DRIFT helped to rebuild the Twin Towers at full architectural scale from 2,977 lights.
Using one light for every life lost on September 11, 2001, art and design studio DRIFT—in collaboration with Shigeru Ban, Dean Maltz, Yan Paul Dubbelman, Sky Elements, Addison Mehr, along with 9/11 families, survivors, and responders—rebuilt the Twin Towers at full architectural scale in New York Harbor on September 9 to commemorate the tragic event’s 25th anniversary. Entitled “2,977 Lights Over New York Harbor,” the free public work was scored to pieces by Philip Glass, along with “On The Transmigration of Souls” from John Adams, written for the victims of 9/11, and compositions provided by Max Richter, including “On the Nature of Daylight.” Produced by New York Foundation of the Arts, it joined “Tribute in Light,” the two vertical beams that appear each September to honor 9/11.
Daniel Libeskind receives the 2026 Praemium Imperiale for Architecture.
Polish-American architect Daniel Libeskind has been named the 2026 Praemium Imperiale laureate for Architecture, recognized for contributions to architecture and urban design spanning more than four decades. Born in 1946, he founded Studio Libeskind in Berlin in 1989 before relocating the practice to New York in 2003, building a body of work known for angular geometries and dramatic circulation that infuse architecture with cultural and emotional weight. Notable projects include the Jewish Museum Berlin, the Imperial War Museum North, and the Denver Art Museum’s Hamilton Building.
Parisian cultural club Silencio will open a months-long Berlin popup.
From late October through May 2027, Paris-born Silencio will pop-up in Berlin’s former Watergate nightclub. On the banks of the Spree, this intervention—which celebrates 15 years of the artist-led cultural club—was designed by architect Marc Leschelier with Berlin-based Studio Karhard, and features lighting by Studio Raito, and visual identity by Bureau Borsche. “A club is a form that has to be reinvented, not preserved,” Arnaud Frisch, founder of Silencio, says. “Berlin has understood that longer than anyone and is where that form has been taken furthest.” While Silencio has left an indelible mark upon Paris’ social scene, some of the organization’s temporary projects—in New York, around the Venice Biennale, Cannes Film Festival, and Art Basel Miami Beach—have caused equal fervor.
Princess Diana’s “revenge dress” to be auctioned at Sotheby’s this December.
The cocktail dress worn by Diana, Princess of Wales, known as “the revenge dress,” will go up for auction at Sotheby’s in New York this December, with an estimated sale price of $150,000 to $300,000. By Greek designer Christina Stambolian, the dress was worn by Diana at a Serpentine Gallery event on June 29, 1994. Though designed in 1991, the dress went unworn for three years before that night. Diana later sold it in a 1997 charity auction for roughly $64,000 to a Scottish couple, who have held it ever since. Sotheby’s noted that Diana’s growing allure could push the price beyond estimates. In 2023, another of her dresses sold for $1.15 million, eleven times its estimate.
40 Centre Pompidou works to land at Mexico City’s Palacio de Bellas Artes.
Mexico City will host a major exhibition from Paris’ Centre Pompidou this fall as part of “The Great Franco-Mexican Festival,” a cultural season celebrating the bicentennial of diplomatic relations between Mexico and France. Running September 1 through November 30, the festival includes more than 200 activities across the country, with the Pompidou exhibition standing out as one of its most anticipated highlights. Titled “The Forms of Energy: Iconic Works from the Centre Pompidou,” the show will bring 40 works to the Palacio de Bellas Artes, exploring energy as a transformative concept in 20th-century art. The selection spans kinetic art and Op Art from the 1920s through the 1980s, incorporating light, color, movement, and mechanical devices, alongside a film by Marcel Duchamp. According to INBAL, the exhibition will also debut a previously unseen work by artist Julien Creuzet, organized in collaboration with the Alameda Art Laboratory.
Attractive Distractions:
A striding bronze figure by Tschabalala Self arrives in Trafalgar Square.
Dior and A24 announce a two-year creative partnership, starting with Sabrina Carpenter playing Jonathan Anderson.
A new study links hemp fiber to softer denim.
In “Shapeshifter,” contemporary painter Anna Ortiz renders a world where realities collapse.
