I’m writing this letter from Copenhagen, fresh off the back of the city’s design festival, 3daysofdesign. For the three light-filled days, I visited the city’s different design districts to see how the theme Keep it Real was interpreted, most notably through the reissue of era-defining furniture.

One such rerelease is the 1974 modular Elogio sofa by the husband-and-wife studio of Tobia and Afra Scarpa. Set to be relaunched by GUBI later this year, I had the rare privilege of hearing from Tobia Scarpa firsthand about how the design pays tribute—Elogio, meaning to honour or praise in Italian—to the beauty of everyday domestic life.

The festival’s call for individual expression finds new relevance in this issue, particularly through the ten global projects that balance abstraction with resonant materials in our special feature, Kitchen Compendium.

That same spirit of self-expression defines Babylon—the bohemian home of creatives Fiona Spence and Morris Lyda, revived over eight years in collaboration with Casey Brown Architecture. This expression also surfaces in the Stockholm residence of Acne Studios’ Pontus Björkman, designed by Halleroed.

We see nonconformity cultivated in Living Monument, a home by GOLDEN, J. Kidman Architecture and Tali Roth. Architect Clare Cousins considers how her newly completed Melbourne home speaks to her almost 20 years of practice in our latest podcast.

I’m excited to kick off garden editor Will Dangar’s series of design talks for est magazine, who sits down with Asher Cole, director of Sydney-based landscape architecture practice The Garden Social. There’s no shortage of product inspiration in this issue, both my lighting edit from Euroluce 2025 in Milan, and in our kitchen-focused Definitive Design Products.

I believe each project, space and product in this issue holds true to a singular vision—but nowhere more so than in the authentic expression of exceptional kitchen design.