Where do ideas in architecture and design come from? Do they arise from within architecture and design, isolated and insulated from the broader world? Or do they grow out of an ever-shifting contextual relationship with art, fashion, music, film, business, media and other cultural domains?

Our position at Kohler is the latter: architecture and design are informed by — and themselves inform — every element of life, and only by studying and analyzing these other areas can we fully understand the present moment.

Each year, we analyze developments within cultures around the world and distill the findings into a Perspective of the Year. Our goal is to initiate conversation, challenge convention, provoke introspection and encourage creative exploration.

Here’s a look at our most recent Perspectives of the Year.