You can use our mews as a cut through if you are on foot or a bicycle but a strategically placed bollard means that cars can’t. So, apart from the occasional van dropping off a delivery, it’s mostly car-free and echoes with a shifting tide of voices – young children being dropped off at the nearby primary school in the morning, a tipsy drinker from the neighbouring pub making an apologetic call home at 23.00. I love it all. This is life in the centre of the city. Though, it’s a little irksome when someone sits on my doorstep to smoke a spliff. Well, they never offer to share.

On Saturday afternoon my neighbour Frank spotted me and laughed at my appearance (an increasingly common occurrence these days). My hands were covered with soil and I had managed to smear compost across my face. On someone younger this might have been a bit of a marine-on-exercises look but, dressed as I was in an outfit of old, clashing gym gear, it was more Dad’s Army. “Shall I take a picture?” he asked. “I see all those nice ones of you on Instagram but I could show people the real Monocle editor in chief.”

My fetching appearance was the result of a day spent tending to the pots of plants that pack out the front of our house – and the three neighbouring ones that I had been given permission (I think) to help colonise. It’s the point in the year when irises are closing down their show and the agapanthuses are about to take to the stage. There’s also oleander, silver birches, grasses and lavender. As I moved things around and repotted shrubs that had outgrown their digs, a female blackbird would dart down to see if I had perhaps dislodged a snail. It’s not perfect by any means but people stop to smell a flower and run a hand over the leaves.

We’ve been running a series of talks at The Ned in the City of London thanks to a nice man there called Victor. On Monday he invited us – Josh, Carlota, Lex and me – to talk about our forthcoming Quality of Life Survey. The categories are pleasingly shaken up this year (just wait until you see our July/August double issue. And, hey, why not subscribe?). The audience had great questions, we talked about trust and about how a fear of crime risks curtailing your freedoms (in London you’d be a fool for taking your phone out on the street without first checking for muggers on e-bikes). And, I explained how, for me, some of this was eased into the background by focusing on the small acts of urban generosity that happen in a city such as London every day – the shopkeeper who puts out a bowl of water for a parched pooch or a bench for seniors keen to pause. Or people placing plants outside their homes. Tiny interventions that can, sometimes, humanise the city. Make you see that most people are good.

A short digression – we’ll be back on the main path in seconds, promise. I was recently interviewing a candidate for a role at Monocle and asked them to explain how their title was produced. They told me about their policy of “publish, then polish” – in short, whack copy up on the website and try to tidy it up in the days that followed. Then they said, “Do you think anyone cares about how things look these days?” Although my neighbour Frank might have some disquieting photographic evidence to the contrary, I do care, actually, and I do think that we all respond to moments of considered beauty.
 
And now here comes the bit where we can tie this column together and I can let you get on with your day.

For Thursday’s outing of our cities podcast The Urbanist, I interviewed David Godshall at the Californian landscape architecture firm Terremoto. The company makes amazing public spaces, including in Denver where it has engineered a piece of rewilding in the heart of downtown (you can also read an interview with Godshall here). It’s work that is underpinned by deep thinking and a radical manifesto for change in the landscape industry. But Terremoto is also a group of people who know that, yes, we respond to beauty, that plants have the power to transform our cities. And that communities, citizens and workers need to be pulled into this story. And blackbirds too.

PS If you care about cities, about doing things differently, come to this year’s Quality of Life Conference. It’s in Barcelona from 4 to 6 September. And I promise to put on my nice clothes.

Louis Vuitton’s ice-cream kiosk, Forte dei Marmi
The arrival of the summer has been marked by the opening of Louis Vuitton’s first seasonal gelateria in Forte dei Marmi, Italy. Located across from the boutique, mere steps from the sea, the kiosk’s vintage green tones – an iconic colour of the resort town – are complemented by the French maison’s signature Monogram flowers.

Every detail has been carefully considered: cups, containers, napkins and wafers carry a pattern exclusive to the pop-up. Vivienne, Louis Vuitton’s cheeky mascot, welcomes visitors in need of a cool treat. Ten flavours, made by beloved local gelateria Galliano, are on offer, as well as two Louis Vuitton-inspired creations: a Portuguese milk gelato swirled with mandarin and a take on the traditional Tuscan zuccotto with sponge cake, caramel crunch and dark chocolate chips.   
Open until September, you can find the kiosk at 2 Via G. Carducci, Forte dei Marmi  

Informale pop-up, London
Menswear label Informale has brought Neapolitan flair to its home city of Melbourne – and is now paying a fleeting visit to the UK. After working for luxury labels such as Zegna and Gucci, Steve Calder, the brand’s co-founder and creative director, decided to introduce a more relaxed approach to suiting, which chimes with the country’s sunny lifestyle. Informale’s core collection includes shirts, utility vests, knitwear and high-waisted tailored trousers that capture the smart-yet-breezy look that Australians do best. If you’re in London next week, swing by the Richard Gelding shop in Mayfair for an Informale pop-up, which runs from 12 to 14 June. Be sure to give yourself some extra time – Calder will be on hand to provide exclusive in-store styling sessions. 
27 North Audley Street, W1K 6WU

House of Prose, Dubai
Tucked into the ground floor of the Times Square Center, just off Dubai’s Sheikh Zayed Road, House of Prose holds a special place in the city’s cultural landscape. First opened in the early 1990s, it’s the UAE’s oldest second-hand bookshop and has recently emerged from a thoughtful refit that’s brought fresh energy without sacrificing charm. A growing selection of design, fashion and architecture titles sits alongside the latest fiction. There’s also a newsstand dedicated to independent titles with a focus on regional magazines. “More people are consciously choosing local shops over online giants here in Dubai,” says founder Pouria Dehghani. Small, analogue and intimate – it’s a place where you come to browse, discover and leave with something unexpected.
House of Prose, Times Square Center, Lower Ground Floor, Dubai

Could the humble handset phone be about to stage a comeback (asks James Chambers)? Native Union certainly thinks so. The technology accessories brand, best known for its cables and chargers available in Apple shops, wants to revive the lost art of telephone conversation by bringing back its debut product, the iconic pop phone. Technology companies rarely invest in heavier, bulkier products but there is something to be said for tucking your phone comfortably between ear and shoulder while reclining in your chair.

The wired handset that connects to a smartphone was launched 15 years ago during the peak of the Blackberry-era and it sold three million units in two years before being rendered obsolete by cheap copycats. “We have made a few tweaks to modernise it but overall it’s the same product as before,” says CEO and co-founder Igor Duc from his home in Hong Kong. The biggest change is that the first version allowed users to look at their screens while taking a call. Version two, however, encourages callers to put their phones down, remove their in-ear headphones and concentrate on the voice at the other end of the line. “This is not meant to be a gadget,” says Duc, who is motivated by the desire to reduce his own screen time. “We want people to feel like they’re on the phone.” Good call.

To read a longer interview with Igor Duc, click here. 

Keen on summer days enjoying alfresco music but put off by the idea of muddy campsites (asks Sophie Monaghan-Coombs)? Here are three alternative music festivals where the setting takes centre stage.

