BIG brings floating villages to San Francisco

Bjarke Ingels hopes his scheme for Islais Creek will not only hold back the sea, but also the Bay Area's house prices

A rendering from Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), One Architecture + Urbanism (ONE), and Sherwood Design Engineers (Sherwood)'s plan for San Francisco's Islais Creek

What to expect from Grafton Architects’ 2018 Venice Biennale

Look out for space, freedom, generosity and “an enormous tea cosy” of architectural concerns at this year’s Biennale

Shelley McNamara and Yvonne Farrell of Grafton Architects. Photo by Andrea Avezzu, courtesy of La Biennale di Venezia

Can you dress like Anna Dello Russo?

Post a shot of your best (or craziest) AdR look, and you could get to party with Anna and co. in Milan

Anna Dello Russo (centre) in an image from her forthcoming book AdR Book: Beyond Fashion

Understanding Stella: The Imaginary Places series

Here’s how a 1980s travel guide to Narnia, Middle Earth and Oz led Frank Stella on an abstract voyage of his own

Cantahar (1998) by Frank Stella. From the artist's Imaginary Places series

Why Chair 14 by Michael Thonet matters

Find out how a German cabinetmaker pioneered new industrial techniques to create this popular, perennial classic

Chair No. 14, 1859, by Michael Thonet (1796–1871), from Chair: 500 Designs that Matter

Alexandre de Betak shows Architectural Digest his SoHo loft

The Fellini of fashion has a few surprises in store for AD, including a secret, mirrored room with its own fireman's pole

Alexandre de Betak's SoHo apartment in Architectural Digest. Photographs by François Halard; styled by Michael Bargo. Images courtesy of Architectural Digest

Concrete nanotecture to solve Hong Kong's home squeeze

Could these contemporary, concrete micro-apartments be in the pipeline for cash-strapped singletons?

OPod Tube Housing by James Law Cybertecture. All images courtesy of James Law Cybertecture

Snarkitecture’s fantasy islands

The NYC design practice has worked a vintage video game into its new set of kitchen islands

From left: Snarkitecture's Ben Porto, Daniel Arsham and Alex Mustonen

Is Anna Dello Russo really going to set up a kennel?

Fashion star tells Italian Vogue that her new Phaidon book may mark a key turning point in her life. . .

Anna Dello Russo and her dog Pedro

These Self-Portraits will freak you out

What do you see when you look in the mirror? Let's hope its nothing like this trio of images from 500 Self-Portraits. . .

Self-Portrait with a Plucked Eye (1931) by Victor Brauner. All images appear in 500 Self-Portraits

Understanding Stella: The Benjamin Moore paintings

Discover how Frank Stella's love of commercial house paint helped him catch the eye of pop art pioneer Andy Warhol

The Benjamin Moore paintings (1961) by Frank Stella

Liz Larner - Why I Create

Exploring the inspirations and attitudes of artists working with clay and ceramic, featured in Vitamin C

© Liz Larner, Courtesy the artist and Regen Projects
Photo: Daniel Marlos

Why the DSR Chair by Charles and Ray Eames matters

Discover how World War II and MoMA helped popularise the world’s first mass market plastic chair

DSR Chair, 1950, by Charles and Ray Eames

Anna Dello Russo gets in the ring with Tod’s

The Italian fashion editor creates a circus themed capsule collection for the Italian luxury goods company

Gommino loafers reworked as part of Anna Dello Russo's circus-themed capsule collection for Tod's. All images courtesy of Tod's

California Captured – The Salk Institute

Marvin Rand was California's most inconspicuous photographer - but he defined its architectural iconography

The Salk Institute by Louis Kahn, as photographed by Marvin Rand

Understanding Stella: The Cones and Pillars series

Want to know why Frank Stella borrowed from fairy tales in his quest to break up the surface of his paintings?

