At long last it’s OK to like postmodern architecture again. Why? Found out in the exhibition “Mission: Postmodern – Heinrich Klotz and the DAM Chamber of Marvels” at Frankfurt’s Deutsches Architekturmuseum.

Takashi Ueno, Mamoru Naito, Keizaburo Honda and Mizuho Naito are the creative minds behind Leif.designpark. Uta Abendroth met the Japanese team to talk about nature as a source of inspiration, their strong links with Europe and about sweeping sofas in Japanese apartments.

Konstantin Grcic has fallen in love with archery, at least as regards materials. For “Kyudo”, a chair he’s designed for Magis and which went on show at the Salone in Milan, he combined beechwood veneer and carbon laminate.

The Bouroullec brothers have once again demonstrated why they are one of the driving forces in design. “Uncino” is their second chair for Mattiazzi, and boasts a harmonious combination of wood and metal.

On May 9, 2014 the exhibition “Mission: Postmodern” opens at Deutsches Architekturmuseum. Sophia Walk talked with Oliver Elser, the show’s curator, about Heinrich Klotz, his chamber of marvels, and postmodernism.

Can a show about Thonet bring any new insights? The Grassi Museum für Angewandte Kunst in Leipzig is hosting “Sit, Recline, Rock – Thonet Furniture” thru’ September 14, highlighting what chapters there are still to be discovered in the “Thonet saga”.

Dries Van Noten is an idiosyncratic couturier who has never obeyed the laws of the fashion world and instead favors slowness and quality. Through August, Paris’ Musée des Arts Décoratifs is hosting an elaborately designed exhibition on his work tracing the art and fashion sources that inspired his unique creations.

Ross Lovegrove presented his new chair “Diatom” in Milan at the Moroso booth. Adeline Seidel conducted a series of txt-msgs with him on his diatomic passions.

The days where information could simply be provided are long since over. Today the news is dished up, explained, elaborated on in depth, and commentary given. The design of news studios plays an important role in this regard. Among others, the new “Tagesschau” studio for Germany’s ARD channel shows just how many things can change around a news desk.

Once again, Patricia Urquiola was omnipresent in Milan. The reason is simple: Most established design brands, be it B&B Italia, Moroso, Glas Italia, Molteni, Mutina or Kvadrat, are featuring her products. Uta Abendroth spoke with the designer, who has chosen Milan as her home, about the innovations she is presenting at the Salone, prototypes in her own home, and the family factor.

Found pieces instead of orchestrated spaces: Designs relating to the cool, cleansing liquid substance as are on view at the Salone del Bagno Milan and in the Fuori Salone showrooms, are rich in innovative materials and champion the familiar purist style elements.

EuroCucina, which runs parallel to Milan’s Salone del Mobile, offers furniture for people who would love to cook. And shows the latest status objects that straddle architecture and design. A tour.

It is not yet ten in the morning and the first day of the fair, but Claudio Luti, President of Cosmit, the organizers of Salone del Mobile, is offering coffee. In the second year as president he continues to emphasize change.

French fashion fabs presented dreams in leather at the Salone: “La Lanterne d’Hermès” by Yann Kersalé, “Pantographe” and “Harnais” by Michele de Lucchi and other re-editions of Jean-Michel Frank.

At this year’s Triennale di Milano Citizen presented an enchanting installation composed of most delicate and minute watch parts, entitled “Light is Time”.

Phone, city, house – everything becomes smart. Also cars? How does the digitalization of our everyday life change car functions and the requirements autos must meet? This is the focus the ethnographer Sung Gul Hwang, the urban planner Cho Taek Yeon and the product designer Yeongkyu Yoo.

How is urban space changing with piloted parking? Can one estimate what impact infrastructure projects will have on urban space? These are the questions the Boston team are tackling, in an effort to expand the limits of the mobility market.

Mexico City is renowned for its gridlocks. Each day, commuters spend more than two hours in traffic jams. José Castillo, Carlos Gershenson and Gabriella Gomez-Mont are hunting for solutions to this problem.

If you need to get from A to B in Berlin you need above all two things: patience and time. Architect Max Schwitalla, neuroscientist Arndt Pechstein and transit-manager Paul Friedli want to change this, and in their efforts have investigated the swarming behavior of animals.

Building automation with a difference: An industrial robot on Frankfurt’s Hauptwache plaza practices East Asian martial arts and prompts all manner of responses during the Luminale festival.

Architecture as a non-artistic discipline struggles between being a creative process and functional parameters. How could architecture transcend its eternal dilemma: the obligation to be critical in the face of inescapable submission?

Milan in the days of the Salone and Fuori Salone – is a hodgepodge of impressions, encounters and cameo stories. In terms of form and content, they are as different as, say, people, furniture, brands, and markets.

We didn’t hear a whole lot about them for a while: At the Salone del Mobile, Raw Edges now presented carpets for Golran, which can do far more than you might imagine at first glance.

All the things the Barcelona trio of Lievore Altherr Molina have created for Arper have hit the mark. And with “Zinta” they are now presenting a bench that leaves no secrets unshared.

Being original is especially difficult in the realm of the decorative. Once again Jaime Hayon has done just that with “New Roman”.

This veritable design classic has the Swiss National Exhibition to thank for its name. Now Vitra is reissuing Hans Coray’s “Landi” chair from 1938.

The various venues of the Milan Salone must shine in all their splendor. Behind and next to the main stage however, on the show’s periphery, one can observe a whole host of smaller sensations. A slightly different kind of picture book, with photographs by Barbara Wildung and Thomas Wagner.

Be it fold-out wall tables, plain LED rod luminaires, or stools made of soy resin, wood and foam: At the Salone Satellite the flock of young designers demonstrated how they want to design the world of tomorrow.

Here today, gone tomorrow: In Milan we put in quite a few kilometers. Given the ground covered, the editorial team of course spotted the one or other thing along the way. So before we threw away all our bits of paper with the jottings, we reviewed them first.

Stylepark is curating the Audi Urban Future Award for the third time. This year, the focus is firmly on connectivity: How can we utilize data to improve infrastructure and thus make more efficient use of urban space?

As part of the Luminale, artist collective RaumZeitPiraten created an experimental sound-&-light lab in a church, evoking somber counterworlds in the process.

In its heyday Braun set the benchmark, designing everyday objects destined to serve as “quiet assistants”. Now Braun licensee De’Longhi is relaunching some of the historical designs. But beware: What might at first sight seem to be the respectful cultivation of revered traditions is nothing but whitewash.

Small firms alongside large corporations, tiny components and immense spotlights for buildings: The manufacturers at Light+Building certainly extended our sense of dimensions. Which has resulted in records this year.

“Panorama” is the name of the current Konstantin Grcic show. And you soon realize that what he displays at the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein is far more than simply a glittering array of products.