Photos That Changed The World - Twirling Wires

From 1930 until 1960 photography was premised on transparency. Roger Ballen was one of the photographers who changed that, seeking out those members of society who could not be so easily understood


Is the new Beyoncé video a tribute to Pipilotti Rist?

The singer's brilliant new video for Hold Up bears some striking similarities to Rist's equally great 1997 work

A still from Pipilotti Rist's Ever Is Over All (1997) and Beyoncé's Hold Up (2016) videos

One thing not to miss in Tokyo

Repurposed packing crates function as display cases in this bookshop featured in our Wallpaper* City Guide


Success at our Failed It! launch

London's creative types love the look of art director Erik Kessels’ fabulous, fun guide to failing better

Does that look right to you, Erik? A poster at the Failed It! launch

Martin Parr launches Real Food at E. Tautz

Parr's Boring Postcards inspired Patrick Grant's latest E. Tautz collection - last night he hosted the Magnum legend

Martin Parr and Patrick Grant at the launch of his book Real Food at Patrick's E. Tautz shop

What makes Stefan Sagmeister happy?

Watch the graphic designer do drugs, therapy and don a pink bunny outfit in new cinematic work, The Happy Film

A still from Stefan Sagmeister's Happy Film

A Phaidon guide to the Royal Collection

On Queen Elizabeth's 90th birthday, we take a look through her art collection, from Rembrandts to war photos

The Miraculous Draft of Fishes  (c.1515-6) by Raphael. As featured in our Raphael monograph

Is Kerry James Marshall about to take on Star Wars?

The celebrated US artist says he wants to see his Rythm Mastr comic book turned into a feature film

Kerry James Marshall, Rythm Mastr, 1999–present. Courtesy of the artist. From Kerry James Marshall: Mastry

Wolfgang Tillmans takes over the Tate

He'll get a solo show at Tate Modern in 2017 and will also take over the South Tank. So what can we expect?

Wolfgang Tillmans Self-portrait (Christian) for Phaidon book, 2013, colour photograph

A Movement in a Moment: Conceptual Art

Find out how a group of 1960s artists stripped art down to nothing in a kind of Modernist nervous breakdown

One and Three Chairs (1965) by Joseph Kosuth

Get to know the US artist for the 2017 Biennale

Find out why Mark Bradford's abstract works are rooted in the real world, via our contemporary art title Vitamin P2

A Truly Rich Man is One Whose Children Run Into His Arms When His Hands are Empty (2008) by Mark Bradford. As reproduced in Vitamin P2

Could this Dubai tower become the world’s tallest?

The Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava hopes his structure will top the Burj Khalifa once it is completed

Architectural rendering for Santiago Calatrava’s Dubai tower. Image courtesy of Emaar

Have you met Daniel Burns?

Get to know the mathematician, Michelin-starred chef and co-author of new book Food & Beer (he's on the right!)

Tørst and Luksus Chefs Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergsø and Daniel Burns

JR creates a new world for kids in his hometown

The artist’s Vous êtes ici exhibition at the Centre Pompidou offers a high tech 'model village' of his work

Vous êtes ici at Centre Pompidou. Image courtesy of JR's Instagram

The Insider's Guide to Philadelphia

Fashion designer Bela Shehu shares her favourite places as featured in our Wallpaper* City Guide

Clothes designer Bela Shehu - our Philadelphia Wallpaper* City Guide insider

Will this wooden supertall rise above London?

The world’s tallest timber structure has been proposed for the iconic brutalist Barbican estate

Oakwood Tower by PLP Architects. Image courtesy of PLP

One thing not to miss in San Sebastián

Construcción Vacía, featured in our Wallpaper* City Guide, is a fine example of Spain's fight for artistic freedom

Construcción Vacía, San Sebastián, Spain by Jorge Oteiza

Buy rare design classic - help the Design Museum

The museum is staging two auctions of great lots from famous donors to raise money for its new home

Early Camaleonda modular sofa, with three A+B units, designed 1970, produced 1971 by Mario Bellini. From the forthcoming Design Museum sale

The Art of the Map - Leonardo da Vinci

On his birth anniversary learn why he crafted this stealthy city map for one of Europe's most violent rulers

Plan of Imola 1502, by Leonardo da Vinci. As reproduced in Map

Elmgreen & Dragset turn a pool into Van Gogh's Ear

What does this swimming pool readymade say about the difference between Van Gogh's time and our own?

