ISH in Frankfurt calls itself the world's leading trade fair for the "The Bathroom Experience" as well as for "Building, Energy, Air Conditioning Technology and Renewable Energies". But as wonderful as this sanitary world of 21st-century wellness may seem - our old fears live on and new desires are rising to the surface.

"A bathroom with patina" - only recently that was still a euphemism for mold in the cracks, limescale-encrusted fittings and worn enamel. However, designers have rediscovered the central role of water in the bathroom. And with rain showers and mist generators, materials have returned to the bathroom which people had long considered unpractical and easily watermarked: Copper, bronze, brass, unsealed stone and untreated woods tell stories about use and the past.

They can heal everything, other than a broken heart, or so a Japanese proverb would have it. They are the "onsen", the Japanese term for hot tubs.

It could well become a success story, a place that to date has been missing in Frankfurt: from April 2009 Nykke&Kokki together with Stylepark will be presenting a gastronomic concept on the city's Römerberg, the likes of which have never been seen before: In the café at Schirn Kunsthalle, that in future will go by the name of "Table", changing installations by international designers will be combined with superb cuisine.

What is the purpose of the bathroom or baths? Purification or complete regeneration? And what will the 21st-century bathroom look like? In the second part of our brief cultural history of bathing we move briskly toward the present.

For all those who love what true, good and beautiful: An exhibition devoted to the Belgian record label "Les Disques du Crépuscule" showing in Kunstverein in Cologne.

Different ages, different bathrooms. The way an era shapes bathing rituals and the associated rooms and buildings and fits the bathroom into the cultural world per se sheds light on its essence. At least according to cultural historian Sigfried Giedion, who tells the fascinating tale of the bathroom.

Concrete curtains, synthetic paper bags, knitted fabric seat covers - new materials inspire new products.

Every two years the fair Frankfurt invites everyone to attend ISH. From 10 to 14 March approximately 2,400 manufacturers will present the world's largest exhibition for bathroom design, building, energy and air-conditioning technology and renew-able energies. An exhibitor schedule presents the most important manufacturers.

Wellness, spa, ritual baths, the bathroom is becoming the living room, the materials more ecological, the technical equipment more complex. The world's leading trade fair in its field, the ISH, takes place every other year and this year, in March, it is celebrating its Golden Jubilee.

Not always are trend forecasts completely free of embarrassment. For many years now Li Edelkoort has been considered the industry's most influential representative. Her "Archeology of the Future" exhibition is currently on show in Paris - in it, for the first time she presents her work and design trends of the last 20 years. Without in any way having cause for embarrassment.

In 1953, when Gio Ponti was commissioned to design the Villa Planchart, he was not even sure in which country Caracas was located. Nonetheless in the following years on a hill overlooking the Venezuelan metropolis he created a complete artwork of decorative Modernism set. Fifty years later it looks just as fresh as it did on the first day.

In the book "The Language of Things" the director of the Design Museum in London writes about his future vision of a world drowning in things and a society that produces these things.

So much is evident: The big furniture fairs face tough competition. After all, while they are moaning in Cologne about vacant booths at roughly the same time Stockholm successfully hosted a small event that was booked out. Moreover, the Stockholm Furniture Fair & Northern Light Fair have even expanded their capacities and proven that they can certainly play in the first league of the design fairs.

The Design Awards of the Federal Republic of Germany were bestowed in the course of the opening of Ambiente in Frankfurt. There were five Gold and 20 Silver medal winners. Moreover, the designer Richard Sapper was honored for his life's work.

Dubai is a place that is on the one hand the product of immense artificiality and yet, on the other, one where art and design continue mainly to lead a hidden existence. This state of affairs is starting to change on the basis of a new form of interculturality, as evidenced, for example, by the "Traffic" design gallery.

When two brands join up you can expect the results to be surprising: At the Tokyo Design Week, Thonet and Muji presented the first fruits of their joint efforts. Do these furniture designs really reflect the two partners' values?

