PARIS (AFP) -- It was once a gynecology ward in a hospital in the south of Paris. Now, it is 26-year-old Margot’s art studio.Peering from behind her welding mask, sparks fly as Margot gets to work with illustrators, graphic designers and artists in a space brought back to life from disuse by a group of Parisian urban planners.She pays a “very reasonable” cost of 17 euros ($19) per square meter monthly for the studio, in an arrangement that sees occupants pay just enough to cover costs.“This allo

“To achieve great design, you need great business thinking/doing -- to effectively invest in design -- and you need great engineering -- to achieve unflagging performance.” This is how US designer and technologist John Maeda, who served as a professor at the MIT Media Lab and as president of the Rhode Island School of Design, defined “great design.”Design is no longer a decoration for products. Design has expanded upon its primary role and created collaborations with technology, leading in turn

NEW YORK (AP) -- In Central Park, none of the 23 sculptures or busts honoring illustrious people is a woman. Some Girl Scouts are now trying to change that. They are among activists raising money for a monument to two women who revolutionized the country: suffragettes Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. It will cost about $500,000 in private donations to erect the bronze at the West 77th Street entrance to the park. About as much is needed to cover landscaping and an educational program

PATRAS, Greece (AFP) -- Greek police Tuesday arrested 26 people suspected of trafficking in antiquities, a police source in the southwestern port of Patras said following a nationwide raid.Six of the arrested were foreigners, the source said, without revealing their nationalities. The police were looking for 15 other people suspected of involvement in the smuggling ring. Initial investigations suggest the gang sold illegally acquired antiquities in auctions in Britain, Germany and Austria.Police