A clear vision

Barovier&Toso and its new artistic director Luca Nichetto were born on the same Venetian island – though several centuries apart. The designer has previously worked with the company – and designed its Vallonné suspension lamp, which launched in 2022. But this wasn’t his first Murano client, he explains. ‘I studied at the Institute of Art in Venice and I’m also part of a generation that took on summer jobs to make money so that we could buy things and have fun.’ Between the ages of 14 and 18, Nichetto found himself doing what most people who had world-class glassmakers on their doorsteps did. ‘I made a lot of sketches and drawings, put everything inside a folder and knocked on the factory doors,’ he laughs.

Inside the remarkable restoration of Vienna’s historic Stadttempel synagogue

Built in 1826 by Austrian architect Josef Kornhaüsel, this Viennese synagogue, formally titled Vienna City Temple (Wiener Stadttempel), welcomes around 12,000 visitors a year, hosts Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, plus regular services – it is a high-functioning community space. 'To work on such a remarkable gem of sacred architecture is a privilege,' says Eric-Emanuel Tschaikner, co-founder of KENH Architekten.'When we saw it, the beauty of the historic building was there, but previous interventions were...

This Six-Storey West London Townhouse Looks to Chelsea's Creative Past to Inspire Its Future — "An Artistic Soul Feels Embedded in the Bricks"

When designer Rosie Gangar of Gangar Studio first saw this project, the Victorian property had already been stripped back completely; the garden didn't exist, and there was a large hole the builders had excavated to create the basement.She had a blank canvas to work with and an ambition to create a modern house that speaks to Chelsea’s layered history and enduring artistic character.The project was conceived by LAB Architects for a developer; Rosie Gangar was brought on board by the architects t...

Nestled in the Hollywood Hills, This Smith and Williams Renovation Proves a Mid-Century Marvel Doesn't Need to Fear Color Over Neutrals

Set in the Hollywood Hills, this four-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bath Los Angeles home by influential mid-century modern architectural firm Smith and Williams makes an immediate impression with its dramatic roofline, steel post-and-beam structure, and countless playful aspects that enrich each space. But it wasn't always that way. For Joelle Kutner and Jesse Rudolph of studio Ome Dezin, the first visit to it immediately captured what was special about the modern home and the vibrancy that, through...

A Taiwan l’intelligenza artificiale aiuta i designer a progettare le biciclette del futuro - Humus

Quasi il 70% delle biciclette di fascia medio-alta e alta prodotte nel mondo nasce in aziende taiwanesi. Oggi, tuttavia, il comparto sta attraversando una nuova fase evolutiva, nella quale all’eccellenza manifatturiera si affianca la necessità di rispondere a un mercato sempre più frammentato, dinamico e orientato alla personalizzazione. Per sostenere questa trasformazione, il Taiwan Design Research Institute (TDRI) e il Cycling & Health Tech Industry R&D Center (CHC) hanno sviluppato una piatta...

Il metodo di Sheng-Hung Lee per progettare la longevità - Humus

Assistant Professor of Urban Technology presso la University of Michigan, Sheng-Hung Lee racconta a humus© come l’osservazione dei cosiddetti slow data possa offrire una chiave di lettura preziosa per progettare soluzioni più adeguate alle esigenze di una popolazione che vive sempre più a lungo. Da questa riflessione nasce il concetto di Design for Longevity(D4L): un approccio progettuale che aiuta a individuare nuove opportunità per sviluppare prodotti, servizi ed esperienze in grado di accompa...

Step inside Lagos' newest cultural hub, Mbari Kola

Curator and founder of Mbari Kola: The Arts Society, Ugoma Chinelo Ebilah, has transformed a 1960s two-storey house with views of the Lagos Lagoon into a home for her new vision – a thriving cultural club for the Nigerian capital.The property, originally built by Italian construction company G Cappa, featured a patio that encouraged an indoor-outdoor living style which was common at the time. She enlisted the help of architect Kelechi Odu to realise the project. ‘Ugoma wanted to create an oasis...

African Art Is the Beating Heart of This Regent's Park Residence

The bespoke joinery in this north London home has been meticulously planned to elevate the original 1930s architecture, and sculptural African artworks, like the metal ballerina that sits in its bright living area, have found an accord with the interior stylings of French duo Uncanny Studio's Églantine Sicat and Pauline Dellemotte."Our work is emotional; we really like to create meaningful homes that tell the story of the people who live there," explains Sicat.In the entryway of the pied-à-terre...

Hotel and art hub Casabianca opens on Italy's Lake Como

“Every step I have taken in my life has led me here, now,” says Paolo De Santis, reading the words on a stone slab that marks the threshold of the two wings of Villa Mondolfo on Lake Como. The villa is home to three generations of the De Santis family, and to walk across the work by the artist Alberto Garutti and into this house is to enter their world. Inside is a large carpet collaged from salvaged offcuts by the Italian conceptual artist Flavio Favelli and a chandelier reconfigured from an ar...

7 experiential installations to see, hear and interact with at Milan Design Week

Large-scale experiential installations have become a mainstay at Salone del Mobile and Milan Design Week; they can help artists, designers and curators communicate ideas that leave an indelible mark on viewers and participants. Often, they are visually arresting spectacles, but messaging can easily lose potency as people scramble to capture photos rather than question the meaning of what they are seeing. AI technology features prominently at this year’s fair, as do references to nature and the e...

