Cultural Life: Ron Arad, architect

Charlotte Cripps
Friday 26 August 2011 00:00 BST
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Dance: I saw the director's cut of 'Political Mother' at Sadler's Wells. I like being jealous when I go to see things. I was definitely jealous at this show. It was thrilling, visually, but it also made me feel that I share the place it comes from. I had a powerful feeling that I understood exactly what Hofesh Shechter was putting across. I can't remember being affected by dance in this way before.

Books: I've just finished 'Freedom' by Jonathan Franzen. It's the first book I've read on my iPad. I discovered that if you fall asleep, the iPad switches itself off and then if you want to carry on in the middle of the night, it goes straight to the place where you stopped. And you can read in complete darkness.

Music: Steven Isserlis organised a marathon concert at Wigmore Hall in memory of his wife, Pauline. It lasted an incredible four hours, with close friends both on stage and in the audience. I am happy and honoured that Steven is performing at the Roundhouse inside my installation.

Films & TV: Someone showed me the new series of Larry David's 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' on a USB stick. It's a brilliant comedy, exploiting cringey situations in life. Doing research lately, we've been going back to old films, like Jacques Tati's 'Play Time' and 'C'était un Rendezvous' by Claude Lelouch, which takes you through Paris at dawn at high speed (for the 1970s at least).

Visual Arts: I've been very lucky that a lot of art has come here, to my studio. I've enjoyed all the snippets and samples of work from artists involved in 'Curtain Call'. It's a luxury to be able to see so much original work in the making.

Ron Arad's 'Curtain Call' is part of Bloomberg Summer at the Roundhouse, London NW1 (www.roundhouse.org.uk) to 29 August

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