Welsh designer Bethan Gray did something she hadn’t done for some time during the enforced hiatus of 2020: she started to paint. Choosing Chinese calligraphy brushes, she began to create freeform lines in ultramarine ink on a canvas laid on the floor of her studio. It was a spontaneous act, but what emerged was progress
0 Comments
When legendary designer Philippe Starck met Spanish investment banker Pedro Gómez de Baeza 30 years ago in Madrid they bonded through their quickfire, raucous sense of humour. The occasion was the opening of Starck’s transformation of a dilapidated old theatre into Teatriz, a restaurant with dramatic decor and an experimental menu. “Madrid had seen nothing
0 Comments
Jean Prouvé (1901-84) was not only an extraordinary engineer, architect and industrial designer but an extraordinary man. As a member of the French Resistance during the second world war, he operated under the codename Locksmith and, according to his daughter Catherine (the youngest of his five children), organised five escape routes from his apartment in Nancy,
0 Comments
The Biden administration will restart oil and gas leasing on federal lands as it comes under increasing pressure to bring down high petrol prices, backing away from a freeze that had riled industry executives. Around 144,000 acres of public lands will be put up for sale next week, the interior department said on Friday, marking
0 Comments
Two photos taken during the Ukraine crisis seem to sum up the relative positions of Russia and the western alliance. The first is of Vladimir Putin at his now famous long table — his physical distance from visiting leaders symbolising Russia’s isolation. The second image is of Joe Biden in the middle of a group
0 Comments
BUY: Tesco (TSCO) It’s all about price points at the UK’s largest grocer as inflation reduces real household budgets, writes Mark Robinson. The market gave the thumbs down to Tesco’s full-year figures. The initial markdown of the shares seems curious given a 35.8 per cent increase in adjusted operating profit for its core retail segment,
0 Comments
One of the reasons I like writing Swamp Notes is that I almost always enjoy the resulting interaction with our subscribers (I’m sure you agree Rana). As readers go, you are unusually polite, thoughtful and engaging. Where you disagree, which does occasionally happen (I didn’t say you were perfect), most of you are constructive in
0 Comments
Hello from New York, where the newsroom is buzzing with the start of another earnings season — a unique one, amid the war raging in Ukraine. Comments from some of the biggest US financial players suggest Wall Street has not shied away from ESG, even as commodity producers and energy companies surged in the first
0 Comments