3+ week, 3+ day ago   (869+ words) Saxony, once under communist rule, is now a German manufacturing centre for luxury brands. But can its capital, Dresden, become as synonymous with high-end shopping as Paris and Milan? Think of German luxury goods, and Porsche and BMW spring to…...

1+ week, 8+ hour ago   (234+ words) Conversations with the community led to the creation of Toronto’s Reina condominium complex, complete with multi-generational units, ample stroller parking and child play areas visible from the communal gym. What would happen if the developers, architects, engineers and electricians building…...

1+ week, 15+ hour ago   (250+ words) Are you one of those people who are prone to post-party depression? Or are you more the type who can celebrate a grand event, collapse, recover and get on with whatever’s lined up next? On this particular Saturday afternoon, I…...

1+ week, 4+ day ago   (203+ words) If minimalism has become the visual language of institutional reassurance, then the Portail des Nations speaks it fluently. Diplomatic architecture need not be sanitised within an inch of its life. Geneva’s own Hôtel de Ville has stood in the heart…...

2+ week, 1+ day ago   (536+ words) Lisbon’s Baixa neighbourhood, ravaged by natural disasters in the 18th century, is a design lesson in reconstruction that breathes harmony and order. Monocle touches down in Lisbon early next month for our annual Quality of Life Conference. For some, the design…...

3+ week, 8+ hour ago   (277+ words) ‘La Settimana Enigmistica’ has been Italians’ puzzle magazine of choice for almost a century. Its editor, Alessandro Bartezzaghi, explains why. Bartezzaghi compares his role to clearing a way through a jungle, machete in hand, as others follow. “There’s a job…...

3+ week, 1+ day ago   (281+ words) Architecture firm Sarquella + Torres led the redesign of the school complete with extra-wide hallways that pull double duty and a dragon head-shaped waterspout hanging from the eaves. Escola Casa Nostra sits near the shores of Catalonia’s Lake Banyoles, a 25-minute…...

3+ week, 1+ day ago   (697+ words) After decades of neglect, Lisbon’s Beato and Marvila neighbourhoods have been reimagined with galleries, cafés and arts complexes that have revived the city’s manufacturing heartland. CTL’s move mirrors a wider shift. Adjacent neighbourhoods Beato and Marvila were once Lisbon’s industrial…...

4+ week, 2+ day ago   (484+ words) A Q&A with Christie's Australian art specialist, plus the Muscovite gallery Regina moves into London's Fitzrovia. Well hungRegina gallery22 Eastcastle Street, London, W1 The first foreign outpost of the renowned Muscovite institution, the Regina Gallery leapt into London’s Fitzrovia in April…...

3+ week, 3+ day ago   (348+ words) We settle down in the spacious reading room of Berlin’s Stabi public library, as it undergoes a renovation that will finally deliver on its 1960s ideals. Because it grants people from all walks of life access to knowledge, a public library…...