Blueprint For Living - Full program: Recent Episodes
ABC Radio
Blueprint For Living is a weekly rummage through the essential cultural ingredients—design, architecture, food, travel, fashion—for a good life.
A visit to Revival Projects where Director, Robbie Neville, has established Melbourne's first inner-city timber mill and kiln.
The arrival of Wendy's in Australia, a tour of a late winter garden, the implications of our food choices and the history of the Marius sweater
Rummage through the essential cultural ingredients - design, architecture, food, travel and fashion.
George Monbiot wants to turn the global food industry on its head – from radical changes in farming practices to 3D-printed steaks. The prolific writer, environmental activist, and rewilder, explores this and more in his latest book, Regenesis.
Then it's time to meet an eccentric, little-known modernist architect who fought conventions and eschewed publicity: Bill Lucas. His friends and colleagues Peter Longeran and Julie Cracknell join Blueprint to find his traces in Australian architectural history.
Afterward, resident chef Annie Smithers joins us for another edition of Kitchen Rudimental. This time, she schools us in the five 'mother sauces': béchamel, velouté, espagnole, hollandaise, and tomato.
And then it's time for a little bit of magic. Colin Bisset gives us the design history of the magician's wand.
Lucianne Tonti on the decline of a once thriving local industry and the complex set of forces that have produced aesthetic uniformity in the world of fashion. And Tim Entwisle talks to Fergus Garrett, world renown garden designer, about the rewilding of Great Dixter.
The ever-changing food landscapes and never-ending rivalry of Sydney and Melbourne and the growing movement for dam removal and river restoration across Europe.
Professor Laleh Khalili discusses the movement of cargo, capital and cruiseliners across the globe and the human economy and exploitative labour practices upon which it relies.
From the landlord special - beige-grey laminate, vast empty spaces, and colourless walls - to the neutral-coloured knitwear favoured by todays wealthy elite, we discuss aesthetic conformity and homogeneity in the worlds of fashion, architecture and design.
As floods increase in frequency and intensity, do geographical realities need to be at the centre of planning decisions in order to protect flood-prone communities?
The settler-colonial project involved the imposition of European conceptions of natural landscape on the one hand, and the built world on the other. Jack Pascoe, Owen Hatherley and Michael-Shawn Fletcher consider the legacy of colonialism - its persistent myths and enduring imprint on the Australian landscape.
Tamar Adler explains how to use the Marcella Hazan tomato sauce onion and how to talk about no-waste cooking without moralism; Tom Wilkinson discusses the ideological and political context of the contemporary architectural fetish for decay.
An exhibition that tells the story of design, technology, material and culture and Jeremy Atherton Lin on the history of the gay bar.
The Dell Eco Reef is an innovative and artistic approach to coastal defence, installed in the City of Greater Geelong, combining new technology and knowledge of intertidal ecosystems.
Rummage through the essential cultural ingredients - design, architecture, food, travel and fashion.
A visit to a workshop where salvaged building materials are repurposed and where a quiet revolution in sustainable design is taking place.
Gaetano Pesce on optimism, art and design, Paul Bangay on the garden in autumn, tropical island cooking and the history of the Bugatti
Architecturally trained multi-disciplinary artist, Guled Eylas offers a different perspective on the complex relationship between public housing and home in his latest exhibition, Personal But Not Private for Melbourne Design Week. Resident chef Annie Smithers confronts her nemesis- the lemon tart, and Tim Ross takes us on a trip down memory lane to marvel and cringe at 1980s Australiana.
This week we hear from creative, bold and powerful Afghan women who are defying The Taliban regime and embracing their culture through fashion design. We also hear about why Blak design matters and ask if Australia can eat meat in a way that's healthy and sustainable.
This week celebrated designer Mary Featherston and architectural researcher Rory Hyde layout the pros and cons of open plan work and school environments, and the benefits of when they are designed well. With the gig economy here to stay, we speak with food critic Besha Rodell on the etiquette of tipping and our resident chef, Annie Smithers shows us how to make the most delectable and easy French custard tart.
Design solidarity, the co-designing of projects with communities is a growing area in architecture and design. But how does it work in practice? And how is it used to address inequality in regards to housing, care and labour? We also look at what recipes say about what we value and yearn for. Plus, how you can create outdoor gardens in even the tiniest of spaces and why the Windsor chair has endured through the centuries.
This week we head to Sydney's Lakemba neighbourhood for their famous Ramadan night markets. It's grown substantially in recent years, but as we hear, that growth hasn't been all together positive.We also look back at the trailblazing fashion of the late Dame Mary Quant's and Annie Smithers offers up her practical tips for even the most humble kitchen gardener. Plus, Colin Bisset tells the story of a loved symbol of Australian suburbia — the Hills Hoist.
It's one of those rare years when Ramadan, Easter and Passover, converge. A time for reflection, dedication and of course the sharing of food with family and community.We also hear about innovative solutions to housing in humanitarian crises and Australia's first purpose built office space for the deaf and hard of hearing.
SUVs used to be a minority on the roads, but now they are steadily growing in popularity. In 2022, they accounted for 46 per cent of all new car sales worldwide. But what is the cost of these large machines for our roads, cities and atmosphere? Plus, we get a tour of the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show, learn how to start a kitchen garden, and ride on a micro-bike that won over people's hearts.
Learn about what influences the diverse cuisines of the Philippines and join Entrée Pinays' celebratory fiesta at this year's Melbourne Food and Wine Festival. We'll also take a stroll through some of the world's most exquisite gardens.Plus, a dispatch from Perth's inaugural Design Week and explore the work of a Filipino architect whose work established a proud and more equable national identity.
In this edition of Blueprint For Living we talk a stroll through Melbourne's botanical gardens as it transforms into its autumn hues, indulge in an Italian feast and ponder the phenomenon of teflon. We also peel back the carbon embodied in buildings and explore its impact on the construction industry and the atmosphere.
In this edition of Blueprint For Living, we discover a new online tool that amplifies women's architectural writing, discover what knives are chefs' favourites, and understand why all architecture is humanitarian now. Then, meet the 18th-century woman who pioneered an artificial stone that has stood the test of time.
In this edition of Blueprint For Living, we ask whether fashion can truly be sustainable, find inspiration in the garden, and introduce a new Australian architecture award recognising projects for the common good. Plus, the origins behind Venetian glass.
As the eyes of the LGBTQIA+ world descend on Sydney this month for WorldPride, Blueprint For Living journeys through a range of spaces and places to understand what we mean by queer space in our built environment — both real and imagined.
The polite world of urban planning has become the latest target of conspiracy theorists. In recent weeks, the 15-minute city concept — where neighbourhoods provide life's essentials in 15 minutes by foot or bike — has become a harbinger of big brother in conspiracy-land.Brent Toderian, a keen urbanist and Vancouver's former chief planner, is here to help us understand how a "mundane" urban planning concept has prompted protests in Canada and the UK. Later, we turn to the disaster zone in southern Turkiyë and northern Syria to understand what shelter is available — and appropriate — for those displaced. Tom Bamforth, a writer and aid worker who who specialises in shelter and settlements, joins Blueprint to canvas what kinds of shelters are available — from Ikea's award-winning flatpack to the DIY .And Blueprint regulars Annie Smithers and Colin Bisset return with some sweets and stories: Annie with the inside scoop on strawberry sorbets, and Colin with the pioneering African American woman who changed architectural history.
