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.
The dawn of the anthropocene is forcing us to confront the full extent of our impact, beyond the physical destruction of habitat, to include social and cultural impact across species. What are the implications?
A collection of ideas, thoughts and recent developments related to our environment and milieu.
The road to fossil fuel transition is paved with complicated questions related to growth and scale. Scaling works well in periods of energy ‘ascent,’ when the supply of energy increases, but less in periods of energy ‘descent.
Tracking interesting signals, new and old ideas in the field of economics and business.
Methodologies, tools and vehicles of production are accelerating full-speed into the future—Simone Cicero offers seven ways organizations and enterprises can gear up to keep up.
Ideas, thoughts and other curiosities about business and retail.
From rainbow-filtered Facebook profile pictures to the backlash against Justine Sacco’s infamous AIDS tweet, social media is increasingly used to speak out against (or in favor of) various issues.
Tracking interesting signals, ideas and questions that make society move.
We keep the grand monuments and the recognizable symbols as warnings. But there’s a lost story in the stuff that gets thrown out.
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.
As DIY culture evolves into DIWO (Do It With Others, more commonly referred to as creative coworking) there is an increasing demand for places to connect and create — enter FabCafe.
A pioneering institution, a trailblazing magazine, a legendary region and a networked culture. Fabrica’s new CEO talks us through the realignment and new outlook energizing the centre.
What makes Barca so good? Three great lessons that apply beyond the immediate confines of the sport.
A collection of ideas, thoughts and recent developments related to our environment.
We expect great things from corporations, but their ability to effectively represent our best collective efforts should be thoughtfully examined.
The field of psychological trauma is evolving to recognize that adversity may actually be good for you.
Put your weapons down. The gaming industry has been turned on its head by the de-mocratization of development and distribution tools, paving the way for games as a form of deeply personal art. A new wave of standouts signals the way forward for a mature creative medium.
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.
Long before Google famously allotted 20% of employee working hours for personal projects, Lockheed Martin created an entire division to think outside the box.
Christian Sandvig studies how the details of such algorithmic operations are selectively disclosed to shape the public’s relationship to these services.
For all the Luke Skywalkers out there, your hand is coming. A self-taught inventor, Easton LaChapelle of Mancos, Colorado is creating mind-blowing (and low-cost) robotic arms that he’s been developing since he was 14...as in, 3 years ago.
3D printing and the promise of radical change in manufacturing technology
For those who believe in the theory of the 'great stagnation', the enduring B52 is probably its most iconic attestation. A superb example of good design and engineering but, alas, it also feels like a failure of progress.
Visit a ski chalet and find a trail map, likely mounted atop a hearth, the imperfect tree lines and pastel color palette so very familiar, wherever you are in the world. Turns out there’s a guy that makes those. And he’s getting ready for retirement.
Irish brothers Jonathan and Mark Legge, who grew up in a family of architects, have built an online “Shed” in which they carry a curation of simple, beautiful and occasionally odd locally crafted "objects of integrity".
Ideas, thoughts and signals shaping the world of media.
There is an uncanny feeling that something profound is taking place at this very moment. Massive changes twisting and pulling at the fabric of our world. The Alpine Review — Observing the things that matter.
Unfinished business with some dreamers of the red planet dream
The driverless car is more than just a passive mode of transport. It entails a new form of city life. As we make the shift from drivers to supervisors and from owners to users, we can expect a variety of transformations to take place.
Marcus Westbury’s Renew Newcastle organization has provided an exciting, replicable, low-budget model for urban renewal, focused on taking down not just the boards in the windows but the barriers to entry.
Dan Hill on “dark matter”: a term borrowed from the historian Wouter Vanstiphout referring to the hidden mass of policies and power that affect decision-making, the process, as well as the success or failure of projects.
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.
As creativity becomes, arguably, the most valuable resource, city planners do their best to cultivate creative neighbourhoods where innovation can thrive. However, there is more to cultivating creativity than building coffee shops and craft supply stores.