Wallpaper, the glossy magazine-cum-bible of modernist chic that helped turn “design” and “lifestyle” into the ubiquitous buzzwords they are today, has just released a series of travel guides. Aimed at jet-setting urban voyagers who are already way past visiting the Eiffel Tower or the British Museum (except maybe to see Norman Foster’s Great Court), the 20 guides currently available cover the reigning capitals of design and fashion – New York, Paris, London, Tokyo, Milan, Stockholm, Rio – with their picks for hotels, architourism, design must-haves, and faultlessly hip leisure activities. A few up-and-coming destinations for the cognoscenti – Mexico City, Sydney, Istanbul – are also included in the first group of titles, but shoe-ins like Berlin and Hong Kong won’t be available until next spring, and Reykjavik until next fall. Hotel picks don’t include any budget options, but are sure to cater to your deep need to never stay anywhere that doesn’t provide a total design environment. Surprisingly, though, for a magazine that endorses spare-no-expense necessaries like $600 coffee makers, each sleek little volume is available for a paltry $8.95 – only $.20 more than the cover-price of an issue.

Elsewhere:
– Wallpaper* City Guides (Phaidon)
– “Armchair Traveler: Wallpaper City Guides” (NYT)