DESIGN DISPATCH

Arthur Casas Brings Brazilian Modernism to +55design in São Paulo, and Other News

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Studio Arthur Casas brings Brazilian modernism to +55design’s store in São Paulo.

When devising the new store concept for São Paulo furniture and accessories purveyor +55design, Studio Arthur Casas didn’t need to look far. The local studio drew quintessential elements from Brazilian modernism, including an earthy color palette, perforated walls, and lush native flora. The architecture’s understated features and tropical scenery draw attention to the store’s array of design objects, which includes an outdoor furniture collection called Golf and designed by Casas himself using wood, aluminum, and plastic netting.

Dior postpones the launch of Travis Scott’s Cactus Jack after the Astroworld tragedy.

Originally slated to debut as part of the summer 2022 collection, the French luxury house has not said if or when the collaboration will be released. “Out of respect for everyone affected by the tragic events at Astroworld, Dior has decided to postpone indefinitely the launch of products from the Cactus Jack collaboration originally intended to be included in its summer 2022 collection,” says a company rep. The news follows Anheuser-Busch’s cancellation of its Cacti seltzer line with Scott. 

Plans have been submitted for 500 new homes near the Tesla compound in Austin. 

Canadian company Brookfield Residential Properties has submitted plans to build 300 new apartments and 200 single-family homes in Austin’s Easton Park, a 3,200-acre planned community around the Tesla compound. Home prices range from $234,000 to $674,000.

Stefano Boeri releases a documentary about the “first social housing vertical forest.”

Located in the Dutch city of Eindhoven, the 19-story Trudo Vertical Forest is adorned with 135 trees of various species and 10,000 shrubs and plants. “Thanks to the use of prefabrication, to the rationalization of certain technical façade solutions and therefore to the optimization of resources, the Vertical Forest of Trudo achieves economic sustainability, essential element in buildings intended for social housing,” says Francesca Cesa Bianchi, partner and project director at Stefano Boeri Architetti.

Maison & Objet postpones its 2022 edition due to a surge in Covid-19 cases in Europe.

Maison & Objet becomes the latest design event after Stockholm Furniture Fair to be postponed due to rising Covid-19 cases in Europe. Organizers have pushed the biannual French trade show to March 24–28 instead of its original run of January 18–22. It’s the second time that the pandemic has disrupted Maison & Objet following the cancellation of its physical edition in September 2020, which was held online. “Many companies among the 1,700 companies that have confirmed they will attend are indicating that they don’t want their employees to take risks,” fair organizers said in a statement. 

Italy blocks McDonald’s from building a drive-thru near Rome’s Baths of Caracalla.

Following a ruling by Italy’s highest administrative court, McDonald’s has been blocked from building a drive-thru near the Baths of Caracalla in Rome, a celebrated ancient site that dates back to the third century. The ruling states that government authorities can block future developments in or near other important heritage sites on the basis of the “importance of protecting cultural heritage.” The incident recalls another McDonald’s construction site being quashed in 2016 by the mayor of Florence, who didn’t want a fast-food chain near the Piazza del Duomo, the birthplace of the Italian renaissance.

Today’s attractive distractions:

A new wave of home accessories is galvanizing renewed interest in Murano glass.

Scientists envision what a baby dinosaur looks like curled up in its fossilized egg. 

Alexa mistakenly tells a young child to partake in TikTok’s risky “penny challenge.” 

Wikipedia auctions the 2000 strawberry iMac that was used to develop the website.

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