issue
130
tHe art of travel
viNtage PorscHes
How posters sold the idea of holidays
the 911, in demand yet affordable
NigHt ecoNomy
JermyN street
the boom in 24-hour cities
london’s most stylish road
restricted areas the abandoned technology of the cold War era
Our spirit of excellence. Senator Chronometer
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at h t f o p o t e h t o t b m li c ’s We t hought t his mor ning t! u o im h n r o w d a h t r o f n Arabia n o on r e t f a y s u b a ot g ’s d a Lo oks like D ahead of him.
Only 45 minutes from Dubai International Airport
www.raktda.com Just one of the sandy beaches along 64kms of coastline
OctOber issue 130
The business of life & living
Exclusive to Emirates First Class and Business Class
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Obaid Humaid al Tayer MANAGING PARTNER & GROUP EDITOR ian Fairservice EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Gina JOHnsOn GROUP EDITOR mark evans marke@motivate.ae EDITOR maTTHew POmrOy matthew.pomroy@motivate.ae sENIOR ART DIRECTOR sara raFFaGHellO sarar@motivate.ae DEsIGNER ralPH mancaO ralph@motivate.ae sUb-EDITOR salil kumar salil@motivate.ae EDITORIAL AssIsTANT lOndresa FlOres londresa@motivate.ae GENERAL MANAGER – PRODUCTION sunil kumar sunil@motivate.ae PRODUCTION MANAGER r. murali krisHnan muralik@motivate.ae PRODUCTION sUPERvIsOR veniTa PinTO venita@motivate.ae CHIEF COMMERCIAL OFFICER anTHOny milne anthony@motivate.ae PUbLIsHER Jaya balakrisHnan jaya@motivate.ae GROUP sALEs MANAGER PORTFOLIO & INTERNATIONAL micHael underdOwn michael@motivate.ae
Emirates takes care to ensure that all facts published herein are correct. In the event of any inaccuracy please contact the editor. Any opinion expressed is the honest belief of the author based on all available facts. Comments and facts should not be relied upon by the reader in taking commercial, legal, financial or other decisions. Articles are by their nature general and specialist advice should always be consulted before any actions are taken. All dollar prices throughout the magazine refer to US dollars. Published for Emirates by
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OctOber issue 130
contents upfront
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boLdLy going
The upcoming space missions you probably don’t know are happening
18
tiny1
A pocket camera that captures the universe
24
porsche 911
Living
70
How the 911 became the most sought after and affordable vintage car
casa fuster
29
styLe
computer code
Why computer programming should be taught in schools
32
eLectric dreams
Can Elon Musk make the Tesla plant a truly green factory?
36
amazon air
Why Amazon is serious about drone deliveries
Barcelona’s grand Art Nouveau hotel
76
Autumn looks for men and women this month
82
jermyn street
A guide to one of the most stylish streets in the world
84
food & drink
The pick of restaurants and bars this month
90
coLumn
In defence of wasting time on the Internet
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34,932 copies January - June 2016
OctOber issue 130
contents FeatUres
40
tHe nIGHt MaYors
Long regarded by authorities as a nuisance, Europe’s cities are finally embracing the nighttime economy. Will their efforts ensure a thriving club culture is safeguarded, or will it lead to the gentrification of the continent’s biggest youth culture phenomenon?
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restrICted areas
Danila Tkachenko travelled thousands of kilometers in search of places that used to be of great importance for the idea of technological progress in the former Soviet Union. His photographs bear witness of what remains after the progress came to a halt.
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tHe art oF travel
To travel is better than to arrive, at least if you do it in style. The stylish, vivid poster art from the first half of the last century sold the romance of travel to the world. So how did the advertising world come to produce these romantic, alluring images?
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tHe FIne dInInG CrIsIs
Born out of the French revolution, traditional fine dining is now facing a revolution of its own. Both diners and restaurateurs are increasingly moving away from the modern style of fine dining and looking at simpler ways of encouraging people to eat out.
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InternatIonal MedIa representatIves aUstralIa/neW Zealand Samford Media; Tel + 618 9447 2734, okeeffekev@bigpond.com.au CHIna IMM International; Tel +852 2639 3635, j.bouron@ imm-international.com GerManY IMV Internationale Medien Vermarktung GmbH; Tel +49 8151 550 8959, w.jaeger@imv-media.com GreeCe Global Media; +30 210 69 85 981, c.fronimos@global-media.gr HonG KonG/MalaYsIa/IndonesIa Sonney Media Networks; Tel +852 2151 2351, hemant@sonneymedia. com IndIa Media Star; Tel +91 22 4220 2103, ravi@mediastar.co.in sWItZerland/FranCe/ItalY/spaIn IMM International; Tel +331 40 1300 30, n.devos@ imm-international.com Japan Tandem Inc.; Tel + 81 3 3541 4166, all@tandem-inc.com netHerlands giO media; Tel +31 6 6 2223 8420, giovanni@giO-media.nl tHaIland Media Representation International; +66 8 6777 3417, Stephen@mediarepint.com tUrKeY TTR Media Ltd; Tel +90 212 275 8433, tanbilge@medialtd. com.tr UK Spafax; Tel +44 207 906 1983, merle.stein@spafax.com Usa WorldMedia Inc; Tel +1 212 244 5610, conoverbrown@worldmediaonline.com
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Boldly going forward We’re about to enter a busy time for space missions that could usher in an era of huge discovery. Here are just some of the projects planned by the various agencies
TESS Successor to Kepler that will search for exoplanets to find targets for the upcoming James Webb telescope
2017
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Chang’e 5 A Chinese mission to the moon to collect samples and return them to Earth
Event Horizon Telescope A network of radio telescopes around the world that aims to produce the very first image of the event horizon of a black hole
Hayabusa-2 At Ryugu JAXA’s Hayabusa-2 arrives at asteroid Ryugu, sending three mini-hopping landers to the surface and then returning a sample to Earth
Red Dragon SapceX aims to land a modified version of its Dragon 2 capsule to land on Mars (no crew) in cooperation with Nasa
2018
CHEOPS The European Space Agency’s first exoplanet telescope that will determine the radii of exoplanets to identify their approximate composition
Chang’e 4 Chinese mission that will send a lander to the far side of the moon for the first time along with a rover
2019
James Webb Space Telescope Nasa’s major space observatory that looks set to revolutionise astronomy, and will do the first atmospheric study of an Earthsized exoplanet
BepiColombo Launch Joint European and Japanese mission to Mercury, on a one-year mission to gather data
OSIRIS-REX At Bennu Nasa’s OSIRISREX arrives at asteroid Bennu, collecting data to enable scientists to learn more about the formation and evolution of the Solar System
2020
LSST Telescope that will photograph the entire available sky every few nights in ultrahigh resolution and discover over 40,000 Kuiper belt objects
OCTOBER
Euclid Launch of telescope to better understand dark energy and dark matter by accurately measuring the acceleration of the universe
2021
Mars 2020 Nasa’s upcoming rover (following on from the Curiosity rover), with a mission to search for signs of past or present life on Mars
AIDA Asteroid Impact And Deflection Assessment mission, which would study and demonstrate the kinetic effects of crashing an impactor spacecraft into an asteroid moon
Europa Clipper Nasa mission that will perform flybys of Europa, investigating its habitability and aid in the selection of a landing site for its lander
2022
ExoMars Rover ESA’s first Mars rover that will search for evidence of life by drilling two metres into the planet surface
Future Mars Orbiter Few details as of yet, but it is likely that in 2022 Nasa will launch a new orbiter with solar electric propulsion to replace an ageing fleet of Mars orbiters
E-ELT The European Extremely Large Telescope that could give data to potentially change our comprehension of the general laws of physics
2023
JUICE Launch ESA Jupiter orbiter that upon arrival in 2030 will photograph and study Jupiter’s moons, Callisto and Ganymede
MMX JAXA mission to send a spacecrat to the Martian moon of Phobos to collect samples
Plato Launch of a space observatory to find planets like Earth, not just in terms of their size but in their potential for habitability
2024
Laplace-P Lander to explore the moon Ganymede that has an internal ocean that may contain more water than all of Earth’s oceans combined
ISSUE 130
Giant Magellan Telescope Built in Chile, the largest optical observatory in the world with power 10 times greater than the Hubble Space Telescope
Infographic: Ralph Mancao
/ INFOGRAPHIC
2025
Solar Probe Plus Nasa’s robotic spacecraft to probe the outer corona of the sun to determine the structure and dynamics of the magnetic fields
WFIRST Built from a spy satellite, the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope will have a field of view 100 times larger than Hubble and help answer questions about dark energy
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OCTOBER ISSUE 130
UPFRONT / CAMERA
TECHNOLOGY | GLOBAL
Hubble in your pocket Space exploration comes to the masses. Words: Matt Pomroy
O
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ne thing we are seeing amid the current boom in technology is the new mediums providing a platform for near unlimited creativity: the likes of Apple and Samsung make smartphones, then the world creates millions of apps to populate them to do millions of different things. That’s brilliant, but it’s also nice to see something that is a little more standalone and specific. The Tiny1 is being billed as “Hubble in your pocket” and while that may be a slight exaggeration, albeit one handy for headlines, it is a staggeringly impressive miniature astronomy camera. “Small, smart and social” sees it tick the three important boxes that are seemingly now prerequisites for commercial success, but what’s really impressive is how a tiny piece of kit makes astronomy exploration – once a specialist activity – readily accessible to the public and suitable for near-instant social media sharing. Professional photographer Grey Tan, the CEO of makers TinyMOS (a three-man startup based in Singapore), set out to create a portable camera that gets over the difficulty of astronomy imaging. As he points out, “We have more computing power in our phones than Nasa had when they sent the first man to the moon, but we are exploring space less than ever.” The aim is to shift space exploration from the endeavour of governments and corporations to individuals. After two years in development this was their solution.
Full moon shot on Tiny1 camera
For back of camera: Augmented reality star maps
“We have more computing power in our phones than Nasa had when they sent the first man to the moon” The Tiny1 uses advanced spatial sensors to guide users to point at the correct astronomy objects in real time, through the star maps so you know what you’re shooting and where to find specific parts of the sky. It contains presets specifically for producing highquality images in low-light settings for specific things like the Milky Way or the Northern Lights. There are also presets to post-process the
images. Using the built-in Wi-Fi, it transfers images to smartphones and laptops ready for sharing. Tiny1 also supports a system of interchangeable lenses for those who want to add a piece of their own kit. But for those looking to capture some of the night sky on a trip to the desert, or looking to shoot the moon from their back garden, this makes it simple. We’re all astronomers now.
