We are thus at a remarkable turning point, in which it is necessary to rethink the very essence of the act of communicating – namely its contents. Which when they have to do with design, should bring emotions but above all tell a story of identity, culture and values. This is why we have decided to focus the January-February issue on the theme of communication. We have called on all the players in the supply chain of creativity, asking companies to explain how the digital-real mix has changed their ways of presenting themselves to their stakeholders.

And we have asked professional communicators for their views on the transformation in progress. The picture that emerges from our survey is dense and stimulating: we are in the year zero of the ‘phygital’ era, which in spite of all the difficulties of this particular moment will lead us to experiment, to break down barriers and to create new models for the narration of our heritage of know-how.

The idea of a project that communicates and interacts is also the leitmotif of the works of architecture featured in this issue. Crossing various themes and approaches, these works make the places in which they are inserted speak, creating innovative relationships inside them. Whether they are small houses built with the trees felled by the Vaia tempest in South Tyrol, a Sicilian hideaway that transcribes traditional imagery in an unusual way, a private ‘piazza’ in Milan that extends like a loggia towards the city, or a resort that becomes a narrative of workmanship in Crete, all the way to the tower of Taichung that reinforces the sense of belonging and social identity of its residents, design is the result of a vision that first of all generates behaviors, between very sophisticated technical transpositions and great artisanal prowess.