Non-Public Public Space
Austin Williams | August 2009 Is there such a thing as Communist architecture? Well just as we only really ascribe the label “capitalist architecture” to the high-rise corporate edifices of Westernized democracies – from New York’s ill-fated Twin Towers to Cesar Pelli’s Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur – so the phrase “communist architecture” encapsulates similar political parodies. Typically, “communist architecture” attaches itself...
Political “stranger danger” in classrooms
Austin Williams | 10 August 2009 (The Australian) SCHOOLCHILDREN are being brainwashed with an environmental message in the classroom. Children are not just being pinned down in the classroom and force-fed what to think: it’s worse than that. The next generation – from primary schoolchildren through to college students – is being taught not to think, merely encouraged to accept the official line. It ought to be a...
Feelbad Britan
‘Feelbad Britan: How to make it better’ edited by Pat Devine, Andrew Pearmain and David Purdy; Lawrence & Wishart, 2009. 250pp Reviewed by Martin Earnshaw | 03 August 2009 The times we live in call for bold new ideas, a frank discussion of how we got into the current crisis, and an experimental approach to solving longstanding social problems. In short, we need books with the scope and ambition of Feelbad Britain....
FILM: Milk
‘Milk’ directed by Gus Van Sant, 2009 Reviewed by Thomas Gartrell | 20 February 2009 Hands up… until the film opened, I didn’t know what Milk was about – let alone who Harvey Milk was and what he stood for. So I was annoyed when a friend gave away the ending just before I went to see it. But rest assured, it takes nothing away from Milk to know in advance that its main character, American gay-rights...
THEATRE: A New World
“A New World: A Life of Thomas Paine” by Trevor Griffiths, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, London. September 2009 Reviewed by Thomas Gartrell | September 2009 In 1791, Tom Paine began the Rights of Man – his defence of the ongoing French Revolution – with an address to George Washington, the first President of the newly founded United States of America. Paine presents him with “a defence of those Principles of Freedom which...
Selling out the 'bottom billion'
‘The Bottom Billion: why the poorest countries are failing and what can be done about it’ by Paul Collier; Oxford University Press, 2007. 224pp Reviewed by Daniel Ben-Ami Africa evokes strong emotions. In many ways it shows humanity at its poorest and most wretched. Every year millions of Africans die needlessly of easily preventable or curable diseases. Many more are locked in seemingly pointless but bloody conflicts. It...
FILM: Slumdog Millionaire
‘Slumdog Millionaire’ directed by Danny Boyle and Loveleen Tandan, 2008 Reviewed by Siddharth Rajan | 8 February 2009 Danny Boyle has created a masterpiece in “Slumdog Millionaire”. With some great technical work and a rather unique storyline (based on the novel Q&A by Vikas Swarup), Danny has created what some are suggesting the best movie of 2008 worldwide. The movie is set up in the slums of Mumbai. It...
EXHIBITION: Andrea Palladio
‘Andrea Palladio: His life and legacy’ at the Royal Academy of Arts, London Reviewed by Austin Williams | 5 February 2009 Palladio is one of those figures of architectural history generally known more by name than output, and so it is interesting – and curious – that there is currently such a concentrated focus on his work. Two exhibitions: one online and one gallery-based, explore his life and work and have...
Storm In Chandigarh
‘Storm In Chandigarh’ by Nayantara Sahgal; Penguin, 2008 (1st Edition, 1969); 248pp Reviewed by Austin Williams | 5 February 2009 The province of Haryana was carved out of the Indian state of the Punjab in 1966 to form the Hindi-speaking 17th state of India. Even though it became independent, Haryana continues to be allied to the Punjabi-speaking Punjab… or what is left of it after it was divided almost in half....
Broken Communities: Is state intervention part of the cause or the solution?
Dave Clements | 12 February 2009 Facing criticism from all sides for proposing draconian welfare reforms during a recession, the Prime Minister said – as if responding to another question – that ‘doing nothing is not an option’ (1). In a way, of course, he’s right the benefits system is in a mess and needs sorting out. But sometimes it is better to just leave things alone until you’ve got something...
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