Category: Voice

Centred on a haunted house in the suburbs of Mumbai, the Indian horror film Vaastu Shastra takes its title from ancient Vedic principles of architecture. The plot involves a young family who move to their new home with an old banyan tree in the garden. As the film rapidly descends into gore and nonsense, we […]

The rich are famously time poor. But with P.N.C. Menon, the billionaire founder of Sobha Realty, it’s not like that. The Indian-born property mogul, who recently opened an office in Park Lane, Mayfair (ironically in premises vacated by Foxtons) lives up to the image of a “suited yogi” and seem genuinely time rich as we […]

Is the botanical trend in interiors a response to climate change? From bees and butterflies to pandas and marine creatures botanically inspired interiors are the cult look. It is ironic given that some people say we’ve only about a decade left before the climate apocalypse kicks in. But what the hell, put a bee on […]

Rare Scotch malts race ahead in luxury investors index

Walter Gropius founded the famous German art movement known as Bauhaus not in Berlin, as many people think, but in Weimer, a city some three hours drive to the south west. The original Bauhaus school in Weimar closed in 1925 and a second school opened in Dessau which also closed after a few years. The […]

MENTION Sardinia and most people will automatically respond with: “have you been to Porto Cervo?” This is the superyacht marina on the Costa Smeralda developed by the Aga Khan back in the 1960s and a magnet ever since for celebrities of all descriptions from the Clooneys to Barack Obama. Embed from Getty Images But for […]

“Alexander Hamilton must be turning in his grave, ” commented a local shopkeeper, referring to the father of American banking as a series of landmark buildings in New York are converted into luxury apartments. But would he? It’s more likely that the visionary statesman – whose colourful life is celebrated in the rap musical Hamilton […]

A new bronze bell has been installed above the chapel at Qatari Diar’s Chelsea Barracks development, putting the finishing touch to an extensive refurbishment programme. The two year project has involving a host of British artisans including lime plasterers, fresco painters, tilers and stained glass experts. The new bronze bell, an exact replica of the […]

The names of great British schools are rooted deep in the cultural memory of millions across the globe. In a brand conscious world, the British school is king. So in the immediate aftermath of the Brexit vote, the education sector – whose members had voted overwhelmingly Remain – trembled. Independent schools in the UK feared […]