Giufà e La Statua Di Gesso (1984) by Frank Stella, from his Cones and Pillars series, as reproduced in our new book

Emily Hesse - Why I Create

Exploring the inspirations and attitudes of artists working with clay and ceramic, featured in Vitamin C

Emily Hesse

Happy art for Blue Monday from Alain de Botton

Can pretty works by Matisse and Monet get us through the January blues? Yes, argues the Art as Therapy author

Henri Matisse, Dance II (1909-1910) as reproduced in Art as Therapy

How Kerry James Marshall kept MLK's memory alive

The artist was inspired by commercial souvenirs to spread Dr. King's legacy - without desecrating his memory

We Mourn our Loss I (1997) by Kerry James Marshall

Markus Karstieß - Why I Create

Exploring the inspirations and attitudes of artists working with clay and ceramic, featured in Vitamin C

Markus Karstieß - Photo made in front of my kiln:
© M.Karstieß/ VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2017

Tomi Ungerer is now a Commandeur de la Légion d'Honneur

The 86-year-old author receives one of France's highest honours in the French National New Year's list

Tomi Ungerer

California Captured - The Capitol Records Building

Marvin Rand was California's most inconspicuous photographer - but he defined its architectural iconography

Welton Becket & Associates 1956 Hollywood building housing Capitol Records as photographed by Marvin Rand and featured in California Captured Mid-Century Modern Architecture, Marvin Rand

Stanfords loves The Palestinian Table

Reem Kassis's book on this highly cultured part of the Levant is up for an Edward Stanford Travel Writing Award

Reem Kassis, author of The Palestinian Table

Understanding Stella: The Moby Dick series

Here's how Frank Stella's tribute to the Great American novel also paid a debt to the abstract expressionists

The Pequod meets the Rachel (1988) by Frank Stella. All images from Frank Stella's Moby Dick series, as reproduced in our new book

Marco Chiandetti - Why I Create

Exploring the inspirations and attitudes of artists working with clay and ceramic, featured in Vitamin C

Marco Chiandetti digging a fire pit in the summer of 2017 - photo by Ingrid Morley

Military style invades Men's London Fashion Week

Vivienne Westwood, Craig Green and Charles Jeffrey all use uniform motifs in striking new collections

Images from Vivienne Westwood's Autumn/Winter 2018-19 collection. Image courtesy of Vivienne Westwood

All you need to know about René Redzepi's Noma 2.0

Cod sperm and weird plants - chef gives us the lowdown as he prepares to open new seven-room restaurant

René Redzepi, Copenhagen, December 2017. All images courtesy of his Instagram

California Captured - The Palevsky House

Marvin Rand was California's most inconspicuous photographer - but he defined its architectural iconography

The Palevsky House - architect Craig Ellwood’s second commission from Max Palevsky as featured in California Captured Mid-Century Modern Architecture featuring the photographs of Marvin Rand. Rand snapped the car parked in Palevsky’s driveway after one of their drives together. (Less visible is Ellwood’s personalized license plate: VRRRRRM).

Understanding Stella: The Scarlatti K series

Here's how Frank Stella uses 3D printing, cutting-edge software and baroque music to reinvent painting

K. 432, from the Scarlatti K series, by Frank Stella. All images from our new book, Frank Stella

JR and Massimo team up to feed the needy in Paris

The chef has asked the artist to work on the new Parisian outpost of his successful haute-cuisine refettorio

JR and Massimo Bottura together in New York - don't try this at home kids. Image courtesy of Massimo's Instagram

Who knew Renoir did erotica?

Is this painting of a girl bathing entirely innocent - or loaded with sexual suggestion?

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Young Girl Bathing, 1892, as reproduced in The Art of the Erotic

Lynda Draper - Why I Create

Exploring the inspirations and attitudes of artists working with clay and ceramic, featured in Vitamin C

Lynda Draper

Anna dello Russo wants teens to buy her haute-couture

The Italian fashion editor hopes the sale of her clothes collection will benefit tomorrow’s catwalk stars

Anna dello Russo. Image courtesy of Anna's Instagram

JR brings his Rio giants to London

The artist restages his monumental 2016 Brazilian Olympics project at new London gallery

One of JR's GIANTS installed at Lazinc Sackville. All images courtesy of JR's Instagram

A great new use for old Panettone from Bread is Gold

Want to know what to do with that one you didn't manage to finish? Massimo Bottura has a wonderful recipe

Panettone cream with grapefruit sorbet, as reproduced in Bread is Gold

Emre Hüner - Why I Create

Exploring the inspirations and attitudes of artists working with clay and ceramic, featured in Vitamin C

Emre Hüner

Could wood be the future of urban architecture?

