A Floating Tower Proposal Causes a Stir in San Francisco, and Other News

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Arquitectonica’s proposal for a “floating cube” 62-floor skyscraper roils San Francisco. 

“This tower would be 640 feet tall and hold 826 apartments, according to the proposal filed last week with San Francisco’s planning department. What made the rounds on the internet after the 49-page application was submitted was the pair of sexy/heroic renderings of an extremely elongated grid, square windows and a square floor plan, topped by five stories clad in white that seem to hover in the air. That’s because the tip of the match would be visually separated from the rest of the tower by a 29-foot-high ‘amenity floor’ clad in glass and pulled back a foot or two from the cladding above and below.” [H/T San Francisco Chronicle]

A lawsuit claims that fingerprints permanently damaged a pricy Donald Judd sculpture.

“Donald Judd, one of the most influential and important postwar minimalist artists in the American canon, is just as famous for the negative space contained by his sculptural fabrications as he is for the sculptures themselves. Judd prized voids within his work because he was fixated on creating states of uneasy flux, but the tangible materials that comprise his creations are, evidently, just as vulnerable to uncomfortable change. On Tuesday, the Judd Foundation filed suit in Manhattan Supreme Court against New York-based Tina Kim Gallery and the Seoul-based Kukje Gallery, alleging breach of contract related to a valuable work by Donald Judd the foundation says has been marred by fingerprints.” [H/T The Daily Beast]

Jacquemus’s new boutique at Galeries Lafayette Haussmann is clad entirely in pillows. 

“Dutch studio AMO has used pillows to form the display stands and line the walls in this tactile womenswear boutique by fashion brand Jacquemus in Paris, France. The 646-square-foot shop, set in the department store Galeries Lafayette Haussmann, was designed to feel like a bedroom according to AMO, which is the research and design arm of architecture firm OMA. The linen pillows were designed to reference the textiles of Provence, where Jacquemus founder Simon Porte Jacquemus grew up.” [H/T Dezeen]

The Rijksmuseum denies claims that the structure is sinking due to wood-rotting fungi.

“The Rijksmuseum, the national museum of the Netherlands, has issued a stringent rebuttal to reports that claim the museum is sinking. Bloomberg reported last month that this summer’s drought—the worst in 500 years, per the European Drought Observatory—has created a fungi that is eating away at the Amsterdam museum’s wooden foundations. But a Rijksmuseum spokesperson said the museum was not in danger of sinking and that the foundations remain robust after a ten year refurbishment.” [H/T The Art Newspaper]

The Art Institute of Chicago is accused of erasing Felix Gonzalez-Torres’s gay identity.

“The Art Institute of Chicago has been accused of erasing Felix Gonzalez-Torres’s gay identity and AIDS diagnosis after changing the wall label for a beloved work by the artist in its collection. Last month, a Twitter user pointed out that the museum had swapped out the wall text for Gonzalez-Torres’s Untitled (Portrait of Ross in L.A.) (1991), leaving out a previous reference to the artist’s late partner, Ross Laycock, who died from an AIDS-related illness the same year the piece was created. (González-Torres himself died from complications related to AIDS five years later, in 1996.)” [H/T Artnet News]

Maxime d’Angeac reimagines the Orient Express train with modern conveniences.

“As far as trains go, few can boast the international and historical renown of the Orient Express. Offering a luxurious passageway from east to west at a time when rail travel was all the rage, its design helped define an era’s idea of luxury aesthetics. This week, the train formerly known as the Nostalgie-Istanbul-Orient-Express will debut a new look on the world stage during Contemporary Art Week in Paris, updating one of the most iconic takes on transportation design for a new era of luxury. After a protracted negotiation process, Orient Express took possession of the train in July 2018, at which point French architect Maxime d’Angeac, known for restoring Maison Guerlain on the Champs-Élysées and collaborations with fashion houses like Hermès, got to work on a forward-looking restoration.” [H/T Architectural Digest]

A volcano fire “irreparably” chars Easter Island’s sacred stone-carved Moai statues. 

“Easter Island’s towering stone heads and other archaeological elements have been charred by a fire, according to local Indigenous and Chilean authorities. The fire—caused by the nearby Rano Raraku volcano—started this past Monday and razed more than 247 acres of the island, damaging its famous stone-carved statues known as ‘Moai’ which were created by a Polynesian tribe over 500 years ago, native officials reported. Ariki Tepano, who serves as the director of the indigenous Ma’u Henua community which manages the Rapa Nui Natural Park, described the damage as ‘irreparable’ and warned that the ‘consequences go beyond what the eyes can see,’ in a statement Thursday.” [H/T CNN]

Today’s attractive distractions:

This new exhibition indulges in the U.K.’s overlooked video game history.

A monument dedicated to cheese-dusted fingers pops up in rural Canada.

Last Days, a new Kurt Cobain–themed opera, plumbs the price of fame. 

Here’s a first look into the absurd chaos of Argentina’s inflation problems.