We were poolside at a particularly palatial villa in Bali when we realised we work rather well together. The year was 2018; we had just put out a special issue on Indonesia and were touring the nation’s creative hubs to launch it and meet many of the faces who had made their way into its pages. Whether it was the breezy Bali air, the liberal libations or the friendly Indonesian spirit, there was a lightness that made anything seem possible. Fast forward to today and, it turns out, anything is. With this issue, the two of us have come together to take Design Anthology into its second decade.

Since meeting, we’ve worked on 20 issues together, this being our 21st. Everything you see in this issue of Design Anthology and beyond is a collaboration and a reflection of a vision shared between two different people. It may be unusual in the world of magazines, but we nonetheless join a long history of partnerships in the creative disciplines that we cover.

Bar a few tweaks, the issue continues many of the conventions established over the past ten years. We continue to look for the Design Anthology take on design, architecture, travel, fashion and art with our roster of writers and photographers, and as always this sets us off on a global tour. Our Dossier section stops off in Tokyo, Seoul and Shanghai, while Wanderlust has us checking in to Kyoto and Mongolia’s Orkhon Valley. Then it’s up to London and Venice for our Vernissage section, down to Bangkok, Bali, Singapore and Australia’s Mornington Peninsula for our Homes section and then back to the Thai capital for Architectonics. Where’s the Concorde when you need it?

Before you get stuck into this issue, it’s worth recognising the mammoth effort — and bravery — it takes to start and run a magazine. Founders Suzy Annetta and Philip Annetta, and countless collaborators along the way, have worked incredibly hard to spotlight a community that, until Design Anthology’s founding in 2014, had no unifying publication dedicated to it. The courage and vision it took to launch something new should never be underestimated, and we honour their efforts with renewed vigour as we begin this journey together.

If you have a project to pitch, a tip to reveal or some feedback to share, our inboxes are always open. Whether we’re yet to meet or are old friends, we can’t wait to clink glasses with you somewhere in the world in the months to come. It’s because of our readers, our steadfast contributors and our commercial partners that we’re able to do what we do. Thank you for all your support, and we hope you enjoy the issue.

Simone Schultz & Jeremy Smart
Editors-in-Chief

Inside the issue

Dossier

The List
A round-up of things to see, places to go and books to read

Studio
New furniture brand Centre’s innovative approach embodies Japanese values

Profile
Jiang Qiong Er champions the beauty and relevance of traditional Chinese crafts in the contemporary world

Studio
Korean brand Dozamm’s female artisans hand-make furniture using traditional joinery methods

A Day in the Life
We spend a day with legendary product designer Naoto Fukasawa in his Tokyo home and studio space

Style

Slow Fashion
Indonesian social enterprise SukkhaCitta empowers the local workforce typically overlooked in the fashion industry

Editors’ Picks
New wardrobe essentials from editor-approved brands

Wanderlust

Hotel, Kyoto
Six Senses has opened its second urban property, and its first in Japan, focused on wellness, sustainability and cultural heritage

Photo Essay
The Genghis Khan retreat offers visitors a taste of pre-modern steppe life

Openings
From Salzburg to Suzhou, we round up some of the best new design-led properties around the world

Vernissage

Profile
Australian artist and poet Tais Rose Wae’s exquisite loom-woven pieces celebrate her Indigenous ancestry, nature and motherhood

Venice Biennale
Asian artists and cultural producers have a growing impact at the Venice Biennale

Home

Bali
In verdant Tumbak Bayuh, former chef Andrew Swallow’s first foray into design privileges simplicity and refinement

Mornington Pensinula
Reimaging a holiday home for everyday life, Australian designers Hecker Guthrie employ craft and tactility to bring warmth to a rugged coastal setting

Singapore
Sohen Studio looks to Japanese domestic traditions to create an exemplar of living small yet well

Bangkok
Designer Albano Daminato and architect Karen Lim have created a sprawling family home that embodies the designer’s trademark warmth and elegance

Architectonics

Mass Transit, Bangkok
One of Bangkok’s most iconic features is also its most functional. The city’s BTS Skytrain towers above the urban core, ferrying commuters across its brutalist tracks above gradually pedestrianising walkways and between gleaming new developments

The Flâneur

Tokyo
A flâneur is an urban explorer, and in our rotating column, our writers share their musings, observations and critiques of the urban environment in cities around the world. In this issue, Design Anthology co-editor-in-chief and Tokyo resident Jeremy Smart considers how a series of architect-designed public bathrooms that attracted global attention have become characters in the city’s daily life

Partnerships

New Bahru
From the bright minds of The Lo & Behold Group, New Bahru is a 20,000-square-metre lifestyle destination in Singapore’s River Valley neighbourhood where more than 40 businesses, from cafes and restaurants to retail and wellness, have set up shop, giving the old school a new lease on life