PLAZA mag, a swedish glossy get-together of interiors, design and fashion. Not ad-less, but you get into the features & editorials fairly quickly, with fashion interludes here and there. Woman in design is the general theme for this issue, which features many well illustrated articles. I enjoyed the interview with Ilse Crawford, Elle Decor's interior design director, on the quality of life, how design sometimes threads it all together for her. She aptly reminds that "above all, a room should feel comfortable", something often forgotten in the field. There's also an article on Dutch food designer Marije Vogelzang (you may remember May issue of ICON, she made the cover) in using food as a materiel to design unique (and tasty) experiences. Modest and inspiring, a sure stop next time I'm in Amsterdam. As for the insipid cover, do not let it deceive you, the content is fairly fined-tuned. A nice ride.

Plaza - International Edition: Issue #4-2008, pages 36-41, 50-52

I didn't intend to make this a girl-themed mag post, it just happened. THEME explores the topic as well with their unique and acute "global asian culture" glasses. An interview with the NY based Smart design gals about Femme Den, an in-house consultancy with insight and design methodologies that link product design and female consumers; Design that is sensible and based on realities not assumptions (eg: womanized in pink). And if you're a fan of Nokia's research captain Jan Chipchase, you'll love reading about the sensible and talented globetrotter and fellow researcher Youngee Jung. She's touring the world, discovering new people in new places, studying how different culture, users, needs and technology meet and how this shapes mobile phone concepts of tomorrow.

Theme: Issue #16, September-October, pages 74-79 & 86-89

If Frame is a regular pick of yours, then MARK should be too. Thick and heavy, it boast an insightful and singular curation of architectural works and topics 6 times per year. The october/november issue is a lot less towers and lot more contemporary houses--seven in total--set in Japan, Mongolia, Mexico and Poland. My favorite made the cover and is the less fanciful and garnished of the lot: a wooden country house tucked away by the Kuma river in Kumamura, Japan. The house is an assemblage of 11 layers (read 11 distinctive floor plans) of huge wooden square logs cleverly piled as to form cave-like spaces and to which the surfaces are or can be shelves, staircase, and seating at the same time.

Mark: issue #16, October-November, pages 126-183