This illuminating exhibition about all things swimming charts the birth of the bikini, its rapid shrinkage, lovely lidos – and the costumes that went too far
‘Like a game of black-belt level Jenga’: inside the ancient art of Japanese carpentry
From the earthquake-defying joints that support a 13th-century temple to the delicacy of sashimono puzzle boxes, a new exhibition shows off the myriad possibilities of this centuries-old craft
‘They goggled and gawped’: Bahrain gives its pearl-divers a sci-fi wonder – and four ‘filo pastry’ car parks
‘Zippos circus is in town!’ Can Man Utd really raise £2bn for a throbbing big top?
‘I aspire to be like water’: the exquisite buildings of Liu Jiakun, winner of architecture’s top prize
February 2025
Organizmo! The Colombian architects overturning colonialist ‘sustainability’ ideas
Thin is the new thick: Japanese masters of minimalism win RIBA gold medal
January 2025
Evil toilets, terror food and billionaire Squishmallows: my eye-popping day at the UK’s giant toy fair
Backlash builds: why the architecture world hates The Brutalist
‘The banks thought we were mad’: coral castles and look-at-me loos reinvent New York housing
My wonder of the world
A sprawling megacity of multi-level madness: why Chongqing in China is my wonder of the world
California fires: LA fire crews make progress as officials expect ‘much-needed break’ from dangerous weather – as it happened
‘Criminally reckless’: why LA’s urban sprawl made wildfires inevitable – and how it should rebuild
Tudor psychedelia for £35 a night! Is this rescued Yorkshire pile Britain’s most thrilling holiday let?
December 2024
2025 culture preview
Sensual surrealism, Kiefer’s delights and Gehry’s Guggenheim: the best art and architecture shows to visit in 2025
‘They wouldn’t do this to Shakespeare’: the pioneers of postmodern architecture, as seen by their son