Við Djúpið, Iceland
The landscape of Iceland’s Westfjords region makes a dramatic backdrop for this intimate celebration of classical chamber music. The relaxed programme includes lunchtime and evening performances, with plenty of space for excursions to the nearby mountains and waterfalls, as well as the opportunity to join the impressive line-up of international musicians for post-concert drinks. 
Við Djúpið runs from 17 to 21 June;
viddjupid.is

TSF Jazz Chantilly Festival, France  
This contemporary jazz festival will host some 5,000 people in the 19th-century Château de Chantilly. Despite only being in its second year, the fledgling event has attracted some of the biggest names in the genre, including celebrated saxophonist Kamasi Washington and jazz singer Samara Joy.
TSF Jazz Chantilly Festival runs from 5 to 6 July; tsfjazzchantillyfestival.com 
 
Ypsigrock, Sicily 
A hidden gem, Ypsigrock has been running in the medieval town of Castelbuono for almost 30 years. The town square and the castle backdrop set the stage for an eclectic mix of Italian and international acts. This year’s highlights include UK band Porridge Radio and Belgian singer Sylvie Kreusch. 
Ypsigrock runs from 7 to 10 August;
ypsigrock.it 

For more music industry insights, including how to start your own festival and how to make vinyl pay, click here.

Planning a trip but have yet to make the journey from newsletter to monocle.com? Before heading off, be sure to consult our redesigned city guides. From our editors’ favourite bars to the best boutiques, the Monocle Concierge’s recommendations can be downloaded to your device along with a handy map. 
 
If today you’re looking for somewhere to head after visiting Monocle’s summer market (open from 11.00 to 19.00 at our Toronto shop, 776 College Street), then Aloette is the ideal bistro to round things off with martinis and oysters. 

Aloette, Financial District
Canadian chef Patrick Kriss’s first fine-dining room, Alo, opened in 2015. Its sister restaurant, Aloette, came along two years later. Conceived as a less formal but by no means less elevated venue, Kriss’s upscale menu features reimagined diner classics. Aloette’s newest location, on Bay Street near Union Station, also makes it a good lunch option if you’re visiting Toronto for business.

To read the Concierge’s tour of Toronto in full, click here. And for more insights into the world’s best cities, dive into our complete repertoire of travel guides. Or, better yet, subscribe to support our independent journalism. Have a super Saturday.

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When did planes get so filthy? If passengers don’t hand over their garbage to the crew before landing, then all the pressure falls on a cleaning team that’s given just minutes to prepare an aircraft for its next journey. It’s why instead of having an engrossing book and toiletries in your carry-on, it might be wiser to take a duster and a miniature vacuum cleaner with you.

On a flight from Verona to London on Monday – and look at me all swanky in business class – the seat was crisp-strewn, the packet still in situ, the front pocket filled with empty drink cans. This is so commonplace that crews rarely apologise, they just take the rubbish from you without comment – it’s how life is now my dear.

You should be especially attuned to the potential need for a garbage-picking shift when you go on a long-haul journey. I recently found an apple core in an in-flight sock in my spot (a chocolate on my pillow would have been preferable) and, when I went looking for a dropped pen lid under my seat, I discovered a lost world of teaspoons, salt sachets and enough crumbs to bread a schnitzel. But there’s a bigger thing going on here – the failure of industrial design.

I went to a talk last year where an architect spoke about the potential touchpoints between cutting costs and doing good. For example, in say a hospital or industrial building where there will be tiled surfaces, he works out well in advance how to cover a wall without any tiles being cut (saves time, no wastage, good for the environment). But he also talked about something else that I now realise is vital – getting cleaning crews in at an early stage. Where will they keep their floor-buffing machines, their brooms? And, more importantly, will they be able to keep this space spotless without resorting to cherry-pickers or days of scrubbing?

I wonder how many times the makers of airline seats, the bosses of airlines, have emptied out packets of crisps on a new design, dropped a spoon (and a phone or two) into its recesses and asked a cleaning crew what they make of this contraption. Can they clean it in the seconds that they are given? In the meantime, if you don’t want to sit in an update of Tracey Emin’s bed, don’t forget to have Mr Sheen as your travel buddy next time you fly.

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And Verona airport. It used to be cramped and a bit chaotic. Now they have lavished millions on a new terminal – and it’s charmless. The new infrastructure is part of the preparations for the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics (this will be a key gateway) and, admittedly, it’s not all finished but you have to hope that it’s going to move on from its current blandness. Simple design details seem to have been forgotten. The plaster on the corners of walls, for example, has already been knocked off to reveal the metal framing underneath. Did the architects ask the building-maintenance crew for their advice?

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Sometimes things go awry because of badly managed value engineering and poor designs – but worthy legislation is also to blame. Apart from turtles, does anyone actually like the screw cap being tethered to a bottle? I’m not bothered about how they scrape your nose. My issue is that they don’t work. They show signs of incontinence – bottles leak in bags if you attempt reattaching said linked lid. Or they flip position mid-flow, causing liquid to dribble down shirts. I’m sticking to bottles of rosé with corks this summer as I take a stand on this issue.

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But there are some things in life where design is all. The perfectly planned wedding last weekend in Lana, Südtirol, of two former colleagues who met at Midori House (thank you, Nolan and Hyo). The hotel that we stayed in, Villa Arnica, where every element was considered and precise, restrained and beautiful. The sets at the Kylie Minogue concert on Tuesday. The book, The Anthropocene Illusion, by the photographer Zed Nelson, which I finally saw at a launch on Thursday (we previewed this amazing project in The Forecast). All moments when someone thought about how people would feel in a space or as they turned a page. Moments when good design won the day.

Planning a trip but have yet to make the journey from newsletter to monocle.com? Before heading off, be sure to consult our redesigned city guides. From bars to boutiques, the Monocle Concierge’s recommendations can be downloaded to your device along with a handy map. If you’re wondering where to stay come Copenhagen Fashion Week this summer (4-8 August), look no further than the leafy, elegant neighbourhood of Frederiksberg.

Frederiksberg is a city within the city, known for its grand old buildings and tree-lined avenues (a policy goal has it that every residence here must have a view of a tree). The municipality was established in the 18th century when King Frederik IV built Frederiksberg Palace as his summer residence. The palace still stands on a hill overlooking Frederiksberg Have, one of the city’s largest parks. Designed in the English style, the park’s winding paths, canals and towering trees make it the perfect spot for a stroll. It is also home to Fasangården, a former pheasant farm for royal hunts, which has now been transformed into a secluded restaurant.

Click here for The Monocle Concierge’s complete guide to Copenhagen.

For Monocle’s June issue, we take a tour of new galleries, innovative museums and celebrated fairs to meet the people whose passion is bringing art into the public domain.

Efie Gallery, Dubai
The Ghanaian co-director of Dubai’s Efie Gallery, Kwame Mintah, doesn’t like looking at art in silence (writes Claudia Jacob). “Galleries tend to be managed by creative people but they can feel sterile without any music,” he says. Mintah grew up listening to West African genres such as highlife and Afrobeat, and decided to weave those sounds into the viewing experience of his gallery. Founded by Mintah in 2021 with his mother, Valentina, and brother, Kobi, Efie Gallery has had a permanent space in Dubai since 2022. Now the family has moved its operations to a bigger outpost, which will provide more space for their diverse roster of African visual artists – and the gallerist’s 2,000-strong record collection.

