In the years following the 2011 Egyptian revolution, international brands were cautious about opening new large-scale developments in the country. Much of the investment that followed favoured established hotels and resorts over the wave of branded residences transforming markets in other areas of the Mena and Gulf regions. But as new infrastructure reshapes Cairo, some in the luxury market are beginning to view Egypt differently.
Hospitality company Nobu, founded by Robert de Niro, chef Nobu Matsuhisa and film producer Meir Teper, is entering the Egyptian market through a partnership with developer Sodic. But far from just dipping its toe, the company is diving in head first, launching restaurants, hotels and branded residences across three destinations. That confidence was largely buoyed by the performance of Nobu’s first seasonal restaurant on the North Coast, which opened last year. The venue quickly attracted not only Egyptian visitors but guests travelling from across the Gulf, Europe and Russia.
The North Coast is central to the group’s plans. Once viewed as a summer destination for Egyptians, the country’s Mediterranean stretch is increasingly marketed as a year-round destination. Major infrastructure projects have transformed the region from a seasonal holiday destination into an emerging market where visitors can live, invest and spend time throughout the year.
“We have the best beaches in the world,” says Sodic general manager Ayman Amer. “Over the past 10 years things have really changed. People are looking for entertainment, hospitality and everything that complements real estate. This is why we’re having Nobu elevate that experience with us.” While domestic demand remains strong, he expects the North Coast project with Nobu to attract overseas buyers already familiar with the brand. “There is a market gap that Nobu Residences is going to cover,” says Amer. “Not only for Egyptian buyers seeking this level of quality and experience but also for international buyers who are very familiar with the brand.”
The emphasis on international appeal is important to both Nobu and Egypt itself. Historically, much of the country’s luxury tourism industry has been linked to its archaeological sites. Now developers are looking to create destinations that can compete with the offerings found elsewhere in the Mediterranean and Gulf. The same can be said for Nobu’s projects in Cairo. The company’s restaurant in New Cairo has just opened, with a hotel and residences following suit.
Together with the North Coast and West Cairo developments, the aim is to create a network of destinations that appeal to both residents and visitors. For the CEO of Nobu Hospitality, Trevor Horwell, that approach has become increasingly important as luxury consumers seek experiences. “Many brands have become transactional,” he says. “We look at it differently.”
In Egypt, that philosophy is particularly attractive. Developers are increasingly targeting buyers seeking international standards of service without sacrificing local character, while consumers are placing greater value on experiences. The branded residences component of the partnership reflects that demand, offering hospitality-led lifestyle rather than a conventional property investment.
That approach is also the product of Nobu’s own evolution. As Nobu’s reputation grew, developers increasingly sought to anchor projects with its restaurants, viewing the brand as a draw for guests, residents and investors. Rather than merely licensing its name to dining venues within larger developments, Nobu saw an opportunity to play a more central role and to develop specific luxury experiences.
“Luxury today has become commoditised,” says De Niro. “To find something special is very hard.” Rather than simply offer rewards to customers, De Niro says Nobu wanted to develop a full suite of hotels, residences, wellness facilities and dining concepts. “We felt we had to bring something different.”
Members of Monocle’s editorial team were in Paris last Thursday but the hottest topic in town wasn’t Fashion Week or fresh collections – it was air conditioning. As the mercury crept towards 40C, meetings were moved, school closures accommodated and cool glasses of wine sought (many at our event on Rue Bachaumont). Was there panic? Not really. The attitude on the streets was chiefly one of Gallic insouciance. “We’ll get through it,” the city’s bustling terraces seemed to murmur through the heat haze. Aspects of this come-what-may European attitude can seem charming and pleasingly pragmatic. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a problem to deal with. The city simply wasn’t designed for the temperatures that it’s now routinely enduring.
French politicians are also hot and bothered by the issue. Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella’s far-right Rassemblement National (RN) see air-con as a national health necessity, bound up with the need to expand France’s nuclear power generation. Energy independence, it seems, might mean the right to doze indoors at 18C as the grass outside is scorched and the world blithely misses its climate targets.
On the left, Jean-Luc Mélenchon of La France Insoumise has focused squarely on the cons of air-con and how it might worsen the environmental crisis, waste energy and expel more warm air into already steaming cities. Mélenchon, in a move reminiscent of those concerned with the Titanic’s post-iceberg deckchair arrangement, wants more trees, shade and passive cooling. The real answer must fall between these two extremes but requires the ambition of both.
