You only need to step out of the plane to be enjoying good, plain contemporary design. What the Stockholm Furniture Fair has to present in its halls does not exist in isolation. It comes to life in the city.

The Ambiente in Frankfurt/Main has always been considered at the trade fair of "things to put on things". Any number of accessories for the kitchen, bathroom, living room, kids' room and garden. The selection of fitting innovations for "your store" is a challenge that every purchasing manager has to survive.

If nothing else, open rooms and changing furnishings alter the building requirements made of open fireplaces and stoves. These should not be built firmly into hearths, but positioned freely in homes and gardens in line with the owners' wishes.

Islands are special places. Places of the imagination and of longing. Paradise is an island, but so too is Hell maintains Judith Schalansky, who has created a wonderful "Atlas of Remote Islands", which presents fifty islands, "I never set foot on and never will".

The creative Villa Villekulla in Brooklyn, New York serves as the headquarters of the architecture cooperative Terreform ONE. This is where ideas are generated for the city of the day after tomorrow. And where mobile houses and soft cars are designed.

Even the architecture gods of classical Modernism are only people, each in his own way. This can be seen -- and smelled - from the houses they lived in. A visit to the Eames House near Los Angeles and to Philip Johnson's Glass House in New Canaan.

"Il Girasole" - the sunflower, is a revolving house built in the 1930s not far from Verona. Now a sensitive short film has been devoted to this extraordinary piece of architecture and its special atmosphere.

Isamu Noguchi was the first artist and designer in America to open his own museum. This was a good thing - because the premises in 33rd Road perfectly reflect his design philosophy.

The imm cologne furniture fair is currently making a comeback, not just thanks to efforts being made to once again provide dedicated labels and manufacturers with a sophisticated platform, but also because of its grand new kitchen show, "Living Kitchen". While experienced trade fair visitors may have wondered what the name referred to ("the kitchen is alive" or perhaps "living the kitchen"?) one thing is clear: Kitchens are the new hot topic that electrifies professional visitors and the general public alike.

Does it look like a ripe strawberry? Or a piece of bloated crispbread? However you answer this question, the "Ploum" sofa by the Bouroullec brothers is one of the most talked-about products at this year's imm Cologne. Nina Reetzke spoke to Ronan Bouroullec about the sofa's low seat, marketing, and making films.

The "BAU 2011" trade fair takes some beating and a main focus this year was sustainable building as one of the key challenges of the day. Many exhibitors already offer sustainable products. In the near future a major aim will be to combine them successfully.

A trade fair consists of individual booths. However, this is not necessarily the best possible solution, as the new "Pure Textile" section demonstrates. There you will still find any number of light, fine, spring-fresh and elegant fabrics, but they are still all isolated. Moreover, one other thing is clear: tables and sofas are clawing their way back onto the carpet.

Whether it is curtains, wallpaper or floor coverings - Frankfurt's "Heimtextil" trade fair is the perfect venue to explore the fundamental ingredients of interior design. Some of the wallpaper manufacturers' presentations were particularly impressive. And we even spotted a number of technological innovations among the umpteen books of specimens with their colorful ornaments.

What emerged at the imm Cologne in 2011 was that the fair has steadied, and in the form of "Living Kitchen" and "Pure Textiles" has gained two important new areas. Thus, the Cologne hodge-podge of the diversity of homes has something for everyone, for a man of the world, a man of the masses, and for kids, too. That said, the high-end design did not live up to expectations.

London-based designer Cristian Zuzunaga weaves the very fabric of our cities into his textile prints. Nancy Jehmlich spoke with him about the digital age and intractable tasks.

The two Eames, George Nelson and Alexander Girard not only worked together on joint design projects, but were also close friends for decades. However, in the public eye, prints designer Alexander Girard has always been in the shadow of his colleagues. One more reason to take a closer look at his oeuvre.