Cate Blanchett's performance as Lydia Tár — a beguiling American composer — has sent Oscars rumours abuzz. But it has been Tár's steely, minimalist looks — paired with American baseball caps — that are also generating the film's hype. Costume designer, Bina Daigeler, shares how she visualised this complex character, thread by thread. Plus, author Robert Bevan shares his insights about what to do with the monuments we'd prefer to put away, and agribusiness expert Elizabeth Jackson explains why Australia's recent natural disasters have exposed the vulnerability of national food supply chains. And later, Blueprint's resident design expert Colin Bisset gives you the history behind the man behind landscape architecture.
A fake lion's head goes viral on the runway. A Kmart gets turned into a community school. Lessons in sugar syrup, and an exit via a Japanese manhole. All this and more on the latest edition of Blueprint For Living, ABC RN's weekly rummage through the essential cultural ingredients — design, food, travel, gardens and fashion — for a good life.
In this edition of Blueprint For Living, learn about how wine making was central to the British colonial project, see the legacies of Asian migration in Australia's built environment, and gaze into the eight-ball to find out what 2023 has in store for food and dining. Plus, discover the curious history behind the jumpsuit — from workwear to haute couture.
Bite into a new year. In this Blueprint For Living summer edition, we're revisiting our favourite conversations about food. Eric Wareheim's tall orderHe's a six-foot-seven lover of "spoofs and goofs, food, wine and cats" whose latest book comes with a glowing testimonial from Jack Black. You may also know Eric Wareheim from the comedy duo, Tim & Eric. Ahead of his banquet at the 2022 Melbourne Food and Wine Festival, Eric stopped by Blueprint. What is a city without a great food writer?Besha Rodell, the recently appointed Chief Restaurant Critic for The Age and Good Weekend discusses the role of a great food writer and why she prefers to remain anonymous.Annie Smithers' Kitchen Rudimental: Salad DressingIn this edition of Kitchen Rudimental, Annie and Jonathan jump into the oily, vinegary, salt and pepper inflected world of salad dressings.Colin Bisset's Iconic Designs — Ice Cream Scoop Just as there's always a debate about whether gelato is superior to ice cream, the means of serving either is open to argument. While there's nothing wrong with using a simple spoon, at least two people thought they had a better way of doing it.
This year, plant two feet firmly on the ground. In this Blueprint For Living summer edition, we're revisiting our favourite conversations charting gardens, farms and forests. Bruce Pascoe's farmJonathan makes the trip to Mallacoota in far-eastern Victoria, land of the Gunai Kurnai people, to visit writer, historian, and Dark Emu author Bruce Pascoe. During a wander around the farm, they discuss native crops and grasses, food sustainability and farming and ducks.Tim Entwisle's Evergreen — The Botanical Life of a Plant PunkDirector of the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, Tim Entwisle, has put his life among the plants and gardens into a book. The result is Evergreen: The Botanical Life of a Plant Punk.Paul Bangay's Garden Rudimental — LawnsLawns are completely changing. The mown lawn down to a millimetre, and a big monoculture is largely disappearing from our plots and gardens. Award-winning landscape designer Paul Bangay offers Jonathan lawn substitutes: from gravel to plants and garden beds.Colin Bisset's Iconic Designs: Thorncrown ChapelForests are places of otherness. Which is why they've long been used for human rituals of all kinds. Like the weddings that take place in Thorncrown Chapel, a magical structure nestled among the trees of the Ozark Mountains in Arkansas.
Come away with Blueprint For Living in this summer edition. We're revisiting some of our favourite conversations about place and travel. This includes: Nyikina Warrwa woman Professor Anne Poelina explains why she's investing in Indigenous luxury tourism American-Australian food critic Besha Rodell charts the elevation of the in-flight meal Comedian and design enthusiast Tim Ross gives us the history of the Australian motel Blueprint's resident design expert Colin Bisset tells the tale of the world's first cruise ship
Approach the new year in style. In this Blueprint For Living summer edition, we're revisiting our favourite conversations about fashion. This includes: RMIT's Robyn Healy reflections on the life and legacy of the late Japanese designer, Issey MiyakeAuthor Dominic Janes reveals the scandalous history that birthed the British dandy Journalist Amy Odell tries to paint a picture of Vogue's editor in chief Anna WintourColin Bisset gives you the provenance of the top hat
Design the summer you've always wanted. In this Blueprint For Living summer edition, let's help with some of our favourite conversations about design. XX, XY, sex, letters and stereotypesFor Marie Boulanger, a type designer and scholar based in London, it's time we started being critical about the ways that gender influences the way we draw, describe and think about typography.Her curiosity has turned into the book, XX XY: Sex, letters, and stereotypes, and she joins Jonathan to tell us more about why we persist to gender type.Bill Bensley's world of escapismHotel designer Bill Bensley lives by the motto, if it’s worth doing, it's worth overdoing. The California-born designer has studios in Bangkok and Bali, and book More Escapism: Hotels, Resorts and Gardens features some of the region’s most extravagant resorts.Waterworks — the origins of little boys peeing in fountainsLittle boys peeing. It's a motif that repeats in neo-classical statues, bas-reliefs, and fountains the world over… officially called the Puer Mingens motif. But did it come from? Amy Boyington, is an architectural historian who has researched the motif's opaque origins.Colin Bisset's Iconic Designs — the Lazy SusanWhoever Susan was, we're sure she didn't appreciate being called lazy. Especially when the device named the Lazy Susan does such a fine job of ensuring everyone gets a decent stab at the dishes on offer.
It's the happiest time of the year, and you're invited to a very special lunch with Blueprint's nearest and dearest. We'll meet you at Stonefields, the award-winning home and gardens belonging to landscape designer — and Garden Rudimental's — Paul Bangay.Call this our Very Rudimental Christmas.Start with a stroll in the gardens with Jonathan, Paul, and Tim Entwisle, director of Melbourne's Royal Botanic Gardens. They talk all things landscape architecture, from the Oak lawn to the white garden… drawing comparisons between public and private spaces.Afterward, Blueprint's resident design expert Colin Bisset does his best impression of an Antiques Roadshow dealer. Paul's secateurs and Tim's botanist's hand lens are offered up for inspection.Then it's time to meet the Kitchen Rudimental chef herself, Annie Smithers. She takes Jonathan and Paul through a tour of the veggie garden; a bounty of rhubarb, gooseberries, lettuces and broad beans. Annie gives Colin her shepherd's crook for a brief examination.Finish with a spot of lunch. Annie's put her twist on a traditional Christmas meal; sharing secrets for the perfect brined turkey breast with a flush of sage, served with a roasted garlic mayonnaise sauce.
In this edition of Blueprint For Living, hear a revised history of Australian architecture, feast on botanical produce, and learn about how architecture is helping amplify women's agency in rural Fiji. Plus, meet the Italian woman who took on mid-century architecture's boys club and won.
