Design highlights

Michael Anastassiades’s new chair for Fritz Hansen pays homage to the ancient Greek Klismos chair, and all of the 20th-century Danish designers who were inspired by its form.

Designer Dan Hu explains the ethos behind Even Realities’ G2 smart glasses, and how the typology connects to traditional spectacles.

Baguette Studio demystify industrial processes by making wax lamps using rotational moulding, a technique typically employed in plastics production, in front of their customers’ eyes.

Ab Rogers, exhibition designer for Wes Anderson: The Archives, joins The Crit for a discussion about design, healthcare, colour and welcoming children into architectural discourse.

Disegno is looking for contributions to our 41st issue, released during Milan Design Week in April 2026, which will be themed around ideas of “Experimentation” in design.

Frank Rettenbacher explores Thonet’s tubular steel programme for the creation of the S 243, a chair that replaces the cantilevers of the 20th-century with four legs.

In Disegno #38, dance music historian Frank Broughton listens to sound designer Yuri Suzuki’s AI-generated sonic architecture.

Sebastian Bergne’s Iota collection subtracts as much material as possible from the classic design of doorknobs, lever handles and cupboard pulls.

Material researcher and designer Ori Orisun Merhave joins The Crit to discuss bio-inclusive design, and the joys of making objects with insects.

Marc Sadler’s latest collection with luxury flooring company Listone Giordano was inspired by 19th century wooden pavements, and industrialises a technique that fell out of favour due to industrialisation.

The Doshi Retreat is a new space for contemplation on the Vitra Campus and a memorial for its architect, Balkrishna Doshi, who passed away shortly after completing the building’s design.

Sophie Smallhorn applies colour as volume, in a chromatic table whose design is shaped by material efficiency.

Artist Diane Simpson’s exhibition Formal Wear brings together over four decades of sculptures inspired by the forms of fashion, furniture and architecture.

Artist and designer Samuel Ross joins The Crit to discuss pushing materiality forwards within luxury design, the challenges of working as an innovator within internal teams, and creating designs that speak to a particular generation of British culture.

Max Lamb’s Exercises in Seating 3 brings together chairs Lamb has made over the last 10 years, many of which respond directly to the site their materials were extracted from.

Jawad Elhusuni’s Postcolonial Reclamations exhibition brings together proposals from local architects and architecture students which reconstruct Benghazi’s urban landscape while engaging with its colonial history.

Studio Vit introduces organic profusion to strict geometry in a body of work that explores the interconnectedness of all things.

The Barbican’s Dirty Looks exhibition interrogates how dirt has been used in fashion as both a symbol of rebellion and a rumination on the inevitability of decay.

Fresh from releasing his new book Could, Should, Might, Don’t, futures designer Nick Foster attends his Crit to discuss the limitations in our thinking about what is coming next.

Livia Lauber’s catalogue of design goes on display at Tenderbooks, illuminated by new, print-inspired lighting.

Yinka Ilori creates a new entry point to Milton Keynes, on an installation that argues for the affective and social power of colour and pattern.

Edith van Berkel’s new collection of rugs for Maharam is rooted in traditional Nepalese textile production techniques, including weaving with nettle fibres.

Morag Myerscough and Tracey Neuls discuss colour and sustainability in aid of their collaboration on the DOT Morag trainer.

Lise Vester joins The Crit to discuss designing for hospice patients, drawing inspiration from CBT therapy, and creating lamps that evoke science fiction and fantasy.

Amélie Pichard and Maison&Objet’s up-and-coming studios meet the realities of modern life with multifunctional pieces, objects that evoke the natural world, and designs which balance technology with handcraft. 

Louise Bennetts blurs the past and present in designs that translate urban fabric into textile.

Disegno’s London Design Festival 2025 round up includes insertable objects, car boot sales, camping tents, decomposing packaging and much more. 

Studiomama’s new collection with Point Two Five uses perspectival sleights of hand to create jewellery imbued with humour and romance.

Benjamin Hubert, the founder of Layer design studio, joins The Crit to discuss moving away from personality-driven design, creating objects for pets, and his desire to do pro bono design work.

Dulwich Picture Gallery’s new ArtPlay pavilion, designed by Carmody Groarke and HoLD collective, creates spaces for rest and play inspired by the gallery’s architecture and collections.