See no evil, hear no evil and you know the rest – what we’re trying to get at is that the advent of the Year of the Monkey is a very positive development. Peel a banana, grab a friend to groom and find out why.

There’s something wrong with the homes being erected around the globe: they are all about a chilly display of wealth, not creating a place that makes you feel safe. It’s time to campaign for a new healthy architecture.

Big-box retail and out-of-town stores are struggling in the DIY sector. This is the chance for a revival of small inner-city hardware hubs where knowledge and service rule the day. In Italy they have a model to copy.

Many Sydneysiders – young families as well as up-and-coming creatives – are breathing new life into this idyllic community on the Lower North Shore.

The traditionally working-class neighbourhood of Jalan Besar is emerging as a hotbed of creativity, cafés, architecture practices, galleries and studios. What’s more, the sophistication of the area’s offering is growing by…

Megan Billings reporting from Church Hill: The heart of the old American South is being revitalised by community funding and innovators looking for a new challenge.

Many cities need more housing schemes but fall short of making them characterful and interesting. We visit a Swiss development that has built-in charm and diversity.

Chairs, tables and ceramics are, first and foremost, made to be used. But buy the right pieces and 2016 could be the year that you make a profit on your Prouvé and earn from your Eames; here’s how to go from home to auction…

Too many residential towers play by the rules. We are granted rare access to Torres Blancas, a fantastical expression of 1960s modernism that remains as current and desirable as ever.

In the US, Germany, the UK, Indonesia, Hong Kong and China, a renewed interest in the printed word means more books are being dusted off and fewer e-readers are being turned on. Is this a new chapter?

A slice of fairytale magic could be yours for €50,000 for a 30-second commercial or a cool €200m for a blockbuster – but where is the heart of animation in 2016? From paintbrushes to computer screens, we profile a superp…

The island state is not used to letting people do anything they want and that means it’s been stuck with a moribund arts scene. But the new National Gallery aims to change perceptions of the country at home and abroad.…

The textile-and-clothing industry has always been integral to Europe’s economy. Despite Asia’s recent dominance, German looms and presses are still whirring away as tried-and-tested companies are brought back into the fold…

Roman roads that still lead the way, the future of the EU, the sheer pleasure of swinging an axe and a few more subjects to fire up your imagination and get you talking in 2016.

Rural depopulation is the flipside of the urban success story but there are ways to make sure it doesn’t leave city-dwellers bereft of fresh produce or their age-old connection to the soil. Here are three firms ploughing…