DESIGN DISPATCH

Snarkitecture Sets the Scene for Manifest in Washington, and Other News

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In Washington, Snarkitecture Sets the Scene for Manifest

Located in the heart of Washington, D.C., is Manifest, a brand-new concept boutique and lifestyle destination that offers a coffee shop, cocktail bar, and grooming space all under one roof. Founder and entrepreneur KJ Hughes, who oversees Manifest with partners Brian Merritt and Susan Morgan, envisioned a multi-pronged space inspired by their travels and research—a feature that’s echoed through the store’s diverse selection of brands such as Rick Owens Drkshdw, Issey Miyake Homme Plissé, Engineered Garments, and Manifest’s own in-house label. The coffee shop, meanwhile, brews beverages by BIPOC-owned brands Aesthete Tea and Black Acres Roastery. 

For the interiors, Hughes looked to Snarkitecture, the buzzy New York firm noted for its all-white pop-up environments and which staged a major intervention at the nearby National Building Museum’s historic Great Hall. Snarkitecture delivered their signature look and feel to Manifest through design flourishes like white tiled walls, blond wood archways, and terrazzo countertops. Alex Mustonen, who heads up the studio with artist Daniel Arsham, aimed for Manifest to evoke a communal sanctuary where wellness and self-care reign supreme. Feelings of home also pervade—starting next spring, guests can book stays at Abode, an apartment on the premises that features a roof terrace with picturesque views of the Capitol.

Centre Pompidou. Photography by G. Meguerditchian

Richard Rogers, the influential architect of Paris’s Centre Pompidou, has died at 88.

A pioneer of the “high-tech” architecture movement and one of the U.K.’s most celebrated architects, Rogers helped transform the London skyline with distinctive buildings such as the Millennium Dome and the Leadenhall Building. Perhaps his most famous structure, however, was the colorful, pipe-covered Centre Pompidou in Paris, which he co-designed with Renzo Piano in the 1970s. Rogers received numerous accolades throughout his career, including the 2007 Pritzker Prize and a knighthood in 1991. His final building that drew his 40-year career as the principal of Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners to a close, a cantilevering pavilion at Château La Coste in Provence, France, was unveiled earlier this year. He passed away at age 88 over the weekend due to unspecified causes.

FBI agents descended on an upscale Palm Beach art gallery during a morning raid.

The well-to-do Worth Avenue in Palm Beach is lined with palm trees and blue-chip galleries, but the scene looked far different last week. According to multiple sources, FBI and IRS agents raided Danieli Fine Art, taping off the gallery’s windows and cordoning off the area nearby with caution tape. Though locals naturally suspected illegal activity, law enforcement wouldn’t disclose why they entered the premises. The gallery, which normally deals in secondary-market sales, sports an interior with red velvet carpets and chandeliers.

David Chipperfield is transforming a New York townhouse into a cultural institution.

David Chipperfield Architects has unveiled the design of a Beaux-Arts townhouse on Manhattan’s Upper East Side that will become the headquarters of 1014, a nonprofit organization that aims to promote cooperation between the U.S. and Germany. The townhouse, which is sandwiched between two much larger residential buildings, sits directly across from the Metropolitan Museum of the Art and was long used as an outpost of the Goethe-Institut. Chipperfield aims to transform the building into a cultural institution complete with space for events, exhibitions, screenings, talks, and a 1014-supported residency. 

Cornell Tech campus at Roosevelt Island in New York. Photography by Michael Grimm

Snøhetta completes a pair of buildings at New York City’s Cornell Tech campus. 

Visitors to the new Cornell Tech campus on Roosevelt Island in New York City will immediately be greeted with two buildings by Snøhetta linked by a shared courtyard: the Graduate Roosevelt Island Hotel and Verizon Executive Education Center. “This was a unique experience because we got to design two buildings at once,” says Michael Cotton, Snøhetta’s director and senior architect. “The buildings ultimately work in partnership and are integrated within the larger Cornell Tech campus. As we worked through the design, we found that creating a unified base wrapping a shared courtyard offered the best way to bring together the two projects while also providing a functional podium supporting the individual use of each building. What results is a study in contrasts linked by public space: the hotel, tall and slender, uses the public realm to connect with the VEEC, which is low and soft by comparison.”

Maison Kitsuné appoints the British designer Marcus Clayton as creative director. 

Maison Kitsuné has appointed Marcus Clayton as the brand’s creative director, tasked with strengthening the label’s Paris-Tokyo roots and expanding its fashion offerings by investing in storytelling. A veteran of Louis Vuitton, Givenchy, and Fenty, Clayton joins the brand nearly two years after its former creative director, Yuni Ahn, departed in January 2020. Clayton is currently working on the label’s Fall/Winter 2022 collection and a Spring/Summer 2023 runway show, which will take place during Paris Fashion Week in June. “We want to start giving our customer a stronger wardrobe and more fashion-forward image,” Clayton says.

Bulgari storefront by MVRDV in Shanghai

Today’s attractive distractions:

Alex Chinneck’s latest mind-bending work involves an 82-foot spiral staircase.

MVRDV creates a jade storefront for Bulgari using recycled champagne bottles.

Pink Flamingos, Selena, and 23 other films enter the National Film Registry.

From omicron to cheugy, 2021 was filled with words we didn’t pronounce correctly.

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