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The weather gods haven't been kind as I arrive at the Mara factory on the outskirts of Brescia. If you think Italy, certainly in the design industry, it's usually all sun-bleached locations, where an Aperol Spritz is only ever seconds away.

But climatic conditions are, quite frankly, the only thing the Italian furniture manufacturer doesn't have control over. Founded in 1960 by the current managing director Laura Marchina's grandfather, Camillo – who was an experienced metal-worker in the production of, of all things, gun barrels – the company, like the family itself, keeps everything close to home. Very close, in fact. The Mara story is not just 100% Made in Italy, it's 100% Brescia. (Fun fact: the company name is a contraction of 'Marchina Arredamenti' or 'Marchina Furniture'.)

'You are the company you keep' goes the old expression. Meaning those who you choose to associate with say a lot about your own character.

Measured against this adage, Brescia-based company Mara's stock would appear to be up. The Made-in-Italy brand, which has long specialized in producing systems and furnishing elements that feature strong technical components, is enjoying a renewed identity, as it pivots from a dyed-in-the-wool office manufacturer to one that responds to both work and residential. And the external design collaborators it has engaged of late speak volumes about the level of its ambition. AMDL CIRCLE and Michele De Lucchi, Christophe Pillet, Ferruccio Laviani and Marcello Ziliani each bring with them an indisputable wealth of design expertise and award-winning output.

Anyone who knows me knows that I love to ask questions. Probably too many. But when you meet with Italian architecture and design grandee Michele De Lucchi, you’re all ears, such is the caliber of his thought and the eloquence of his expression, built on the back of over half a century of experimental, and sometimes iconoclastic, creative practice. From his participation in such avant-garde design collectives as Studio Alchimia and Memphis to his authorship of the Compasso d’Oro-winning Tolomeo lamp and Pulcina coffee pot, he’s seen a lot and done a lot.

Let’s be honest. There’s been a certain amount of speculation over the past while about the future of imm cologne, the international furniture fair that’s traditionally kicked off the calendar year, acting as a compass to the design landscape of the following twelve months. Like every physical trade fair, it has had to navigate white waters: pandemic strictures, turbulent macroeconomics and the continued expansion of alternative channels.

Don't be fooled. Size really does matter. Particularly when it comes to new urban housing developments, where the challenge of squaring housing density with quality of life and sustainability remains key.

'You'll always find me in the kitchen at parties,' goes the old pop song from the 1980s.

But when it comes to Sven Rensinghoff, the marketing chief at premium German bathroom brand Bette, it’s mostly the bath. The first time I met him, a number of years ago, he was in the middle of a photo shoot at the ISH Frankfurt trade fair, lying in one of the manufacturer’s latest, high-end tubs. Clothes on, I should add. No water.

Not many architectural projects require maps of the area to be updated. But, then again, not many projects are as sensitively considered as the Lighthouse Hotel & Spa in Büsum, North Germany.

It could have gone so wrong. But local architect Thomas Ladehoff – in close collaboration with hotelier and creative sparring partner Jens Sroka – managed to deliver a 108-room destination that, through its clever voluminal articulation and constructional materials, respects both the scale and the vernacular language of its environs – and most importantly mitigates its partial obstruction of the 110-year-old lighthouse next to which it sits and from which it takes its name.

They say you only really become aware of whether an architect has considered the acoustics of a space when she or he hasn't. Think archly Instagrammable, yet I-can't-hear-my-dining-partner-speak restaurant interiors.

For the longest time, the management of sound was given little, if no, thought in formal architectural training. Things might be changing, but – and luckily for companies like Swiss-based Impact Acoustic – there is still a need for architecturally minded solutions-providers who like nothing better than reducing noise.

By Simon Keane-Cowell.

We connect with Patrick Speck and Carina Buhlert, design experts at GROHE – one of the leading global bathroom-solutions and kitchen-fixtures brands – to discuss product innovation and the launch of its new digital-experience platform, GROHE X.