“Growing up in Ghana, art wasn’t contained in galleries,” says Mintah. “It was all around us.” The new space includes an immersive listening room with five hi-fi speakers. Visitors will find shellac and vinyl records and cassettes, dating from the 1940s up to the present day, including those by Ghanaian musician ET Mensah, a pioneer of the highlife genre. Originating in the late-19th century, highlife laid the foundations for many popular genres, such as Afrobeat.

Mintah hopes that the new gallery will bolster the underexplored cultural connections between the UAE and Africa. “Dubai is a blank canvas where you can construct your own narrative of African art,” he says. Efie is showing the likes of Ghanaian sculptor El Anatsui, Kenyan visual artist Maggie Otieno and Ethiopian photographer Aïda Muluneh. Curated ambient playlists to accompany each of their shows. “Efie Gallery isn’t a satellite for the African diaspora,” says Mintah. “We want to engage directly with the region. With our unusual gallery concept, we leaned into the unknown. Ultimately we hope to add something fresh to the canon.”

Click here to discover more from Monocle’s Art Special – out now.

The first job that I landed while in high school in Western Australia was at a world-famous fast-food chain (writes Nic Monisse). You know the one – it serves burgers and will give just about any teenager a go. Despite this, I was very nearly fired. I was incredibly slow, being more focused on the “food” (I made sure that the cheese was neatly placed, never sliding out of my buns) rather than the “fast”. Things changed, however, when a new operating system was installed that pitted the speed of our restaurant’s output against other outlets. A screen showed a live ranking in the state. There were no prizes other than pride and a virtual gold medal that appeared on the monitor if you were in first place. Suddenly, by gamifying my job, I became the fastest burger slinger in the west.

Gatwick Airport has taken a similar approach. Flying British Airways last week, I was greeted by a new security system in the south terminal that ranked the speed of the officer working the lines. Above each conveyor belt and x-ray screen, a monitor now shows the number of passengers screened per hour and the pass rate. It allows for travellers to pick the right lane – those not clogged by families with young children or folks who have seemingly mistaken an airport terminal for a cruise embarkment lounge. Importantly, the top teams had a ranking (from first to 10th) with the three-fastest officers being awarded digital gold, silver and bronze medals. At Gatwick, like my fast-food restaurant, the approach seems to have worked a treat: I have never moved through an airport line so quickly. Curious as to what I did with my extra time in the terminal? I sought out a burger, naturally – a fitting tribute to the system that delivered me to my gate with ease.

Walking down Rue Bonaparte from the Place Saint-Germain-des-Prés towards the Seine, Assouline’s bright red façade is impossible to miss (writes Rachel Bouvier). The publisher recently opened a second space, just steps from its original Left Bank boutique, to showcase its wares. Editions from the Ultimate Collection, a series of huge, handmade coffee-table books, line one wall, while volumes on wine, watches and Roger Federer sit beside a €3,500 hand-embroidered silk book on Uzbek craftsmanship. Before them, a set of plush armchairs and a brass-topped wooden bar give the impression that you’re in a Parisian’s private library.

That seems to be the intention. The same day as the opening, Assouline launched its first collection of library accessories and home fragrances. The brand collaborated with French designer Pierre Favresse on the debut line, which includes fine leather bookends, trinket boxes and a backgammon set. While many libraries host a curated collection of objects and books, this shop also includes a selection of rare vintage items, sourced by founder Prosper Assouline himself. An intricate, hand-painted blue vase from Iran and a trio of Benin leopards in bronze top the shelf.
assouline.com

It’s appropriate that we’re meeting Manuel Cervantes in his studio, which is next to his home in Mexico City. The winner of residential architect of the year in Monocle’s annual Design Awards, his space is filled with books, artworks and objects that have shaped the way he works. It’s an approach that has seen his practice receive commissions from Mexican state institutions and deliver projects in South America, Europe and the UAE. He tells us more.

What role does your studio play in your creative process?
I never liked the idea of a corporate office. My studio is an extension of my home. It’s a space for thinking and connection, not just work. I want people to feel comfortable when they visit, not like they’re stepping into a rigid environment. Luis Barragán’s house-studio in Mexico City was a big influence. He blurred the line between work and life and I’ve always found that inspiring.

Outside of architecture, which industries influence your work the most?
Filmmaking. I’m fascinated by how directors manage large productions. Take Andrei Tarkovsky and Christopher Nolan: these people aren’t just artists, they’re orchestrating teams, budgets and logistics. That’s how I see architecture. It’s about understanding time, people and movement. In fact, reading books on film has helped me more than reading about architecture. Directors need to think about how a scene unfolds, how one space leads to another, how people move through a frame and so on. It’s the same in architecture – we’re structuring experience, not just making buildings.

You don’t have a signature style like some architects. Why is that?
Architecture isn’t about personal expression. It’s about responding to the realities of a place, a culture or a moment in time. A house in Mexico has different constraints than a tower in Dubai. You have to navigate social, political and economic realities. You can’t just replicate old ideas; you have to respond to today’s conditions. For me, architecture is about pragmatism, resilience and making spaces that work for people. Every project is different and that’s what keeps it interesting.

For more insights on the world of architecture and design, pick up a copy of Monocle’s June issue. Or subscribe today to support our independent journalism. Have a super Saturday.

Here’s what happens. We send the magazine to press on a Monday and then, about a week later, we get to see the first copies in our various offices. Next, they start dropping on subscribers’ doormats before finally nudging their way onto news-kiosk shelves around the globe. It takes roughly two weeks to get to this point – two weeks in which anything can happen. Two weeks during which history, life and twisting news cycles can connive to derail the considered reporting that you committed to print.

And “derail” was the perfect word when, several years ago, we ran a story previewing the launch of the epic London engineering project, the Elizabeth line, only for its inauguration to be cancelled. It was another two years before the story came good. Our enthusiasm for brand Germany and belief in the prowess of German engineering also left us in a similar predicament when we produced a guide to the supposedly about-to-open Berlin Brandenburg Airport.

The new June issue of Monocle is just completing its journey to newsstands and once again fate – events – have intervened.

A few weeks ago, I was talking with Alexis Self, our foreign editor, about whether “soft power” had had its day. In such a brutal news landscape, were diplomats, governments and institutions really going to care about using culture, for example, to make friends and gain influence? Soft power was a term made famous by Joseph S Nye, who worked to promote the concept at the heart of US government and, latterly, at Harvard University. So Lex contacted Nye, who happily took on the commission, delivering, on time, a defence of soft power, as well as a clarification about what it actually is.
 
But in those two weeks of waiting for the magazine to make it to the newsstand, Nye died. He was 88. What to do? This is where digital news can help in some ways – we immediately published his wise words on monocle.com. When I saw his writing in the magazine, it seemed to have taken on even more power, to be even more pertinent. Soft power has been a key theme at Monocle and so I am proud that some of Nye’s final thoughts on the topic are in the issue, in ink. I hope that you read his story.

Timing has also had an effect on our lead report in the June issue, written by our executive editor Christopher Lord. Formerly our editor in the US, Chris recently returned to San Francisco to meet Jony Ive, the man who designed many of Apple’s most successful products before setting up his own studio. In recent years, Ive has also been involved in a project to revive a key part of downtown San Francisco and was keen to show Chris what he’s been up to. Chris delivered a great story about both urban renewal and Ive’s character. And then? This week a $6.4bn (€5.6bn) deal was announced that will see Sam Altman, founder of OpenAI, purchase Ive’s hardware start-up. It couldn’t be a better moment for us to have had this access to Ive, who is suddenly the man of the moment.