The creations of carpet-makers Nanimarquina stand out for their marvelously designed patterns. The company has been designing, producing and distributing textiles since the 1980s. A trip into a fairytale world, on location in Spain and India.

Parador has asked some of the giants of the design world to design its latest laminate collection. Zaha Hadid now illuminates prisms, the Bouroullec brothers enchant with colored light displays and Ross Lovegrove shocks with his 3D skeleton.

For a long time architects preferred wooden and stone flooring. Industrial carpeting by the meter had a bad reputation. Often without any justification. Vorwerk's "Selected Rugs" boast unusual materials and textures, thick-pile fleeces and cool mixtures of wool and linen.

It's January - and what happens in January? You know yourself. In what tends to be the coldest of all months, far too cold in fact for any serious outdoor pursuits, in Cologne Germany's "homing" event of the year takes place, namely imm cologne. So let's ask ourselves in the words of Kant: What can we know? What should we do? And: For what may we hope?

In the form of Maison & Objet, which will run from January 21-25, Paris seeks to further establish itself as the center of the international interior design and design world.

A chandelier is not only a source of light. In the palace in Versailles hundreds of candles once set the rock crystal glass sparkling; today energy-saving lamps, halogen lamps and LEDs illuminate prisms in all manner of shapes. An exhibition at Zurich's Museum Bellerive is dedicated to the "jewels of light".

After three years spent on development the plywood chair "Wogg 50" is to be presented as a serial-produced item at the upcoming imm in cologne. Sandra Hofmeister spoke to Jörg Boner about his design methods, the special qualities of molded plywood and the sense and purpose of furniture families.

The year has only just begun and already we are facing a true trade fair marathon. An overview of the most important dates and what to expect at imm, Bau, ISH, and other trade fairs.

Snow is white and makes our image of the world resemble a black-and-white print. However, ever since white emerged as the trend color not just in winter does much parade in white. So what is so special about this particular color?

British Pop Art artist Richard Hamilton designed the legendary cover of The Beatles' "White Album". The seemingly unprinted sleeve lent the album its name and set it apart optically from all the brightly colored albums. Franziska von Bethmann asked Richard Hamilton how the cover came about.

2010 has suddenly turned into 2011. What does it hold in store? What does this series of numbers mean? Haven't the foggiest! Still, there's no harm in a little speculation.

"Slàinte mhath!" the Scots wish each other before drinking a whisky. The idea is not getting drunk but enjoying the taste and aroma. Which is why the Scots say: Less is more, sniffing and sipping beat smelling and gulping down.

Originally sleds were used as a means of transport for people and freight. In recent years, sleds have undergone a transformation from leisure to sports equipment. Let's take a trip to the snow-covered mountain tops.

Heat-emitting hand-warmers are a source of joy for all the shivering - be they on the road, enjoying outdoor sports, or at an open-air festival. While historical heat balls were often masterpieces of handcrafting skill, modern pocket hand-warmers leave a lot to be desired when it comes to design. On behalf of all those who feel the cold, let's hope that these creatively neglected heat sources will develop into decorative accessories for snowy winter days.

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

For his "Hotel Dresden: A gesamtkunstwerk" project, Berlin-based designer Hermann August Weizenegger has donned the role of a 19th-century artist-cum-architect. A daring experiment.

Astrid Korntheuer tells very special stories. Anyone viewing her subtly staged photographs will feel that fixed boundaries in space seem to dissolve and inner and outer views meld.

Armed with a camera and a laptop, fashion nerds collect inspiring impressions for their Blogs on the street, report on fashion events or simply place themselves in the limelight. Simone Werle's book "Style Diaries" portrays 40 fashion bloggers from all over the world.

The monograph "Yes is More" by Bjarke Ingels presents the history of architecture in comic form. Quite rightly the elaborately designed paperback won this year's prize for the best architects' monograph awarded by Deutsches Architekturmuseum in Frankfurt/Main.