By Design: a foray into the most captivating interiors of the last few years

A book put together almost entirely during the latest quarantine – a period in which focus on our domestic spaces hit unprecedented levels – thanks to Phaidon’s extraordinary cross-cutting and informative approach. By Design. The World’s Best Contemporary Interior Designers is the latest volume in the recent series of books on interior design devised by the international editors of the publishing house itself, a leader in the field of creative arts, following a tried and tested modus operandi: the sharing of ideas and resources. More than 90 nominators, including writers, editors, designers, stylists, photographers, restaurateurs, hoteliers and influencers, amongst whom were figures such as the Director of PIN_UP magazine Felix Burrichter and the curator Aric Chen, selected the many projects, strictly from 2015 onwards. In his introduction, William Norwich, Commissioning Editor of Fashion and Interior Design, had this to say: “Designers today are most concerned about how their spaces will affect their inhabitants. In other words, how spaces are experienced; how they affect, much more than just how they are perceived critically.” 

It is the beauty and the unexpectedness of the interventions that are so astonishing, like the 19th century Augustinian convent in Antwerp turned into a hotel by Vincent van Duysen or Back Home by Cristina Celestino for Fendi and Fendi Casa, during Salone del Mobile 2019.Milano week, the Redemption flagship store in New York and the Aesop stores in Rome and London by the film director Luca Guadagnino. The book is organised alphabetically by designer, each of whom is allocated 2 or 4 pages, in a rollercoaster of different types and styles, from minimalist private homes to Baroque-style hotels, hyper-contemporary bars and retro restaurants right down to shops and showrooms. An unexpected foray across 30 countries and 26 locations.