Monocle on Design
598 episodes - English - Latest episode: 4 days ago - ★★★★ - 59 ratingsEverything you need to know about the world of design, from furniture to fashion and craft to architecture. Expect fresh stories, new finds and designers and all the latest news from the world’s most exciting studios.
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Episodes
Why does Milan have a new design week?
October 06, 2020 20:00 - 41.2 MBIn lieu of Salone del Mobile this year, Milan has created a new event for designers seeking inspiration and industry insight: Design City Milano. We visit the showrooms, galleries, and workshops taking part.
Extra: ‘Designing Lightness’
October 01, 2020 12:17 - 7.69 MBEd van Hinte, co-author of ‘Designing Lightness’, on why creating with weight reduction in mind isn’t as simple as it sounds.
Merging architecture with the natural world
September 29, 2020 20:00 - 41.2 MBDutch architect Winy Maas discusses his latest project and the importance of a strong relationship between architecture and the natural world. Plus, we delve into the world of Danish silverware, reflect on the trends coming out of Milan fashion week and explore Swiss sustainability.
Extra: Finding a way
September 24, 2020 12:32 - 6.11 MBTim Fendley, founder and creative director of design consultancy Applied Wayfinding, explains the importance of engaging people through beautiful design.
Green buildings and landscapes – how do we make them?
September 22, 2020 20:00 - 41.2 MBFrom sustainable concrete alternatives to urban reforestation, we talk to architects, landscape architects and designers who are finding innovative ways to make their projects – and our planet – just a little bit better.
Extra: What exactly is user experience design?
September 17, 2020 12:54 - 8.24 MBUser experience design is a term that’s often thrown around by brands when they launch new products. But what exactly is it? Irene Au, former director of UX at Google, explains.
Why are the Danes so good at design?
September 15, 2020 20:00 - 41.2 MBWe travel to Copenhagen for the annual 3 Days of Design event to explore what makes Danish design unique and why it can be an important soft-power tool on the international stage.
Extra: Venice Glass Week
September 10, 2020 12:04 - 11.4 MBLooking for a crystal-clear take on Venice Glass Week? Monocle’s Ed Stocker checks in with WonderGlass, the brand that bonds traditional Italian craftsmanship with contemporary design.
Business of design
September 08, 2020 20:00 - 41.2 MBDesign is a serious business and so is the business of design. We visit the Copenhagen furniture firm with a completely flat-pack inventory and find out about the DNA of bootmaking with heritage brand John Lobb. Plus: the Montréal duo whose newest venture focuses on good design and the stories behind it.
Extra: Memorialise
September 03, 2020 12:54 - 11.9 MBAward-winning designer Es Devlin and her longtime collaborator Machiko Weston share their recent digital artwork, “I saw the world end”, marking the anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Get moving
September 01, 2020 20:00 - 41.2 MBGet moving: This week we have a spring in our step - we get moving and bring you a few stories that are featured in Monocle’s September issue and much more.
Extra: ‘Playgrounds: Artefacts for interaction’
August 27, 2020 16:00 - 7.3 MBFelipe Ferrer, the curator of the Peruvian pavilion, tells us what would have been in store at this year’s Venice Architecture Biennale.
Biennale special – part 2
August 25, 2020 20:00 - 41.2 MBIn the second of a two-part special, we explore the brilliance of biennales. We imagine what the inaugural Monocle Architectural Biennale could look like with the help of London’s Resolve Collective and Chat architects of Bangkok. Plus: we hear the second half of an interview with Hashim Sarkis, curator of the 2020 Venice Architecture Biennale.
Extra: ‘The Ark Re-imagined: The Expeditionary Pavilion’
August 20, 2020 12:25 - 7 MBThe Iraq pavilion curator Rashad Salim shares what would have been in store for the 2020 Venice Biennale of Architecture.
Biennale special – part 1
August 18, 2020 20:00 - 41.2 MBIn the first of a two-part special, we explore the brilliance of biennales by talking to Hashim Sarkis, curator of the Venice Architecture Biennale, about the importance of the event. We take inspiration from the format to imagine what an inaugural Monocle biennale could look like and ask two innovative global practices to take their turn in the curator’s chair.
Extra: Old meets new
August 13, 2020 17:00 - 7.44 MBConran and Partners’ interiors director, Simon Kincaid, on the challenge of renovating the Norman Foster-designed building at 200 Gray’s Inn Road, London.
Alexander McQueen, wildlife crossings and Lee Broom
August 11, 2020 20:00 - 41.2 MBWe check out a new exhibition showcasing work from the late fashion designer Alexander McQueen. Plus: how wildlife overpasses in Australia have helped protect native species; and Lee Broom shares his design trajectory.
Extra: Pool shark – a history of the lido
August 06, 2020 12:00 - 11.5 MBWe plunge headlong into the history and design of outdoor swimming pools with writer Christopher Beanland.
Rethinking prisons; Irish typography; and climate design
August 04, 2020 20:00 - 41.2 MBWe 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.
Extra: Humour and architecture
July 30, 2020 12:57 - 9.93 MBComedian and design enthusiast Tim Ross ponders how easy it is to find cheer in architecture.
Architecture: a laughing matter?
July 28, 2020 20:00 - 41.2 MBToday 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.
Extra: Bruce Mau – optimistic design
July 23, 2020 12:59 - 11.1 MBBruce Mau is a design thinker and co-founder of Chicago-based studio Massive Change Network. He discusses his new book and the importance of optimism and care in design.
Jonathan Tuckey, homeworking and Aussie modernism
July 21, 2020 20:00 - 41.2 MBWe 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.
