Latest films

Monocle looks at the building boom in the western Afghan city of Herat, where gaudy palaces are wiping out the face of the medieval city. Much of the construction is being fuelled by money from drugs, guns or graft, although all of the interiors photographed by Monocle belonged to businessmen importing materials for the country's reconstruction boom. Less savoury characters were not so welcoming. We were turned away from one house after the militia commander who lived next door threatened the owner.

Just when you thought all the fun and sugar had been stripped from the pop video, along comes Summer Time Love from m-flo's new album Cosmicolor. Released as a single last summer, we are particularly fond of Verbal's sharp styling, the girly performance by Emi Hinouchi and back-up dancers in kimonos and yukata robes.

Animated cow Winney has featured in K+D's work since 1999. Here we see Winney in a contribution to a charity auction organized by Veuve Clicquot, Japan, from October 2006, and an exclusive glimpse of Winney's next performance.

An exclusive look around the K+D studio, shot by the team. We follow K+D into the atelier, checking the Domaine Clos Noir burgundy in detail, the studio, at work, and the division of labour between Kuntzel+Deygas.

In a bid to lure fickle advertisers and demanding audiences, TV news has become increasingly bland and banal. And so too have the stations' studios. Everything looks so cheap and dull. That's why we've been playing fantasy broadcasting at Monocle. For our April issue, we asked Anders Nord to create "Nordic News Network", a channel that would bring both demanding journalism and a touch of style to the world of current affairs. And for monocle.com, the Swedish designer tested his CAD animation skills to engineer this fly-through of the NNN bureau. At last some good news for global-affairs fans.

Two productions by K+D for video installations in Paris. The first, an extract from the video installation presented at Paris Capitale de la Création, 2004: 'The curse of bears and dolls in Paris sky'. Second, an extract from the video installation presented at Baccarat's showroom for Designer's Days 2004, Paris: 'Beauty and Beast having a fight and breaking dark crystal'.

The debut of Com-Pet, a new character in development by Kuntzel+Deygas. The concept? "Communication pet", a cross between a pet and a communication tool.

Featuring videos for 'Rose Rouge' by St Germain, 'Reaching For The Stars' by Fantastic Plastic Machine, 'The Sssound Of Music' by Bertrand Burgalat, and 'Very Stylish Fille' by Dimitri From Paris.

The Gantenbein Winery, in Fläsch, Switzerland, has been the prototype for an entirely new approach to bricklaying: using modified industrial robots. Traditionally, the promise of industrial robots has been that they would replace the human workforce. But these projects, led by the Architecture and Digital Fabrication laboratory at ETH Zürich, demonstrate a different result: architects are free to create designs and patterns of a precision that simply could not be achieved by hand. Monocle spoke to Professors Fabio Gramazio and Matthias Kohler, who have been collaborating on the project with partners Keller AG and Bearth & Deplazes, about what it means for both building and buildings, and the industry's initial reaction to a prospective army of robot builders.

Norway currently ranks as one of the world's most energy rich nations and boasts one of the biggest social funds as a result. Estimated to be hovering around the $300 billion mark, it has helped the country create a standard of living that also tops international league tables. To accompany our cover story in issue 02, Monocle was granted an exclusive interiew with the country's Crown Prince Haakon. Editor-in-chief Tyler Brûlé spoke to him in his private office at the palace in Oslo.

H&M launches its new premium line Collection of Style (COS) on Regent Street, March 2007. Monocle talks to Rebekka Bay, head of design for womenswear at H&M, about the changing fashion climate and what COS means for the consumer.

All God's Children Can Dance is the first film adaptation of a Haruki Murakami story in the US. Director Robert Logevall cut a special trailer of the film for Monocle, which we're delighted to present here. Logevall says: "When I read the story, I couldn't get it out my head. But then thought, how can you adapt Murakami? It's so incredible what he can say in a sentence. And, the movie is very fluid. It's more like a sketch. I hope it's a little sketch of a Murakami short story..."

In issue 01, Massood Sanjer led us through his working life as Afghanistan's number 1 DJ. Here Massood talks Monocle through his four-hour show in three clips. An Iranian love poem wishes Arman's 15 million listeners "good luck" at the top of the show every morning. The second hour of the show is dedicated to a phone-in: in this clip a member of parliament is in the hot seat, taking calls from Arman's disgruntled listeners. In the second clip, Massood and his female co-presenter, Sima, play requests before listeners phone in with amusing stories to tell - even if they are about the death of an elderly relative. Finally, the station's top five include home-grown talent, a Bollywood soundtrack and Iranian rock.

Founded in 1932 by Ole Kirk Christiansen, Lego started life in the wooden toy business. Derived from the Danish words 'leg' (play) and 'godt' (well), the company's play-well concept has turned Lego into one of the most recognised premium toy brands in the world, and one of Denmark's most iconic companies. An assault from the electronic gaming industry and evaporating play time in Lego's key age groups means that both Lego and its competitors are having a tough time on shop shelves. Monocle editor-in-chief Tyler Brûlé talks to Lego CEO, Jørgen Vig Knudstorp, at the company's innovation centre in Billund, Denmark.

Under its post-war constitution, Japan is not allowed a navy, army or air force, only Self Defence Forces. Yet, today, the country has one of the largest, most sophisticated fleets in the world with 47 destroyers and nine frigates. Historical tensions with North Korea and China have also seen the country increasingly debating its military future. Monocle was given unique access to the fleet and asked leading analysts to assess the future of the region. Fiona Wilson reports on how the story was put together, and the changing role of the MSDF in Japan.