What happens when a Southern California desert home is designed around just three circles? This curved residence was born of such a minimalist premise, taking its cues from, and unfolding around, its surrounding landscape.

Avocado House is a newly completed retreat perched above the Yucca Valley, created by Arshia Architects' principal architect Arshia Mahmoodi. The starting point was three simple circular shapes. One forms the house's core, another defines the yard, and a third connects the two. Sections of that geometry were then carved away to create a crescent-shaped courtyard and frame views across Yucca Valley to the San Jacinto Mountains.

Explore Avocado House, a new Californian desert home

Somewhere along the design process, the floorplan began to resemble an avocado, with the rounded core forming the ‘pit’ and the name stuck. The three-bedroom home is now part of Fieldtrip’s Signature Homes portfolio, the hospitality company behind Joshua Tree’s famed piece of desert architecture, the Invisible House, and other distinctive properties for home stays that include boutique hotel amenities.

The shape of Avocado House was conceived around its hilltop setting. Rather than placing the outdoor spaces behind the house, the architecture wraps around a central courtyard (or the pit, if you will) with a pool, spa and fire pit. Angled openings capture the surrounding boulders, desert sunsets and mountain views, while the main living room and two bedrooms open directly outside, serving as both a gathering space and a frame for the surrounding vistas.

The courtyard was a key element of the circular layout. ‘We wanted an outdoor space carved directly from the building volume, one that connects the house to the hillside and creates a quiet, intimate space within this vast hilltop landscape,’ says the owner of the home, Zhang Zhuo.

The curved interiors were developed by Xinlei Li of Xinlei Architecture, Inc., in collaboration with the ownership team, and include lighting fixtures by Flos with custom furniture pieces and artworks commissioned for the house to reflect the natural light at different times of day, while a lofted lounge with a pool table overlooks the main living area, creating a more intimate space within the open interior.

The curved wood framing and canopy were among the home’s most challenging elements to execute, but also some of its most defining. Following the geometry of the house, they create a sense of enclosure and privacy without closing the home off from its desert surroundings.

With the views as a core priority for the owners, Zhuo notes, ‘We explored a circular geometry for the layout with a central core for the living spaces, an outer ring defining the yard, and a connecting zone linking the house and yard together. We developed this circular idea into a volumetric form and wrapped it within an outer shell. We then made two intentional cuts into the building mass to frame the views and manage building height. The courtyard was carved out of this volume to tie the house to the hillside. The curved walls and canopy grew naturally from this circular geometry we pursued for the project.’

One of the main construction challenges for the team was building the curved wood framing and canopy accurately. ‘The most distinctive material we used is curved glulam timber,’ adds Zhuo. ‘It forms the sweeping canopy and roof structure, bringing warmth while following the building’s soft, rounded geometry.’

The project also incorporates a roof-drainage system with runoff directed to two dry wells on the property, and a solar-panel system to offset electricity demand.

‘When we started planning the home, the three-circle layout was our response to this hilltop setting. The three rings create a natural flow from the private interior living zone, through a transitional courtyard, out to the surrounding desert landscape. This layered arrangement lets us enjoy the panoramic views while still maintaining privacy.’

stayfieldtrip.com

Forty years ago, when I first walked down Bleecker Street into the East Village, I thought the old shopfront building where sculptor June Leaf and her husband, photographer Robert Frank, lived and worked to be in keeping with everything about being a certain kind of artist in New York in the 1980s. It wasn't a glass-walled palace or a post-pop classical abstraction, but a fragment of the old city, a vestigial note on a block that, yes, you saw in Jim Jarmusch's Stranger Than Paradise, but also that Melville or Poe might have passed, or even Edith Wharton if her horse-drawn carriage driver had gotten lost. After all, the Federal-style house was built in 1817 when Bleecker Street was still mostly field, though the address had developed a questionable reputation as early as the Civil War. By the 1960s, it was deemed a flophouse.

