--- title: "Made in Tokyo, and everywhere else" url: https://usefulandagreeable.com/ description: "An independent travel and design magazine: architecture reporting, airline and airport aesthetics, hotels, city guides and design culture." --- # Made in Tokyo, and everywhere else Issue plate — ink and dune, the magazine's running colour THE MAGAZINE useful + agreeable is a travel and design magazine: long reporting on architecture and the people who make it, on the aesthetics of airports and aircraft cabins, on hotels and the advisors who run their front desks, and on the objects and arguments that make up design culture. Pieces run from Los Angeles and Tokyo to Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Paris, Bangkok and Aspen. Several were also published in Metropolis and Azure. The sections below open the current run; the archive holds all of it. FROM THIS RUN Issue plate — Architecture ARCHITECTURE ## [Cross-Border Cowboys](https://usefulandagreeable.com/graft.html) Three enterprising Germans move to Los Angeles where they go on long walks, meet art and film stars, set up shop as architects and snare early commissions from Brad Pitt and curator Dave Hickey. [Read the piece](https://usefulandagreeable.com/graft.html) Issue plate — Architecture ARCHITECTURE ## [Two Tokyos](https://usefulandagreeable.com/two_tokyos.html) As huge Western-style developments near completion, two conflicting visions of the city are emerging. [Read the piece](https://usefulandagreeable.com/two_tokyos.html) Issue plate — Air AIR ## [Design Is In The Air](https://usefulandagreeable.com/airdesign.html) Airport and Airline aesthetics are recovering from a thirty year tailspin as top architects and designers are hired to create a new experience. [Read the piece](https://usefulandagreeable.com/airdesign.html) Issue plate — Hotels HOTELS ## [Hotel Claska, Tokyo](https://usefulandagreeable.com/hotel_claska.html) "The Concierge Recommends" is a series of features including personal recommendations of expert local advisors from the great hotels of the world. This feature is Hotel Claska in Tokyo, which was… [Read the piece](https://usefulandagreeable.com/hotel_claska.html) Issue plate — Travel TRAVEL ## [L.A.'s Modernist Marvels](https://usefulandagreeable.com/lamodern.html) From Case Study Houses to oil company offices turned chic hotels, the city's mid-century architectural riches are gaining respect [Read the piece](https://usefulandagreeable.com/lamodern.html) Issue plate — Design DESIGN ## [Massive Claim](https://usefulandagreeable.com/massive_change.html) Massive Claim: Bruce Mau on Design Culture Preview of Toronto-based designer's upcoming book and exhibition "Massive Change: An International Project on the Future of Design Culture" at the Vancouver… [Read the piece](https://usefulandagreeable.com/massive_change.html) THE CONCIERGE RECOMMENDS - [Hotel Claska, Tokyo](https://usefulandagreeable.com/hotel_claska.html)Tokyo - [Lloyd Hotel, Amsterdam](https://usefulandagreeable.com/lloyd_hotel_amsterdam.html)Amsterdam - [The Peninsula, Bangkok](https://usefulandagreeable.com/bangkok_peninsula.html)Bangkok - [Relais Christine, Paris](https://usefulandagreeable.com/relais_christine_concierge.html)Paris - [Plaza Athenee, Paris](https://usefulandagreeable.com/plaza_athenee_concierge.html)Paris - [Le Bristol, Paris](https://usefulandagreeable.com/bristol_concierge.html)Paris TWO HOURS IN, AND THE FLIGHT DECK - [Two Hours In Barcelona](https://usefulandagreeable.com/two_hrs_in_barc.html)Barcelona - [Two Hours In Paris](https://usefulandagreeable.com/paris_2hrs.html)Paris - [Two Hours In Singapore](https://usefulandagreeable.com/singapore_2hrs.html)Singapore - [Q+A At Ten Thousand Metres](https://usefulandagreeable.com/this_is_your_pilot.html)Flight Deck - [This Is Your Pilot Speaking](https://usefulandagreeable.com/cathay_pacific.html)Cathay Pacific - [Thirty-Eight Years At Altitude](https://usefulandagreeable.com/air_canada.html)Air Canada ABOUT THE MAGAZINE ## What useful + agreeable covers An independent travel and design magazine reporting on architecture, airline and airport aesthetics, hotels, city guides and design culture. Its running series include The Concierge Recommends, in which advisors at hotels in Tokyo, Amsterdam, Paris and Bangkok give their own recommendations, and Two Hours In, a guide for anyone who has ever said they were there but did not get to see anything. Selected pieces were published in Metropolis and Azure. The magazine also ran a film strand, the u+a film awards. 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