Extra: Building to last
July 16, 2020 12:43 - 4.88 MBWe look at how temporary structures can become permanent: from Gustave Eiffel’s tower and the London Eye to Melbourne’s popular M Pavilion programme.
Temporary architecture
July 14, 2020 20:00 - 41.2 MBWe 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.
Extra: Alexander Girard
July 09, 2020 12:59 - 11.7 MBOne of the leading figures in US postwar design, Alexander Girard was a polymath who created everything from bold graphics and textiles to colourful branding for Braniff International Airways.
Up in the air
July 07, 2020 20:00 - 41.2 MBWe 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.
Extra: George Him
July 02, 2020 12:44 - 12.6 MBOlivia Ahmad, exhibition curator at the House of Illustration shares the story of Polish graphic designer George Him.
Islamic geometric design
June 30, 2020 20:00 - 41.2 MBWe 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.
Extra: Debbie Millman
June 25, 2020 19:00 - 7.69 MBWe check in with graphic designer and educator Debbie Millman to discuss staying connected in divided times and moving learning online.
Design with the times
June 23, 2020 20:00 - 41.2 MBDesigner 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.
Extra: Tragic floor
June 18, 2020 12:06 - 10.8 MBPilot and photographer Bill Young tells of the mesmerising, bizarre and sometimes questionable carpets found in hotels around the globe.
Philip Johnson, Helsinki Design Week and the Taiwan Design Research Institute
June 16, 2020 20:00 - 41.2 MBWe 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.
Extra: In praise of back-issues
June 11, 2020 12:13 - 6.29 MBMonocle’s Robert Bound delves into his archive and explores the wonders of wending his way through back issues of magazines.
Extra: Tactile time machine
June 11, 2020 12:13Monocle’s Robert Bound delves into his archive and explores the wonders of wending his way through back issues of magazines.
The fine print
June 09, 2020 20:00 - 41.2 MBThis 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 special edition.
Extra: Championing craft
June 04, 2020 12:26 - 8.81 MBMonocle’s design editor Nolan Giles visits the factory of the fine timber furniture brand Ercol to see how it continues to champion craftsmanship.
Meet your makers
June 02, 2020 20:00 - 41.2 MBMonocle’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.
Extra: Consider the corridor
May 28, 2020 12:01 - 11.1 MBWriter and academic Roger Luckhurst shares the utopian ideals behind the humble corridor.
Back to work
May 26, 2020 20:00 - 41.2 MBLinda Morey-Burrows, principal director of architecture and design firm MoreySmith, on how lockdown has changed the world of work. Plus: Canadian designer Jamie Wolfond on staying lively in a lockdown and Brisbane-based commentator Lindy Johnson on getting architects back to work.
Extra: Fit the bill
May 21, 2020 12:54 - 11.8 MBWhen New York City’s Poster House museum had to close its doors in early March, director Julia Knight wondered how the institution could support the city. Today her inspiring solution can be seen across all five boroughs.
Branding crisis: Part II
May 19, 2020 20:00 - 41.2 MBJosh Fehnert is joined by Monocle’s creative director, Richard Spencer Powell, to discuss a UN brief for designers to respond to coronavirus and review the current crop of public-health posters.
Extra: Making a stand
May 14, 2020 12:03 - 9.18 MBIndustrial designer Rachelle LeBlanc tells us about the freestanding wood and plexiglass barriers that she has produced and donated to corner shops and neighbourhood grocers in Toronto.
Branding crisis
May 12, 2020 20:00Clive Russell and Charlie Waterhouse are graphic designers at This Ain’t Rock’n’Roll, whose clients include Médicins San Frontières and Extinction Rebellion. They tell Josh Fehnert why ‘branding’ doesn’t help when describing a crisis. Plus: Mathieu de Muizon on how illustration can add humanity to tough messages.
Branding crisis: Part I
May 12, 2020 20:00 - 41.2 MBClive Russell and Charlie Waterhouse are graphic designers at This Ain’t Rock’n’Roll, whose clients include Médicins San Frontières and Extinction Rebellion. They tell Josh Fehnert why ‘branding’ doesn’t help when describing a crisis. Plus: Mathieu de Muizon on how illustration can add humanity to tough messages.
Extra: How do buildings affect our health?
May 07, 2020 12:00 - 11.7 MBDr Joseph Allen is assistant professor of exposure at Harvard’s department of environmental health and head of its Healthy Buildings programme. Here he explains how architecture can affect our health, happiness and productivity.
Health and architecture
May 05, 2020 20:00 - 41.2 MBWe examine the link between buildings and wellbeing, find out how tuberculosis shaped modern architecture and speak to designer Ilse Crawford about the importance of materials. Plus: Josh Fehnert is joined by Nic Monisse to talk about how the notion of home and our relationship with the outdoors is changing.
Extra: Contact
April 30, 2020 12:41 - 13.4 MBMonocle’s Hong Kong bureau chief meets the product designers and engineers using technology to stay safe - and how social distancing is creating a market for certain firms.
Hong Kong special
April 28, 2020 20:00 - 41.2 MBHow are designers in the city responding to Covid-19? We learn what interior designer Joyce Wang has been up to under lockdown. We meet graphic designer and advertising veteran Stanley Wong to learn about the campaigns that have piqued his interest. Plus, we find out if online lessons are going to be the next big trend by dropping in on a virtual fashion class.
Extra: Two Pages Project
April 23, 2020 12:11 - 8.45 MBTwo Pages Project collaborators Konstantinos Trichas and Dionysis Livanis explain how they keep a global network of designers and creatives connected during lockdown