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
Iris Apfel Launches a Maximalist Rug Collection
Iris Apfel has no shortage of expertise to inform her numerous ventures across interiors and fashion. Her background in interior and textile design, not to mention her eye for color and pattern, has no doubt informed her newly launched collection of rugs and doormats for Ruggable. The visuals include a range of tropical patterns, paisley motifs, as well as inspiration drawn from traditional Persian patterns and Ikat techniques. —Jenna Adrian-Diaz
The new Ngarannam village designed by Tosin Oshinowo. Image courtesy UNDP/Tolulope Sanusi…
Tosin Oshinowo’s redesign of Northern Nigeria’s Ngarannam community is underway.
“The United Nations Development Programme has released images of its just-completed first phase of the Tosin Oshinowo-designed Ngarannam village reconstruction project in Northeast Nigeria. The project to resettle villagers displaced by Boko Haram was begun last year as part of the UNDP’s Regional Stabilisation Facility Initiative, which will rebuild a total of six communities in three of the country’s northeastern states profoundly affected by conflicts with the insurgent group in order to “quickly mend trust between the people and government.” The new Ngarannam village includes a total of 564 units of housing, a primary school, police station, community health center, shaded market, security forces barracks, government offices, and 16 small shops.” [H/T Archinect]
After departing Burberry, Riccardo Tisci has revealed new designs under his own label.
“Just a month after Riccardo Tisci stepped down from his role as Burberry’s chief creative officer, the Italian designer has released work under his own name for the first time in 17 years. Tisci created a custom gown for actress and screenwriter Michaela Coel to wear at the London premiere of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the sequel to the 2018 blockbuster whose star-studded cast she joined. The design bears Tisci’s dark romantic signatures. Created with input from Coel and her mother, the black gown featured a stretch-silk bodysuit embellished with a multi-layered skirt of Chantilly lace in floral and starred patterns. The look also included black floral lace tights and black sandals.” [H/T Business of Fashion]
Google Nest WiFi Pro. Image courtesy of Google…
Google debuts a shapely new Nest WiFi Pro router inspired by ceramic sculpture.
“Rounder, warmer, and more like a piece of sculpture, the new Google Nest WiFi Pro represents a different direction for this essential piece of home hardware. Google has made its own routers for several years now, adding functionality and simplicity to an inescapable element of domestic infrastructure. Its newest roll-out upgrades the internal chipset to take account of WiFi 6E, the latest standard that is nearly three times as fast as the previous WiFi 6, taking advantage of a new band on the spectrum (6 GHz, instead of the familiar 2.5 or 5 GHz) to take us ever-closer to a world without Ethernet connections.” [H/T Wallpaper]
Artist Philippa Pham Hughes hosts a dinner to unite both sides of the political aisle.
“In the lead up to the mid-term elections in the U.S., political discourse has become more polarized than ever. And with the aim of finding some common ground, the artist Philippa Pham Hughes has organized a dinner at the University of Michigan Museum of Art in Ann Arbor, where guests from both sides of the political aisle will sit down with each other to hash things out. The Washington, D.C.–based ‘social sculptor,’ as Hughes describes her practice, has been bringing folks together to improve those skills since 2016, when she held her first cross-party dinner in her own home right after the election, with just a handful of people invited. Her goal then was to better understand Trump voters, who seemed so diametrically opposed to her own progressive political and social leanings.” [H/T Artnet News]
French conglomerate Kering is reportedly in advanced talks to acquire Tom Ford.
“French luxury conglomerate Kering is said to be in advanced talks to acquire Tom Ford. The tailoring staple is being sought after by the luxury giant that also owns Gucci, Saint Laurent, and Balenciaga. According to WSJ, Kering is up against beauty company Estée Lauder for the privately held menswear and beauty business. However, Kering appears to be the frontrunner. Business of Fashion reports that Tom Ford has been shopping for a possible sale since this summer. Back in August, Estée Lauder was also reported to be in talks about buying the brand in a deal that valued the label at $3 billion USD.” [H/T Hypebeast]
Atlantis The Royal on Dubai’s Jumeirah Palm Island…
Atlantis The Royal, Dubai’s latest ultra-luxury hotel, has extravagant bridging towers.
“Crowning Dubai‘s Jumeirah Palm Island, Atlantis The Royal has reached completion to become a new icon for the city. Designed by New York-based architecture firm KPF, the ambitious project is sited just down the shoreline from its sister project, the famous Atlantis, The Palm resort. It will introduce a luxury resort hotel, seventeen celebrity-led restaurants and bars, a 22nd-floor infinity pool, and even the world’s largest jellyfish aquarium. While the architecture has reached completion, the hotel is slated to open its doors to guests in 2023. Bookings have already opened for those eager to reserve a night in one of the hotel’s 795 rooms, with stays beginning at $850 a night.” [H/T Designboom]
The contours of Jiuzhai Valley National Park inspire a new visitor center in China.
“Spiraling tiled roofs informed by the contours of the surrounding mountains cover the Jiuzhai Valley Visitor Centre in Sichuan Province, China, designed by The Architectural Design and Research Institute of Tsinghua University (THAD). Located at the entrance to the UNESCO World Heritage–listed Jiuzhai Valley National Park, the center provides a new exhibition space, visitor center, and offices as part of the area’s reopening following an earthquake in 2017. Designed to sit harmoniously in the landscape both in terms of its earthquake resilience and visual appearance, THAD created a cluster of low-lying volumes organized around a central plaza paved with a contour pattern.” [H/T Dezeen]
The Soil Project by Yuhan Bai. Image courtesy of Yuhan Bai…
Today’s attractive distractions:
A pet shelter is using AI to generate “synthetic dogs” to encourage adoption.
Yuhan Bai makes a clothing collection out of a soil-based leather alternative.
Audio-Technica resurrects the vintage portable Mister Disc/Sound Burger.
Here’s a guide to the six best places to eat in Qatar during the World Cup.
