Julia Cooke

Havanan urban planning and Mexican design

admin — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 16:15:43 +0000

Two recent stories in the Atlantic Cities: on how the new economic measures surrounding home ownership in Cuba may change atmospheric Havana, and witty, political pieces of contemporary Mexican design.

Cinefilia en la Habana

admin — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 19:03:34 +0000

How one Cuban filmmaker bucks the revolution and reimagines Utopia. An interview I did with the prolific and brilliant Fernando Pérez.

Link, English.

Havana’s Best New Restaurants

admin — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:40:58 +0000

It was a hard job, but someone had to do it, and I am nothing if not up to the task of eating: The top four paladars that have opened in Havana since Raúl Castro’s started granting restaurant permits to anyone who asks, plus a spotlight on one.

Condé Nast Traveller, UK. (PDF) or (link)

You can keep your damn Matisse

admin — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 21:59:10 +0000

My profile of insanely prolific and colorful design writer Steve Heller– a fetish for Nazi design esoterica and 140 books written, co-authored, edited, or somehow otherwise compiled by the man– for The Village Voice, linked here.

Contemporary Architecture in Havana

admin — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 16:11:27 +0000

A handful of young architects are hoping to take advantage of the momentum of change rustling through Cuba these days to highlight the potential for contemporary architecture in Havana. Link, Design Observer

New Vintage Shops in La Roma

admin — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 16:02:42 +0000

A flurry of new shops for vintage furniture and design objects have opened in Mexico City’s la Roma neighborhood– a big deal in a place where, when I moved in six years ago, nary a store (well, okay, only the beautiful Chic By Accident, but really, who can afford anything there) sold what Mexicans used to term ‘old, dirty stuff.’ A short blurb I did for Conde Nast’s Traveller (UK) on the new shops here.

Under the Table

admin — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 09:45:27 +0000

An essay on my adventures purchasing cured ham and parmesan cheese on Havana’s black market for gourmet food.

Link, English

Interview: Peter Marino

admin — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 20:16:29 +0000

Architect/designer/decorator Peter Marino talks about defining the zeitgeist, covering a wall with de Koonings and why he thinks a commode is a higher art form.

Link to digital magazine, English (p60)

Pie de la Cuesta

admin — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 15:32:21 +0000

A short travel piece on Pie de la Cuesta, a tiny, somewhat dilapidated Mexican beach town with some of the best food and sunsets to be found along the Pacific coast.

Budget Travel, February, 2010. PDF, English

Prime Time in Havana

admin — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 17:15:25 +0000

In acquiring works for their lush home in Havana, Xantha and Sebastiaan Berger have become de facto patrons of a handful of emerging talents in the lively local art scene.

Link to ArtInfo web version of story (English)