Room: a colossal tome offers a whistle-stop tour of the world's best interiors

These days, so much new interior design is hurriedly consumed through screens in bite-size, list formats and galleries of endlessly scrolling images that any impression left is fleeting and any carefully considered design details or intentions are often overlooked.

Setting out to give well-designed interiors the attention and analysis they deserve is ROOM - a colossal coffee table companion that takes its readers around the world on a richly illustrated tour of 100 standout interior design projects. All completed within the last five years, the rooms have been curated by an international panel of ten design industry leaders, from restaurateurs to writers, and including our very own Editor-in-Chief Tony Chambers.

Each selected project enjoys two large double page spreads with a collage-style layout; detailed texts are arranged alongside seductive photography layered with concept sketches, plans and sections. Each of the curators bring their own distinctive touch to the table making for an exciting compilation that runs the gamut of scale, budget and taste. The alphabetical arrangement only serves to enhance this diversity, with spaces like 403architecture's industrial, concrete-walled apartment in Japan sitting in perfect contrast to the leather-lined interior of Achille Salvagni's luxury Berona yacht overleaf.

Keeping things in balance, Frame Publishers managing director Robert Thiemann's round-up includes theatrical and futuristic retail and office concepts, while fashion photographer Nacho Alegre's highlights include a number of characterful residential projects; an array of interactive and immersive spaces come courtesy of architecture author Miles Kemp. The curators' insightful narratives prove to be particularly enjoyable, such as Alan Yau's personable accounts of how he stumbled across some of his more unassuming choices: 'I am always delighted by a place that needs to be found,' he says.
 
Serving as a snapshot of international interiors today, ROOM offers a moment to stand still and reflect upon what has been an exciting chapter in the history of interior design, as well as to imagine what is yet to come.