Van Gogh's Ear by Elmgreen & Dragset. Image courtesy of Public Art Fund, NY

Asako Iwama on the 'small universe' of the body

Artist Asako Iwama cooked at Studio Olafur Eliasson for a decade - this is what she learned along the way

Asako Iwama - photo courtesy asakoiwama.net

How Peggy Guggenheim made Jackson Pollock

As Pollock's mural for Peggy heads to London we look at how it ushered him into the ranks of the avant-garde

Peggy Guggenheim and Pollock in front of Mural, in the hallway of her town house, c.1944. From our Phaidon Focus book

Can you spot Noma on Olafur Eliasson's shelfie?

Hands up who spotted this picture in our new book Studio Olafur Eliasson The Kitchen

One of the shelves in Olafur Eliasson's Berlin studio - from Studio Olafur Eliasson The Kitchen

5 Indian garments with hidden meanings

From the Mughals to the Independence movement, the history of India has been captured in its clothing

Ghandi topi, from Sar

Have you met Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergsø?

Get to know the champion runner turned international brewer and co-author of new book Food & Beer


Why Sarah Sze’s words are as intricate as her art

Intrigued? Then come to the New York Public Library to hear the artist in conversation with Paul Holdengräber

Sarah Sze 2016

Ferran Adrià puts Disney on the dinner plate

The elBulli chef teams up with the entertainment giant to create healthy-eating content aimed at families

A promotional image for erran Adrià's new Te cuento en la cocina venture with Disney

5 Phaidon artists - 5 great Robert Storr lines on them

As the author/ curator is made Officer of France's Order of Arts and Letters we pick out some of his best writing

Robert Storr with Louise Bourgeois, c. 1985. Image courtesy of Robert Storr

Why did Oscar Murillo destroy his UK passport?

Did the artist really flush his passport down an aircraft toilet mid-flight in an attempt to shake off western identity?

Oscar Murillo at David Zwirner, London October 9, 2015 - Photo Mat Smith

Lost art of letter writing makes post office go digital

Toronto Architects RDH are bringing 21st century technology into a 19th century public building

Renderings for new digital library - RDH Architects

5 things that might help you believe

A glimpse of the rich historical and contemporary design of India where belief plays an important daily role

Paper Mâché Masks - from Sar: The Essence of Indian Design

The artwork that got JR arrested

These faces were only revealed as the block was torn down - here's how JR did it and what happened next

B11, Destruction #2, Les Bosquets, Montfermeil, 2013 by JR, as reproduced in JR: Can Art Change The World?


Kids books go on the menu at the Park Hyatt NY

Phaidon’s Feed Your Mind hotel programme gives younger guests culinary adventure and intellectual nourishment

A Can I Eat That? activity pack from Phaidon's Feed Your Mind programme at the Park Hyatt, New York

Volker Giencke's glazed orange cone rises in Latvia

Over 100 years after funding began the 'Genius of Graz's' glazed amber concert hall opens in Liepāja

The Great Amber Concert Hall, Liepāja, Latvia - Volker Giencke

John Baldessari - Affordable on Artspace

In his Double Motorcyclists and Landscape piece the grainy image of the bikers contrasts with the Icelandic wild

Overlap series: double motorcyclists and landscape (icelandic) 2003 - John Baldessari

Annabelle Selldorf remembers Zaha Hadid

'She didn't represent the conventional model' says the New York-based architect and Portfolio and Projects subject

Annabelle Selldorf. Photography by Brigitte Lacombe

John Pawson does Jutaku!

The British architect discovered his love of simplicity in Japan - now he’s returned to build a house there

John Pawson's Okinawa house. Photograph by Nacasa & Partners

Cindy Sherman's hooked to the silver screen

The artist’s new exhibition, opening in May, draws inspiration from Hollywood publicity stills of the 1920s

Untitled (2016) by Cindy Sherman. Image courtesy of Metro Pictures

Gaudí-inspired house perches precariously

Some people might resist pitching their home on a 42 degree angle - but not this young Spanish couple

The House on the Cliff - GilBartolomé Architects

5 things not to miss in Milan next week

Here’s what to look out for at Salon del Mobile, the world’s largest furniture and design fair opening on April 12

Hela Jungerius's Colour Wheel for Vitra

It's New Beers Eve at Tørst and Luksus!