Leaf and Frank first rented a room there (for $48) in the late 1970s, and eventually managed to buy it, initially with the help of a California couple who later pulled out of the deal, the area apparently being too rough. From then on, the old brick building – its moss green-painted shopfront sporting a fire escape and shaded by a lonely locust tree – was a bulwark against all the forces that were against cities and, in a way, against the artists who worked in them. Or so it seemed to me. And when, at some point in the late 1980s, I once saw Frank sitting outside the place, on a folding chair, I felt as if he were not just studying the street but standing guard.

Frank died in 2019, aged 94, and five years later, when I was invited to meet Leaf and see her studio, I was struck by the realisation that, from a chair on the kerb, her husband could see inside to where she was working, and that, if she wanted, she could see him, too. It dawned on me that the building wasn't a fortress at all. It was a machine, or an engine, a site where, for more than half a century, June Leaf worked on dreams.

Born in Chicago in 1929, Leaf briefly studied at the New Bauhaus (now the Institute of Design), founded by László Moholy-Nagy, followed by a stint in Paris on a Fulbright scholarship. In 1960, she moved to New York, where she taught painting at Parsons and began to experiment with pieces that were part painting, part drawing, part 3-D installation, part theatre – large works that early reviewers had trouble describing and that were not much like the work of artist Red Grooms, despite the frequent comparison: they were at once darker and more exuberant, more comfortable with discomfort. ‘She is trying to make myths from the commonplace,' wrote Lucy Lippard in a 1978 article in Art in America.

Walking through the Bleecker Street house when Leaf was still there, I spotted snapshots of her life with Frank – of the two of them holding hands in Cape Breton, for instance, and then of an older Frank, beaming in her studio. They were images of love and partnership. A book-stuffed sitting room was likewise touched with details of a shared life: a refrain from On the Road – ‘Whither goest thou, America, in thy shiny car in the night?' said Kerouac, who wrote the introduction to Frank's photobook The Americans – pinned below a collection of miniature Statues of Liberty. A paper collage noted Frank's birthday (November 9).

But you mostly felt Leaf, who seemed to see the world as a sketch you could redraw or resee; to her eye, every little piece of Bleecker Street was a possibility. ‘Nothing is safe in this house,' she once said. ‘Real beauty is any emphatic thing we do.' Da Vinci's The Last Supper appeared as a sculpture astride the fireplace and as a print elsewhere, and it reminded you of a thing she used to say: ‘There is no artist that is more perfect than da Vinci in terms of drawing and inventiveness.' Which, in turn, reminded you of Leaf 's unrelenting quest for invention.

In 1975, while Frank was briefly teaching filmmaking in California, Leaf took a course in car mechanics, learning welding and metalwork as a way of bringing her characters to life, as little machines. Some were small, some were huge, or at least trying to be. What was meant to be a ten-foot-tall woman will be on show this autumn at the New Museum exhibition ‘The Bowery: Devil's Mile' in New York. Entitled The Head, it began as a gigantic woman, but the factory making it only got the head done, largely, Leaf told a historian, because of her. ‘It was supposed to be a man and a woman walking, but they got so tired of me at the factory because all I wanted to do was incorporate everything around me!' she said.

There was, famously, another house, in Mabou, on Cape Breton Island, where Leaf and Frank had moved in 1969. (That house, along with Leaf 's studio there, is being preserved.) Back then, at the time, Frank was done with New York. Leaf, however, was reluctant to leave, having only known cities. But she came to love Mabou, committed to it, falling in love with her community.

Even in her nineties, Leaf couldn't stay still for long. The studio was where her hands tried to keep up with her mind in forging dreamscapes: strips of tin were fashioned as limbs, and painted figures raced or ran or fell, and felt alive even when at rest. ‘The secret is not drawing but dance,' is written across one of her charcoal works. She drew her moving sculptures, painted her drawings' momentum and, just standing in her studio, you could see her characters moving toward meanings, inhabiting abstract truths. She once told an interviewer, ‘I make them move, breathe, you know, get up, talk back to me.'

When I dropped by, only a few months before cancer would take her away in July 2024, she was still strong and vital at 94, as sharp as a tack. We talked about writers and painters and the dance of the street, and we looked at drawings, as she demonstrated a wise and critical eye. ‘That's a very good drawing,' she said of some sketch, and I could understand the value of her praise. I watched her look long and hard, which was her secret weapon, along with seeing the playfulness in a serious world. The last pieces she worked on were naturally along the lines of what she'd been working on her whole life, and they were exhibited only a week or so before she died. A friend told me that at the very moment when the art handlers came to take these final pieces off to an exhibition, a few blocks away, she was at work in her studio.

