RIBA names six finalists for the 2026 Stirling Prize.
The Royal Institute of British Architects has announced the six-strong shortlist for this year’s Stirling Prize, marking the award’s 30th anniversary. As in past years, all six shortlisted buildings are in England: two in London, two in Cambridge, one in Essex, and one in Hertfordshire. The London entries include Paddington Square, a cube-shaped mixed-use building by Renzo Piano Building Workshop and Adamson Associates, built from an exposed steel structure and curtain walls. Also from London is Lion Green Road, a Croydon residential development by Mary Duggan Architects and RUFF Architects, composed of five brick buildings with apartments arranged in a pinwheel layout. The winner will be selected from the pool of 32 buildings honored at this year’s RIBA National Awards.
Pat Oleszko takes home the Whitney Biennial’s $100,000 Bucksbaum award.
Pat Oleszko, a sculptor and performance artist largely unknown in New York until earlier this year, has won the 2026 Whitney Biennial’s $100,000 Bucksbaum Award, a prize previously given to artists including Zoe Leonard, Ralph Lemon, and Pope.L. Oleszko’s contribution to the Biennial included Blow Hard (1995), a large inflatable sculpture depicting a giant green face blowing flames into a trumpet, and Footsi (1979), a video in which two shoe- and sock-clad fingers move across the artist’s body. Her pieces stand out as some of the only works in this year’s Biennial made well before the current decade; the Bucksbaum Award, launched in 2000, has typically gone to artists producing new work for the show, which offers a snapshot of the American art scene every other year.
Selldorf Architects to design a new wing at the Clark Art Institute.
The Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts, has unveiled plans for a new wing designed by Selldorf Architects, set to break ground in January 2027 and open in 2028. The wing will house the Aso O. Tavitian collection, with more than 300 works from the private holdings of the late entrepreneur and philanthropist, considered among the most significant private collections of European art assembled in the 21st century, and gifted to the museum in 2024. The single-level wing will feature twelve galleries across 7,000 square feet of exhibition space and 3,000 square feet of art storage, within a total footprint of 15,000 square feet. It will connect to the museum’s original 1955 building and the 1970s-era Manton Research Center, both previously renovated by Selldorf Architects in 2016. The new structure’s facade will be clad in Calacatta Malva marble to complement the existing campus.
Leather is officially out of the EU’s anti-deforestation regulation.
The European Union has dropped leather from the final list of products covered by its landmark anti-deforestation law, a decision experts say reflects industry lobbying rather than leather’s actual environmental footprint. The EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which requires companies selling commodities like cattle, soy, palm oil, and cacao to prove their supply chains aren’t linked to recently deforested land, is set to take effect by year’s end after two years of delays and a string of weakening revisions. Beyond leather, the Commission also excluded cattle hides and skins, re-treaded tires, soybeans for sowing, vulcanized rubber articles, conveyor and transmission belts, and aircraft and motor vehicle seats from the regulation’s scope, while introducing new exemptions for waste, used and second-hand products, packaging, and materials used in medicinal manufacturing.
Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey traded CGI for a real Norse longship.
Homer’s The Odyssey is returning to the big screen under Christopher Nolan, and among its blockbuster cast is a real, ocean-going Norse longship: the Draken Harald Hårfagre. Rather than a prop or replica, the full-scale vessel was built using authentic Viking shipbuilding techniques and materials, and remains fully voyage-ready, currently sailing for the film’s July 17 premiere, with CEO and expedition director Emanuel Persson at the helm. Construction on the Draken began in 2010, spearheaded by Norwegian oil and gas magnate Sigurd Aase, who wanted to realize a longtime personal dream. Built from oak using traditional overlapping-plank construction, the ship measures more than 114 feet long and 26 feet wide, with 50 oars and a 79-foot mast.
Aman’s founder trades city hotels for a farm retreat in Iwate, Japan.
Inside Bergdorf Goodman’s window display for Antonin Tron’s debut Balmain collection.
Ronaldinho and Ravenna FC team up with Cipriani for a charitable jersey drop.
MB&F M.A.D. Gallery celebrates 15 years with Martin Smith’s kinetic sculpture.