Don’t visit an art gallery. Sleep in one. Curated hotel art collections. Take your stay to the next level. Exclusively at
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D108709A_Portfolio_DPS_205 mm x 265 mm.indd 1
2016-09-14 3:11 PM
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S I M P LY T H E B E S T
OCTOBER UPFRONT / SPEND
ISSUE 130 1
HELLO VIDEO COMMUNICATION DEVICE It will connect with your television via HDMI port to create an allin-one, voice-controlled device for video conferencing, wireless screen sharing, live broadcasting and security surveillance with motion detection. It’s more than passed its funding on Kickstarter so expect this to be out be the end of the year. $149, kickstarter.com
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BANG & OLUFSEN BEOVISION 14 TV The BeoVision looks almost mid-century modern in terms of design, and by putting the speakers below the screen it creates a retro square shape. But the inside of this television is as modern as it gets. It comes in 40- and 55-inch models, both with 4K Ultra HD LED, integrated app access, immersive sound systems, connectivity options and motorised stands, which means the viewing quality is as you’d expect from a B&O product, just now you have something that looks great even when it’s turned off. $6.723, bang-olufsen.com
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POP SWITCH The Pop Switch lets you control lighting, music and more with the push of a button. Program each switch with up to three commands. The button is wireless and batterypowered, so you can use it just about anywhere: by the front door or on your nightstand. You can also carry one from room to room. One button and the lights dim and Marvin Gaye comes on the stereo. You see where this is going. $39, logitech.com
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DJI OSMO HANDHELD GIMBAL CAMERA A portable camera stabiliser (aka gimbal) that houses your smartphone as a viewfinder on the side. The camera is capable of shooting 4K video at 30fps and can do full HD, 100fps 1080p slow mo, and you can even grab 12MP stills. It adds a 7x zoom and even when shooting close in it helps you steady your shots while on the move, so that your videos look professional and smooth. $499, dji.com
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VSSL SUPPLIES A water-resistant flashlight that also houses a survival kit, including a compass, four-hour candle, razor blade, water purification tablets, wire saw, emergency whistle, waterproof matches, fire starters, fishing gear, signalling mirror, marine grade rope, reflective trail markers, can opener and first-aid supplies. $100, vsslgear.com
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octobEr upfront / Solid EnErgy
iSSuE 130
Apple iPhone battery 1.8 Ah
SolidEnergy battery 2.0 Ah
tEchnology | global
Longer, stronger and safer The new battery materials that store more energy and won’t catch fire. Words: Matt Pomroy
W
hen the new iPhone7 was launched there was the usual shrugs at the minor changes and the usual outcry over the major ones – this time the removal of the 3.5mm headphone jack. But ask phone users what they really want and most will say a much longer battery life. We may have a solution. Massachusetts-based startup SolidEnergy Systems is one of many companies that have tried, or are trying, to make batteries that last longer, but unlike their rivals SolidEnergy have working prototypes. Smartphones currently operate on battery technology from 1991 when companies like Sony began using the first lithium-ion batteries. They rely on graphite-based anodes (where the positive electric charge flows) but these graphite anodes
are notably limited in how much power they can store. SolidEnergy built a lithium-ion battery with an ultra-thin copper anode that has increased the energy density to double the amount of graphite-based anodes in lithium hold. So in theory a battery the same size as the one in your phone using this new technology would last twice as long. Other companies have tried this before, but this is the first time a seemingly safe and stable battery has been made this way. The CEO of SolidEnergy, Qichao Hu, told MIT News: “It is kind of the holy grail for batteries.” The battery has already been successfully tested on an iPhone but the first use is going to be in drones. One example for usage that Hu gave was the high-altitude drones and balloons being created to provide Wi-Fi in remote areas.
$12m Raised by SolidEnergy in series B financing in 2015
“They need to be powered by batteries, but the current lithiumion battery lifetime is very short and the batteries are heavy.” The batteries that SolidEnergy are making will offer “the same capacity at half the volume and half the weight”. The latter part being significant for drones. Usage in mobile phones is expected in 2017 and the following year the tech is going to be scaled up for electric cars – something that could seriously help their viability, especially in more remote areas. Around 20 years ago your old Nokia would last close to a week on a full charge, not because the battery was better, it’s simply because modern phones do so much more and that requires more power. Slowly, it seems, battery technology is catching up with the things we need them to power.
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upfront
cars | global
Who wants a classic Porsche? Vintage Porsche 911s are both hugely sought after yet oddly affordable. Words: Steve Morrissey 24
A
few weeks ago, on a UK TV show, a man was offered twice what he’d hoped to get for his 1970s Porsche 911 RS. He’d been thinking maybe £250,000.
In fact he got half a million quid. And this wasn’t a sale price – that was the amount a pawn shop was prepared to lend him against the value of his car. And recently in New York a Porsche 1973 Carrera RS 2.7
Touring sold at auction for just under $1 million. According to McKeel Hagerty of vintage car insurers Hagerty, half the people who sell a classic Mercedes SL at auction are now going on to buy a Porsche. Vintage Porsches, clearly, are hot. Not for nothing is bloomberg.com calling them “the next blue chip classic car”. The US office of Sotheby’s agrees, pointing out that if you can’t afford a classic Merc, then Porsche are “the next best thing”. “The market in early 911s has gone a bit crazy,” confirms Steve Kevlin of Porsche Club GB, “and it’s had a knock-on on the whole range.” So what’s fuelling the boom? One theory is that the market for the other big European
october / Porsche
issue 130
1973 Porsche 911 Carrera RS
hitters – Ferrari and vintage Mercs – is now beyond the reach of most buyers and so he (it is almost always a he) goes “next best” with a car that actually offers decent value for money and reliability if you’re looking for something vintage. Another contributing factor is the generation that were boys in the 1980s with posters of Porsches on their bedroom walls are now in their 40s and 50s and in a position to buy the big toy they always wanted as a child. Compared to a Ferrari, an old Porsche is a very reasonable deal. And compared to a Lamborghini it’s a very reasonable ride too. Porsche 911s aren’t just eminently covetable they’re also immensely practical. In terms of technology, the cars are straightforward,
especially 911s from the ’70s and ’80s. Thanks to the relatively simple Volkswagen-style engines, they’re the sort of cars mechanics love working on. Parts don’t cost a fortune. And there is probably a half-decent independent specialist ready to fit them out in a DIY shed near you. “In fact the Porsche 911 is one of the cheapest cars to own,” says car photographer and Porsche enthusiast Rupert Sutcliffe. “Unless you’re an idiot, you’ll get back what you paid for it. People who bought a hot hatch for eight grand in the 1980s could have bought a 911SC for a couple of grand more. Which is madness – what’s a 1980s Fiesta XR2 worth today?” The 911 stands up well in terms of mechanics and value
70%
of cars Porsche produced are still on the road
for money, but there is another reason why it is so sought after now. “The 911 philosophy was at its purest in the 1960s and 1970s,” says Sutcliffe, “when they set out to build a driver’s car – and nothing flatters someone more than knowing he’s in a driver’s car.” This ethos is what drove Porsche to do things their way – that’s why 911s have the engine at the back and behind the rear wheels. More unconventional still is the engine cooled by air rather than water. “Even the colour of those cars is unique,” continues Sutcliffe. “Porsche made the paint themselves, rather than buy it in.” Unlike Italian rivals, Porsche aren’t trying to make a fashion statement, they’re trying to
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october issue 130
make a car. The result can look a bit brutal, but tends to insulate them against the worst turns of an often-volatile market when it comes to resale value. “It was only with the arrival of the 911SC [in 1978] that Porsche started to edge into the mainstream,” says Sutcliffe. And, looking at the prices, it is these “purer”, more driver-focused pre-78 models that seem to get tongues lolling. Go back before 1974 – when Porsche introduced the galvanised chassis – and prices go up again because scarcity value is becoming a factor. But it’s the first tranche of 911s – 1963-1969 – that command the real kudos and the prices. These are the famously badly behaved “short wheelbase” versions (SWB in the ads) that reversed the rules on taking corners (“slow in, fast out” is the SWB driver’s mantra). Just clicking through Autotrader today, there’s a smart green 1967 911 2.0l for sale in Houston, Texas, for $278,000, and a 1965 Coupe in Signal Red in California for $249,000. These are not uncommon prices.
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upfront / porsche
“Porsche 911 is one of the cheapest cars to own. Unless you’re an idiot, you’ll get back what you paid for it”
The 1984 Porsche 911 Carrera Targa. A classic of the decade, the stuff of posters-onbedroom-walls, at the time of writing there are four listed on classiccars.com for under $40k.
Expect to pay “a small fortune”, says Porsche Club GB’s Steve Kevlin, for what is for many the ultimate 911, a 2.7l Carrera RS from 1973 or 1974 – “that’s the sporty one with a spoiler and big fat rear arches”, the RS standing for Rennsport (“racing sport”). “Though all early ’70s cars are now pricey,” continues Kevlin, “with the 911S also selling for small fortunes, the fairly rare 76-77 Carrera 3.0l is also very pricey and even 3.2l Carreras from 84-89 [the last iteration of the original 911 series] have rocketed.” But that’s the upper end the strangely variable second-hand market, which had an unusually wide entry point, not least because all those advertising honchos and bankers who bought a 911S in the 1980s are now selling up and buying an SUV – much easier to get into and out of. And because
70 per cent of cars Porsche ever produced are still on the road, there are plenty out there driving the price of the average car down. However, “there are still plenty of affordable 911s out there”, continues Kevlin. “For £30K or so you could buy an early 997 [as Porsche call its 2004-to-2012 911 model] from 2008 – they’re fantastic value.” As for a future classic, perhaps something that’s a bit undervalued right now for reasons of fashion rather than cold hard logic? “That’d be the 996 [the 19992004 911],” says Kevlin. “It’s water-cooled, which makes it less attractive to the air-cooled diehards. But it’s a hidden gem. And very, very good value. You might pick one up for £10 to £11K.” Which is credit card money. And considering some of the prices quoted in previous paragraphs, that’s a steal.
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octobEr upfront / Education
issuE 130
tEchnology | global
School Of Code Why everyone should learn computer programming. Words: John R. Woodward
N
ews that numerous cathedrals are offering short courses in Latin is a reminder of the long decline of the language over the years. It was a core subject in the British education system until fairly recently – and not because anyone planned to speak it, of course. It was believed to offer valuable training for intellectual composition, as well as skills and thinking that were transferable to other fields.
It may have been the right decision, but when it was ultimately decided that these advantages were outweighed by Latin being a dead language we arguably lost that intellectual training in the process. This is why we want to make the case for moving another discipline to the centre of the curriculum that offers analogous benefits – computer programming. And unlike Latin, it is anything but dead.
$77.5K Median salary of a computer programmer in 2015
There are many computer languages for different purposes. C and C++ remain the fastest to execute and are used by the gaming industry, for instance. In the internet era, much of the page design is done with the likes of JavaScript or PHP. Meanwhile Python has been rapidly gaining a reputation as a general purpose code that is easy to learn. There are many parallels between natural languages
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octobEr issuE 130
SQL Data from indeed.com 2016
JAVA
c#
pyThon
c++
php
ioS
rUBy / rAiLS
0
10,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
50,000
JAVAScripT
60,000
upfront / Education
The nine most in-demand programming languages of 2016 The coding website codingdojo compiled data from programming jobs listed on the job site indeed.com to find which computer languages are currently in demand. Bad news if you’ve just spent a year learning Cobol.