Off to be displayed were two sculptures – of a mother and child, of a man with a spear gesturing heavenwards – as well as an older painting of a boat at sea. When I saw the sea painting, I recalled an antique painting of a shipwreck I'd seen in her home – an ocean liner's passengers evacuated in a large lifeboat, in tumultuous darkness. In Leaf 's painting, the boat feels small, the ocean vast. The ocean is not dark but complicated by synapses of bright colours; it is startlingly alive. The boat is a vessel or perhaps an opening. Maybe it is a man on the stern; maybe he is fishing for something, or maybe mourning a disconnection, his body curled in struggle. A woman lays across the bow and somehow takes centre stage, despite being pictured off to the side. She is forming a shape for rest, or for forging a dream.

‘The Bowery: Devil's Mile' will be on show until 31 January 2027 at New Museum, New York; ‘June Leaf: A Survey' will be on show from 6 February-20 March 2027 at Marc Selwyn Fine Art, Beverly Hills; juneleaf.com

A version of this article appears in the November 2026 Art Issue of Wallpaper*, available from 8 October in print on newsstands, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today

A century-old Atlanta warehouse long home to a building supplies manufacturer is now a factory for art called Loop, thanks to a nimble renovation from architectural designer Jennifer Bonner and her practice MALL.

Georgia Tech purchased the property in 2018 from Randall Brothers, a building supplies company in Atlanta on the site since 1885. The seven-acre plot is slated to hold Georgia Tech’s new Creative Quarter, with academic buildings, student housing and even a hotel to come. Most buildings on the site were demolished. The historic warehouse that houses Loop was happily retained, now home to this event, exhibition and studio space operated by local arts organisation Goat Farm.

The project was rooted in felicitous chance. Bonner, who is based in Portland, Oregon, but formerly taught at Georgia Tech and has exhibited with Goat Farm, ran into Mark Dinatale, Goat Farm’s managing director on the site. She explains, 'Mark and I saw each other there and I said "we have to work together on this."'

Goat Farm operates nearly 200 artists’ rental studios at five locations throughout Atlanta. 'The revenue from studio rentals actually goes to support the arts programming. We can use it to subsidise harder-to-fund art forms and more experimental forms of art,' Dinatale explains. Goat Farm has worked with Georgia Tech in the past, and is collaborating on a three-year activation of the warehouse.

The building was in generally good condition. The design team made repairs to the roof and installed new HVAC, plumbing, windows and doors. A lingering layer of sawdust from its prior life was cleared out.

A temporary stay required a light touch, one successfully executed thanks to Bonner’s scheme. The structure provided easy guidance as to where to locate 17 artists’ studios, within the column grid along its two sides, while retaining the central volume for flexible use, including exhibitions, installations and performances.

To accommodate such a variety of uses, Bonner and her team relied on a literal loop, a translucent curtain composed of metallic flame-retardant polyester fabric which can be shifted or removed. 'Basically the curtain became a way to spatially close things off or divide them,' Bonner says.

Forty custom-fabricated planter carts, meanwhile, provide a cheap and easy source of ornament and spatial organisation. 'They can be recombined in terms of shapes and they can be all clustered together,' Bonner adds.

Lighting is another source of verve, consisting largely of LED strips. Bonner, working with lighting designer Pablo Gnecco of New York-based firm Studio Studio, placed the lights vertically on interior columns and horizontally on the building's front facade in a glowing band. '[It's] stretched the whole length of the facade, like Dan Flavin on steroids,' Bonner says.

The lighting design involves a range of shades from pink to purple to green, which can be fixed or pulsate.

The overall aim of Loop, as Dinatale explains, is to achieve 'an experimental space,' that grants artists access to space and technology. So far, Loop has provided a space for exhibitions and events, as well as performances by Hyojin Kwon and Frank Vigroux; dance companies; AI art; video game art; and even Georgia Tech’s Laptop orchestra.

