5 Interior Design Trends to Bring Home from Luxury Hotels | With design-forward hotels popping up on every corner of the globe, it can sometimes be hard to choose where to land—and even harder to leave at the end of your stay. Resorts are prioritizing not only a sense of relaxation, but are also balancing authenticity and a sense of communion with the environment. It’s not enough to offer basic amenities anymore; seasoned travelers are looking for spaces with a story to tell. From unique architectural builds to environmentally-conscious practices to sleek and smart interiors, luxury hotels have become destinations unto themselves.

Modern Edge | Kaly Ryan and Bram Sawatzky of Willow & Stump Design Co., have been cleverly marrying form and function since 2014 — all with an ethos of sustainability. Their multidisciplinary studio in East Vancouver has garnered national attention, thanks to the duo’s steam-bending and 3D fabrication techniques, seen on smart, stylish items like the canoe-inspired Fluyt bench that doubles as a storage unit, and the Corian chair, which incorporates thermoformed curves and complex patterns carved into the seat and back.

Renewal-Shock Concerns are Fading for Canadian Mortgage Holders | Canadian homeowners set to renew their mortgages this year can rest a little easier about having to pay higher rates.

Rates to renew a five-year mortgage aren’t much higher than they were when the mortgages were taken out, according to National Bank research. That means “no payment shock” for the 17.4% of mortgages renewing in 2019, Matthieu Arseneau, deputy chief economist at the Montreal-based bank, said by phone

How to Downsize in Toronto’s Luxury Real Estate Market | When you’re used to space, the thought of downsizing can be a challenging one. Isn’t bigger better? Is your family going to be constantly underfoot? Where will you host your guests? But taking a step towards a smaller footprint can offer benefits: smaller homes are often easier to maintain, more environmentally friendly, and can suit a lifestyle of travel and multiple pursuits. If you’re thinking about taking the downsizing leap, here are a few points to consider.

Market Watch | May 2019 - Toronto Real Estate Board President Garry Bhaura announced that Greater Toronto Area REALTORS® reported a substantial year-over-year increase in home sales in April 2019. The number of residential transactions jumped by 16.8 per cent to 9,042 compared to 7,744 in April 2018. On a preliminary seasonally adjusted basis, sales were up 11.3 per cent compared to March 2019.

Humaniti Montreal | Advanced and connected, Humaniti is Montreal’s first smart vertical community. A bold and distinctive architectural concept, the complex is shaped like the letter “H” and features condominiums, residential rental units, a hotel, an office building and commercial space.

Amaro’s Hipness Soars | Amaro, an herbal, bittersweet Italian liqueur, finds its origins in medieval health care. Obsessed with the restorative powers of alchemy and natural botanicals, medieval monks and friars in abbeys across Italy often experimented with mixing and matching liquor and wine with herbs. The monks stuck mostly to ingredients that could be found nearby, ensuring that over the centuries different amari (the plural form of the drink) began taking on regional peculiarities. Bitter orange in Sicily. Rhubarb in Alto Adige. Artichoke in Milan.

Artisanal Modern | Crafted from a single piece of steel rod, this sinuously shaped lounger designed by Canadian Roan Barrion and welded by metalworker Matt Jonker is made-to-order in Manitoba. Available in two metal finishes (black or white powder coat, satin brass plate) and several fabric options. Series Z Lounge Chair, from US$3,100, and stool, from US$1,250.

Charging the Future | To car aficionados, Michael Mauer is more prolific than any architect. Millions of examples of his work are on display all over the world. You might even be lucky enough to have one in your garage. His hobby of drawing cars in his youth eventually led Mauer to do it professionally in 1986 — and for some major international automakers.

The Andaz Hotel Coming to The One Residences | Hyatt Hotels Corporation announced today that a Hyatt affiliate has entered into a management agreement with Mizrahi Developments to build a 160-room luxury Andaz hotel at the prestigious address of One Bloor Street West in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Engineering the World’s Tallest Building | In this era of megatall skyscraper construction around the world, Jeddah Tower is the first that aims to exceed the previously undreamed-of one-kilometer threshold.