Today, when we need to run with a fast-changing news agenda, we have Monocle Radio, The Monocle Minute and our new, improved monocle.com to ensure that you stay informed. Yet when I see the issue, turn its pages, I know that print is not static; it’s not trying to stop time. It’s live. Across its pages in every issue, Monocle offers up an ever-changing world; unpacks places and people with commitment – and that comes with some risks but that’s OK.

The V&A East Storehouse in London will open its doors on 31 May. In Monocle’s June issue we take an exclusive look at this groundbreaking new museum.

Every object has a tale to tell (writes Sophie Monaghan-Coombs). Inside London’s new V&A East Storehouse, a storage facility smartly designed to serve as a museum, there are thousands of such articles, from signage to statues. Even the walls and ceilings are imbued with history. If you can’t find what you’re looking for in the public galleys, you can have someone manoeuvre it out into the open by booking ahead.

Monocle goes behind the scenes in this month’s issue of the magazine, which is available now online and on newsstands. It’s a sneak peek of an institution that is not just demystifying the work of curators, conservators and technicians but also redefining what a museum can be.

To see more of what’s in store, click here.

Read: ‘Gingko Season’, Naomi Xu Elegant 
In early autumn, the leaves of China’s native gingko trees transition from green into a pale yellow before fleeing their branches, creating a sunny carpet underfoot. Gingko Season, the debut novel by regular Monocle contributor Naomi Xu Elegant, lands on shelves this week with a similarly radiant disposition. Told over the course of three seasons, this is a funny and heartwarming story about personal transformation after heartbreak.
‘Gingko Season’, published by W W Norton, is out now

Watch: ‘Motel Destino’, Karim Aïnouz
Having made its debut at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, this Brazilian erotic thriller from director Karim Aïnouz is finally getting a wide release. After a hit goes wrong, on-the-run gangster Heraldo (Iago Xavier) arrives at the titular motel and finds himself caught up in a steamy love triangle with its married owners, Dayana (Nataly Rocha) and Elias (Fábio Assunção). 
‘Motel Destino’ is in cinemas now 

Listen: ‘Plaeygirl’, MØ
Danish singer MØ was at the forefront of Scandinavia’s glacial synth-pop wave in the 2010s. Her fourth album marks a career rebirth – complete with Alice Cooper-style face painting. Plaeygirl is full of expertly produced synths and big electro beats. Imagine if Charli XCX’s Brat went through a bit of a goth phase. 
‘Plaeygirl’ is out now

It might not be your most pressing task but take a moment to pause and think about how you interact with software (writes David Phelan). Yes, software can tend toward tedium but when configured just right, you hardly know that you’re interacting with it at all. An older friend almost cheered when I told her that her iPad could no longer receive updates and she realised that the irritation of upgrade notifications was finally at an end. But some pieces of software are less needy and have greater stamina too.

Microsoft just celebrated 50 years since its founding and early versions of Windows dating back to 1993 remain responsible for keeping society ticking along – operating our ATMs for example. Indeed, many of the world’s transport systems still run on operating systems that are older than the average passenger. The New York subway partly relies on OS/2, a software system developed by Microsoft and IBM, which had its last major upgrade in 1996. In 2024, Deutsche Bahn advertised for an IT systems administrator job with a warning: not to apply unless you have experience of MS-DOS, a program released 44 years ago. Elsewhere, hospital elevators run on Windows XP from 2001 and San Francisco’s light rail won’t budge unless a floppy disk gets it up and running each morning. 

We live unaware that we’re surrounded by layer upon layer of supposedly outdated or even obsolete software. Much like the stonemasons who built great cities, the fact that a floppy disk still plays an essential part in a major city’s transport infrastructure tells you that even if the architects of these nifty bits of tech are one day forgotten, their work will live on.

You have, no doubt, visited our website to peek at its suave refit. But if you’re yet to make the journey from newsletter to .com – and especially if you’re planning a trip – then make sure that you have consulted our redesigned city guides. The Monocle Concierge’s recommendations, from neighbourhoods and restaurants to ateliers and boutiques, are all there and can be downloaded to your device along with a neat map. If you’re looking for somewhere to head between dashes on the BTS Skytrain and late-night tuk-tuk rides, here’s one titbit to tickle your wanderlust from our guide to Bangkok.

Charmkrung, Samphanthawong
A sixth-floor Chinatown hangout, Charmkrung is a “Thai tapas bar” from the team behind curry restaurant Charmgang. Chef Aruss Lerlerstkull’s menu of small plates pairs well with wine and works just as nicely as a second dinner or late-night snack. Charmkrung pays homage to the 1960s and 1970s, when Thai-Chinese chefs used their experience making European food in hotel kitchens to create new fusion dishes for their own small “cookshops”.

To explore the Concierge’s full guide to Bangkok, click here.

Though Estonia wasn’t at the centre of the pop-art movement, which emerged in the 1950s, Tallinn is now home to one of Europe’s largest museums dedicated to the genre. The Poco Pop & Contemporary Art Museum showcases 340 artworks, including pieces by big hitters such as Roy Lichtenstein, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Jeff Koons. Here, its founder, Linnar Viik, tells us about the merits of buying pop art and shares some tips for prospective collectors.

Which are your favourite works in the collection?
My collection is extensive because I focus on the past, present and future of pop art. It includes several noteworthy pieces by famous people including Andy Warhol, Damien Hirst and Banksy – but my favourite works are those in which an artist revisits one of their earlier pieces. For example, Estonian artist Raul Meel added new elements to “Singing Tree”, his 1970s typewriter drawing.

Do you have any tips for budding collectors who are interested in pop art?
The most important thing is to ensure that your collection makes you happy and speaks to you in some way. You should also have a specific place to display it. Pieces of pop art, like works from any movement, don’t belong in the cellar. I refuse to see art as an asset category that you collect for its monetary value. As a movement, pop art was born of the desire to make art more approachable and democratic. Following that ethos, I don’t think that budding collectors should focus all of their energies on looking for first-edition or limited-edition pieces.

Why should people collect pop art?
It’s so honest and courageous in how it reflects and interprets the world. It’s also an easy way to become an art collector because it’s widely available and affordable. It’s an art movement that speaks to people immediately, making it easier to approach. The more that you collect, the more you will start to see the hidden layers and the deeper meanings in the artworks.
poco.art

For more insights from the art world, pick up a copy of our out-now June issue. Have a super Saturday.

I don’t know how I persuaded them but they gave their permission. I was 16 years old when my parents agreed that, if I saved enough money, I could buy an Interrail card and spend a whole month of the summer school holidays travelling around Europe by train with a friend. At the time I had a job at a local supermarket where, every Friday night and all-day Saturday, I got to stack the shelves, ferret out yoghurts beyond their sell-by dates and, my favourite, sit at the checkout. And so the piggy bank gradually filled up and an Interrail pass was purchased (entitling the bearer to free rail travel across Europe). Also bought: a Thomas Cook “European Timetable” that was about the size of a phone directory (if you remember them) and which listed all the key train schedules.

Over the following weeks we covered a lot of territory. One day we were in Sweden and the next in Austria. We even made it down to the south of France. Our accommodation was a tent or a night train (we scanned the directory for ones that would allow for a decent night’s sleep). We lived off of bread and cheese. My contribution to the GDP of each country we visited was close to zero – I was a cheapskate backpacker. We were living the dream.