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and programming languages like these. You must learn to express yourself within the rules of the language. There is a grammar to comprehend. And what you write must be interpretable by another human being. People who program can communicate with computers, which is becoming more and more important now that computers have a hand in almost everything. In today’s IT-literate world, we are all expected to be fluent in word processing and spreadsheets. The next logical step is to be able to program. The younger generation are already exposed to computers almost from the day they are born, which explains for example Barclays bank’s recent launch of Code Playground, an initiative to engage young children in the basics of programming via a colourful website.
There is a myth that only maths geniuses are suited to programming. It’s more accurate to say you need a logical approach and an ability to problem solve. Just as Latin constructs reinforce communication, programming constructs reinforce problem solving. It teaches you to break a problem into achievable chunks and to think very precisely. And once you have mastered the basics, it opens up great potential for creative thinking. Then there are specific workplace benefits, such as for businesses that are building a bespoke piece of software. Errors sometimes occur when documents outlining in English how a program should work are translated into computer code. Those who have an appreciation of a programming language can write these more clearly.
22%
Predicted growth of IT jobs between now and 2020
Indeed, businesses usually have to employ specialist analysts as intermediaries to help with this translation process. As computers become more dominant, those who don’t know how to think in this way increasingly risk being left behind. We can foresee a time when greater numbers of people become interested in learning to program for themselves, but in the meantime there is a great case for making the basics of computer programming a core skill at school. One candidate language would be Python. It’s freely available and one of the easier programming languages to learn – compared, say, to C/C++. It has grown in popularity in recent years, initially for this simplicity but lately because it has been adopted by the big data community. It is likely to be around for a few years and not become a dead language any time soon. If a teacher walked into a classroom and told today’s students they were going to study a dead language, you can imagine the reaction. Imagine instead introducing them to an easy-touse programming language that is probably already installed on their laptops. It can allow them to automate many boring tasks such as checking e-mail and sending out pre-written responses; or receive custom notifications by text; or download files or copy text from a website whenever it updates. It’s time that those in charge of education policy recognised the shift in employability skills and the need for a new generation of problem solvers. We may have reached the point where the three Rs of education – reading, writing and ‘rithmetic – should become the four Rs, with the addition of programming. Or ‘l’rogramming, as we would soon get used to calling it. John R Woodward is a lecturer in computer science at the University Of Stirling
upfront
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ocTober / Tesla FacTory
issue 130
technology | USA
The world’s biggest eco factory But can Elon Musk deliver green production? Words: Peter Wells
L
ike Henry Ford before him, Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk is taking a new approach to carmaking. Where Ford focused on manufacturing a car that the mass market could afford, Musk is keen to build a vehicle that the environment can bear. Much has been made of the use of solar power at what is to become the largest factory in the world, the Tesla Gigafactory near Reno, Nevada, which will produce battery packs for cars and other applications. The ‘end-to-end’ vision of using renewable energy sources to generate electricity for product manufacture and use is compelling, and one that has been forcefully made by Elon Musk. At an estimated cost of $5 billion (including $1.3 billion in tax incentives) and with factory floorspace intended to grow to some 1.2 million square metres by 2020, on four square kilometres of land, it is a monumental project. Look beyond the hype, however, and there are major environmental questions that need
to be answered, as the rhetoric and reality of green production are very different. Just look at the embodied energy of the factory alone, that is the energy required to create and maintain it. It takes substantial sunk energy costs and carbon emissions to build the solar panels, and all associated cables, that will power the Gigafactory, and to make and transport the concrete, steel, glass, plastic and other materials needed to create more than a million square metres of factory floor space. Some studies of office buildings have suggested embodied energy can be as much as 30 times the annual operational energy use. For Tesla’s factory, the use of zero-carbon energy during production makes the energy cost of construction even more significant. For example, cement – more than 60,000 cubic yards of concrete were poured to form the base of the factory – has embodied energy of 4.5 megajoules per kilogram, and
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an embodied carbon value of 0.73 kilograms of carbon dioxide/kg. Some 70 per cent of solar panel lifecycle carbon emissions also occur in manufacturing, with a typical total figure of 40g in CO2 emissions per kWh. This means that upward of 50 per cent of the lifecycle carbon emissions associated with the Gigafactory could occur just in building the plant. There will also be additional energy running costs due to the factory being located in the Nevada desert. Significant power will be needed for air conditioning, to keep the 6,500 workers in a healthy ambience, in addition to the usual lighting, heating and powering of production equipment. Is this the best use of available solar power? The issue is simple: renewable does not mean infinite. Many electric vehicles are of dubious efficiency, and the carbon emissions benefits of each car depend crucially upon the means by which the electricity used to power the car is generated. Even then, compared with an efficient diesel or petrol car, the net reduction in lifecycle carbon emissions is likely to be only in the region of 25 to 30 per cent – given their promotion as the ecofriendly car, some might expect this figure to be much higher. There are other environmental burdens, too: solar panels are traditionally produced using large quantities of materials such as copper, silver, lithium and rare earths such as tellurium, or indium for which there are scarcity concerns and very large environmental burdens during extraction and refining including significant human toxicity. In addition, manufacturing processes for panels may involve caustic chemicals such as sodium hydroxide and hydrofluoric acid, for which recycling options are currently limited.
upfront / tesla factory
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Size in square metres of the factory
$5bn
Cost of construction
The Gigafactory is also in a region of the US with recurrent concerns over long-term water supply. Debate over water concerns around Reno was heated even before the announcement of the Gigafactory, and the direct use of water by the plant has undoubtedly added to this. It is expected that the majority of the water used will be captured, if necessary treated, and then returned to the water supply system. Nevertheless, it is anticipated that the facility will need up to three million cubic metres of water by the time it reaches maturity. Moreover, all those workers, a substantial number of which may be recruited from outside the immediate area, along with their families, will add to the indirect water consumption burden. At
an average US household size of 2.8 persons, the factory could see an influx of a further 18,200 people into the Reno area. At an average local consumption rate of 741 cubic metres of water per household per annum, that means a potential additional demand of just over four million cubic metres per annum in total – more than the factory itself. Tesla certainly is taking a commendable step in the right direction to make its plant as eco-friendly as possible, but there is still room for development. However, where one leads others can and will follow, and the future of manufacturing can only get greener. That has to be good news. Peter Wells is the professor of business and sustainability at Cardiff University
Machinery at the Gigafactory. Tesla officially opened its Gigafactory in July, but so far it’s only about 14 per cent complete. When it’s finished, it will be about 10 million square feet, or about the size of 262 football fields
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OctOber / retail
issue 130
technology | global
The Drone Wars
Why Amazon’s drone delivery idea is not a gimmick. Words: Farhad Manjoo, Illustration: Ralph Mancao
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mazon is the most obscure large company in the tech industry. It isn’t just secretive, the way Apple is, but in a deeper sense, Jeff Bezos’ e-commerce and cloud-storage giant is opaque. Amazon rarely explains either its near-term tactical aims or its long-term strategic vision. It values surprise. To understand Amazon, then, is necessarily to engage in a kind of Kremlinology. That’s especially true of the story behind one of its most important business areas: the logistics by which it ships orders to its customers. Over the last few years, Amazon has left a trail of clues that suggests it is radically altering how it delivers goods. Among other moves, it has set up its own fleet of trucks; introduced an Uber-like crowdsourced delivery service; built many robot-powered warehouses; and continued to invest in a far-out plan to use drones for delivery. It made another splash recently, when it showed off an Amazon-branded Boeing 767 aeroplane, one of more than 40 in its planned fleet. These moves have fuelled speculation that Amazon is trying to replace the third-party shipping companies it now relies on – including UPS, FedEx and the US Postal Service – with its homegrown delivery service. Its
logistics investments have also fed the general theory that Amazon has become essentially unbeatable in American e-commerce – no doubt one reason Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, felt the need to acquire an audacious Amazon rival, Jet.com, for $3.3 billion. So what’s Amazon’s ultimate aim in delivery? After talking to analysts, partners and competitors, and prying some very minimal input from Amazon itself, I suspect the company has a two-tiered vision for the future of shipping. First, it’s not trying to replace third-party shippers. Instead, over the next few years, Amazon wants to add as much capacity to its operations as possible, and rather than replace partners like UPS and FedEx, it is spending boatloads on planes, trucks, crowdsourcing and other novel delivery services to add to its overall capacity and efficiency. Amazon’s longer-term goal is more fantastical – and, if it succeeds, potentially transformative. It wants to escape the messy vicissitudes of roads and humans. It wants to go fully autonomous, up in the sky. The company’s drone programme, which many in the press dismissed as a marketing gimmick when Bezos unveiled it on the CBS News program 60 Minutes in 2013, is central to this future; drones could be combined with warehouses
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Increase in Amazon’s shipping costs to $11.5bn in 2015
manned by robots and trucks that drive themselves to unlock a new autonomous future for Amazon. “It’s a vastly easier problem – flying than driving,” said Keller Rinaudo, the co-founder of Zipline, a drone-delivery startup that will begin deploying a system to deliver medical goods in Rwanda this fall. “If we had regulatory permission, we’d be delivering to your house right now,” he added, referring to the San Francisco Bay Area. If Amazon’s drone programme succeeds (and Amazon says it is well on track), it could fundamentally alter the company’s cost structure. A decade from now, drones would reduce the unit cost of each Amazon delivery by about half, analysts at Deutsche Bank projected in a recent research report. If that happens, the economic threat to competitors would be punishing – “retail stores would cease to exist”, Deutsche’s analysts suggested. Shipping has always been at the core of Amazon’s strategic investments. In its earliest days, as part of an effort to avoid collecting sales tax from most customers, Amazon purposefully placed warehouses in low-tax, lowpopulation states, and then shipped goods to populous areas within three to five days. The 2005 introduction of Amazon’s Prime subscription programme, which gives
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customers two-day delivery on goods for an annual price of $99, changed Amazon’s shipping needs. Prime encouraged customers to buy a lot more stuff, and it also forced Amazon to deliver packages more quickly. That explains why Amazon abandoned its tax-avoidance strategy earlier this decade and began building dozens of warehouses in populous areas. It also ramped up a system called “postal injection”, in which it uses prediction algorithms and complicated network analysis to figure out how to deliver every package to the US postal facility nearest a customer’s house. According to Deutsche, postal injection has allowed Amazon to slash the cost of the most expensive leg of shipping an item – from a warehouse to customers’ homes. So despite shipping most goods faster, between 2010 and 2015 Amazon cut its shipping costs from $5.25 per box to $4.26, Deutsche estimates. But that’s still not low enough. Though Amazon has released a string of stellar earnings reports recently, its shipping costs are rising, and it faces capacity constraints. During the holidays two years ago, a surge of online orders overwhelmed UPS, leading to missed deliveries. A more severe problem looms in the long run: the transportation infrastructure in the United States is ageing, and the Transportation Department has warned that unless urgent and expensive fixes are made, roads, waterways, airports and other systems will become alarmingly clogged by the 2040s. For Amazon, that projected future is catastrophic: Pretty much all of Amazon’s current investments in shipping – in trucks, planes and crowdsourced delivery cars – depend on the traditional shipping infrastructure. All, that is, except for drones – which explains why they are integral to Amazon’s vision of the future of retail. I was first clued in to the importance of Amazon’s drone
upfront / retail
80%
of Amazon deliveries are under 2.3kg and drone deliverable
initiative, called Amazon Prime Air, when I met Gur Kimchi, the head of the programme, at an industry conference a few months ago. Though our conversation was off the record, Kimchi’s detailed answers to my questions suggested I had been too quick to dismiss the initiative. When I began talking to others in the drone industry about Amazon’s interest in autonomous flight, they all pointed out that drones offer a way to leapfrog roads. Because they operate in a new, untrammelled layer of physical space – below 122 metres, an airspace that is unoccupied in most of the country – they open up a vast new shipping lane. Beyond posting several videos, Amazon has not revealed much about its drone programme, but it has been working with regulators worldwide to set up tests of the system. It envisions drones being able to deliver packages weighing up to 2.3 kilograms, which account for 80 to 90 per cent of its deliveries. Amazon also said it has built many different kinds of prototypes for different delivery circumstances. The first rollouts will likely be in low- and medium-density areas like suburbs, where a drone might land in a backyard to drop off shoes. But the company said it was also
working on systems to deliver to cities – for instance, drones could deliver packages to smart lockers positioned on rooftops. As it happens, the shipping company DHL has tested just such a drone-to-locker delivery system in Germany; a representative told me that the test was a success and that it plans to expand the technology depending on regulatory approval. Amazon’s patent filings hint at even more fanciful possibilities – drones could ferry packages between tiny depots housed on light poles, for example. Others project even wilder ideas. Ryan Petersen, the founder of the logistics software company Flexport, pointed out that Amazon had filed patents that envision using trucks as mobile shipping warehouses. Such self-driving trucks, pre-stocked with items Amazon has determined a given neighbourhood might need, could roam around towns. When an order comes in, a drone might fly from the truck to a customer’s house, delivering the item in minutes. Scenes like that are most likely in the far-off future. But according to Amazon, the earliest incarnation of drone deliveries will happen much sooner – we will see it within five years, somewhere in the world.
