Icon Magazine October 2015 Back Issue

In our latest issue, available from 4 September, we consider the design and architecture that makes a city come to life, from landscaping to outdoor furniture
As we sent this issue to print, the Icon team was gearing up for a month of design activity in London. September erupts with the London Design Festival (you’ll find our highlights in the magazine), and in this issue we speak to a few people who’ll be making a cameo: Yves Béhar, Melkan Gürsel Tabanlioglu, Ilse Crawford, Punkt. and Simon Glynn of branding agency Lippincott. We’re expecting to see some excellent new products, hear some challenging new ideas, and (of course) attend a few memorable parties.
But there’s more that brings a city to life than a major event. So, for this issue, we reflect on some of the things, people and places that define our urban environment. Tim Abrahams looks at how future-focused companies (and architects) are building long, stretched-out HQs rather than skyscrapers. Why? The opportunity for more green space (on roofs, and around them), and more spaces to mingle and share ideas. And that’s exactly what Diana Balmori has attempted with her landscape-first masterplan in Sejong. We interview the New York-based urban designer about why her linear, rooftop park – almost too popular a solution in her adopted hometown of NY – has been a challenge in Korea’s newest city.
We also swing through Helsinki for a look at its suburbs, as the Finnish capital searches for solutions to reinvigorate them. Plus, we admire good public space in Paris and Lisbon, by way of their street furniture. This has come to be a symbol of urban life in each of these cities: both have fallen in love with a singular design, helping to give their parks and squares a distinct sense of place – not unnoticed by other capitals, who are finding their own. An icon can go a long way.