A Refreshed Airport Boarding Gate Pays Homage to Parisian Landmarks, and Other News

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A Refreshed Airport Boarding Gate Pays Homage to Parisian Landmarks  

A lounge in Paris’s Charles de Gaulle Airport is showing off a retro makeover with references to some of the city’s famous landmarks. French design agency Chzon is behind the new look, which includes archways inspired by the Arc de Triomphe, green metal chairs like the ones found in local parks, and a fountain modeled after the water feature in the Jardin du Luxembourg. Artist studio Les Simonnet fashioned amorphous, floor-to-ceiling white sculptures that double as benches for passengers in Terminal 2G. Fitted out with tubular furniture recalling the 1960s and 70s, travelers watching planes land and take off outside the window will also be treated to a view of a mural on perforated sheets whose geometric forms channel the work of French painter Sonia Delaunay. Playful and comforting, the space is a welcome, ahem, departure from the typical airport environment. —Nate Storey

Lake|Flato Architects will become the design partner of Texas prefab venture HiFAB.

“Lake|Flato Architects, a Lone Star State firm lauded for its enthusiastic embrace of sustainable design practices and emerging building technologies, is going full-on modular in partnership with a just-announced prefab homebuilding venture named HiFAB. Launched by Dallas-based real estate development and investment firm Oaxaca Interests, HiFAB recently debuted its studio and manufacturing plant in the Dallas­­–Fort Worth Metroplex focused on the production of Lake|Flato–designed prefab homes known as Haciendas. The sustainable, attainable, and fully customizable modular homes manufactured at the 7-acre HiFAB production facility located in the city of Grand Prairie will be available to both private buyers and developers.” [H/T The Architect’s Newspaper]

Meta will tighten resources over the next few months amid a first-ever revenue decline. 

“Meta is looking to cut costs by 10 percent in coming months, according to a report published Wednesday by The Wall Street Journal. The cost cuts are likely to include job reductions due to internal business department reorganizations as opposed to more formal layoffs. The cost cutting is expected to commence over the next few months. For its second-quarter earnings report in July, the Facebook parent company reported a 22 percent year-over-year increase in costs and expenses totaling nearly $20.4 billion. The company has been investing heavily in the metaverse in the hopes that yet-to-be developed technology will lead to massive sales. The company also reported its first-ever revenue decline from a year ago, and predicted during that earnings call that its sales would drop again in its third quarter.” [H/T CNBC]

Balmain fashions a haute couture gown using plastic sourced from old water bottles.

“Haute couture is the most luxurious part of the fashion universe, where designers make custom creations with the finest materials, based on a client’s tastes. Balmain has taken a decidedly different approach: Its latest couture gown is made of trash. The French fashion house collaborated with Evian to develop yarn made from recycled plastic bottles. Balmain creative director Olivier Rousteing then used the yarn to craft a shimmering, sculptural dress that could rival any traditional couture gown.” [H/T Fast Company]

Getty Images bans the upload and sale of AI-generated visuals over legal concerns. 

“Getty Images has banned the upload and sale of illustrations generated using AI art tools like DALL-E, Midjourney, and Stable Diffusion. It’s the latest and largest user-generated content platform to introduce such a ban, following similar decisions by sites including Newgrounds, PurplePort, and FurAffinity. Getty Images CEO Craig Peters told The Verge that the ban was prompted by concerns about the legality of AI-generated content and a desire to protect the site’s customers.” [H/T The Verge]

In Toronto, a dated airstrip will be transformed into a mixed-use residential district.

“Danish studio Henning Larsen Architects, local studio KPMB and landscape architecture studio SLA are set to convert an airstrip outside of Toronto into a residential district. Downsview Airfield, nine miles northwest of Toronto, will be turned into a residential and commercial district with strong transport connections to the city. The development will be arranged around the 1.24-mile-long runway, which will be turned into a “pedestrian corridor” that links the communities built within the 520-acre site. Ten districts housing around 80,000 people will be spread out on the perimeter of the pedestrian corridor within 40 hectares of parks for new residents as well as locals in the surrounding neighborhoods.” [H/T Dezeen]

The Holt/Smithson Foundation launches a lecture series about the legacy of land art.

“This autumn, the Holt/Smithson Foundation will launch an annual lecture series that invites artists, writers and other thinkers to respond to Nancy Holt and Robert Smithson’s art. Each will occur at a location with significance to the artists, beginning with the Whitney Museum, where Holt donated many works from her personal collection. The two artists also lived in the West Village, a few blocks from the museum’s present location.” [H/T The Art Newspaper]

Today’s attractive distractions:

Here’s a handy guide to appearing on a home renovation TV show.

This photo series shows the individuality of Nakagin Tower’s capsules.

Mid-century designers had an affinity for making children’s books.

Notice how restaurant reservation culture has spiraled out of control?