Our editor in chief, Andrew Tuck, is here to tell you all about Monocle’s refreshed look and new Dispatch opener – but not before extolling the virtues of an unexpectedly attractive four-wheeler.
If you had to name Spain’s most successful mobility player, you might choose its high-speed rail operator Renfe or perhaps one of its car marques such as Seat. But there’s another brand that’s arguably the nation’s nippiest player on four wheels: Rolser, the maker of personal shopping trollies. In Spain, you see, a product once considered in much of the world to be an accessory sported only by grannies has become a fixture of most households – a whacking 63 per cent of Spaniards now have one parked in their homes.
Founded in 1966, the family company makes more than half a million trolleys a year at its production facility between Valencia and Alicante. Its customers include seniors but also artists, designers, young parents and cool kids. And sales are on a roll across Europe, the US and Asia. You can see the appeal – in a world where young people eschew car ownership, working couples forgo a weekly hypermarket visit in favour of shopping locally and stores discourage the taking of plastic carrier bags, having your own set of retail shopping wheels simply makes sense.
Mobility models move in interesting ways. That’s why this issue, which focuses on how we get from A to B, features not only an Expo dedicated to the Rolser (so handy for delivering magazines!) but also sturdy footwear, a remade East German train with velour allure, Finnish lifts (as in elevators, not a gym manoeuvre) and perhaps one of the dinkiest cars that you’ll ever see, thanks to a nimble-minded Japanese designer. But those aren’t the only ways that Monocle magazine is on the move.
Our September issue, you will soon discover, has a new look. While the livery on the front cover might be unchanged, inside we have gone for a new configuration and added some extra treats to the trolley. At the front of the magazine, for example, we have introduced a new Dispatch section in which we offer a mix of comment, columns and news on everything from travelators (and why they’re about to start moving faster) to how to complete the daily commute in style. As we continue to develop our digital offering and newsletters, we want to ensure that we use print for what it does best: showcase great photography and expansive, fresh reporting.
Our report on Bofill Taller de Arquitectura in Barcelona is a perfect example. This tale of legacy and renewal explores the ways Pablo Bofill has taken the company that his father, Ricardo, started in the 1960s to new heights. Part of his success has come from doubling down on the principles that guided the firm in its earliest days – chiefly that the studio should be a place where artists, engineers and philosophers come together.The studio is housed in a former cement factory so vast that even 60 years later the Taller space is still a work in progress. The images alone will make you yearn to see it.
And here’s some good news for those who have signed up to this year’s Monocle Quality of Life Conference, which takes place this month in Barcelona. We are organising a very special visit to the Taller so that you can see this extraordinary space in person. Need any more encouragement? Visit monocle.com to discover the full programme, including all the inspirational speakers. It’s a highlight of the monocle calendar and it would be tremendous to meet you there.
If you want to share an idea or send me your mobility insights before then, you can find me on at@monocle.com. Unless I’m down the shops with my Rolser.