An Unbuilt Mies van der Rohe Project Is Taking Shape, and Other News

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An unbuilt project by Mies van der Rohe is now under construction at Indiana University. 

Soon after Indiana University president Michael A. McRobbie was informed about recently discovered drawings of an unbuilt structure for the campus designed by Mies van der Rohe, he enlisted Thomas Phifer and Partners to execute the project. The building was originally intended to house the fraternity Alpha Theta chapter of Pi Lambda Phi, but will now be the Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design. Phifer’s team undertook intensive research to make sure Mies’s structure was built to 21st-century standards. “The proportioning of the building, the glass, and the volumes had to stay because this is a Mies building,” Phifer told Architectural Record. “Those proportions determine the success of the architecture.” 

More than 60 arts and culture groups receive billions in funding from MacKenzie Scott. 

MacKenzie Scott has focused on giving away most of her $60 billion fortune following her separation from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Her latest philanthropic move sees the novelist donate $2.74 billion to 286 organizations, at least 60 of which are involved in arts and culture. Among the recipients are the Museo del Barrio in New York ($8 million), the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco ($6 million), and the Museum of Chinese in America in New York ($5 million). Scott avoided donating to big-budget institutions that are often favored by philanthropists and lifted restrictions on how the grants can be used; many recipients said the donations are the largest they’ve ever received.

The Orange County Museum of the Art reveals plans to relaunch the California Biennial.

Construction is nearly complete on the Morphosis-designed Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA), which plans to officially open to the public in October 2022. The museum plans to relaunch the California Biennial, established in 1984 but last held in 2010, as its inaugural exhibition. “California has long been a wellspring of innovation and creativity,” OCMA director Heidi Zuckerman said in a statement, “and [the California Biennial] once again gives us an opportunity to explore the richness of the state’s expansive and diverse creative communities.” The relaunched biennial will be curated by Elizabeth Armstrong, Essence Harden, and Gilbert Vicario. 

Cult beauty brand Glossier will reopen its physical stores after closing due to the pandemic.

After temporarily shutting down its physical spaces due to the pandemic, Glossier is plotting its return to retail. “Our team slowly faced the reality that Glosser retail, a communal experience that often drew lines down the block, wouldn’t reopen until being together was safe again,” the brand’s founder, Emily Weiss, wrote in a blog post. “Now, as parts of the world begin to emerge from the worst of the pandemic, the world of Glossier is ready to exist again in 3D.” The launch will include three new permanent store openings: Seattle in August, L.A. in the fall, and London in the winter. Weiss continues: “Each of these stories is designed to inspire everyone to find joy and confidence in their personal beauty style, with a customer journey centered around self-discovery and belonging.

Sydney will transform the Powerhouse Museum in Ultimo into a giant fashion and design hub.

Australia’s fashion and design industries are rejoicing over the government’s newly unveiled plan to transform the Powerhouse Museum in Ultimo into a giant design and fashion museum. The heritage building’s future had long been in question after nearly being sold off to apartment developers in 2015, but those plans were scrapped last year. “Design and fashion will be at the forefront of this museum in the future,” says New South Wales arts minister Don Harwin. The Powerhouse’s collection, which has been compared to the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Smithsonian, contains more than 500,000 objects—many of which have never been seen by the public. The state government will spend $500 million on the museum’s transformation, described as the country’s biggest investment in arts and culture since building the world-famous Sydney Opera House.

Today’s attractive distractions:

An Alabama quilting collective receives $250,000 to build their own museum.

CNN is jumping into the NFT game by minting clips of historic news moments. 

One of Seth Rogen’s new ceramic vases fetches nearly five figures at auction.

This handy logo generator seeks to improve climate activism’s branding problem.