What does a Tom Dixon-designed bed look like? Find out at the Mua Mua Hotel

After meeting and sleeping on uncomfortable beds at the last edition of Salone del Mobile, Vispring and Tom Dixon decided to get into bed, creatively speaking, with each other. 'It was really important for us to work with someone with a British connection and global resonance to mark this 125th anniversary,' Clare Schifano, global marketing director at Vispring, explains.'My narrative now is that I couldn't find a hotel room, so I had to build my own hotel,' says self-taught British designer Tom...

A Fountain of Creativity

“When Apricots Blossom” is the title of a 1937 poem by the Stalinist-era Uzbek writer Hamid Olimjon, about a white flowering tree whose aroma is stolen by the breeze every spring. The speaker is philosophical about this loss: I say “so be it” and will not get angry; I wrap my thoughts around the flowers; whenever I walk out into the spring, I ask whether I have any good fortune. Inspired by Olimjon’s description of beauty and fortitude in the face of recur- ring devastation, the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation made the flowering apricot the symbol of its exhibition of Uzbek design during Milan Design Week.

In This San Diego Home, the Kitchen Backsplash Set the Tone

"One of the first things we picked out was the kitchen backsplash, it pulls so many colors," California-based interior designer Abbie Naber of A. Naber Design recalls. The kitchen features multicolored zellige mosaic, which has been intentionally repeated in new architectural features like the wall niches created by T7 Architecture. This family renovation project began in the winter of 2023, and ended just as the clients were expecting their third child.Their brief was for a complete makeover of...

Discover the designer who paints and writes with light

Davide Groppi‘writes with light’, claims Marco Sammicheli, the curator of a new exhibition by the lighting designer and entrepreneur, at Volumnia, a church-turned-gallery in Piacenza.‘Un’ora di Luce’ (One Hour of Light, on view until 26 May 2026) reveals stories and a number of curiosities about Groppi’s roots and methods. In the documentary projected on a wall, he declares himself a country boy – he grew up, works and still resides in Piacenza, a small city located an hour from Milan in the Emi...

Meet Orfeo Tagiuri, whose cartoons mix humour, melancholy and meditation

A framed A3 piece shows a green snail hugging a person and the text reads ‘Slow down + chill the hell out, you’re doing great!’ The work is by Orfeo Tagiuri, who explains; ‘I like the idea that the characters in my work are not defined, even from a gender perspective. Ideally, they are universal so that people can identify with them.’London-based Tagiuri was born in America to a psychiatrist mother and an architect father. The 34-year-old has lived and studied in both London and the United State...

Purcell Architects: improving heritage buildings and restoring civic pride - Humus

Tom Brigden is an architect and the author of Value in the View: Conserving Historic Urban Views (Riba Publishing, 2018), a comprehensive study of the ideas and philosophies at work in policies of view protection. Brigden studied at the Welsh School of Architecture. He then went on to complete a PhD at Newcastle University before joining Purcell Architects who are notable for their work on iconic heritage projects including the Elizabeth Tower – more commonly known as ‘Big Ben’. “I always knew t...

Tour this art-filled Jenga Building apartment

Nacho Polo and Robert Onuska live in a conspicuous New York building designed by Herzog & de Meuron in the city's trendy Tribeca. Downstairs, Anish Kapoor's first permanent public sculpture resembles a shiny mirrored balloon, half squashed under the weight of the building.One of their gallery spaces, Studiotwentyseven, is located just opposite the building. The couple's first space is in Miami, where they live part time. 'When we started looking for a home in New York we were initially looking f...

Galib Gassanoff, an Azeri-Georgian Designer, Is Weaving Dresses From Shoelaces and Cotton

There aren't many designer's paying homage to their roots, but Galib Gassanoff is paying close attention. Institution was named a semi-finalist for the 2026 LVMH Prize — the Italian label with Georgian and Azerbaijani roots, founded and creatively led by designer Galib Gassanoff.Last September, Institution founder Galib Gassanoff explained the process behind the dress he was exhibiting at the Kering S|Style Denim Lab show, curated by Giorgia Cantarini. Fresh from the close of his spring/summer 2...

Perfumery Satinine’s new store is an homage to Milan's entryways

If you've ever entered a Milanese residential building, you'll likely have been impressed by the details that go into the lobby area. From marble walls or rich tapestry, to designer sconces or intricate terrazzo floor tiles. These gateways to people's homes were often crafted with care.When fragrance company Satinine was founded in 1883 in Milan by Lorenzo Usellini, the famous Galleria Emmanuelle II had recently been completed and the Liberty style was about to flourish. For the brand’s 2025 rel...

Designing for a Holy Woman Who Was No Slouch With a Hammer

The nun known as Madre Carmen is the first female saint from Venezuela. Carmen Elena Rendiles Martínez was born in 1903, in Caracas, Venezuela. Born to an affluent family of French background, she studied art as a teenager. At 23, she joined a French religious order, the Servants of the Eucharist, and dedicated her life to the Church five years later. She died in Caracas, from influenza, in 1977.
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