Oslo Davis, the award-winning illustrator and cartoonist, is a professional voyeur. He's made a career out of observing the shared intimacies of urban life and re-interpreting them on the page. A mix of his new and old work has been compiled in the new book, Oslo's Melbourne — Illustrated Adventures in the World's Most Tolerated City.And for the latest edition of Kitchen Rudimental, resident Blueprint chef Annie Smithers takes Jonathan through the painstaking process of making Eugenies, or candied oranges encased in chocolate (yes, all seven boiling sessions). Afterward head into the sumptuous interiors of Sydney interior design duo, Juliette Arent and Sarah-Jane Pyke (Arent and Pyke). Throughout their 15 years of practice, they've grappled with the tensions inherent in the field… creating moments of whimsy and delight without it feeling like it's been ripped out of a design glossy.Then put a pin in it… resident design expert Colin Bisset gives us the history of the thumbtack.
In this edition of Blueprint For Living, an audience with a croissant engineer, a Turner Prize winner, and the car grille. Stay for the buxus party.
--
This episode briefly touches on an eating disorder. If you, or anyone you know is experiencing body image concerns or an eating disorder, you can call the Butterfly Foundation National Helpline on 1800 33 4673, email support@butterfly.org.au or chat online.
In this edition of Blueprint For Living, we ask the Design Museum's Tim Marlow to define the blurred boundary between design and art, and why some design pieces become museum-worthy… while others don't.
Then Jonathan forages in Sydney's Queens Park with Italian-Australian artist Diego Bonetto, and afterward, resident chef Annie Smithers serves up some roulade.
Plus, Colin Bisset tells us why the chesterfield sofa has had such a long life.
In this three-part special, Lord Mayor of Sydney Clover Moore takes Jonathan on an urbanist's tour of the NSW capital.
In this tour, learn how design interventions — big and small — respond to the City of Sydney's mission to bring 'design excellence' through its dense, inner urban boundaries.
Plus, Blueprint's resident design expert Colin Bisset introduces the world of passementerie — the French term used to describe the fancy trimmings used in clothing and furnishings.
In this three-part special, Lord Mayor of Sydney Clover Moore takes Jonathan on an urbanist's tour of the NSW capital.
In this tour, learn how design interventions — big and small — respond to the City of Sydney's mission to bring 'design excellence' through its dense, inner urban boundaries.
Plus, Blueprint's resident design expert Colin Bisset introduces the world of passementerie — the French term used to describe the fancy trimmings used in clothing and furnishings.
In this edition of Blueprint For Living, we discover why flood levees may be doing more harm than good over time, find the perfect pavlovas, and see visions of a Sydney that could have been… Plus, a tour of the Parisian apartment that changed design forever.
In this edition of Blueprint For Living, we discover why flood levees may be doing more harm than good over time, find the perfect pavlovas, and see visions of a Sydney that could have been… Plus, a tour of the Parisian apartment that changed design forever.
In this edition of Blueprint For Living: architects in regional Australia, a melting pot of 'inauthentic' Chinese recipes, Vanessa Berry on animals and humans sharing urban spaces, and an inside peek at the Constance Perkins House.
In this edition of Blueprint For Living: The golden arches in Black America, the history of architecture and acoustics, duck egg pasta and the tower in design.
In this edition of Blueprint For Living:
Jack Self, architecture critic and editor of the Real Review details King Charles III's architectural battles.
Tim Entwisle, director of the Royal Botanic Gardens of Victoria, takes you on spring stroll along the blooming Oaklawn.
Besha Rodell, chief dining critic at The Age, charts the rise and fall of transport dining, from the advent of flying and transcontinental cruises to the mass marketing of airlines today.
And Blueprint's resident design expert Colin Bisset investigates the history of the aqueduct.
Since its formation, New York has created reservoir after reservoir upstate to quench the thirst of a city that never sleeps. Lucy Sante, a multi-award winning author and critic, has compiled this history in her new book, Nineteen Reservoirs: On Their Creation and the Promise of Water for New York City.
Afterward, journey to Victoria's cool central highlands, home to the world's tallest flowering plant — the mountain ash tree.Jonathan walks the forests with Lachlan McBurney, an Australian National University scientist and co-author of Mountain Ash: Fire Logging and the Future of Victoria's Giant Forests.
Then, a journey westward to Annie Smithers' farm, where Jonathan explores her spring garden, complete with peonies, Cockatoo-proof shallots, and rows of hard herbs.
And finally, Colin Bisset looks for symbolism in the Green Man — an architectural motif of a man's face surrounded by leaves, sometimes spewing vegetation from his mouth.
In this edition of Blueprint For Living, meet Hetty Lui McKinnon — a cult Australian cook whose latest book, Tenderheart, nods to family and identity.
Then sample the kitsch design paraphernalia generated during Queen Elizabeth II's reign — the teatowels, teaspoons, and other everyday design objects that carried her image. Anni Turnbull, a curator at Sydney's Powerhouse Museum, shares their stories.
Afterward, award-winning Australian landscape designer Paul Bangay gives us a primer on the veggie patch, and Blueprint's resident design expert Colin Bisset gives us the history of the object that stuck… teflon.
Design critic Alexandra Lange on why the mall is on its deathbed… in America at least, and Tim Entwisle reveals how a study of algae turned into a life botanic.
Plus, Annie Smithers gives us the simple truth about sauces, and Colin Bisset on Siegfried Bing — the man whose gallery gave its name to Art Nouveau.
It's time to meet Bruce Mau. The Canadian graphic-designer turned designer of nations whose mission is to give us the tools to design for life.
Then the New York Times's chief fashion critic Vanessa Friedman invites you to decode the language of power in royal fashion.
Afterward, hop on a culinary tour of Turkey and Greece with Australian chef Ela Mittas.
Then finish in Rome. Colin Bisset takes us through the history of Bramante's chapel in Rome — a building that changed the course of architectural history.
With the second Elizabethan era coming to a close, Blueprint For Living takes a look at the ways that Queen Elizabeth II's reign defined design, food, and landscape architecture.
George Monbiot wants to turn the global food industry on its head – from radical changes in farming practices to 3D-printed steaks. The prolific writer, environmental activist, and rewilder, explores this and more in his latest book, Regenesis.
Then it's time to meet an eccentric, little-known modernist architect who fought conventions and eschewed publicity: Bill Lucas. His friends and colleagues Peter Longeran and Julie Cracknell join Blueprint to find his traces in Australian architectural history.
Afterward, resident chef Annie Smithers joins us for another edition of Kitchen Rudimental. This time, she schools us in the five 'mother sauces': béchamel, velouté, espagnole, hollandaise, and tomato.
And then it's time for a little bit of magic. Colin Bisset gives us the design history of the magician's wand.
In this edition of Blueprint For Living, Curt Beech, production designer on the hit show Only Murders in the Building, shares the secrets to creating the perfect Upper West Side fictional apartment.
It's these ideas that lead to the design decisions that so boldly colour the homes of the murder mystery's main characters Charles (Steve Martin), Oliver (Martin Short) and Mabel (Selena Gomez).
Then, Besha Rodell, chief restaurant critic at The Age, looks at how the hospitality industry is pivoting from its reliance on alcohol mark-ups, with thoughtful combinations of non-alcoholic menus.
Plus, Gaye Naismith gives Jonathan a lesson in the running stitch, and Colin Bisset explores the monkey bike’s place in history as a design pioneer.
In this edition of Blueprint For Living, RMIT's Robyn Healy reflects on the life and many legacies of the Japanese designer, Issey Miyake.
