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
Fendi opens a state-of-the-art factory, production warehouse, and school in Tuscany.
“Fendi’s new factory in Bagno a Ripoli offers a new proposition for building for production and industrial facilities. Set among the rolling hills of Tuscany, the structure keeps a discreet, low profile and modest outlook in its rich countryside surroundings. Created by Milan-based architecture studio Piuarch and coordinated by Fendi’s in-house architecture department, the complex seeks to embody the brand’s ethos and design approach. The factory provides a 21st-century home for the brand, including administrative offices, a restaurant, a production warehouse, workshops, and a school for haute leather goods.” [H/T Wallpaper]
Chicago approves a giant casino complex located in a former Tribune printing plant.
“The Chicago City Council has approved plans for a $1.7 billion casino complex on the site of a former Chicago Tribune printing plant. The only thing standing between groundbreaking for the decades-in-the-making project is approval from the state’s gambling regulatory body. The casino includes 4,000 gaming positions and 11 restaurants on the Chicago River at Chicago Avenue and Halsted Street in West Town. Plans also call for a 500-room hotel, a 3,000-seat theater, a 23,000-square-foot museum, more than 3,000 parking spaces, and a 2,100-square-foot riverside park with pedestrian pathways. Bally’s has tapped local firm SCB to design the casino and associated development.” [H/T The Architect’s Newspaper]
Katharina Grosse is calling on Iran to overturn death sentences of LGBTQ+ activists.
“The German artist Katharina Grosse has highlighted the plight of the Iranian activists Zahra Sedighi-Hamadani (Sareh) and Elham Choubdar who, in the wake of executions of protesters in Iran, are facing the death sentence. Both were sentenced in September by the Iranian authorities for the crime of “corruption on earth through the promotion of homosexuality.” In Iran, same-sex relationships are punishable by death under the penal code. Grosse is shown on her Instagram feed holding a sheet of paper stating: “#Free Sareh, #Free Elham.” “I urge the Islamic Republic of Iran to immediately overturn [their] death sentence,” states her post. The US filmmaker Susan Stryker, the writers Hélène Cixous and Theresia Walser, and the climate activist Luisa Neubauer have also joined the campaign.” [H/T The Art Newspaper]
Olafur Eliasson’s latest climate reflections are coming to light inside a Turin castle.
“Famous for his installations that manipulate light, water, and air as part of his commitment to the environment, Olafur Eliasson has a new project up his sleeve, or rather that of Castello di Rivoli, where his latest intervention is installed in the museum’s Manica Lunga wing. (The name translates to “long sleeve.”) This 16th-century wing, situated on the third floor of the Turin-based castle, is home to “Orizzonti tremanti” (Trembling Horizons), a display of six immersive artworks, inside which viewers are confronted with lines dancing all around, an optical illusion created through mirrors and light projection meant to expand our horizons. They take you out of our regular field of vision, beyond the visible and into your own mind, putting you in touch with your emotions—or even your inner landscape.” [H/T ARTnews]
Snøhetta unveils plans for a prismatic library that pays homage to the Bronx’s trees.
“Snøhetta has unveiled plans for a library in the Bronx’s Westchester Square neighborhood. The new building takes shape as a prismatic reading room rising from a concrete base and clad in glass facades. The design features abstract views of the neighborhood’s treetops, referencing the Bronx’s status as ‘New York’s greenest borough.’ Located next to the historic Huntington Free Library, the new Westchester Square branch will continue the site’s legacy as a place for future generations to acquire and share knowledge.” [H/T Designboom]
In a manifesto, design studio Lemay calls on Canadian firms to “unfuck” the industry.
“Lemay has published a manifesto calling on Canadian studios to unite behind a more radical approach to design that reflects Indigenous values and takes responsibility for the country’s abundant natural resources. Penned by Lemay’s research arm FLDWRK, the Manifesto of Canadian Design argues that architects, designers, and researchers across the nation must re-evaluate the ‘characteristic humility of the Canadian ethos.’ In light of the climate crisis and environmental degradation, the manifesto argues that Canadian studios now have a duty to take on a more active stewardship role over their land, as modeled by the country’s Indigenous communities. ‘We have to un-fuck the processes in which we turn our abundance into garbage,’ Lemay’s chief design officer Andrew King told Dezeen.” [H/T Dezeen]
Today’s attractive distractions:
This new Instagram account calls out the world’s improvised design solutions.
Resourceful folks are repurposing FreshDirect bags into haute accessories.
New York magazine’s delicious “Nepo Baby” issue zeroes in on the art world.
This year, diners were mostly drawn to ritzy experiences that felt like money.