A new exhibition in London will make a strong case for timber's place amid the skyline of tomorrow

Baobab concept rendering by Michael Green Architects

Virgilio Martinez and Rodolfo Guzmán go head-to-head

Two of Latin America's leading chefs discuss and cook innovative, local food in Santiago de Chile next week

Virgilio Martinez and Rodolfo Guzmán on the flyer for their Ngelemen talk next week

RIP Betty Woodman - the woman who made clay fine art

87-year-old artist and mother of photographer Francesca died in Italy on January 2

Betty Woodman. Photo: Stefano Porcinai, courtesy of Salon 94.

Olafur Eliasson unboxes Bread is Gold

Berlin-based artist and activist instantly recognises the value in Massimo’s extraordinary new book

A still from the Bread is Gold unboxing video Studio Olafur Eliasson posted

How Barber Osgerby pitched their Pacific chair to Jony Ive

Apple’s design guru saw how this 'quiet' piece of furniture suited today's less-formal office environment

Jay Osgerby and Edward Barber

No one did bags like Yves Saint Laurent

He might not have based a collection around a single handbag but Yves still knew how to make remarkable ones

Straw boater, natural-coloured leather gloves and overnight bag, worn with the ‘Just married’ going away suit, Spring/ Summer 2001 haute couture collection. Fondation Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent, Paris/All Rights Reserved

Delcy Morelos - Why I Create

Exploring the inspirations and attitudes of artists working with clay and ceramic, featured in Vitamin C

Delcy Morelos

Generation Wealth premieres at Sundance

Lauren Greenfield’s film screens beside Carey Mulligan and Jake Gyllenhaal movies at 2018’s festival

Christina, 21, a Walmart pharmacy technician, en route to her wedding in Cinderella’s glass coach, drawn by six miniature white ponies and with bewigged coachman, Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida, 2013.
All photographs by Lauren Greenfield, as reproduced in Generation Wealth

What we learned from Nan Goldin’s first 31 Instagram posts

Nan Goldin might deny her role in the development of social media but she's finally joined in!

Io in camouflage, NYC, 1994 by Nan Goldin, as featured in Eden and After

How Massimo Bottura saw in 2018

The Italian chef may have worked his way into the New Year, but that was no excuse not to party

Massimo Bottura and co. at Osteria Francescana on New Year's Eve

How to find New Year serenity in the Japanese garden

You can find serenity in a Japanese garden even if it's been left bare by winter - Sophie Walker explains how

Ani Jinja (Ani Shrine),  Okayama c.841, Heian Period. As featured in The Japanese Garden

How to have a Sportsman-like Christmas

Here’s how Sportsman head honcho Stephen Harris gets festive at his world-beating British restaurant in Kent

Baked cod with chestnuts, parsley and bacon, as featured in The Sportsman

Jason Lim - Why I Create

Exploring the inspirations and attitudes of artists working with clay and ceramic, featured in Vitamin C

Jason Lim

Who knew Mickalene Thomas did erotica?

