HOSPITALITY DESIGN INSIGHTS

How the Portuguese spice trade moved pepper, cloves and cinnamon through Lisbon's Casa da Índia and carried chilli from Brazil to Africa and Goa.

The American barn explained: Dutch and English barns, Pennsylvania bank barns, the Shaker round barn, gambrel roofs and Mail Pouch signs.

How world's fair pavilions tested new architecture, from the Crystal Palace of 1851 to Barcelona, the Atomium, Habitat 67, Osaka and Expo 2010 Shanghai.

Chinese bird-and-flower painting from Huang Quan and Xu Xi to Huizong's Song academy, Ming court painters, Yun Shouping and the Lingnan school.

How the 1830s gin palace, with its plate glass, gas lighting and mahogany bar, shaped the Victorian pub interior and British pub history.

The cabinet of curiosities, or wunderkammer, from Renaissance princes and Ole Worm to the Tradescants and Hans Sloane, whose collections founded major museums.

How gold leaf is made and applied: goldbeating, water and oil gilding, gesso and burnishing, from Egyptian gold to Byzantine mosaics and Kanazawa.

What is a mashrabiya? The history of the turned wood lattice window, from Cairo's Ottoman houses to Jeddah's rawasheen and the Institut du monde arabe.

Minnan red brick architecture explained: how southern Fujian built red brick houses with granite bases, courtyards and swallowtail ridges.

Washi Japanese paper: how it is made from kozo, mitsumata and gampi, its 1,300-year history, the UNESCO listing and its use in shoji and lanterns.

Pressed tin ceilings were mostly stamped steel. How decorative metal ceilings were made, sold by catalogue, made in Australia, then lost and restored.

Chinese knotting explained: how the silk cord craft grew from Tang and Song folk art to Qing dress and its revival in Taipei from the late 1970s.

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.