Culture
Room for Debate
A space to host discussions and to address head on a range of subjects, some serious, some less so. Expect hot takes on voyeurism, nostalgia, taste, and the concept of cool. If you would like to join in the debate, write to us at roomfordebate@worldofinteriors.co.uk
Latest Stories
Room for Debate
Why are exotic Black figures still popular in European decorative arts?
Why do exotic Black figures remain popular in Europe? Because under the guise of decoration, the instinct to critically engage is dulled, argues art historian Adrienne Childs
Room for Debate
Are ‘antiques’ the most modern things we own?
Endless rehashings of Art Deco and Shaker ‘style’ ignore the radical spirit that drove them, argues Michael Diaz-Griffith
Room for Debate
It’s high time we recognise the subversive nature of topiary
Does topiary have to be seen as an eco-disaster and imperialist hangover? No, says Nick Spain, it’s high time the bush is reclaimed as a pinnacle of queerness
Room for Debate
With the closing of nightclubs comes the withering of fashion
Once liberated laboratories for outré outfits, nightclubs are closing in droves – and with them goes street style? asks Alice Kemp-Habib
Room for Debate
The slicker our kitchens look, the less we seem to cook
The gleaming kitchens of our culinary dreams – all stainless steel and high-spec kit – can induce something like performance anxiety in the domestic cook. Bring back the joyful, messy reality of daily meal preparation
Room for Debate
Upsizing has its downsides too
The demand for space is a clearly huge issue, but Charlene Prempeh asks whether the pipe dream of a palatial home creates a domestic ideal too big to fit the actual wants and needs of daily living
Room for Debate
Do you know the story of your possessions?
How have we become so disconnected from the stories underlying the objects we own? Materials designer Seetal Solanki argues that the problem stems from the West prioritising individual authorship over ancestry
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Room for Debate
What is ‘taste’, really?
The whole topic of taste is such a ticklish one, Alice Inggs subscribes to just one rule: show conviction in your passions