Jewellery brand Bulgari is carving out an unexpected foothold in the hospitality space. Its expansion into the world of hotels and resorts is, according to the company’s executive vice president, Silvio Ursini, an extension of the company’s expertise in seeking out the exquisite, whether it be diamonds or properties. Now, the Roman house is setting its sights on Bodrum, where a collection of 101 private residences and a hotel resort is currently under construction and set to open in 2027.
“Perhaps the fact that we’re not hungry for success is the reason for our success,” says Ursini when Monocle meets him for coffee in Bodrum’s Macakizi Hotel overlooking the Aegean Sea. “If [opportunity] comes, it comes. If it doesn’t, no problem” Ursini adds, his tan and sunglasses embodying a certain Mediterranean ease. “No rush – just patience and consistency. Many luxury brands are under pressure to grow but we actually find that the less we do, the happier we are.”
That nonchalance masks a record of steady expansion and considerable achievements. Since joining in 1989, Ursini has overseen the family company’s expansion into a global brand and led its move into hospitality with the 2004 launch of the label’s first hotel in Milan. Over the course of two decades, its single-hotel project has evolved into properties in Bali, London, Dubai, Shanghai, Beijing, Tokyo and Rome, with Miami, the Maldives, Los Angeles and the Bahamas next in line.
In Bodrum, Bulgari Resort & Mansions perches on a peninsula in the seaside neighbourhood of Türkbükü. The 84-key hotel features beach clubs, bars, restaurants, a wellness centre, a gymnasium, an amphitheatre for events, as well as a complex of 101 private residences. The villas – which range from three- to six-bedroom properties – all boast a view of the sea and a pool (although only a select few have direct access to the shore).
But building in paradise comes with its planning headaches. The peninsula in question belongs to Ahen, a property company owned by Turkish businessman Mehmet Cengiz, founder of Cengiz Holdings. Bulgari’s arrival in Bodrum sparked rumours of deforestation, with videos of bulldozers excavating ancient Greek statues circulating on social media. Ursini dismisses it all. “The controversy was based on made-up facts,” he says. “I walked the whole site before we started. There was not a single tree because of the peninsula’s high exposure to wind. And, my God, there were no Greek statues. We’re building something that is only half as dense as it could be, and the landscape will be richer than before. Irrigation will be supplied with recycled water. Rosemary, thyme, sage, bougainvillaea – all of these plants will attract pollinators.”
Sustainability runs through Ursini’s plans, which were developed with ACPV Architects, the Milanese firm founded by Patricia Viel and Antonio Citterio, longstanding Bulgari collaborators. Green roofs will provide thermal insulation, while architectural screens and awnings will create welcome shade. Electric shuttles will be integrated throughout the complex for transportation, reducing noise and pollution.
Monocle hops aboard a boat with Ursini to visit the first completed villa. As the sun sets, Patricia Viel greets us with champagne and a tour. A modest and somewhat unassuming entrance spills into a beautiful space. Built into a slope with a top-floor entrance, the flat-roofed rectilinear structures initially disguise their showpiece – but then you step inside and are met with the vast expanse of sea and sky. “The horizontal dimension gives the mansions a landscape installation-like quality. Then you push open the door – and wow,” says Viel.
Inside, teak, brass and travertine provide a gentle material consistency. The sand-hued Denizli travertine used throughout the interiors is sourced from a local Turkish quarry and articulated in various finishes. Meanwhile, the open-plan layout and floor-to-ceiling windows blur the boundary between the outside and inside.
The communal spaces mix art and ceramics from Turkey with Italian furniture. Pieces from Maxalto, B&B Italia and Flexform mingle with lighting fixtures from Flos. There’s a Molteni&C Dada Engineered kitchen and a Technogym fitness room. The result is a pleasing combination of cosmopolitan verve and Mediterranean tranquillity.
Viel cites the golden age of Italian design and cinema of the 1950s and 1960s as guiding influences. “The era founded the country’s visibility on the international stage,” she says. “[Ursini and I] talk about these homes as if we are movie directors. We imagine things happening, such as the owners coming back from their boat at a specific time of the day or spending time in the garden, and the moment they transition from the outdoors to indoors.”
