What can designers learn from the principles of Japanese gardening?

At Monocle’s Quality of Life Conference in Lisbon, we catch up with one of Portugal’s foremost architects, Manuel Aires Mateus. Plus: highlights from the conference at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is the term “industrial design” frowned upon by design purists? Zürich-based Sébastien El Idrissi thinks so. He joins Nic Monisse to discuss why his goal is positive change at an industrial scale. Plus: what to look forward to at our Quality of Life Conference in Lisbon this year.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Niwaki founder Jake Hobson on why Japanese garden shears demonstrate the key to good design. Plus: Ferrari shocks critics. And: the joy of luxury stationery.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chef-turned-CEO Hugo Worsley tells us why design-lovers are obsessed with Allday Goods’ knives. Plus: Australia’s new census puts design on the map and why your next hotel stay should be the Chesa Grischuna in Klosters.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Clémence Pirajean and James Lees tell us about how narratives are essential to designing luxury interiors well. Plus: cooling off with design-thinking and the architecture of clubs.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hungarian designer Linda Boronkay on crafting hospitality interiors that ‘nourish the soul’. Then: Nic Monisse and Grace Charlton on luxury kebabs, animism and the object in their house that they would save first. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Alex Holloway, of interior architecture studio Holloway Li, on drawing inspiration from cinema aesthetics and online slang. Plus: a review of Sicilian architecture and travel etiquette.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dorothée Boissier explains Gilles and Boissier’s approach to interior design. Then: Nic Monisse and Grace Charlton give their take on “digital minimalism” and whether or not designers can help us to stay on task. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Australian designer Henry Wilson on why perfection is not something he strives for. Then: Rolf Fehlbaum of Vitra on why fun and friendship make for better work.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mexican architect Fernanda Canales invites us into her modern home. Then: French-American designer Sophie Lou Jacobsen and Thuma’s head of brand, Alec Banks, discuss how ritual and memory shape our relationship with home.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.