The city, which is perhaps the world’s most beautiful, copes commendably with its climate for much of the year but heat is a pressing issue. The universally adored butter-yellow Haussmannian blocks aren’t made for such extremes. When it’s particularly toasty the Lutetian limestone begins to bake, hold heat and transform these ornate edifices into rudimentary ovens. That’s before we talk about old schools and underserved medical facilities – though 30,000 air conditioners were ordered last Friday for use in hospitals. That’s a good start and Mélenchon isn’t wrong about Paris’s dearth of parks and trees. But these things won’t be enough.
The brutal truth is that Europe is heating up faster than expected. To stay competitive and survive the summers to come, it needs to pick a side. Should it join the cool kids in the Gulf, Hong Kong and Singapore? (The city-state’s late founder, Lee Kuan Yew, realised that air-con had changed the “nature of civilisation by making development possible in the tropics” as long ago as the 1950s.) It could take an American-style approach and loosen planning, letting the private sector rip. How do you say, “Chill, baby, chill” in French?
Baron Haussmann might not have expected to hear the hum of air conditioners in Paris but cities, like attitudes, need to adapt. And fast. The Paris Paradox is how leaders can cut through the posturing and set a policy that works for both the people and the planet, keeping the city safe and productive. AC will be part of the answer. Sang-froid about the weather looks commendable but it’s delaying decisions that must be made now.
Josh Fehnert is Monocle’s editor. For more opinion, analysis and insight, subscribe to Monocle today.
Further reading:
– Heatwave be damned! Paris Fashion Week Men’s brings leather and layers to the runways
– The essential survival guide on how to beat the heat in the city
– Amid Paris’s everyday hustle, the city’s iconic Fermob chair is the perfect reminder to slow down – and take a seat
For most of its history the UAE has been designed around the car but after years of anticipation, Etihad Rail finally opened its passenger service today. The country’s great infrastructure projects have tended to be measured in the number of motorway lanes or terminals. So, walking into Abu Dhabi’s Mohammad bin Zayed City Station at its unveiling last week felt quite significant. Starting with a route to Fujairah before expanding to stops including Dubai and Al Dhaid later this year, the move is an attempt to persuade a nation accustomed to life behind the wheel that there might be another way to travel.
The Abu Dhabi station is noticeably less theatrical than other unveilings of Gulf infrastructure. On board, that pragmatic philosophy continues: trains are bright without being flashy, fitted with generous seating, power sockets, wi-fi and luggage space, while Premium class adds wider seats and complimentary refreshments. Every passenger has a reserved seat, so it’s also not the free-for-all that you might expect to find on many European trains. Introductory fares begin at AED55 (€13) in comfort class and AED120 (€29) in premium – and the app allows you to book saver, value and flex tickets accordingly. The pricing, for now, suggests that Etihad Rail is trying to position itself as an accessible alternative to four wheels.
“The biggest value that we can give is to give you back your time,” says Adhraa Almansoori, executive director of commercial at Etihad Rail Mobility. Instead of concentrating on the road ahead, passengers can now answer emails, read a book or simply watch the Hajar Mountains emerge on the horizon.
Anyone who regularly drives between Abu Dhabi and Dubai, sits in incessant traffic between Dubai and Sharjah, or spends hours crossing the country with families for weekend getaways, knows that congestion has become an unavoidable reality. A reliable railway can offer something that the roads increasingly cannot: predictability. But questions remain.
Many people will not be walking to the train stations in the scorching heat. Residents of Saadiyat Island, The Palm Jumeirah or Arabian Ranches, for example, will still have to begin their journey in a car or a taxi; arriving passengers must complete the final leg once they reach their destination. And public transportation in the UAE isn’t widely used. Yes, there’s a Metro in Dubai but the network isn’t exhaustive. So, passengers and commuters will need to calculate whether taking the train with added travel time on either side is actually more efficient. Etihad Rail is well aware of this challenge. Almansoori says that considerable planning has gone into integrating stations with buses, taxis, rental cars and local transport authorities, recognising that the passenger experience starts long before anyone boards a train. Eventually those partnerships will matter every bit as much as the trains themselves.
Perhaps it’s why the first route links Abu Dhabi with Fujairah rather than Dubai. Fujairah lends itself to leisure travel, long weekends and domestic tourism. The real test will come in September when Dubai joins the network. This is the route that will determine whether rail becomes woven into everyday life and commutes or remains something reserved for occasional journeys.
There are encouraging signs because more than 5,000 tickets were reserved within two days of bookings opening and Etihad Rail briefly became the most downloaded free app in the UAE. Whether this curiosity evolves into habit is another matter. But after months of uncertainty with a regional conflict that has seen the UAE’s tourism and hospitality sectors suffer immensely, the timing is perfect. Something new and exciting to reignite the spirits; a mode of transport that doesn’t involve feeling nauseous in the back of a taxi or navigating six lanes of traffic on Sheikh Zayed Road.
