Maldives Plans to Build a Floating Island City, and Other News

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

Maldives unveils plans for the “world’s first floating island city” amid rising sea levels.

“The Maldives has partnered with architecture studio Waterstudio to create a brain-shaped floating city that will house 20,000 people in a lagoon near the country’s capital. Called Maldives Floating City, the development will contain 5,000 low-rise floating homes floating within a 200-hectare lagoon in the Indian Ocean. As sea levels rise, so too will the city, which will be built upon a series of hexagonal-shaped floating structures. With the Maldives islands predicted to be uninhabitable by 2100 due to rising sea levels, the government hopes to offer up to 20,000 locals and foreigners the opportunity to move to the floating city as early as 2024. Construction is planned to begin later this year on the development, which will be 10 minutes by boat from the Maldivian capital Male.” [H/T Dezeen] 

The Dallas Museum of Art redoubles its security following a costly overnight break-in. 

“Reacting to publicly aired concerns over a security breakdown that allowed a vandal to roam the halls of the Dallas Museum of Art earlier this month, smashing four works of art, multiple board members and the museum director on Friday issued a strong statement, vowing a full reassessment of DMA security. The five vowed in the announcement to hire an independent security consultant to “ensure our security measures exceed best practice standards.” The review is part of a broader assessment of the DMA’s facilities as it looks to expand. Late last year, the museum quietly commissioned the architecture firm Perkins & Will to conduct a planning study for a future building project. The study will help the museum determine the scope, location and costs for a planned expansion.” [H/T Dallas Morning News]

A photographer sues Kat Von D for tattooing his portrait of Miles Davis on a colleague.

“Celebrity tattoo artist Kat Von D’s use of a famous photograph of jazz great Miles Davis has led to what’s believed to be the first lawsuit over whether an image’s copyright protection extends to tattoos, pitting questions about artistic freedom and body autonomy against photographers’ rights to own their creations. Photographer Jeffrey B. Sedlik is suing Von D, who used his “Iconic Miles Davis Portrait” in a tattoo she inked on a colleague. The case is on the road to trial, after a California federal judge recently said a jury must resolve disputes that include whether the image falls under the “fair use” doctrine—a copyright infringement defense that the US Supreme Court will tackle this fall in a case involving Andy Warhol’s print of a photo of the musician Prince.” [H/T Bloomberg]

Sam Gilliam, influential artist whose abstractions entered new dimensions, dies at 88. 

“Sam Gilliam, an influential painter whose canvases proposed new possibilities for abstraction, inspiring legions of artists, died on June 25 at 88. Pace, Gilliam’s New York gallery, said the cause was kidney failure. Gilliam’s abstractions are unusual in that they are often sculptural, in essence suggesting that painting need not be two-dimensional. Working by methods in which his paint was allowed to roll down his canvas on its own accord, he embraced chance and relinquished control. The results have dazzled many over the years, and Gilliam’s work has enjoyed a late-career rise, with his work appearing in major institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Dia:Beacon, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, and the Kunstmuseum Basel in Switzerland.” [H/T ARTnews]

The FBI raid a Florida Museum after questioning the authenticity of Basquiat paintings.

“The FBI raided a Florida art museum on Friday and seized more than two dozen paintings attributed to artist Jean-Michel Basquiat following questions about their authenticity. Orlando Museum of Art spokeswoman Emilia Bourmas-Fry said that they were complying with a warrant from the FBI for access to the “Heroes and Monsters” exhibition, which is now in the government’s possession. Federal art crimes investigators have been looking into the 25 paintings since shortly after their discovery in 2012. The controversy gained more attention shortly after the Orlando exhibit opened in February.” [H/T ABC7 Chicago]

New York City vows to make the crumbling subway system fully accessible by 2055. 

“New York has lagged for years behind other American cities in making its subway system accessible to people with disabilities: Just 126 of its 472 stations, or 27 percent, have elevators or ramps that make them fully accessible. But on Wednesday, the MTA said it would add elevators and ramps to 95 percent of the subway’s stations by 2055 as part of a settlement agreement in two class-action lawsuits. The agreement, which still requires court approval, would establish a clear—and lengthy—timeline to address a problem that has effectively barred people who use wheelchairs and mobility devices from fully accessing the city’s transit system, a backbone of New York’s social and economic life.” [H/T The New York Times]

Today’s attractive distractions:

This handy map highlights New York landmarks within the LGBTQ community.

Summer’s unexpected drink of choice for Londoners is the vegetable martini. 

The sound-absorbent wings of deaf moths are inspiring acoustic materials.

Boston is building its first-ever LGBTQ-friendly housing project for seniors.