Gubi Revives a Rare Rattan Series by Gabriella Crespi, and Other News

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Gubi Revives a Rare Rattan Series by Gabriella Crespi

Gabriella Crespi remains somewhat of an elusive figure within the canon of mid-century Italian design. Her sculptural furniture, lighting, and decorative accessories, which she imbued with an aura of glamour, were largely artisan-produced in fine materials and never intended for the mass market. (She also abandoned her high-profile design career altogether in 1987 to seek spiritual solace in the Himalayas.) Because of this, acquiring one of the beloved Milanese designer’s pieces has never been particularly easy; many of her rarer pieces often fetch six figures on 1stdibs.

To celebrate what would have been Crespi’s 100th birthday, Gubi is reviving one of her rarest collections: Bohemian 72, a rattan and bamboo furniture series only ever made for private clients. As the story goes, Crespi envisioned a lounge chair, sofa, ottoman, and floor lamp suited for the mid-century indoor-outdoor lifestyle while sketching on her sun-soaked patio in Milan. “I couldn’t help but do it with rattan and bamboo, materials of which I’m very fond and that combine strength and flexibility, the warmth of mellow tones, and the ability to be run through by light,” she once said.

Stacked cane rattan forms the base of a three-seat sofa, lounge chair, and ottoman, which are all topped with lavishly plump cushions. Though Crespi makes it look effortless, achieving a consistent color across the rattan—a natural material whose color, texture, and dimension differ from vine to vine—is no easy task. Italian artisans steam the rattan and bend it by hand around a die to achieve its distinctive curves; it’s then stained with antique color and finished with a gloss coating. The end result peels back the layers of Crespi’s elusive spirit while imbuing interiors with a sense of timelessness and rustic warmth.

Bogdan Ciocodeica Studio imbues a Romanian eyewear flagship in Majorelle blue.

Situated in an 18th-century building in the Transylvanian city Cluj-Napoca, Lunet’s new pared-down shop balances original architectural details and classic design pieces such as Pierre Jeanneret’s Easy Chair and Hay’s Mirror Slit tables with contemporary flashes like circular rugs, metallic silver walls, and flooring painted in a vivid bright blue. The brand’s modern frame designs are uniquely displayed on modular mirrored panels fringed in LED lighting that serve as the store’s centerpiece. 

Miami supplants New York City as the least affordable housing market in the U.S.

After surpassing Los Angeles as the second most expensive housing market in October, Miami has now ousted New York from the top spot according to RealtyHop’s February affordability index. Fueled by a pandemic boom as out-of-state residents flooded the Magic City, the influx of money has triggered soaring prices that have outpaced wages. “Miami has become increasingly unaffordable especially for those local residents. They’re the ones who increasingly struggle with homeownership,” says RealtyHop data scientist Shane Lee. “It’s the same reason why Austin was the hottest market [in 2021].”

Betye Saar is painting a recreation of an erstwhile mural during Frieze Los Angeles. 

During Frieze Los Angeles, Betye Saar has been on site hand-painting a recreation of her lost public mural L.A. Energy at the booth of Roberts Projects. The 95-year-old artist originally completed the mural in 1983 near the Art Deco headquarters of the Southern California Edison electric company, but it was destroyed a mere four years later when the Bunker Hill neighborhood was being redeveloped. Besides presenting Saar’s mural, Roberts Projects will also showcase watercolors based on her extensive collection of Black dolls. 

Masquespacio infuses a French street food cafe with pastel tones and lush greenery.

For the second location of Lyon’s fast-casual restaurant Piada, Masquespacio stayed true to the design identity of the original with pastel hues, glossy teal tiles, and plush velvet cushion. The contemporary aesthetic gives a modern veneer to a classic Italian street food staple: Piadina, a flatbread made of flour that can be used as a side dish or stuffed with ingredients such as ham, mozzarella, and tomato and served as a sandwich. 

BMW emblazons poppy Jeff Koons visuals onto limited-edition Series 8 Gran Coupes. 

Since 1975, BMW’s Art Car program has commissioned blue-chip artists—Jenny Holzer, Cao Fei, and John Baldessari among them—to create one-off editions of its own vehicles with custom artworks. This year, the German automaker enlisted Jeff Koons, who created a Lichtenstein-indebted Pop Art design on a limited run of 99 of BMW’s four-door, 8-Series Gran Coupe sports sedans. Koons’s highly detailed paint job, which took more than 300 hours to execute for each vehicle, “communicates energy and velocity, and that excitement of movement,” he tells the New York Times. The car was unveiled virtually in connection with Frieze Los Angeles, with which BMW is an official partner.

Today’s attractive distractions:

Advertisers have long used disgust to enlighten consumers about health dangers.

The startup Air Protein is trying to transform carbon dioxide into juicy cuts of meat.

Live auctioneering may be dying, but this veteran elevates it to performance art. 

Scientists create an emotion-expressing “android child” for use in psych studies.