Berlin sur scène: a Paris-themed Berlin interview

This summer saw not only the publication of my Paris Cityscopes guide, but also the Cityscopes guide for Berlin, written by Joseph Pearson, an author and academic based in the German capital and editor of influential local blog ‘The Needle’. To mark this double publication, Joseph and I exchanged questions and answers on our respective cities. How Berlin-like is Paris and how Paris-like is Berlin? Find out on our respective blogs!

"Nairn's Paris" in Literary Review

I have written a review of the republication of 'Nairn's Paris', a guide written in 1968 by seminal architectural critic Ian Nairn, that you can find in this month's edition of the Literary Review magazine. 

If you are not familiar with the idiosyncratic work of Ian Nairn, I recommend you read this article published 30 years after his early death, which also includes clips of his equally quirky television programmes.

A Brutalist Paris Map and some concrete examples

When we think of Paris, we don't generally imagine modern, functional structures in concrete, but a recent map published by Blue Crow Media aims to show how rich the city actually is in imaginative and unusual 'brutalist' buildings. More than that, Paris can also legitimately declare itself to be the spiritual home of concrete! 

La Banane, a Google republic

In an almost perfectly square kilometre between Belleville and the Père Lachaise cemetery, a rather strange anomaly is written large on Google Maps - La Banane. What does this name actually represent, and what is the reality of this little visited part of the city?

On Invisible Paris, we've been here before. On July 4th 1905 - at the height of the public fascination with the Apaches sub-culture - a policeman on his first patrol was shot dead in this district. The incident was made more infamous with the publication of a book shortly afterwards, but at no moment was the name 'Banane' ever used.

Join me for an Obscura Day event on May 6

As part of the worldwide Obscura Day events on Saturday May 6 I will be hosting a tour of the ghostly Jardin d'Agronomie Tropicale in the Bois de Vincennes.