Monocle on Design
Your essential guide to design, covering furniture, craft, and architecture. Discover fresh stories, rising talents, and the latest from top studios.
Latest Episodes
Collect 2025, Christopher Dresser, Jaipur Rugs and Shyam Ahuja
Highlights from the most recent edition of the Collect 2025 art and design fair, and we preview one of the stories in Monocle’s latest March issue. Plus, we find out more about the designer and theorist Christopher Dresser as a trove of his works go to auction in London.
Extra: Madrid Design Festival 2025
Monocle’s Liam Aldous reports from the 8th edition of the annual Madrid Design Festival.
Design Biennale Rotterdam
Highlights from the inaugural edition of the Design Biennale Rotterdam, featuring experimental and collectible design from local and international designers. Across the city, participants have responded to the overarching theme: “What’s Real is Unfamiliar”.
Extra: 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.
Extra: 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.
Extra: ‘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.
Extra: 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.
