When working on an art special, the power of an image is sure to play on one’s mind – and a photograph of young men and women socialising in Damascus has given Andrew Tuck pause for thought. He introduces an issue that offers arresting snapshots of a world in flux.

Musical trams in Zürich and a new race to the moon. Plus: where to stay for Art Basel.

Canadian novelist Margaret Atwood’s prescient science fiction has made her an icon of modern dissent.

We join movie directors, curators and yakuza, who all drop in on the young blade keeping alive a centuries-old Japanese craft.

A creative refuge for its students as much as its faculty and staff, the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts has its own nourishing natural rhythm.

Greasy, moreish and always delicious, a new generation of restaurants is sating customers’ hunger for a fast and filling bite. We meet three ventures that are turning tasty and timely takeaways into a fine art.

Makers of organic wine show off the fruits of their labours at Summa, a boutique fair that’s big on flavour as well as biodiversity.

Celebrated chefs throw open their doors in Porto and Tokyo, a hi-fi bar turns things up in Zürich, and a New York restaurateur wins big with a riviera feel.

Whether it’s a French hotel that marries time-tested traditions with breezy American east-coast glamour or a UK townhouse that celebrates the best in design, what distinguishes a place to stay is often the ideas that it brings to the mix.

From a smart take on the modern radio to a compact speaker with room-filling sound, we plug into the latest audio devices.

As Japanese accents appear in Oslo and Italian touches take root in Tokyo, a familial Lebanese home has been rebuilt following a devastating fire. Around the world, custodians are connecting heritage stories and traditional hospitality with modern sensibilities.

A Catalan idyll.

Charlotte McDonald-Gibson on Amsterdam’s attempts to attract the ‘right kind’ of tourist.

The lack of Sudan evacuations shows up nations, Norway takes the Arctic Council chair and the latest drone technology from Portugal.

Problems at a Rio de Janeiro airport, Scoot CEO Leslie Thng and the family-owned department stores thriving in the US.

Christopher Lord on how bespoke service is helping America’s family-owned department stores to thrive.

Theaster Gates opens a vinyl shop, Zürich’s slow-news magazine and Australia’s largest arts and culture precinct.

Model-making in Rome, South Korea’s craft revolution and why good architecture should be a universal right.

In Damascus, there are places that appear untouched by Syria’s civil war. But in cities such as Aleppo and Homs, the destruction is overwhelming. Among the rubble, people try to patch up homes and lives – and long for a return to normality.

The Ocean State has become a hub for defence businesses that are helping to lift its economy out of the red and into the blue.

As airlines and aviation bodies commit to a future without fossil fuels, the search for alternative, sustainable sources of power is in full flight. Monocle meets some of the sector’s key innovators.

Business aviation is innovating at speed. Ahead of Ebace, the sector’s key trade fair, we spot the high fliers.

By listening to its customers, pencil-maker Viarco has secured global fans and healthy profits.

From expanding gallery superbrands to a south Asian completist and a striking alfresco sculpture collection, our bumper art special puts the sector’s key players into perspective. We discuss the finer details with some of the moment’s most exciting artists and curators and outline the broad brushstrokes on show at the world’s brightest galleries. Plus: a six-page guide to Art Basel.

To maintain its world-leading position, the Swiss city’s art fair must find new ways to evolve. Here the key players talk creation, curation and community building.

Themed ‘The Laboratory of the Future’, the International Architecture Exhibition returns to Venice this year. We meet the professionals breaking new ground

Refusing to be derailed by natural disasters and ever-rising costs, Samantha Mink’s architectural debut is a remarkable and liveable modernist home for her parents.

By adding satellites to its distinctive 1960s spaceship design, Nouvelles Galeries has reestablished connections with its host city.

Following the latest successful edition of the planet’s premier furniture fair, we sit around the table to select the 15 designers, firms and pieces that caught our eye at Salone del Mobile.

Fragrance and fashion firm Puig has become a powerful luxury group. Its CEO reveals how he discovered the sweet smell of success.

A decade after starting Mouki Mou in the UK, Maria Lemos has opened an outpost in the Greek capital.

Whether you plan to spend summer on the beach or in the garden, your wardrobe will benefit from these eco-chic collections. From rugged jackets to cotton T-shirts and sporty watches – plus some tote bags to pack them in – these pieces are made with sustainability in mind.

Though more readily associated with clubbing than growing crops, the Balearic island of Ibiza is experiencing an exponential growth in small-scale agricultural activity, the seeds of which are mainly being sown by expats disillusioned with the corporate grind and wasteful lifestyle of mainland Europe and beyond. These new smallholders are investing their time and money in sustainable and biodynamic practices, typically influenced by age-old, organic and collaborative concepts. Monocle crisscrosses the White Island to visit these innovative farms and meet the growers whose fertile imaginations could offer solutions for how food is produced and consumed across the world at large.