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Toteme’s Mayfair Flagship Is an Ode to Swedish Grace
Toteme is bringing touches of Scandi minimalism to the red-bricked Mount Street in London’s tony Mayfair district. The Swedish purveyor of women’s ready-to-wear recently opened a 3,000-square-foot flagship designed by Stockholm studio Halleroed that exudes a pared-down ambiance with a white storefront adorned with silver accents. Those touches continue inside, where a woven steel Random Pak Twin sofa by Marc Newson sets the tone for off-white stucco walls, honed limestone floors, and a custom niche displaying a gypsum sculpture by Carl Milles. Besides nodding to the label’s Swedish heritage, Halleroed drew inspiration from Carlo Scarpa’s rich textures and the elegance of the Swedish Grace movement. And even more expansion is afoot—Toteme recently ventured into jewelry and two Los Angeles stores are on the horizon. —Ryan Waddoups
“Fernando Bryce, Eugenio Dittborn, and Jorge Macchi” (2023) at Alexander and Bonin, New York. Image courtesy of Alexander and Bonin…
After 28 years in business, New York gallery Alexander and Bonin, known for its diverse roster of conceptual artists, has shuttered. The closure came about eight months after the sudden passing of co-founder Ted Bonin. Carolyn Alexander, the other co-founder, decided to retire following Bonin’s death. The gallery had a history of representing esteemed artists and was notable for showcasing Latinx and Latin American artists at a time when many other New York galleries did not. The gallery’s closure follows a spate of established New York galleries shuttering in recent times, including Cheim & Read, JTT, and Washburn Gallery.
Submissions opened on January 1 for the inaugural Claude Parent Prize for Transgressive Architecture, named after the renowned French architect who died in 2016. The prize’s jury includes Jean Nouvel, a former employee of Parent, along with architects Joseph Giovannini, Anupama Kundoo, Carme Pigem, Julie Cattant, and conceptual artist Loris Greaud. The prize aims to honor architects who challenge conventional norms and approach the profession in a transgressive, critical, or pioneering manner. It welcomes architects or multidisciplinary teams, with a minimum of one architect, to submit by March 15, with winners to be announced on April 29–30. The prize includes an original drawing by Claude Parent as an award.
The Kaktus Towers in Copenhagen by Bjarke Ingels Group. Photography by R. Hjortshoj…
Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) is nearing completion of its Kaktus Towers project in central Copenhagen, which features two high-rise residential towers connected by a raised public park. The towers, with the tallest at 262 feet high, offer 500 “youth rooms” with hexagonal cores and panoramic viewpoints on each level. The skewed floor slabs create a distinct architectural form, and the public spaces include terraces, green roofs, common areas, outdoor kitchen and grill areas, cafés, fitness centers, and more. The development also includes a budget-friendly hotel and an IKEA store. The project is slated for completion by 2024.
Wayfair, the digital home goods retailer, is undergoing a workforce reduction of 13 percent globally as part of ongoing efforts to streamline its structure and reduce costs following a period of extensive hiring during the pandemic. Approximately 1,650 employees will be laid off, with a focus on management and leadership. This restructuring, the third since summer 2022, is expected to save the company $280 million. Wayfair’s shares surged by 15 percent in premarket trading after the announcement. The layoffs are not related to fourth-quarter performance but rather a proactive measure to align the company with its core structure after experiencing a surge in demand during the pandemic that required increased staffing.
A man named Alejandro Triana Trevez was arrested in Brazil in connection with the murder of New York art dealer Brent Sikkema, who was found with 18 stab wounds in his Rio de Janeiro apartment. Trevez, who knew Sikkema, is believed to have stolen cash from the scene before fleeing. The police recovered a bloodied knife from the apartment. Trevez, a Cuban national, was apprehended at a gas station between the cities of Uberaba and Uberlandia, about 600 miles northwest of Rio de Janeiro. Detective Alexandre Herdy revealed that Trevez and Sikkema had been together in Rio the previous summer, though the nature of their relationship remains unknown. Brent Sikkema was a respected art dealer known for representing contemporary artists, including Kara Walker and Jeffrey Gibson.
