Blog & Inspiration

While most people wouldn’t dare to step closer to the edge, cliff divers boldly throw themselves from cliffs of over twenty metres in height in order to show off their dives, somersaults and twists in front of an ecstatic audience. The impressive backdrops of beautiful locations such as Mostar or Polignano a Mare ensure that the spectacle is surrounded by a unique atmosphere. The successful German cliff diver Iris Schmidbauer tells us about the tough training and tight-knit community behind it all.

The plates at the Geranium in Copenhagen are little works of art. Strong colours, floral arrangements and fine shapes. Every dish appears as a well thought-through story told by both nature and art. The Michelin three-star restaurant is an inspiring place for people who love food, pure tastes, and the culinary pleasure of Nordic cuisine. It is probably because of the deeply rooted passion of chef Rasmus Kofoed that the Geranium established such an institution in the culinary world.

Listening to Beatie Wolfe is a little bit like watching the sun going down with the wind quietly rustling the leaves. It immediately shrinks your focus to simply enjoy what you hear and see before your inner eye. The tranquillity flooding around is magical – and yet, this is not where the magic ends.

Inspired by 1962 - a year when the Jet Age began to shape the history of aviation, where John F. Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy governed in the White House, where the Beatles’ “Love Me Do” was released - an architectural masterpiece has now been awakened from its 19-year long, Sleeping Beauty slumber.  The famous Trans World Airlines (TWA) terminal at JFK Airport in New York has been transformed into a modern hotel and, in the future, will spirit its guests into the glorious era of the Jet Age. The spectacular building was designed by Eero Saarinen, one of the best-known designers and architects of the 20th century, and opened in 1962.

Denmark’s white gold – that is the name of the special Læsø salt that is seethed according to the old method on the small Danish island of Læsø. Danish salt has a long tradition: the Vikings already knew how to produce and refine sea salt. Denmark has large salt deposits, especially in Jutland and its northernmost island of Læsø. Here you will find endless wide marshes and green salt meadows, great tranquillity and untouched nature. The salt is extracted by hand using the same method as 500 years ago from the saline groundwater of the marshland and Wadden Sea. Each year, Læsø Salt produces around 80 tonnes of the wonderful spice. It tastes “of summer on the beach of Denmark”, says Poul Christensen, the founder of Læsø Salt. In any case, you can see the age-old craft and the love with which it is won. No wonder Læsø salt is one of the most sought-after salts in the world and so highly regarded by star chefs. Jeppe Ladefoged, managing director of Læsø Salt, tells us the story of the white gold.

The Restaurant de l’Hôtel de Ville de Crissier – a traditional house for more than 50 years that treats its guests with exquisite culinary delights and is known far beyond Swiss borders. Frédy Girardet, Philippe Rochat, Benoît Violier and last but not least Franck Giovannini have made it a culinary must for all gourmets and have put their strong passion for cooking at the service of haute cuisine over the years.

An endless sea of lights spreads all the way to the horizon. From up here, you have the feeling that you can see to the end of the world. The view from Thailand’s second-highest building is absolutely breathtaking. In Bangkok, the spectacular “King Power MahaNakhon” skyscraper, as it is now officially known, immediately became one of the city’s most striking architectural landmarks. MahaNakhon basically means “large metropolis” and is hence perfectly named for Thailand’s capital.

The landscape is peaceful and calm on the coast of northern China’s Bohai Bay. Nothing disturbs the view of gentle dunes and the tranquil sea. Only upon almost stumbling over it do the visitors recognise the peculiar building smoothly integrated into the sand alongside the shore. The UCCA Dune Art Museum, designed by OPEN Architecture, has been built underneath the dunes to preserve the natural landscape and protect the vulnerable dune ecosystem. It assembles a light-filled system of cave-like galleries, which offer natural and very diverse environments for visitors. We spoke with Li Hu and Huang Wenjing, the founding partners of OPEN, about the ideas behind the project and the challenges of realising it.

She had never cycled much before – but nevertheless she decided to circumnavigate the globe, following just eight months of preparation and without any sponsors. That’s how true adventures start. It’s the story of a sporting battle with many highs and lows. And a journey to the inner self.

Meissen porcelain – the name stands for quality and first-class craftsmanship, for luxury and opulence, for tradition and, last but not least, for passion. Based in the Saxon city of Meissen, the company enjoys worldwide fame and is well known far beyond German borders. A successful craft business that is loved for doing what it has been doing for centuries – timelessly elegant, mostly hand-painted porcelain. But to inspire with its porcelain art even in the 21st century, the traditional house has had the help of the renowned designer team Otto Drögsler and Jörg Ehrlich since 2017 to restore its splendour.

