7 THINGS WORTH KNOWING / 14 November 2026

Little Discoveries

Design · Philosophy · Plants · Curiosities · Words · Food · Cultures & peoples. 7 discoveries in this edition.

Gunta Stölzl: the design is inside the cloth

In depth · 3 min read

Weaving can design a surface: Gunta Stölzl shows how materials and structure help create a pattern before any added decoration.

In depth · 3 min read

Festina lente brings energy and care together: in Erasmus’s Adages, two images help distinguish making a decision from carrying it out.

In depth · 3 min read

In Codiaeum variegatum, the surprise is not a display of flowers: leaf shapes and colours vary among its cultivated forms.

In depth · 3 min read

A slow movement can produce sudden little pops: paper’s crackling sound reveals how some of its parts change shape.

In depth · 3 min read

From glasses to pencils, a fitted case has an Italian name of Provençal origin; an earlier Latin connection remains a hypothesis.

In depth · 3 min read

The fig we eat develops from a hollow structure containing many tiny flowers: its story needs a few careful distinctions.

In depth · 3 min read

Tocatì safeguards traditional games through the people who practise them: passing them on needs people, shared rules and accessible places.

Original writing and illustrations made with AI assistance. Each discovery includes its sources. Our editorial method