The Future Perfect’s Study of Emotional Connections, and Other News

The Design Dispatch offers expertly written and essential news from the design world crafted by our dedicated team. Think of it as your cheat sheet for the day in design delivered to your inbox before you’ve had your coffee. Subscribe now. 

Have a news story our readers need to see? Submit it here

The Future Perfect’s Study of Emotional Connections

The Future Perfect named the spring show in its West Village townhouse “정Jeong,” a Korean word curator Sandy Park defines as “a collective emotional connection to people and places, expressed through feelings of loyalty, affection, and community.” Works by eight Korean artists explore this notion. 

Some embrace brand loyalty: Jinyeong Yeon’s large-scale quilt, for instance, wraps its user in an NBA logo. Others, like Rahee Yoon’s warming color fields cast in acrylic, offer eye generosity. Traditions passed down through generations also appear, refreshed: A pair of moon jars—Jane Yang-D’Haene’s hand-rolled coil accumulations and Jaiik Lee’s hand-hammered copper iteration—update the ancient vessel, while conceptual furniture whiz Myungtaek Jung goes full-on retro-futuristic for seating of bronze and stainless steel, both chunky and refined. Can you feel it? —Jesse Dorris

The Architectural League of New York announces this year’s Emerging Voices awards.

The Architectural League of New York has named the recipients of this year’s Emerging Voices awards, one of the profession’s most coveted annual prizes. The award, established in 1982, recognizes young practitioners who possess distinct design voices and have the potential to influence the fields of architecture, landscape design, and urbanism. This year’s winners include Janette Kim of All of the Above and Urban Works Agency; Asa Highsmith of Common Works Architects; Tom Carruthers and Jennifer Newsom of Dream the Combine; Katherine Hogan and Vincent Petrarca of Katherine Hogan Architects; Isabel Abascal and Alessandro Arienzo of LANZA Atelier; Nahyun Hwang and David Eugin Moon of N H D M Architects; Adriana Chávez, Victor Rico, and Elena Tudela of Oficina de Resiliencia Urbana; and David Godshall, Jenny Jones, Alain Peauroi, and Story Wiggins of TERREMOTO.

Balenciaga partners with the National Children’s Alliance following its troubled campaign.

Balenciaga has partnered with the National Children’s Alliance in an effort to make amends after the brand’s controversial SS23 campaign was accused of glamorizing child abuse and promoting a satanic agenda. The three-year partnership aims to focus on key areas of safety and wellbeing, including increasing access to trauma-based cognitive behavioral training, educating Balenciaga staff on how to best protect children, and raising public awareness on what constitutes a healthy childhood. With this collaboration, an estimated 55,000 children will receive evidence-based mental health care and nearly 2,000 professionals will be trained in child abuse. “We have listened and learned a lot through this experience,” Cédric Charbit, Belanciaga’s CEO, said in a statement. “We wanted to help have a positive and lasting impact on children and their future who needed support but lacked access.”

The Cooper Hewitt names three curators to spearhead the Design Triennial in 2024.

The Cooper Hewitt has selected three curators to organize the 2024 edition of the Design Triennial, which will examine themes related to “home” across the United States. Alexandra Cunningham Cameron, curator of contemporary design at Cooper Hewitt; Christina L. De León, associate curator of Latino design at Cooper Hewitt; and Michelle Joan Wilkinson, curator of architecture and design at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. The exhibition will address themes such as shelter and security, family, labor, diaspora, colonialism, climate change, and aesthetics, among others. This will be the first time curators from two Smithsonian museums collaborate to present a program series.

The long-awaited first collection of Phoebe Philo’s namesake brand will debut this year.

Phoebe Philo is launching her eponymous label with a digital-first approach. Yesterday, the famously social media–shy Philo set up an Instagram account and announced plans to unveil her first collection in September through her website, which opens for customer registrations in July. Philo announced her return to fashion in 2021 after a three-year break with a new LVMH-backed label, but has remained mostly silent since. With a fanbase of devoted “Philophiles,” the rise of digital distribution offers the former Céline creative director a better opportunity to build a direct-to-consumer e-commerce business, allowing for greater control over pricing and customer data, and offering better margins. Within hours of launch, Philo’s Instagram account has gained more than 75,000 followers.

A Rijksmuseum curator confirms The Girl with the Pearl Earring is only wearing glass.

The Girl with the Pearl Earring, one of Johannes Vermeer’s most famous works, is now on display in the Rijksmuseum’s major retrospective of the artist. The exhibition’s co-curator, Pieter Roelofs, has confirmed the earring in the painting is actually a glass teardrop-shaped bauble, not a real pearl, as it would have been astronomically expensive. The painting was first re-discovered in 1881 and sold for just two guilders (less than $1), but has since become one of the most popular paintings in the Mauritshuis collection, thanks in part to Tracy Chevalier’s book and the film. The earring is simply painted with two brushstrokes.

Philip Lim is opening a pop-up gallery experience to celebrate New York Fashion Week.

Phillip Lim is showcasing an immersive gallery experience called “A New York City Vibration” to celebrate New York Fashion Week. The pop-up is the second chapter of Lim’s tribute to New York and serves as a community-driven space with creative collaborations. Lim tapped photographer Jiro Konami to capture his fall collection, which will be showcased through a collaged series of images and video projections with a custom soundtrack by Brooklyn-based producer Jon Jung of IT-XPO. Lim told WWD the event is not “a soulless marketing activation” but rather a way to bring the community together while “cementing and confirming why we love to live here and are proud to be a New York City brand.” The activation will take place at 199 Chrystie Street this weekend.

Today’s attractive distractions:

A hobbyist unearths a rare, Renaissance-era pendant connected to royals.

These inventive homeowners transformed disused airplanes into chic abodes.

Fashion designers are scrambling to cash in on the puzzling pickleball craze.

A funky apartment building inspired by Mario Kart will soon head to Phoenix.