There is more to beautiful objects than simply balance and proportion – there is also history, ingenuity and, above all, education. At the new Rolex Learning Center designed by Japanese architects SANAA and profiled in this week's issue, there are no walls or partitions between rooms. Recognizing the importance of social interaction to learning, the seamless space encourages the exchange of ideas between students. It's just one way in which considered aesthetics can improve education. This week's issue is dedicated to intelligent forms of fashion, architecture, design, and culture – we hope you learn something.
The French designer and furniture maker Hervé Van der Straeten – known for his bold forms, innovative materials and exquisite execution – takes us on a tour of his Paris gallery and explains his latest collection, entitled Manipulations.
In a video interview, the Japanese architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa, the founders of SANAA, explain the "artificial topography" of interior hills and valleys at The Rolex Learning Center in Lausanne.
Gem-encrusted skulls have forever been the signature motif of Venetian jewelry house Codognato. As an exhibition in Paris celebrates the use of skulls across all forms of art, Attilio Codognato explains his fascination for the morbid icon.
A new performance of Verdi's Attila at The Metropolitan Opera in New York features costumes designed by Miuccia Prada and sets constructed by the Pritzker Prize-winning architects Herzog & de Meuron.
This season's shoes remain towering yet with a decidedly feminine touch. Playful material – either crisscrossed, overlaid or in bows galore – expresses a soft style that is still strong and skyscraping.
