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Eyewear brand Jins moves into a trapezoidal new shop in Japan by Yuko Nagayama.
“Tokyo studio Yuko Nagayama & Associates has completed a copper-clad eyewear store for brand JINS in Maebashi, Japan, which contains a cafe and rooftop terrace. Named JINS Park, the shop in Gunma Prefecture was designed to act as a space for the community to gather whether they are shopping in the store or not. Yuko Nagayama & Associates envisions the space being used as an indoor community plaza with food and coffee served along with glasses being sold. A large triangular staircase divides the space in two, with the glasses store located on one side and the cafe on the other.” [H/T Dezeen]
A late Kohler scion is funding the new Ruth Foundation of the Arts with $440 million.
“New foundations spring up all the time, but rarely on the scale of the Ruth Foundation for the Arts, which was established this year and announces its first grants this week. Funded by a $440 million bequest from Ruth DeYoung Kohler II, the foundation immediately enters the highest echelons of arts philanthropy. Kohler, who died in 2020 after a career of nurturing self-taught artists, was a scion of the Wisconsin bathroom-fixture fortune, as a member of the eponymous founding family of the Kohler company. The foundation, based in Milwaukee, is planning to give away between $17 to $20 million a year.” [H/T The New York Times]
The FCC commissioner asks Google and Apple to ban TikTok from their app stores.
“A leader of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission said he has asked Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their app stores over China-related data security concerns. The wildly popular short video app is owned by Chinese company ByteDance, which faced U.S. scrutiny under President Donald Trump. Brendan Carr, one of the FCC’s commissioners, shared via Twitter a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai. The letter pointed to reports and other developments that made TikTok non-compliant with the two companies’ app store policies.” [H/T CNBC]
Police arrest and release two men for suspected involvement in the TEFAF robbery.
“Dutch police on Wednesday released without charge two Belgians who were arrested a day earlier on suspicion of involvement in a daring smash and grab jewelry heist at a prestigious art fair. Police in the southern Limburg province tweeted that the Belgians, aged 22 and 26, were detained shortly after the armed robbery at the TEFAF fair in Maastricht because their behavior “was suspicious enough at that moment” to merit it. Investigations have now cleared both men of involvement, police said. No other arrests have been made in the hunt for the culprits.” [H/T Associated Press]
Toronto plans to stop building smart cities due to tech-related privacy concerns.
“As more smart cities make their way across the globe, whether it being in countries of the Far East, Latin America, or the Middle East, Toronto is stepping back from the smart city bandwagon, and reassessing its substantial contribution to the community. The Canadian city, which ranked 15th on Global Finance’s ranking of the world’s best cities to live in for the year 2022, plans on “killing the smart city forever”, especially after Quayside’s controversial cancellation reasons, questioning its lack of privacy, necessity on an urban scale, and whether people truly want to live in a tech-driven environment.” [H/T ArchDaily]
Venice plans to hit cheap day-trippers with fines for clogging the city’s infrastructure.
“The city has determined that when more than 30,000 to 40,000 people show up for a day of taking selfies at the Rialto Bridge, squeezing through St. Mark’s Square and shuffling past the Doge’s Palace, they do more harm than good. To weed out cheapskates, the city plans to charge day-trippers a fee of 3 to 10 euros (about $3.20 to $10.60) for access to the city starting in January. While officials are still determining final details, including how to charge and enforce the fees, the target encompasses hot spots along the Grand Canal as well as peripheral islands such as Lido, Murano and Torcello.” [H/T Bloomberg]
Today’s attractive distractions:
Scientists develop “artificial photosynthesis” that allows plants to grow in the dark.
Peter Marino chats with Rashid Johnson on “pop art and garbage architecture.”
A tortoise species thought to be extinct was recently discovered on the Galapagos.
PBS Kids redesigns its logo for inclusivity—and gets rid of its longtime mascot.
