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
Noma Heads Back to Japan
Noma is taking its show on the road again after a pandemic hiatus, coming full circle with a 10-week pop-up in Japan. The groundbreaking Copenhagen restaurant led by chef Rene Redzepi, which is widely credited with pioneering the New Nordic movement, holds three Michelin stars, and has topped the World’s Best Restaurant list numerous times, first kicked off its residency program in Tokyo (2015) before moving on to Sydney (2016) and Tulum, Mexico (2017). Planting its flag inside the Kengo Kuma–designed Ace Hotel Kyoto, Noma’s fourth residency will run for 10 weeks starting March 15 with lunch and dinner seatings running through May 20.
The menu will be an homage to the traditional multi-course Japanese meal called kaiseki. Redzepi recently unveiled that his team already has over 500 pounds of dried yuzu peels, and teased other ingredients such as salted sansho berries and a vegan dashi brewed from caramelized pumpkin and corn. ”I believe Kyoto to be the birthplace of the western tasting menu, and it remains one of the most important cities through which to understand the fine dining scene today,” he says. “Much of my own journey and inspiration can be boiled down to a handful of important moments, and going to Japan and Kyoto for the first time is one of them.”
Tickets go on sale on Monday, November 7 at 7 a.m. eastern time and can be purchased by signing up for the Noma newsletter here. Ace Hotel is also offering a Noma package that includes accommodations. —Nate Storey
Rendering of the Noma megaproject in Saudi Arabia…
Saudi Arabia reportedly sentences two men to death for impeding the Neom project.
“Human rights organization ALQST has reported that three men forcibly evicted from the Neom site in Saudi Arabia have been sentenced to death. Saudi Arabia and London-based ALQST reported that Shadli al-Huwaiti, Ibrahim al-Huwaiti and Ataullah al-Huwaiti had been sentenced to death earlier this month. According to ALQST, the three members of the Huwaitat tribe were sentenced after being “forcibly evicted and displaced to make way for the Neom megaproject”, which is planned for the northeast of the country. The men, who are believed to have criticized the displacement of locals to make way for the Neom development, were sentenced by Saudi Arabia’s Specialised Criminal Court on Oct. 2.” [H/T Dezeen]
A sealed 2007 iPhone auctions for $39,000—65 times higher than its original price.
“Apple released its iPhone 14 lineup last month, but on Sunday someone dished out $39,339.60 for an original, mint iPhone from 2007, in its original package. LCG Auctions had the sealed 8GB iPhone on the block, and the winning bid exceeded the auction house’s expectation of $30,000. ‘One of the most important and ubiquitous inventions of our lifetime,’ the item description read. ‘This factory sealed, first-release example is in exceptional condition. Collectors and investors would be hard-pressed to find a superior example.’ The original iPhone launched on June 27, 2007, for $599.” [H/T CNET]
“Präparat,” a stolen painting by Sarah Księska. Photography by Mike Egan/Ramiken Crucible…
A painting gets pilfered from Ramiken Crucible’s group show during Frieze London.
“A historic London hotel, known for its distressed walls and overdue restoration, was the scene of artwork theft last week. On Oct. 12, a burglar stole the oil painting Präparat by German artist Sarah Księska from West London’s Averard Hotel. The work was on display as part of a group exhibition the previous night by Lower East Side, New York gallery Ramiken Crucible, coinciding with London’s Frieze art fair. Egan has strong suspicions about who stole the painting: two German-speaking men who attended the opening and also spoke to his friends. ‘I think they sensed it was really valuable.’” [H/T ARTnews]
A survey suggests one-third of architecture employees have witnessed discrimination.
“An NCARB/NOMA investigation has found that people of color, especially African Americans, are more likely to report issues with their architecture firm’s culture. The Firm Culture & Career Development Report is the latest analysis articulating the results of the joint NCARB/NOMA Baseline on Belonging survey investigating biases and impediments in the profession. The report, which focused on candidates currently on the path to licensure, found that 24 percent of African American respondents considered leaving the profession due to their firm’s culture, 14 percent more than their white peers. Compared to white respondents, African American respondents were also 12 percent less likely to say they felt as though they belonged at their firm, and 10 percent less likely to feel valued.” [H/T Archinect]
Progreso Museum of Geology by Estudio MMX. Photography by Dane Alonso…
Mayan references inform a new geology museum on Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula.
“Designed by Estudio MMX, the new Geology Museum in the town of Progreso, on the coast of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, is entirely covered in chukum, a natural finish of Mayan origin. Composed of multiple structures, corridors, gardens, and fountains, the ensemble combines the ideas of Mayan architecture with the colonial heritage of urban design, while light, shadow, and vegetation blend in to create a rich experiential character. ‘The museum consciously synthesizes local Mayan knowledge with contemporary architectural approaches, thus generating a new identifiable and appropriable public space for the people of Progreso.’ shares the Mexican studio.” [H/T Designboom]
New data shows offices nationwide have reached peak post-pandemic occupancy.
“Offices in New York and other big U.S. cities last week filled to their highest levels since the pandemic hit, but occupancy still hasn’t surpassed 50 percent in most places. New York offices tracked by security firm Kastle Systems were 47.8 percent full in the week ended Oct. 12, up from about 44 percent in the previous two weeks, each of which had school holidays that kept some workers homebound. That’s the highest occupancy since early March 2020, right before Covid-19 lockdowns took effect. Kastle’s 10-city average occupancy also reached a post-pandemic high, at 49 percent, boosted by cities such as Austin, Texas, where offices are nearly two-thirds full.” [H/T Bloomberg]
A Kyiv collective departs a Paris art fair after learning a Russian gallery was exhibiting.
“The Kyiv-based artist association Understructures has pulled out of Paris Internationale, after realizing that a Russian gallery was also participating in the French art fair. The event, which focuses on emerging art, had its VIP preview on Tuesday, Oct. 18. Vitya Glushchenko, the organizer of Understructures, told Artnet News that his collective only noticed last week that the Moscow-based gallery Iragui was exhibiting in the fair. Glushchenko emphasized that his group’s departure from the fair was not a ‘gesture’ as much as it was a necessity, given the war in Ukraine. ‘We do not want to victimize ourselves, but to be clear: no cooperation with Russian-based tax-paying businesses is possible now,’ he said.” [H/T Artnet News]
Image courtesy of Adidas…
Today’s attractive distractions:
Scientists think a “mummified dinosaur” was formed in an unexpected way.
