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
Fair play
As London Design Festival gets underway, designer Jasper Morrison joins Josh Fehnert to talk about the threads linking fashion and industrial design. Plus: we wrap our series with finds from Maison et Objet in Paris.
Home truths: Maison et Objet
A special report from the halls of this biannual design fair in Paris. We hear from managing director Philippe Brocart and pick out some fine finds from Begg & Co, Marimekko and Kristina Dam.
Licence to kiln
Is clay making a comeback? Design journalist Katie Treggiden discusses her new book that profiles 25 makers across six cities. And have you ever wondered why most passports are just one of four colours? We speak to an editor who’s been investigating how countries use design to express their international…
Reinventing retail
Can Arket reimagine the way we shop? We take a tour of the H&M Group’s latest all-encompassing retail experience and consider how to revive the department-store model. Plus: we ask whether cities have been too quick to embrace the cycle scheme and extol the virtues of the humble carpark.
Boom or bust: statues in the city
Statues are important civic landmarks so what can instating and removing them say about a city and its relationship to its past? We find out how Budapest is remembering its Soviet history. Plus: we talk to curator and architect Aaron Betsky about his handsome new title and augur the future…
Design in print
As some of architecture and design’s flagship titles lag, are the smaller independents asking the biggest questions? Journalist Katie Treggiden joins us for a review of the newsstand. Plus we speak to IA Collaborative’s Dan Kraemer about his mission to revive and reprint a long-lost title he thinks every designer…
Rethinking modernism
Modern marvel or bleak box? Modernism is one of the most divisive architectural movements of the 20th century. We talk to Matt Gibberd and Albert Hill, founding directors of The Modern House and authors of a new book that argues why it’s time for us to reassess our definition of…
Design unwrapped: Packaging special
They say it’s what’s inside that counts but we’re unwrapping the importance of packaging. Lola James Harper’s Rami Mekdachi reveals how brown glass gave his fragrance brand an edge, Monocle’s Richard Spencer Powell lists his tips for getting the design right and we sit down in Vitra’s new Pacific Chair…
Driving force: automotive design special
Buckle up for a driving tour of the best in automotive design with Gordon Murray, the man behind the McLaren F1 road car. Plus: Monocle’s Robert Bound on the merits of being in the driving seat (and why George Jetson may have a steer on the future of motoring), and…
Design at work
Forget gimmicky running tracks, beanbags or an office slide: a well-designed workplace should be creative but still feel professional. We talk to the studio behind HBO’s new Seattle HQ. Plus: architect Richard Meier on the importance of public space in large-scale projects and we’re off for a walk in the…
