Is speed an essential quality of the 21st-century museum? If the architect’s job is to oil the wheels of the culture industry, then perhaps it is. With Tate Modern getting 4 million visitors a year, you need to drive the culture-hungry through the pens quickly. But the museum is not traditionally a place of swift passage, it’s one of thoughtful wandering and edifying pauses.

With biomimicry and incessant repetition of structural elements the Liège-Guillemins TGV station is trademark Santiago Calatrava. A sweeping roof of massive span rakes out over the surroundings, making this a deeply impressive building.

Design's angry lion sets the world to rights.

A depressed Belgian city attempts to turn around its fortunes with a sprinkling of architectural stardust.

Nadja Swarovski is still in touch with the tacky side of the crystal manufacturing company that bears her name. “My favourite when I was a child was this flower. Oh my god! I couldn’t get enough of it!” she says, showing me a drawer full of tiny crystal flower heads taken from a cupboard of her central London office.

Ron Arad I came to London in ’73. I’d spent a year at art school in Tel Aviv and I needed a break. I didn’t even pack my LPs – they were very important to me. So I came to London for a break – and I’m still on my break.