DESIGN DISPATCH

432 Park Residents Sue the Building Developers, and Other News

Our daily look at the world through the lens of design.

432 Park in New York. Photography by Arturo Pardavila

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Residents of the troubled supertall 432 Park are seeking $125 million in damages.

We’ve noted how residents of 432 Park, the pencil-like luxury supertall in Manhattan designed by Rafael Viñoly, have been dealing with millions of dollars worth of water damage, frequent elevator malfunctions, and unbearably creaky walls when the building shimmies during high winds. Now the condo board is suing the luxury building’s developers—CIM Group and Macklowe Properties—for $125 million in damages stemming from the insufferable living conditions. The lawsuit stems from the developers’ “band-aid approach” to repairing more than 1,500 construction and design defects found within common elements of the building, but that number doesn’t even include potential punitive damages. 

Design Miami/ is expanding beyond Basel and Miami to launch a fair in Doha, Qatar.

Design Miami/ will expand beyond its flagship Basel and Miami fairs to launch a Design Miami/ Podium pop-up in Doha, Qatar. Scheduled for this coming spring, the fair serves as part of a three-year partnership with Msheireb Properties, a real estate subsidiary of the Qatar Foundation, which is developing the Doha Design District. “As Design Miami/ continues to grow globally, we welcome this partnership with Msheireb Properties and look forward to bringing our vision to Doha,” Design Miami/ CEO Jennifer Roberts said in a statement. “Qatar’s capital has grown immensely and is an emerging destination for art and design.” Another Podium exhibition is scheduled for November during Shanghai Art Week. 

Rendering of the upcoming Rubell Museum in Washington, DC. Image courtesy of Beyer Blinder Belle

The Rubell Museum’s influential private art collection will expand to Washington, DC.

The Rubell Museum may have opened in Miami less than two years ago, but the influential private art collection already has major expansion plans. The co-founders Mera and Jon Rubell are opening a second location inside a former junior high school in Washington, DC—an expansion that has reportedly been in the works for more than a decade. The new branch, which includes a new glass entry pavilion designed by Beyer Blinder belle, will show contemporary paintings, sculptures, photography, and installations when it opens in late 2022. Patronage and residencies at the museum have proven lucrative for up-and-coming artists; Sterling Ruby, Lucy Dodd, and Amoako Boafo have all benefited from stints with the Rubells.

Glenn Martens will become Jean Paul Gaultier’s haute couture designer this season.

Jean Paul Gaultier is continuing a collaborative streak by announcing Diesel creative director Glenn Martens as his label’s Spring/Summer 2022 haute couture designer. The news follows recent collaborations with Lil Nas X and Chitose Abe, who oversaw the label’s Fall/Winter 2021 collection and even brought tattoo artist Dr. Woo into the mix. Martens and Jean Paul Gaultier have a history—the label offered him a designer role before starting his eponymous label in 2012 and joining Y/Project one year later. More details surrounding the collection have yet to be revealed, but the upcoming Gaultier couture show will take place in January.

Museum of the American Arts and Crafts Movement. Photography by Joe Brennan

The Museum of the American Arts and Crafts Movement opens in St. Petersburg.

Rudy Ciccarello first became enamored with the American Arts and Crafts movement after seeing a well-made reproduction of a Gustav Stickley bookcase. He soon became a serious collector and amassed a trove of 800 objects that now reside in the Museum of the American Arts and Crafts Movement, which recently opened in St. Petersburg, Florida. The architect Alberto Alfonso designed the new building specifically for the collection, with flourishes such as American oak wood flooring and a Frank Lloyd Wright–inspired atrium and Venetian plaster spiral staircase nodding to American design tropes. Inside, a variety of objects from the American Arts and Crafts movement stand alone and within scale installations of period rooms. Inaugural exhibitions include objects and lighting made by the Roycroft Family and a collection of pictorial photographs and rare books made by key members of the movement.

Kering bans fur completely, signaling an industry-wide shift against the material. 

The fashion conglomerate has announced a ban against the use of fur across its entire roster of brands, which includes Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, and Bottega Veneta. Most brands under the Kering umbrella independently decided to move on from the material before the ban, but the ban will still impact key players such as Yves Saint Laurent and Brioni. Elsewhere within the fashion industry, major luxury labels such as Prada, Versace, and Burberry have ceased using the material as part of their longstanding sustainability commitments. “Young consumers and young millennials expect now that companies pay attention to these values,” Kering sustainability chief Marie-Claire Daveu told the Business of Fashion. If you have the power, how can you say it’s terrible, but I won’t act?”

Image courtesy Charlie Baker

Today’s attractive distractions:

Now you can rent your own estates on Richard Branson’s private Caribbean Island.

Gucci dives deep into its archives with Vault, a newly opened online concept store.

A realistic Jurassic Park complete with life-size dinosaurs sits in the heart of Russa.

Charlie Baker weaves enormous nests for humans using found timber and branches.

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