New renderings of James Turrell’s Wadi AlFann Skyspaces have been released.
Newly released renderings offer a closer look at James Turrell’s Skyspaces commission for Wadi AlFann, a developing art site in the Saudi Arabian desert city of AlUla. The project includes four Skyspaces—two large, two small—designed to frame the sky through open-air oculi, each responding to the region’s dry, high-contrast light. Carved into the valley floor and surrounding sandstone, the chambers and tunnels encourage full physical and perceptual immersion. Completion is expected in four years.
The founding family behind Barneys is waging a legal battle over tax evasion.
Robert Pressman, an heir to the Barneys New York fortune, has accused family members of tax fraud in a lawsuit filed under the New York False Claims Act. He alleges they evaded millions by misrepresenting their late mother’s residency as Florida instead of New York. The suit seeks more than $50 million in damages on behalf of the state. As a whistleblower, Pressman stands to receive a portion of any recovered funds.
Following fire damage, Donald Judd’s newly restored and preserved Marfa Office prepares to reopen.
After a fire gutted Donald Judd’s Architecture Office in Marfa just before its planned reopening in 2021, the Judd Foundation undertook a second, more extensive restoration of the historic building. Originally purchased in 1990 as the hub for an unrealized architecture practice, the structure has now been outfitted with new climate systems, recycled insulation, and a staff apartment. The office, filled with Judd’s prototypes and design models, reflects his belief in conserving existing buildings and working with minimal intervention. This fall, the space will reopen, continuing Judd’s legacy of aligning art, architecture, and environment in Marfa
Google has unsuccessfully appealed a ruling that found its Android app store to be monopolistic.
A federal appeals court has upheld a jury verdict finding Google’s Android app store to be an illegal monopoly, dealing a significant blow to the company’s efforts to overturn the decision. The ruling stems from a lawsuit filed by Epic Games, which argued that Google suppressed competition by making it difficult for alternative app stores to gain traction and by forcing developers to use its payment system. The decision allows a lower court’s order to stand, requiring Google to dismantle barriers around the Play Store and make its apps accessible to rival distributors. Google warned the changes could threaten user safety and privacy, while Epic’s attorneys dismissed those claims as corporate fearmongering.
In Brooklyn, rapid residential development is outpacing toxicity mitigation of a nearby Superfund site.
In Gowanus, Brooklyn, residential construction is accelerating far faster than the cleanup of its heavily polluted canal, a designated Superfund site since 2010. Despite promises of remediation, key infrastructure upgrades like sewage overflow tanks remain years behind schedule, with delays risking recontamination of already dredged areas. The city’s rezoning plan has sparked a wave of luxury development—more than 140 projects are underway—bringing thousands of new residents to a neighborhood still grappling with environmental hazards. While the transformation promises new housing and amenities, it raises questions about whether the pace of development has outstripped responsible environmental stewardship.
Today’s attractive distractions:
A new Athens gallery offers sightlines to the Acropolis.
Universities are adapting their infrastructure to students’ preferences for pickleball.
HBO’s cancellation of And Just Like That has brought out SJP’s poetic side.
Frank Lloyd Wright’s last living client credits his longevity to his Usonian home.