Then hear how and why the figure of the little boy peeing (aka the Puer Mingins motif) continues to reappear in fountains. Architectural historian Amy Boyington has the story.
Plus, Annie Smithers give us the complete lamington collection, and Colin Bisset introduces you to the man who is credited with the home design catalogue.
Find more Blueprint For Living via the ABC Listen app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Exploring Australia's cultural relationship to the Eucalypt, lawns as no monoculture, and the changing face of the country's urban tree canopies. Plus, Colin Bisset takes us to the Throwncrown Chapel — a magical structure nestled among the trees of the Ozark Mountains in Arkansas.
Smells and the city
The role of the senses play a large part in forming our experience of a city. Now, researchers are making the case or fighting visual bias in urban planning. Jonathan is joined by David Howes, author of the upcoming book The Sensory Studies Manifesto, about the growing field of sensory urbanism and why sounds, smells, and touch are as vital to cities as sights.
Annie Smithers' Kitchen Rudimental: Lamingtons part one
Pick your fighter: the CWA or the Australian Women's Weekly? These two institutions have long defined two schools of thought in Lamington-making, and Annie Smithers is here to help us pick through the differences… it's time to get your sponge on.
Owning heritage
In Melbourne, Robin Boyd's first home went under the hammer for the first time in 50 years ending a decade-long battle between its owners and Heritage Victoria. So, what is the role of property owners — and what onus is placed on them — when purchasing a heritage home? James Lesh, urban historian and Lecturer in Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies at Deakin University in Melbourne, joins Blueprint to discuss.
Colin Bisset: Norma Merrick Sklarek
Architecture is a man's profession. That's what a young African American girl in Harlem, New York, grew up thinking. But Norma Merrick would soon prove she could be a top-tier architect and in doing so, would become a pioneering figure in the history of American architecture.
These conversations form part of the ABC's inaugural Arts Week, celebrating creativity right across the ABC, with a weekend filled with books and authors, deep dives with some of our best-known artists, thought-provoking talks, and tributes to everyday artists.
Blueprint For Living explores the things that help make for a good life: food, architecture, desi...
Thoughtful design for social and public housing
Two years ago, urban planning and housing experts told us Australia had a shortage of 430,000 social and public housing dwellings. Within 20 years that shortage will be somewhere between 730,000 and one-million dwellings. Increasing the simple supply of affordable housing is crucial, but it's more complicated than numbers. What does it take to design good public and social housing? And what exactly does that good design look like? Director of MGS Architects Rob McGauran joins Cr Bill Harvey from Hobart City Council, and Carly, who lives in social housing in Melbourne's inner-west, to explore the key ingredients needed to deliver good social and public housing design.
You can spot climate change in 130-year-old restaurant menus
Menus have evolved greatly over the last few centuries. They reflect a restaurant's location, culinary trends and of course the availability of ingredients. Now, scientists are studying 130-year-old seafood restaurant menus in Vancouver, to uncover how climate change is impacting the food making it to diners' plates. Ian Rose is a writer based outside Portland, Oregon. He's charted this study, which sought help from city hall, historical societies, and local museums, to uncover the link between restaurant menus and our warming seas.
Repair Rudimental: A hand sewing starter kit
To be able to repair something, rather than replace it, puts a fork in the endless road of consumption. But hand sewing is a skill not one everyone has in 2022. Jonathan joins Gaye Naismith, founder and director of The Gaye Abandon School of Sewing and Upcycling, for an introduction to the world of mending. They begin with an essential starter kit: needles, beeswax, buttons, and cloth. Making clothes is but a dream for Jonathan just now, so we begin with learning how to wrangle a needle and thread.
Colin Bisset's Iconic Designs: The fountain pen
Every signature is special. Just ask any autograph collector. It's why the instruments that are used to sign anything from swooning love letters to historic presidential decrees are so cherished. A fountain pen has an old-fashioned quality that conveys gravitas and even decency, in a way that the undiscriminating ballpoint pen can never possess. Colin Bisset explores its design history.
Arboretum Canberra
Jonathan takes you on an adventure through the breathtaking landscape of the National Arboretum. He is joined by Scott Sadler, Executive Branch Manager of the National Arboretum Canberra and Stromlo Forest Park, as they explore the 250-hectare site's beauty, rich history and scientific importance. Plus, Scott shares the inspiring story of coming back from devastating fires to create a unique, ever-changing garden.
The Anatomy of Colour
While the natural world paints its own picture, the colours we choose in the spaces we live, and work are deeply personal. From burnt orange to mission brown, when it comes to colour trends for the home historian of architectural paint Patrick Baty has seen them all. He's advised on paint colour for Buckingham Palace, Hampton Court Palace, Tower Bridge, 10 Downing Street, and even BBC's Broadcasting House.
Annie Smithers' Kitchen Rudimental: puff pastry continued
Have you ever wondered what to do with your puff pastry scraps? Annie has the answers – it's called a rough puff! Plus, she takes you on a step-by-step journey in assembling a vol-au-vent.
Colin Bisset's Iconic Designs: The Pedal Bin
Nearly a hundred years ago it wasn't an induction cooktop that made your kitchen look bang up to date but a pedal bin. Invented by Lillian Gilbreth in the 1920s, it was the result of a new and very twentieth-century preoccupation – the study of time and motion. A pedal bin could save precious minutes in the kitchen. It was emblematic of the emerging interest in efficiency in the early twentieth century, a time when architects wanted houses to work like machines and Henry Ford introduced the production line to the factory floor.
If you were paying close attention to Vivid Sydney just now you might have caught mention of something called the Blak Hand Collective. A forming idea that connects indigenous architects, interior designers, landscape designers and beyond. Award-winning architect and a man of Wailwan and Kamilaroi country Jefa Greenaway is one of the people behind the idea along with Wiradjuri architect Craig Kerslake. It's a wonderful and rich set of possibilities for connecting ideas of design, identity, and place.
We take a hike through Bundian Way, an ancient Aboriginal track that runs between Mt Kosciuszko and the NSW town of Eden. Stretching 365 kilometres, it has been used by Aboriginal people for thousands of years. Chair of Eden Local Aboriginal Land Council BJ Cruse shares stories from the ancient pathway that runs from the sea to the mountains and was almost lost to history.
A change in season means it's time to explore the array of colours the cooler months have to offer. Jonathan joins Tim Entwisle, director of the Royal Botanic Gardens of Victoria, as they take a moment for reflection and appreciate the different perspectives the rainy garden has to offer. Even the sun-loving succulents thrive in the wetter months. Plus, some bird watching across the lake.
For many of us, the rotary clothes hoist is as Australian as a kookaburra, even given a starring role in the Sydney Olympics closing ceremony, and so it is natural to assume that it's an Australian invention. In fact, it's difficult to pinpoint exactly who created it. Blueprint's resident architecture and design commentator Colin Bisset explores its many variations.
For the dandy, looking swell is a way of life! He prides himself on wit and dress, but their influence reaches beyond fashion and intellect, as Dominic Janes discovers in his latest book British Dandies: Engendering Scandal and Fashioning a Nation. It tells a scandalous story of fashionable men and the role they played in the cultural and political life of Britain.
