Sorry we were a little late posting. Blame it on Mercury Retrograde. Full coverage of NeoCon might not happen until I’m back in New York, because I lost a day due to technical difficulties, and now have appointments to keep. But I will tell you this–NeoCon is jumping, despite tornadoes, four dollar-a-gallon gas,and a gloomy…

Stephen Burks on his new product launches and thoughts on the Milan Furniture Fair.

Some emerging and prominent names in architecture and interior design chat about how they scaled up and grew their businesses without losing their minds or clients.

Contract standoffs and design rip-offs.

A sudden spate of major commissions around the world belies Asymptote’s long, circuitous route to ascendancy. A look at some of the milestones on the firm’s path from bytes to buildings.

Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park

The fiber-reinforced plastic panels that serve as the skin of Zaha Hadid’s sensuous—and portable—Chanel Art Container (see “Nomad Architecture”). Photograph: Virgile Simon Bertrand.

SB: There seems to be a trend toward more graphic work. Is it due to our desire to liken our surroundings to the graphic world of electronic media? While all of these textural…

There is no longer one formula for the design hotel. After conducting a global survey, Fulcrum reports back on four new trends: design as cultural propaganda, the return of decoration, surface depth and “just be” high style.

Seminal hotels in the history of 20th-century destination design.

How Margi Glavovic Nothard turned a wedding gazebo commission into an arts-themed park, sparking the renewal of Hollywood, Florida’s downtown.

www.isayweinfeld.com

Through his radical rethinking of the bricks-and-mortar bookstore, Isay Weinfeld has given new meaning to the term Brazilian Amazon.

The façade of Livraria da Vila in the posh Jardins neighborhood serves as both sign and advertisement for its wares. Entry is through pivoting bookshelves encased in glass.

Livraria da Vila in the leafy, upscale São Paulo neighborhood…

Vinyl Group mixes business with design in China.

Los Angeles-based designer sheds light on glass.

Tokyo-based design firm is making waves with its insight and verve.

Corian

Using digital tools, Herzog & de Meuron turned street art into forward-looking luxury.

When Ian Schrager’s luxury condo 40 Bond, designed by Herzog & de Meuron, was completed, the press went wild over its startling imagery. A 21st–century rethinking of the cast-iron construction so characteristic of its NoHo neighborhood, 40 Bond’s façade is a Cartesian grid…

Out of a former utility closet, Bonnie Roche has conjured a theater of wonder.

Bonnie Roche has renovated theaters at Lincoln Center, designed homes for the likes of Paloma Picasso and John Loring, and helped conceive such major civic projects as San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center, yet she counts among her proudest work her transformation of…

Robert Allen’s Room Service

www.kartell.it

In Fulcrum’s launch issue, we interviewed Lorenza Luti, the Marketing and Retail Director for Kartell. Sales have nearly doubled at the company since 2006, when Luti, took over as Marketing and Retail Director. The directional plastics manufacturer is a true example of business Italian style. Kartell’s owner and chairman is Lorenza’s father, Claudio…

Kartell’s marketing and retail director talks fashion, marketing and innovation.