The Austrian lighting company BLL leads the industry with its progressive thinking, installing life-enhancing systems at hospitals, airports and the new Cairo Museum. Soon it will focus its light-direction technologies on…
For someone who’s soon going to be delivering billions of presents, travelling more than 175 million miles and eating around two billion mince pies – all in one night – Santa Claus looks in great shape when Monocle meets…
While quality of life surveys tend to focus on major centres, a recent study from financial company WalletHub aims a little smaller. The firm has conducted a survey in the US of the best cities and towns with populations…
Midgard, a lighting company revered for its functional design and beloved by the Bauhaus, has been given a new lease of life by a couple of mid-century devotees.
Setting the mood for an evening of drinks and dinner is best achieved through the careful lighting of one’s surroundings. Javier Marset – co-owner of Catalan lighting company, Marset – favours the low glow of directional…
The lamps that light up our streets, shopping malls and car parks are often boring and unimaginative. But one firm has turned it into a mission to create something more original. Monocle heads to the hills.
Three years ago the Japanese government drew up a plan to create a swift-moving defence force that could counter China’s growing military might. But there was something slowing them down: Japan’s infantry – the Ground Self…
We all want to work in an environment that’s friendly, challenging and gets the best out of us. The companies featured here are benchmarks in particular fields, whether it’s looking after employees, maintaining traditions…
In 2014, designers Rita Múrias and Paulo Barata began collecting neon signs for their aesthetic qualities. Now the couple’s Letreiro Galeria boasts a 300-strong collection celebrating vernacular design and aiding Lisbon’s…
It’s the socially responsible brand that showed that doing good can look good too. Now Veja’s trainers are the go-to for cool teenagers and their mums. But what lies behind its success? Perhaps it’s that the founders aren’t…