Design Miami Launches Fundraiser for Beirut, and Other News

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Design Miami launches Architects for Beirut, a fundraiser to aid the city’s recovery.

Back in August, the fourth largest explosion ever recorded in human history devastated Beirut—buildings were leveled, more than 200 people were killed, and hundreds of thousands were left homeless. The Lebanese capital still hasn’t fully recovered, prompting Beirut-born architects Makram el Kadi and Ziad Jamaleddine of LEFT and Amale Andraos, WORKac co-founder and dean of Columbia GSAPP, to launch Architects for Beirut, a charitable sale in which 100 percent of proceeds will directly benefit Beirut Urban Lab’s on-the-ground efforts to restore buildings and public spaces. 

Design Miami is hosting the fundraiser for five weeks on its e-commerce platform, where one-of-a-kind hand drawings, signed prints, and architectural models from nearly 100 architects including Norman Foster, Zaha Hadid, Toyo Ito, and David Adjaye are up for grabs. “Large swathes of the city are destroyed, including five major hospitals,” says Andraos, who enlisted such industry luminaries as Aric Chen, Stephen Burks, and Zoë Ryan for outreach support. “Tragedy layers on top of tragedy, as Beirut was already deeply stressed by a dire economic situation and a raging pandemic. The people of Lebanon are still reeling, checking on friends and neighbors and clearing glass and debris while planning a way forward from this despondent situation.” The sale ends on November 17. 

Hyundai releases a sustainable fashion line made from scraps of automotive waste.

While dressing in scraps of automotive waste may not sound immediately appealing, Hyundai is setting out to prove otherwise. The South Korean car company has partnered with six international fashion brands such as Aligheri and Rosie Assoulin to create a capsule collection that incorporates materials that often aren’t recycled from discarded vehicles, such as leather, glass, and airbags. And the results, which include a Richard Quinn corset created from airbag fabric, are nothing short of stunning. The collection will be available in the London department store Selfridges starting this week, with all proceeds benefiting the Institute of Positive Fashion, an organization that assists fashion labels with sustainability.

Jenny Holzer’s new public art campaign encourages voter participation in swing states.

Ahead of the 2020 United States presidential and congressional elections, the artist Jenny Holzer has launched “YOU VOTE,” a series of public artworks that encourage voter participation in swing states such as Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. The campaign will employ fleets of LED vehicles, light projections, billboards, theater marquees, a variety of street-level advertising, and social media animations in Holzer’s signature manifesto-like style (“PROTECT YOURSELF” and “BE AN ALLY”)  to disseminate voter information and get people excited about the election. Download artworks here to share on social media; tag @jennyholzerstudio and use #YOUVOTE to join the conversation.  

The anticipated Saatchi Yates gallery opens in London with a Pascal Sender exhibition.

Phoebe Saatchi Yates, daughter of advertising mogul and art collector Charles Saatchi, first announced her intention to open an art gallery dedicated to “unseen artists” back in September. Now, Saatchi Yates gallery has finally opened its doors in London with an exhibition of augmented reality–driven works by the Swiss artist Pascal Sender that will display until December 15. “Our gallery will show artists at the start of their careers in full-scale presentations,” Phoebe Saatchi Yates tells Wallpaper*. “We’re going to represent them and work with them throughout their careers. We view it as ‘marrying’ the artists; every one we are invested in and completely behind.” In addition to emerging artists, the duo will also display works by leading names such as Yayoi Kusama and Robert Motherwell. In terms of what’s next, Phoebe Saatchi Yates says to expect a group show of four French artists, none of whom have had major shows before.

Adjaye Associates unveils new visuals for Le Mémorial des Martyrs in Niamey, Niger. 

Adjaye Associates has revealed visuals for Le Mémorial des Martyrs, which commemorates those lost in the fight against terrorism along Niger’s southern and western borders. Set to be built on the triangular Place du Petit Marché in Niamey, Niger’s capital, the memorial will consist of a grid of 56 concrete, star-shaped columns whose rhythmic interplay of light, shadow, and geometries create a “labyrinth of abstraction” for visitors. “It’s conceived as a monument to those who lost their lives, a tangible documentation of the continuous fight against extremist entities and the soldiers who have fallen in the process,” said the studio, helmed by British-Ghanaian architect David Adjaye, who recently received the RIBA Royal Gold Medal. “At night, beams of light projecting from the pillars become part of the skyline, acting as a beacon of remembrance and visual guide toward the civic heart of Niamey.” 

The Ford and Mellon Foundations will award a set of $50,000 grants to 20 disabled artists.

The Ford Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation have initiated a first-of-its-kind fellowship meant to amplify the voices of disabled creative practitioners, artists, educators, and activists working in the United States. The 20 inaugural Disability Futures Fellows, nominated and chosen by disabled practitioners around the country, will each receive a $50,000 grant toward their work, kicking off an 18-month discipline-spanning initiative. The Ford and Mellon Foundations aim for the fellowship to address a dearth of disability visibility within the cultural sector. “Institutional structures have not served disabled artists in the past,” says Emil Kang, program director for arts and culture at the Mellon Foundation. “Disability Futures is the result of listening, collaboration, and humble engagement, and we at Mellon are pleased to support these outstanding artists directly.”  

Today’s attractive distractions:

Sideline Collective rearranges the entire bible into alphabetical order.

Playing video games as a child might make you smarter later in life.

Here’s a nifty way to reuse the plastic table that comes in pizza boxes.

Sergey Gorschkov’s shot of a tree-hugging Siberian tiger wins an award.