The Monocle Minute

When you walk around London, Milan or Zürich, you can feel their surrounding cultural and architectural richness. Instead of being knocked down and forgotten, the buildings that make up these great cities have been reimagined and repurposed. As a result, these places are buzzing with collective memories. Over my 20 years of practice as a designer, I have become ever more convinced that this method of city-making – known as “adaptive reuse” – is the way forward.

The value of this approach is evident: older buildings come with existing layers of history and culture. Citizens and developers appreciate a place-based narrative and in these structures, it is already present. It can provide a thought-provoking backdrop to whatever comes to inhabit the buildings; new restaurants, bars, homes or cultural centres take on a liveliness imbued by their former usage. This approach does require compromise, though. Designers must find a balance between catering for the space’s new ownership, while also accepting the building’s existing features. Time needs to be taken to understand the building and recognise the reasons why a structure was built in a particular way. What materials have been used? And, can they be repurposed and put to a different use?

It is also important to approach the project with an innovative mindset. Buildings have often remained leaky and cold because someone was trying to preserve them as examples of good architecture from a certain period. But such spaces are simply uninhabitable. There is no reason why a building can’t be radically reimagined while also staying true to its heritage.

Though we live in a throwaway culture, there is a growing sense that the gloss has come off the new. By the time new buildings are finished, they seem out of date. My idea of a nightmare is finding myself in a city built yesterday out of erased historical buildings. Adaptive reuse ensures that this isn’t the case.

Jonathan Tuckey is an architect, interior designer and the head of his namesake practice, which has built a reputation for breathing new life into old buildings. A longer version of this piece features in ‘The Monocle Companion: Fifty Ideas for Building Better Cities’, which is out now.

Selma Feriani took a gamble when she decided to open a contemporary art gallery in Tunis’s commercial district of Le Kram this year, far from the city’s arts neighbourhood of La Marsa. “When you take the initiative, other people follow your lead,” says Feriani. The industrial gallery – the largest of its kind in the country – was designed by Tunisian architect Chacha Atallah and deliberately feels out of place.

It’s a bold move but she isn’t afraid to take risks when it comes to championing her country’s art. Though Tunis’s creative infrastructure continues to be hampered by political, economic and logistical constraints, there is a fresh sense of optimism pulsing through the city. The city’s biennial art festival was exported to Brussels for the first time in April. It is a clear indicator that there is a growing European appreciation for North Africa’s rich artistic offering; one that gallerists such as Feriani intend to nurture.

For our full report on Selma Feriani’s gallery and the emerging art scene in Tunis, pick up a copy of Monocle’s June issue, which is out now.

Athens has a new landmark: a golden-era Olympic Airways aircraft. The B727/284 Boeing, nicknamed Mount Olympus, is now on display in Ellinikon at the site of the old airport. The craft was originally part of a six-strong fleet bought by the airline’s founder, shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis. After 24 years in operation, the plane was decommissioned and subsequently forgotten.

Last year, Cyprus-based Zela Aviation acquired the aircraft, renovated it and donated it to Ellinikon. For many Athenians, it is a moving reminder of the legacy of Onassis and the glory days of Greece’s aviation industry, when business opportunities were more abundant and economic growth was stronger. Though local authorities are keen to bolster tourism in the city, the move will doubtlessly serve as inspiration for future generations of entrepreneurs too.

Candidate Claudia Sheinbaum campaigns in Mexico City ahead of the nation’s presidential elections this Sunday. According to the latest polls, Sheinbaum is in the lead to become the country’s first female president.

Announced this week is the winner of the International Booker Prize 2024. The recipient of this year’s award is ‘Kairos’ by German writer Jenny Erpenbeck and translated by Michael Hoffman, who each take home half of the £50,000 prize money. Host Georgina Godwin speaks to the winning duo and the administrator of the prize, Fiammetta Rocco, who lifts the lid on the selection process. We also talk to Granta’s Sigrid Rausing, who reveals who is buying translated literature and what sells best.