In her 2008 painting, Thomas takes a scandalous Balthus work and remakes it in a more loving way

La Leçon d’amour (2008) by Mickalene Thomas

Book of Bones and a Natural History Museum membership – a gift for young naturalists

Know a budding botanist? Then pair our book with membership to one of the world's leading zoological institutions

A spread from Book of Bones

Come visit our library at the Guild in New York

We’ve teamed up with the acclaimed Roman and Williams to bring a carefully curated library to NYC

The Phaidon library at Roman and Williams Guild New York. All photographs by Adrian Gaut

John Pawson's World of Colour: Brown

From African graffiti to an Austrian ski town, Pawson finds beauty and playfulness even at this point in the spectrum

Kitzbühel, Austria. September 2016. All photos by John Pawson, as reproduced in Spectrum

Steven Holl unveils his light-filled Maggie’s Centre for London

The building, located beside St Bart’s in London, is a 'joyful, glowing presence' says the architect


Spectrum and a design museum membership – a gift for creatives

Give inspiration, and let them see the finished products at Cooper Hewitt in NY and the Design Museum in London

The Design Museum, Spectrum, and Cooper Hewitt

Alisa Baremboym - Why I Create

Exploring the inspirations and attitudes of artists working with clay and ceramic, featured in Vitamin C

Alisa Baremboym - photograph by Jesse Cohen

Good Morning America gifts America the Cookbook

America's most popular morning news show just chose America The Cookbook as its only culinary pick for 2017

America the Cookbook featured in Good Morning America's Great Books that Make Great Gifts section for Christmas 2017

Baber Osgerby, Projects and their Olio tableware collection – a gift for design lovers

Their tableware is designed to be appreciated piece-by-piece, making it the perfect gift to pair with our new book


10 things they say about Alex de Betak

Mario Testino, Fabien Baron, Jefferson Hack and Karlie Kloss wrap up the Fellini of the fashion show in words

Karlie Kloss modelling for Anthony Vaccarello, Fall/Winter 2012 Cité de la Mode et du Design, Paris. As reproduced in Betak Fashion Show Revolution

America The Cookbook and a Culinary Institute of America course – a gift for aspiring chefs

Got a lover of American food on your gift list? Then pair our book with a course in American gastronomy

America The Cookbook, and a CIA cookery course - the ideal gifting combination

No one did shoes like Yves Saint Laurent

For the designer, shoes were discreet, complementary details - light final touches to be applied sparingly

Autumn/Winter 1965 haute couture collection. Produced by Vivier from a design by Yves Saint Laurent, these shoes were to become a Saint Laurent classic. They were also worn by Catherine Deneuve in Luis Buñuel’s film Belle de Jour (1967)

Massimo Bottura and Enrique Olvera create kitchen alchemy

Enrique dug into Inca history and the Refettorio’s back yard to make a beautiful and healthy mole verde

Enrique Olvera (left) with Carlos García at Massimo Bottura's Refettorio Ambrosiano. All images from Bread is Gold

John Pawson's World of Colour: Violet

18-3838 Ultra Violet is Pantone's colour for 2018. But did Spectrum author John Pawson discover the colour first?

Jaffa, Israel, March 2016 by John Pawson. As reproduced in Spectrum

Dan McCarthy - Why I Create

Exploring the inspirations and attitudes of artists working with clay and ceramic, featured in Vitamin C

Dan McCarthy - photo by Paula Greiff

Bread is Gold and a Food for Soul donation – a gift for caring cooks

Pair Massimo Bottura's new book with support for his non-profit, and you'll satisfy any kind-hearted gourmand

Bread is Gold, and Refettorio Ambrosiano

No one did hats like Yves Saint Laurent

The masterful designer loved headwear, even if he apparently wasn’t so keen on its bourgeoisie wearers

Pleated lamé turban ornamented with a sequined palm leaf created by Nina Wood, gold braid belt embroidered with pearls (made by Leroux), worn with an Indian-inspired evening outfit, Spring/Summer 1982 haute couture collection. © Fondation Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent, Paris/All Rights Reserved

John Pawson's World of Colour: Black

Some say black is the total absence of colour but Pawson's dark shots let us see chromatic shades more acutely

Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands, August 2015 - John Pawson from Spectrum

The Artist Project: Cecily Brown on a Medieval Madonna

The painter went straight to The Met's medieval sculpture room when asked to choose an artwork that moved her

Cecily Brown, as featured in The Artist Project. Photo by Jackie Neale/Kathryn Hurni © The Met

William Curtis's Le Corb book gets another award!