For the first time in 1972, "Learning from Las Vegas" took an unbiased look at an architectural genre, which consciously bought into ostentatious effects and symbols, so it's hardly surprising that overly serious architects still turn up their noses when they hear the name. Now a beautifully presented illustrated book has been created, which allows the reader to take a look into the photo archives, which form the basis for this book by Venturi and Scott Brown.

The fabrics in the Silver and Steel Collection from Creation Baumann are a technical innovation: Using a thin aluminium or steel coating, these textiles actually reflect the sun's rays, thus controlling light and heat.

Object Rotterdam focuses on contemporary Dutch design. It initially took place two years ago as a one-off pilot project. Now it has been launched as a new trade fair, parallel to Art Rotterdam. So far so good. However, the event format needs some refining.

Don't think graphic designers would be content with giving surfaces an appealing design. They too feel the urge to break out into the freedom of 3D. What happens when they do so can be marveled at in the book ‘Drei D - Grafische Räume.'

Every morning I have my tea from a cup that he designed. The favourite hotel of a friend of mine originated in his work. Matteo Thun is undoubtedly one of the great designers of our time. For Parador, he created several floor designs. We talked with the architect about the tactile appeal of wood and the decline of design.

The trade fair Maison & Objet in Paris only partially exploited the sorry scene the crisis-ridden imm Cologne preented. A gale prevented total triumph.

It is anything but a small fair – sixteen halls in total, which every two years open their doors for BAU in Munich. Visitors encounter a sort of labyrinth-like microcosm of anything related to building. “Same groove as for HP5” the poster reads. I see! A fair for the experts.

In tune with Zaha - from head to toe: not only buildings, landscaped spaces, sofas - now there are shoes that bear Zaha Hadid's unmistakably dynamic signature.

A chair is a chair and a table is a table and so on and so forth... That is correct and yet incorrect. For the symbolic qualities of the things that surround us daily are by no means as functional as a chic hat on a bonehead. Yet even symbolism has its pitfalls.

It was tough going for Cologne's furniture fair this year. But not everyone let the crisis get them down. There were some strong showings in connection with the imm cologne, but naturally this overview is incomplete and subjective.

Trend forum, trend research, trend book, trends here and trends there. But where do they come from? Who needs them? Why are they there? A journey into the trend business for the 3rd Stilwerk Trend Study during the imm cologne.

Just holding its own but lacking in innovation. This would be a reasonable description of this year's "imm Cologne" you might say. "The international furniture fair" as the Cologne event officially calls itself is losing glamour and international flair. If it wants to survive it must become innovative especially in the high-end design segment.

Designer Eric Degenhardt studied architecture, which might be one reason why dealing with space has always been high on his list of priorities. He has also long been interested in parasitic architectures. At the imm in Cologne he presented his mobile unit "Landed" together with Richard Lampert.

What people look for at the fair, but seldom find, is freely available elsewhere. In Ehrenfeld, in the Art Club's exhibition rooms, and in the former Railway Board building, there is plenty going on as part of the "Passagen" - and you'll find more than just young designers there. You'll find improvised kitchens and amusing design.

"And, have you already been to Isfahan and Shiraz?" After asking how you are and where you come from, this is probably the most frequent question you will be asked when visiting Teheran. Since Shiraz is a city of romantic gardens and thus of spring, the winter trip goes to Isfahan, the old capital of the Safawid Empire, a pearl of Islamic architecture and a Persian delight. Indeed, the city's very name has a poetic ring to it: "Oh Is-fa-haaan, oh Is-fa-haaan"

Postmodern architecture is not having an easy time of it at the moment. It is the unloved child which everyone resents, but which is still part of the family. In Frankfurt, too, there is currently a great deal of controversy and divided opinion on what would be the best approach to the architectural relics.

There is a legendary furniture scene in Jacques Tati's 1958 film classic Mon Oncle. The lady of the house gives the neighbor a tour of her modern home and stops in front of a paltry composition of wire chairs. "This is our seating area," she says proudly, and the spectator smiles. For let's be honest, wire furniture is a strenuous contemporary. It inevitably has the dreaded ‘rolled roast effect' on the sitter's derrière.

Jaime Hayon's new monograph in Gestalten Verlag