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Benjamin Moore selects the soothing Aegean Teal as its 2021 Color of the Year.
The painting experts at Benjamin Moore have selected Aegean Teal—a calming yet adaptable color awash in blue-green hues—as its 2021 Color of the Year. “We were gravitating towards colors that had this organic, natural, rooted sensibility,” Andrea Magno, the brand’s director of color marketing and development, tells AD. When her team was initially brainstorming the ideal shade back in December, they sought a color rooted in everyday, domestic pleasures—conversations that had prescient insight into the quarantine brought about by the coronavirus pandemic just a few months later. The color is part of a dozen shades that make up Benjamin Moore’s Color Trends 2021 palette, which Magno describes as having a “sunbaked quality—it’s almost like you left them out in the sun and they ripened.”
To recoup losses, Singapore Airlines is converting its planes into pop-up restaurants.
Singapore Airlines has been getting creative with ways to recoup losses after experiencing a staggering 99.5 percent decline in passenger traffic due to the coronavirus. The cash-strapped company is converting two of its aircrafts into pop-up restaurants for two weekends in October and November, with promising results: all tables were completely booked within half an hour. Though asking customers to pay a premium for airplane food might sound questionable during a global depression, Singapore Airlines has been known to treat its passengers to award-winning meals devised by world-class chefs.
In New York, a newly unveiled nude public statue of Medusa has sparked fierce debate.
Despite preceding modernity by thousands of years, Medusa’s fate as a woman who was blamed and chastised for being assaulted has unfortunately proved timeless. A recently unveiled seven-foot-tall bronze sculpture that sits outside the New York Criminal Court in Lower Manhattan, Medusa With The Head of Perseus by the Italian artist Luciano Garbati (a twist on Benvenuto Cellini’s 16th-century work Perseus with the Head of Medusa), seeks to remagine her myth for the #MeToo era.
The statue, organized by the artist-led MWTH Project in partnership with NYC Parks, isn’t without its detractors: some have taken issue with how the sculpture sits near the site of several high-profile abuse cases (including the Harvey Weinstein trials), how a man spearheaded the project, how it inaccurately portrays Medusa’s body, and how the sculpted head of Perseus bears an uncanny resemblance to Garbati’s own face. The art critic Jerry Saltz, writing for Curbed, dismisses the work as “typical of the kind of misguided bureaucracies and good managerial intentions that often result in such mediocrities.” The sculpture will remain on view until April 30, 2021.
Robert A.M. Stern will receive the Andrée Putman Lifetime Achievement Award.
Robert A.M. Stern will receive the prestigious Andrée Putman Lifetime Achievement Award from the Créateurs Design Awards (CDA), an organization that celebrates accomplishments in architecture, interior design, product design, and journalism. “Mr. Stern’s work and vision have not only created city landmarks, but have transformed people’s lives by inspiring an entire generation of creative professionals,” says CDA co-founder Yuri Xavier, who selected Stern for his commitment to architecture that connects past and future to promote a sense of place. The prolific New York architect, who runs a 300-person firm and served as dean of the Yale School of Architecture from 1998 to 2016, has been responsible for designing record-setting residential buildings around the world, perhaps most notably 15 Central Park West and 220 Central Park South in Manhattan.
One thousand birds mysteriously crashed into Philadelphia skyscrapers in one night.
Overnight on October 2, more than 1,000 birds mysteriously crashed into a close cluster of Philadelphia skyscrapers and fell to their deaths. A local Audubon Society volunteer told the Philadelphia Inquirer that about 30 birds will suffer fatal collisions in that same area on a typical day, and couldn’t explain the sudden spike. Deadly avian architecture is hardly a new phenomenon—birds often crash into high-rise buildings because their reflective glass facades mimic clear paths of sky. Researchers estimate that collisions with buildings cause up to one billion bird deaths in the United States every year, even prompting action from Congress, which recently passed the Bird-Safe Buildings Act of 2019 to use material and facade designs aimed at reducing bird collisions. While the Philadelphia incident remains impossible to explain, it makes the case for bird-friendly building interventions to be realized posthaste.
Ikea will soon start buying back unwanted furniture and selling it secondhand.
Ikea has been doubling down on its ambitious long-term goal to become a fully circular and climate-positive business by 2030. The Swedish furniture giant has announced that it will buy back customers’ Ikea furniture for up to 50 percent of the original price; each piece will then be resold secondhand. “Being circular is a good business opportunity as well as a responsibility, and the climate crisis requires us all to radically rethink our consumption habits,” says Hege Sæbjørnsen, IKEA’s country sustainability manager for the UK and Ireland. “Currently, 45 percent of total global carbon emissions come from the way the world produces and uses everyday products, so Buy Back represents an opportunity to address unsustainable consumption and its impact on climate change.” The initiative will launch by Black Friday.
Today’s attractive distractions:
An ultra-rare purple-pink diamond may soon fetch $38 million at auction.
Do Ho Suh suspends two fabric homes from an atrium in Seoul’s airport.
This leather expert reviews footwear on YouTube by slicing them in half.
Kenzo debuts a beekeeper-inspired collection as a planetary call to action.
