New York High Line, winning the architecture category with their Monterrey Housing Complex.
Built in Santa Catarina, Mexico, it was the studio's first project outside of Chile. The 70 connected homes were based on a similar housing complex they built in Iquique, Chile in 2004. This time, they had almost double the budget, but it was still next to nothing: about $20,000 per unit.
- 3/9/2010
- by William Bostwick
- Fast Company
Recession? What recession? Some brave restaurateurs are defying the economic gloom and doom and opening new places. We take a look at the design behind a select few. High atop the Museum of Arts and Design, New York's Robert commands a million dollar view.
With a wall of windows overlooking Central Park, and cocktail tables by one of Zaha Hadid's pet designers, Robert--the restaurant atop the new Museum of Arts and Design--starts with both enviable design cred and a million dollar view.
The first serious restaurant by owners Brian Seltzer, whose day job is as an internist, and Michael Weinstein, chairman of Ark Restaurants, this venue is a tribute to Robert Isabell, Manhattan's top shelf wedding designer, who died last year. Pronunciation note to the pretentious: That's "Robert" as in the Duluth native Isabell was, not a Frenchified Ro-ber, as in The Colbert Report.
On Thursday through Saturday nights,...
With a wall of windows overlooking Central Park, and cocktail tables by one of Zaha Hadid's pet designers, Robert--the restaurant atop the new Museum of Arts and Design--starts with both enviable design cred and a million dollar view.
The first serious restaurant by owners Brian Seltzer, whose day job is as an internist, and Michael Weinstein, chairman of Ark Restaurants, this venue is a tribute to Robert Isabell, Manhattan's top shelf wedding designer, who died last year. Pronunciation note to the pretentious: That's "Robert" as in the Duluth native Isabell was, not a Frenchified Ro-ber, as in The Colbert Report.
On Thursday through Saturday nights,...
- 2/2/2010
- by Linda Tischler
- Fast Company
Woop-woop! Turn your living room into a sweaty, smokey club at the flick of a switch.
Recently, Wallpaper* sought to design a custom-concept for a "home disco." Moritz Waldemeyer was their man, having helped design dresses studded with robotics, lasers, and Led's for visionary fashion designer Hussein Chalayan. What he produced is maybe one of the wackiest iPod accessories we've ever seen.
By day, it's a coffee table. By night, it has an iPod dock, speakers, a smoke machine, and a ring of lasers that transforms the surface into a cage for a go-go dancer:
Kanye! Can we get a finder's fee for locating your new coffee table?
A bit more background: Waldemayer is something of a genius for high-design electronics--he's been the technical wizard behind numerous beautiful projects for luminaries such as FredricksonStallard, Zaha Hadid, Ron Arad, and Yves Behar.
For our previous coverage Hussein Chalayan click here.
[Via WeHeart, which has more pics]...
Recently, Wallpaper* sought to design a custom-concept for a "home disco." Moritz Waldemeyer was their man, having helped design dresses studded with robotics, lasers, and Led's for visionary fashion designer Hussein Chalayan. What he produced is maybe one of the wackiest iPod accessories we've ever seen.
By day, it's a coffee table. By night, it has an iPod dock, speakers, a smoke machine, and a ring of lasers that transforms the surface into a cage for a go-go dancer:
Kanye! Can we get a finder's fee for locating your new coffee table?
A bit more background: Waldemayer is something of a genius for high-design electronics--he's been the technical wizard behind numerous beautiful projects for luminaries such as FredricksonStallard, Zaha Hadid, Ron Arad, and Yves Behar.
For our previous coverage Hussein Chalayan click here.
[Via WeHeart, which has more pics]...
- 1/7/2010
- by Cliff Kuang
- Fast Company
Hadid gets the construction go-ahead for an eccentric new museum.
This week, Zaha Hadid got the go-ahead to begin constructing her latest big building: The Eli and Edyth Broad Museum, on the campus of Michigan State Unversity. To mark the news, they've just released a nice fly-through animation of the building:
As you can tell, the building is a bit of a departure for Hadid. Where many of her big recent works look like Pringles potato chips, this one looks exactly like a pile of air conditioning vents. It works like one too: The facade's metal and glass "pleats" will be adjustable, allowing museum staff to adjust them for lighting levels. Inside, the pleat motif will carry over, creating patterns of overlapping zig-zags.
Hadid won the job in 2007, in an international competition that pitted her up against Thom Mayne, of Morphosis, and Wolf Prix, of Coop Himmelb(l)au.
The...
This week, Zaha Hadid got the go-ahead to begin constructing her latest big building: The Eli and Edyth Broad Museum, on the campus of Michigan State Unversity. To mark the news, they've just released a nice fly-through animation of the building:
As you can tell, the building is a bit of a departure for Hadid. Where many of her big recent works look like Pringles potato chips, this one looks exactly like a pile of air conditioning vents. It works like one too: The facade's metal and glass "pleats" will be adjustable, allowing museum staff to adjust them for lighting levels. Inside, the pleat motif will carry over, creating patterns of overlapping zig-zags.
