Daniel Buren has been playing around with the boundaries of art since the 1960s, the same boundaries he himself moves in. Now he has switched up the playing field, taking Louis Vuitton models and staging them like pieces in his own game of chess.

Great architecture requires great courage on the part of the decision makers. The outcome of the competition to build the new campus for the “Frankfurt School of Finance and Management” provides a striking example of why this is so seldom the case here in Germany.

The noticeable trend at the ISH 2013: Under the sign of the transformation of the energy sector in Germany, technology is once again taking front seat, and not just in the energy sector, but in the bathroom, too. Yet there are various new designs all the same. And alongside wellness, the sector is also busy discovering health.

There is water flowing and circulating everywhere at the ISH fair! Which needs the right engineering. A slightly different tour of the trade fair in images.

Pastoe, the master of Minimalism, is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. Since its establishment, the Utrecht-born company and its furniture have become an integral part of Dutch lifestyle history. And now, Pastoe has been honored in an exhibition at the Kunsthal in Rotterdam organized by curator Anne van der Zwaag and design critic and author Gert Staal entitled “Like Pastoe, 100 years of design innovation”.

Good products alone are no longer a sure ticket to success in today’s market, and things are no different in the sanitary industry. They want their moment in the limelight too. In the two latest promotional videos produced by Meiré und Meiré for Dornbracht, information and sensuality go their own separate ways.

At this year’s imm cologne the “Featured Editions” exhibition, created in collaboration with Stylepark, formed an integral component of the new “Pure Editions” hall concept used to strengthen the trade fair’s position within the high-end segment, a concept that proved to be an instant success. Ten platforms dotted throughout the hall formed the basis of presentations by selected exhibitors. We documented a number of them on film and in interviews with the creative minds behind them.

A new addition to Spain’s Costa Tropical, the “Non Program Pavilion” is the brainchild of architectural firm Jesús Torres García, based on the design philosophy of the famous Oscar Niemeyer. Thanks to its expansive glass front the building blends wonderfully with the surrounding nature.

In the person of Makoto Azuma, haute couture has entered the world of floristry. Rather than accepting standardization and complying with market expectations, the artist prefers to indulge in the variety of shapes and colors found in nature.

He’s not really interested in skylights. But in the third part of our tour of the “BAU” trade fair in Munich, Amandus Sattler discovers that there are in fact some well-executed specimens out there, such as those developed in collaboration with Foster+Partners. He also finds out that you can’t tar all drainage systems with the same brush either, that no two types of paint are the same, and that “green PVC” is really quite an attractive option.

Her carpets and striped textiles are counted among the Bauhaus design icons, but there are very few who actually know the designer’s name. Now, an exhibition in Berlin will showcase Gertrud Arndt and her unusual works.

In the second half of our trip to the Munich trade fair BAU with Amandus Sattler, he discovers some well-designed stands, tells us what he thinks of sound insulation and why he is particularly fond of façades made of translucent glass and textile-based media façades.

Every two years the fair Frankfurt invites everyone to attend ISH. From 12th to 19th Marchapproximately 2,300 manufacturers will present the world's largest exhibition for bathroom design and building-services technology. An exhibitor schedule presents the most important manufacturers.

Anyone who likes taking a bath would in fact much rather be doing it in the great outdoors. So why should only bathroom technology be “green”? On the surface at least the bathroom is seeking to find a connection to the garden, lake and forest.

This year’s ISH in Frankfurt boasts a list of exhibitors nearing the 2,300 mark and over 250,000 square meters of exhibition space. To make planning your trip to the fair that little bit easier we’ve compiled all the most important information for you here.

Long gone are the days of simple building insulation. Architects, planners and researchers are trying out new forms of permanent construction. To this end, they are seeking to turn the private home into a power station.