Night Moves Long regarded by authorities as a nuisance, Europe’s cities are finally embracing the nighttime economy. Will their efforts ensure a thriving club culture is safeguarded, or will it lead to the gentrification of the continent’s biggest youth culture phenomenon? Conor Purcell
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here was, not that long ago, a strange relationship between Europe’s cities and their after-dark economies. Clubs, raves, – the whole of club culture – was seen as a generational tic, a phase that led to nothing more than police overtime and increased crime. Newspapers would routinely bemoan young people having a good time, and the general consensus was the world would be a better place if everyone was tucked up in bed by 10pm. Now that is all changing. In 2014, Amsterdam appointed its first Night Mayor, a former club promoter called Milan Mirik. Zurich, Toulouse and Groningen have followed suit; Berlin has a successful Club Commission and London is actively looking for a ‘Night Tsar’, someone who can, according to mayor Sadiq Khan’s website, “deliver a vision for London as a 24-hour city”. The Commission estimates the nighttime economy is worth $35 billion to the city’s annual GDP, and it’s the sheer amount of money that club culture makes that is forcing city administrators to sit up and take notice. It’s about time. For many around the world, a club scene is how they identify with a city. London means Fabric and the Ministry of Sound, Berlin means Tresor and Berghain, Amsterdam means Paradiso and Tokyo means Womb. For too long these clubs – cultural innovators in their own right – were ignored by local governments and the tourist boards. This was despite the fact that the people who travel to such clubs are a marketer’s dream: twenty- and thirty-something’s with disposable income and a cultural curiosity. Aside from the eyewatering figures involved in the after-hours economy, the increased interest is partially a generational movement. The men and women who spent a large part of their twenties going to places like Turnmills in London or Tresor are now the men and women making policy decisions. Another reason is the increasingly joined-up thinking that sees all aspects of a city’s tourist economy run coherently. Europe’s tourist numbers have grown hugely in recent years and a lot of the noise surrounding the night economy is down to city administrators making sure they get as much of the tourist pie as possible. Mixmag, a London-based dance music magazine chronicling club culture since 1983, has seen plenty of false dawns before. “Globally, clubbing and dance music have never been more popular and with that growth has come more information, more shared ideas and greater lobbying power,” says the magazine’s editor, Nick Decosemo. “There are brilliant bodies like the Association For Electronic Music or the Night Time Industry Association, plus well-attended industry events like IMS in Ibiza and ADE in Amsterdam. Clubbing
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wasn’t understood by previous governments – now we have an ex-PM, [David] Cameron, who spent as much time in Ibiza as Chequers and the likes of Carl Cox and Fatboy Slim DJing in the very halls of power that tried to wipe raving out. We’ve come a long way.”
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here is still a long way to go – promoters around Europe complain of the time and effort it takes to get a permit for any event, and that nightclubs are perceived as more of a nuisance than a boon for the economy. At the time of going to press, London’s seminal Fabric nightclub was ordered to close after two drug-related deaths on its premises. While some believe Fabric should have done more to clamp down on anti-social behaviour, others believe the club just doesn’t fit into the ‘new’ London, and the venue – like the Hacienda in Manchester – will be converted into luxury apartments. Indeed in the past decade 40 per cent of London’s music venues have closed down, and it’s a trend that looks set to continue. For real estate funds and venture capitalists, clubs make no sense as investments.
Above: The Tresor in Berlin
The nighttime economy is worth $35 billion to London’s annual GDP
There is better news in Amsterdam, which saw 5.2 million tourists visit in 2014, and which leads the way when it comes to merging the day and nighttime economies. One initiative started last year was to allow 10 venues to decide when they open and close. One of the venues is De School, which could point the way towards safeguarding clubs and connecting them to the wider economy. It houses a restaurant and cafe, a gym, a concert space, an art gallery, and, in the basement, a huge nightclub. “We need places that open 24 hours, and not just clubs,” Amsterdam’s Night Mayor, Milan Mirik, says. “We need a 24-hour library, 24-hour workspaces for students and creatives and people whose work means they’re dealing with the other side of the world. Shops where you can buy tomorrow’s breakfast, or that cable you need now for that presentation you’re giving at 9am. It’s possible.” In April, Amsterdam held the first ever Night Mayor Summit, which, according to Mirik, was a success. “We had more than 20 nationalities taking part in the event. We had the right combination of visitors – from
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municipalities, research centres, creative agencies and clubs – and topics. We covered everything from the economics of the nighttime economy to prevention/ harm reduction, and how to market it all globally.” For Mirik, one of his key roles is facilitating the permit process. “I work on making the permits office a better and more efficient bureau together with the municipality and other parties – we want to ensure all of the stakeholders understand each other.” This is a view echoed by Lutz Leichsenring, the head of Berlin’s Club Commission, a lobby group that promotes the interests of promoters and club owners in the city. “We create awareness about the club scene, we educate, we network, and we provide context to the scene – a lot of people don’t understand it, so we want to ensure decision makers understand it,” he says. Huge strides have been made since the commission was established in 2000. “There is more understanding on both sides. Most of the main political parties now have a spokesperson for club culture. From our side there has been change too. In the beginning we focused a lot on protest, but lately we have focused on being constructive and offering
Top: Paradiso in Amsterdam Above: London Mayor Sadiq Khan on the first Night Tube train in August 2016 as London Underground’s 24-hour service begins for the first time in its 153-year history
solutions. We need to be realistic and to understand politics – I think that is something we are good at, although we can always get better,” he says. For Mixmag’s Nick Stephenson, linking the club economy to the establishment is crucial. “A night tzar is the perfect link between the industry and the policy makers. London is thriving, its nightlife is the envy of the world and we need to keep it that way. To do that we need sensible decisions around licensing, transport, policing, housing and drug education. We’re up against some knee-jerk reactionaries, burying their heads in the sand instead of making the tougher, smarter decisions to keep London thriving. The tzar will fly the flag for the night people.” As the closure of Fabric shows, there is still some way to go in London. “Clubs are safe environments that, like rock concerts, dinner parties and most hubs of human interaction have been the backdrop for people taking drugs,” Nick says. “It is frustrating that clubs get tarnished. This is not a clubbing issue, it’s a human issue so closing a club as progressive, iconic and cooperative as Fabric would be a huge step backwards,” he adds. Miscommunication has long been one of the factors holding back the development of the after-dark economy. For years, clubs were seen as nothing more than trouble spots, apart, literally and figuratively, from the rest of the economy. Ironically it is often the clubs that pave the way for the gentrification of an area. Old warehouses and factories are turned into clubs, and in the case of The Ministry Of Sound (in London’s Elephant And Castle district), it proved a driver to the area. The same thing happened across Europe. Berlin – before the city was known for its hipsters – was known for its clubs. Places such as Berghain and Tresor are etched on the psyche of generations of clubbers, the city itself a byword for house and techno.The Berlin Club Commission’s Leichsenring believes the city’s pull as a clubbing destination has long been underestimated. “For sure the clubs attract tourists to Berlin – they are as much a part of the city as the traditional tourist attractions, so to ignore them makes sense. We are now making sure they can’t be ignored.” The fear among some DJs and promoters is that as nightlife emerges blinking into the mainstream, clubs will be seen purely as a means to attract tourists, rather than having any innate cultural value. For the DJs, promoters and clubbers, all the talk of economic benefits and stakeholders can sound suspiciously corporate. The best club scenes are organic, and any attempt to coral a city’s club scene into a committee will be met with resistance. For now though, there is optimism – optimism that a culture long marginalised can be valued.
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Proud to be a member of the Berkeley Group of companies Computer generated image is indicative only.
Restricted Areas Photographer Danila Tkachenko travelled thousands of kilometres in search of places that used to be of great importance to the idea of technological progress in the former former Cold War countries. These places have lost their significance, along with the utopian ideology they emerged from and which became obsolete at the end of the last century. Tkachenko’s photographs bear witness to what remains after the progress has come to a halt. The full Restricted Areas exhibition is on until the end of this month at the Fotogalerie Friedrichshain, Berlin
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Project 641B The Soviet designation for this class of submarine was Project 641B, while Nato referred to them as Tango class. A total of 18 were built in two slightly different versions and this one (named B-307) is now fully raised on the ground outside the Togliatti Museum Of Technology, Samara, Russia.
