Design
How nature-focused lifestyle brand Sanu is shifting Japanese perceptions of second homes
The Tokyo-based company is luring city dwellers back to nature with its cleverly manufactured modular cabins.
Opinion
Why vernacular architecture will define 2026
3 min read
Latest in Monocle Radio
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Five unmissable exhibitions at Paris Déco Off
The design industry’s year kicks into gear this week in the French capital. Paris Déco Off, which starts today and focuses on textiles and wallpapers, will see exhibitions and product launches take place in…
How US illustrator Dorothy Waugh inspired a generation of Americans to travel to National Parks
Dorothy Waugh’s 1930s posters helped transform US national-park tourism. A new Poster House exhibition highlights how her clear messaging, modern design and confident typography set a benchmark that still challenges today’s art directors.
How Maison Kitsuné’s Gildas Loaëc keeps his second home flourishing through the year
When French entrepreneur Gildas Loaëc commissioned a residence in Bali, he intended it to serve as a second home that he would occupy for two weeks every two months. But once it was completed,…
Opinion
Impatient to get cracking on your next design project? Allow our ‘Design Directory’ to lend a helping hand
3 min read
From Hermès windows to boutique hotels: Joana Astolfi’s journey designing distinctive Portuguese spaces
Lisbon artist–designer Joana Astolfi brings colour, craft and playful detail to Portugal’s most inspiring spaces. Her latest project, Casa Amarela, is a sunny Alentejo guesthouse shaped by her multidisciplinary studio’s imaginative vision.
Is New York’s scaffolding getting a glow-up? Expectations are low – but rising
Scaffolding, or sidewalk sheds if you want to get technical, is as much a part New York’s fabric as flooded subways or breakfast bagels. But does it have to be so ugly and ubiquitous?
Coasters be damned – a well-worn table is the heart of a home
A pristine tabletop is soulless. The marks, dents and spills that your table collects tell the story of growth, love and messy, beautiful living.
Three stunning cabins to discover in the Swiss Alps
Almost all architecture is enhanced by the landscape that it is set in. For proof, one only needs to look to the strickbau (log cabins) and contemporary holiday homes of Alpine Switzerland.
Beyond the Giga projects, a new generation of Saudi Arabian architects is getting introspective
As Saudi Arabia builds at breakneck speed, young architects returning from abroad are slowing down to ask what kind of places people want to live in, with a focus on landscape, life and memory.
The five architecture and design books you should be gifting this Christmas
Spruce up coffee tables and top-up design knowledge with these five Monocle-recommended monographs.