Is a bathroom really just a bathroom? Or is it in fact a “thermotope”? Are these decidedly personal oases of wellbeing really about nothing more than the efficient provision of warmth and wellbeing or do old-fashioned values such as magic and charm and life in a new temperate zone also come to bear?

Think of all the things we could be afraid of – or at least imagine that we could be. Like a cactus forest? Or Grandpa’s wingback chair? An entertaining pocket lexicon tells us a little more on the subject.

James Irvine, the London-born designer and one of the most eminent product designers of our time, died unexpectedly on February 17, 2013. We are both shocked and deeply saddened by this loss and would like to bid farewell to a great designer and man.

In the wake of the devastating earthquake of 1963, which almost completely destroyed Skopje, the now capital of Macedonia, Kenzo Tange devised a master plan for a new city that did in fact become a reality, as fragmentary as its formation may have been. But the vestiges of Yugoslavian Socialism made possible by its authoritarian constructs are now under threat from modern-day plans.

What exactly are architects interested in when visiting the BAU trade fair in Munich? We decided to find out. Robert Volhard joined Amandus Sattler, founding partner of “Allmann, Sattler, Wappner Architekten”, as he made his way around the fair, and there were certainly a few surprises in store.

He learned to see with Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, he’s always good for a surprise and he loves Japan. Uta Abendroth met the 33-year-old Frenchman, a real up-and-comer in the design world, at imm Cologne where he presented his “Lace” stool for Ligne Roset.

Scandinavian design stands for simplicity, reliability and high-quality craftsmanship. At this year’s Stockholm Furniture Fair we were met with attempts to redefine such values in the 21st century.

When the fair comes to town, as in the Stockholm Furniture Fair and the Northern Light Fair – galleries, studios and showrooms across the whole of Stockholm open their doors and the crowds come flocking. There’s always something new waiting to be discovered – in homes, in an old building near the docks, a repurposed parking lots, or even an attic. The Stockholm Design Week team even went so far as to fill a tunnel with robots.

Plastic Chairs for all! How one 1950s chair design became an expression of the desire for individuality that shapes our times.

In Italy, the highly traditional furniture sector is undergoing a phase of renewal. Robert Volhard talked to Dario Rinero, CEO of Poltrona Frau Group, about the current situation and the changes ahead.

Down through the years, sculptor Claus Bury has photographed anonymous architectural works made of straw. And now thanks to a new picture book we can marvel at his images of such “farmed architecture”.

For Didier Gomez a sofa is the key piece of furniture in any apartment – on it, people live, work, lounge and relax. Uta Abendroth talks to the Spaniard, who started out on a career as an opera singer before switching to design, about his latest creation, “Nils” for Ligne Roset, his role models in the field, comfort and perfection.

As the “world’s leading trade fair for architecture, materials, systems” BAU in Munich offers a wealth of information for architects, planners and anyone with an interest in today’s building solutions, or tomorrow’s. That said, this time round highly customizable standard solutions took center stage while true innovation remained scarce.

The times when flooring led an existence as the Cinderella of the interior design world are over. The whole industry has discovered its creative side and carpeting has received something of an image makeover over the past few years. But wooden and laminate flooring aren’t far behind. This year, Domotex in Hanover even put on a special show on its leading theme “Flooring Deluxe”, curated by designer Stefan Diez.

At this year’s “Maison&Objet” in Paris the focus was on more than just tradition and craftsmanship. Another trend we noted: in an attempt to address a wider audience, design manufacturers demonstrated an increasing consideration of new product categories in the areas of accessories.

During imm Cologne, the Museum für Angewandte Kunst opened a special kind of exhibition: “Isn’t it romantic? – Contemporary Design Balancing between Poetry and Provocation”. An homage to the longing for a world that isn’t always perfect.

Touch-screen displays, adjustable work surfaces, sensor-controlled coffee making: “Living Kitchen”, the biennial fair parallel to imm Cologne, presented technology as an aid to a better life.. A vision that even proves rather convincing on occasion.