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
Rethinking prisons; Irish typography; and climate design
We talk to a firm in the US that’s designing justice infrastructure that challenges the mass-incarceration model. Plus: we discuss typography in Ireland and breeze through a history of keeping cool before air conditioning.
Architecture: a laughing matter?
Today we’re approaching two topics that are rarely mentioned in the same breath: humour and architecture. Angela Brady, Kate Wagner and Owen Hopkins ask whether mirth can add to the debate on the built environment.
Jonathan Tuckey, homeworking and Aussie modernism
We hear from UK architect Jonathan Tuckey on why repurposing buildings can be better than bulldozing and starting over. Plus: how modernism shaped Australia, as well as insights from some of the biggest names in design.
Temporary architecture
We cast an eye over ephemeral architecture and consider the enduring role of temporary buildings. Although most designers build structures to last, there are some benefits to our health and even our skylines to creating spaces that are made to be dismantled.
Up in the air
We talk airplane interiors with Adam White, director of Factorydesign, and ask journalist Anthony Paletta why airports are designed with short-haul in mind. Plus: we jet off to Helsinki for an exhibition that celebrates the capacity of travel to broaden our horizons. All aboard.
Islamic geometric design
We discuss the origins of tessellations in Islamic art and ask how architecture affects our work-life balance. Plus: author Shelley Klein recounts her childhood in a mid-century house in Scotland and we preview Monocle’s city-themed July/August issue.
Design with the times
Designer Dr Danah Abdulla joins Josh Fehnert for a round-up of the design headlines and author Julia Watson talks about indigenous design. Plus: Erin Lilly of Kohler shares some insights.
Philip Johnson, Helsinki Design Week and the Taiwan Design Research Institute
We talk with the author of a new biography of US architect Philip Johnson, find out the latest from Helsinki Design Week and spotlight the rebranding of the Taiwan Design Research Institute.
The fine print
This week we’re leafing through a few of our favourite print titles. How has interiors magazine ‘Apartamento’ shifted its lens on the home in recent months? What does the editor of Hong Kong-based ‘Design Anthology’ think about Asia’s post-pandemic design prospects? Roll up for our glossy, newsy and knowing print-themed…
Meet your makers
Monocle’s Josh Fehnert talks to our Tokyo bureau chief, Fiona Wilson, about how traditional crafts can help us to rethink manufacturing moving forwards. Plus: we hear from the visionaries behind furniture brands Another Country and Living Edge, from London and Australia respectively.
