HOSPITALITY DESIGN INSIGHTS

The Victorian glasshouse, from orangeries and the Wardian case to Chatsworth, Kew's Palm House and Temperate House, and Singapore's cooled conservatories.

The Japanese tea house, or chashitsu, from Murata Juko's four-and-a-half-mat room to Sen no Rikyu's two-mat Taian, its nijiriguchi and roji path.

The Aesthetic Movement explained: Gautier and Pater, the Grosvenor Gallery, Godwin's furniture, Liberty & Co, blue-and-white china and Wilde's 1882 tour.

How the Tuscan farmhouse, or casa colonica, worked under mezzadria sharecropping, from the Val d'Orcia landscape to ribollita and Chianti.

Limewash and whitewash history, from Andalusia's white towns and lime kilns to conservation advice on painting old brick and New York's 1904 subway tile.

The Roman Theatre of Amman, built in 2nd-century Philadelphia under Antoninus Pius, read through Vitruvius and compared with Jerash and Bosra.

The Four Great Embroideries of China compared: Su, Xiang, Yue and Shu embroidery, their stitches, motifs, court patronage and where to see them today.

What ukiyo-e means, how Edo publishers, designers, carvers and printers made woodblock prints, and how Hokusai and Hiroshige prints reached Europe.

What ghost signs are, who painted them, why lead-based paint helped them survive, famous London and New York examples and the debate over restoring them.

The history of azulejos, Portugal's painted tiles, from Seville imports and Hispano-Moresque techniques to blue-and-white panels, Pombaline tiles and the metro.

How tin mining and dredging built Kuala Lumpur, from the 1857 Ampang mines and Yap Ah Loy to bucket dredges, the 1985 tin crash and the mines left behind.

Corten steel explained: how US Steel's 1933 weathering steel forms its rust patina, where it fails, and its use from John Deere to the Angel of the North.

The open kitchen, from Escoffier's hidden Savoy brigade and the diner counter to Spago in 1982, plus how designers plan it and what research shows.

How restaurant wine walls store and display wine, from storage temperature and light to Champagne's chalk cellars, Bordeaux chais and Aureole's wine tower.

A history of the sky bar, from New York's 1890s roof gardens and the 1934 Rainbow Room to revolving restaurants and Asia's hotel sky bars.

The history of the hotel bar, from New York’s Waldorf and the Savoy’s American Bar to the Raffles Long Bar, the King Cole Bar and Bemelmans Bar.

Wellness tourism traced from Roman Bath and the Great Spa Towns of Europe to Japan's onsen, Rancho La Puerta and the modern hotel spa.

Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong history, from The Mandarin's 1963 opening on Connaught Road to the Oriental Bangkok stake and the 2006 reopening.

Marina Bay history: how Singapore reclaimed land from 1971, dammed the bay with the Marina Barrage and built the Esplanade, Helix Bridge and Marina Bay Sands.

Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi opened in 2005: WATG's design, 114 domes, 22-carat gold leaf, its conference role and the move from Kempinski to Mandarin Oriental.

Sheikh Zayed Road history, from the 1979 Dubai World Trade Centre and 1990s rebuild to Emirates Towers, the Metro Red Line and the Museum of the Future.

How Muscat grew from Old Muscat's walled harbour and 1580s forts along the coast to Mutrah, the Qurum mangroves, the Grand Mosque and Shatti Al-Qurum.

Cotai, the reclaimed land joining Macau's Taipa and Coloane: the 1968 causeway, the Lotus Bridge, the Cotai Strip resorts, the LRT and island heritage.

The Huangpu River from the drainage works of the Lake Tai plain to the Bund's banks, Lujiazui's towers, the Expo 2010 site and Shanghai's riverside paths.