Regular listeners might remember a conversation Jonathan had with Blueprint friend Annie Smithers on the controversial subject of his preference for cold toast. For him, it all goes back to the motels of the mid-sixties and little wax paper envelopes of white toast delivered through the breakfast hatch. If you're an Australian of a certain age or perhaps even a mid-century obsessed hipster, you'll love the country's motels. Author, broadcaster, and architecture nerd Tim Ross sure does. He's been working on a new exhibition at Canberra's National Archives Reception this way: Motels – a sentimental journey.
In this instalment of Kitchen Rudimental, Annie Smithers gives Jonathan a puff pastry masterclass. Layers of dough and butter – butter and dough - form a gorgeous silky texture – if you can get it just right! It’s a beautiful process that’s perfect for a Saturday afternoon.
Then, The Great Bed of Ware was intended to wow. And who among us doesn’t feel excited by the prospect of sleeping in any four-poster bed, even one that is half the width? Blueprint's resident design expert Colin Bisset explores their influence as symbols of romance and intimacy, majesty, and class.
Hotel designer Bill Bensley lives by the motto, if it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing. The California-born designer has studios in Bangkok and Bali, and his latest book More Escapism: Hotels, Resorts and Gardens features some of the region’s most extravagant resorts. His inspiration comes from treasures around the globe, including a 1930s Vietnamese bamboo hat that provided the design spark for the Hotel de la Coupole in Vietnam.
In this week's Garden Rudimental, award-winning landscape designer Paul Bangay takes Jonathan for a stroll through Stonefields, one of Victoria's most beautiful country gardens where exotics and native plants merge to create a definitive style of Australian garden.
Cookbooks aren't just a bunch of recipes. They often contain insights into the political and cultural contexts of their time. Never was there a better example of this than Australia's oldest continuous community cookbook, The Barossa Cookery Book. Initially released in 1917 as a war fundraiser it's now in its 33rd edition. Sheralee Menz and Marieka Ashmore, also known as Those Barossa Girls, have begun a companion venture with The Barossa Cookery Book Project.
Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier are considered titans of the modern movement but in this week's Iconic Designs, Colin Bisset examines the contribution that women made to their most famous designs. It’s only been recently acknowledged that Lilly Reich was behind much of Mies’s furniture, and Charlotte Perriand behind all of Le Corbusier’s.
Once regarded as a fringe movement, more designers and architects are looking to nature-based systems to build our lives while reducing carbon emissions.
Claire Beale, Executive Manager at LCI Melbourne and a former Design Institute of Australia President, takes us through the Three Bs of organic design; biomorphic, biomimetic and biophilic.
The National Archives of Australia records and stores key events and decisions that have shaped Australian history and after one heck of a move has opened the doors of its new facility. With enough shelving to stretch from Canberra to Cooma the purpose-built facility is environmentally controlled, environmentally friendly and energy-efficient. Jonathan Green takes a stroll through its corridors with Sean Debenham, Assistant Director Storage and Lending to check out what’s in there.
You sick of potatoes yet? We’re not. Annie Smithers continues Kitchen Rudimental this week by tempting us to have a crack at making potato cakes (that’s a potato scallop for any Queenslanders and New South Welshfolk).
And Colin Bisset takes a strike at the little magic fire stick with a red tip for this week’s Iconic Design. If civilization started when we learned how to create fire then what a link to our beginnings the arrival of the humble match was.
Via their Instagram page Design.Emergency Alice Rawsthorn and Paola Antonelli have brought designers together to tackle some of the worlds intractable problems.
Journalist Amy Odell discusses her biography of the fashion industry's most powerful influencer Anna Wintour.
New Zealanders have kicked off a citizen historian fad thanks to a new book from Dr Christine Whybrew of Heritage NZ called How to Research Your House. It helps you discover the genealogy of your home and uncover secrets of its past.
Toilet, loo, powder room, the toot; no matter what you call it you use it everyday. In this week's Iconic Designs Colin Bisset casts his eye over the design evolution of the public toilet.
All the world's great cities have some things in common and fantastic food is one of them. But what happens if a city doesn't have a chief restaurant critic?
Besha Rodell, the recently appointed Chief Restaurant Critic for The Age and Good Weekend discusses the role of a great food writer and why she prefers to remain anonymous.
Then it's time to visit Sydney's newest herbarium at the Australian Botanic Garden in Mount Annan. Denise Ora, Chief Executive of the Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust, and Brett Summerell, Director Research and Chief Botanist, join Tim Entwisle for an amble through the new facility and discuss why they're critical to conserving plants and fighting climate change.
Annie and Jonathan just can't get enough of the humble spud. In the latest edition of Kitchen Rudimental, Annie Smithers teaches Jonathan how to master a Potato Terrine with Gruyère.
And finally, Colin Bisset explores the Tower House in London's Holland Park. It's the work of William Burges, an architect whose small but significant output represents a high point in the Gothic Revival. This is everything that minimalism is not.
We see Indigenous art and motifs used extensively in Australia's marketing campaigns. But do Indigenous communities and businesses benefit from this branding? Professor Anne Poelina — a Nyikina Warrwa woman from the Mardoowarra River in Western Australia's Kimberley region — is making sure they do.
Then we turn to the grand old piles that dot the British Isles. Today, these buildings are more likely to host film and tv crews or tour groups. This is a marked turnaround given many were left in ruins, sold off, or simply demolished as aristocratic families fought over the scraps of empire by the end of the Second World War. Adrian Tinniswood has compiled this history in a new book, Noble Ambitions: The Fall and Rise of the Post-War Country House.
Afterward, meet the team behind Growing Farmers — a new community organisation pairing trainee urban farmers with residents who want their empty yards to become flourishing, small-scale market gardens. Jonathan took a trip to meet farm host Sapphire McMulla-Fisher in Melbourne's outer-north, along with Growing Farmers' president Alice Crowe.
Finally, for Colin Bisset's latest edition of Iconic Designs we look at the mighty little box that revolutionised how we store food: the Tetra Pak.
Film and television shows have conjured up images of ancient cities many times, thanks largely to historical texts and archaeological finds. Now archaeologists are trying to recreate the odours of old civilisations. Barbara Huber from Germany's Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History is on a mission to advance the science of olfactory archaeology to understand how ancient people experienced and interpreted their worlds through smell.
It's time to dig, mulch and prune with Australia's award-winning landscape designer Paul Bangay. In this edition, Paul throws formality to the wind as he takes Jonathan through The Woodland, where geometry and grids give way to the freedom of wilding. For those of us with smaller green spaces Paul and Jonathan muse on whether you can rewild an urban courtyard.
Jams, pickles, and chutneys, oh my! Preserving is an art and Kylee Newton is a master at it. She's also the author of Modern Preserves and calls herself a saint of produce, giving fruit and vegetables another life through her time capsules in jars. She shares ideas on how to use up that glut of keeps, that won't involve toast or crumpets.
As Australians make their way to the polls this Saturday, in-house design guru Colin Bisset leans into the election, democracy sausage in hand, as he takes us through the design history of the voting booth. Surprisingly, the idea of voting in private is an Australian one, first used in Victoria in 1856, and later adopted by the British and Americans. But how has it evolved since?
