With Collective Design Fair, Frieze New York and the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) converging on New York City for the first time during the same week, the Big Apple’s annual NYCxDesign festival offers more creative happenings across the city than years past. Here’s a quick guide of what’s in store…

Frieze New York will return to Randall’s Island Park, Manhattan from May 14th to May 17th, 2015.

The Whitney knows how to consider new work alongside old, how to throw together pieces produced in entirely different contexts and watch the sparks fly.

“People love air plants, but it can be a little tricky to figure out what exactly to do with them,” said Flora Grubb, owner of Flora Grubb Gardens in San Francisco. Because they require no soil or pot, “do you just leave them sitting around, or put them in a bowl?”

French illustrator Thomas Lamadieu continues to travel the world to photograph vertical views of the spaces between buildings, which he uses as a canvas for his comical illustrations.

DDG’s new Fougeron Architecture-designed residential building at 400 Grove in Hayes Valley has nearly completed its transformation from parking lot and former Central Freeway parcel to five-story condo building.

Informed by her educational background spanning architecture, philosophy and product design, Brittain’s design process incorporates her unique approach to light: for Brittain, phenomena like reflection and transparency are elements that can be incorporated in the overall design in an artistic, sculptural way.

This year submissions swelled to a record 173,444 photographs from 171 countries. Shortlisted images will be on view at Somerset House in London from April 24th through May 10th, and winners are announced April 23rd.

“When breaking into any industry, you must study that industry and most importantly, your craft.” – Shawn Martinbrough

Douglas Little was responsible for the set & scent design for the Queen of Night at Paramount Hotel, Diamond Horseshoe, New York City.

Photographer Emily Blincoe (previously) continues to make us smile with her arrays of food and plants perfectly organized by color. Blincoe collects every color permutation of tomatoes, oranges, eggs, and even candy and then sorts them into groups and gradients for each image.

Here’s to you and your family and a great tumultuous spectacular 2015 that is in store for all of us on the street, in boardrooms, behind cash registers, on walls, in galleries, museums – wherever you are.

The striking new condo development at 8 Octavia recently held a grand opening celebration attended by figures from the worlds of design, art, architecture and real estate.

We’re used to seeing modern landmarks in their completed glory, but we gain a new appreciation for those familiar monuments when we see them in progress, and remember all the labor that went into bringing them to life.

“My home is a mish-mash — totally eclectic, charming, and ever-changing. In fact, I really need to give it another redo! There’s tons of stuff everywhere, like books and patterns. Some might say I’m a hoarder, but I prefer the term ‘collector.'” – David Alhadeff

After another triumphant outing during Salone del Mobile in Milan, a special Handmade* edit will arrive at 345meatpacking, a luxurious new downtown development by DDG, on May 16 and run until the end of the month.

“We’re saving like every paint chip and every little splinter on the floor,” Rainer says. “I think that’s very sentimental. The whole reason this exists, in a way, is because we care about every little inch and, at the end of the day, because we were raised by somebody who was so generous to us and taught us so much that we want honor what he gave us and what he made in the world. So I think this whole project wouldn’t exist unless we were, to be really cheesy, just full of love.”

“The dancers became my paper and have helped me draw my vision and create new things.”- JR

Sto presents Werkstatt – meaning workshop in German – a showcase for the whole Sto Group and a new East London cultural establishment with a lively program of exhibitions, talks, workshops and consultations. The inaugural exhibition is Building Images: The Arcaid Images Architectural Photography Awards 2013, which shows the breadth and invention in both architecture and photography today.

After David Cameron gave one of the street artist’s paintings to Barack Obama, Eine been in high demand. Now a new collection of poppy works is on view at Judith Charles Gallery.

The 10th Wallpaper* Design Awards are revealed, including the Judges’ Award for Best City: San Francisco.

The Bourgie is now celebrating its 10th anniversary, and Kartell has made the exciting decision to tap some 14 of the most renowned international designers to re-conceive the lamp in tribute to its lasting design.

A little over a year since her mega-retrospectives at London’s Tate Modern and New York’s Whitney, the wonderful and elusive Yayoi Kusama is back in the spotlight with an exhibition of new works at David Zwirner’s West 19th Street gallery.

The designer has earned mid-career acclaim for his elegantly minimal designs with one simple rule: Never be a slave to fashion.

Developers DDG and Hudson Companies, along with The Real Deal, sponsored University of Virginia architecture students on their journey to New York City to put together plans for one of each developer’s residential sites in the city.

Design Miami visits Johanna Grawunder, a designer and architect based in Milan, Italy and San Francisco.

‘The temple grounds became the working material with which I created sculptural photographic compositions.”- Jacqueline Hassink

“I only use the computer for e­mail. My most important tool is a pencil.” –Lindsey Adelman

No magazine gets snapped up and devoured like Apartamento when it arrives into the It’s Nice That studio – there’s something about its size, understated beauty and incomparable wit that makes it irresistable.

Three sofas and a chandelier comprise the NYC-based design boutique’s debut furniture line featured in Cool Hunting.