The private vehicle represents convenience, flexibility and for many, identity, and Etihad Rail is unlikely to replace that overnight. Success might instead come over time as passengers begin to realise that a calmer way of travelling is just as much of a luxury as a speedy arrival.
Inevitably, the kiln-like temperatures overtook much of the conversation at Paris Fashion Week Men’s. After all, the industry has plenty to reflect on when it comes to its contribution to climate change, while organisers of summer events clearly need to reassess how they host guests. Nonetheless, the designers in the French capital delivered strong collections and a healthy dose of optimism about the season ahead. Even Rei Kawakubo, the founder and lead designer of Comme des Garçons – known for her love of black and dramatic runway performances – lightened things up with bright checks and a soundtrack that included classic Kylie Minogue hits.
The shows were less about new trends than a focus on good fabrics, individual style and a sense of lightheartedness, delivered through cheerful colour palettes and accessories such as patterned ties, beaded necklaces and brooches. Perhaps that’s why Celine’s Michael Rider emerged as a firm favourite. His collection was filled with classics (pea coats, slim tailored trousers, V-neck knits wrapped around the shoulders) remixed with patterned shirts, accessories in bright aquamarine and green hues or charms hanging off belt loops. “We’re enjoying what we do in the studio and desiring it ourselves, all of it,” said Rider in his show notes.
Other noteworthy moments took place in more intimate showrooms. UK designer Sarah Burton presented split-lapel blazers and hand-embroidered outerwear at the Givenchy HQ; Peter Copping showcased a surrealism-inspired collection in the new Lanvin offices in the 10th arrondissement, alongside Indian fabrics that he discovered in Jeanne Lanvin’s archives, images from his mood board and fabric swatches that he had been experimenting with. Under Copping, the French fashion house is finding its feet again with collections that marry classic styles with offbeat details. Look out for the label’s knitwear collaboration with UK manufacturer John Smedley next season.
This week brands will be shifting their focus to sales, hosting international buyers and taking orders. But the conversations on the front rows over the past few days questioned the efficiency of this system, as the dynamics of the business continue to change. Most retailers’ budgets are down; department stores are increasingly focusing on the concession model and on special projects with brands; multi-brand boutiques seem few and far between, especially in Europe. “There’s no one left to sell to,” said one up-and-coming designer planning to pivot to direct sales and made-to-order pieces.
Many of those continuing to play the wholesale game are looking to speciality shops, including the likes of Amomento in Seoul or A’maree’s on Newport Beach. Global players beating the odds and continuing to turn a profit are doing so by prioritising curation, exclusive products and high-spending customers. “We’re now so much more than a wholesale partner,” Mytheresa’s new CEO, Francis Bellin, told me, pointing to the kind of exclusive experiences that the global e-commerce platform gives customers access to. These include Maison Mytheresa, the “floating private club” that has been moving between St Tropez and the Yacht Club de Monaco for the past two weeks, hosting workshops, designer conversations and styling suites. If there was one theme that dominated this fashion week, it was the need to rethink how labels do business and connect with their customers.
Natalie Theodosi is Monocle’s fashion director. For more fashion updates, subscribe to Monocle today.
1.
Givenchy
Sarah Burton hosted her first menswear presentation for Givenchy during this edition of Paris Fashion Week Men’s. Presented in a “triptych” of rooms inside the house’s Avenue George V headquarters, the range delved further into some of the concepts and ideas that Burton had already started developing with her women’s collections. The results: loose, barrel-leg denim reworked for men’s bodies; sharp tailoring including double-pleated trousers and blazers with split lapels; and one-of-a-kind outerwear featuring delicate hand embroidery.
“I wanted this to feel very personal and intimate, and to reflect the conversations that I have with the friends of the house,” says Burton. She simultaneously presented a campaign shot by Juergen Teller and featuring the likes of filmmaker/musician Don Letts, painter Danny Fox and photojournalist Sir Don McCullin.
Just like her campaign, her debut men’s collection revolves around a varied cast of characters, from the man who wants to wear a sporty bomber jacket, denim and sneakers to the collector who favours a handmade, statement-making coat. But what makes it really stand apart in an overcrowded market is Burton’s soft, romantic touch and her ability to add a couture feel in every garment, be it a humble car coat elevated using the finest silk or a chore jacket with a 1950s label embroidered on its front pocket.
givenchy.com
2.
Studio Nicholson
London-based label Studio Nicholson is far from a runway regular – and for good reason. Nick Wakeman’s clothes are best experienced up close, like when you touch the crisp cotton of a shirt or try on her signature double-pleated chinos to fully appreciate the seamless fit.