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Bartini Beriev vva-14 Designed to destroy US Navy Polaris missile submarines, this prototype – one of only two built and the last remaining – was built to take off from the water thanks to inflatable pontoons on either side and fly at high speed just above the sea surface. Despite having conducted 107 test flights, with a total flight time of 103 hours, it never saw service.
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military memorial A memorial honouring “warrior liberators� near a deserted nuclear station in the Voronezh Region of Russia.
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The Buzludzha MonuMenT The Buzludzha monument of the Bulgarian Communist Party. Designed in Brutalist architectural style, it was created to commemorate the events in 1891 when the socialists led by Dimitar Blagoev assembled secretly in the area to form an organised socialist movement with the founding of the Bulgarian Social Democratic Party, a forerunner of the Bulgarian Communist Party. It was opened in 1981, but no longer maintained by the Bulgarian government, it has fallen into disuse.
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Interplanetary antenna This antenna was originally built for interplanetary connection. The Soviet Union was planning to build bases on other planets, and prepared facilities to maintain communications. The buildings were never used. This is one of them that has been abandoned in the Russian Arkhangelsk Region.
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TRAVEL POSTERS
The Art of Travel
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TRAVEL POSTERS
How travel posters sold us on the idea of packing a bag and heading off, and then became collectible Alan Tyers
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Travel PosTers
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o travel is better than to arrive, or at least it is if you do it in style. The stylish, vivid poster art from the first half of the last century sold the romance of travel to the world in a way rarely bettered since. So how did the advertising world come to produce these romantic, alluring images? The explosion in poster art was partly technological and partly due to commerce. Lithography (from the Greek lithos, meaning stone) is the technique of painting onto stone and printing from it. It had been invented in the late 1700s in Bavaria but was initially too slow and costly to produce anything in volume like advertising posters. But by the 1880s, French artists such as Jules Chéret had mastered working with three-colour lithography on limestone plates. Serena Smith, an artist and lithographic technician at the Leicester Print Workshop in the UK, explains: “Limestone is
Moulin Rouge: La Goulue, Henri de ToulouseLautrec, 1891; Olympia, Jules Cheret, 1898
a naturally porous material, and could be prepared by graining it to create a very even, smooth surface. When you draw onto the stone with greasy ink, the stone will absorb the grease. Then you wash it with water and when you roll the ink over, it will adhere only to greasy deposit on the areas where you have drawn and the non-image, blank area will be wet and so will reject the ink.” Then you press onto the paper, doing one colour at a time, to create the final image. Beach, an English illustrator who creates retro, Victoriana artworks, says: “Because you can draw directly onto the stone it allows a directness between the artist and the print, and it also allows for fluid, expressive artwork whereas previous techniques like engraving meant you are actually cutting into wood or metal, and that was hard work. With techniques like wood-block you have an artist, then someone who draws onto the block, then someone who carves it, then a printer. So it is a bit like a film that has been dubbed: each stage is coming between the artist and the end product, and you get a general dampening of style that you don’t get with lithography.” Lithography allowed for a fluidity and vibrancy that was perfect for advertising posters, and burgeoning consumer economies had plenty of wares to sell. Chéret’s work was, effectively, the beginning of modern advertising. Known as the ‘Father Of The Poster’, his art, still much sought after today, focused on exhibitions, shows and restaurants such as Olympia in Paris. Fun, flowing and full of life, his depictions of joyous, elegant women were so much
Travel PosTers
a part of the public consciousness that the term ‘Cherettes’ came into Parisian usage to describe a new wave of liberated women. In Paris at the turn of the century there was less demarcation between fine artists and graphic or commercial designers: genuine heavyweights like Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec worked in poster art, creating classics like his bill for the Moulin Rouge: La Goulue, a key early work in the wider Art Nouveau movement. These early posters were decorative, ornate and often had a pastoral or dreamy feel that represented the Belle Époque mood of the times. But it was the coming maturity of another invention that would unleash the poster: steam power. Jim Lapides, owner of the International Poster Gallery in Boston, USA, says: “The railroads had been around since the 1840s, but it was with the first running of the Orient Express that the concept of luxury travel was born, the idea that half the pleasure was getting there. “There had obviously been recreational travel before, and you had religious pilgrimages or the Grand European Tour, but that was six months, a year to do. The Age Of Steam changed everything. “All of a sudden the world is smaller and you could get to places much faster. In France, a network grew up connecting Paris to new resorts, the first grand
“There had obviously been recreational travel before but the Age Of Steam changed everything”
hotels, with heat and hot water and bathrooms and elevators. And you start to see fantastic restaurants and ‘The Season’ for the wealthy.” Poster art reflected this newfound glamour, as the railway companies hired artists to evoke the romance of leisure. By the 1910s steam was booming, and not just on land: travelling across the Atlantic on ocean liners was feasible, reducing the size of the world yet further. Companies like White Star and Cunard competed to have the fastest ship across the Atlantic, and the attendant trophy, the Blue Riband. And these transatlantic crossings were not being made just by the holidaying rich: this was the time of mass immigration to America. The world was in motion and much poster art became more direct, moving away from the whimsy of Art Nouveau at the turn of the century to clear, firm calls-to-action like this Fred Hoertz 1912 advert.
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Europe – International Mercantile Marine Lines, Fred Hoertz, 1912; Excursions a la Mer – Chemin de Fer du Nord, Gustave Fraipont, 1898
Travel PosTers
It was the emergence of poster art’s next true great, Leonetto Cappiello, that produced perhaps the medium’s best-loved work. Originally a caricaturist from Livorno in Italy, he moved to Paris, where his genius for the bold, simple, funny composition worked perfectly in the emerging poster medium. Where pervious adverts had been painterly, full of ornament, Cappiello stripped posters down to one key concept and image. He effectively invented branding and visual advertising as we understand them today. Although he did more work in products rather than in travel, he was hugely influential through the 1920s and beyond. And posters became political, not just commercial. The catastrophe of the First World War saw the usage of the poster as propaganda tool, from the famous General Kitchener British Army poster and America’s ‘Uncle Sam’ Wants You For US Army to this rare Irish recruiting bill. In terms of miles travelled, 1914 would be rail’s peak, as there was no land-based competition. After the First World War, there was a new transport game in town: the coming of the automobile. “By the 1920s, the roads in Europe were decent enough to pass through, although we already
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“It was with the first running of the Orient Express that the concept of luxury travel was born”
Mossant, Leonetto Capiello, 1935; Le Golf de Font-Romeu, Leonetto Capiello, 1929
had some of that in America, and the companies started doing autobus tours,” says Lapides. “Travel companies took advantage of these new roads to take people on circular routes, for recreation.” The potential for speed, excitement, adventure and independence unlocked by the motorcar was both thrilling and aspirational: qualities then, as now, that produce some of the most vivid and memorable advertising work. Throughout the 1920s and ’30s, people were in a hurry, and posters played their part in selling this new sense of urgency and possibility to the world. Along with fine art movements like Futurism, this sense of a mechanised age, of a need for speed whether on road, rail or sea, was crystallised in the work of the Art Deco master, AM Cassandre. Like Cappiello, he hailed from outside France (he was born Adolphe JeanMarie Mouron in Kharkiv, Ukraine) but moving to Paris, where he set up the Alliance Graphique agency, gave him the environment to flourish. Minimalist, forceful, geometric and direct, his unmistakable poster art encapsulated the machine age. With the liner companies racing each other across the ocean, the assembly line producing ever-
Travel PosTers
improving motor cars and the railways making leisure movement a possibility not just for the rich but for others as well, the period between the Wars was a great time for travel, and a great time for its advertisements. Like all golden ages, it must have seemed at the time that the era would go on forever but what we now look back upon as the Golden Age Of Travel is generally thought of as being from around 1910 to the 1950s. The invention of the jet engine opened up a whole new dimension of travel. Companies like PanAm and TWA made it possible to go around the world, not in Jules Verne’s 80 Days, but in one. Poster art of the 1950s and ’60s sold this to a public eager for exoticism and adventure, with the work of real-life Mad Men like David Klein and Frank Galli remaining some of the most soughtafter and iconic to this day. The jet engine made it possible to go to cities, countries and continents people had only ever dreamed of: first for the rich, then the middle-classes and then, throughout the 1970s and ’80s, for many, many more. This democratisation of travel had many upsides, of course, but it made voyages that would once have been fantastical dreams into something that, while never humdrum, were certainly accessible. The jet engine crippled ocean-going liners more or less overnight as a means of long-distance travel, until the cruise ship industry found something to do with those
Irishmen – Avenge The Lusitania, WET, 1915; Monaco, Robert Falcucci, 1932
floating palaces. In many countries, the reality of rail travel became over-crowding and inefficiency rather than romance. You’d do well to create a poster that appeals to the stressed, frustrated commuters struggling into work in the megacities of today. Meanwhile automobile buyers now prize safety and function over form, and that generally doesn’t make for great poster art. Travel posters, in response to changing technology, became less stylised, less dreamy and less impactful. Newer, cheaper production techniques like off-set printing and a vogue for photography on posters took them further away from their ‘genuine art’ status. Throughout the 1950s there was a split into two schools: rather childlike and garish; and a precise, typographical method of which Switzerland was the leading light. Within a
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Visit India – The Taj Mahal, William Spencer Bagdatopoulos, 1925
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Travel PosTers
few years, television became the primary medium of advertising, and posters began to fade. And yet the market in travel posters is booming. Patrick Bogue, of Onslows Auctioneers in the UK, has a particular interest in British railway posters from between the Wars and the 1950s, demand for which remains very strong. What’s the appeal of these images from more than half a century ago? “They hark back to a time when everything seemed simpler,” says Bogue. “People went on their holidays to English and Scottish resorts [rather than abroad]. Collectors at the moment are big on the 1950s, and in many cases that’s because they are harking back to the time when they were children. The posters take people back to these times. “It might be people jumping into a lido, or fishing, or playing golf. They are very appealing images: strong bold colours, simple messages. Aside from their nostalgic value, people appreciate the artistic merit. Some posters these days have become rather boring and photographic.” Alfra Martini of New York’s Chisholm Gallery also reports strong interest in posters from the
Normandie, AM Cassandre, 1935; Australia – Great Barrier Coral Reef, James Northfield, 1935
“Collectors at the moment are big on the 1950s… they are harking back to the time when they were children”
middle of the 20th century. But she has a simpler explanation yet for their enduring allure. “People are attracted to posters in which the location means something, somewhere they loved to be, the place they were from, the place their parents were from,” she says. “We are all from somewhere, we all have a background, and these pieces tell our stories.” One of the most appealing aspects of poster art is that it is possible to become a collector on a relatively modest budget – original vintage posters start from a few hundred dollars, and many lovely and desirable pieces can be had for $1,500 to $3,000. Compared to fine art, the beginner enthusiast could put together a nice collection for the same amount of money that might only buy the toe of a sculpture. They have, at the least, held their value well over the last few years, and the market in mid-century posters, especially aviation, is very strong right now. Another attraction of posters is that it has been a genuinely worldwide art-form: there is excellent poster art of Australasia, India and South America, as well as Europe and the USA.
