Today we celebrate

April 25, 2025

Today Italy celebrates 80 years since the Nazi occupation and their fellows, the local fascists, were kicked out of Milan and Turin, the last two major cities still being held in their blood-soaked grip. The civil war would carry on for another week, but today’s the official holiday. Our local government (a far-right one, in case you missed this detail) invited the country to celebrate “with sobriety” and many cities cancelled the decennial tradition of public gatherings and commemorative parades, which is troubling to say the least. So here’s my invitation to celebrate with enthusiasm. Freedom doesn’t come cheap. Freedom doesn’t come for free.

In the header, a detail of a painting by Renato Guttuso, our local Picasso, who painted against fascism and joined the resistance in 1940.

architecture, engineering and construction

Climb the ladder and hone the art of doubt

A few weeks ago, I wrote a piece on the art of questioning, and someone on LinkedIn aptly remarked that the main idea is dubito, ergo sum: doubting is one of the skills we humans have to hone and preserve in the age of AI.

October 7, 2026 9:00 am

Spooktober

Spooktober 7 – My Aunt Margaret’s Mirror (2)

Continues from yesterday. THE MIRROR. CHAPTER I. You are fond (said my aunt) of sketches of the society which has passed away. I wish I could describe to you Sir Philip Forester, the “chartered libertine” of Scottish good company, about the end of the last

October 7, 2026 6:00 am

architecture, engineering and construction

Notes from Morocco

I have a particular fondness for Middle-East, Africa and the Mediterranean Region and, as such, I was sure not to be disappointed by my brief visit to Morocco. We spent a handful of days between Marrakesh and Essaouira, on the Atlantic sea, with a stop

October 6, 2026 2:30 pm