Archive

Dick Bruna House, Utrecht, The Netherlands Who would have thought that such a simple design would prove to be so popular for so long? Miffy is a rabbit – that is clear from immediately looking at her. But you might not realise that she is the world’s most successful rabbit, at the head of a ...

Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, The Netherlands I stare at the collection of hangars and ropes with confusion. This is supposedly the coat rack for the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam but I can’t seem to work it out. It’s not until one of the museum staff comes over and explains it that it ...

Tomioka Silk Mill, Gunma, Japan When the Tomioka Silk Mill first opened in Japan in 1872, the Japanese government set out to recruit young women to come and work at the factory. But they were shocked to find that nobody was applying. It was well-paid work in a relatively comfortable environment, so why were there ...

Yakusuni Shrine and Yushukan Museum They say it’s the victors who get to write history. Obviously nobody told the Japanese. While most of the world sees the Imperial Japanese as merciless invaders during the period of World War II, the country’s largest war museum mixes the red and white of the national flag to use ...

Meguro Parasitological Museum, Tokyo, Japan Why would anyone want to go and look at tapeworms? It’s the question I’m asking myself as I walk up to the entrance of this museum in Tokyo. It’s not any old museum – no history, artwork, demonstrations, cultural artefacts. This is a museum of parasites: the Meguro Parasitological Museum, ...

miBa museum, Barcelona You know what they say: ‘necessity is the mother of all invention’. I guess that explains the cushion that has been made into a television remote control so you can never lose it. In Barcelona, the miBa Museum is the ultimate collection of the strangest and coolest inventions ever created. They’re the ...

The Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archaeology Who doesn’t love the idea of discovering sunken treasure? I’m sure I remember it being a dream of mine as a young boy. Sailing off a ship (pirate or otherwise), following a map to find the spot where x marks, and then opening up those chests full of gold. ...

The National Security Agency Being a spy is supposed to be cool. If it’s not tuxedos, cocktails and casinos, then it should at least be safehouses, martial arts and a mysterious bank account in Switzerland. Surely being a spy means having a secret cabinet of weapons and gadgets hidden behind your bookshelf at home, a ...

The National Museum of Health and Medicine It’s not large like Mount Rushmore, iconic like the Statue of Liberty, or symbolic like The White House. It’s small and virtually hidden from view. Most locals don’t know it still exists and most tourists wouldn’t know where to find it… even if they knew to look for ...

Zurich Toy Museum, Switzerland Looking through the glass, into the cabinets, you can start to get a sense of the joy that once existed. Sedentary now, orphaned, these toys are merely relics. Like a car without a key, or a torch without a battery, they are not complete without their owners. It’s the love of ...