Design

In search of lost time

How one man’s traumatic youth revolutionised painting.

Immoral icons

The annual Stirling Prize celebrates British achievement in architecture. But the winning buildings have left us with a doubtful legacy

Design for Life

What makes good design? Don’t expect this French pseud to tell you

War of the worlds

The extraordinary design culture of the Cold War period reflects the twin obsessions of the age: utopia and oblivion

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A design for life

The surrealist enterprise has been absorbed into our sensually overloaded world

Gild your own cage

Asking inmates to design their fantasy prison has produced some innovative results

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Grand designs

The visionary architect Joseph Gandy was hailed as a genius during his lifetime, but he failed to attract patrons and few of his schemes were ever realised. If they had been, writes Kevin Jackson, London might look rather different today

From paranoia to playing safe

Observations on America

Spiralling into oblivion

Plans for a radical new extension to the Victoria and Albert Museum have been mothballed. It's a wasted opportunity on a grand scale and the V&A is to blame

Urban jungle

Buildings in the shapes of giant fish, birds or insects are no longer seen as kitsch. As new design technology allows architects to dream up almost any shape they fancy, animal structures have become the height of fashion

Bauhaus: design or dogma?

When the Nazis closed down the Bauhaus, they made a martyr of an idealistic institution. But has the Bauhaus myth stifled innovation in design?

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