Viel’s tour hints at the significant scale still to come: 100 more Bulgari residence villas, plus a hotel, beach club and a Niko Romit-led restaurant for summer 2027. It’s a development that marks a new ultra-luxe chapter for the design house as it bets big on Bodrum – and declares that its future lies beyond jewellery cases.
bulgarihotels.com
As the war in Gaza enters its third year, tensions between Israel and the United Nations remain fraught. UN agencies have faced frequent blockages in providing aid and documenting Israel’s attacks and human-rights violations. Francesca Albanese, the UN’s special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, has been one of the crisis’s most outspoken voices – and one of its most controversial. Barred by Israel from entering the region and sanctioned by the US, Albanese spoke to Monocle Radio’s Chris Cermak from Rome, where she shared her view on the UN’s diminished role in the conflict and what hope remains. Here are some of the highlights from the conversation.
The below has been edited for length and clarity. Listen to the full conversation with Francesca Albanese on ‘The Briefing’ on Monocle Radio.
On the current situation in Gaza:
“The Gaza Strip has suffered the most violent military campaign in modern history. While it is great that the carpet bombing has stopped with the ceasefire, the fires have not. Nearly 250 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli bombs and sniper fire since the truce began and humanitarian aid, which was supposed to be delivered, has not been entering. Yes, the UN has begun operating again but more than half of the Gaza Strip remains occupied by the Israeli army – and it is building infrastructure, which makes me think that it intends to stay.”
About investigating a conflict in a region that she is barred from entering:
“Israel has prevented special rapporteurs from entering the occupied Palestinian territories since 2008, so that is nothing new. I have chosen to report at the meta level: to describe systemic and widespread actions and point to the systems and reasons behind them. I have written four reports: two to the UN Human Rights Council and two to the UN General Assembly. They document the genocide and the reasons behind it, those who are profiting from it and why it hasn’t been stopped. If you read the last report, you’ll see that the genocide in Gaza is a collective crime. Israel has not acted alone: various UN member states have provided weapons to Israel. In fact, 26 nations have been directly or indirectly connected to the Israeli military industry.”
On the future of governance in the Palestinian territories:
“I understand that the relationship between Israel and Hamas seems like a binary one, especially from the perspective of a Western audience. But Hamas has long been a problematic organisation for Palestinians. I travelled to Gaza in the years immediately following Hamas’s takeover and I can tell you that there was a sense of frustration, which has since grown. And today, the problem is not just with Hamas or the Palestinian authority – it’s with the reality that refuses to give Palestinians the freedom to choose for themselves. Hamas would be less of a problem if the people of Palestine were allowed to determine their own future.”
On the UN’s future role in the Middle East:
“The UN is being destroyed piece by piece due to the assault on Gaza. The war has exposed the institution’s lack of capacity as well as its lack of centrality in interpreting the law, enforcing the law and using all the available mechanisms to prevent conflicts. This is evident in the case of Palestine but it isn’t any different if you look at the other 55-plus conflicts currently going on in the world. From Ukraine to Sudan, the UN has been completely sidelined.”
Listen to the full interview on the Thursday 13 November episode of ‘The Briefing’ on Monocle Radio.
Is the age of the star photographer coming to an end? This week we organised a sort of school trip, taking a team of editors and writers from Monocle to see the Lee Miller show at Tate Britain. It’s an exhibition that charts her life and work from New York and Paris to London and the concentration camps of Dachau and Buchenwald. There are the surrealist images that Miller made when she and Man Ray were partners in art and love, pictures from when she was living in Egypt and portraits of life-long friends such as Pablo Picasso. And, of course, the now iconic image of Miller in Adolf Hitler’s bathtub, taken in 1945 when she and fellow photographer David Scherman gained entry to the Nazi leader’s abandoned Munich apartment. Miller was 38 and had already lived and loved more than most. Her talent and fearlessness have subsequently made her the focus of numerous shows, books and the 2023 film Lee starring Kate Winslet.
