Gen Z is here

Airless women’s rooms, glittering testicles and muscular experiments – this year’s degree exhibitions in Stockholm mirrored the ongoing obsession with body and identity.

Live to work or the other way around? In the creative industries, where life and work tend to merge, the answer is not obvious. Philip Warkander, Sweden’s first PhD in Fashion Studies, ponders on the point of labour criticism in the fashion world.

Bosses and gatekeepers, hirelings and fools – the fashion tribe isn’t that different from the rest of humanity. The question is what digitalisation is doing to their world. Two dedicated followers of fashion got together for a talk fest about the state of the modern-day proletariat.

How do you survive as a rookie in the neurotic world of craft and design? Form publishes an excerpt from The Metal Department, an offbeat novel about the delicate art of becoming a designer.

They have beautiful exteriors and are made to last forever. So why do so many of these buildings get razed to the ground in Stockholm? Photographer Johan Fowelin pays homage to an era that architects love to hate: the 19th century.

Caroline Richardt Beck draws inspiration from dance and movies, rather than other architects. Her diploma project from the Royal Danish Academy is a massive airport makeover.

The move to a new venue was a great improvement for the graduate exhibition in Gothenburg – and the textile arts was absolutely impressive.

The exhibition at the Milan Design Week is among their best works so far. Hanna Johansson visits the studio of the design couple that keeps outdoing themselves : Fredrik Färg and Emma Marga Blanche.

The autumn primeurs from the Scandinavian design scene include works by Luca Nichetto, Jenny Nordberg and Uniforms for the Dedicated. And an almost 50-year-old Panton classic.

So far, no one has succeeded with the Swedish Centre for Architecture and Design. Now, the government, museum staff and the whole design community in Sweden pin their hopes on British curator Kieran Long. But will the new museum director manage in the Long run?

Their voices were unique. Salka Hallström Bornold mourns Ana Londono and Rosa Taikon, two exceptional designers who were born on opposite ends of the 20th century – and both devoted their lives to the same struggle, for human rights and against racism.

What is design about on the other side of the EU wall? Daniel Golling travels to Beirut Design Week and realises the need for a new Arab spring.

They say that fashion is dead. The system is unsound in too many ways, not least in terms of sustainability. What will follow in its place? Hanna Johansson draws inspiration from the new brand Atacac, gets a suit tailored for herself and starts to believe in a different future.

This exhibition pales in comparison to the masterpiece in Frederiksberg.

Graceful homage to a beloved ceramic artist