Reference Page

Masterfully Dutch
Canal houses are a huge part of Amsterdam’s culture. Built during the seventeenth century, at the height of the Dutch Golden Age, many of them were homes for the wealthy. Today, these magnificent pieces of architecture play host to a number of noteworthy museums. The Museum Van Loon (www.museumvanloon.nl), formerly the residence of a cofounder of the Dutch East India Company; the Museum Geelvinck (www.geelvinck.nl/english); and the Museum Willet-Holthuysen (en.willetholthuysen.nl) are three of the finest. But for a boozier kind of canal-house fun, head to the House of Bols (www.houseofbols.com) to view a collection of the gin-filled delft blue miniatures that the Dutch national airline KLM gives its World Business Class passengers (www.klm.com/travel/us_en/prepare_for_travel/on_board/travel_classes/miniatures.htm).

Endless Talk
New York likes to think of itself as cutting-edge. It’s an alpha city—right up there with the likes of London, Paris, Tokyo, and Milan. In 2010, New York managed to top two indexes: the Global Cities Index (www.foreignpolicy.com/node/373401) and the Global Power City Index (www.mori-m-foundation.or.jp/english/research/project/8). But when it comes to public transportation, the city isn’t as advanced. Many cities have begun using contactless smartcards, but New Yorkers still use the increasingly outmoded magnetic-strip MetroCard. Japan’s Suica and Pasmo cards and London’s OnePulse (a variant of the Oyster) already work as debit cards. Hong Kong’s residents can preload money onto their Octopus cards to pay for things at their local 7-Eleven, and soccer fans can even get an Adidas version (www.octopus.com.hk/get-your-octopus/choose-your-octopus/octopus-ornaments/soccer/en/index.html).

Elegant Solution
The firm Ladislav Rado and Antonin Raymond established together in 1945, Raymond and Rado, lasted until Raymond’s death in 1976. During those 31 years, the firm worked on a number of projects outside the United States. One of the more obscure ones is located inside the Victorias Milling Company compound in Negros Occidental, Philippines: the Saint Joseph the Worker Parish Church, which is popularly known as the Church of the Angry Christ (www.victoriascity.gov.ph/tourism.htm). Raymond collaborated with the Belgian liturgical artist Ade Bethune to create mosaic murals and a lacquered tabernacle, while the Filipino-American artist Alfonso Ossorio worked on the church’s frescoes.