As the London Underground train rattled us back to work, I wondered who would be the next Lee Millers. Who are the young photographers not only shaping news reportage and delivering era-defining fashion editorials or art photography but who are becoming known as stars beyond their industry? Who will get this kind of show one day in the future?
At Monocle, we work with amazing photographers revered within the media, the art world and by our readers. I also attend photo fairs and see numerous exhibitions but I couldn’t easily think of anyone under 50 who was heading for the sort of fame that might see them become a cultural icon (sorry). I asked our photography director and all our art team, and they listed numerous young photographers who they believe are capturing the age we live in – true stars in the game – but were stumped to suggest one whose moniker the public might recognise. I have asked a lot of people the same question this week and always without much success.
In art photography the biggest stars today include Cindy Sherman, 71, Nan Goldin, 72, Andreas Gursky, 70, and Martin Parr, 73. If you asked someone to name a famous fashion photographer or a practitioner skilled at capturing modern Hollywood, they might say Annie Leibovitz, 76, or perhaps still go for David Bailey, 87. Or would they suggest Bruce Weber or Mario Testino – both septuagenarians. “What about Juergen Teller?” said one person to me very confidently. “Surely he must be under 50?” He’s 61.
Why, when there are probably more great photographers than ever, do they no longer seem set to become public figures? When it comes to conflict reporting, depicting the horrors of war as Lee Miller did, television and now social media has clearly come to dominate. Plus, of course, the way that wars are managed – there has been no single defining image of the war in Gaza because photographers were not allowed in. I cannot see how another Miller, Robert Capa or Don McCullin comes to the fore.
In fashion it was once Vogue or Vanity Fair that allowed photographers to become public figures, big stars. The former shaped Miller’s career. And it was thanks to the Condé Nast title that a twentysomething Bailey was already as famous as the models he shot (and dated). He even became, in addition to a Julio Cortázar short story, the inspiration for Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1966 film Blow-Up. But while these titles are still powerful as digital players, the slow decline of their print editions means that they are not an easy route to fame for any new photographer. The older, big photographer beasts dominate the terrain.
Perhaps young photographers don’t even want to have this sort of scrutiny, to be in the spotlight. And perhaps there’s a positive trend to be spotted here – are galleries trying to elevate talent that’s been marginalised for too long, spreading the opportunity and focus? Maybe. But a shift has happened. In our image-saturated world, at a time when AI can leave us distrusting what we see, when everyone thinks they can take a great picture with their phone, the significance of the photographer is being challenged and the world seems less inclined to make space for new photographers to capture the public imagination.
To read more of Andrew’s columns, click here.
The return of the Dubai Airshow next week to Dubai World Central (DWC), the unfinished future home of the world’s largest airport, is symbolic.
The biennial show’s choreography will be familiar: fighter jets in elegant formation, wide-body aircraft snarling down the runway and helicopters slicing the air. But the real spectacle isn’t confined to the sky. It’s in the closed-door rooms where deals, partnerships and future routes are hammered out. The star attraction remains flying taxis – eVTOLs (electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft) will take pride of place with test demonstrations, mock-ups and operational briefings. Companies such as Joby Aviation and Archer are still pushing for a 2026 launch of eVTOL passenger services between Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
Such optimism invites scrutiny. Certification is complicated, battery density still falls short of commercial requirements and early users will probably only be those able to afford premium pricing. Still, few places can match the UAE’s capacity to build infrastructure at speed and holding the event at DWC only reinforces that momentum. The airshow functions as the sector’s deal-making furnace. Previous editions have seen tens of billions of dollars committed on the tarmac, wide-body orders, defence packages and long-term service agreements.
The full cast of aviation powerbrokers will be in attendance: Boeing and Airbus with their supply-chain headaches and stretched delivery schedules; Gulf carriers Emirates, Etihad and new player Riyadh Air pushing expansion and next-generation fleets; defence giants looking to secure long-horizon programmes; and aerospace companies breaking ground in the Middle East. It’s a gathering where strategy chiefs, government delegations, manufacturers and financiers mix with an unusual ease. Everyone understands that this is the room where tomorrow’s aviation map is drawn.