There is a good and much-needed debate taking place about how cities can manage tourism in a way that delivers benefits to the citizenry and doesn’t create models where the prevalence of Airbnb’s, for example, erodes the availability of affordable housing for locals to rent. This is a wise and healthy conversation to have. So why does some of the language used make me uneasy?

When you speak to politicians, activists and tourist chiefs, often their proposed solution to the problems they are facing is to get rid of the “bad tourists” and focus on the “good” ones. They talk about making more money from fewer people (day trippers are to be replaced by folk happy to stay a week in five-star accommodation), of attracting people who will spend time delving into the local culture and not just drinking cocktails on the beach all day. In this battle to reshape tourism, the 16-year-old me would today struggle to find myself on any city’s wish list of potential visitors, even if, like many a backpacker, that hurried trip gave me a passion to return to cities again and again and hand over increasing amounts of my salary.

But even the backpacker is held in higher esteem than the true scum of the earth: the mass tourist. These people are the lowest. They arrive by coach and cruise ship, they buy all-inclusive hotel deals, they drink to excess, they move in swarms and they don’t even appreciate the local handicrafts. 

Before my parents dropped dead, they were rather partial to a coach-trip holiday organised by their club. Should such people really be excluded from having a holiday just because they can no longer drive? I got chatting to a retired lady at Palma airport the other day who had just been on an all-inclusive holiday and loved it – her husband had died and she wanted, she told me, somewhere that would sort everything for her. Does she need to stay at home now? I know lots of people who love a cruise – are they at fault when they step off the ship if the streets fill up? Or is the problem port-city leaders who fail to control the size or number of ships docking? When a family just wants a week at the beach, the only holiday they’ll get all year, does this really make them “bad” tourists?

Cities that struggle from over-demand should, of course, look at how they reduce the total numbers of visitors. But when you start doing this on the basis of wealth and class then you lose sympathy. Travel is a wonderful thing. Time away is an amazing privilege. Sun on our faces is restorative. Let’s not make this a freedom unavailable to nice regular folk – or smelly teenage backpackers.

Carolina Castiglioni usually designs her label’s biannual collections with herself in mind, so venturing into menswear didn’t come naturally (writes Natalie Theodosi). “There was demand, especially from Japanese male customers who kept coming into our boutiques to shop for themselves,” says Castiglioni, who realised that most of Plan C’s designs – slim tailoring, roomy cotton shirts, workwear-inspired parkas and denim jackets – could work for men.

“There have always been menswear inspirations in my work, so we focused on unisex pieces that can be styled in different ways,” says the Milanese designer, who unveiled her first men’s collection at last summer’s Pitti Uomo. From the beginning, Plan C’s successful formula has been high-quality wardrobe classics sprinkled with novelty and excitement via the right accessories. You’ll find the label’s menswear designs at its standalone boutiques in Tokyo and Osaka this season, as well as a handful of multi-brand boutiques such as Dallas’s Forty Five Ten.
plan-c.com

It’s ironic when a cry for individuality becomes a global phenomenon (writes Grace Charlton). Cutesy bag charms can now be seen swinging and clanging off suede Miu Miu bags or, better yet, irreverently clipped on to a Birkin by Hermès (starting price €8,950). One brand catering to this childlike desire to collect tiny trinkets to parade around town is Labubu, the brainchild of Hong Kong-born artist Kasing Lung. From Sydney to Seoul, these fluffy, cloyingly cute figurines with scrunched-up faces are dangling off the arms of fully grown adults.

Luxury brands are also contributing to the craze. Loewe retails popular bag charms in the shapes of tomatoes, ice cream cones and chow chow dogs. Bottega Veneta applies its signature intrecciato, a braided-leather technique, to create animal keyrings. Jokes of arrested development aside, as the luxury industry raises prices to brace for a downturn, smaller items such as key chains, bag charms or lipsticks represent an entry point for consumers with less-disposable incomes. We can only hope that this particular sartorial statement reaches critical mass and fizzles out – no doubt for the next totally unique item to take its place.

“Where are we headed?” asked a moustached man in a Saville Row suit so sharp that it would have made Tom Wolfe feel underdressed (writes Blake Matich). “Haven’t the foggiest,” said a tall gent in a pith helmet. “But someone’s in charge, surely?” No one was. But that was precisely the point of this saunter sans purpose. And so the accidental leaders of some 100 dandies ambled off – perhaps by muscle memory – in the direction of Soho.

Granted, the intrepid duo didn’t have far to go. The Grand Flaneur Walk, organised by Chap magazine and now in its fifth year, starts at the statue of Beau Brummell in St James’s and has no set destination. Brummell, the quintessential 19th-century dandy who spent a mere five hours getting dressed each day, once said that “to be truly elegant one should not be noticed.” By that logic, this writer was among the event’s most elegantly invisible participants. It’s hard to stand out when the person next to you is wearing a floral-patterned Gucci suit with a straw boater and the serene expression of someone who has never heard of cargo pants. Another attendee was dressed like an 18th-century corsair after a particularly lucrative raid: period buckle shoes, velvet dress breeches to the knees, a waistcoat that looked incomplete without a pair of flintlock pistols and a cravat accessorised by – wait for it – another cravat. Even London made an effort with a day adorned in clement May sunshine. 
 
To read the full piece, click here.

Visit: Welt: Evening with Otzi at Grenson, London

To coincide with London Craft Week (a citywide celebration of UK makers that comes to an end tomorrow), shoemakers Grenson and furniture maker Otzi have collaborated on an exhibition at Grenson’s Lamb’s Conduit Street shop. Pop in over the weekend to peruse the fine handmade-leather goods and maybe even pick up one of the pair’s workshop stools. Crafted by Otis Ingrams of Otzi and inspired by classic workshop seating, the stool incorporates a distinctive shoe-welt detail in a nod to Grenson’s Goodyear-welted footwear.
grenson.com; otzi.ltd

Watch: The Phoenician Scheme, Wes Anderson

Beloved auteur Wes Anderson returns with this globetrotting espionage thriller. Regular collaborators Benicio del Toro, Willem Dafoe and Bill Murray are in tow, along with some intriguing first-timers, including Michael Cera, Riz Ahmed and Mia Threapleton. The tone is darker than Anderson’s typical work but, as with all of his films, artful symmetry, cool costuming and deadpan humour are all part of the neat package. 
‘The Phoenician Scheme’ is released on 23 May

Read: Suspicion, Seichō Matsumoto, translated by Jesse Kirkwood

Author and publisher Roberto Calasso once called Seichō Matsumoto, who is best known for crime fiction, “the Simenon of Japan”. In this new translation of a taut 1982 novella, a former Tokyo hostess seduces a businessman. After their wedding they are involved in a car crash; he drowns, she survives. The question is whether the defence lawyer who takes her case is helping an innocent woman or falling into a moral quagmire. 
‘Suspicion’ is published on 29 May

Most of Switzerland’s watch houses have been shifting their focus to the premium end of the market. Yet Longines has maintained a clear point of differentiation with competitively priced timepieces without sacrificing Swiss quality and innovation. The label, with a long heritage in sports watches, has been enjoying a renewed appetite for its vintage styles, such as the Conquest Heritage and the DolceVita. Matthias Breschan, CEO of Longines, tells us more about the brand’s 2025 agenda.

