Philippe Petit to Perform at the National Building Museum, and Other News

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Tightrope walker Philippe Petit plans to perform at the National Building Museum.

High wire artist Philippe Petit will dazzle Washingtonians next month with a performance called “Wonder on the Wire” at the National Building Museum. Petit plans to walk 50 feet in the air while traversing the Great Hall on March 23 and 24. The public can attend the Thursday performance with tickets starting at $300, including cocktails, dinner, and jazz music, while Friday’s walk will entertain school children from Title 1 schools. All proceeds will go toward the museum’s “Building Stories” exhibition, which opens in November.

The International African American Museum sets an opening date following delays.

The International African American Museum in Charleston, South Carolina, has finally set a new opening date after delays due to humidity and temperature control issues. The museum will officially open on June 27 and is dedicated to telling the story of the Middle Passage and the journey millions of Africans made across the Atlantic. The museum sits on the former Gadsden’s Wharf site, where many enslaved Africans first entered the United States, and features a permanent collection of 300 artworks and historical artifacts, including work by Seydou Keïta and pottery by the enslaved artist David Drake.

Snøhetta completes a cave-like climbing center whose walls imitate rock formations.

Snøhetta has completed a climbing center in Skien, Norway. Spanning nearly 50 feet tall and 16,000 square feet, the Høyt Under Taket climbing center mimics the feeling of being in a cave using angular wooden walls that imitate rock formations. Visitors can climb and boulder, play on suspended rope ladders, walkways, and zip wires, and attend training and meetings. The use of timber allowed the Norwegian firm to achieve a lightness that emulates the feeling of being surrounded by natural materials when climbing in caves, while also providing the building with an estimated 30 percent lower carbon footprint than traditional building materials.

Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana opened a hub during Milan Fashion Week.

During this year’s Milan Fashion Week, Fashion Hub was a bustling meeting place for innovation and creativity that hosted a packed schedule of events and talks focused on sustainability, experimentation, inclusion, and education. Hosted by Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana at the historic Palazzo Giureconsulti, the hub was supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and ITA-Italian Trade Agency. The Best Shops Award, Designers for the Planet, and MFW Forward were among the initiatives. The initiative also celebrated underrepresented designers, and emerging international designers A.Potts, Diotima, and Torlowei were given a global platform to showcase their latest work.

Heatherwick Studio reveals plans for a Tokyo school that prioritizes outdoor learning.

Heatherwick Studio has unveiled plans for its first-ever educational project, The British School in Tokyo, slated to open in August. Spread across eight levels, the 16,000-square-foot building features outdoor learning and recreational spaces on upper floors, with planted balconies to be cared for by students. The design team wedged playgrounds between each of the classrooms to create outdoor learning spaces where pupils can explore and interact with each other and their teachers much more freely than in traditional school environments.

A proposed Prospect Park development could endanger a historic LGBTQ+ site.

New York’s Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) has discussed plans to redevelop the Vale of Cashmere section of Prospect Park, a spot known as a cruising location for the LGBTQ community. The Prospect Park Alliance aims to build a playground, arbor, covered pavilion, and outbuilding in the park’s Lower and Upper Vale areas. Though the Lower Vale renovation was mostly supported, the Upper Vale plan was controversial. Some preservationists and LPC commissioners were against the design and placement of the proposed pavilion, which could negatively impact the Vale of Cashmere’s role in the city’s LGBTQ community.

Today’s attractive distractions:

AI threatens to reshape IMDb, the online film buff–powered database. 

Motorola unveils a wildly futuristic concept for a rollable smartphone.

A pilot goes on a detour so passengers can see the Northern Lights.

This diner paid a premium to experience Noma—and utterly hated it.