Allie Bashuk, Goat Farm’s creative and design director, notes Loop's proven an ideal location for evening performances, with no residences around. Their aim has been to provide a strong platform for offbeat art. 'We try to elevate all these projects by giving them proper lighting and visual cues,' Bashuk says.

Bonner held an exhibition on roof designs at Goat Farm in 2014 titled Domestic Hats. This time, she's returned to work under a hat of her own devising – and an overdue accomplishment, she notes: Loop is the 'first building on the Georgia Tech campus designed by a female-led practice.'

Architect Carl Maston completed this exemplary Ventura Beach house in 1984 for a former actress and her partner. The Susman house sits above the shore in the heart of California's surf culture, looking back at the grand sweep of the bay with its Channel Islands beyond.

Step inside this Ventura Beach house, now on the market

The work of Maston (1915-1992) epitomises the aesthetic and spirit of midcentury California; his own house, completed in 1947, was subsequently owned by Ryan Murphy and then Dakota Johnson, and other local luminaries, including Ray Kappe, worked in his studio.

With Maston’s star riding high, this is a rare opportunity to acquire a late period work that embodies all of his architectural devices, set in an unbeatable location. Back in 1985, the house was extensively photographed by Julius Shulman, adding another layer of historical lustre to an already impressive project.

This is the Susman House’s first time on the open market. The original owner, Tracy ‘Babs’ Susman, acted and modelled before studying town planning and working in local politics and environmental planning, with the occasional foray into film production.

The house was built on a plot once owned by her sister and brother-in-law, and her brief to Carl Maston was to keep the spirit of the traditional Californian cabin alive in a contemporary structure.

Maston went to town. The Susman House was one of over 40 he completed in the area during his career, but probably most dramatically sited of all of them. Pairing traditional cedar siding on the interior and exterior walls along with exposed brick flooring and fireplaces, Maston integrated large areas of glass for lightness along with hefty concrete foundations to anchor the structure into the coastline.

From the roadside, the 2,640 sq ft house is nestled between mature trees and only hints at the views and space within. A large sitting room adjoins a kitchen with bay views from the sink, with sliding glass doors that open out onto a spectacular terrace with 240 degrees of Pacific views.

It’s a spot that has long been favoured by surfers, including one of the sport’s pioneers, Mary Monks, who became closely associated with nearby Mondo’s Cove in the late 1950s.

Upstairs, there are three main bedrooms and a separate sitting area with balcony. All of these incorporate the slope of the roof to achieve high ceilings, walls of glass and Pacific views. A central atrium and landing is arranged around the brick chimney with internal glazed partitions bringing light down into the heart of the house.

The house retains the modesty and feel of the original Faria Beach Colony, one of the classic Californian coastal retreats that began as a stretch of summer cabins in the years before WWII. As the original Shulman photographs attest, very little has changed in the four decades since the house was completed.

The family eschewed any extensive remodelling, keeping Maston’s architectural pristine and original as a testament to the fundamental rightness of the original design.

The Susman House is for sale through Shannon and Chuck Menzel at The Menzel Group priced at $5,100,000. More details at MondosCove.com

Few architects have embraced the playful potential of the profession as much as the American James Wines. Born in 1932 and originally trained as a sculptor and graphic designer, Wines established Sculpture in the Environment (SITE) in New York in 1970. Described as an ‘environmental arts organisation’, SITE went on to shape some of the pre-eminent works of architectural postmodernism, the majority of which have long since been demolished and live on only as ideas, writings and images.

What Else Could It Mean? is a monograph that brings together some of this material, the surviving fragments of a fascinating career that has hopped between pop iconography and serious urbanism, oftentimes both at once. The book offers a deep dive into the designer’s sketchbooks, along with a host of archive imagery revisiting some of the best-known projects from the SITE portfolio.

Fittingly, many of these relate to the work undertaken for the now defunct catalogue store Best Products Company, Inc. Set up by Sydney and Frances Lewis in the late 1950s, Best Products was that rare retailer that managed to parlay the artistic eye of its founders into commercial success. One of the Lewises’ big moves was to employ SITE to shape nine of their big-box stores, deploying a very literal take on the building-as-billboard aesthetic by deconstructing, twisting, tilting and expanding the building envelopes to make them stand out amidst the dreariness of suburban sprawl.