The International Committee of Architectural Critics honours Ideas and Forms with a Bruno Zevi Award

LE Corbusier: Ideas and Forms by William J R Curtis

Annie Leibovitz and a Vanity Fair subscription – a gift for glamour lovers

Gift the book for a look back at Annie's great work - and a subscription to look forward to the images to come

Portraits 2005-2016 by Annie Leibovitz, and Annie Leibovitz's recent Kate McKinnon cover for Vanity Fair

The perfect Japanese Garden for snow

Cursing the cold snap? Perhaps we should be celebrating snow - The Japanese Garden explains why

The Daigō-ji Shingon temple, Kyoto, as featured in The Japanese Garden

Where to Drink Coffee and a bean-roasters' subscription – a gift for caffeine lovers

Combine these two gifts and the coffee lover in your life need never drink a bad cup again, either at home or away

Where to Drink Coffee, and Stumptown's famous Hair Bender blend

The Artist Project: Catherine Opie on Louis XIV’s bedroom

The fine-art photographer believes the Met’s period room dedicated to the Sun King works as a history portrait

Catherine Opie. Photo by Jackie Neale/Kathryn Hurni © The Met © Catherine Opie, Courtesy Regen Projects, Los Angeles and Lehmann Maupin, New York & Hong Kong

The Artist Project and Met Membership – a gift for art lovers

Gift a membership to America's biggest art museum, and have the world’s great artists show your loved-one around

From left: a Met members' event; John Currin beside Ludovico Carracci’s The Lamentation at the Metropolitan Museum, New York. Photo by Jackie Neale/Kathryn Hurni © The Met

The Artist Project: Sarah Sze on the Ancient Egyptians

The artist finds unlikely parallels between the Tomb of Perneb and the grave-like aspect of her own work

Sarah Sze beside the Tomb of Perneb at the Metropolitan Museum. Photo by Jackie Neale/Kathryn Hurni © The Met

John Pawson's World of Colour: Green

In his new book Spectrum the architect shows sensitivity towards both built and natural environment

Holland Park, London, September 2015. All photographs by John Pawson and reproduced in Spectrum

Shary Boyle - Why I Create

Exploring the inspirations and attitudes of artists working with clay and ceramic, featured in Vitamin C

Shary Boyle in her studio, 2017. Photograph by Marc Deguerre

Massimo Bottura launches Bread Is Gold in London

'It's all about imagination, knowledge and what one can do with nothing,' chef says at at Refettorio Felix

Massimo Bottura at Refettorio Felix December 2 2017 - photo by James Mason

John Pawson's World of Colour: Red

Israeli porcelain, British pop and Kenyan wildlife all find their way into the red section of Spectrum

Jaffa, Israel, April 2013. All photographs by John Pawson, and reproduced in Spectrum

Massimo Bottura and Joan Roca create kitchen alchemy

Roca’s use of Italian flatbreads was, for Bottura, as smart and ingenious as an elegantly solved maths problem

Joan Roca at work in Refettorio Ambrosiano, as reproduced in Bread is Gold.

Who knew Edward Weston did erotica?

The photographer’s nudes appear abstract but his infamous photo of a pepper packs an unexpected erotic charge

Edward Weston, Pepper No. 30, 1930, as reproduced in The Art of the Erotic

Don't miss this if you're visiting Miami!

Going to Art Basel Miami Beach? Then make sure you take in these towers, featured in Destination Architecture

The Grove at Grand Bay, 2014, 2675 South Bayshore Drive, Miami, FL 33133, by BIG. Photograph by Rasmus Hjortshøj

A Vitamin C guide to Turner Prize winner Lubaina Himid

Here's how the 63-year-old Tanzania-born artist utilised old crockery to win the 2017 contemporary art award

Part of Swallow Hard: The Lancaster Dinner Service (2007) by Lubaina Himid.  Courtesy Hollybush Gardens and the artist. Image courtesy Modern Art Oxford. Photo: Ben Westoby.