But to mark the label’s 16th anniversary, Wakeman hosted her debut runway show during Paris Fashion Week, showing a collection filled with understated yet desirable summer pieces – from perfectly curved trousers to double-breasted suits worn with flip-flops and elegant leather jackets. The new format worked because of the intimate scale: Wakeman opted for a salon-style show, held inside the Hotel d’Évreux, with models walking close enough to guests to appreciate the details up close.
Wakeman spoke about returning to the sources of inspiration that have always defined her – Isabella Rossellini in tailoring, Japanese architect Tadao Ando, workwear – rather than seeking novelty for novelty’s sake. “I revisit the same questions, images and films that have been my own codes for 30 years,” she says. “It’s precious, studied, terribly subtle and quite esoteric.” Fellow designers take note.
studionicholson.com
3.
Wales Bonner
Grace Wales Bonner drew on documentary photography from South Africa and the intimacy of portraiture for her brand’s latest designs, which feel lived in and timeless. Think leather jackets with a worn-in effect, sharp suits with subtle touches such as a single satin lapel, sets in heritage checks serving as “an ode to tradition” and an immaculately tailored coat made with Anderson & Sheppard.
There were images of Arthur Ashe on display – the only black male tennis player to win singles titles at Wimbledon, the US Open and the Australian Open – who was known for looking immaculate in his uniforms. Bonner has long channelled the same sense of refinement in her collections, whether designing trainers and sporty polo shirts or a black-tie suit.
4.
Auralee
Ryota Iwai, the founder and creative director of Japanese label Auralee, wanted to capture transitory moments of summer travels in his latest collection, which showed in a colonnade of the Odéon-Théâtre de l’Europe. The in-between state of mind that comes with planning a holiday and leaving everyday routines inspired the show, which was told in three chapters.
The first part evoked the excitement of planning an escape from behind a work desk with office-appropriate suiting in pleasing navy, butter yellow and grey. Then, the holiday, with models in striped T-shirts and jeans, sundresses and azure shorts. Some even carried terry-cloth towels. Finally, the return to reality but with a slightly shifted, perhaps more open, mindset that comes with a broadening of horizons. At Auralee, this came in the form of a willingness to incorporate more colour and pattern into the daily work wardrobe, with knitted vests, a bright red trench coat or florals.
It was a clever way of framing a collection that, combined with Iwai’s ability to create fresh and surprising colour palettes, confirmed the brand as an industry favourite on the Paris Fashion Week circuit.
auralee.jp
5.
Louis Vuitton
This season’s most impressive set came courtesy of Louis Vuitton. The French luxury house created an eight-by-37-metre tidal wave in a courtyard of the Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris (CIUP), from which models emerged and paced down a sand-covered runway. The brand’s creative director, Pharrell Williams, delivered a collection of beach-ready pieces – think branded surfboards, wetsuits and even a racing bike – alongside longline coats, leather blousons and denim pieces embellished with shells. On show were beaded bags made to look as though they were encrusted with coral, while others sported mini-surfboard keychains. Meanwhile, Williams’s Acid Rain series reimagined the house’s monogrammed bags with colourful embroidery and weathering treatments were applied to clothes to make them appear kissed by the sun and ocean. Whether or not any of these pieces, especially the more formal shirts and ties, will ever be worn to the beach is another matter.
Williams is bringing the spirit of Miami’s South Beach to Paris. As for the set, the water from the show was drained back into the French capital’s waterways and the sand was donated to the CIUP’s beach-volleyball courts. Louis Vuitton also pledged support to Coral Gardeners, a reef-restoration project in French Polynesia.
louisvuitton.com
6.
IM Men
The bamboo plant and its representation in East Asia’s decorative arts provided the foundation for the latest collection from IM Men, the menswear division of Japanese brand Issey Miyake headed by Yuki Itakura, Sen Kawahara and Nobutaka Kobayashi. The collection was titled In Praise of Bamboo Shadows – a riff on the seminal 1933 essay on Japanese aesthetics by Jun’ichiro Tanizaki – and explored how the plant can be used to create lightweight textiles for summer.
Billowing jackets featured bamboo patterns by graphic designer Rikako Nagashima and denim sets were hand-dyed to mimic traditional ink-wash paintings of the plant. Some pleats referenced the nodes of a bamboo shoot, while others evoked the vertical repetition of a bamboo forest. While the collection began with a series of monochromatic looks, a shift into a hues of beige, green and blue gradually brought it energy, before a blast of vivid pink pieces provided the finale. Sandals and the new Sortie Veiled trainer, a take on a 1980s staple of Japanese footwear giant Asics, completed the laidback silhouettes. Eminently wearable and conceptually clear, it gave a glimpse into why the world of Issey Miyake consistently attracts a cult following.
isseymiyake.com
7.