Faster, higher, stronger – we live in an age in which we struggle to find rest. Stress is our constant companion, especially in the professional environment. The first psychological signs of being overworked – such as sleep problems, illness, difficulties concentrating, irritability and lack of motivation – are readily pushed aside. We only start paying attention when physical ailments such as back pain, headache, fatigue and increased blood pressure can no longer be ignored.

Eric Kent’s sense of individuality was legendary. His fashion style still inspires – and so do the many stories told about the founder of the long-established British fashion brand “Kent & Curwen”. Kent is said to have thrown flowers across his studio floor in order to find unexpected colour combinations. He liked to make fun of the conventional dress code of the ‘30s and to combine sports fashion with formal suits. Today it is David Beckham who portrays the archetypal Kent & Curwen man and is world-renowned for his style as well as his achievements.

The ancient, angular stones feel warm and rough. They belong to the wall of a 13th-century Crusader’s stronghold. I wonder about all the things these stones have witnessed throughout the centuries – and what they think of the unusual mid-century design classics of Shiro Kuramata and Pierre Paulin located right next door. An exciting contrast indeed, in the lobby of what may be the most spectacular new hotel in Tel Aviv’s historic Jaffa District in Israel. The hotel is located above the harbour of the Old Town with a dream view of the Mediterranean Sea.

Sunlight falls obliquely through the high, pointed Gothic windows of the old church, making the geometric patterns on the walls shine like a rainbow. The bright color spectrum conjures a kaleidoscope of patterns and shapes into the room. It is broken only by the jumps of the skaters practising their moves on a half-pipe running across the nave. This unique place in the small town of Llanera, in the Spanish Asturias, is called “Kaos Temple”. The temple has been a pilgrimage destination for skate culture lovers since the church was transformed into a kind of skatepark.

Anyone looking for the right pair of headphones is spoilt for choice nowadays: in-ear, on-ear or over-ear? With or without noise cancellation? More bass or a clearer sound? Not to mention other factors such as brand affinity, price, shape and colour. These decisions are set to become a bit more difficult in future, as the new headphones by nura guarantee an unprecedented and unique listening experience. What makes them so unique is the fact that they adapt individually to the user’s sound profile.

Rugged cliffs, a grey sky and the wild sea. The beauty of the Faroe Islands is a pure and rough one. Exposed to the salty wind, dark and wooden dry houses stand all over the islands with fish and pieces of lamb meat hanging at their sides and interiors. In the midst of this impressing, chill nature, the Michelin-starred restaurant “Koks” offers a cosy refuge with all the flavours and the amazing spirit of the islands beautifully arranged on its plates. We spoke to Poul Andrias Ziska, head chef at Koks, about their concept, inspiration, and the unique experience of the Faroese cuisine. 

Nail-biting action scenes and stunningly beautiful locations are highlights of every James Bond film. In the blockbuster ‘Spectre’, Ice Q, the unique gourmet restaurant located on Gaislachkogl Mountain in Sölden, Austria, furnished the backdrop for a futuristic clinic and delighted filmgoers with its tremendous architecture and spectacular glass façade. Now the restaurant has been joined by a world’s first at an altitude of over 3,000 metres. 007 Elements is a cinematic installation in which everything revolves around the world of James Bond.

All that is visible from afar is a deep, narrow incision in the slope of a Tuscan hillside – however, a large building soon becomes apparent. An extraordinary building, hidden between the olive groves, the vineyards and the oak forests. Here, wine is the very essence of every thought, of all work and of welcoming guests and visitors. This is a temple to wine and, above all, an homage to the Tuscan landscape and its vineyards. We are in Bargino, just half an hour by car from Florence, and today home to the new headquarters of Marchesi Antinori and the Chianti Classico wine estate.

Infinite stretches of white and a silence only a surrounding of snow and ice can bring forth. The biting cold air is relentlessly waving over the dazzling ground as the quiet scene suddenly gets in motion with dozens of dogs cutting their way through the snow. The Finnmarksløpet is known for being one of the most difficult sled dog races in the world, and we were talking to Petter Karlsson, this year’s winner of the famous race.

No other restaurant has influenced the gourmet scene over the last decade as profoundly as René Redzepi’s Noma in Copenhagen. So-called ‘New Nordic Cuisine’ was hyped across the globe as a result of Redzepi’s cooking. Without a doubt, Noma is the embodiment of the current gourmet age and – similar to El Bulli in Spain – has shaped the culinary world to an extraordinary extent. It was all the more devastating when René Redzepi announced the closing of his restaurant in Copenhagen last year, choosing to embark on a world with small pop-up gigs instead. 

What do common electronic picture frames showing photographs on a constant loop have in common with the 'living' paintings from the Harry Potter world? Meural, an art technology startup from New York, combines the two in its Meural Canvas, a fascinating canvas which is not only able to display photographs in HD quality, but also famous paintings. What’s special about the canvas is that the display is so realistic that textures and brushstrokes can be discerned despite not being there in reality.