The book includes many of these now iconic projects, from the apparently crumbling ‘Indeterminate Façade’ in Houston, to the ‘Notch’ in Sacramento, with a sliding, fragmented corner that opened up to provide the entrance. The only surviving Best store is the ‘Forest Building’ in Richmond, Virginia, now a church. With a stand of trees set behind a false façade, the building gave the impression of a long-abandoned structure.

Real life definitely caught up with the SITE style but never with the artistic flair and imagination that Wines brought to these superficially prosaic structures. The book includes over 400 images and sketches of the majority of SITE’s portfolio of around 100 completed works, which extended to pavilions, interiors and public art installations such as the Ghost Parking Lot in Hamden, Connecticut, a group of tarmac-swathed vehicles growing – or melting – out of the infrastructure. Wines also collaborated with the late Virgil Abloh on stores for Off-White.

Now in his 1990s, Wines continues to be an advocate for the environment and the handmade, viewing drawing as an essential tool for making human connections with spaces. Edited by architectural historian Phillip Denny, an editor as well as an educator at Harvard and Pratt Institute, the monograph chronicles a never-ending fascination with architecture's relationship to nature. The Best stores might have had all the publicity, but What Else Could It Mean? offers so much to those seeking out new ways of engaging with public space.

What Else Could It Mean? Drawings and writings by James Wines & SITE, edited by Phillip Denny, Skira, £ 50 / $ 65 / € 60, Skira-Arte.com, @Skira_Arte

Completed in 2019, the Wonderland project by Los Angeles architectural firm Mutuo transformed a single-family house into three interconnected homes. Nestled into the Laurel Canyon hillside, the project balances privacy and connection, and its intriguing look earned it the 2021 AIA California Residential Merit Award. One of the homes is now for sale, for $1.495m.

Step inside Wonderland

The two-bedroom house, which spans three levels, is a flexible residence that shares outdoor green spaces. Mutuo was inspired by Laurel Canyon's surrounding historic row houses and reinterpreted them through a contemporary lens.

Architectural details include Victorian scalloped shingles with contemporary board-formed concrete. Due to zoning requirements, the residence optimises outdoor space, with a front-facing exterior terrace and a rooftop observation deck making the most of the desirable location.

After admiring the surrounding San Gabriel Mountains and golden-flecked sunsets, the inside is just as soothing. The bedroom suite, with a walk-through closet and adjoining bathroom, is found on the main entry level, along with a guest bedroom with its own bathroom and a laundry area.

The undercarriage of the staircase is carved into the living room ceiling. The main open-tread staircase is highlighted by the skylight, which speckles light throughout the floors that lead up to the dining area, outdoor terrace, and open kitchen.

It is rare to find such a new construction that also feels like it's been plucked out of the 1950s; Mutuo’s Wonderland blurs contemporary and modernist design. Whether it's the communal garden or its distinct architectural presence, it is a home that cannot help but start a conversation.

Wonderland by Mutuo is on sale for $1,495,000. To enquire, visit moderncaliforniahouse.com

Hoteliers Sean MacPherson and BD Hotels founders Richard Born and Ira Drukier made a name for themselves in New York with independent hotels like Hotel Chelsea, The Bowery Hotel and The Ludlow Hotel. Today, the longtime collaborators will expand their growing boutique hospitality empire outside the five boroughs, with the opening of The Nora Hotel in West Palm Beach, Florida. Having witnessed the wave of Northeast transplants to Palm Beach County since 2020, and the subsequent business boom, the trio saw the opportunity to create a timeless hotel with sophisticated style and an urban chic sensibility.

For the design, Wallpaper* US400-listed Gachot, looked to the romanticism of early 20th-century Palm Beach, particularly the influence of Addison Mizner and the region’s iconic hotels. Rather than referencing a single era, the team wanted the interiors to feel collected and layered over time, with a sense of history, personality and a touch of whimsy.

