All articles
An Underground Eruption
The Herald Magazine
October 2004
Vile booze and the best alternative bands in the world: Tim Abrahams finds festival perfection in Iceland. read more…
Baltic Rocks
The List
June 2004
After languishing for decades under the thrall of Soviet rule, the tiny nations of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are emerging into light. Tim Abrahams gives us 10 reasons to watch the sun rise in the east. June, 2004. read more…
Spirit of the Sea
The Scotsman
January 2005
Bruce Lee. Dizzee Rascal. B Movies. Ebony Magazine. Ellen Gallagher's references may be those of an East Coast hipster but, writes Tim Abrahams, her art originates in less glamorous, more elemental circumstances. read more…
Musing On Jarman
Herald Magazine
August 2002
Tilda Swinton found friendship and inspiration in Derek Jarman. Eight years after his death their unique bond lives on. Tim Abrahams visits her in the Highlands, where she lives with her husband and their two children, far from the movie world. read more…
At The Edge of Europe
Blueprint
April 2008
The European Union is about to decide the fate of a nuclear power station that was the largest in the world when the Soviets completed it. Tim Abrahams visits Lithuania and asks why we are so scared of nuclear power – a potential solution to our energy needs
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Into The Light
The Herald Magazine
July 2004
Forget the vampire stuff: acting legend Chritopher Lee says he's only played one part that matters. The problem is nobody's seen it yet. He tells Tim Abrahams why he's on a mission to open people's minds. read more…
Theatre of Conflict
Sunday Herald
August 2004
As a leading Palestinian lawyer and activist, fighting for the rights of his people was a frustrating battle. But Raja Shehadeh found solace at the Festival and through penning a book which is now being brought to the stage, reports Tim Abrahams. read more…
New Diva of the Clyde
The Herald
October 2004
Zaha Hadid is an exotic and controversial architect. Here she gives her first interview since she was commissioned to design the new Riverside Museum on the Clyde. By Tim Abrahams. read more…
The Woman in Scarlett
The List
January 2004
She plays Bill Murray's young lover in Lost in Translation, and an artist's model in Girl With A Pearl Earring: but that's just the start. Scarlett Johansson is a teenage prodigy who has Hollywood in the palm of her hand. Will she let it slip through her fingers, wonders Tim Abrahams? read more…
The Fine Art of Brinkmanship
The Scotsman
August 2004
Anthony Neilson is facing a make or break moment when his play opens tonight at the Edinburgh International Festival. Long a toast of the Fringe this production marks a local boys step up to the big time. Tim Abrahams finds him almost too relaxed. read more…
A Slice of Life
Blueprint
September 2003
The Boyle Family have always had a close relationship with the Edinburgh Festivals. Tim Abrahams takes a look at a timely exhibition at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. read more…
Our New Migrants: Single, Young and Female
The Observer
April 2004
As the European Union prepares to accept its 10 new member countries, a new type of immigrant is preparing to arrive on British shores. And she is young, single and clever. read more…
Out of Towner
Blueprint
April 2009
The Towner Gallery by Rick Mather Architects is the latest in a series of new buildings to be built on Britain's south coast. But does it connect with Eastbourne, the town in which it stands? read more…
Looking Through the Lithuanian Lens
The Spectator - competition entry
March 2004
As Lithuania enters the European Union, not everyone is looking to the West. Tomas Kauneckas is a young photographer with a hankering for the East. read more…
Saving The Best For Last
Blueprint
September 2008
Tim Abrahams marvels at David Moore’s photographs of the British government’s panic room
read more…
An Anti-Oedipal Complex
Blueprint
March 2009
Scholarly need not be dry. Extensive research into the history of surrealism has created an exciting new show in Manchester. read more…
Design for Loving
The Herald Magazine
February 2002
There is more to Switzerland than Alpine chalets and cuckoo clocks. And design guru Rolf Fehlbaum is the renaissance man out to prove it. read more…
Come Back Tony and Noel. All is forigven
Blueprint
May 2008
Creative Britain is a worthy document, but shows up contradictions in government thinking, writes Tim Abrahams read more…
The Changing Of The Avant-Garde
The List & Blueprint
November 2004
Avant Garde Graphics 1918-1934 brings together 150 posters from the Merrill C Berman Collection. Tim Abrahams sorts his way through the exhibition in search of what curators have called the 'signature of an age'. read more…
Put Money on Betsky
Blueprint
April 2008
Aaron Betsky will have a tough job to curate the Venice Biennale in eight months. Tim Abrahams talks to him about the challenge ahead.
read more…
The Stadiums of Beijing
Blueprint
August 2008
Bejing doesn't have just one well-loved stadium. It has two the 1950s Workers Stadium and the new Birds Nest by Herzog and de Meuron. read more…
A Model Museum
Blueprint
September 2009
What should a design museum contain? What should it look like? A new building by Ron Arad near his native Tel Aviv offers some interesting answers. read more…
Allied Works Carpet America
Blueprint
June 2008
Brad Cloepfil is principal of Allied Works, the Portland-based practice building all over America and an architect on the cusp of international fame
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Does Nouvel Come To Praise César?