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Is fine dining
Born out of the French Revolution, traditional fine dining is now facing a transformation of its own
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The dish on the left-hand page is a dessert called ‘This Is The End’, served at Restaurant Geranium in Copenhagen. It’s not in crisis; it’s doing rather well
in trouble? 65
Conor Purcell
FINE DINING
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nless you are involved in the restaurant world, the date January 12, 2016, will mean nothing to you. For those that are, that was the day a review in The NewYork Times skewered a restaurant called Per Se. Opened in 2004 by uber-chef Thomas Keller, Per Se is the type of place where jackets are required and the average spend per guest tops out at a cool $851. It’s also in a city that takes its restaurant critics seriously – a review from the Times can make or break a venue. The review also illustrated how things have changed, even in a city with more than its fair share of the one per cent. In a 2011 review, the paper wrote that Per Se’s “synthesis of culinary art and exquisite service is now complete. It represents the ideal of an American high-culture luxury restaurant”. The January review was a rather different beast. The restaurant reviewer, Pete Wells, cut the restaurant’s rating from four stars to two. The real hatchet job was the review, not the rating: “Dinner or lunch at this grand, hermetic, selfregarding, ungenerous restaurant brings a protracted march of many dishes. In 2004, the year Per Se opened, the price for nine courses was $150 before tax and tip; last week, it went up to $325, with service included. Eli Kaimeh, the chef de cuisine, changes the menu all the time, but he leaves a few pieces of heirloom furniture in place: the salmon tartare and crème fraîche fitted into an ice cream cone the size of a triple-A battery; the ‘oysters and pearls’, a savoury tapioca pudding under caviar and warm oysters;
the cinnamon-sugared doughnut holes with a frothcapped cup of cappuccino semifreddo; and when it’s in season, lobster poached in butter.” Wells makes the restaurant sound faintly ridiculous. Which in a way it is. A lot of fine dining is, as a genre, old-fashioned, elitist and out of step with the way most of us want to live our lives. Even the origins of the movement are a relic of aristocratic values. Fine dining, and indeed the entire restaurant industry, can be traced back to the 18th century and the French Revolution. Chefs displaced from their jobs with aristocratic households set up their own restaurants, bringing the linen tablecloths, fine china and silver cutlery with them. Private tables became the norm, and this new way of dining quickly caught on. Before the revolution, there were around 50 restaurants in France; by 1814, there were more than 3,000. The birth of the steamship and the railway saw the tourism market explode, and soon the French restaurant model went global. It was helped by the creation of the restaurant critic, and the rise of publications such as the Michelin Guide, which has been the de facto arbiter of fine dining establishments for decades. It was launched by two tyre makers – the Michelin brothers – in 1900, as a way to promote hotels and restaurants around France, which they hoped would persuade more people to buy cars and hence, buy their tyres. As well as restaurant reviews, the first edition contained instructions on changing tyres, as well as a list of mechanics and petrol stations. The brothers began charging for the guide in 1920,
Top: Thomas Keller in the kitchen at Per Se. Above: The first edition of the Michelin Guide from 1900
A lot of fine dining is, as a genre, oldfashioned, elitist and out of step with the way most of us want to live our lives
Fine Dining
Five To Try
London has more than its fair share of the new breed of casual dining restaurants – here are five of the best.
Clipstone An offshoot of the renowned Portland, Clipstone manages to combine Portland’s quality with cheaper prices. Cold cuts, salads and pizzas all feature on a menu that is accessible as well as innovative. With large plates costing less than $20, its buzz is well deserved. Clipstone, 5 Clipstone Street, Fitzrovia, London
Marcus Formerly the epitome of London’s fine dining scene, this was the two-Michelinstarred brainchild of Marcus Wareing. He swapped the fine dining for casual and although it’s not your high street bistro – it’s in a Knightsbridge hotel after all – the menu is simple, and the food wonderful. Marcus, The Berkeley Hotel, Knightsbridge
Polpo With its quasi-hipster décor Polpo is as far away from fine dining as you can get, yet the food is exceptional, and it even has a no reservations policy. 41 Beak Street, Soho, London
Pollen Street Social Run by Jason Atherton, like Marcus Wareing, a former Gordon Ramsay protégé, Pollen Street Social is all casual chic, and manages to combine an easy-going attitude with world-class fare. 8-10 Pollen Street, Mayfair, London
after Andre Michelin visited a tyre merchant and noticed copies of the guide being used to prop up a workbench. In 1926 they started grading restaurants with stars and so began the march of the chef as competitor, and the restaurant as a place to be seen, rather than to eat. Since then the fine dining experience hasn’t changed too much: stiff linen tablecloths, fine bone china, eye-watering prices and an air of rarefied grandeur are still to be expected.
T
he rest of the dining world, however, has moved on. You no longer have to put up with long wait times, interminable menu descriptions – even one of London’s top fine dining chefs, Marcus Wareing, called this boring – or outlandish prices to eat well. In Newcastle, the chef of a former Michelinstarred restaurant, Kenny Atkinson, got rid of the sommelier and linen tablecloths in House Of Tides. He said, not unreasonably, that he can’t afford to spend $18,000 a year on laundry. “The food’s at a very high level, but everything else isn’t. We have to be accessible – we want guests to have a laugh and enjoy the food. If people come in jeans and trainers, their money is as good as anyone else’s,” he said. In London, places such as the Pollen Street Social and Marcus, by the aforementioned Marcus Wareing, have managed to combine great food with a casual-dining ethos that enables cheaper prices and more egalitarian dress code. Part of this trend has been the improvement in casual dining as well as the trend for organic eating – the food, rather than the décor, has become the star of the show. And when you can get high-quality fresh food in more and more places, the idea of Below: The spending hundreds of dollars on a salon at Marcus meal has begun to seem absurd, if at the Berkley Hotel, London not slightly offensive.
Costs are astronomical. Per Se cost $12 million to open but all the fit-outs in the world won’t help if you get a scathing Times review Of course, we have been here before: fine dining has had a number of obituaries in recent years, and to be fair, the industry did weather the 2008 financial meltdown relatively unscathed. But, even in a time of prosperity, start-up costs are extremely high. A ‘name’ chef is hugely expensive, as is the fit-outs that customers demand, not to mention all that cutlery, linen and wait staff. Of course all restaurants are a risk – 59 per cent of American restaurants fail in the first three years – but that risk is amplified when it comes to fine dining. The costs of setting up are astronomical – Per Se cost $12 million to open – and all the fit-outs in the world won’t help if you get a scathing Times review. The future – and indeed a good portion of the present – could be given over to places like Gabriel Kreuther, on New York’s 22nd Street. It’s still fine dining, but a large slice of the restaurant is given over to a bar and lounge area. Just as more and more bars have to cater to diners, it seems more and more restaurants have to cater to those who want to drink before a meal, or who want to skip the meal altogether. New York magazine’s restaurant critic Adam Platt says the reason that many fine dining restaurants are failing is that diners are more sophisticated than ever. “People are more critical about these types of restaurants then they were – we are less patient about that type of food.” This less is more ethos has pervaded many aspects of how we live – from the sparse décor favoured by many coffee shops to the growing minimalist movement, more and more people want authenticity, not flash when it comes to how they live their lives. And so to our New York Times critic, Pete Wells, who in the last few sentences of his review summed up Per Se and the fine dining movement rather well. “It’s possible to pass an entire meal in this no-fun house without a single unpleasant incident apart from the presentation of the check. The gas flames in the glass-walled hearth are a cheerful sight, and the view of Central Park’s tree line past Columbus’s marble head is an unbeatable urban panorama. But are they enough? Is Per Se worth the time and money? In and of itself, no.”
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Dining By Design Tailor-made private dining with a view
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he Anantara Al Jabal Al Akhdar Resort in Oman has built up a reputation with global travellers as one of the best high-end resorts. A few hours’ drive from Muscat and offering secluded luxury in a spectacular setting, it has also become a weekend getaway for people in the Middle East. Anantara now serves private dining experiences tailor-made for you from a collection of connoisseur menus and prepared by your personal chef. You’ll also have your own butler to serve dinner on the canyon-edge platform the resort calls “Diana’s Point”, as it was the place where Princess Diana and Prince Charles arrived by helicopter back in November 1986. There, you can dine like a king and watch the sun set over the canyons and admire scenery that hasn’t changed for millennia. Starting price for tailored private dining is $182 per person.
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AL JABAL AL AKHDAR
PRICE
From $519 per night for canyon view room
ROOMS 78
jabal-akhdar. anantara.com
 MCT
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living / hotel
Passeig de Gràcia, 132, 08008 Barcelona
PrICe From $171 per night
hotelcasafuster. com
BCN
70
B
arcelona’s premier luxury hotel, the Casa Fuster holds a commanding position at the head of the city’s most elegant boulevard – and the Catalan capital’s swankiest shopping street. An architectural monument redolent of the Art Nouveau period a century ago, the Casa Fuster offers a highly distinctive style of accommodation based on its origins as the city’s most expensive building. It began life in 1908 as the most opulent house in Barcelona, the first in the city to be faced in marble, capping a grand new avenue called Passeig de Gracia. An instant landmark of the industrial boom times when the newly wealthy city expanded, the Casa Fuster was a prominent example of Catalonia’s ‘Modernisme’ style. Barcelona was one of the leading sites of that ornate architectural and decorative movement, its great name being Antoní Gaudí. The Casa Fuster was built by another leading Catalan architect, Lluís Domènech i Montaner, renowned for a restrained Art Nouveau style as opposed to that of Gaudí, who was in a spectacular
It began life in 1908 as the most opulent house in Barcelona
class of his own – and built two dazzling residences in the same street. The building was commissioned by a wealthy Majorcan called Mariano Fuster i Fuster as a gift for his wife. Here the couple lived in five storeys of designer luxury and held grand society receptions in the ornate ground floor salon. Unfortunately, all this cost a fat packet of pesetas to run, and the Fusters had to sell their dream home in the 1920s. After many adventures including hosting a fashionable 1940s cafe and a popular 1950s dancehall, and then falling into some disrepair, in 2004 the Casa Fuster was bought by Spain’s Hoteles Center group. After a lavish conversion and re-invention, the building emerged as one of Barcelona’s most outstanding hotels. Its period exterior polished but unaltered, inside the style is a fusion of modern design elements and retro touches with the original Art Nouveau skeleton. The lobby’s black mosaic floor and fluted pillars are updated with post-modern flourishes, whilst the adjacent Café Vienés lounge bar with its forest of marble pillars
Words: Keith Mundy
Hotel Casa Fuster, BarCelona
Where to stay
OctOber issue 130
in the hotel
takes on an Almodovaresque opulence – impressive enough for Woody Allen to film a scene there featuring Scarlett Johansson in his Vicky Cristina Barcelona movie. By contrast, guest rooms keep calm with dark colours and subtle modern design. The Casa Fuster has 75 rooms and 21 suites with the Grand Suite accommodating up to six people. Suite prices include airport transfer and bottle of cava to pop upon arrival. Fine dining is provided by the Restaurant Galaxó on the first floor, whilst on the roof the Mirador Terrace Blue View is a fine eyrie for surveying the city skyline and peering all the way down Passeig de Gracia, as well as dipping in its modest pool and drinking cocktails from its bar. You know you’re above it all at this hotel.
eat
In a colourful setting on the first floor, the Restaurant Galaxó offers modern Mediterranean where fresh seasonal produce and classic recipes are transformed with contemporary Catalan panache. A lunch menu at 37 euros is offered.