Hadid won the job in 2007, in an international competition that pitted her up against Thom Mayne, of Morphosis, and Wolf Prix, of Coop Himmelb(l)au.
The...
- 12/17/2009
- by Cliff Kuang
- Fast Company
Note to readers of John Seabrook's New Yorker profile of Iraqi female starchitect Zaha Hadid this week: The opening scene, full of potato chips and chicken falling from Hadid's mouth as he interviewed her lunching at the Mercer is no accident. It's advanced criticism.
The sandwich came with potato chips, and Hadid examined one, turning it in her fingers, which were long and tapered and ended in bright-red nails, before putting it into her mouth. The twisty geometry of an ordinary potato chip, to say nothing of the curves in modern cars and phones, is a reminder of how few buildings look as if they belonged in the digital world. Hadid is devoted to helping architecture catch up.
Well, now that we know of her love for chips--as well as her affinity for capes; it's a juicy piece!--we have to say that the salty snacks are exactly what...
The sandwich came with potato chips, and Hadid examined one, turning it in her fingers, which were long and tapered and ended in bright-red nails, before putting it into her mouth. The twisty geometry of an ordinary potato chip, to say nothing of the curves in modern cars and phones, is a reminder of how few buildings look as if they belonged in the digital world. Hadid is devoted to helping architecture catch up.
Well, now that we know of her love for chips--as well as her affinity for capes; it's a juicy piece!--we have to say that the salty snacks are exactly what...
- 12/14/2009
- by Alissa Walker
- Fast Company
The path-breaking furniture designer is about to complete a design museum in Israel
Fresh off of a landmark exhibition at MoMA, furniture-designer Ron Arad is rounding on another milestone: In January, he'll complete The Design Museum Holon, in central Israel.
Arad was born in Israel but made his career in London. Though trained as an architect at London's Architectural Association in the 1970s--a hot house period that also saw Zaha Hadid and Rem Koolhaas studying there--his furniture business took off first in the 1980s, after Jean-Paul Gaultier bought one of his chairs, made from the gutted seating of a car. He's toyed with architecture since then, but has never built anything approaching the scale of the Holon museum.
It's hard to miss the fact that the building looks like the love child of Frank Lloyd Wright's Guggenheim New York, and a Richard Serra sculpture. The latter similarity goes beyond looks,...
Fresh off of a landmark exhibition at MoMA, furniture-designer Ron Arad is rounding on another milestone: In January, he'll complete The Design Museum Holon, in central Israel.
Arad was born in Israel but made his career in London. Though trained as an architect at London's Architectural Association in the 1970s--a hot house period that also saw Zaha Hadid and Rem Koolhaas studying there--his furniture business took off first in the 1980s, after Jean-Paul Gaultier bought one of his chairs, made from the gutted seating of a car. He's toyed with architecture since then, but has never built anything approaching the scale of the Holon museum.
It's hard to miss the fact that the building looks like the love child of Frank Lloyd Wright's Guggenheim New York, and a Richard Serra sculpture. The latter similarity goes beyond looks,...
- 11/23/2009
- by Cliff Kuang
- Fast Company
Indian filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt and his daughter, actress-turned-director Pooja Bhatt, have been invited by Pope Benedict XVI to attend a papal meeting with artists from around the world in Vatican City this month.
The Bhatts will be among more than 260 artists—representing painting, sculpture, literature, music, dance, architecture, theater, and cinema—at the event, which will be held on November 21st in the Sistine Chapel—a room in the Vatican covered with Michelangelo's frescos, which are arguably the most famous examples of Western art.
Vatican officials said they hope the meeting will improve the Church's relations with the global artistic community and create opportunities for collaboration. While the Catholic Church was once a primary sponsor of art, the two have become, in the words of a Vatican spokesman, "estranged" in modern times, both for ideological and stylistic reasons.
The Vatican chose the invitees based on leadership in their fields, not religious background.
The Bhatts will be among more than 260 artists—representing painting, sculpture, literature, music, dance, architecture, theater, and cinema—at the event, which will be held on November 21st in the Sistine Chapel—a room in the Vatican covered with Michelangelo's frescos, which are arguably the most famous examples of Western art.
Vatican officials said they hope the meeting will improve the Church's relations with the global artistic community and create opportunities for collaboration. While the Catholic Church was once a primary sponsor of art, the two have become, in the words of a Vatican spokesman, "estranged" in modern times, both for ideological and stylistic reasons.
The Vatican chose the invitees based on leadership in their fields, not religious background.
- 11/16/2009
- The Bollywood Ticket
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