Ahead of National Beer Day, spend 24 hours at the bar and restaurant pairing beer with fine dining

Costumers at Tørst, New York. From Food and Beer

What lies behind Jeff Wall's Door?

How to get a grip on, and to buy a limited-edition print of, a quintessential work by one of today's greatest artists

Fortified Door (2008) by Jeff Wall

How Raphael won his place within the Renaissance

On the anniversary of his birth, and death, read how his easygoing nature helped him secure a place in art history


The man who sees art in a pizza box

This pizza lover says take-out boxes are the most overlooked artistic medium of the 20th century. Is he right?

Where to Eat Pizza contributor Scott Wiener and his world-breaking pizza box collection

How our Botticelli writer snubbed Mussolini

Lionello Venturi was forced to leave Italy after refusing to sign allegiance to Il Duce - here's what he did next

Lionello Venturi

The devilish images that made Mapplethorpe a saint

The New York Times's Holland Cotter explains why Robert's hard-to-handle erotic pictures keep him relevant

Robert Mapplethorpe, self-portrait, 1980. Image courtesy of LACMA

Another best cookbook win for Tacopedia!

The International Association of Culinary Professionals bestows best Reference & Technical Award 2016

Tortilla baking, as featured in our award-winning cookbook, Tacopedia

'Mum I DO want to go to school today!'

Studio 505 split in two earlier this year but they've left us with some great work - including this school in Singapore

Nanyang Primary School Extension, Singapore - Studio 505

Richard Serra on Ellsworth Kelly

The great artist remembers being blown away when he saw Kelly's Colors for a Large Wall the first time

Colors for a Large Wall (1951) - Ellsworth Kelly

5 great ways to get around India

Actually we're not sure about how far you'd get on number 5 - but you'll certainly look cool on the way. . .

Premier Padmini from Sar: The Essence of Indian Design

Take a look at the Smithsonian's incredible collection

126 million wonderful artefacts, most of which have been kept from public view - until now

Smithsonian Natural History collection - photograph by Chip Clark courtesy of the Smithsonian

Herzog & de Meuron design new gallery for Vitra

Swiss architecture practice complete second project in Germany for giants of the design world

Vitra Schaudepot - Herzog & de Neuron photo courtesy Julian Lanoo (http://julienlanoo.com)

Hito Steyerl - Affordable on Artspace

The Berlin artist's 2005 work Gosprom is today's highly prized piece of art available from Artspace

Gosprom 2005 - Hito Steyeri

Foster pays homage to Mies with Manhattan tower

Foster + Partners' new tower slips neatly into the space next to Mies van der Rohe's Seagram Building

Foster + Partners - One Hundred East Fifty Third Street, Manhattan

The fascinating story of the first Pizza trucks

How the Type H Citroën or 'tubes' as they came to be known ushered in a new era of eating on the go

Silvestro Morlando bakes Neapolitan pizza in a wood-fired oven fitted into a vintage blue Citroën Type H

Zaha Hadid 1950 - 2016

Dame Zaha Hadid died of a heart attack today. here are some of the great buildings she's left us

Zaha Hadid - photo by Mary McCartney

Zaha Hadid by Sir Peter Cook

'She ventured where few would dare, if Paul Klee took a line for a walk, Zaha took the surfaces for a dance'

Zaha Hadid

How Alfred Stieglitz invented the modern photograph

In his uncompromising 1907 group portrait of the poor the photographer confronted life and reality head on

The Steerage (1907) Photogravure on vellum The Museum of Modern Art. New York - Alfred Stieglitz

Discover the big ideas behind some tiny architecture

Come to our RIBA talk next Tuesday and find out just what goes into making today's tiny buildings a big surprise

Exbury Egg, PAD Studio, SPUD Group, and Stephen Turner, 2013, Beaulieu River, Hampshire, UK. Photo by Nigel Rigden

