Rafael de Cárdenas launches Joyride
Celebrated New York designer Rafael de Cárdenas has launched Joyride, a rotating platform encompassing auctions, collaborations, and made-to-order pieces. For its inaugural outing, the venture arrives in two parts: a furniture collection by Ian Geoghehan of Kump Studio, and Catalogue N.°1, an auction drawn from de Cárdenas’s own accumulated trove of objects gathered, as he puts it, with curiosity, inspiration, and a little wink. Highlights include a rare set of chairs commissioned from Michel Boyer for the Rothschild Bank cafeteria in Paris; a pair of Casino D8 chairs by Pentagon Group, originally created for a participatory artists’ café at Documenta 8; a coat-hanger lamp by Philippe Starck; and lighting by Etienne Fermigier, Arlus, Robert Sonneman, and WOKA.
Swiss Institute acquires 250 Bowery in a landmark move for New York City nonprofit arts
After nearly four decades of bouncing between rental spaces across downtown Manhattan, the Swiss Institute (SI) has done something it has never done before: bought a building. The New York nonprofit has acquired the ground floor and basement of 250 Bowery, with plans to open to the public in spring 2027. The 11,000-square-foot space is a meaningful step up from the organization’s current 7,000-square-foot home at 38 St. Marks Place, which closes July 5. Johnston Marklee has been retained to design a purpose-built, environmentally sustainable venue. Founded in 1986, SI has migrated through SoHo, Tribeca, and the East Village.
Giacomo Milano reinvents Forte dei Marmi’s Marechiaro Beach Club.
A Milanese restaurant institution founded in 1958, Giacomo Milano has officially expanded to the sea. The hospitality group has taken over Marechiaro Beach Club in Forte dei Marmi, founded in 1913 and one of Versilia’s most storied venues, completing a yearlong renovation that reopened the club to guests earlier this month. The move marks Giacomo Milano’s most ambitious lifestyle play to date, pairing its reputation for gourmet dining and old-school Milanese charm with one of the Tuscan Riviera’s most iconic addresses. Architect Fabrizio Casiraghi designed the interiors: ivory-lacquered wood, brass accents, terrazzo flooring, and stained-glass details drawn from the visual language of 1950s yacht clubs. The 120-seat Da Giacomo Forte dei Marmi restaurant features a ceiling hand-painted with a starry sky.
For the first time in its history, the Gwangju Biennale opens applications for its next artistic director.
The Gwangju Biennale Foundation has announced an open call for the artistic director of its 17th edition, slated for 2028, a significant departure from the closed recommendation process the institution has relied on throughout its three-decade history. Applications are open to Korean and international curators alike, individually or as a team, with a submission deadline of August 3. Founded in 1995 in the spirit of the Gwangju Democratization Movement, Asia’s oldest contemporary art biennale has historically selected its artistic director through a small panel of advisors. The shift to an open call is framed explicitly as a democratic gesture, timed to mark the event’s 30th anniversary.
Raphael’s hidden Vatican frescoes are getting their most significant restoration in centuries.
The Vatican Museums have launched a five-year, $5.5 million restoration of Raphael’s Loggia, a 213-foot-long fresco cycle inside the Apostolic Palace considered one of the supreme achievements of Renaissance painting, and one that most people will never see in person. A team of 20 conservation experts inaugurated the project last week, tasked with stabilizing, cleaning, and relighting 52 biblical scenes painted between 1517 and 1519 for Pope Leo X de’ Medici. The project is being conducted by the World Monuments Fund as part of a broader initiative, Legacy of Raphael: The Vatican and Beyond, supported by a $14.275 million donation from the Stephen A. Schwarzman Foundation.
Today’s attractive distractions:
Lacoste and Alpine built a red electric race car, and a capsule collection to match.
Jacquemus finds its perfect show location at a in Corsica.
Inside Focacha, the Barcelona bar that channels Verner Panton’s retro-futurist vision.
Naomi Osaka stages a kimono-inspired moment at Wimbledon.
