The world around us seems as turbulent as it has ever been. Tremors across industry, across culture, across the environment, are profoundly reshaping everything we know. We started The Alpine Review as an attempt to understand those tremors from a long-term point of view — to look at how our immediate moment is shaped by the past and will shape us in the future.
A collection of ideas, thoughts and recent developments related to our environment.
A collection of ideas, thoughts and recent developments related to our environment and milieu.
A collection of ideas and curiosities about science and technology.
Forget your father’s optometry—New York-based Warby Parker has been changing the eyewear game making glasses hip, sexy, literary and even socially responsible in a couple of short years.
A curated list of interesting makers that caught our eye.
The road to fossil fuel transition is paved with complicated questions related to growth and scale. Scaling works well in periods of energy ‘ascent,’ when the supply of energy increases, but less in periods of energy ‘descent.
This "mobile laboratory" initiative by BMW and Guggenheim was an interesting manifestation of the optimistic 'change is possible if we want to make it' vibe prevailing at the time (2011-12).
Why would an established writer with a penchant for creativity move to Singapore? Because while New York may call itself ‘the capital of the world,’ for Fredrik Härén, Singapore is the world.
Montreal’s Fitz & Follwell Co. cycle tours have been carefully crafted to allow you to experience the city as the locals do, from the comfort of one of their stylish bikes.
We have built a system of criminal law that depends upon our trusting the government but what is the state of trust in our institutions? Revisiting the Aaron Swartz story.
Cities thrive when they successfully service our basic needs with intelligence and simplicity. Recovering from 60 years of automobile-focused development and sprawl, urban planners are taking things in the right direction—backwards.
A creative Berliner looking for a challenge also finds community in post-revolutionary Egypt where chaos is but one story among many.
Urban agriculture and community gardens are sprouting up all over the world, creating a breeding ground for learning experiences, community living and a better quality of life.
As DIY culture evolves into DIWO (Do It With Others, more commonly referred to as creative coworking) there is an increasing demand for places to connect and create — enter FabCafe.
DIY.org is a safe place where kids can connect and learn from each other. It’s also worth noting that DIY is the most recent project of Zach Klein, of Vimeo, CollegeHumor and Founder Collective fame.
Where do you go to get some perspective? In a crowded world, finding fresh air, new paths and eye-opening discoveries is no easy feat.
Where do you go when you’re haunted by a big question? Enter The School of Life, a 21st century forum that is part university, part library and even part church.
The Alpine Review returns for a third instalment, still animated to understand the large scale movements of our world.
Put your weapons down. The gaming industry has been turned on its head by the de-mocratization of development and distribution tools, paving the way for games as a form of deeply personal art. A new wave of standouts signals the way forward for a mature creative medium.
A passionate collector and curator, Thomas Andrae’s Berlin home reflects his renowned talent for finding and capturing objects of beauty and significance. Freunde von Freunden and photographer Luke Abiol get a personal tour of some of Andrae’s most beloved pieces.
Could it be that our collective obsession with mid-century modern design serves as familiar comfort amidst the overwhelming immediacy of an ever-present, ever-ephemeral now?
Always pushing computing capacity further, Google has now invested in a quantum computer.
A collection of ideas and thoughts that point to the future of architecture and urbanism — Craig Mod and the untapped potential of minimalism
3D printing and the promise of radical change in manufacturing technology
A collection of ideas and thoughts that point to the future of architecture and urbanism.
Sam Guelimi, founder of Edwarda, an erotic magazine devoted to the art of desire tells us about mystery, philosophy, discretion and expression.
Human-centered design programs and practices—from the likes of d.School and IDEO—are making their way into politics. Exploring what came out of the highly revered UK Government Digital Service (GDS) program.
Ann Friedman gives her no-nonsense take on durability in modern-day journalism, reflecting upon the timely and the timeless, the ephemeral and the evergreen.
Unfinished business with some dreamers of the red planet dream
Is the risk of losing digital identities in a flash really a fair trade for infinite access? Or should we all just defer to the old shoebox to keep photos of grandma safe?
What happens when a good chunk of people are unemployed due to automation? Douglas Rushkoff on the future of work and its broader implications (e.g. UBI, meaning etc.).
The history of toilets is the history of humanity. It’s abundant with good intention but it’s messy and it stinks. And despite every great civilization’s best efforts to solve the fecal problem, we still can’t quite get it right.
Former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta describes a world that has become increasingly dangerous..
How the evolving relationship between insiders and outsiders shapes our institutions.
As creativity becomes, arguably, the most valuable resource, city planners do their best to cultivate creative neighbourhoods where innovation can thrive. However, there is more to cultivating creativity than building coffee shops and craft supply stores.
What is a product? And what are the broader implications for design when smart, connected products have become the norm? In Megan Neese’s EPIC piece “What is a Product?”, she argues for a product-design methodology rooted in place.