Celine
Last but certainly not least, Celine closed the week with a collection that confirmed the brand’s artistic director, Michael Rider, as a name to contend with on the Paris circuit. The American designer’s ability to chop and change silhouettes in a manner that feels fresh and unexpected provided a connecting thread for an otherwise eclectic collection that featured slimline cigarette trousers, as well as ballooning shapes, dishevelled shirt collars and prim leather gloves, plus flip-flops alongside laced-up derbies.
As is often the case with Rider’s collections, the attention paid to the styling is as important as the clothes. It’s the imaginativeness of a silk cumberband layered over a red jumper or the way that a leather pouch is tucked under the belt of a trench coat. Such natty tricks are getting Rider, who took the helm at Celine in October 2024, increasingly noticed.
celine.com
Want to try cold ramen or pickle-flavoured sorbet? Here are three new spots that had people talking this fashion week.
1.
Toy
On a quiet street just a stone’s throw from Place de la Bastille, this new ramen restaurant is an ode to minimalism. The discreet black façade marks the spot once occupied by the much-loved Dersou, which closed after the death of chef Taku Sekine. Inside, bare walls, brutalist wooden tables and a large central counter create a restrained, almost monastic setting, softened by the welcome colourful touch of ceramic chopstick rests on each table. The menu follows the same less-is-more philosophy, with only four ramen from which to choose: fresh noodles, made in-house daily by chef George Black, served in a fragrant shio (salt), shoyu (soy) or vegetarian miso broth, plus a new cold ramen introduced in perfect time for Paris’s heatwave – the ideal choice when you’re craving a comforting bowl of noodles but the weather has other ideas.
21 Rue Saint-Nicolas
2.
Fumo
Who decided that ice cream was only for dessert? Fumo, a pop-up running until 20 September in a calm, grey-toned space in Le Marais, is challenging Parisian palates with a menu of savoury flavours, some more adventurous than others. “I wanted to move away from the idea of fruit sorbet as something you eat at the end of a meal and elevate it into something truly gastronomic,”says Tessa Ponzo, the pop-up’s first guest chef, who received the Michelin Guide’s Passion Dessert prize in March. “Why shouldn’t we be able to enjoy a bowl of pickle sorbet as an apéritif?” Alongside the aforementioned sorbet – sharp and briny, finished with a sprinkling of wasabi seeds – the menu features burnt rice ice-cream drizzled with cold-pressed olive oil from Nyons, as well as Tessa’s rotating carte blanche, which might include unexpected ingredients such as black pepper, cardamom, fennel or rosemary. Each flavour is paired with a drink by kombucha-maker Archipel, turning every serving into a tasting experience worthy of fine dining.
59 Rue Charlot
3.
Bagarre Coffee Club
It’s a familiar refrain among locals: you can’t move to Paris for its new coffee shops, especially in high-footfall areas such as Le Marais. While many feel derivative, others really pack a punch. Opened this spring, Bagarre – “fight” in French – leans loosely into a boxing theme, complete with a punching bag next to the espresso machine. It serves coffee by Tanat, which is widely regarded as one of Europe’s leading specialty roasters, and has quickly become a go-to spot for innovative iced drinks among visitors exploring the 11th arrondissement. In addition to single-origin coffee and ceremonial-grade matcha from Uji in Kyoto Prefecture, the menu includes black sesame and ube (a purple yam with a subtle vanilla-like flavour) lattes, iced chocolate milk and its newest addition: the Cloud Matcha – chilled coconut water topped with a matcha cold foam made from an oat-and-coconut-milk blend. Vegan and refreshing.
90 Boulevard Richard-Lenoir
Like a magic mirror in a children’s novel, the dappled waters of the Reflecting Pool on Washington’s National Mall seem to echo back the beliefs of the person gazing into it (writes Charlotte McDonald-Gibson). Ken Kolibas, visiting from New Jersey, is a big fan of president Donald Trump’s decision to splash out $14m (€12m) to drain the pool, paint it a vibrant shade of “American Flag Blue”, and refill it ahead of the 250th anniversary of independence on 4 July. So as he surveyed the scene at the pool on Monday, where at least four different law enforcement agencies patrolled the perimeter and television crews trained their cameras on the “nanobubblers” battling the green algae, he remained fully behind the project.
“[It reflects] our nation’s pride and where we came from in 250 years, where other countries are much older than us, and they haven’t done 10 per cent of what we’ve done,” the 71-year-old told Monocle. “I hope it cleans up and everything will look fine for the Fourth of July.”
A short walk along the banks, however, and Mark Reil, a 34-year-old who was visiting from Massachusetts for the Capital Pride Parade, had a different view. “It’s reflecting a troubling time for America,” Reil said. “It’s a waste of money. It’s just sad what’s happening. It’s frustrating and the American public is smart enough to recognise that it’s just wool being pulled over our eyes.”