And for all the deals and strategy sessions behind the scenes, the airshow extends a hand to the public. The Skyview grandstand will again offer families a vantage point from which to observe the aerial acrobatics, a reminder that aviation can still enchant, even as the sector wrestles with its heaviest challenges.
Sustainability is likely to dominate corporate conversations – and the industry finally appears to be moving beyond platitudes and towards climate action instead. Dubai Airports is preparing a sustainability showcase for the event, highlighting operational innovations, energy-efficiency systems, waste-reduction measures and emerging propulsion options. Still, the broader sector is in a bind: sustainable aviation-fuel production is nowhere near scale, hydrogen is promising but distant and electrification is only beginning to consider short-haul mobility. The airshow will present glimpses of a greener future but also lay bare just how far from that horizon the commercial fleet remains.
Dubai Airshow 2025 arrives at a moment of flux in which technology is advancing faster than regulation can catch up. Ambition is everywhere. Scepticism is warranted. But the aviation industry should ready itself to witness the winds of change next week.
Inzamam Rashid is Monocle’s Gulf correspondent. For more opinion, analysis and insight, subscribe to Monocle today.
Read next: Archer Aviation CEO Adam Goldstein on the race to put flying taxis into the sky
In 1988, 19-year-old British singer Tanita Tikaram achieved chart success and recognition across Europe with her debut album, Ancient Heart. The moody single “Twist in My Sobriety” became an enigmatic yet undeniably catchy late-night classic. In the years since, Tikaram has intermittently released new music, drifting in and out from under her early-won popstar crown. Now she returns with the new album LIAR (Love Isn’t A Right) and a show during the EFG London Jazz Festival. Here, Tikaram discusses how her songwriting has evolved over the years, learning to collaborate with other creatives and her musical influences.
Is the new album a follow-up to ‘Ancient Heart’?
Not necessarily but the albums mirror each other. Ancient Heart’s songs reflect a teenager’s search for identity and belonging in a world that she often felt alienated from. The pieces featured on LIAR are from the perspective of someone who, having found her place in the world, now sees that world and its values and ideals crumbling around her.
Musically, both albums find the right balance between light and dark, which I always strive for. When I started my career, I was the archetypal singer-songwriter penning lyrics in a bedroom with no experience of playing with other musicians or arranging a song. That has changed over the years. What I am most proud of in LIAR is bringing out the best in the collaborators who I have been working with and – thanks to producer Andy Monaghan – creating a unique and compelling sound.
Has your approach to making music changed throughout the years?
When you are young, you are thrilled by writing and producing anything. But as you get older, the editing and selection process is harsher. I was also creating alone when I was younger. I am now more aware of the musicians I work with and their qualities. Though I’m not specifically writing for them, I consider very early in the arranging process how a particular player can enhance a song. I often use the lead instrument in a composition as the other voice telling the story.
Who are your musical influences? Have they changed over time?
When I was very young, it was my parents’ record collection, which included the occasional crooner, such as Nat King Cole and Dean Martin, from my dad and the likes of Barbra Streisand and Shirley Bassey from my mum. Others were releases from Trojan, Atlantic and Stax records, as well as albums by the Beatles. As kids, my brother and I were obsessed with a rock’n’roll radio station that we listened to late at night in Germany. Then I discovered singer-songwriters as a teenager. I was 30 when I began playing the piano, which introduced me to classical music and opened my ears to jazz. If there were to be a single artist who covers the whole universe of music, it would be Nina Simone – there is usually a song by her in my head that I’m obsessed with.
There are strong political themes in your new album. How does songwriting help you understand the world?
I was conscious of trying to find a poetic language for troubling political events. I suppose that finding a way to express those feelings is a comfort. Judging by how people have thanked me for not pretending that everything is normal and writing songs that recognise we are living in a very dark time politically, it makes me feel less alone.
‘LIAR’ is out now. Tikaram plays at London’s Royal Festival Hall on 15 November.
