The Common Table just turned six. Its founders take stock of their platform and renew their pledge to champion voices for change in humankind’s greatest task ahead: transitioning to a global ecosystem of economies that are decent, fair and safe – through food. thecommontable.eu/what-are-we-...

"It’s design’s job to reflect the current times. I think in every cultural moment from the industrial revolution to an art movement etc., we can trace our steps to see how it was reflected in the objects that were made at the time." Virgil Abloh, interview 2020

It's not news that there is something pretty toxic about the fine-dining industry. Instances of abuse and mental health issues abound. We sought out a Michelin-starred chef who has been through the system and thought long and hard about system change. thecommontable.eu/remove-the-a...

Remove The Arbiters Of Taste — The Common Table

We talk to the Michelin-starred chef Ivan Brehm of Nouri in Singapore about artifice, agency, and the unsustainable game fine dining has become.

thecommontable.eu

Through The Lens Of Food — The Common Table

Nathan Thornburgh, co-founder and publisher of Roads & Kingdoms, who worked closely with Anthony Bourdain, explains how food can be a lens on the world and the soul.

thecommontable.eu

The Common Table@thecommontable.eu · 9mo ago

@sophielovell.com and Orlando Lovell's interview with Nathan Thornburgh of Roads and Kingdoms is full of insights about three of our favourite subjects: food, travel and publishing.

“I’m a woman. I’m an Arab. I’m an architect." In celebration of Dame Zaha Mohammad Hadid (1950-2016), who would have been 75 on October 31, 2025.

“Checkpoint Charlie is littered with fast‑food chains, souvenir stalls and vacant shopfronts: little more than a deconstructed gift shop selling a deconstructed history.” I revisited Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin for the October 2025 "Borders" issue of @social.architectural-review.com

Honoured to have my conversation with the late, great Virgil Abloh included in the #virgilabloharchive. Abloh changed design by changing access and transposing meaning and function. Go see the show “Virgil Abloh: The Codes” at #virgilabloh #offwhite #grandpalais #paris. @wallpapermag.bsky.social

III/III From 2013 to 2016, I was editor-in-chief of uncube, an award-winning digital magazine about architecture and beyond. In 2016, uncube’s owner, #baunetz decided to close it and took it offline in 2024, despite outcry from its extensive fan base and the editorial team’s offer to take it over.

II/III From 2013 to 2016, I was editor-in-chief of uncube, a ground-breaking and award-winning digital magazine about architecture and beyond. Contributors included Zaha Hadid, Greg Lynn, Temple Grandin, Ricardo Scofidio, Achim Menges, Paola Antonelli, Olafur Eliasson, Aaron Betsky, Indy Johar...

I/III From 2013 to 2016, I had the privilege of being Editor-in-Chief of uncube, a ground-breaking and award-winning digital magazine about architecture and beyond. Our goal: to address topics beyond the conventional context of architectural discourse with a critical eye and an independent voice...

Can Food Design improve our relationships with food, or is it just fancy plating? OxfordFoodSymposium’ Kitchen Table & @thecommontable.eu invited Priya Mani, Sonia Massari, @fparasecoli.bsky.social, Laila Snevele, @sophielovell.com & Orlando Lovell to discuss. thecommontable.eu/food-design-...

In the Roads issue, the AR revisits this 1970s superstructure, designed by Georg Heinrichs, Gerhard Krebs and Klaus Krebs, to wrap around a motorway. Read the full piece on Schlangenbader Straße, or the Schlange (‘snake’), in the Roads issue, and now online 🐍

Revisit: Schlangenbader Straße estate in Berlin, Germany, by Georg Heinrichs, Gerhard Krebs and Klaus Krebs

A superstructure designed in the 1970s with a motorway running through its core still purrs along nicely because it was built for people, not cars

architectural-review.com

‘What you really do not notice is that a four‑lane motorway, a tributary of the A100, runs right through the middle of the building.’ 2/

‘The Schlangenbader Straße estate is surprisingly quiet. Bird song, lots of it, fills the air and with that the occasional sound of children playing,’ writes @sophielovell.com of the gigantic housing estate in Berlin’s Wilmersdorf borough. 1/

“I have built little. But I have built many castles in the air” This is a belated mini-series in celebration of what would have been the 100th birthday of the extraordinary Frei Otto, 1925-2015. Back in 2015, we did a special issue of uncube magazine (no. 33) dedicated to his work and legacy…

“Never heard of it!” I wrote a piece for the “Roads” issue of @social.architectural-review.com about a secretive 1970s superstructure (with 4000 residents and a motorway running through it) called “The Snake” 🐍 www.thearchitecturalreviewstore.com/products/roads

Featuring OMA, Mauricio Rocha, Christian Kerez, Michel Desvigne Paysagiste, El Equipo Mazzanti, TaAU, Alejandro Castro, ContraFuerte, Batlleiroig. Writing by @jwmueller-pu.bsky.social, @ollywainwright.bsky.social, @marthadillon.bsky.social, @blancapujals.bsky.social, @sophielovell.com & many more

Had such an interesting conversation with Chat GPT this morning. I think it might be radicalising ✊

Introducing the system network that is studio_lovell and @thecommontable.eu 🙂

The Common Table@thecommontable.eu · 2y ago

Just as we understand individual ingredients, like apples or crisps, to be expressions of systems, The Common Table is an expression of a system initiated by studio_lovell. It is designed to be a hospitable space for learning to ask better questions.

“Since the “SEVERANCE” series is set in a strange 1960s-1990s time mix, maybe Dieter R.’s “WANDANLAGE” represents “timeless” universal domestic tech in this parallel Apple-less Lumonsphere? – a ‘quality’ placeholder for those missing Ive-team Apple products.” I wrote a thing about #severance

THE SEVERANCE FURNITURE CONTROVERSY (that *should* be?)

Top-tier brain power unleashed on a misguided (? or not) use of DIETER RAMS in LUMONsphere décor

forscale.substack.com

Save the date: Monday 17th March new text (rant) from moi on forscale.substack.com about #Severance S2, #DieterRams #Apple emotional impact vs. principles, the singularity and democracy.

Notes from a panel talk 10/10 "The Future of Democracy in America: A Conversation with The Atlantic", with @theatlantic.com writers @anneapplebaum.bsky.social George Packer & editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg. Mod. by Daniel Benjamin, President of @americanacademy.bsky.social, Berlin March 3, 2025.