When it is completed in 2020, the 1,000-meter tower in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, designed by architect Adrian Smith, will become the world’s tallest building, easily eclipsing Burj Khalifa, the 830-meter-tall Dubai skyscraper, also designed by Smith.

Architecture With A Personal Touch | Since joining the Office of Metropolitan Architects—founded by Rem Koolhaas—in 1998, Shohei Shigematsu has designed cultural venues including the Quebec National Beaux Arts Museum and the Faena Arts Center in Miami Beach. He has also worked on collaborations with artists such as China’s Cai Guo Qiang, Marina Abramovic, and Kanye West.

Brutalism Evolves | Stark and unadorned, Brutalist architecture is a touchstone of postmodernism. And although the style has detractors, it’s getting a lot of attention from modern audiences.

Social-media apps like Instagram have united Brutalism fans, and accounts posting photos of landmarks in the style have tens of thousands of followers. Books on the subject abound as well, from the exhaustive Atlas of Brutalist Architecture, which made The New York Times list of best art books in 2018, to art historian Chris van Uffelen’s Massive, Expressive, Sculptural: Brutalism Now and Then.

Reality Checks | In every major market across the country the prime communities share similar attributes — easy access to downtown, proximity to green space and prestigious schools. With so many of these factors tied to geography and static city planning, the best areas can appear set in stone. Luckily, new construction projects and the ever-changing real estate market means that there is hope for buyers to get into the neighbourhood of their choice in these Canadian cities.

Market Watch | April 2019 | Toronto Real Estate Board President Garry Bhaura announced that Greater Toronto Area REALTORS® reported 7,187 residential sales through TREB's MLS® System in March 2019. This result was inline with 7,188 sales reported in March 2018. For the first quarter of 2019, sales were down by one per cent compared to Q1 2018.

Wall Power | If your world appears a lot more colourful of late, thank the muralists. Over the past several years, murals have emerged as an attention-getting art form with a lot of cachet, taking over entire walls inside and out at galleries, restaurants, hotels and public spaces across the country. What’s even better is that it’s a genre where female artists are leading the charge — a visual manifestation of the current cultural zeitgeist.

Splendor in the Grass | Beautiful gardens are a border-blurring tapestry of strategic design, strong silhouettes, and thoughtful palettes. They elevate the architecture of a home as much as they enhance the lifestyle of its residents. Professional landscaping services in the U.S. alone is a multibillion-dollar industry. From backyards to balconies, and from classic gardens to modern vertical ones, these spaces allow homeowners to outwardly personalize their surroundings.

Ferragamo’s Tuscany | When Tuscany comes to mind, we might imagine Chianti’s lush, rippling fields, Florence’s abundance of Italian Renaissance art, and perhaps even the 2003 romance-drama Under the Tuscan Sun. But this region in central Italy, beloved for its quaint villages, rugged coastline, and world-class wines, signifies much more to Salvatore Ferragamo, grandson of the eponymous fashion-house legend and CEO of Il Borro Toscana, an alluring estate in the Tuscan countryside

The Well Toronto | Three Million Square Feet and Over 7.8 Acres of Office, Retail, Condominium and Rental Residential Space in Toronto's King West Area. Live at the Well | Green spaces, an open-air public promenade and an atmosphere of discovery come together in inspirational, centrally-located residences that offer an extension of the King West lifestyle.

Natural Beauty | Ornamental grasses, lavender and echinacea sway with the breeze in the weathered-steel planter box fronting the work studio of landscape designer Joel Loblaw. The rusted metal’s warm orange, the earthy browns of fading perennials, errant red and gold fallen leaves — the planter is in sync with the season and it looks perfect, perfectly natural.