Is competitive pricing a key part of your strategy?
Longines is positioned in the CHF1,000 to CHF5,000 (€1,040 to €5,200) range. The company’s ongoing goal is to bring state-of-the-art technology and components into this affordable-price segment. This is crucial.

Is ‘Made in Switzerland’ still important in this market?
Origin of production is very important in the watch industry and Longines has been producing all its watches in St-Imier, Switzerland, since 1832. This uninterrupted history and ability to track the components of every watch are key differentiating factors for the brand.

What are your priorities this year?
Longines’ sales are evenly divided between sporty and classic watches, and female and male customers. In addition to the new heritage models, we’re selling vintage watches and younger buyers are becoming interested in these styles. The only problem is that they sell out so quickly.
longines.com

For more timely insights, subscribe to Monocle. Have a super Saturday.

Last Friday I headed to Palma. It was for a mission: to bring the partner and hound to London by car, ferry and train. They had been there for several weeks, enjoying a very nice life while I scurried around to the likes of Jakarta for The Chiefs conference. Now, however, the band needed to be reunited and the dog had to see her oncologist (yes, all is OK).

That evening, ahead of the Saturday morning ferry, we drove out of the city and through the mountain tunnel to Sóller before weaving along the wriggly road that takes you up the valley’s side. This route eventually deposits you in the town of Deià. But just before you breach the brow of the hill, there’s the Hotel Corazón. This was our destination.

The hotel, run by fashion photographer Kate Bellm and her partner Edgar Lopez, attracts a crowd that’s a little hippy, a little arty, dresses easy cool and can still pay a decent bill. But I’ll write about this properly another time. The point of today’s story is more about that funny thing that sometimes happens – “the moment”. That odd, magical fusing of the elements that just sneaks up on you.

There were only a few occupied tables when we arrived unfashionably early – well, 20.00. A couple of hotel guests were still finishing off their novels in silence as the sun set. But we were oblivious to everyone as we had a spot on a cocooning curved sofa where the view was of the slowly blackening valley below, of the firefly-like flashes of car headlights blinking through the dusk-draped trees.

There was a warm wind racing up the valley side, rattling the piles of menus. It should have been annoying but it lent the evening a special quality – plus we were nicely sheltered by that enveloping upholstery. The food was delicious, the wine perfect. The waiter could have been cast as Jesus in a movie – his long hair frantically dancing in the wind like the tendrils of a sea anemone in a buffeting ocean current. Even the music added to the moment – there was something of a Shazam-fest taking place on my phone. And at our feet the dog dozed, occasionally opening an eye to clock the precise location of the resident cats.

As we drove back towards the city, I knew that we had had a perfect moment. But why? Of course, there’s the place and the food – but it wouldn’t have happened without the wind, without our Christ-like waiter, without Tom Paxton and Gram Parsons whispering from the sound system. You can plan fancy dinners to the nth degree and rehearse every second of an encounter but sometimes the perfect moment appears unexpectedly on the breeze.

Saturday was spent on a Baleària ferry heading to Barcelona. There were very few cars on board but a lot of trucks. It wasn’t Hotel Corazón but there was wi-fi. As the ferry came into the city, a thick mist wrapped around us and so the captain repeatedly blasted his foghorn to ensure our presence was known. A night then followed at the home of friends who have been in our lives for decades. The dog crazy to see them, howling with delight.

And then the road trip. I get to be DJ and I have a playlist of songs netted with the aid of Shazam that are all markers of moments, of places, of fleeting encounters. An audio scrapbook on my phone. There was “Dale Comba” by Canelita, harvested from a taxi ride in Palma, and Elvis Martínez with “Tu Secreto”, snatched from a bar in Barcelona on the drive down a few weeks before. A reminder of Milan and Salone came care of Ermal Meta and Giuliano Sangiorgi’s track, “Una Cosa Più Grande”. There was Michel Sardou from Paris. Clara Luciani from a party at D90 in Zürich. 

But it was Tom Paxton’s “The Last Thing on My Mind” that was played repeatedly, its simple folk melody offering a return to the mountains – my other half becoming increasingly suspicious that I might be about to apply for a pot-washing job in a certain hotel.

Join us today in the courtyard of Midori House for the spring market celebrating the diverse gastronomy, culture and design that Portugal has to offer.

Swing by to browse Portuguese brands, including Claus Porto, La Paz, Util, Torres Novas, A Vida Portuguesa and the latest seasonal collections from The Monocle Shop and Trunk. Expect great coffee, pastéis de nata, afternoon port tonics and delicious bites.

No ticket required. 
10.00 – 18.00 today.
Midori House, 1 Dorset Street, London

The opening week of the Venice Architecture Biennale’s 19th edition was marked by deep, intellectual thinking, solutions-driven research and the occasional downpour (writes Grace Charlton). Now picture this: you’re a style-conscious architect who wouldn’t be caught dead in Gore-Tex or any such waterproof wear (you’re not an engineer, remember). You’ve picked out your favourite black turtleneck, bold eyewear and need some form of protection from the elements that won’t drag down your meticulous sartorial vision. The answer? A black leather blazer, of course.

A wander through the national pavilions at the Giardini della Biennale and the Arsenale revealed the black leather blazer to be the raincoat of choice for architects, including some of the most in-demand names such as Rem Koolhaas and Jean Nouvel (pictured). Quick-dry practicality aside, the appeal of leather lies in its ability to bring an edge to an otherwise pared-back look. Empowered by the hide, architects can enjoy the confidence required to impose their concrete ideas (and buildings) on society at large. It’s a smooth approach to rainwear that provides a sleek alternative to drab anoraks, or worse – the single-use plastic ponchos worn by Venice’s slow-walking hordes of tourists.

The 19th edition of the Venice Architecture Biennale opens to the public today. With 65 countries participating across La Serenissima, it can be hard to know where to go first. We suggest starting in the Giardini della Biennale, where three national pavilions have caught our eye.

USA
Porch: An Architecture of Generosity
The US’s neoclassical pavilion has been extended with a timber porch, an architectural feature strongly associated with the American South. “Porches are the most fascinating spaces in architecture,” says co-commissioner and architect Peter MacKeith. “They represent the space between absolute privacy and the public world. A porch is a space for encounters.”

Poland
Lares and Penates: On Building a Sense of Security in Architecture
How architecture can protect its inhabitants is the focus of the Polish pavilion. This might come in the form of alarms and fire-safety systems but also the customs that bring a sense of security to the home, such as a horseshoe placed above a doorway for good luck or a Polish wiecha, the wreath hung on a structure during its construction to bring fortune to the endeavour.  

Brazil
Re-invention
“Architectural findings from the Amazon rainforest show that it’s possible to find a symbiosis between humans and nature,” says Matheus Seco, architect at Plano Coletivo, the firm curating Brazil’s pavilion. “We should learn from our indigenous people and apply this to find balance in our cities.” The exhibition details how knowledge passed down from the country’s indigenous populations can inform contemporary architectural practices, from proper drainage to biophilia.