Rima Truchanas learned to swim in Tasmania's Lake Pedder and watched on with her family when 50 years ago it drowned to make way for the Hydro-Electric Scheme . Her early life was shaped by her parent’s involvement in the campaign to save it. Now, there are plans to restore the Lake to its former glory. Frances Green has produced a documentary for RN's History Listen about the campaign which spearheaded the Greens political movement in Australia.
For Victoria's Kulin nation Autumn is wombat season. For Jonathan, the Fall is the perfect time take a stroll through Melbourne's Botanic Gardens with Tim Entwisle. Together they ponder the philosophy of flowers, and Jonathan discovers a new pocket of the garden: the compost yard.
Whether it's mashed, fried, baked, or boiled the humble potato is an endless source of tasty treats. Chef Annie Smithers takes Jonathan into the kitchen for a meditation on spuds in this edition of Kitchen Rudimental. Is the potato the perfect vegetable?
Colin Bisset's Iconic Design this week takes us to the ancient Confucius Mansion in Qufu, a village in China's Shandong province. Confucius (aka Master Kong), died over two and a half thousand years ago but the venerable sage's impact on Chinese life was immense and long-lasting and it’s still possible to visit the home of his descendants.
Jonathan makes the trip to Mallacoota in far-eastern Victoria, land of the Gunai Kurnai people, to visit writer, historian, and Dark Emu author Bruce Pascoe. During a wander around the farm, they discuss native crops and grasses, food sustainability and farming and ducks.
Then you'll meet humanitarian architect Esther Charlesworth. The co-founder of Architects Without Frontiers joins Jonathan to understand what role design can play in response to disaster.
From the floods in NSW and Queensland to the war and destruction in Ukraine, there's a lot for the built environment profession to do now… and well into the future.
And finally, resident design expert Colin Bisset gives you the lowdown on the origins of the white picket fence. The plain wooden fence has been around for a very long time, but he asks: who decided to make something prettier?
Is there a certain dish, a certain food that triggers your sense memory and takes you right back to a time in your childhood? For British-Japanese writer Katherine Tamiko Arguile, both these things connect her to her heritage, her sense of family and the world around her. The arts journalist and author has released a new book — part memoir, part recipe collection — called MESHI: A personal history of Japanese food.
And for the next edition of Garden Rudimental, award-winning Australian landscape designer Paul Bangay reveals his adoration for Vita Sackville-West. While she's best known for her writing, her Bloomsbury Group membership, and her enduring partnership with Virginia Woolf, Sackville-West was also a passionate green thumb.
Afterward, it's time to hear from freelance journalist Evan Rail. He recently detailed the breadth of destruction of Ukraine's built environment and cultural heritage — and the efforts to protect it — in an article for the New York Times.
Then let Blueprint's resident design expert Colin Bisset drive you away… specifically in a regal three-wheeler.
Is there a certain dish, a certain food that triggers your sense memory and takes you right back to a time in your childhood? For British-Japanese writer Katherine Tamiko Arguile, both these things connect her to her heritage, her sense of family and the world around her. The arts journalist and author has released a new book — part memoir, part recipe collection — called MESHI: A personal history of Japanese food.
And for the next edition of Garden Rudimental, award-winning Australian landscape designer Paul Bangay reveals his adoration for Vita Sackville-West. While she's best known for her writing, her Bloomsbury Group membership, and her enduring partnership with Virginia Woolf, Sackville-West was also a passionate green thumb.
Afterward, it's time to hear from freelance journalist Evan Rail. He recently detailed the breadth of destruction of Ukraine's built environment and cultural heritage — and the efforts to protect it — in an article for the New York Times.
Then let Blueprint's resident design expert Colin Bisset drive you away… specifically in a regal three-wheeler.
The fact of the matter is we live in co-existence with our environment: our cities, our neighbourhood, animals, trees and plants… as well as our ex-lovers, however many billion corpses and the world's garbage and excrement. In the age of the Anthropocene, ecological collapse — and a pandemic — what does it mean to be 'all in this together', especially when there's no getting out of it?
Timothy Morton, a Texan-based philosopher and Rita Shea Guffey Chair in English at Rice University, joins Blueprint For Living to help us with these questions and introduce us to the idea of the 'hyper-object'.
With ecology in mind, we'll turn to ecologist Francisco Sanchez-Bayo, whose work traces the impact of pesticides on our environment and the world's insect populations.
Then it's time to think about type. Letters have no gender, but that hasn't stopped our species ascribing them masculine and feminine qualities.
It's a phenomenon type designer and scholar Marie Boulanger examines in her debut book, XX XY: Sex, letters and stereotypes.
Afterward, Colin Bisset introduces us to the curious story behind the inventor of the dishwasher, Josephine Cochrane.
UX, or user experience, design has given us an era of near-frictionless design, where incredibly complex pieces of technology — like the smartphone — rarely require an instruction manual. Cliff Kuang is someone who's spent a lot of time thinking about the history and ethics of this field. He's the author of User Friendly: How the Hidden Rules of Design are Changing the Way We Live, Work & Play, and he tells Blueprint about why we should all be a lot more critical about what makes design 'friendly'.
Then it's time to meet Eyal Weizman, founder of research agency Forensic Architecture. He helms a research collective using architectural analysis, open-source investigations, digital modelling — alongside traditional investigative methods — to investigate and expose state violence, human rights violations, and urban conflicts.
Afterward, delve into an investigation of a different kind. Journalist and illustrator Emma Do and Kim Lam spent several months documenting the lives of Australia's Vietnamese garment outworkers. If you wore the likes of Country Road or Bonds in the '90s, chances are these women made your clothing in the garages and spare rooms of Australia.
From Vietnam, we're heading to Brazil, via the work of the renowned Italian-Brazilian architect, Lina Bo Bardi. Colin Bisset has the inside story of the woman who cut through the boy's club of mid-century modernism.
It's time to turn a new leaf, because Tim Entwisle, director of the Royal Botanic Gardens of Victoria, is taking you on a tour of the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show after it returned from a two-year pandemic pause. This includes a stroll through a garden co-designed by tennis champion and current Australian of the Year, Dylan Alcott.
Then Blueprint's resident chef Annie Smithers takes Jonathan through the battle of the hot cross buns: Hot or cold? Crunchy or mushy? Chocolate or fruity? Time to rid yourself of this cross to bear.
Afterward, Shannon Mattern — a social anthropologist from New York's New School for Social Research — tells us why the metaphor of the city-as-computer doesn't quite fit, and instead, we should embrace a messy city.
Plus, Colin Bisset delves into the austere design language of Cesar Pelli, an architect whose skyscrapers have been likened to "the sober aesthetic of a German luxury car or a well cut suit".
Plus, Colin Bisset on the duo who created a better alternative for those serving ice-cream.
Plus, Colin Bisset introduces the woman responsible for the Georgian period's stone of choice… and it was completely artificial.
As late summer plays out, you might be contending with an abundance of tomatoes. Chef Annie Smithers has answers for you.
Stringy bark, coral gum, Silver top ash, lemon-scented gum… with over 900 specifies, it's hard to pick a favourite.
If you're a regular listener, you'll have heard conversations with Indigenous experts on the intersection of Country and archaeology, heritage, artefacts and architecture. Now it's time to understand how it's parcelled up, packaged and sold.