During the years that I lived in the US, I brushed shoulders with power – real political power – twice. The first was meeting Barack Obama’s chief of staff, Denis McDonough, at the White House. The second was sitting down in the Capitol office of then House minority leader, Nancy Pelosi, a few years before she would become speaker for a second time. Pelosi wasn’t (and isn’t) a natural orator and seemed socially awkward. And yet it was obvious that she carried political clout – something that radiates from those politicians who possess it. This is why the recent announcement that the 85-year-old Democrat will retire when her current mandate ends in January 2027 is such big news, even if it didn’t grab as many headlines as the recent victory of democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani in the New York mayoral election. In truth, it says more about the future of the Democratic Party than a New York upstart who, until recently, had a paid staff of just five.
Due to the odd way party politics works in the US – meaning the opposition is often leaderless – Nancy Pelosi has on occasion been the Democrats’ most senior politician. Hailing from Baltimore but representing her long-time home of California, she has been in Congress for almost 40 years. A tough negotiator who is not scared to use her elbows, she has spoken her mind about Donald Trump (he, in turn, called her an “evil woman” on learning of her retirement) and proved quite impossible to topple – even now, she is going out on her own terms. One reason for her staying power has been her spectacular fundraising efforts. According to one estimate, she has raked in $1.3bn (€1.12bn) for the party during her career.
Pelosi’s departure, when it does eventually come, is a sign that the guard might finally be changing. Friend and fellow Californian political juggernaut senator Dianne Feinstein died in office in 2023 at the age of 90. Even the party’s current Senate minority leader, New York’s Chuck Schumer, is no spring chicken at 74. Pelosi calling time on her career – a bold move given that she is choosing to relinquish power voluntarily – could help put an end to tensions between the party’s old guard and the younger, progressive types agitating to move it further to the left. The lack of a unified identity and direction – opposite Trump’s steamrollering of the GOP – has arguably contributed to the situation in which the party finds itself now.
The progressive wing, represented by Mamdani, isn’t new. Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, also calls himself a democratic socialist. And who can forget the young Democratic crop first elected to Congress in 2018 – the so-called “Squad” – including Mamdani’s fellow New Yorker, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, better known as AOC. Could Pelosi’s passing of the torch mean a new generation is a step closer to power? The 2028 presidential election will make for interesting viewing, even if telegenic Californian governor Gavin Newsom – at 58, something of a bridge between the oldest and youngest Democrats – is jockeying for the nomination already.
Pelosi was rumoured at one point to have had a complicated relationship with AOC. It wasn’t so much her ideas but apparently her inexperience about how politics really works. Mamdami, a 34-year-old with a background in the state assembly, might be equally naïve. Whether a relative lack of experience matters any more is questionable (just look at Trump) – and clearly Pelosi’s departure will give the Democrats more opportunity to think about the sort of party that they want to be. But Pelosi’s real quality has been, for better or for worse, a world-weary realisation that politics is a tough and transactional game.
Ed Stocker is Monocle’s Europe editor at large. He was formerly Americas editor at large, based in New York.
I nearly skipped past the press release. Its headline is not exactly enticing: “NTU Singapore scientists develop 3D concrete printing method that captures carbon dioxide”. But something made me pause for a second look.
The wordy announcement from Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University (NTU) refers to a new 3D-printing process that injects carbon dioxide into concrete as it prints. Though it might sound complicated, it’s simple chemistry. As carbon dioxide reacts with the concrete mix, it turns solid and gets trapped in the material. The aim? To reduce concrete’s sizable carbon footprint – the building block of modern society is the second most-used material in the world and a source of around 8 per cent of global CO2 emissions due to the energy-intensive process that goes into producing it. It’s a noble cause, given the beauty of the material, showcased by architectural masters such as Carlo Scarpa (pictured top), with NTU’s work complementing other concrete innovators including Swiss-headquartered Holcim (pictured bottom).
Admittedly, it’s hard to draw attention to carbon-eating concrete at a time when bold space ventures, sleek gadgets and ever-smarter AI capture imaginations and headlines. The obvious hooks are missing: no celebrity founder, no life-changing promise. But hidden in the university’s no-fanfare project is a compelling idea, the undeniable elegance of turning a problem into a solution – it transforms concrete production and its construction into carbon capture, reversing the plot.
