Stories search

How architecture builds a profession of stress

Architects might produce buildings that enhance our health, but at what cost? Kristin Hohenadel explores architecture’s pressurised and stressful culture.

Homes for the hives of industry

By building workers’ villages, industry titans demonstrated both philanthropy and control. Employees’ health improved, while rulebooks told them how to live ideal lives.

The art of soundproof design

Too much noise is more than annoying – it has serious negative effects on health and cognitive ability. Find out how designers and architects are mitigating the downsides of sound.

Titans in the landscape

John Walter on ‘Alien Sex Club’

I’m a painter, but I make worlds.

Dazzling luxury

As the 20th century dawned, both elite and masses basked in the marvellous and unearthly glow of the new electric illumination.

The chymist’s trade card

An 18th-century trade card reveals far more than its owner may have intended.

The making of ‘Quacks’

How do you create a medical comedy that’s authentic and laugh-out-loud funny?

Genius spirits and the mystery of creative inspiration

Once upon a time, we all had a genius.