Plus, resident design expert Colin Bisset walks us through the cool, concrete convent of La Tourette, and chef Annie Smithers answers the ultimate question: what makes a salad, a salad?
Plus, resident design expert Colin Bisset walks us through the cool, concrete convent of La Tourette, and chef Annie Smithers answers the ultimate question: what makes a salad, a salad?
Plus, Colin Bisset delves into the design history of the top hat… an item that adorned both King George IV and Madonna.
Plus, Colin Bisset delves into the design history of the top hat… an item that adorned both King George IV and Madonna.
Plus, Colin Bisset explains why the sleigh has been inseparable from Christmas iconography for centuries… and take a Lost and Found trip through Melbourne in full festive regalia.
Plus, Colin Bisset explains why the sleigh has been inseparable from Christmas iconography for centuries… and take a Lost and Found trip through Melbourne in full festive regalia.
Plus, Colin Bisset on the post-modern American department stores that could, and a Lost and Found trip to Kefalonia, a Greek paradise.
Plus, Colin Bisset on the post-modern American department stores that could, and a Lost and Found trip to Kefalonia, a Greek paradise.
Plus, Colin Bisset on the links between the court of Versailles and one of the most popular chair designs of the 21st-century… and a trip to the city that's taken a bit of Versailles with it… Las Vegas.
Plus, Colin Bisset on the links between the court of Versailles and one of the most popular chair designs of the 21st-century… and a trip to the city that's taken a bit of Versailles with it… Las Vegas.
Melbourne's Deputy Lord Mayor has introduced two new design review panels. Does this form of advisory city-making actually work? Two experts join Blueprint to discuss the history and merits of this process. Plus, Annie Smithers whips up a meringue, and Colin Bisset takes you on a tour of the Korakuen Garden. And for Lost and Found, eminent Irish-Australian psychiatrist Patrick McGorry takes you to his childhood in Wales.
Melbourne's Deputy Lord Mayor has introduced two new design review panels. Does this form of advisory city-making actually work? Two experts join Blueprint to discuss the history and merits of this process. Plus, Annie Smithers whips up a meringue, and Colin Bisset takes you on a tour of the Korakuen Garden. And for Lost and Found, eminent Irish-Australian psychiatrist Patrick McGorry takes you to his childhood in Wales.
Plus, let us send you on your way to the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius with a takeaway pack of Annie Smithers' frittatas.
Plus, let us send you on your way to the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius with a takeaway pack of Annie Smithers' frittatas.
Plus, discover the strange but fascinating world of industrialised food production, and the origins of the rubber band.
Plus, discover the strange but fascinating world of industrialised food production, and the origins of the rubber band.
What has gender got to do with type? Well, nothing actually. But that doesn't stop us from ascribing gender to it. Hear from type designer Marie Boulanger, whose new book tries to understand why we keep doing it. Plus, architectural scholar Soon-Tzu Speechley on Malaysia and Singapore's 'creole' classical architecture; Annie Smithers on fruit mince and pudding; and a look at how one person's empathy revolutionised agricultural design… then we're off to Bath.
What has gender got to do with type? Well, nothing actually. But that doesn't stop us from ascribing gender to it. Hear from type designer Marie Boulanger, whose new book tries to understand why we keep doing it. Plus, architectural scholar Soon-Tzu Speechley on Malaysia and Singapore's 'creole' classical architecture; Annie Smithers on fruit mince and pudding; and a look at how one person's empathy revolutionised agricultural design… then we're off to Bath.
Plus, pay a visit to the Albi Cathedral with Colin Bisset before riding the Hallyu wave to Seoul on this week's Lost and Found.
Plus, pay a visit to the Albi Cathedral with Colin Bisset before riding the Hallyu wave to Seoul on this week's Lost and Found.
Join chef and former librarian Stephanie Alexander in a wide-ranging discussion about the joys of home cooking. Plus, urban scholar Kim Dovey tells us what the study of informal urbanism can say about the crowd in a time of crisis; a dispatch from South Australia's Nature Festival; and Colin Bisset gets chintzy. Then, a trip to one of America's beguiling states, Florida.
Join chef and former librarian Stephanie Alexander in a wide-ranging discussion about the joys of home cooking. Plus, urban scholar Kim Dovey tells us what the study of informal urbanism can say about the crowd in a time of crisis; a dispatch from South Australia's Nature Festival; and Colin Bisset gets chintzy. Then, a trip to one of America's beguiling states, Florida.
What design interventions do we need to improve our indoor air quality? Plus, Annie Smithers on kitchen gadgets and tools, Sean Dooley gives us the word about the birds, and Colin Bisset traces the origins of white goods. Then escape to the world's most enchanting bookshops.
What design interventions do we need to improve our indoor air quality? Plus, Annie Smithers on kitchen gadgets and tools, Sean Dooley gives us the word about the birds, and Colin Bisset traces the origins of white goods. Then escape to the world's most enchanting bookshops.
How can speculative design help us see our cities beyond the colonial gaze? Plus, hear about the fate of New York's much-loved street vendors, head a trip around the world via bookshops, and discover the UK's profanity-laden geography.
How can speculative design help us see our cities beyond the colonial gaze? Plus, hear about the fate of New York's much-loved street vendors, head a trip around the world via bookshops, and discover the UK's profanity-laden geography.
Take a stroll through the woods on the Russian-Finnish border — or your favourite bit of public space — to hear about how 3D-printed ceramics are helping vulnerable coral reefs; why garment workers are celebrating the renewal of an ethical manufacturing accord; and why Linda Bo Bardi is a Brazilian visionary. Plus, discover Belfast's layers of complex history.
Take a stroll through the woods on the Russian-Finnish border — or your favourite bit of public space — to hear about how 3D-printed ceramics are helping vulnerable coral reefs; why garment workers are celebrating the renewal of an ethical manufacturing accord; and why Linda Bo Bardi is a Brazilian visionary. Plus, discover Belfast's layers of complex history.
A diverse grab-bag awaits in this latest edition of Blueprint, with a pre-lockdown walking tour of Melbourne modernism; an audience with the highly-award car designer Ian Callum; Annie Smithers' family recipe for Father's Day fruitcake; and Colin Bisset's portrait of a prolific renaissance man. Then top it all off with a trip to the Torres Strait.
A diverse grab-bag awaits in this latest edition of Blueprint, with a pre-lockdown walking tour of Melbourne modernism; an audience with the highly-award car designer Ian Callum; Annie Smithers' family recipe for Father's Day fruitcake; and Colin Bisset's portrait of a prolific renaissance man. Then top it all off with a trip to the Torres Strait.
It's time to join the reknit revolution — thread by thread. Then it's time for some journeys: a studio visit to artist Pru La Motte; Oxford with Afghan author Durkhanai Ayubi; and Colin Bisset's tour of the Irish manor Angelica Houston once called home. While you're at it, leave some room for some butter courtesy of Annie Smithers. And to top it all off — a journey of the mind through the enchanted city.
It's time to join the reknit revolution — thread by thread. Then it's time for some journeys: a studio visit to artist Pru La Motte; Oxford with Afghan author Durkhanai Ayubi; and Colin Bisset's tour of the Irish manor Angelica Houston once called home. While you're at it, leave some room for some butter courtesy of Annie Smithers. And to top it all off — a journey of the mind through the enchanted city.