You have no doubt visited our website following its suave refit. But if you’re yet to make the journey from newsletter to .com – and especially if you’re planning a trip to Athens, Milan, Tokyo or elsewhere – then make sure that you have consulted our redesigned City Guides. The Monocle Concierge’s recommendations, from neighbourhoods and restaurants to ateliers and boutiques, are all there and can be downloaded to your device along with a neat map. If you’re flying to JFK, here’s one spot from our guide to New York:

The Maker Shop, Chelsea     
The Maker, a craft-focused boutique hotel in upstate New York, runs an elegant shopfront in Chelsea that stocks home and travel necessities, such as trunks and eye masks. It also hosts the hotel’s own perfume collection, which adheres to The Maker’s bohemian-luxe sensibility. 

For the first time in its history, the shortlist for this year’s International Booker Prize – the winner of which will be announced on 20 May – consists entirely of titles published by independent presses (writes Chloé Lake). Here are our three favourites to take home the award.

‘Under the Eye of the Big Bird’ by Hiromi Kawakami, tr., Asa Yoneda     
Kawakami’s tale is an unsettling exploration of humanity’s twilight. Set in a distant future, the novel develops through interconnected scenes that take place across aeons. Communities adapt to change in surreal ways: some individuals photosynthesise, others are cloned from animal DNA and all are overseen by artificial-intelligence entities known as “Mothers”. A disorienting yet profound meditation on identity, evolution and survival.
‘Under the Eye of the Big Bird’ is published by Granta Books

‘Small Boat’ by Vincent Delecroix, tr., Helen Stevenson
Written in just three weeks, French philosopher Vincent Delecroix’s fourth novel is based on a real-life event from 2021, when a dinghy carrying more than 30 migrants from France to the UK sank in the English Channel. The fictionalised account is narrated from the perspective of the migrants and the female radio operator who took their calls at the rescue centre and ultimately decided not to send help. What follows is an acute exploration of moral responsibility and apathy in the face of tragedy.
‘Small Boat’ is published by Small Axes

‘Heart Lamp’ by Banu Mushtaq, tr., Deepa Bhasthi    
Published originally in Kannada, a language spoken in Karnataka, India, Heart Lamp is a moving collection of short stories examining the everyday lives of women in southern India’s Muslim communities. The anthology is a keen critique of dogma, showing how caste, patriarchy and religious traditions restrict the lives of its characters. A lawyer and activist, Mushtaq reveals that each of the 12 stories is drawn from personal experience. Her account, she writes, is “a string of letters written with the heart’s sharp nib” – a tender observation of human nature and the cost of women’s sacrifice.
‘Heart Lamp’ is published by And Other Stories

Yusuke Monden started menswear label Sans Limite in 2012 after cutting his teeth in shirt design and production at Comme des Garçons. The brand’s Tokyo flagship is on a busy shopping street by the railway tracks that, in the aftermath of the Second World War, was home to a black market for US goods. It’s a world away from the neighbourhoods usually favoured by fashion brands.

Monden’s concept is simple: wardrobe classics made well. Starting with a tight edit of six shirts, he has since expanded to ready-to-wear collections and accessories. “We don’t try to sell items for a specific season or drastically change fabrics for each collection,” says Monden. He is committed to “Made in Japan” quality. “We do the patterning and planning internally, and then work with domestic factories,” he says. “When it comes to one-off items, such as patchwork shirts, hand-knit sweaters or even rugs, we work on them in the studio and then send them off to the factories for completion.” 
4 Chome-6-10 Ueno, Taito City, Tokyo 110-0005

The first mayor of Amsterdam was appointed in 1383 in a process not dissimilar to that used in 2018, when Femke Halsema became the first woman to hold the position. Amsterdam’s mayor is nominated by the ministers on the recommendation of the municipal council. This makes Halsema’s role officially apolitical but she has responsibility for many political things, including taxation and the police. Some argue that this state of affairs is more suited to the 14th century but not being beholden to voters might also mean that a politician can propose radical solutions to urban ills. For the May issue, we sat down with Halsema to find out how she’s done exactly that.

As a mayor and police chief, you advocate for the legalisation of drugs. Other European mayors are less inclined to explore this topic.
The debate is ideologically charged due to the failed war on drugs. People hardly dare to talk about it rationally for fear that by doing so, they condone it. But why leave a health-risk product to criminals? Alcohol and medicine are regulated, why not other drugs? Take MDMA: it’s less harmful than alcohol yet has been banned since the late 1980s. The consequence? The Netherlands is now the world’s biggest producer, resulting in illegal labs and drug wars. We want to investigate how much tax and excise duty we are losing and what a regulated market could look like. Drug crime currently occupies 80 per cent of Amsterdam’s police capacity. This is unsustainable. It is not a moral issue but an economic and managerial problem that requires rational solutions.

Tourists are also competing for space – the city had a record 22 million visitors in 2024. What are you doing to manage overtourism?
We need to think hard about the tourist-resident ratio. The city’s liveability is under enormous pressure. In Barcelona, short-term rentals will be banned from 2028. That will be inevitable for us too. People jetting in on €25 flights to binge drink and get high, with no thought for the town, adds nothing to our economy. That needs to change. In Amsterdam, tourism accounts for about 10 per cent of employment. That’s not so bad but not crucial. Business services, technology, health and sciences mean much more to the city. Less tourism does not necessarily harm the economy. Everyone remains welcome but mass tourism without local connection has to decline. 

As Amsterdam celebrates its 750th birthday this year, how well is the city really doing? 
Amsterdam keeps changing – it’s greener, fairer and more in tune with its residents. But one thing remains constant: it’s a city with a big heart and a rebellious streak. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

For more insights into the world of politics and urbanism, subscribe to Monocle today. Have a super Saturday.

I lost my virginity this week. Boy, was it fun – especially as I was surrounded by so many Monocle supporters, colleagues and incredibly talented business leaders. I’m not sure why it took me so many years to get to this point but, dear reader, I am no longer a Jakarta virgin.

The Chiefs is Monocle’s conference series that focuses on leadership by interviewing people who run successful enterprises and have had to navigate life’s hurdles, and whose stories have the potential to inspire. After editions in St Moritz, Dallas and Hong Kong, this week we headed to the Indonesian capital, where I had never stepped foot in before.

I was not alone. When we do a conference in, say, Paris or Berlin, the people in attendance have usually visited the city many times before – but that was not the case in Jakarta. Some guests had been to Bali but even those living in the region (in Saigon or Manila, for example) had often never put this place on their travel itineraries.

Why? For years Jakarta has been regarded as a place that you might visit for business but never for fun. The only thing that it has an international reputation for is traffic-snarled streets. So how about I tell you 10 things that might tempt you to lose your Jakarta virginity (unless I am too late on that front) and, just as importantly, entice you to attend our next big gathering in September: The Monocle Quality of Life Conference in Barcelona.

1
The traffic is frustrating but if you follow the example of the locals and sign up for an app such as Gojek, you will be nipping around town on the back of a Honda motor scooter in seconds.

2
The coffee scene is impeccable. Local and international players go big on retail design, service and space. Kurasu Kissaten is here from Japan and so are % Arabica and Oslo’s Fuglen. I was grateful as I needed all of that caffeine to carpet-bomb my jet lag into oblivion.

3
And the bars. We had cocktails at Modernhaus, where the mid-century furniture, great lighting and cool crowd were as seductive as the drinks. 

4
There are also lots of talented people shaking up the world of retail here. One of our speakers was Cynthia Wijono, co-founder of Brightspot Market, a pop-up event that runs over two weekends in summer. Hundreds of brands compete for pitches. And you can see why: more than 100,000 people now turn up. This is a huge, young market.
 