The result is a luxury hotel that feels endemic to Palm Beach with its palette of pink and green, Spanish Colonial Revival grandeur and the ease of its indoor-outdoor spaces. But one that doesn’t fall into the prints and palm tree South Florida vacation trap. As a seductive counterpoint, the New York-based firm wove in sophisticated neutrals, rich textures and cypress woodwork that bridge the gap between the building’s sunny surroundings and the moodier vibes and distinctively edgy perspective of downtown Manhattan.

'The interplay between nostalgic details and more contemporary elements is what makes it feel so special. There’s a sense of discovery, with unexpected moments and thoughtful details that give each space its own personality,' partners Christine and John Gachot tell Wallpaper*.

Plush custom furniture, hand-selected antiques and an art collection, curated by The Madison Melle Agency, enhances the residential tone across the 201 rooms, including 14 spacious suites with Juliette balconies. The glamorous aesthetic extends to the culinary concepts. On the ground floor, sits Pastis, an offshoot of Keith McNally's mid-aughts Meatpacking institution, brought back to life by James Beard Award-winning restaurateur Stephen Starr. Diners can dig into escargots and French onion soup in an airy space with checkered tile, bistro chairs, lush greenery and soaring ceilings. The sexy lobby bar is envisioned as a place to sip ice-gold martinis under the warm, flattering glow of ambient lighting.

The see-and-be-seen, all-day rooftop concept, Lillys​, created in partnership with Mama Hospitality Group, the team behind Mary Lou’s, comprises a serviced swimming pool flanked by playful fabric umbrellas, a swank lounge for sunset cocktails and a restaurant that brings St. Tropez to South Florida with spiny lobster linguine and herbes de Provence-dusted whole ​grilled ​fish, and, of course, plenty of chilled rosé.

When it’s time to switch off, the full-service Sisley Spa, the first in Florida, offers a soothing atmosphere, a steam room, a lounge, a serene outdoor terrace, and four private treatment rooms for facials powered by the the Parisian brand’s plant-based skincare as well as rejuvenating massages.

The Nora Hotel is located at 1135 North Railroad Avenue, West Palm Beach, Florida, 33401, USA

Brooklyn-based Virginia Sin started her eponymous home goods brand with one premise: ‘to spread warmth and happiness to every home by infusing delight and function into every creation.’

From that manifesto, a series of essential home objects grew into a collection defined by the tactile materiality of ceramic, transformed into essential shapes that just about suggest a function. Looped organic forms become a bookend of a toothbrush holder, and extruded profiles are curved into a lamp shade or a wall hook.

Given the distinctive use of material that has defined the studio until now, it is perhaps surprising that Sin’s latest launch features a very different language: titled Ritual, the new series of objects features some of the objects from the brand’s portfolio as well as new typologies, all made of stainless steel and aluminium.

A butter dish, tray, lidded box, waste bin, tissue cover, and toothbrush holder: those objects, the designer notes, that ‘we reach for without thinking.’

While some of the objects’ silhouettes nod to the brand’s existing collections, others feature a starker composition, led by the new materiality. ‘Clay taught us our language,’ she says. ‘It taught us softness, restraint, utility, and the importance of the hand. With Ritual, I wanted to see if that same language could move into metal. The material is harder and more exacting, but the intention is the same: to make everyday life feel more artful without making it feel overly precious.’

virginiasin.com

Jackson Hole Valley is home to some of America’s most spectacular houses, which in turn have their fill of a landscape that mixes majesty with privilege in equal measure. Thistle Creek House is the debut project from Assembly Archive, an architectural firm set up by the Rhode Island-based designer Evan Farley. Farley and his team bring a human-centric scale and crafted approach to this new house set amongst Wyoming’s epic vistas.

Set within a four-acre meadow, Thistle Creek House draws on the region’s longstanding agricultural traditions, such as the distinctive Teton Valley barns and cabins that were once scattered around the valley floor. Superficially, the new 3,800 sq ft house has a traditional silhouette – two intersecting gables, rotated off from a right angle so as to capture the best views.

The property’s dark silhouette is thanks to the vertical yakisugi cladding, the traditional Japanese material made by the process of charring cedar wood to make it fire, pest and weather resistant. Developed by Japan-based Nakamoto Forestry, the cladding is paired with dark metal roofing and window frames. The cladding variation is Nakamoto’s Suyaki finish, which retains a layer of soot for added texture.

