30 January 2025
03 minutes
Photo: Yali
Nic Monisse reflects on the importance of historic craft guilds in France and where the remnants of their design legacy can be found today.
30 January 2025
Share episode
DownloadWant more radio episodes like these in your inbox?
Sign up to Monocle’s email newsletters to stay on top of news and opinion, plus the latest from the magazine, radio, film and shop.
Monocle on Design - latest episodes
Echoes of the past
Nic Monisse reflects on the importance of historic craft guilds in France and where the remnants of their design legacy can be found today.
Nanna Ditzel, architectural acoustics and Mylands
We explore a new exhibition in Copenhagen focusing on the grand dame of Danish design, Nanna Ditzel. Then we learn why 1951 was a key year in architectural acoustics and take a factory tour at Mylands, the oldest family…
Maison&Objet: Niwar
The Niwar Collection of upholstered furniture was created by Phantom Hands, a furniture maker based in India. Co-founder Deepak Srinath joins to discuss the brand’s collaboration with Swiss design studio Big Game.
Maison&Objet
We round up the Maison&Objet trade fair with interviews from across Paris. We hear from the designers of emerging studio Amca Oval and consider the intersection between furniture and architecture. Plus, we discuss rugs and…
‘Lester Beall & A New American Identity’
This exhibition at Poster House in New York explores how the US graphic designer translated concepts of European modernism into art for local audiences. Curator Angelina Lippert explains the importance and techniques used…
Clay special
We take a closer look at the earth beneath our feet. Writer Jennifer Lucy Allan delves into the human history of this ancient material, and we visit the maker Bisila Noha at her London studio. Then: Adam Weismann, co-fou…
‘Never At Home’
We meet the team behind the art initiative that transforms vacant sites for temporary artistic use. Among these is the Funkhaus, a former radio building of Austria’s national broadcaster, ORF. Alexei Korolyov reports.
Film special
We take a look at some silver-screen releases that take a cinematic view on the built environment. Then we go on a global green architecture tour and take a look at New Zealand’s mid-century brutalism.
A fresh start
New ideas, bright predictions and the trends that will shape the year to come – we preview some of the design stories found in Monocle’s latest edition of ‘The Forecast’.
The best of 2024
The team shares this year’s highlights. Expect conversations with designers Maria Bruun and Farah Marafie, and architectural historian, Iain Borden. Also, we hear from the team behind the ‘Dwellings’ exhibition of birdho…
Highlights from the year
Monocle’s design editor, Nic Monisse, reflects on some of the conversations shared with creatives this year as 2024 comes to a close.
Christmas special
In this festive episode recorded at Monocle’s annual Christmas Market, we discuss the art of gift wrapping with author and furoshiki expert Tomoko Kakita. Plus, designer Nika Zupanc on her collaboration with Italian brand…
Contemporary architecture in Chiang Mai
Tomás Pinheiro considers how contemporary practitioners in Thailand’s second city, Chiang Mai, work with local materials and traditional construction methods.
Dafi Kühne, timelessness in design and Fernando Mendes
Swiss graphic designer Dafi Kühne explains why legibility is relative and we meet the president of the Instituto Sergio Rodrigues. Also, the architect Jeanne Autran-Edorh reflects on timelessness in architecture.
Home comforts
Monocle’s design editor, Nic Monisse, reflects on how architecture is key to a strong sense of home.