Bar
The sumptuously furnished Café Vienés offers snacks and drinks all day and into the night, and hosts Thursday jazz gigs. Woody Allen’s New Orleans band once played there, after he had been filming Vicky Cristina Barcelona in the cafe.
extra touch
Offers via the Leading Hotels Of The World website lhw.com include complimentary limousine transfers to and from the airport or train station and a unique arts or cultural experience along with ‘3 for the price of 2’ and ‘4 for 3’ nights deals.
places of interest in the area eat
Shop
Drink
See
71 With eight different areas including a fish restaurant, a grill room and a tapas bar, as well as cocktail bars, El Nacional in Passeig de Gracia offers sustenance for every taste in a vibrant and brightly lit ambience.
Passeig de Gracia is Barcelona’s hub of upscale shopping, lined with designer stores. It ends at the vast Plaça Catalunya, the city’s focal square, where you find a huge Corte Inglés department store.
Just east of the hotel is the bohemian Gracia neighbourhood, alive with little bars and quirky restaurants and Plaça de la Virreina, a beautiful square frequented by many of the the locals.
A brief stroll down Passeig de Gracia brings you to two of Gaudí’s major works, the Casa Milà apartment block and the Casa Battló town house with their dazzling ceramics.
OctOber living / get AwAy
issue 130
Maldives... now with slides
pack when visiting...
The new Soneva Jani property has novel touches, including slides. You can also buy your own villa outright
T
he Soneva brand has been a huge hit since the mid-’90s with the Soneva Fushi resort becoming one of the top celeb-getaways. Their latest property opens this month with some fun features – and for those who are looking to invest, the option to buy villas. Prices for ownership start at around $3 million and one-third of the resort’s villas will be for sale. One- and two-bedroom villas can join the villa rental programme, which offers a guaranteed yield of up to five per cent including some personal use, or more if buying for pure investment. For those just looking to visit, it’s a 40-minute seaplane flight direct from Malé International Airport
Maldives
Price From $3,833 per night
Size
57 villas with 24 over water
soneva.com
MLE
and has some novel design features. Each master bedroom will feature a retractable roof, so guests can opt to sleep under the stars at a touch of the button, as the roof slides back to reveal the night sky. And it closes automatically if it detects rain so you won’t get woken. There’s also an al fresco, overwater cinema that’s the first ‘silent cinema’ in the Maldives, where you can watch movies under the stars while listening on highquality headphones. But perhaps most exciting of all, there are big slides into the water from some of the water villas – see pictures – which we think if nothing else is a big plus factor when deciding which of the many five-star resorts to visit in the Maldives.
Ninja full-face snorkel $145
Orlebar Brown towelling stripe polo $150
73 Orlebar Brown cropped rash pop $229
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living / investment
Bespoke Floris perfume The ultimate scent from the oldest perfumery
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Developed with the Floris perfumery team over a period of around six months and a minimum of three consultations
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Essential oils and floral essences gathered from around the world
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100ml eau de parfum with a certificate of provenance in a Floris signature bespoke experience box
You name your own perfume, adding to its originality
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When you run out you get five more repeats of the same fragrance
Fragrance created are added to private perfume ledgers dating back nearly 300 years
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Rear of bottle engraved with initials
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he world’s oldest independent family perfumer, Floris was founded back in 1730 by Juan Famenia Floris. Originally a barber shop, Floris has been hand-creating fragrances for the good and the great for close to three centuries. It is the only perfumer appointed to the British monarch and Winston Churchill wore the Special No.127 – named after its formula on page 127 of the ‘Specials’ book and originally created for Grand Duke Orlov of Russia. Having your own scent and becoming part of that history doesn’t come cheap, though, with the bespoke perfume design costing $6,000. For $600 you have a two-hour consultation and create your own fragrance from existing base notes.
living / style
What to pack ...for autumn weather in Manchester, and beyond
Average temp
11°c
Amsterdam Copenhagen Warsaw Frankfurt
also Wear in...
11 °C 9 °C 9 °C 9 °C
october
manchester
Chance of rain: 67%
additional info
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oi polloi It may not look like much, but it’s got it where it counts. This iconic store in the Northern Quarter of Manchester has long been one of the most influential and well-curated stores in the north of England and hugely influential on the look and style in the city. They keep
around 100 different brands in stock including many that you won’t find elsewhere. Ideal for stocking up on autumn and winterwear with brands like Fjällräven, Beams Plus, Barbour, Patagonia, Penfield and The North Face. 63 Thomas Street, Manchester, +44 (0) 161 831 7870
OctOber
accessories
issue 130
Nuxe eye cream $27
IWC pilot’s watch $31,062
Tom Ford face scrub $128
L`Envol de Cartier cologne $132
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77 1. Hackett wax jacket $520 2. Brooks Brothers gingham shirt $85 3. Bally Aston trainers $597 4. Longchamp bag $841 5. Gant varsity wool jumper $165
living / style
What to pack ...for autumn weather in Paris, and beyond
Average temp
13°c
London Milan New York Vienna
also Wear in...
12 °C 13 °C 14 °C 10 °C
october
paris
Chance of rain: 33%
additional info
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MontMartre District A lot of Paris has a corporate could-beanywhere-in-modern-Europe feel, but for a taste of the traditional Paris that you probably want, the Montmartre District (a few minutes’ walk from the Sacré-Cœur) is the place to head to. It’s full of little cafes and bistros and
this is just a lovely place to wander and ideal for a long lunch. La Taverne de Montmartre is worth seeking out for traditional French cooking, as is (for drinks) the Tagada Bar on Rue des Trois Frères. And yes, that is a guy in the photo playing an accordian while walking down the street.
OctOber issue 130
1. Burberry cashmere trench coat $2,895 2. Gucci embroidered merino wool sweater $890 3. Moncler cable-knit scarf $415 4. Bally bemmy shoe $624 5. Alexander McQueen glitter print umbrella $475 6. Eugenia Kim (via Net-a-Porter) rain faux fur-trimmed cable-knit wool beanie $245
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accessories
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Aspinal passport holder $95
Bottega Veneta silver bracelet $1,900
Delfina Delettrez 18k gold multi-stone earing $4,725
Kate Spade boombox shoulder bag $477
living / groom
Upgrade your vanity case Because you’re better than relying on the free products you find in a hotel room
Christian Louboutin nail polish $50
Globe Trotter blossom 13� leather-trimmed fibreboard vanity case $1,140
80 Aesop skin parsley facial hydrating cream $71
Six-pack of La Mer hydrating facial $250
Calendula foaming face wash $37
OctOber issue 130
Sunday Riley Artemis hydroactive cellular face oil $75
Slip silk eye mask $45
Fornasetti Sol di Capri scented candle $175
My Burberry Black EDT $162
Prada shell cosmetics bag $250
Mason Pearson extra small all boar bristle hairbrush (via Net-a-Porter) $290
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Nip+Fab instant fix mask $17
Reverence De Bastien glass nail file $20
living / Street
London’s Jermyn Street Still one of the most stylish streets... and the place for the best cheese. Here are some places to look out for
White’s One of the great old gentlemen’s clubs of London
Beretta Hunting and shooting clothing and accessories
Francos Great Italian restaurant, here since 1946
John Smedley For fine knitware with modish overtones
Boggi Milano Jackets, shirts and merino wool scarves
Alfred Dunhill Menswear with an in-house spa, barber and bar
Fortnum & Mason 18th-century department store with gourmet foods
Tramp Legendary members’ club
Piccadilly
Barker Classic English shoemaker
Piccadilly
James’s Duke Street St
Street St James’s
Jermyn St
Bury Street
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Emma Willis Bespoke or ready-made men’s shirts in Swiss and Italian cottons
Tricker’s Shoemakers Making shoes and boots since 1829
Crocket & Jones Fine English leather shoes for men and women since 1879
Turnbull & Asser 130-year-old shirtmakers with a royal warrant
Bates Gentlemen’s hatters since 1898
Taylor’s Traditional shaving products since 1854
Aquascutum Their winter trench coat is a style classic
Hawes & Curtis British clothing and accessories
Henry Maxwell Bespoke boots and shoes for over 250 years
OctOber issue 130
Bates Classically English hatters
Floris Bespoke perfumes and aftershave
Hawes & Curtis Formal and casual British clothing
La Martina Clothing for the horsey polo set
Joseph Cheaney & Sons Boots and shoes since 1886
Sunspel For James Bond’s Riviera polo shirts
Rowley’s Restaurant St James institution serving steaks
Church’s High-end men’s and women’s footwear since 1873
Jones The Bootmaker Chain that stocks the excellent Loake brand
Regent Street
Jermyn St
Jermyn St
John Lobb Bespoke shoes and boots since 1849
Osprey London Leather bags, accessories, scarves
Piccadilly
Piccadilly
Hackett Men’s clothing with a British touch
Grovsnor Office and formalwear for men and women
Crockett & Jones Handmade shoes and boots
Paxton & Whitfield Excellent cheese shop serving London since 1797
Russell & Bromley Men’s and women’s shoes
Harvie & Hudson Bespoke shirtmakers and classic outfitters
Charles Tyrwhitt Formal shirts, shoes and suits
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living / consume
Eat & drink
Global recommendations for this month
DUBAI
La Luz Run by Barcelona-born chef Alain Devahive, who spent a decade working as No 2 to Ferran Adrià at the famous three Michelin-starred elBulli, La Luz has become one of Dubai’s must-try restaurants of 2016. Light years away
from the paella and sangria image of Spanish food, this is light, inventive and as modern as it gets. From a fake olive that explodes with flavour when you bite down on it to new interpretations of Spanish classics like creamy chicken croquettes and tomato tartar with aromatics, this is a top-class manu. And they do one of the best ceviche dishes anywhere. As Dubai fine-dining options
DUBAI
R Trader 84
The story goes, it was meant to be called Rogue Trader but the powers that be didn’t like the idea of such a name being used in Dubai’s financial district. Best not to tempt fate. Nevertheless, the Prohibition-era decor hints at an illicit speakeasy-themed private club and the live music adds to the 1920s atmosphere, which is fun rather than gimmicky. The food, however, is the star attraction.
