3+ week, 6+ day ago (343+ words) My sister Liz Barnard, who has died aged 83, began her working life in the government Careers Service, but in her 30s she changed career herself. In 1977 she embarked on a degree in furnishing and interior design at the London College of Furniture, and then moved back to Norwich, where she had grown up, and began to develop property. Liz was born in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, during the second world war, to Mary (nee Loomes), a teacher, and Arthur Barnard, known as Barney, an accountant. It was a time of rationing and bombs, and Liz continued to be frightened by loud bangs for the rest of her life. Barney moved to gain promotion in his career as a municipal accountant and the family followed him. By 1949, Liz had three siblings, and soon after that, when Mary's sister died, her two children, along with…...

3+ week, 3+ day ago (142+ words) More than 40 projects were recognised in the national awards, identifying contemporary designs that offer solutions to critical national issues, including housing shortages, affordability and the climate crisisGet our weekend culture and lifestyle email Continue reading... More on this story "I'm never surprised when I read about a woman murdering a man': Helen Garner on her Baillie Gifford prize-winning diaries "Nothing compares to it today': the sequins, scandal and nude showgirls of Australia's Tivoli circuit Helen Garner's diaries win 2025 Baillie Gifford prize for nonfiction Three decades later, The Truman Show feels freshly disturbing " and astoundingly prescient Mushroom tapes, erotic Greek myths and joyful Thai cooking: the best Australian books out in November Happiness review " Schitt's Creek meets Glee in charming Kiwi musical comedy Frankenstein, Materialists and Pluribus: what's new to streaming in Australia in November...

6+ day, 15+ hour ago (580+ words) Competition-winning apartment building plans should be approved twice as quickly by NSW councils, and will be three to six storeys high Airy Scandinavian interiors, shaded balconies, light-filled courtyards " could these be Sydney's next art deco apartment blocks or red brick walk-ups? The New South Wales government has launched nine new mid-rise apartment building pattern book designs, which it hopes will support the construction of 112,000 homes in the "missing middle" over the next five years, through its controversial low and mid-rise (LMR) reforms. The designs, among the winners of the government's pattern book design competition, come after the release of eight low-rise home drawings in July. The mid-rise apartment designs unveiled on Monday range from three to six storeys, including four designs for small lots, three designs for large lots and two designs for corner lots. The cross-ventilated and energy-efficient pattern…...

4+ day, 4+ hour ago (659+ words) A former sailors" haunt has been reimagined by more than 40 creatives for the closing weekend of the Fremantle biennale First built about 1870 and renovated during the gold-rush era, for almost a century this building was a magnet for wharfies and crewmen, with its 31 rooms and a raucous sailors" bar known as the Cockpit. But despite being in the centre of Fremantle"s busiest street, this historical relic has largely remained empty and off limits for decades. Left: Sculptural artist Abdul Rahman Abdullah"s work, In the name, draws on his childhood when the scarcity of halal meat brought animal slaughter and butchery into his family"s suburban backyard. Right: A chandelier forms part of his work Wednesday"s Child But on 29 and 30 November, the public are invited inside for Room Service, a maze of performances and installations that forms part…...

3+ week, 2+ day ago (679+ words) Invest in the right pieces in your first house (clue " it's not a sofa), let teens have some say and make spare rooms work harder when the kids move out " interiors experts share their tips for every age Use the right white Resist the urge to paint all the walls brilliant white the moment you move in, says interior designer Rebecca Constable. "It might seem like a blank slate, but it can make the house feel sterile and cold," she says. "A neutral, like Farrow and Ball's Wimborne White, or a colour-matched version of it, will look softer and calmer." " or to shops Another common mistake is to buy everything at once from the same few stores " a well-designed room is all about the juxtaposition of pieces that reflect who you are, says Ribchester. Bringing something old which might not…...

1+ week, 2+ day ago (367+ words) He may now live in Germany, but he loves returning to Britain, not just to put on a show, but to enjoy the weather, the food, the humour " and the selfie-takers in galleries The perhaps unlikely answer is that you welcome the selfie-taker with outstretched arms, or at least give a convincing impression of doing so. "No, I don't have problem with that," says Cragg, albeit faintly, as if he's thinking about the people who might be crossing the threshold of his latest show, which just opened in London. "People are bound to respond in different ways." Although he didn't see eye to eye with his father about sculpture, Cragg considers it a waste of time to make busts of the famous, or the likeness of a horse. "For me, representing exactly what's in front of you is a senseless…...

3+ day, 9+ hour ago (649+ words) The late Australian artist "wanted to challenge orthodoxy in everything he did, says Sue Cramer, his wife and co-curator of a new survey of his playful, rigorous career John Nixon, the late Australian avant-garde artist, would sometimes save the shells from his boiled eggs and sprinkle them across blank paint, creating his own starry night. Other times hed set himself rules, such as painting only in orange for five years. It was 1996 and he was becoming a father, so he wanted a streamlined practice " plus, what other artist was associated with orange? These anecdotes " just two among many " reflect not only Nixons lifelong frugality, idiosyncrasies and strategies, but his steadfast blending of art into everyday life for more than 50 years. His hardline minimalism never feels stifling or overwrought, but rigorous and playful, critical yet fortuitous. "Through his life and work…...

14+ hour, 11+ min ago (751+ words) Exclusive: French artist planning to cover bridge over Seine in tribute to Christo and Jeanne-Claude The enigmatic French artist JR will undertake what he says is his biggest ever challenge next year when he "wraps" Pont Neuf, the oldest standing bridge across the Seine River in Paris, in a tribute to a monumental art project by Christo and Jeanne-Claude. For three weeks next June, the 232-metre (761ft) long bridge will be wrapped in fabric, 40 years after the married artists known for their large-scale, site-specific environmental installations did the same thing. In an exclusive interview with the Guardian in his Paris studio, JR said the project " titled the Pont Neuf Cavern " was "100% the most challenging thing I've ever done". "Suddenly, I realised I could actually wrap this bridge and create a real cave in it. "You're going to see this big rock…...

5+ hour ago (214+ words) Separate rooms | Downsizing homes | Nigel Farage | Hong Kong fires | Idle Working Men's Club All five "homes for downsizers" (Fantasy house hunt: Homes for downsizers, 28 November) are larger and more expensive than the one I've happily inhabited for many years. And I have to ask: from what palace might one be downsizing to a three-bedroom, three-bathroom apartment in St'John's Wood, London?Anne CowperBishopston, Swansea Samuel Johnson was wrong. Patriotism isn't the last refuge of a scoundrel. It is the penultimate refuge; hiding behind the term "banter" is the last refuge of the scoundrel (Three more ex-pupils at school with Nigel Farage reject "banter' claims, 25 November). Prof Stephen FarrallSheffield Hong Kong authorities wasted no time in arresting those they hold responsible for last week's fatal fire in tower blocks. Here, eight years on, still'no arrests over Grenfell.John KendallPresteigne, Powys If we're…...