The smaller of the two volumes contains a double garage and utility area on the ground floor and a self-contained studio guest suite above it. The main volume contains three more bedrooms, including the principal suite. Both volumes have galleried landings that look down on the entrance hall, a space carved out from the intersection of the two volumes.

The ground floor changes level with the terrain, with the entrance hallway providing access to the house’s two staircases. There’s also a private study area, set well apart from the kitchen and the living room. This grand space steps down from the rest of the house and is also separated from the kitchen by a chimney breast.

Large picture windows overlooking the meadows and mountains beyond. The palette here is warmer, including traditional lye-washed fir paired with white oak and plaster, with stone and brick flooring on the ground floor.

The overall effect of this focus on materiality and simple is form is to create a house that appears rooted in its location, with a modesty, warmth and durability that respects its surroundings.

Before he established Assembly Archive, Farley worked for Barkow Leibinger in Berlin, as well as working with Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Howeler + Yoon. He is also a Design Critic in Architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design and the Rhode Island School of Design.

Assembly Archive, EvanFarley.com, @EvanFarley

In the moment when late summer slips into autumn, attention naturally shifts from beach villas and pool cabanas to cosy woodland retreats, where the chill in the air is welcomed. In New Hampshire, one such property provides a family getaway to suit both seasons, thanks to a colourful-yet-grounded and nature-driven renovation courtesy of Minneapolis- and New York-based Yond Interiors.

This old horse barn had been moved onto the clients’ property many years previously. Painted an auspicious shade of electric green across the exterior, the inside is surprisingly raw and natural, with so much exposed wood that it actually needed toning down a touch. 'It’s harder when you have to build character into the project,' says Yond Interiors founder Julia Miller. 'But this was the opposite. There's so much here that our job was to soften some of it, to make it really cozy and comfortable.'

The three-bed, three-bath residence includes a lofty double-height living space with columns, beams, joists and boarding all left bare. By the time Miller and her team were brought on, the layout, the staircase to the upper level and some of the finishes had already been completed. Their job was to help the interiors feel more stylish and intimate, without compromising the building’s character. 'It’s old and rugged, so we had to be kind of careful when adding a ton of new stuff,' Miller says. 'You can't just have drywall.'

One approach to complementing the expanses of rough timber was to wallpaper generously. Originally from Mexico and having lived internationally, the client had gained an appreciation for colour, pattern and texture, so expressive wall coverings were welcome. From a 'classic cabin' design featuring ducks in the powder room that 'looks like it could’ve been there for 50 years', according to Miller, to a Japanese-influenced print in the primary bedroom, these treatments helped to steer the nature-leaning colour direction for other surfaces, furniture and decor pieces.

In the kitchen, the green tiles across the backsplash were created by New Zealand-based ceramicist Lucy McMillan, who presses different clays to produce a marbled effect across each unique tile. '[The client] wanted these crazier little moments, and this was one of them,' says Miller. 'It’s the perfect place to do something completely unexpected.' Stone countertops with similar patterning also offset the millwork, and a pair of Allied Maker’s Arc Dome pendant lamps over the island visually bring down the ceiling height.

Rugs were another tool for subtly softening the architecture. 'They're not as punchy as they might be if you were interacting with them on a vertical surface,' says Miller. For instance, a yellow carpet based on an Art Deco pattern anchors another unexpected moment in the dining room, where an ash dining table coated with Farrow & Ball’s Bancha green and chairs with two-tone dark leather seats and peacock-blue mohair backs create a layered assemblage. 'By diversifying the materials on these chairs alone, we were able to give something quite special to this room,' Miller adds.

A mid-century-style pendant lamp overhead is one of several winks to the era, with others including the yellow colour of the large, ruched-fabric primary bed and the shapes of the vintage-inspired living room sofas. Yond’s sister brand, Brunel, custom-designed the majority of the furniture and lighting pieces for the residence. A coffee table with fabric-wrapped legs and a flat walnut top was born from the need for something lightweight and durable that wasn’t entirely wood or stone, but that you could still rest a coffee cup on. 'It was a genuine exercise in how to add softness to this room and build a workable surface,' Miller says.