It reminds me of US-Israeli designer Neri Oxman’s provocative question: “Is there a world in which driving a car is better for nature than a world in which there are no cars?” Is there a world in which using concrete is better for the environment than not using concrete? Not less bad but actually good?
NTU’s innovation suggests this very possibility. For developers and architects, the idea is liberating. Imagine designing without climate guilt, where every bridge, tower, column and beam is a net good for the environment, actively improving the surroundings.
What makes this innovation promising is that it combines two frontiers of innovation: carbon capture and 3D printing. While carbon capture has been retrofitted into traditional cement plants, NTU’s innovation integrates the abatement method into the production process itself. The technology also makes for a superior concrete: it is stronger, easier to print and captures more carbon than other types of 3D-printed concrete. This means faster construction with less material and labour. This method breaks new ground, enabling design that optimises form and carbon capture in ways traditional casting never could.
But here’s the challenge. While digital innovation races ahead with weekly breakthroughs, the building and construction industry plods along, operating on decade-long cycles. Concrete remains pretty much locked in 20th-century processes. Yet the climate urgency demands transformation at speed and scale.
The NTU team is already pushing its work further while it awaits a patent, exploring how to capture waste gases instead of pure carbon dioxide. But breakthroughs that only excite industry insiders only partially drive the transformation that we so desperately need. Where are the visions that are bold enough to capture broader imaginations? The kind of moonshot ambition that rallies the rest of us?
Maybe it’s time to take a page from big tech’s playbook. Instead of asking “How can we get concrete to be five per cent greener?”, we should ask, “What if concrete made the planet better, not worse?” Shifting from mitigation to mission – from villain to hero – in the climate story. Now that’s exciting.
Yvonne Xu is a Singapore-based design writer and regular Monocle contributor. Fancy more concrete ideas? Find a debate on the material here, featuring Holcim, and read up on an expert use of it by Carlo Scarpa here.
Australian writer Helen Garner has been turning the fabric of her life into unforgettable literature for almost 50 years. Speaking to Georgina Godwin on Meet the Writers, Garner discusses the diaries that have shaped her work, the chaos of her earlier years and the serenity of being a grandmother.
Let’s start at the beginning. Take us back to Paris in the late 1970s – what was life like?
I moved to France with my daughter when she was eight. I had just published Monkey Grip and received a grant from the Australia Council that would sustain us for a few years. So I thought, let’s live in Paris! My daughter picked up French in about five minutes but I never quite felt at ease. I was used to big hippie houses in Melbourne, full of single mothers and children in happy chaos. Paris felt alien. I eventually realised that I had nothing to do with that place and it had nothing to do with me. We moved back to Australia but I had met a lovely Frenchman while in Paris. He came back with us and we married. Though we have since parted, I still have great warmth for him.
One of the pleasures of your diaries is their domestic detail; the cherry-red boots, the soap-dish quarrels. How do such moments become material?
I’ve always kept a diary. I use my immediate surroundings as subject matter. A quarrel about who cleaned the soap dish can loom as large as a major fight when you’re writing on an intimate scale. Those things carry weight: they reveal how people really live together.
And yet there were big fights too, such as that unforgettable kitchen scene.
Yes. I discovered a letter from my husband – my third husband – to the woman I suspected he was having an affair with. I went berserk. There was beetroot soup on the wall; it looked like blood, though no one had actually been killed. I even had a hammer in my hand. A friend told me, ‘Helen, put the hammer down.’ And I did.
The diary format seems perfect for that immediacy.
It suits me. My novels were always close to being non-fiction anyway. Writing in a diary taught me to seize the moment as it happens.
Are you still keeping a diary?
Oh yes. I steady myself by making a record of things and trying to tell myself the truth. These days I write about being a grandmother. Living nextdoor and helping raise my grandchildren has been the happiest time of my life. I probably won’t publish those diaries; they belong to them as much as they do to me.
You sound content.
I am. After my third marriage ended, I thought that I’d given it my best shot. I decided that I’m not going to try again. And that’s when real happiness started.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Listen to the full conversation on ‘Meet The Writers’ on Monocle Radio.