Design is one of those elusive concepts that's hard to pin down, but if anyone can do it, emeritus director of the Design Museum Dejan Sudjic can.
Design is one of those elusive concepts that's hard to pin down, but if anyone can do it, emeritus director of the Design Museum Dejan Sudjic can.
What plants will survive in a warming world? Let landscape designer Paul Bangay suggest some options. Afterward, take a trip to Renmark, South Australia, which still is home to a collectivised pub inspired by a curious quirk of Swedish history. Then Blueprint regulars Annie Smithers and Colin Bisset are in to show us through visions of a kinder life. Top it all off with a trip to Taiwan's capital, Taipei.
What plants will survive in a warming world? Let landscape designer Paul Bangay suggest some options. Afterward, take a trip to Renmark, South Australia, which still is home to a collectivised pub inspired by a curious quirk of Swedish history. Then Blueprint regulars Annie Smithers and Colin Bisset are in to show us through visions of a kinder life. Top it all off with a trip to Taiwan's capital, Taipei.
A weekly rummage through the essential cultural ingredients for a good life — design, architecture, food, travel, fashion.
A weekly rummage through the essential cultural ingredients for a good life — design, architecture, food, travel, fashion.
Inside the campaign to keep Melbourne's Nicholas Building a hub for creativity, as the 10-storey CBD building is up for sale. Plus show regulars Annie Smithers tells Jonathan all about soups, while Colin Bisset takes us through the design history of Olympic cauldrons. Then buckle up for a tour of Glasgow by none other than the ABC's Norman Swan.
Inside the campaign to keep Melbourne's Nicholas Building a hub for creativity, as the 10-storey CBD building is up for sale. Plus show regulars Annie Smithers tells Jonathan all about soups, while Colin Bisset takes us through the design history of Olympic cauldrons. Then buckle up for a tour of Glasgow by none other than the ABC's Norman Swan.
With another Olympics upon us, we ponder whether the global sporting roadshow can ever be sustainable? Plus, it's time to consider what we mean when we design for those living with disability. Then, Tim Entwisle takes us for a COVID-safe stroll around Melbourne's Royal Botanic Gardens. He followed by Blueprint's resident design expert, Colin Bisset, who introduces us to the three British brothers who transformed Australian rooftops. And finally, take a mental trip across the ditch to discover the possibilities of the New Zealand travel bubble.
With another Olympics upon us, we ponder whether the global sporting roadshow can ever be sustainable? Plus, it's time to consider what we mean when we design for those living with disability. Then, Tim Entwisle takes us for a COVID-safe stroll around Melbourne's Royal Botanic Gardens. He followed by Blueprint's resident design expert, Colin Bisset, who introduces us to the three British brothers who transformed Australian rooftops. And finally, take a mental trip across the ditch to discover the possibilities of the New Zealand travel bubble.
What does it mean to be "all in this together"? It's a repeated phrase of the pandemic, but philosopher Timothy Morton says it takes on a particular resonance in the Anthropocene.
What does it mean to be "all in this together"? It's a repeated phrase of the pandemic, but philosopher Timothy Morton says it takes on a particular resonance in the Anthropocene.
This week, join Blueprint as we look at restoration: of our environment, buildings, and gadgets. Plus, Kiwi comedian Guy Williams takes you to New Zealand's haunted town of Marton, while Lost and Found takes us to Budapest.
This week, join Blueprint as we look at restoration: of our environment, buildings, and gadgets. Plus, Kiwi comedian Guy Williams takes you to New Zealand's haunted town of Marton, while Lost and Found takes us to Budapest.
Who is the built world designed and made for? For the longest time (and possibly still) the answer was white, able-bodied men. London's Matrix Feminist Design Co-operative sought to change all of that, bringing feminist-centred architecture to the capital from the 1980s. Co-founder Jos Boys joins Blueprint, as London's Barbican mounts a retrospective of her collective.
Who is the built world designed and made for? For the longest time (and possibly still) the answer was white, able-bodied men. London's Matrix Feminist Design Co-operative sought to change all of that, bringing feminist-centred architecture to the capital from the 1980s. Co-founder Jos Boys joins Blueprint, as London's Barbican mounts a retrospective of her collective.
How long do you think buildings should last for? If you happen to be the Australian War Memorial's Anzac Hall… not very long. Plus, understanding Eucalypts amid climate change, the brain's perceptions of food, and grab your bobby pin… because it's time to do some mending!
How long do you think buildings should last for? If you happen to be the Australian War Memorial's Anzac Hall… not very long. Plus, understanding Eucalypts amid climate change, the brain's perceptions of food, and grab your bobby pin… because it's time to do some mending!
Scottish-Ghanaian architect Lesley Lokko joins Blueprint to discuss architecture, identity and race. Plus, it's time to introduce yourself to the Murrigellas — a group of friends (all Murri women, plus one Olive fella) inspired by none other than Nigella Lawson.
Scottish-Ghanaian architect Lesley Lokko joins Blueprint to discuss architecture, identity and race. Plus, it's time to introduce yourself to the Murrigellas — a group of friends (all Murri women, plus one Olive fella) inspired by none other than Nigella Lawson.
Veteran New York Times food writer and author Mark Bittman says it's high time for those in the developed world to reshape its relationship with food.
Veteran New York Times food writer and author Mark Bittman says it's high time for those in the developed world to reshape its relationship with food.
Let a former Australian Greens senator take you for a spin around southern Perth with some Talking Heads. Plus, a new book details the histories of Australia's Vietnamese garment outworkers.
Let a former Australian Greens senator take you for a spin around southern Perth with some Talking Heads. Plus, a new book details the histories of Australia's Vietnamese garment outworkers.
Flowers. Frasier. Fun. They're elements that make a good blueprint. Plus, an re-introduction to the oft-maligned Brussel sprout, and later, a trip to '90s St Petersburg with writer Maria Tumarkin.
Flowers. Frasier. Fun. They're elements that make a good blueprint. Plus, an re-introduction to the oft-maligned Brussel sprout, and later, a trip to '90s St Petersburg with writer Maria Tumarkin.
From the genre's Marxist origins to the bleak domestic lives of Scandinavia's rogue television detectives, we explore the past, present and possible future of Nordic noir.
From the genre's Marxist origins to the bleak domestic lives of Scandinavia's rogue television detectives, we explore the past, present and possible future of Nordic noir.
Nigella Lawson, Ben Shewry, Karen Martini and Annie Smithers on the enduring legacy of the doyenne of Australian food, Stephanie Alexander, on her 80th birthday.
Nigella Lawson, Ben Shewry, Karen Martini and Annie Smithers on the enduring legacy of the doyenne of Australian food, Stephanie Alexander, on her 80th birthday.
The spiciest Thai curry, the best hot chicken outside Nashville and num pang in Lincoln Heights: Jenn Harris on the thrilling, diverse, fiery food of LA.
The spiciest Thai curry, the best hot chicken outside Nashville and num pang in Lincoln Heights: Jenn Harris on the thrilling, diverse, fiery food of LA.
Going hungry, Alex Wheatle on Port Maria, Jamaica, air conditioned cities and a journey to Jerusalem
Going hungry, Alex Wheatle on Port Maria, Jamaica, air conditioned cities and a journey to Jerusalem