Ms Plant is professor emeritus in art history at Monash University in Melbourne but she is a social historian at heart and her canvas embraces literature, music, politics, architecture and town planning as well as arts and crafts.

ECONOMIST: Venice

"For me, the crucial thing has been to preserve the Shanghai pedigree -- '20s, '30s or '40s design in a way that still suits modern living, " Dodington, 42, said as he showed CNN his last project -- restoring his art deco apartment built in 1928 in the heart of the former French quarter.

CNN: Americans fall for rising Shanghai

While making a name for itself as the newest boutique hotel in the South Beach Group collection, its artful location in the heart of Miami's Art Deco district will leave you wondering if you might bump into Don Draper himself.

BBC: Daily deal: Mid-century mod in Miami

The Galeria Szalom in the heart of Kazimierz is a colourful contemporary art gallery promoting the work of local artists.

BBC: New life in Krakow's Jewish quarter

Piano designed the expansion of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, which will sit alongside the new museum, in the heart of Hollywood.

BBC: Official press image of The Shard

And yet I am quite certain in my heart of hearts that modern music and modern art is not a conspiracy, but is a form of truth and integrity for those who practise it honestly, decently and with all their being.

BBC: World: Analysis

Erected in one of the busiest areas in Helsinki the chapel looks like a giant wooden bowl that has accidentally landed in the heart of the city and feels almost like a piece of conceptual art -- architecture with spiritual and intellectual connotations -- as sacred buildings should, of course.

CNN: Spectacular forms in wood