Editor's letter / Global
From the ground up
What makes a well-considered development? For our editor in chief, Andrew Tuck, a great property should cater to urban life in all of its guises. In this issue, we consider how the right projects and buildings can improve cities from Arizona to Paris – and create better, happier communities in the process.
If you start talking about architecture, design or urbanism, people will immediately be primed for an engaging conversation that involves big ideas, fresh thinking about how we want to live and introductions to folk trying to make the places where we reside better. They are all disciplines imbued with hope. But mention property developers – those who are charged with making all of these fantastic ideas come to fruition – and countenances will often turn stony. Now they’ll be steeling themselves for a discussion that will focus on cost and how so-called “value engineering” might turn ambitious proposals into humdrum ones, all in the name of driving up profits.
One of the many reasons why we have always kept a weather eye on the property world is that this perspective is a false one. Across the globe there are developers, large and small, who want to turn a profit but also improve and invest in the cities where they do business.
While this issue is on newsstands, Cannes will hosting the 2025 edition of Mipim, the world’s largest property event. monocle will be on the ground to report on the plans and projects under way by companies in places from the Gulf and Portugal to Bavaria and the US. So, ahead of this epic gathering of investors, mayors, national leaders and hospitality chiefs, we have dedicated this issue’s business pages to the developers and buildings that are helping to revitalise communities.
One of the most interesting reports is by writer Tom Vanderbilt, who visits a new neighbourhood outside Phoenix, Arizona, which has been created by a developer called Culdesac. What’s remarkable is that it’s car-free and walkable – and a success. Culdesac’s ceo, Ryan Johnson, describes it as “the first car-free neighbourhood built from scratch in the US”. It has proved so popular that two more large-scale projects are being lined up.
The other wonderful thing about property – a building made right – is how it can shape the lives and perspectives of those who use it. That’s certainly the case with monocle. I often wonder whether our business would have thrived so much if Midori House wasn’t our London home. The car-park-turned-garden provides a spot where we can sit and soak up the sun, the ample balconies offer a place to work come summer and the kitchen-cum-dining room is where we naturally catch up with colleagues and take time to break bread. It’s the same with our Zürich headquarters. When our set-up at Dufourstrasse 90 opened, it elevated our brand and also our ambitions. It’s a property that combines elegance with functionality, cosiness with some modest swagger. And now there’s Paris.
A few days before this issue went to press, I nipped over to the French capital to see our team and have a planning lunch with Tyler. I also stopped by our new café-shop- radio outpost on Rue Bachaumont. I had visited the premises just before we signed the lease – they were being used for a flash fashion sale – so I knew the layout and scale. Well, sort of. Even though there were boxes of new products to unpack, a bar to stock and art to hang, I was blown away by how big and amazing it all looked.
It is the most contemporary, on-point execution of everything that monocle stands for – a place where we can take care of our guests, showcase all of the print products that we produce and offer a visual journey through our design and business ethos. Come and see it for yourself: the doors are open and we would love to welcome you.
There are numerous more stories and buildings to discover in this issue but make sure that you check out our Expo. Editor Josh Fehnert has commissioned a story celebrating the establishments that take care of late-night diners, from lovers and party people to theatregoers who eschew that early-evening table in favour of a midnight feast and one or two more drinks. I am pleased to say that Paris has many such establishments (the city’s Le Grand Colbert makes an appearance), so there’s another reason to head to the City of Light (and dark).
If you have ideas, suggestions or comments, feel free to drop me an email at at@monocle.com. And perhaps see you in Paris? —