Of the many controversies besetting the Trump administration, the debacle at the Reflecting Pool is one of the most farcical. In April, Trump announced that he was renovating the 103-year-old shallow pool, which reflects the elegant needle of the Washington Monument at one end and the Lincoln Memorial at the other. It has long been blighted by leaks and algae, and Trump promised to have it spick and span again in time for the semiquincentennial celebrations. He handpicked the resort-style blue for the new coating and posted an AI photo on Truth Social of himself and members of his cabinet in swimsuits and floaties relaxing in the waters.
Trump bypassed the normal competitive bidding for a government contract and gave the job to a company that had done work at one of his golf clubs. Trump promised that it would cost $1.8m (€1.57m) but the total ballooned to more than $14m (€12m).
Within days of it being unveiled after the renovations in early June, the naysayers descended, claiming that it looked black rather than blue. Then came the algae: a massive bloom swiftly turned the pool a vibrant green. Some speculated that the darker colour of the coating made the water warmer and exacerbated the algae problem. Others muttered darkly about Trump’s claims of sabotage and something thrown in the water.
Next, large chunks of the new lining started to detach and float up to the surface. Anyone who was curious enough to reach in and grab a piece found themselves hauled off into custody, including an Olympic canoeist who was one of five people arrested for alleged vandalism at the pool, despite insisting that they had just fished the paint chips out of the water.
A dead duckling was also found floating in the pool, though when Monocle visited on Monday afternoon, there were plenty of healthy wildfowl enjoying the placid waters.
Trump, however, is taking it all personally. In his mind, the problems have been created by his political enemies in a campaign to embarrass him. On Monday, he claimed that someone put fertiliser in the water to encourage the algae, and that a person with “a box cutter or knife of some kind” had waded into the pool and cut a “350-foot slit from one end to the other”. He offered no proof of either allegation.
So the Reflecting Pool now looks like a warzone, with National Guard troops, armed US Marshals, Park Police on horseback and personnel from various sheriffs’ offices patrolling the perimeter. Visitors peer nervously into the water, scared to get too close. Less than a month since its grand unveiling, the pool is again slated to be drained, repaired and refilled, though it’s not clear whether that will happen before 4 July.
Ed Filardi, 60, is just a bit downbeat that the celebrations are being overshadowed by what he calls “much ado about nothing”, reflecting the state of politics in the US today. “We’re all looking for something small to squabble about,” he said with a shrug, before wandering off to check out the algae bloom for himself.
It used to be that if you won the Fifa World Cup three times, you would get to keep the Jules Rimet Trophy. Brazil achieved this in 1970 and I don’t think there would be much argument if Monocle similarly awarded the Quality of Life trophy to Copenhagen in perpetuity. After all, no city has topped our list of the best places to live more often. Only occasionally – like this year – there’s a terrible clerical error and it ends up placing second.
Leaving aside my attempts to have the so-called winner, Tokyo, excluded on the grounds that it’s not actually a single city but more than 20 stuck together, why has Copenhagen been such a solid performer ever since our first ranking (in which, of course, the Danish capital came first place)? A well-educated labour force adds value to the things that it produces so the Danes are rich, yes, but the Saudis are too. Democracy and equality are key foundation stones, especially when it comes to education. Denmark tops most global rankings of economic and gender equality, as well as transparency.
So where’s the country’s second city, Aarhus, on our list? What makes the capital so special? Obviously it has more of the icing-and-cherry stuff: culture, retail, dining and vibes. But one of the most significant long-term factors is what I call its “iterative urbanism”: the people who plan and build Copenhagen genuinely seem to learn from their mistakes, listen to the inhabitants and constantly seek to refine how they do things.
In the early 2000s, Copenhagen got it very wrong with Ørestad, an office and residential area near the airport that it had built high and wide with long, open thoroughfares and characterless offices and apartment blocks. Much of it felt as though it had been designed by accountants applying some pan-European template. It was the antithesis of Danish architect Jan Gehl’s “cities for people” approach. I once took a tour of the city with Gehl. We started at the desolate, windswept Ørestad, before driving to a place that, for him, epitomised the best of what an urban environment could be. The fishing village of Dragør was only 20 minutes away but a world apart, with its low-rise, closely built housing, welcoming squares, cobbles and plentiful greenery.
Lessons from Gehl’s approach were applied in the next district to emerge, Nordhavn. With a few exceptions, the buildings here aren’t so high, they are more closely built and there’s life at street level. There are great transport links and cars command less street space. The harbour waters are better integrated too, which brings light and air. The city granted some of the country’s best architects more freedom here, so there are more creative moments – take, for example, studio JaJa Architect’s Konditaget Lüders car park, which has a recycling centre on the ground floor and a public park on the roof. Next came the Sydhavn harbour area, which, though architecturally still rather one-note, is still a far nicer place to live and visit than Ørestad.