grow every month it takes something special to stand out. Most really don’t, but LaLuz is a rare and brilliant exception. People would wait years to eat at elBulli (before it closed in 2011), but here you can try brilliant new dishes from one of the two chefs that made elBulli famed as the best in the world. Four Seasons Hotel, Gate Village Building 9, DIFC, Dubai, +971 4 359 7777
Served in the dining room adjacent to the lounge and from the excellent English chefs Dominic Robinson and Rob Rathbone, the modern British menu is full of winners. Beef tartar, burrata, tuna, scallops, lamb, venison and all the names you’re familiar with cooked and presented brilliantly in ways you’ve probably never tried before. And the baked Roquefort cheesecake for dessert is an instant classic. Then retire to the bar for cigars, live music and cocktails. Al Fattan Currency House, DIFC, Dubai, +971 4 343 5518
OctOber issue 130
new York
Günter Seeger nY One of the current themes of new restaurants in the city is to recreate a feeling of eating at someone’s home. This place does it better than most. There’s only space for 42 diners and there’s a bar cart (rather than full bar) to serve you a drink as you arrive. The food is presented via a $148 per person tasting menu that changes daily and consists of 10 courses inspired by the chef’s German heritage. Book ahead and try to get the kitchen table for the complete experience. 641 Hudson Streee, New York, NY, +1 646 657 0045
duBai
london
milan
Gold on 27
Blandford Comptoir
Never one to bow to subtlety when it comes to a new opening, the Burj Al Arab has launched a gold-themed bar. But with it comes a menu of cocktails you won’t be getting anywhere else. The ‘Demise Of The Donkey Cart’ mixes whisky, cherry and liquid gold (really) while ‘Scent Of The Souk’ is gin-based and spice-infused. Drinks don’t get any more Dubai than the ones here. A fine way to experience the Burj. Burj Al Arab Hotel, Jumeirah, Dubai, +971 4 301 7777
From owner Xavier Rousset (former youngest master sommelier in the world)and Chef Ben Mellor, this Mediterranean, although leaning towards Italian, restaurant has recently been wowing London’s hard-to-please food critics. Centrally located and ideal for long lunches, the food is light but inventive with dishes like courgette flowers filled with a light goats’ curd and hake with artichoke. 1 Blandford St, Marylebone, London. +44 20 7935 4626
ottagono lounge & oyster Bar The lounge is beautifully designed with leather armchairs and Italian design while the bar features a large wood counter with an iced section for raw seafood, grilled oysters, chowders, shellfish and salads. Ideal for lunch and people watching in central Milan’s famous Galleria or late-night drinks and gelato, as it stays open until 1am. Via Silvio Pellico, 8 Town House Galleria, +39 02 8905 8297
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living / Bugatti
Optional extras
W
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hen you spend $2.5 million on a single car, you’re entitled to expect one of the finest pieces of engineering on the planet. But for customers of the new Bugatti Chiron, the car is only part of what they’re buying into. For the price of several Rolls-Royces, they’re investing in an exclusive club, with an enviable history and a membership of fellow wealthy car enthusiasts. The Chiron is the second chapter in the rebirth of Bugatti, one of the world’s most exalted brands. Established in a hugely artistic family at the start of the 20th century, it became a byword for automotive performance and quality, but by the end of the century was a shadow of
its former self, having collapsed in 1995. But in 1998 the Bugatti name was acquired by the Volkswagen Group, which set about building a new car worthy of the name. The result was the Veyron, an engineering marvel that in 2005 set new standards for performance. It was the fastest street-legal production car in the world, capable of speeds in excess of 400kph, and would cost almost $2 million to own one. With such high standards to beat, the Veyron’s successor has to be good and the Chiron promises much. With 1500 horsepower it can conjure vast amounts of energy from a W16 engine endowed with four turbochargers, and yet it promises a sophistication and quality of drive that will
rival anything else. It’ll need to be able to cruise as well as break speed records. But no one, bar a Saudi prince who paid handsomely for the privilege, has yet to drive a Chiron – customers won’t get their first taste until next year at the earliest. Bugatti sales staff in the firm’s 32 dealers around the world are therefore tasked with convincing wealthy customers to part with $2.5 million for a car they can’t yet drive. A fully loaded Rolls-Royce can be had for less than $500,000. At this top end of the luxury car market, there’s much more than just the product itself, says Dr Stefan Brungs, a member of the Bugatti board. “We offer more than a car,” he says, “we offer the heritage and legacy of the brand. The
Words Phill Tromans
How do you convince people to pay $2.5 million for a car they can’t yet drive? You make it social
OctOber issue 130
“Often customers want to be there when the engine is mounted in the car, and they get a picture every Friday so they can see what’s going on” customers become part of a club, a family, and they get very special treatment.” Key to Bugatti’s image is its history. Founder Ettore Bugatti set up his atelier in 1909 in a chateau in Molsheim, which was then part of Germany and is now in the Alsace region of France. Ettore came from artistic stock – his father Carlo was a noted Art Nouveau furniture maker and jeweller, and his brother Rembrandt a renowned sculptor. It was no surprise then that Bugattis were as beautiful as they were fast – a trait that Volkswagen has strived to emulate in the present day. “Our job is to create a desire for the brand,” says Anita Krizsan, who runs the newly opened London dealership. Although parent company HR Owen has sold Bugattis before, the arrival of the Chiron prompted the creation of a dedicated showroom as a tool to attract, inform and persuade the elite of the benefits of the new car and the brand. The wealthy generally don’t get that way by parting easily with their money. “Our typical customer already has the desire for cars, so we don’t have to really force them to make a decision on
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OctOBer issue 130
living / Bugatti
the purchase,” Anita says. “But there are not many impulsive buyers. The most important thing is to create a relationship and meet them face-to-face. We want to get to know them, get to know their hobbies and talk about their car collection. It can be a long-term process.” The relationship with dealer, manufacturer and other customers is a key attraction for many Bugatti prospects, and there’s an exclusive social
scene set up around ownership. Drive events let owners meet their peers, and social events take place around the world, including at the historic atelier in Molsheim. Recently Bugatti organised a concert for owners and their friends by the renowned pianist Lang Lang. “Probably 70 to 80 per cent of our customers are interested in more than just the car,” Dr Brungs says. “If a customer wants to bring his friends to Molsheim,
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Top: Molsheim, the French home of the Bugatti family. Above left to right: Jean, Carlo and Rembrandt Bugatti
it’s his castle, they’re always welcome. They love to meet other customers because they all care about this one thing – very important cars. They can talk about their collection to another collector. They can talk about their aeroplanes, their yachts, their real estate, and they feel like there’s a community.” Naturally, the car remains at the centre of the experience. The Chiron is attracting new customers, thanks in part to its design, which is more futuristic and aggressive than the Veyron. Dr Brungs believes that the Veyron has shown Bugatti’s credentials and won over those who doubted its initial revival. “We already showed that we can build the best car in the world,” he says. “Customers know that this new car will be the fastest, the most exclusive. They trust us.” Just 500 Chirons will be built, making them an attractive investment in purely financial terms. There is a nine-month wait from order to completion. One car a day is finished by an 11-strong team of engineers, with another 10 people dedicated to quality control. Those who place an order can experience the creation of their Chiron in detail, with regular updates from the factory and chances to visit at key stages of the build. “The customers are involved in the production process,” says Dr Brungs. “Often they want to be there when the engine is mounted in the car, and they get a picture every Friday on the state of their car so they can see what’s going on.” Unlike volume cars, Bugattis have a long shelf life – the Chiron is only the second model in the last 11 years – so for Bugatti and for salespeople like Anita, establishing, building and maintaining the customer relationship is especially important. “From that relationship we will definitely benefit in the long, long term,” she says. “Anyone can sell a car once, but to find the customer coming back to us, having that special relationship, that takes more skill than selling it.” An exhibition of the Art Of Bugatti, featuring vintage cars as well as Carlo’s furniture and jewellery and Rembrandt’s sculptures, runs at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles from October 23. petersen.org
OCTOBER ISSUE 130
LIVING / COLUMN
In defence of spending time on the Internet By Kenneth Goldsmith
T
he internet has been accused of making us shallow. We’re skimming, not reading. We lack the ability to engage deeply with a subject any more. That’s both true and not true: we skim and browse certain types of content, and read others carefully. Often, we’ll save a long form journalism article and read it later offline, perhaps on the train home from work. Accusations like those tend to assume we’re all using our devices the same way. But looking over the shoulders of people absorbed in their devices, I see many people reading newspapers and books on their phones and many others playing Candy Crush Saga. Sometimes someone will be glancing at a newspaper one moment and playing a game the next. There’s a slew of blogs I’ve seen recently that exhaustively document photos of people reading paper books on the subway. One photographer nostalgically claims that he wanted to capture a fading moment when “books are vanishing and are being replaced by characterless iPads and Kindles”. But that’s too simple, literally judging a book by its cover. Who’s to say what they’re reading? Often we assume that just because someone is reading a book on a device that it’s trashy. Sometimes it is; sometimes it isn’t. Last night I walked into the living room and my wife was glued to her iPad, reading the Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass. Hours later, when I headed to bed she hadn’t moved, still transfixed by this 171-yearold narrative on her 21st-century device. When I said good night, she didn’t even look up. And while these critics tell us time and again that our brains are being rewired, I’m not so sure that’s all bad. Every new media requires new ways of thinking. How strange it would be if in the midst of this digital revolution we were still expected to use our brains in the same way we read books or watched TV? The resistance to the internet shouldn’t surprise us: cultural
reactionaries defending the status quo have been around as long as media has. Marshall McLuhan tells us that television was written off by people invested in literature as merely “mass entertainment” just as the printed book was met with the same scepticism in the 16th century by scholastic philosophers. I’m told that our children are most at risk, that the excessive use of computers has led our kids to view the real world as fake. But I’m not so sure that even I can distinguish “real” from “fake” in my own life. How is my life on Facebook any less “real” than what happens in my day-to-day life? In fact, much of what does happen in my day-to-day life comes through Facebook – work opportunities, invitations to dinner parties, and even the topics I discuss at those dinner parties often comes from stuff I’ve found out about on Facebook. It’s also likely that I met more than a few of my dinner companions via social media. I’m reading that screen time makes children antisocial and withdrawn, but when I see my kids in front of screens, they remind me of those women on the couch, fading in and out, as they deftly negotiate the space of the room with the space of the web. And when they’re gaming, they tend to get along beautifully, deeply engaged with what is happening on the screen while being highly sensitive to each other; not a move of their body or expression of emotion gets overlooked. Gaming ripples through their entire bodies: they kick their feet, jump for joy, and scream in anger. It’s hard for me to see in what way this could be considered disconnected. It’s when they leave the screens that trouble starts: they start fighting over food or who gets to sit where in the car. And, honestly, after a while they get bored of screens. There’s nothing like a media-soaked Sunday morning to make them beg me to take them out to the park to throw a football or to go on a bike ride.
“Cultural reactionaries defending the status quo have been around as long as media has”
90 Kenneth Goldsmith is the author of Wasting Time On The Internet
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