DESIGN DISPATCH

Miami’s Hit Japanese Barbecue Joint Brings Its Sizzle to Manhattan, and Other News

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Kyu New York. Image courtesy of Kyu

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Miami’s Hit Japanese Barbecue Joint Brings Its Sizzle to Manhattan

Since opening in Miami in 2016, KYU’s innovative Japanese yakiniku (barbecue) dishes have earned the restaurant a litany of accolades. Now, thanks to a partnership with the Britain-based firm Reuben Brothers, KYU founders Alan Omsky and Jordan Sayfie are ready to branch out. First came an outpost in Mexico City, in 2020, now a return across the border to New York, where it has debuted inside a low-lit space in NoHo.

Concrete finishes, Versailles oak-wood floors, and brick-walled columns outfit the lounge and dining room, which are divided by a luminescent brass mesh curtain. Overseen by executive chef Chris Arellanes, whose past stops include Per Se and Eleven Madison Park, and employing its signature wood-fired grilling techniques, fan-favorites such as the seven-hour smoked short ribs and Wagyu brisket with black shichimi pepper made the trip, as did the standout whole-roasted cauliflower with goat cheese and shishito herb vinaigrette. Next up, KYU has its eye on Las Vegas and London, with Washington D.C., Chicago, and Nashville also under consideration for future expansion. —Nate Storey

Image courtesy of Hermès

Hermès debuts its latest home collection in four lantern-like structures in Milan.

“On the occasion of Milan Design Week 2022, Hermès quests for lightness with four translucent installations presented in the La Pelota event space. Through these installations, the design team sought to play with gravity and light, and find a balance between color and material. Despite the massive size of their wooden skeletons, the structures appear soft and delicate thanks to their unique semi-transparent coverings. The four architectural volumes radiate light, popping against the dark backdrop. Upon entering the small openings, one encounters different household items from decorative pieces to chairs and dinnerware, all precisely positioned to seek lightness in the design of the object.” [H/T Designboom]

UCSB students rebuke and pitch alternatives to a proposed windowless mega-dorm.

“In an amazing rebuke of their university’s purblind pursuit of the Munger Hall mega-dormitory project last week, students at the University of California, Santa Barbara staged a public forum to showcase research-based alternatives to the development and long-term strategic plan. Led by Professor Rita Bright, a group of 43 Environmental Studies concentrators took school administrators to task with a thorough proposal that met the campus’s attendant student housing crisis and a host of UCSB’s other stated objectives.” [H/T Archinect]

A British man receives 15 years in prison for smuggling antiquities out of Baghdad.

“A British man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for smuggling antiquities out of Iraq this week, bringing a dramatic end to a case that has received worldwide attention. The lawyer for Jim Fitton, a retired geologist, said they planned to appeal the decision. Iraqi officials arrested Fitton and a German man, Volker Waldmann, at a Baghdad airport in March. Although Waldmann was believed not to have had criminal intent in attempting to carry artifacts beyond Iraqi borders, investigators in the country said that Fitton was attempting to smuggle them.” [H/T ARTnews]

Spring Church in St. Louis. Photography by Jim Corbett, courtesy of the Pulitzer Arts Foundation

The Pulitzer Art Foundation is expanding into a restored Gothic church in St. Louis.

“St. Louis-based art museum the Pulitzer Arts Foundation is expanding the physical footprint of its campus within the Gateway City’s Grand Center Arts District with the announcement that it will debut a new, community-anchored open-air art space in July. The setting for the new venue, dubbed Spring Church, is a dramatic and locally iconic one: the ruins of a Gothic revival-style church built in 1884 that served four congregations over a century-long span before it was decimated by fire in 2001.” [H/T The Architect’s Newspaper]

The Philadelphia Museum of Art names Sasha Suda as director and chief executive.

“Two years after publicly confronting sexual harassment allegations, the Philadelphia Museum of Art has selected its new leader: Sasha Suda, the current director and chief executive of the National Gallery of Canada, in Ottawa. Praising her educational and work experience, Leslie Anne Miller, the museum’s chairwoman, said in an interview on Tuesday that Suda was the right person for the institution at this time in its history.” [H/T The New York Times]

The famed Antwerp Six reunites to answer questions from current fashion students.

“In the 1980s, a group of students from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Belgium attracted international attention for their innovative, agenda-setting fashion: Walter Van Beirendonck, Ann Demeulemeester, Dries Van Noten, Dirk Van Saene, Dirk Bikkembergs and Marina Yee. Now, as Van Beirendonck retires from his post as head of the Academy’s fashion department, five of the “Antwerp Six” gave straight answers to questions from current students, covering the pressures of being a designer, how the industry has changed and staying true to yourself.” [H/T Business of Fashion]

Photography by @avghaly on Twitter

Today’s attractive distractions:

Astronomers discover strange repeating bursts of radio waves from outer space.

A stray woolly mammoth tusk was found sticking out of a river bank in Alaska.

Is it just us, or do most dictators and despots have questionable taste in art?

One CEO predicts that the future of the office may resemble a Starbucks.

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