Posted: Sun Mar 20, 05 11:23 am Post subject: Magic Carpets
Radio 4 Friday 23:30 Magic Carpets
Carpets evolved out of the nomadic habits of human beings - a home could be created by throwing a carpet on a floor, or by draping it on a wall or a tent. You could even wear a carpet in cold weather. The Islamic influence meant that the representation of human forms were generally prohibited in carpet design which resulted in the glorious and fantastically coloured rendition of animals, calligraphic, and abstract motifs - long before abstract art was born.
Tony Lidington travels from the sophisticated auction rooms of London to the humble villages and souks of the Middle East in search of the technological and artistic secrets of carpet-making. Along the way he discovers the magic and mythology surrounding these gorgeous, and sometimes priceless, products of human art and industry.
Posted: Sun Mar 20, 05 11:26 am Post subject: House of the Future
Radio 4 Saturday 20:00 House of the Future
Tent-like spacesuits wired for TV and radio; plastic dwellings with hovercrafts and robots in the kitchen; and anonymous foamy houses whose bedrooms move like the colours of the Rubik?s Cube.
Were these crazy or ahead of their time? Laurence Llewellyn Bowen travels through five decades of the House of the Future, exploring how British architects have responded to the promise ? and threat ? of new technology.
travels through five decades of the House of the Future, exploring how British architects have responded to the promise ? and threat ? of new technology.
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