Weekendpaper* | Design Awards 2026 preview

There is nothing unnecessary in the London home of Michael Anastassiades. ‘Everything is very carefully chosen, and unless something is perfectly suitable, I prefer to live without it,’ says the designer, known for creating poetic, minimalist lighting and objects, where clarity meets a quiet sense of drama.

A painting by Palestinian artist Rosalind Nashashibi speaks to Anastassiades’ connection to water, while a chair by architect and friend Bijoy Jain of Studio Mumbai stands out for its lightness and strength. A piano stool by Marc Camille Chaimowicz appeals precisely because ‘it’s so far away from anything that [Anastassiades] would ever design [himself]’.

That said, the designer considers it important to surround himself with his own creations. ‘It's a responsibility. You can't expect somebody else to go through something without even having a personal experience of your own products.’ So there’s the ‘Bird Cage Cabinet’, designed as an homage to architect Josef Frank; and a ‘Tube Chandelier’, Anastassiades’ earliest lighting design, ‘a simple exercise in trying to suspend three light tubes in the most minimal way’. Watch our film for a very personal insight into Anastassiades’ world.

Transparent, fluid, light, fragmented, connected: a tumbling flow of eight vast cubical volumes appears to hover above a green park, sunlight and wind filtering freely through mesh façades. However, perhaps even more remarkable than this new structure’s monumental scale, weightless presence and abstraction of form is its function: it’s an art museum – and it’s also a library.

The idea of mixing two established institutions to create a paradigm-shifting new cultural concept lies at the heart of Taichung Green Museumbrary in Taiwan, designed by Japanese architects SANAA. A spatial dialogue connecting books and art, the hybrid ‘museumbrary’ dissolves conventional boundaries and softly integrates Taichung Art Museum with Taichung Public Library.

Speaking to Danielle Demetriou on site ahead of the opening today (13 December), SANAA co-founder Kazuyo Sejima explained: ‘People can encounter new art and new books and have two different kinds of information, new experiences, new learning. These two programmes stand independently, softly – but there are many possibilities to meet and mix them both.’

Over the past year, writer Orla Brennan has got to know some of the most exciting new talents in fashion for her monthly column, Uprising, learning about their novel ideas, strange material inventions, and small but important rebellions against outdated systems. ‘If I’ve learnt anything from these conversations, it’s that these people do what they do for the love of their craft – something they hope anyone who buys a piece of their world can feel in every stitch, button and seam,’ she says.

With that in mind, as the season of giving gets underway, how about choosing something interesting, well-made and genuinely joy-sparking? Broadening Uprising’s remit to include not just fashion brands, but booksellers, vintage textile purveyors and more, Brennan has created a guide to the very best independent makers to support this Christmas. From Kiko Kostadinov’s dog-inspired ‘Dante’ capsule to Georgia Kemball’s small-batch and one-off jewellery designs, it’s nicer to go niche.

You can now enjoy a brush with the Dark Prince of Fashion twice daily, thanks to Rick Owens’ collaboration with oral care brand Selahatin to create a toothpaste, a mouthwash, a mouth spray, and a toothbrush. ‘You don’t need to have many things, but the essential things should be made special,’ says Owens. The full travel set, pictured, is certainly that.