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It was designed by a suspect bohemian, houses a coup plotter and is today favoured by young, liberal creatives. Madrid's Edificio Princesa, once both bunker and luxury home for Franco's loyal cadre, is a concrete testament to the contradictions and bold optimism of Spain's transition to democracy.

Monocle is launching a new series of travel guide books that you can buy in our shops (including online). We start with London and New York and in the coming weeks these will be joined by Hong Kong and Tokyo. Each 148-page guide gives you our take on the city and the things that make us excited about it – from local retail to fun cafés, good runs to neighbourhood walks. Quirky, opinionated and revealing, they are the guide books you need to pack. [Available to order now at The Monocle Shop.](/shop/books-and-music/travel-guides/)

As the diplomatic wrangle over the Arctic continues, Monocle's Toronto bureau chief Tomos Lewis travelled to the Arctic Council's meeting in Iqaluit in northern Canada to assess the path ahead for this strategically important area.

Be it near or far, classic or contemporary, monochrome or multicoloured, the following hotlist represents our favourite design pieces – and people – around the world.

To draw Monocle's Quality of Life Conference to a close, our editor Andrew Tuck took an in-depth look at how metropolises are changing around the world and poses some fundamental questions to get city planners thinking.

As employers increasingly acknowledge the quality of life of their workers, Monocle's Quality of Life Conference in Lisbon addressed the topic of the modern workplace. In this visual essay, Josh Fehnert explores what can be done to create offices that make clocking in a joy.

To highlight the importance of provenance, Gillian Dobias visited Monocle Quality of Life Conference panelists David Hieatt in Wales, Catarina Portas in Lisbon and Kamal Mouzawak in Beirut – three inspiring role models for cities wanting to make the most of their heritage and create jobs.

For Monocle's Quality of Life Conference in Lisbon, Robert Bound put the spotlight on five things from the field of culture that are worthy of an encore. Sit back for cool museums and steamy cinema experiences.

How can architects, developers and builders make spaces that reflect our shifting needs and make us feel good about our lives? For Monocle's Quality of Life Conference in Lisbon, Tom Morris explored the role of responsible house-building in keeping cities colourful, layered and full of life.

High streets around the world are increasingly imperilled by the threat of online retailers and click-and-buy commerce. Ahead of our talk on the topic at Monocle's inaugural conference in Lisbon we devised a few simple fixes that urban planners should heed to keep bricks-and-mortar shops honest and interesting.