Sarah Sze and Paul McCarthy return to the 90s

The Phaidon artists join Christian Marclay, Do-Ho Suh and others in Don’t Look Back: The 1990s at MOCA

Tokyo Santa/Santas Trees (1996/1999) by Paul McCarthy at MOCA. Image courtesy of MOCA

6 things we learned from the Mapplethorpe show

From flowers to fetish wear, here’s what we've gleaned from Robert Mapplethorpe: The Perfect Medium

Brian Ridley and Lyle Heeter, 1979, by Robert Mapplethorpe. © Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation. Image courtesy of LACMA

How a Phaidon book made Van Gogh's reputation

On his birth anniversary, how a monograph changed his standing - from inspired illustrator to master painter

Vincent Van Gogh

Stuart 'Tank Man' Franklin's 3 fave Artspace photos

Beaches, blasts and branches! The Documentary Impulse author and Tank Man photographer makes his choice

Tank Man, Tiananmen Square, Beijing, China, 1989 by Stuart Franklin

A Movement in a Moment: Surrealism

How sex, war and psychology gave rise to one of art's longest-lived and most influential movements

Lobster Telephone/ Aphrodisiac Telephone 1936 - Salvador Dali

Steve McCurry 'This is what I saw while I was alive'

The Magnum photographer opens up on his life and legacy during great PBS interview

Steve McCurry - Rajasthan 1996

Lunch is a tall order at this Mexican restaurant

Tall Arquitectos has designed this cantilevered restaurant for a ravine four times the size of the Grand Canyon

Biré Bitori by Tall Arquitectos

What Joel Meyerowitz shot after Cape Light

A current exhibition looks at the great American photographer's summer work after his seminal Cape Cod series

Early morning still life, 1983, by Joel Meyerowitz

Warhol on Mapplethorpe

Warhol confidant Bob Colacello recalls Andy's reaction to his friendship with the late, great photographer

Robert Mapplethorpe, 1983, by Andy Warhol

Look who visited Phaidon X The Met Bookstore!

Edmund de Waal was browsing the books (including his own signed edition) when we bumped into him this week

Edmund de Waal at Phaidon x The Met Bookstore

How Edward Weston went from door-to-door portraitist to 20th century photographic pioneer

On his birth anniversary, discover how he learned to capture the beauty in nature's ripples and curves

Nude on Sand, 1936, by Edward Weston. As reproduced in The Photography Book

A Movement in a Moment: Brutalism

All you need to know about a hard, unforgiving style of architecture that many of us have grown to love

Geisel Library, University of California, San Diego, USA, 1970 by William Pereira & Associates. From This Brutal World

Warhol's Shoes go for twice the price at Sotheby's

And this is how those infamous shoe drawings helped him on his first steps to becoming a world renowned artist

An image from Andy Warhol's A La Recherché du Shoe Perdu (c. 1955)

Olafur Eliasson gives a Green Light to refugees

Find out how the artist's Viennese project helps new arrivals settle in, and create some beautiful lamps too

Participants at Olafur Eliasson's Green Light project in Vienna

How this Japanese chef mastered Neapolitan pizza

The amazing story of how Japan became one of the best places in the world to enjoy 'real' Neapolitan pizza

Champion pizza chef Akinari “Pasquale” Makishima

You can own a Danny Lyon limited edition print

We're offering two of the legend's groundbreaking photographs shot in the early 1960s in Chicago

Three Young Men - Danny Lyon

Is this Francis Bacon painting an all time great?

Find out why a Sotheby's specialist says it's 'number one of all the paintings I’ve handled in my career'

Two Studies for a Self-Portrait (1970) by Francis Bacon. Image courtesy of Sotheby's

Olafur Eliasson shows Ryan Gander the art of lunch

The Berlin-based artist explains to Gander and BBC TV viewers how cookery helps make him creative

Ryan Gander and Olafur Eliasson, on the BBC's Artsnight. Image courtesy of BBC.com

Looking for the perfect Brutalist getaway?

Fresh air! Restored concrete! Good reasons why brutal architecture lovers should stay at Van Wassenhove House

Van Wassenhove House. Image courtesy of museumdd.be

Phaidon x The Met Bookstore is open!

