Hoyerswerda is more typical than Munich How will we live in the future? How will European cities develop and how can ecology, aesthetics and economy be combined? Though a conference of the Werkbund supplied only a few answers it did ask the right questions.

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The drunken bar: Venetian Wanderings, Part 4 An Italian bar is at times often more than simply a bar. Sometimes those who enter it get quite drunk without having drunk anything, as Tobias Rehberger demonstrates impressively.

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With our backs to the view Scheidegger & Spiess and Hochparterre are honoring this year's Pritzker Prize winner Peter Zumthor with an illustrated book that shows more than we think we see.

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The German Kitchen: Venetian Wanderings, Part 3 What are we to believe: Is the German Pavilion once again a disappointment? Or has Liam Gillick delivered exactly what was to be expected of him?

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A chair for all walks of life Thonet is announcing a global photo competition: to capture the chair of chairs digitally and show it in a highly personal setting.

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Found object: Stefano makes it all possible There has long since been a technological basis in place to meet our seemingly unlimited need for communications. Now all we need are phones that are not only technically outstanding, but also state-of-the-art in design terms. The Alessi phone could fit the bill.

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A Garden in the Loop: Venetian Wanderings, Part 2 Not only those who wander through Venice always return to the point where they started from. Art likewise stage endless loops and thus irritates our customary ways of seeing. Roman Ondák shows how in the Czech and Slovak Pavilion.

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The radiant power of steel The German Steel Innovation Award, which is celebrating its twentieth birthday, honours outstanding and innovative applications for steel. Particularly notable in this year's competition was the design potential this material has.

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America has lost its design identity US designers are by no means as innovative and experimental as they were in the mid-twentieth century. But things are starting to move again: Design company "Vessel" is headquartered in Boston. A conversation on US designer careers and Chinese toothbrushes.

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Odysseus does not get bored: Venetian Wanderings, Part 1 The opening razzmatazz of the 53rd Art Biennial is over and the art world caravan, having made a brief stop in Basel, has long since disappeared over some summery horizon. Venice long since belongs to yesterday's art-review papers and image-saturated blogs. Everything noted. So we can now start on our wanderings in the shade afforded by the day-after.

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Beneath the brand’s skin British designer Simon Pengelly has, among other things, designed the "Nuur" table for Arper. The title alludes to the clear and calm lake of the same name that lies in the midst of the Mongolian steppe. A conversation about sensitive and quiet design.

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Visual negotiations The Russians like things luxurious, the Japanese prefer things more playful than you might imagine - and the French of course like things feminine and sensual: A glance at brand and packaging design in the age of globalization.

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Design as a way of reconsidering life The Brazilian designers Fernando and Humberto Campana have come to Weil am Rhein on the occasion of the opening of their major exhibition at the Vitra Design Museum. Talking to Stylepark, the brothers describe their experiences as cultural ambassadors of Brazil, explain their idea of self-respect in design and the possible ways of fusing high-tech and traditional craftwork.

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