Blueprint
October 2008
Is the architect Jean Nouvel more interested in showing off his design for the Fondation Cartier or in resurrecting the reputation of his friend César, Tim Abrahams wonders. read more…
Pallant House Tribute
Blueprint
May 2008
Colin St. John Wilson died last year, but not before he had completed an extension to the Pallant House Gallery, the recipient of his art collection as well. Tim Abrahams visits a major retrospective in his memory. read more…
The Embodiment of Progress
Blueprint
November 2008
Tim Abrahams reports on Herman Miller’s scientific approach that has once again raised the bar for office furniture design. read more…
Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark
Blueprint
November 2008
As Capital of Culture Year comes to an end, Liverpool seems intent of shopping its way out of crisis. Tim Abrahams visits the city and asks if the real problems are being addressed. read more…
Pei Zhu - A Chinese Pioneer
Blueprint
August 2008
Beijing has turned into a playground for foreign architects, but a new generation of Chinese artists is holding its own. Tim Abrahams meets Pei Zhu who is at the forefront of this group. read more…
The Regeneration Director
Blueprint
March 2008
Tim Abrahams meets director Anthony Wonke who recently completed two impressive and touching documentaries on the human aspects of architecture: The Tower, and The £800 million Railway Station. read more…
Storming the Port
Blueprint
October 2008
Liverpool's expansive and globalised visual art scene has provided much of the interest in this year's Capital of Culture says Tim Abrahams. read more…
A City with Many Names
Blueprint
July 2008
Portland is at the forefront of hi-tech industry and American libertarianism. Tim Abrahams reports on the city’s current creative boom
read more…
Stephen's Centre
Blueprint
July 2008
The trust, established in the name of a young black man murdered by white youths, has given itself a great platform to improve the built environment. read more…
It Rains and Shines on the Wrongteous
Blueprint
December 2008
Liverpool artists operate better outside the mainstream. That finding prompted the creation of Wrongteous, a book that makes manifest the city’s chaotic art scene, says Tim Abrahams read more…
From the London Eye to the Gardens of Kew
Blueprint
July 2008
Marks Barfield and Jane Wernick have a thing about heights. The new Xstrata walkway marries architect and engineer, the man-made and nature. Tim Abrahams admires the view read more…
Written in Blood
The Herald Magazine
April 2008
Once General Franco used them to violently repress his Republican foes. Now the Catalan victims of the Salamanca Papers want them back. Tim Abrahams reports read more…
The House That Rem Built
Blueprint
December 2008
Tim Abrahams reviews Koolhaas Houselife; a film about avant-garde architecture that is both witty and balanced. read more…
Different Routes into Venice
Blueprint
December 2008
With its exhilarating mix of exhibits – from the playful to the profound – the architecture biennale defied easy analysis. Here are five approaches into Venice 2008
read more…
Foster and Partners to build in outer space
Building
September 2009
The well known British architecture practice joins a European consortium interested in investigating idea of settlements on the Moon
read more…
Chronicles of the City
Blueprint
April 2009
In East London, writers are blurring the boundaries of fact and fiction. As Iain Sinclair's Hackney: The Rose-Red Empire receives plaudits, we wonder how useful is psychogeography in planning the cities of the future. read more…
Southern Belle
Blueprint
May 2009
William Eggleston has committed himself to a major photographic survey of the French capital. The Cartier Foundation gives us a first glimpse of this Paris match. read more…
The City They Had To Move
Wired
May 2009
Its mine brought wealth to Kiruna, in Northern Sweden. Now it is killing it from beneath. Kiruna’s time is up. So one man must relocate it. read more…
Machine Language
Blueprint
October 2009
A new exhibition, organised by the literary magazine Ambit, shows that one of Britain's great sculptors was also a master of printing read more…
They've Got There
Blueprint
November 2009
Santiago Calatrava's triumphant new railway station in the Belgian city of Liège is a model for the rest of Europe. read more…
Full-on Nelson
GQ Style
March 2009
Super-talented, a charming networker and a brilliant writer, George Nelson was also the original titan of industrial design. read more…
Monument to Arrogance
Blueprint
January 2010
The commissioning of a tower for the Olympic site in London has sullied a potentially positive outcome. read more…
Too Much Stirling Effort
Blueprint
December 2006
As producers and presenters for the TV coverage for architecture's annual award make ever more desperate bids for our attention, we wonder what next for the Stirling... read more…
A Protest Against Remembering
Blueprint
October 2006
Architectural critics and commentators this month, seemly strangely in thrall to the architecture of George Gilbert Scott. Contemporary architects are the inevitable losers. read more…
The World's First Printed Building
Blueprint
March 2010
Enrico Dini has ramped up the 3D printer to a new scale, creating a machine which has the potential to reshape architecture. read more…