"Madonna!" you are tempted to shout. After all, this year's logo for the legendary fair in Verona resembles a send up of a design icon: With two eyes and a red mouth the black armchair "Up5" (also named "Donna" for its anthropomorphous shape) laughs at the visitor together with "Up6" ("La palla al piede").

Zelt, Wasserball und Rollkoffer: Die neue Puma-Kollektion kultiviert das Lounging in der Natur und spricht vor allem hartnäckige Großstädter an.

The small "s" in the VIENNA DESIGN WEEKs speaks volumes: A week just would not suffice to present the Austrian capital's lively design scene, invite people to exhibitions, parties, talks, discussions and special tours through museums and still fit in a design conference.

Conventions do not appear to be a fixture in the world of Ronan und Erwan Bouroullec , which perhaps explains the brothers' knack for repeatedly surprising the public with their work.

Long before firms sought to craft a corporate identity with the aid of thick styleguides and design guidelines entrepreneur Fritz Hahne assisted by architects and designers worked on a corporate culture, which defined the corporate image, buildings and quite naturally also the fairness and ecological responsibility of the Wilkhahn brand.

Intent on renovating his freshly acquired castle Schloss Gartow Andreas Gottlieb Graf von Bernstorff had to come up with a plan. It was the end of the 17th century and the bare moorland round about did not even provide timber for renovating the buildings. So he set about reforesting the area, and today this private forest covering 6,500 hectares represents the largest of its kind in North Germany.

Over 100 years ago, in 1895 to be exact, the inventor Daniel Swarovski moved to Tyrol in Austria, where he installed his new machine to cut and polish crystal glass. From these early beginnings, his sparkling crystals revolutionized the world of fashion and transformed the family business into a global market leader for crystal in fashion, jewelry and, since a few years ago, increasingly in the fields of lighting, architecture and interior design as well.

The company Alape was set up more than a hundred years ago by Adolf Lamprecht. Located in Penig, Saxony it initially made enamel products before gradually shifting its focus to the bathroom. Production concentrated on sinks and bathroom furniture, and over the years a close cooperation with designers and architects evolved.

Major events often leave behind a void. It takes a little time to fill a vacuum again and in the case of Expo 2000 in Hanover, it seems this time has now come. Competence and creativity have now settled on the site which, seven years ago, was devoted to representation and discourse between countries.

After the great success this year, with over 10.000 visitors, The Design Annual 2008 will be the third in the series, devoted on this occasion to the theme of "showtime". And it is not only the motto that is changing this time.

As part of its commitment to the environment, the Zumtobel Group awarded for the first time ever an extremely generous international architecture prize for sustainability and humanity in the built environment.

Arguably, the idea that your own home might provide a castle, warding off the outside world, was a sentimental illusion even before the invention of WLAN. Let's face it, since time immemorial the interior has in addition to ornamental individualism been the private reversal of zeitgeist, economic development and technical invention.

Produzieren, wo der Kunde ist: Die Leuchtblumen von Janne Kyttänen leiten eine neue Ära im Produktdesign ein.

The Black_Honey bowl that Arik Levy designed for Materialise.MGX looks like a natural, flexible structure that has solidified in full flight. The company is primarily known for the opportunities provided by its rapid prototyping and is regarded as the market leader in 3D printing.

It is well known that the beginnings of innovation are to be found on the periphery of a discipline, where there are no longer any clear boundaries, where an experimentation results in something new, where there are exceptions to rules. As someone who routinely criss-crosses borders Mike Meiré would appear to have specialized in driving developments forward and searching for new design approaches.

Materialworks Zoom: the CUT'N FOLD® process by the Northeim company, Hannecke

Rem Koolhaas macht jetzt Mode. Bruce Willis trägt seine T-Shirts, und Miuccia Prada verkauft sie.

The Berlin architect Jürgen Mayer H. has completed the extension of the Danfoss Universe Science Park in Nordburg, Denmark.

On the death of Dino Gavina, one of the last "great masters" of Italian design. Typical somehow, the tardiness in writing about the death of one of Italy's really greatest designers. All the more Dino Gavina retreated from the public eye in the last decades, all the less was published on his sudden death on April 6.

"MYTO", a fully synthetic cantilever-based chair was created in what has been an unparalleled cooperation between a designer, a furniture manufacturer and an industrial corporation.

Auf einem Taschentuch präsentierte Nils Holger Moormann auf der diesjährigen Mailänder Möbelmesse seine neuen Produkte. "Benutzt es zum Trocknen Eurer Abschiedstränen", rief uns der Chiemgauer Querdenker selbstbewusst zu, als wir seinen Stand verlassen wollen.

In Berlin, the Werkbundarchiv - Museum der Dinge is opening its doors at a new venue.

During "The Design Annual - inside: private identity" in Frankfurt, DuPont presents the exhibition "40 Years/40 Designers". On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of DuPont™ Corian®, 40 designers and architects developed table or desktop accessories made of the solid surface material.

Generally, the most beautiful finds are those we did not actually set out to find. This is why, in their joint project, Stylepark and the magazine Baumeister are presenting surprising and inspiring moments from art, architecture and design whose special qualities deserve personal consideration and a second look.

NASA-Experimente und andere Lichtspiele mit Achille Castiglioni

A book has been published just in time for the Milan Furniture Fair - on the oeuvre of Ludovica + Roberto Palomba.

If the last edition of the Salone del Mobile in Milano proved anything, it might well be the fact that the luxury industry, after buying the major players of what always was in essence a family business, is now remoulding the design world to its corporate laws. A total transformation is the result, with the anonymous replacing the personal, and a celebration of the surface any search of depth.

So they are still around, the idealistic and innovative brains. Mario Nanni, creative head of Viabizzuno, probably Italy's most interesting luminaire makers, is the Italian answer to Ingo Maurer. At the Milan Triennial, Nanni staged a fascinating exhibition which was not about products, but the poetic power of light, a roller coaster of surprises and ideas.

I only caught the tail end of the Salone in Milan this year, so I missed all the parties and the people, BUT I saw a lot and could still feel the hype.

The young Spaniard Jaime Hayon is currently one of the most dazzling figures in the international design scene. Without taking existing styles into account, he drew the attention of the crowds and was omnipresent in Milan.

Driade hosted during the Salone Internazionale del Mobile the most imaginative party. The inner courtyard of the showroom at the Via Manzoni was transformed into a glamour garden.

Whether we really like him is another matter. He is most definitely successful. The show, laid out over approx. 1,600 square meter in the Palazzo Ex Ansaldo, was impressive proof of that. The Dutchman Marcel Wanders has an almost unique understanding of self-orchestration. Here are a few impressions.

This year, Salone Satellite, which, under the leadership of the dynamic Marva Griffin-Wilshire, presents an international cross-section of the young design scene parallel to the furniture fair, has discovered something very encouraging from a German point of view. The young Berlin-based company Formfjord was selected by Stylepark to participate in "The Design Annual - inside: private identity".

The Design Annual - inside: private identity: Following the successful debut in May 2006, the Messe Frankfurt and Stylepark will once again this year be bringing the very best of international design to the Festhalle in Frankfurt.

The latest issue of Berker Blueprint is dedicated to the Lloyd Hotel in Amsterdam, a former prison which the Dutch architecture studio MVRDV and numerous designers and artists converted into a design-oriented concept hotel.