Gaza’s future is being contested on every front. The Gulf states propose sweeping reconstruction while Israel advances a security blueprint and Palestinian groups set out their own competing visions. Into this fraught landscape enters a different idea: “A Land For All” is a joint Israeli-Palestinian initiative that advocates for two states within a shared homeland, a shared Jerusalem, joint security and, eventually, freedom of movement. It challenges the old model of separation and asks both peoples to imagine a more humane existence. The movement’s directors are May Pundak, an Israeli lawyer and feminist activist, and Rula Hardal, a Palestinian citizen of Israel and lecturer in political science.
Pundak and Hardal spoke to Monocle Radio’s The Globalist to share their vision for a united future.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Listen to the full conversation on ‘The Globalist’.
May, what kind of political future do you imagine for Israelis and Palestinians beyond the current reality?
This is exactly the moment that we should all face the unknown and start articulating a clear vision for the future of Israeli and Palestinian people. And, of course, how to solve the conflict in a way that would be sustainable, just and acceptable for both. What we are offering is ‘two states, one homeland’: two sovereign and independent states, Israel and Palestine, with a clear border along 1967 lines. And, on top of that, there would be another added value: a new model of shared institutions to take care of the things that have to be taken care of, shared and jointly, without taking away from the sovereignty of the two states.
I refer to France, Germany and the EU models as inspirations that can lead us to the independence, separation and safety that we need. But we understand that there are multiple challenges, including security, economics, water and Jerusalem, as well as infrastructure and climate, which demand us to work in tight co-operation. Any realisation of interdependency between Israelis and Palestinians at this point demands a political vision that answers those needs.
Rula, how does this differ from the classic two-state solution?
The whole approach is different by moving away from segregation and separation – which we view as immoral, supremacist, unrealistic – into a new approach and paradigm of how to get to the two states based on sharing. We are using the same land, the same resources, the same streets, sometimes the same economy.
A second difference that we offer with the confederation model – shared institutions and freedom of movement – is that it will gradually and hopefully lead to new approaches and solutions to the deadlocks of the classic two-state solution, which include Jerusalem, the right of return of Palestinian refugees, settlers and settlements.
May, how would you plan to deal with the complexities of Jerusalem?
It is becoming clearer for anyone who has lived, resided or visited Jerusalem in the past few years that the city is not meant to be divided. Carving up the capital is impossible by its own internal logic, not to mention the soul of the city or the way that we perceive it. And then for practical reasons, we’re not going to build a big wall in the middle of the holy city.
Jerusalem is a place that tells the story that we’re trying to tell on a more political level: most Israelis and Jews see all of this homeland, from the river to the sea, including Judea and Samaria, as their homeland. Jews have an attachment to the entirety of the land – but so do Palestinians. For Palestinians, from the river to the sea will always be Palestine, including Jerusalem and other cities that would remain, in our plan, under the jurisdiction of Israel.
But the idea that we both share the attachment to this homeland – such a strong emotional connection – as a place that divides us is where we differ from the classic two-state solution. This is where we say that we will have to share some things in order to make it work. Jerusalem is a great example for that for practical reasons and emotional ones.
And Rula, what are the challenges that you face in implementing this plan, from politicians and two divided populations?
The first challenge is that leadership on both sides are unwilling to find a solution to the conflict and seek symmetry between the warring parties. From the whole development of the Israeli political system to the ideologies and components of the current coalition – particularly the Likud party, which has been governing Israel with one short exception since 2009 – it is clear that everything is being done to prevent the establishment and the recognition of a sovereign Palestinian state. It’s not a hidden agenda; it’s something that they emphasise every day, including Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The second obstacle is the recent political developments. It has been about a month since the announcement of Donald Trump’s plan, a historic stop to the atrocities and genocidal war in Gaza. But still, there is no serious conversation about a Palestinian state or a permanent solution to the conflict. I am afraid that, following this fragile ceasefire, we might enter a new-old status quo, where we are still not speaking about the recognition of Palestine, ending the occupation and creating two states.
