AZURE

Lively, fresh, forward-looking, but also socially relevant — this defines Azure, the leading design publication covering the expanding world of international contemporary architecture and design. Each issue delivers readers inspiring ideas and cutting-edge innovations, from state-of-the-art green building to the latest in furniture and home accessories from around the globe.

Riding the Wave

AZURE • Vol. 41, No. 310, May/June 2025

Staff Meal • During Stockholm Design Week, the office that eats together succeeds together

Generational Wealth • Holloway Li takes a London hotel back to its building’s roots in turn-of-the-century banking

Taking Shape • Tracing the contours of three geometric table lamps with well-defined backstories

The Finnish Line • A three-year revamp grants deeper access to Helsinki’s historic Finlandia Hall

5 Things We Learned from Herman Miller’s VP of Gaming • How JON CAMPBELL led the company to a high score in an emerging sector

At Ease with Unease • Toronto’s January design fairs struck a timely balance between comfort and discomfort

Grow Your Quads • A student residence by David Kohn Architects carves its Oxford site into a trio of intimate plazas

Design Culture Duo • A family-owned company helmed by a mother-and-son team, Stone Tile keeps its eye to the future as it expands across Canada and beyond – all while staying true to the relationships at its roots

Retention Plans • At New Wave London’s HQ, Thomas-McBrien Architects constructs a timber pavilion powered by circular design

Base of Operations • Whether sit–stand or stationary, these four desks contribute to functional and creative corners

Minimal Impact • Toronto’s Syllable Design shows how second-hand furniture packs a positive double whammy: as a cost-effective solution and an elegant aesthetic for offices

Get in the Zone • Clear your head with focus pods designed for ultimate concentration

A Greener Path • Vitra and Heller revolutionize two of the industry’s main components: PU foam and plastic

The Natural Choice • In Czechia, a new office by Chybik+ ​Kristof will make a case for timber construction across the region

Intelligent Design • The home of A.I. at the University of Toronto embraces a community-oriented ethos, inside and out

The Shape of Architecture to Come? • A.I. is everywhere: summarizing our emails before we open them, augmenting our Google searches, filling our social media feeds with fake videos that seem uncannily real. For the architecture profession, its promises encompass both the bold and the banal. A.I. can be used to envision fantastical projects at the stroke of a key…It can also sort and read RFP and construction documents. But whether practitioners apply an à la carte approach or embrace vertical integration, the tools themselves are advancing at a breakneck pace. We try to keep up.

The Dancing House • In the Javanese village of Mutihan, a 19th-century house has gained a second life as a rehearsal space and performance venue. A member of the project team, Azure’s Stefan Novakovic catches up with his colleagues to discuss the evolution of a low-tech roof typology into a contemporary setting.

On the Waterfront • How cities along the Great Lakes are transforming dumping grounds — known as “confined disposal facilities” — into thriving landscapes

SOMETHING OLD SOMETHING NEW • For his growing family, architect Julian King renovates and expands a rustic New York home that gazes at a canopy of pines through bold cuts in the built form

40+ Years of 88 Design • While the COVID-19 pandemic (that global calamity that kicked off the decade, for those who have cast it from memory) may have warped all sense of time,...