Glazed and confused

Chapter 1

Craftsmanship alone is not enough

Most people will have some kind of ceramic object in their home but as design disciplines go there’s no denying that ceramics suffer from a lack of sex appeal. Now Central Saint Martins is hosting an exhibition that tries to change that.

Chapter 2

Gur rug atelier

Much has been made about the comeback of Portugal’s textile factories but a lot of the revived industry goes to producing generic regional products to meet the demands of tourists. The atelier of Gur, a rug factory in the country’s north, does things differently. Syma Tariq reports.

Chapter 3

Paul Barbera

Photographer Paul Barbera’s latest book ‘Where They Create: Japan’ collects his photos of the workspaces of Japanese creatives such as Kengo Kuma, Mariko Mori and Tokujin Yoshioka. Monocle’s Tokyo bureau chief Fiona Wilson caught up with Paul while he was in Tokyo.