Digital art platform SuperRare has opened an interdisciplinary art space and gallery in New York City.
SuperRare has opened Offline, its first permanent gallery space in New York City, with an inaugural exhibition and arts festival titled Mythologies for a Spiritually Void Time. Curated by X.S. Hou and Jack Wedge, the show brings together 15 artists whose work spans animation, sculpture, performance, and living materials to explore how technology shapes belief, ritual, and meaning. Highlights from the opening program include site-specific dance, sound, and film events, as well as a choreographed NFT auction and a panel on A.I.’s cultural impact.
A Paris hotel has become the latest real-estate acquisition of billionaire Inditex founder Amancio Ortega.
Amancio Ortega, the founder of Zara and Europe’s second-richest individual, has acquired a five-star hotel near Paris’s Palais Garnier for €97 million. The purchase marks a rare hospitality move for his family office, Pontegadea, which typically concentrates on high-end commercial and residential properties in Western Europe and North America. It follows a string of recent acquisitions, including an apartment complex in Fort Lauderdale and an office building in Barcelona, as Ortega’s real-estate portfolio continues to expand alongside record-breaking dividends from Inditex. The deal is Pontegadea’s second Paris acquisition in a year, signaling a growing interest in the city’s premium assets.
Australia’s Murujuga rock art has been granted World Heritage status by UNESCO.
UNESCO has added Murujuga, a vast Aboriginal rock art site in Western Australia’s Pilbara region, to its World Heritage list. The site contains more than a million engravings, some estimated to be 50,000 years old, including the oldest known depiction of a human face. Traditional custodians have long pushed for its protection, though the surrounding industrial development—including gas and fertilizer plants—continues to raise concerns about environmental impact. While the listing was approved unanimously, UNESCO urged Australia to monitor local industry’s effect on the site, prompting criticism from some Indigenous leaders who called for stronger safeguards.
One of New York City’s grandest hotels, the Waldorf Astoria, has finally reopened.
After nearly eight years behind scaffolding, the Waldorf Astoria has reopened with a meticulous restoration that reasserts its place among New York’s grand hotels. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill oversaw the renovation, drawing from thousands of archival images and original plans to revive historic spaces like Peacock Alley, the Silver Corridor, and the Park Avenue lobby. Iconic features—the Waldorf clock, Cole Porter’s Steinway, and Edward Emerson Simmons’ murals—have been carefully conserved or recreated, while the upper floors now hold private residences above 375 redesigned guest rooms.
Ahead of Bastille Day, Pharrell was named a knight of the Legion of Honor.
Pharrell Williams has been named a Knight of the Legion of Honor, France’s highest civilian award. The Louis Vuitton men’s creative director was among nearly 600 honorees recognized for contributions to public and cultural life. Since joining the fashion house in 2023, Williams has brought a hybrid vision of luxury and celebrity to menswear, while also collaborating with other LVMH brands. He now joins a rarefied lineage of fashion figures—including Jean Paul Gaultier and Yves Saint Laurent—who have received the distinction.
Today’s attractive distractions:
Two affordable and good-looking speakers are on the horizon from Ikea.
It’s time to take a closer look at the life and legacy of Edith Farnsworth.
Within a Swedish lakehouse by Snøhetta, a vision for a sustainable future.
The newly redesigned Storm King Art Center has never felt more like itself.
