The world around us seems as turbulent as it has ever been. Tremors across industry, across culture, across the environment, are profoundly reshaping everything we know. We started The Alpine Review as an attempt to understand those tremors from a long-term point of view — to look at how our immediate moment is shaped by the past and will shape us in the future.
A collection of ideas, thoughts and recent developments related to our environment.
Tracking innovative making and manufacturing signals from around the world — BRCK, M-KOPA, LIFELINK and other interesting developments.
What are the real solutions to climate change? Here we explore the substantial risks of geoengineering technologies in a context where underlying behaviours remain unchanged.
In the wake numerous “too big to fail” crises (2008, GM, the entire banking system, etc.), the lifespan of companies has once again been called into question.
The popular acceptance of professional management theory is now being challenged by two corporate categories that had previously been relegated to its margins: the conglomerate and the family businesses.
Between cleansing, superfoods, and the rise of gluten-free, health-conscious eating has become a dominant trend. But it can tip over into extreme behavior.
Patrick Tanguay, editor-at-large of The Alpine Review, sat down with the pair to talk about managing relationships on social media, the benefits of drunk tweeting, and the increasing intimacy of social communication.
Events today are big engines of creativity, production, and networking. As an industry and near philosophy onto itself, what trends are we seeing in live events and where are the opportunities to enrich these gatherings?
The history of toilets is the history of humanity. It’s abundant with good intention but it’s messy and it stinks. And despite every great civilization’s best efforts to solve the fecal problem, we still can’t quite get it right.
Why would an established writer with a penchant for creativity move to Singapore? Because while New York may call itself ‘the capital of the world,’ for Fredrik Härén, Singapore is the world.
When Ireland’s economy collapsed in 2008, the government saw an opportunity to enact a smart carbon tax that would benefit not only the economy but also the environment.
Tracking interesting signals, ideas and questions that make society move.
In the context of the new chef craze, iconic culinary figure Jacques Pépin underlines the everlasting importance of simplicity and humility, reiterating that the main reason to cook remains the same: to share.
Quality education and the nordic model: how it is possible to achieve excellence by focusing not on competition, but on cooperation, and not on choice, but on equity
Tracking interesting signals, ideas and questions in the field of economics and society at large.
We like Pico Iyer’s concept of “Nowhere” and share his fantasy of unplugging.
How to we make sense of our shared human experience given that we seem trapped into the limited persona of the 'consumer'? Here we connect Sandel and Lapham through the concept of the "skyboxification" of life.
The archives of the Soviet Union’s only true advertising agency are stuffed with psychedelic paradoxes and unearthly, sometimes unappetizing delights.
Permanence is a contradictory idea. The moment of “now” is as fiercely urgent as it has ever been. Now is the only time we will ever live in, and the only time we can do anything about.
Ideas, thoughts and signals shaping the world of media.
A curated list of interesting makers that caught our eye — MakieLab
The Good Night Lamp: a family of connected lamps that communicate the act of coming back home to your loved ones, remotely.
‘Measure twice, cut once.’ Peter Buchanan-Smith appreciates a job well done and has made a living meticulously crafting axes by hand in his Brooklyn studio. As Best Made Co. expands we have to ask, is everything still wonderful?
A curated list of interesting makers that caught our eye — Outlier clothing
A passionate collector and curator, Thomas Andrae’s Berlin home reflects his renowned talent for finding and capturing objects of beauty and significance. Freunde von Freunden and photographer Luke Abiol get a personal tour of some of Andrae’s most beloved pieces.
Magazines are artefacts; a presence in one’s home, library, cafe, hotel or meeting place. Increasingly, magazines have been using this power to expand their reach into the real world, communicating identity and acting as a platform.
As we increasingly operate according to the algorithms and information architecture of the internet, we learn not only to write like computers, but think like them too.
Unfinished business with some dreamers of the red planet dream
What happens when a good chunk of people are unemployed due to automation? Douglas Rushkoff on the future of work and its broader implications (e.g. UBI, meaning etc.).
Bill McKibben outlines the three critical numbers in the balance between global salvation and global devastation-- and why the fossil fuel energy industry needs more than just a stern reprimand.
Tracking interesting signals, ideas and questions that make society move — on unemployment and technology.
What is a product? And what are the broader implications for design when smart, connected products have become the norm? In Megan Neese’s EPIC piece “What is a Product?”, she argues for a product-design methodology rooted in place.
Patrick Pittman, co-editor on Issue 3 of The Alpine Review, sat down with the pair to chat about digital transformation, making organizations more agile, and creative risk.
Responsible design requires thinking ahead, outside of the realm of today’s definition of normalcy, and bravely facing the risks head-on. Anab Jain of Superflux shares her curiosity for the near-future, superdensity and the power of suspended disbelief.
