This week in PostMag: from André Fu's designs to stem cell therapy
Occasionally, there is one thing in the magazine that I just can't stop thinking about. This issue, it's the photo of Jason Li in My Life. Everything about that image is unexpected. How is he suspended in mid-air, completely horizontal and almost a metre from the ground? The pieces of a deconstructed taxi cab in the garage behind him just add to the improbability of the photograph. A great part of this job is these Easter eggs that land on my desk and leave me in awe – both of the subject and the people telling the story, whether photographers or writers. Check out the story and you'll see what I'm talking about.
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At a party last weekend, a man told me his favourite part of PostMag every week is our long-running column My Life. It's one of my favourites, too. We're all a nosy bunch, aren't we? It's such a privilege when anyone, famous or not, opens up to tell us about how they got to where they are – the twists and turns of their journey, the entertaining anecdotes. I always find there's some existential relief in just hearing all the different ways a life can be lived. Li, a professional stunt double, tells Kate Whitehead about going from flips in a squash court to working on Transformers.
In this week's main feature, Daven Wu looks at one of the most recent projects by The Upper House designer and architect André Fu. The new Dusit Thani Bangkok is Fu's 'confident mid-career masterwork', he writes, detailing how the architect strove to balance a desire for authenticity with the need for a contemporary feel and relevance. Fu's not slowing down either, ploughing ahead with a spate of openings across Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Taipei and Osaka.
Elsewhere in Bangkok, Tim Noonan dives into the world of regenerative medicine as he recounts taking a chance (twice) on stem cell therapy. It's an approach I've never personally had to consider, thankfully, and it was enlightening to read a first-person account.
Beyond Thailand, this issue travels around Asia with two features that share a commonality: fishermen and fishing nets. In Tokyo, Manami Okazaki joins the Sanja Matsuri, a festival that started as an homage to the fishermen who founded the city's oldest temple, Sensoji. It's a lively, raucous affair, complete with taiko drumming that often runs into the early hours. In Kerala, large cantilevered fishing nets led Vincent Chow down a rabbit hole as he explores both the historical and modern influence of the Chinese on India's southwestern state – a long, winding tale to spend some time with.
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