Doors of Perception

An underground exhibition of Polish art in Beirut looks like a specialised event, even for me - only it features the work of the Polish photographer Nicolas Grospierre which makes it definitely worth a visit. Grospierre's modified architectural photographs were a highlight for me of the last Venice Architecture Biennale: a persuasive portrayal of what today's urban contexts could well look like in the near future. But Grospierre does not just do Bladerunner-ish images. He also shoots amazing structures at the edges of Eastern Europe. These range from bus-stops in Estonia... to this... I don't know how many of our readers live in Beirut, know someone in Beirut, or are going there soon - but for all the above,

A few weeks back I was talking to Kjetil Trædal Thorsen, a partner in the Norwegian architectural firm Snøhetta, when we were drowned out by the roar of a Eurofighter passing overhead. "One of those costs the same as a medium-sized opera house", Kjetl observed drily. Kjetl should know: he designed this medium-sized opera house in Oslo: Kjetl's throwaway comment prompted me to start looking for numbers comparing military versus cultural spending on a country-by-country basis. Several hours later, I am suspending this project. I cannot find a neat comparison league table - and the numbers I *have* found look so insane that I repeat them here in the hope that someone will reassure me that I am not