5
It’s a service culture writ large. Cable ties were added to my laptop and phone-charger leads when the hotel staff cleaned my room. I asked one of the young bellboys for directions and, as it was nearby, he walked me there.

6
Monocle readers are great. Really. People flew in from around the world to attend and they were all engaged and fun – especially the crew who ended up dancing until 03.00. 

7
The speakers weren’t bad either. Creative director Mark Landini, for example, delivered a masterclass on branding that was comic genius. He and Nic Monisse, our also amusing design editor, seemed close to forming a double act after their session onstage.

8
The new 25hours Hotel The Oddbird was the key conference venue. It’s good. So too is The Langham.

9
We’re lucky to have people from across the globe working at Monocle. Jess, our senior designer, is from Bali. Having her in Jakarta was helpful on the language front but on the final day her mum also took us out for lunch and had us eating delicious food in no time… though I was happy to pass on the cow cartilage. 

10
I’ll be back. Well, once you’ve finally done it, you want to go again.

Watch: ‘Carême’, Apple TV+
Marie-Antoine Carême was history’s first celebrity chef. He baked Napoleon’s wedding cake and orchestrated feasts for the Russian tsar and the British prince regent in Brighton. This luscious series directed by Martin Bourboulon explores the life of this impoverished-orphan-turned-culinary genius and unexpected imperial spy.
Released on 30 April. For our interview with director Martin Bourboulon, pick up a copy of the latest issue of Monocle.

Listen: ‘Journey Through Life’ by Femi Kuti
Femi Kuti continues to release the kind of kinetic and jubilant protest music with which his father, Nigerian legend Fela, made his name. But on his latest album, Kuti is looking inward. During this up-tempo escapade through his 62 years of innocence and experience, the veteran saxophonist deals out life lessons amid his trademark Afrobeat. 
‘Journey Through Life’ was released yesterday
 
Read: ‘Small Boat’ by Vincent Delecroix, translated by Helen Stevenson
Small Boat examines the real-life sinking of a dinghy carrying migrants across the English Channel in 2021, which led to the loss of 27 lives. The book imagines the subsequent questioning of a radio operator who fielded calls from the vessel at the Cap Gris-Nez marine rescue centre and ultimately decided not to send help. It is a work of striking empathy. 
‘Small Boat’ is out now

Many of the world’s most famous diamonds come from one region of India (writes Andrew Mueller). The mines of Golconda in Andhra Pradesh have coughed up treasures such as the Koh-i-Noor, the Hope Diamond, the Dresden Green and the Regent Diamond. On 14 May at the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues Geneva, Christie’s will auction the biggest Golconda diamond ever put on the block: the 23.24-carat Golconda Blue.

When you buy a jewel of this rarefied stature, you are also buying its story. The Golconda Blue once belonged to Yashwant Rao Holkar II, who lived it up exuberantly as the maharaja of Indore from 1926 until Indian independence in 1948, when he and others of his self-indulgent ilk had their wings clipped. It later came into the possession of US jeweller Harry Winston, who once owned the Hope Diamond, before disappearing from view for decades. Christie’s expects the gemstone to fetch as much as $50m (€44m), though prospective buyers should also consider the cost of security arrangements more solid than their sock drawer.

The Arabic word bawab can be translated as “doorman” but a more accurate way of describing one would be “gatekeeper” (writes Mary Fitzgerald). In Cairo, you’ll find him (they’re typically older men) sitting in front of a residential building, performing his role as part security guard, part porter and all-round fixer. But he’s also often a little feared in his capacity as a self-appointed moral guardian who monitors the comings and goings of residents in this city of more than 20 million inhabitants.

When I lived in the leafy Zamalek neighbourhood of Cairo, my gatekeeper was an elderly man from Upper Egypt, always dressed in a pristine flowing gallabiya, who neglected to cling to the conservative mores of his rural background. But I heard countless stories of snooping doormen who openly disapproved of how residents led their lives – divulging secrets of steamy affairs, marital arguments or both to their favoured residents (they’re a ripe source of some great stories). In some cases, interfering bawabs can be persuaded to tell all with a quiet word – or, worse, a wad of cash – so many people live in fear of their nosey ways. Unsurprisingly, the figure is a quintessential comedy character in Egyptian novels and films. Posts and clips skewering the bawab as a busybody appear regularly on the country’s social media. 

On a recent trip to Cairo, I was struck by the ways in which this sprawling metropolis is changing. Many who lived in these central, communal neighbourhoods, such as Zamalek, have moved to newly built villas on the city’s outskirts. But the locals I spoke to say that the bawabs are going nowhere. New, gated developments need bawabs too and this time my guard, porter and fixer was in his early thirties – far younger than usual. Perhaps this generation will prove more accepting and less gossipy. Or is he just talking about me online instead?

Junyin Gibson is the brand and creative manager of UK outfitters Drake’s (writes Jack Simpson). Gibson moved to the country from Hong Kong when he was 17 and his style is inflected with British and Asian influences: think waxed coats over pankou buttoned shirts. We met him at Leo’s in London to learn about his silver-screen sartorial heroes, styling on the move and the benefits of adopting a consistent mode of dress.

Who influences what you wear?
Michael Hill, the creative director of Drake’s. The consistency of his styling is what inspired me to adopt more of a uniform and focus on timeless styles rather than reacting to what others wear. When we travel together, he makes sure that we put time aside for exploring. Some of my best finds have come from scouring Koenji’s vintage markets in Tokyo. Elsewhere, films such as In the Mood for Love and actors, including Tony Leung and Toshiro Mifune, have all had an effect on my style.

You’re always on the move. How do you dress while travelling?
You have to be logical and prioritise utility. That’s what some of the best designs do. In that regard, a utility vest is perfect for the airport: it’s light, everything you need is on hand and you can layer it over anything. Crucially, you must make space in your suitcase for new pieces, whether vintage staples or basics. I always pick up Lee Kung Man’s Henley T-shirts when I’m in Hong Kong. Bruce Lee made them famous and you can find them in school uniform shops there. 

Should we all adopt a uniform of sorts?
It makes mornings easier. The majority of my wardrobe works together because I collect timeless styles and complementary silhouettes. When you have a good base of neutrals, you can throw in pops of colour and pattern. I tend to opt for a bright jumper wrapped around my neck.

To read the full interview with Gibson, pick up a copy of Monocle’s May issue, which is on newsstands now.

New Delhi has come to New York (writes Rory Jones). This week clothing label Kartik Research has opened its first bricks-and-mortar shop outside of the Indian subcontinent in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. The brand – helmed by Kartik Kumra, who started the label as a side project in 2021 – hosts a wardrobe that is composed of handmade, hand-dyed threads that have been woven by artisans in a strictly Indian supply chain. “The move gives us a permanent presence in our biggest market,” says Kumra. “I’ve been doing pop-ups on this block for years and we’ve built a small cult following.” 

The spring/summer 2025 collection is reflective and dreamlike, inspired by great Indian characters from maharajas to cricket captains. Outside of the brand’s existing shop in New Delhi and its various pop-ups, its clothing enjoys seasonal runs in high-fashion stockists across the globe, including Tokyo’s Dover Street Market and Melbourne’s Up There. The new permanent outpost is a marker of success for a brand that consistently gets the basics right.