MATTER and SHAPE(talks) support by Monocle

During its collaboration with Monocle, MATTER and SHAPE hosted a series of talks unfolding over two days, bringing together designers, architects, thinkers and cultural voices around one shared intention: to explore how design shapes the way we live. More than a program, these conversations became a space: open, precise and deeply human where ideas could circulate freely and resonate beyond the moment itself. The 2 days of talks are now progressively on Monocle’s Design Radio, A way to move beyond the immediacy of the salon, and to carry these conversations further, durably  where design continues to exist as a living dialogue.

— Investigating Editions, New Cultural Landscapes and Olfactory Oral

With Sébastien Tardy, Ida Kukkapuro and Amélie du Passage, editions become a way to continue a story balancing new works and archives, preservation and reinterpretation.
With Villa Hegra, the discussion expands into cross-cultural exchange where design becomes a meeting point between geographies, practices, and narratives. Influence is shared, not imposed.
Finally, with Sissel Tolaas and Emma McCormick Goodhart, design moves beyond the visible. Through scent, it becomes atmosphere, memory, and sensation, an invisible layer shaping how we experience space.
A first sequence that invites us to consider design not only as form, but as a continuous flow across time, disciplines, and perception.

— listen the full episode #1

 

 

— Extending the conversation: Architecture and Genius Loci, Larger Than Life, Through the Looking Glass

With Jayden Ali, Inside / Out reflects on the relationship between architecture and environment. Space is not only constructed-it is perceived, inhabited, and continuously redefined by those who move through it.
In dialogue with Birkenstock 1774, the conversation expands towards scale and sculpture. Objects step beyond function, becoming forms that hold presence where material, proportion, and context create meaning.
Finally, with Repossi and Sabine Marcelis, the focus shifts to intimacy. From jewellery to interiors, a shared language emerges, one of precision, light, and radical simplicity.
Across each exchange, a common thread: design is a matter of balance between inside and outside, object and space, detail and vision.

— listen the full episode #2

Led by Dan Thawley, the second day explores how design shifts across scales and disciplines without ever losing its essence.

Support by Monocle.