DESIGN DISPATCH

Nick Cave Unveils a Vibrant Collection With KnollTextiles, and Other News

Our daily look at the world through the lens of design.

Nick Cave with his Doily upholstery for KnollTextiles. Photography by Lyndon French

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Nick Cave unveils a vibrant collection of upholstery and draperies for KnollTextiles.

“Ahead of the opening of ‘Forothermore’ at the Guggenheim, Cave will unveil a comprehensive collaboration with KnollTextiles—the company’s first partnership with an artist. Consisting of four upholsteries, three draperies and three wallcoverings, the vibrant textile collection conveys Cave’s sense of dimension, color and movement, with each design referencing a specific artwork and dutifully capturing the visceral and tactile essence of the original piece.” [H/T Wallpaper]

After years of protests, the V&A Museum in London removes the Sackler name. 

“The Victoria and Albert Museum in London is the latest institution to remove the Sackler name from its walls following protests from activists. On Saturday, the Guardian reported that the V&A had dropped the Sackler name from its education center and one of its courtyards. The move, a museum spokesperson said, had come after the family and the institution had ‘mutually agreed’ to it. The Sackler name will continue to appear in some spaces while work is undertaken to remove it. The V&A is the latest institution to pull the Sackler name in its spaces in the past years. Among the first major institutions to do so was the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York last year; others, such as the Guggenheim Museum, the British Museum, and the Serpentine Galleries, have since followed suit.” [H/T ARTnews]

A proposed tower by Partisans at 15-17 Elm Street in Toronto. Image courtesy of Partisans

Revision clouds inspire Canadian studio Partisans’ proposal for a tower in Toronto. 

“Canadian architecture studio Partisans has designed a residential tower in Toronto that takes its shape from both natural clouds and revision clouds—a notation architects use in technical drawings. If built at the proposed 15-17 Elm Street site in downtown Toronto, it will be 325 feet tall and contain 32 floors of apartments and amenities spaces. The wavy outline of the envelope derives from both clouds and revision clouds, according to the studio. The tower will be divided roughly into three parts with a podium at the base with the preceding two sections each set back slightly from the one before. Each section will have a slightly different frequency of the wavy facade pattern.” [H/T Dezeen]

Kim Kardashian will pay $1.26 million to the SEC over a paid crypto promotion.

“Kim Kardashian will pay $1.26 million to settle Securities and Exchange Commission allegations that she broke US rules by touting a crypto token without disclosing she was paid for the promotion. The SEC said Kardashian was paid $250,000 to post on her Instagram account about EMAX tokens, a crypto asset offered by EthereumMax. Kardashian didn’t admit or deny the regulator’s allegations in settling the case. The SEC has frequently warned celebrities touting cryptocurrencies that it deems securities need to make clear to investors if they’re paid for the backing.” [H/T Business of Fashion]

Joe Biden has reinstated the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities. 

President Biden on Friday issued an executive order re-establishing the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, an advisory board that was dissolved five years ago after its members resigned in protest over President Donald J. Trump’s reaction to the deadly white nationalist rally in Charlottesville. The announcement reverses the outcome of one of the stormier episodes in Mr. Trump’s mutually antagonistic relationship with artists and cultural figures. In a group resignation letter in August 2017, the committee, whose 17 members included artist Chuck Close, novelist Jhumpa Lahiri and architect Thom Mayne, decried what it called Mr. Trump’s ‘support of the hate groups and terrorists who killed and injured fellow Americans.’” [H/T The New York Times]

The Hyper Sting jet by Oscar Viñals. Image courtesy of Oscar Viñals

Innovation in aviation tech may soon yield 80-minute flights from New York to London. 

“An astonishing new plane could cut the time of transatlantic flights by more than five times, claims Spanish designer Oscar Viñals. The latest in a series of futuristic designs going viral, Oscar’s images show a super streamlined jet—dubbed the Hyper Sting—soaring through the sky, transporting travelers from place to place in record time. The idea uses a combination of theoretical cold fusion nuclear systems and innovative Mach 3.5 technology. The plane would shoot through airspace at almost 2,500 miles per hour—almost five times the current average speed of commercial passenger planes that take up to eight hours to complete the journey from London to New York. If plans for the jet came to fruition, it would take just 80 minutes to complete the popular transatlantic route.” [H/T Condé Nast Traveller]

In New York, a proposed bill offers cash for spotting parking violations in bike lanes.

“It’s a familiar experience for pedestrians and bicyclists—a car or truck parked in a bike lane or on the sidewalk forces a detour into the street—and into traffic. When vehicles block these travel paths, it’s not just an annoyance and safety hazard. It’s illegal. Now a New York City Council member is pushing a bill that would give civilians the power to report bike lane scofflaws, as well as vehicles that block entrances or exits of school buildings, sidewalks and crosswalks. New Yorkers who submit evidence of a parking violation can earn 25 percent of a proposed $175 ticket. The Department of Transportation would review the evidence to determine whether an infraction has occurred.” [H/T Bloomberg]

La Scarzuola by Tomaso Buzzi. Photography by Tessa Chung

Today’s attractive distractions:

Why are hundreds of headless goats appearing in the Chattahoochee River?

McDonald’s is releasing Happy Meals for adults seeking a taste of nostalgia.

An “ordinary” Chinese vase sparks a ferocious bidding war into the millions.

Tessa Chung captures La Scarzuola’s surreal and theatrical architecture.

All Stories