Soon the city will start transforming Refshaleøen into a place where 25,000 people will live, work, shop and go to school. This former industrial zone is quite raw and many want it to stay that way. But, once again, Copenhagen is iterating its approach. Transport links will be key, so a Metro will be built, along with a 460-metre cycle bridge across the harbour. A big question is what to do with private cars. Some want to exclude them completely, while others wonder how this might affect its appeal to visitors and potential residents. I’m hoping that the city will achieve a pragmatic balance – because iteration, consultation and good old-fashioned Danish moderation are what have always raised quality of life in this all-time number-one city.
Michael Booth is Monocle’s Copenhagen correspondent. For more opinion, analysis and insight, subscribe to Monocle today.
Architecture and design firm HKS is well known for its stadium projects, especially in North America. Two of its American football venues, SoFi Stadium in California and the AT&T Stadium in Texas, are currently hosting Fifa World Cup games. Alex Thomas, the regional design director for sports and entertainment at HKS London, recently joined The Urbanist to discuss the finer points of stadium design in the modern age.
“One of the big shifts has been in the recognition that these buildings should really be tied to their context, whether that’s the climate, the city or the culture,” said Thomas. “That’s why, when you look at any of our sports projects, they all look so different. They are unique pieces of architecture, designed to respond to their various contexts.”
When it comes to stadiums, there’s more to consider than just exterior façades and capacities. These are buildings steeped in memory and emotion that carry the weight of communities and fanbases. Because of this, they must ensure that the atmosphere can thrive without forsaking accessibility. Every fan will no doubt have a different view on which ground is the world’s best but here is Thomas’s list of his 10 favourite sports venues.
1.
SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, Los Angeles, USA
“The best stadium in the world. The roof canopy has a low, elegant profile but, inside, the spectacular arena is filled with daylight. The bowl sinks below ground level, making the entry experience akin to discovering a colossal crater in the ground. The Oculus, a Samsung-designed screen suspended from the ceiling, makes the experience digitally immersive at a scale that I haven’t seen elsewhere. The ground is also genuinely multifunctional. Be it the Super Bowl, Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, the Fifa World Cup or the LA28 Olympic Games, the SoFi can host it. It shows what a modern stadium can be.”
2.
Lord’s Cricket Ground, London, UK
“A friend recently described Lord’s as “the largest pub in London”, which captures the atmosphere nicely. There’s something magical about the way that the ground comes alive over the course of a day. The focus and energy move organically between the action on the field and the life around it. The Pavilion is also one of sport’s most storied buildings. Long before modern stadiums developed commercial ideas such as field clubs and tunnel clubs, Lord’s created a powerful relationship between players, members, the dressing rooms and the field of play.”
3.
Carrow Road, Norwich, UK
“Few would have imagined seeing this one on the list but, having grown up in rural Norfolk, I am a lifelong Norwich City fan and Carrow Road is my home stadium. As a boy, I went there with my dad before the all-seater era. In those early years, I couldn’t see much but I vividly remember the mass of people swaying on the terraces. When I was a teenager, my mates and I would throw ourselves into the match-day experience in the Barclay End. Now my kids enjoy the same day out. For me, Carrow Road is about emotional connection to family, culture and place.”
4.
St James’ Park, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
“From The Canaries [Norwich City] to The Magpies [Newcastle United]: I studied architecture in Newcastle and my first-year halls of residence looked out over Leazes Park towards the back of the stadium that towers above. St James’ Park sits right in the heart of town and dominates the city’s culture. On match days, Newcastle pulses along with the stadium. My gran was a Geordie and I have a fondness for this city where everything revolves around the football club.”
5.
Cosm Venues, Los Angeles and Dallas, USA
“Projects like this show how stadium typology is evolving. HKS was a key collaborator with Cosm in the creation of these venues, designing the first two locations in Los Angeles and Dallas. What’s fascinating is that they perform many of the same functions as a stadium in terms of user experience: people coming together with friends, fans, family or for business around a shared live event. The difference is that the action is brought into the room through extraordinary technology that makes you feel as though you are sitting there in the best seat in the house.”
6.
US Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, USA
“This is a textbook example of architecture as an art form. US Bank Stadium pulls everything together: climate, community, the team brand [Minnesota Vikings] and form, loosely inspired by Viking longhouses and shattered ice floes in the nearby Mississippi river. It feels specifically Minnesotan. The stadium is on the edge of downtown Minneapolis and the endzone doors create a deliberate connection with the city skyline. The arena seems to have helped to support wider investment and growth in that part of the city. The roof does a lot of work too. It deals with snow, brings daylight into the building and helps to reduce energy demand by holding a reservoir of air above the field.”