Today we open our latest pop-up store at The Met Breuer - the Met's new modern and contemporary art space

Phaidon x The Met Bookstore

Martin Parr talks about Real Food

The photographer on his new food photos book, Magnum's future and which actor he'd (not) like to play him on TV

Martin Parr, Taunton, Somerset, England 1998 © Martin Parr / Magnum Photos. Real Food, Martin Parr, Phaidon

A Brutalist guide to the film High-Rise

The architecture that informed the new movie adaptation, courtesy of This Brutal World's Peter Chadwick

A still from the new film High-Rise

Bowie and Nan Goldin together at auction

Rare Helmut Newton Bowie contact sheet and signed Nan Goldin artist proof go under the hammer later today


Fancy cocktails at this Frank Lloyd Wright gem?

Wright's early masterpiece, the Robie House in Chicago, is playing host to a drinks party every Friday in April

The Robie House. Image courtesy of the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust

The good and evil in Mapplethorpe's flowers

The photographer's lover Jack Fritscher recalls how, in his flowers, Mapplethorpe saw both beauty and the devil

Robert Mapplethorpe, Calla Lily, 1988, Gelatin Silver Print © Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation. Mapplethorpe Flora: The Complete Flowers, Phaidon

Bring a surfboard to BIG’s new Redskins stadium

And your skates in winter, all thanks to a new plan to add watersports to this Washington football facility

BIG's renderings for the Redskins' new stadium. Images courtesy of redskins.com

Anish Kapoor comes out of the dark into the light

He's just bought the rights to the darkest black in the world - now he's moved into the lightest studio in the world

Anish Kapoor's new studio complex by Caseyfierro Architects. Image courtesy of caseyfierro.com

Sou Fujimoto creates timber tower French vineyard

The Japanese architect spearheads revamp of Bordeaux as it opens a high speed train link with Paris

Canopia by Sou Fujimoto and Laisné Roussel

IKEA's Billy Bookcase designer dies

Gillis Lundgren, the fourth person to join IKEA in 1953 and creator of its most iconic products, passes age 89

Gillis Lundgren

Phaidon’s new pop up shop opens tonight

We’ve buddied up with the Koppel Project to open our own retail space inside this new contemporary art gallery

Gabriella Sonabend puts some finishing touches to the Koppel Project

Remember this? We've a book by the guy who did it

Jean Jullien, the illustrator behind the Peace for Paris design, has created a playful new title, This is Not A Book

Peace for Paris (2015) by Jean Jullien

How Detroit’s car industry helped shape its pizzas

Where To Eat Pizza author Daniel Young on how the trays on Ford’s production lines inspired pizza in the city

One of Via 313's Detroit-style pizzas. Image courtesy of via313.com

You can own a limited edition Martin Parr print

Parr's pictures of Christians, street parties and equestrian events, record the changing nature of British society

Martin Parr: Steep Lane Baptist Chapel, Yorkshire, 1978. From The Nonconformists. Buy this limited print in our store

A mosque for Foster's World Trade Centre

British architect Amanda Levete's new religious building combines Islamic traditions with 21st century technology

AL_A's new mosque designs. Image courtesy of AL_A

‘There's a spiritual quality about looking at art you don’t want to undermine’ - Annabelle Selldorf

On the opening of Hauser Wirth & Schimmel the architect describes the power of sculpting art spaces

Annabelle Selldorf. Photography by Brigitte Lacombe

The phantasmagorical world of Vasily Klyukin

Has this Russian-born banker turned design dilettante created the architectural equivalent of outsider art?

Asian Cobra Tower by Vasily Klyukin. Image courtesy of vasilyklyukin.com

A truly transparent Islamic Centre for NYC

Designing an Islamic Centre for NYC was not an easy commission but we think Koray Duman has pulled it off

Buro Koray Duman's Islamic Cultural Center for New York

Dada's birthplace to be recreated for Manifesta 11

Cabaret Voltaire will be recreated with a 21st century twist for the Christian Jankowski-curated event this summer

Cabaret Voltaire, Zurich 2016 - photo by Martin Stollenwerk

Stan Douglas on why phone photos all look the same

The artist says our phones are programmed to make the same image and little distinguishes one from another

Abbott & Cordova, 7 August 1971 (2008) by Stan Douglas