This year’s Ventura Lambrate was part of the FuoriSalone for the fourth time. The meeting point for next-generation design, experiments and ambitious individual exhibitors had a real feel of work in progress about it. Development and manufacturing processes played a major role.

The Vitra Campus gleams resplendent with a new building designed by masters of the trade: the production hall for Vitrashop by Japanese architectural duo SANAA. A classy contribution to contemporary industrial culture and not least a paramount example of formally perfected weightlessness.

For quite some time, manufacturers of decorative luminaires were hard hit by the innovation of LEDs. What to do with their traditional designs that were built around lamps and spots? They have since overcome the future shock and the industry is now fielding new products in all shapes and sizes.

It would seem obvious that a sensitive nose need not necessarily offer a good handle on things. And designers of all ages should be making sparing use of spaghetti, leather scraps, iron pipes, champagne buckets, wooden laminate and most certainly erotic objects. The seven deadly Salone sins show just who ignored this advice.

No, there was no revolt. Even Ventura Lambrate had nothing on offer that even came close to a taste of the future. Instead it was above all Konstantin Grcic who once again showed just what contemporary design can do.

And on we go. To make headway, we up the pace a little and cast a glance at fluorescent yellow shoes, peek into showrooms, inner courtyards, gardens and historical buildings.

Beyond the hustle and bustle of the fair, BMW joined forces with the Bouroullec brothers and presented an installation that aims to articulate the automotive marque’s new orientation toward sustainability and electromobility. A chat with Head of Design Adrian van Hooydonk sheds light on an unconventional vision of mobility for the future.

None other than Karl Lagerfeld graced this year’s Salone del Mobile with his presence. The master of elegance held court with Cassina, for whom he immortalized a selection of furniture classics on film. A marriage of icons the likes of which has never been seen before. And a one-off, almost one-to-one evening with Karl.

Milan 2013, a mixture of prudence, consolidation and solid design work. A little less hype and fewer prototypes, too. This is certainly doing the industry good.

An international trade fair for heating, sanitation and climate, not only did the ISH present a plethora of well designed bathrooms, but new combinations of heating and hot water technology too.

Architects, urban planners, hipsters and geeks, all speak of the city and indeed megacities as a place that will prove decisive for the fate of humanity. But a countermovement has been emerging for some time now. Publications such as the German magazine “Landlust” show us “the beautiful side of country life” and depict a fictive rural paradise.

Be it in summer or winter, the highest café in Austria offers a breathtaking view of the Eastern Alps. The architects at “Baumschlager Hutter Partners” have certainly succeeded in creating something quite extraordinary in the form of the new upper station of the “Wildspitzbahn” cable car route.

Despite the Nazis’ ostracism of Modernism, in the wake of World War II the Germans reassumed their role as trailblazers in industrial design almost immediately. A recently rediscovered “secret report” reveals how in 1946 the British secret service went on a mission to scent out the German consumer goods industry.

There is certainly no shortage of photographs of Joseph Beuys. But few accompanied him as continuously and closely as did graphic designer Klaus Staeck and printer/publisher Gerhard Steidl. The snapshots taken on several occasions between 1972 and 1986 shed light on some surprising and unexpected facets to the artist and grand communicator.

Who actually decided we should cover our roofs with tiles? How about a dune instead, one that surrounds the entire house, that you can even walk over – like the “Dune House” in the Portuguese town of Grândola.

How you get into the Salone Satellite as a young designer and all the things that can come of it.

The formula N = N sounds intriguing, as does the collaboration. But how did the whole thing work and what came out of it?

Nature offers a really great inspiration source. Finnish designer Antti Kotilainen has adopted the metamorphoses that shape nature for a chair collection in collaboration with Arper.

Does a comfortable armchair necessarily have to be big and heavy with thick padding nowadays? Benjamin Hubert asks questions, using them as a starting point to design not one, but two armchairs.

Can a mirror be anything more than a mirror? Tokujin Yoshioka responds to this question in the affirmative, and with a great deal of finesse at that.

We had thought it to be “ex oriente lux”. But “Yoko’s” charming light actually hails from the North.

Milan is definitely not just a matter of novelties. There are also defeats and losses to report. One prominent loss who takes his own irritation quite literally playfully is Nils Holger Moormann.

Mattiazzi is extending Konstantin Grcic’s Medici armchair to include a footstool and a table. Jasper Morrison has busied himself with a camping frame, while Sam Hecht has elected to remain upright.

It was at the latest with the premiere of “Houdini” that we realized that Stefan Diez is a magician. Now he has shown that he’s a master of card tricks too.

What do seating isles, a two-part bathing suit and an atoll have in common? Werner Aisslinger knows...

... or perhaps not? Cupboards protect objects from prying eyes, light and dust – unless they are designed by Front.

Did you know that Charles Eames took photos on his friend Billy Wilder’s movie sets? A current exhibition reveals his photographic work – and much more besides.

You can get stacking chairs two a penny. But now PearsonLloyd has developed the SixE for Howe. While it has four legs, it is in fact a combination of six “e”s.

In times shaped by globalized markets, offering high-quality even perfect products simply doesn’t make the grade. Robert Volhard posed six questions on the future of the Italian furniture sector to Claudio Luti, the new president of Cosmit and CEO of Kartell.

Gardenias, even the name has a special ring to it. In particular as the eponymous collection that Jaime Hayon designed for BD Barcelona offers more than just a touch of garden romanticism.

A chair, a table and a retrospective – anyone with an appreciation of Angelo Mangiarotti’s work will certainly get their money’s worth in Milan this year.

As part of the “Munich Creative Business Week” and accompanying the “mindscapes for design” exhibition, there was a fascinating debate on the extent to which information and communication technology are already permeating our lives and the influence they could have on design and architecture in the future.