All of the lights—Rio de Janeiro’s Carnaval
Every year the Carnival of Brazil paints a colourful collage of unimaginable props and floats, enticing dancers, exotic costumes, and parties galore. Carnival celebrations in Rio de Janeiro become the nation’s pivotal attraction glorified by the grand Samba Parade, housed within the concrete walls of the Sambadrome stadium, consisting of an avenue with stands on...
The Colours of Corno
When Joanne Corneau was growing up in the countryside of Quebec, her father, a religious man used to buy heavy art books from Paris and hide them in a walking closet so that his daughter couldn’t find them. “He didn’t want me to see nudes by Paul Cézanne or Van Gogh,” she says in her...
The five stars of Barbados
Island clusters anchored in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea below the foot of North America and above the shoulder of South America bake in the sun all year round. The Caribbean Islands in the shape of an arc extending from the Atlantic Coast of Florida to the waters surrounding Venezuela are graced...
A reflection on revival – all angles of Bratislava
In the aftermath of the 1989 Velvet Revolution that liberated Czechoslovakia from a 40-year communist spell, an elitist pair shook hands to a political decision that split the country into two. The “velvet divorce” identified the Czech Republic in the west and Slovakia in the east. The world chose to embrace only one capital: the...
Epitome of a global Paris
Down the long corridor of the Hôtel Ritz Paris, antique jewels and heavy furs sparkle inside display cases. The most fashionable and posh must endure the temptation walk upon entering the famous bar, where King Alfonso of Spain ordered a Dom Pérignon champagne laced with expensive cognac served with a dozen strawberries. Established American author...
Man-made elements
Skyscrapers dress polycentric urban landscapes in tone and meter, such that the real beauty of its skylines is possible only when natural and man-made elements combine in proper order. Designing the aesthetic symbols of economic strength and modernity are often the result of national socioeconomic restructuring: In New York City, President Theodore Roosevelt’s New Deal...
Sunny playground of the ancients – Salvador, Bahia
Highly attractive from a distance, spirit-shattering when seen up close, the city of Salvador juts out into the Bay of All Saints, stretching clear across the Atlantic Ocean into the palms of Yoruba culture, into modern-day Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. Once the dark, colonial capital of Brazil is today a cheerful, modern city of more...
Suns and stars – Lebanese making their mark in astronomy
On the Chajnantor plateau of the Chilean Andes, in South America, at an altitude of 5,000 meters above sea level, countless white bowls kiss the sun. An array of parabolic “dish” antennas observe the universe in unison, capturing large numbers of radio waves. The antennas aim with unique precision to detect, track and analyze data...
Rio de janeiro – juxtaposing finery + filth
On a narrow coastal plain, between the foothills of Brazilian Highlands and the Atlantic Ocean, peaks the dramatic setting of Rio de Janiero. Often called Cidade Maravilhosa, the marvelous city, for its verdant hills and crescent shaped beaches has long been the darling of early Portuguese settlers. Descriptions of its beauty are by no means...
The writing on the wall – clear as day changing types
Stanley Nelson leans over a small folding table inside New York City’s Grolier Club, America’s oldest and largest society for bibliophiles. Wrapped in an apron, the retired graphic arts specialist from the National Museum of American History lays out candles, file tools, and punches. He folds his fingers around a three-dimensional letter form and strikes...
Celebration tie one on – champagne wishes + caviar dreams
It all began in the Champagne province of France, where a pale, pinkish still evolved into a sparkling, bubbly drink of celebration. “When wine was fizzy, people liked it,” says wine and spirits expert, Becky Sue Epstein, of the Frenchmen who first acquired a taste for the beverage in spring. Grapes used for champagne were...
Stepping in pairs – the stilleto
Women find themselves in all sorts of trappings: the silky, smooth comfort of an evening dress; the perfectly board-ironed appeal of a hairdo; and the sensual application of colour to pouting lips. Lately, the most culturally relevant part of a woman’s wardrobe is undoubtedly the stiletto, and it has made its way into bridal gear....
