20 February 2025
03 minutes
Photo: Andrea Pugiotto
Monocle’s design editor, Nic Monisse, considers some key dates and events to mark out on your design calendar.
20 February 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
Diary at the ready
Monocle’s design editor, Nic Monisse, considers some key dates and events to mark out on your design calendar.
‘Soane and Modernism: Make it New’, ‘The Brutalist’ and County Hall Pottery
We find out how Sir John Soane was a forerunner of modernist architecture and discuss the award-winning feature film, ‘The Brutalist’. Plus, a visit to a pottery studio and exhibition space in central London.
Yrjö Kukkapuro
A reflection on the life and legacy of Finnish furniture designer Yrjö Kukkapuro. Petri Burtsoff reports.
Stockholm Design Week, Zona Maco Diseño
We recap the recent Stockholm Design Week and Zona Maco Diseño in Mexico City.
‘Distillation of Architecture’
The current exhibition at the AA, London’s eminent architectural school, pairs Japanese architectural studios and artists to rethink a piece of furniture or domestic structure.
George Smart, ‘Made in the Middle’ and our Feb issue
We meet George Smart, founder of the architectural archive US Modernist, and visit a contemporary craft exhibition in Leicester. Plus, a preview of the stories hitting newsstands in Monocle’s latest issue.
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’.