May, how do you go about getting buy-in from all the other interested parties, from the Gulf states to the US?
The commitment needs to be about realising a ceasefire – which has already been breached multiple times at this point – but also putting forward a clear, rational and acceptable vision for how to solve the Israel-Palestine conflict once and for all. If we do not commit to such a vision, we are going to be in a much worse situation than 7 October. This is a historic moment that has to be seized. From our experience over the past few months, there has been growing interest in Israel, Palestine, the Gulf states, the Middle East and in the international community over a pragmatic approach to the two states that will allow us to solve the dispute.
What we are trying to do now is build a movement of Israelis and Palestinians – people committed to ending the conflict and taking agency for our own future as our leadership has failed to do. Important interlocutors from across the globe are buying into this idea, especially as we have already been able to solve some things that seemed intractable.
What we ask is for people to read our vision on the website, to start talking about it and understand that this conflict will end, as all conflicts do, and that it can end. We offer a roadmap, a vision and a solution that has been created by experts and multiple people from different communities in Israel and in Palestine over the past 15 years. We have the answers and now we have to move forward and have a clear vision that learns from the mistakes of previous failed negotiations, as well as the success stories of other conflicts that have been solved in a sustainable way. That’s exactly what we’re doing, building from the bottom up and the top down.
From Hollywood reboots and retro car models to vintage fashion, a swath of industries are doing a roaring trade in nostalgia. But there’s a fine line between celebrating your legacy and being stuck in a creative ditch. By failing to embrace fresh ideas, some brands risk trading their future appeal for the comforts of the past.
Visitors to the French capital can currently see two major exhibitions looking back at the historic achievements of storied brands: Louis Vuitton Art Deco at LV Dream, the luxury giant’s Paris headquarters; and 1925-2025: One Hundred Years of Art Deco at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, which explores the design legacy of the Orient Express. Both shows mark the centennial of a major art deco exhibition held in the city. There’s plenty of exquisite craftsmanship on display, both by major figures of the art deco movement and by modern-day artisans and designers.
A standout piece from the Louis Vuitton exhibition is a trunk designed for British conductor Leopold Stokowski in 1929, which folds out into a portable desk. This clever feature allowed Stokowski to travel with his documents and sit down to write wherever he happened to be. The piece is emblematic of the brand’s history of innovating to meet the evolving needs of wealthy globetrotters throughout the 20th century. With the advent of cars and transatlantic steamers, Gaston-Louis Vuitton, the grandson of the brand’s founder, oversaw a period during which aesthetics and functionality went hand in hand.
At the Louis Vuitton shop above the exhibition space, you’ll spot an updated version of the Stokowski trunk, the Secrétaire Bureau 2.0. Usefully, it has a wider work surface that’s designed to accommodate laptops – but it seems more likely to grace a collector’s lounge than to travel the world with its owner.
That’s not to say that past icons can’t be resurrected to break new ground. Renault, for example, has successfully launched updated versions of classic models such as the Renault 5 and Renault 4, with the Twingo next in line. The refreshed Twingo features a design similar to the 1992 original, which sold 2.6 million models over its 20-year production run, as well as all-electric drivetrains. By combining nostalgia-inducing design with significant hardware upgrades, the automaker is making contemporary electric vehicles more appealing to drivers who aren’t yet fully comfortable with the technology.
What if brands such as Louis Vuitton and the Orient Express reclaimed their status as cutting-edge innovators in travel, while staying true to their legacy? Perhaps we’d enter a new golden age of travel – one that pairs timeless elegance with genuine progress. The 2026 christening of the Orient Express Corinthian, the world’s largest sailing yacht and a partnership with LVMH, could be a groundbreaking moment for the sector. Combining luxury amenities and destinations that are often out of reach for conventional cruise ships, it will be charting new waters for hospitality, while still evoking the Old World glamour of the Orient Express. Fresh ideas such as this are why these brands rose to prominence in the first place.
Simon Bouvier is Monocle’s Paris bureau chief. Fancy more from the French capital? Check out our City Guide. For more opinion, analysis and insight, subscribe to Monocle today.
