Ellen Himelfarb

Writer A regular visitor to Amsterdam, Himelfarb saw a fresh side to the city on her assignment to Bijlmermeer, a monumental 1960s housing estate, home to some of the country’s most prominent rappers and a newer creative crowd (page 120). ‘The Bijlmer got a second chance after it hit rock bottom in the 1990s,’ the London-based writer says. ‘Brutalist estates get such a bad rap, so a rare success is worth celebrating.’ Himelfarb is now in the early stages of a book on one of London’s longest Roman roads.