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
Looking tasty: food-packaging special
What makes food and drink packaging stand out? To answer the question we speak to London-based Here Design, who share their thoughts on pattern, typography and why we need to stop saying the word “artisan”. Plus: Bangladeshi architect Marina Tabassum on life in Dhaka.
Extra: What are air rights?
Air rights are rarely heard of and seldom used but they have the potential to be the most useful – and lucrative – real estate for governments. So what are they?
Meeting Elizabeth Diller
Elizabeth Diller of Diller Scofidio + Renfro on her early career, why she nearly became a dentist and opening New York’s most anticipated arts venue, The Shed.
Extra: Tbilisi’s hopeful horizons
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Tbilisi has fallen into disrepair and any new developments, despite being hastily erected, are left empty. But there’s hope: the first architecture biennial since the 1980s is imminent.
Coffee with David Chipperfield
We check in with David Chipperfield to talk coffee pots and ask how the right kind of design can help combat our obsession with consumerism. Plus: are designers under constant pressure to innovate?
Extra: Why go to the Milan Furniture Fair?
Salone Del Mobile is one of the biggest dates in the design diary but why do so many people flock to the city?
Salone del Mobile 2019
Patricia Urquiola mulls over the Milan furniture fair and Robert Bound muses on the art of the meet-and-greet. Plus: creative director of Firmdale Hotels and homewares designer Kit Kemp talks to Josh Fehnert about her winsome new book.
Extra: Japan’s 2020 vision
The countdown to Tokyo’s 2020 Olympics has already begun. And as Japan unveils the designs commissioned for the event, one question arises: what can good design do for a country’s image?
Why craft matters
The intersection of craft and utility at the inaugural Harewood House biennial and the opening of retailer Galeries Lafayette’s latest space in Paris.
Extra: LA’s Sixth Street Viaduct
The Sixth Street Viaduct, best known as a drag-race hotspot from films such as ‘Grease’ and ‘Drive’, is about to get a new look as part of a $450m regeneration project.