7.
Optus Stadium, Perth, Australia
“This is a project that’s close to my heart because I was involved in its early stages, working with Cox Architecture and Hassell Studio. There’s a richness to its design narrative: the connection to Indigenous heritage, the spirit of the site and the stadium’s position on the bend of the Swan river. It has helped to extend the city centre eastward and created a new public destination that serves as both a park and a stadium. There are also strong stories around sustainable transport and energy use. Good architecture reveals itself over years of use and Optus Stadium seems to keep gathering more meaning.”
8.
Royal Arena, Copenhagen, Denmark
“OK, this isn’t technically a stadium but indulge me. Designed by 3XN in collaboration with HKS, Royal Arena shows how some considerate design – even when it comes to a large sports and entertainment venue – can help a building to become a good neighbour. Rather than being a closed box, it was designed to engage with the public, supporting the daily activity around it and catalysing growth and regeneration in Ørestad.”
9.
Munich Olympic Stadium, Munich, Germany
“This is a masterpiece of structural engineering and design. The lightweight roof structure by Frei Otto used revolutionary tensile cable techniques to create a form that still feels unexpected, pure and expressive today. It is one of the great examples of engineering becoming architecture.”
10.
Camp Nou, Barcelona, Spain
“This list needed a great mid-century stadium. I could have chosen the Maracanã Stadium, Estadio Azteca, Dodger Stadium or San Siro but I chose Camp Nou. That’s partly because I worked on it in 2016, when we studied how the stadium had evolved from Francesc Mitjans i Miró’s original 1950s design. What I really like is the purity of the original idea: the clarity of the bowl, the elegant structural forms and the balance between the huge open volume of the stadium and the crisp cantilever of the marquesina roof. But the architecture is only part of it. Camp Nou’s relationship with Barcelona and the wider Catalonian neighbourhoods, food, climate and match-day traditions is what gives it real depth. It’s not just a big football ground – it’s one of the great civic rooms of European sport.”
To listen to Alex Thomas’s interview with Monocle’s editor in chief, Andrew Tuck, tune in to ‘The Urbanist’
You might have heard that it has been hot for a few days in much of Europe. Or did you miss this news in Perth, Chiang Mai, Phoenix and Nagasaki? If you did, it has been the only story on French, German and UK news outlets. It has had government agencies from Munich to Mulhouse in a sweaty flap. It has closed schools and brought about alcohol bans. And these record-breaking temperatures in some cities have caused all manner of heat-related deaths – drowning being one of the key causes in France. As heat-related news events go, this couldn’t be happening at a better time as it coincides with the end of the first half of a – so far – economically challenging year in Europe and the start of summer holidays for many millions. Is it not the perfect moment for policymakers, union bosses, mayors and anti-air-conditioning ninnies across Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the UK, France and beyond to gather in an airless convention centre and finally agree that keeping windows closed and curtains drawn during stifling days is neither a national health strategy nor a path to revitalising saggy economies?
Among the tens of thousands who read our daily dispatches, I hope that one of you can do some simple analysis that reveals strong links between Europe’s economic decline, warmer summers and too little air conditioning. If things weren’t bad enough already, the health and safety high-vis brigade were out in force closing schools, curbing factory hours, preventing rosé quaffing and creating a nannying atmosphere that felt dangerously close to covid policy overreach. All of which is somewhat curious because many of these ninny-nannies are also the same people who think that anything which cools air is an environmental evil until, of course, their granny in Lausanne or Graz can no longer function and suddenly it’s AC to the rescue.
On Friday, the French media reported that the government approved the purchase of 30,000 air conditioners for medical facilities. Go Mitsubishi or whoever else lands this contract! In a week that saw us launch our Quality of Life ranking, it’s perhaps fitting that Tokyo took top prize. This is a city that is hot from April to October but is also well cooled along with being a generally cool metropolis. Did Japan become a manufacturing powerhouse because people were collapsing on Toyota assembly lines? No. Japan became a leading economy because it created work and service environments that stay chilled. Admittedly, the recent Cool Biz campaign is a bit ridiculous (keeping workspaces at 28C) and I would argue that such moves have also been tied to Japan’s economic sluggishness. Hard to be at your best when the room temp hovers around 28C.
It’s for this reason that I propose the “Daikindex”, in honour of the world’s biggest air conditioning player and its contribution not only to blissful sleeps but also to the productivity that comes with them. Perhaps next year we will factor in overall cool coverage in a city for our rankings in 2027 – both shady boulevards and also chilled suites, shops, offices and apartments. I’m now off to find some units for our Paris and Zürich offices.
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