DESIGN DISPATCH

A Bird’s-Eye View of Piero Lissoni’s Expansive Career, and Other News

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In Piero Lissoni, Environments, a Bird’s-Eye View of an Expansive Career

It’s difficult, if not impossible, to name an aspect of design—be it in the disciplines of industry, product, interiors, architecture, and even exhibitions—left entirely untouched by Piero Lissoni. Together with his namesake firm, Lissoni & Partners, the 67-year old Seregnesi architect and designer’s contributions to the field are vast. 

Rizzoli’s latest, Piero Lissoni, Environments, charts 100 of Lissoni and his firm’s defining and cross-disciplinary projects from the editor’s perspective of Stefano Casciani, and is designed by none other than Lissoni & Partners. Illustrations by Guido Scarabottolo showcase Lissoni’s Case 5.0 kitchen system for Boffi, and his Space Age-like Eda-Mame armchair for B&B Italia, while a range of photographers have captured his architectural commissions such as the Ritz Carlton Miami Beach. —Jenna Adrian-Diaz

The Tenement Museum. Image via Perkins Eastman

New York’s Tenement Museum will feature a Black family’s apartment for the first time.

Breaking new ground, the Tenement Museum has unveiled a permanent exhibition spotlighting the life of a Black family in late 19th-century New York City. Featuring a recreated apartment and evocative conversations, “A Union of Hope” fills a crucial gap in the museum’s narrative by highlighting the experiences of Black residents alongside European immigrants. While some controversy erupted over this shift, the museum doubled down on its decision. “It has always been part of our mission to tell complicated stories,” Tenement Museum president Annie Pollard told the Daily Beast in 2021, “and it’s always been part of our mission to expand the stories that we told while keeping the stories we already have.” 

Austria’s supreme court rules that Franz West’s estate will go to his private foundation.

After a messy legal battle spanning multiple years, ownership of Franz West’s $50 million art collection finally landed with the Austrian sculptor’s private foundation, represented by Gagosian, Eva Presenhuber, and Bärbel Grässlin. The decision overturns an earlier ruling favoring his family. West’s dying wish and sister’s support tipped the scales, securing a victory for Gagosian and clarity for museums wanting to showcase his work. However, a potential inheritance claim from the artist’s children adds a lingering note of uncertainty to the saga.

Photography via Declare Emergency/X

The climate activist who defaced an Edgar Degas sculpture pleads guilty to vandalism.

Climate activist Joanna Smith, who smeared red paint over the vitrine of a Degas sculpture at the National Gallery of Art, has pleaded guilty to vandalism. She faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. While acknowledging remorse, Smith and protest group Declare Emergency defended their conduct as a plea for action against the ongoing climate crisis and posted a statement online. “Today, in nonviolent rebellion, we have temporarily sullied a piece of art to evoke the real children whose suffering is guaranteed if the death-cult fossil fuel companies keep removing new coal, oil, and gas from the ground,” the statement said. “As a parent, I cannot abide this future.” Co-defendant Tim Martin plans to challenge the charges.

Around 6,000 buildings are potentially in need of a seismic retrofit in Southern California.

A crucial earthquake-proofing effort is underway across Southern California. Cities like Los Angeles and Santa Monica are leading the charge, retrofitting vulnerable “soft-story” apartments and non-ductile concrete buildings. While progress is evident, with hundreds of structures already strengthened, around 6,000 structures remain unprotected, particularly in less affluent areas like Inglewood and Compton. With deadlines for high-rise retrofits on the horizon, this critical work will safeguard lives and ensure fewer homes crumble in the next earthquake.

Adobe and Figma have called off their merger following regulatory scrutiny in Europe.

The long-awaited Adobe-Figma merger officially crashed after hitting regulatory roadblocks in Europe and the U.K. Both companies, while disagreeing with regulators’ concerns, agreed to walk away, with Adobe paying Figma a $1 billion breakup fee. This shift signals a challenging landscape for tech mergers facing increased antitrust scrutiny, with Meta recently selling Giphy to photography marketplace Shutterstock for $53 million after the UK’s competition watchdog flagged the deal as potentially anti-competitive.

The (W)rapper office tower in Culver City. Photography by Tom Bonner

Today’s attractive distractions:

Random comedy shows are unfolding in this unassuming Upper West Side deli.

Eric Owen Moss Architects unpacks the design behind the infamous (W)rapper.

This AI algorithm can diagnose autism by screening pictures of children’s retinas. 

A father and daughter find a 152-year-old shipwreck while fishing in Green Bay.

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