Marlene Steyn - Why I Create

Exploring the inspirations and attitudes of artists working with clay and ceramic, featured in Vitamin C

Vitamin C artist Marlene Steyn. Image courtesy of the artist

Who knew Bruce Nauman did erotica?

It wasn't quite sex but the artist still warned gallery goers that his Body Pressure work might get ...'erotic!'

Bruce Nauman, Body Pressure (1974) as reproduced in The Art of the Erotic

John Pawson's World of Colour: Yellow

See everything from the Buddhas of Myanmar to the cornfields of England via Pawson’s Spectrum

Al Shahaniya, Qatar. June 2012

Ivan Chermayeff - Death and Taxis

Following the death of the logo legend, we recall the place he did his best work - the back seat of a cab

A selection of designs Chermayeff worked on

Elizabeth Jaeger - Why I Create

Exploring the inspirations and attitudes of artists working with clay and ceramic, featured in Vitamin C

Elizabeth Jaeger

Who knew Henri Matisse did erotica?

Pretty much everyone! Discover how the modernist turned to ancient sex myths to rediscover his wilder impulses

‘… emportés jusqu’aux constellations…’, (1944) by Henri Matisse. As reproduced in The Art of the Erotic

Massimo Bottura - Number ONE in Toronto

The night before his appearance at George Brown chef school, Massimo was hosted by Toronto chef Mark McEwan for Lavazza coffee and cocktails at ONE Restaurant in the Hazelton Hotel

Massimo Bottura photo by Mat Smith

Rose Eken - Why I Create

Exploring the inspirations and attitudes of artists working with clay and ceramic, featured in Vitamin C

Rose Eken - photo by Freya Morales

John Pawson's World of Colour: Blue

How the architect found beautiful blues in the Aegean Sea and the skies over Chipping Norton

Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, UK, September 2011, by John Pawson. All images taken from Spectrum

How Yayoi Kusama inspired Donald Judd

If you like Donald's box sculptures you might want to thank Yayoi for helping him come up with them

Untitled (c. 1966) by Yayoi Kusama. A photo collage of the artist reclining on a Accumulation No 2, Infinity Net background, macaroni carpet. As reproduced in our Yayoi Kusama book.

Kobi Benezri talks about his NYC AIDS Memorial Artwork

'The ripple effect granite sculpture suggested a layered struggle and an aspiration to spread and reach far'

NYC AIDS Memorial artwork - Kobi Benezri. Multi green poster with the title integrated into graphic instead of tag line

No one did gloves like Yves Saint Laurent

The designer understood how a pair in the right colour, length and cut were crucially important to an outfit's success

Spring/Summer 1987 haute couture collection. All images taken from Yves Saint Laurent Accessories. Fondation Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent, Paris/All Rights Reserved

Stephen Shore's MoMA retrospective in 5 books

Going to the photographer’s Museum of Modern Art show in New York? These are the books you should get

Tel Aviv, June 17, 2010 by Stephen Shore, as reproduced in From Galilee to the Negev

Why Robert Ryman is having a moment right now

The author of our new monograph explains why critics are returning to the painter’s great white body of work

Robert Ryman, Bond, 1982; Enamelac on fiberglass and aluminum honeycomb panel with redwood edge with two aluminum fasteners and four hexagonal bolts, panel: 30 × 30 in (76.2 × 76.2 cm); overall: 32 × 30 in (81.3 × 76.2 cm); The Greenwich Collection, Ltd. Picture credit: artwork © 2017 Robert Ryman/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / Photograph by Bill Jacobson for Robert Ryman Archive

Gertrude Jekyll's 5 tips to make any garden look great

The gardener and subject of today's Google Doodle was born on this day in 1843

Munstead Wood

How Stephen Shore's serial pictures changed photography

Why did the MoMA photographer choose to photograph his friend every 30 minutes for a day back in 1969?

Detail from July 22, 1969 by Stephen Shore.

Fäviken launches three pop-ups

Can’t get a table at Magnus’s place? Then try the brigade’s new Japanese restaurant, café and cocktail bar

Magnus Nilsson. Photo by Erik Olsson