Other items sourced to complement the bespoke pieces include the ceramic-front Riva Sideboard by Patricia Urquiola for Cimento, a Souvenir Table Lamp resembling a conch shell from Kawabi, plus lounge chairs and several decor objets that are all vintage. Textile art again helped to cover large expanses of the wood, including a square tapestry in the living room and a large, brightly coloured and highly textured work hung above the staircase—a family heirloom of the client. 'It's super meaningful to her, and it really helped to soften this space and give this wall a lot of interest,' Miller says. 'I think otherwise it would have been really difficult to hang art here.'

Filled with unusual colour combinations, plenty of pattern and texture, and touches of whimsy, the home invites a sense of discovery as more and more time is spent enjoying its spaces. Spaces in which it only feels appropriate to wrap up in a blanket, sink into the furniture and experience the New England foliage beginning to change outside the window.

For Kasseem Dean, the Grammy Award-winning rapper and producer best known as Swizz Beatz, furniture and family go hand in hand. He remembers, as a kid growing up in the Bronx, the squeak of the plastic that covered his grandmother’s couch and the ritual that accompanied her record cabinet, which also conveniently concealed adults-only barware.

‘Furniture’s always been a language of family,’ Dean tells Wallpaper* from his home in Harlem, one of several the mogul owns alongside his wife, fellow Grammy-winner Alicia Keys. ‘For me growing up, it was like, “Come sit down, come have a talk.” But furniture was always to be respected as well.’

All of those memories, not to mention decades spent amassing one of the world’s most significant collections of Black art, have informed Dean’s latest venture, a furniture collection in partnership with the contemporary home decor brand CB2. The collection, which comprises furniture, lighting and decorative accessories, is appropriately named for the producer’s family: Casa Dean. ‘I didn't want to just do something just to do it,’ Dean says. ‘My thing was more like, if we're gonna do it, what's the concept? What hole are we filling? And how can this inspire people?’

Dean’s fascination with design grew as he found success as a teenager, first as a DJ and later, at the ripe age of 18, the producer of DMX’s hit ‘Ruff Ryders' Anthem’. Dean jokingly recalls decorating his first home: ‘At that time there was no taste involved. It was just like, is it expensive? OK, I need that couch. What's the name brand of it? Gucci? OK, let's get it.’

But as his renown grew, Dean began to develop his own taste. ‘My style has grown tremendously throughout the years from travelling and seeing different walks of life,’ he says. ‘I'm just a creature of culture.’

In the Casa Dean collection, those sensibilities manifest in the line’s variety of colours, textures and silhouettes. There’s a curvaceous chair in a woolly taupe shearling; a linear console table topped with red enamel; a green velvet modular sofa with a gently swooping silhouette; artwork created in collaboration with artist ​​Megan Gabrielle Harris; and bubbly barware in smoked crystal.

‘I love where I landed with the diversity of the collection and the colours and the palettes,’ Dean says. ‘That took guidance. That took being open-minded and not just coming in with the fake celebrity energy. I was more of a student.’

That’s because designing furniture didn’t come into the picture until recently. Keys’ nail tech, the celebrity manicurist Dawn Sterling, introduced Dean to a mutual connection at CB2. ‘Next thing you know, I was in Chicago looking at fabrics,’ the rapper jokes.

Working alongside designer Evan Jerry of Studio Anansi, the collection began to evolve. ‘Swizz was especially thoughtful about the experience of each piece. How does a sofa sit? How does a material feel? How does the furniture encourage people to gather and connect?’ says Andrea Erman, CB2’s senior director of design and development for housewares. ‘He was equally interested in the emotional experience of a space as he was in the visual impact.’

‘People take furniture so [lightly], but just with this hands-on process with CB2 and their amazing team that they surrounded me with, I really got a front-row seat to the movie called “furniture”,’ Dean adds. The Dean family even got a front-row seat: he and Keys would review drawings and photos at the family dinner table.

Each piece in the Casa Dean collection is meant to foster what Dean calls ‘the creative home’. There are items that especially resonate with him, like the ‘Lam-Louie’ credenza, named for his father, who also worked as a DJ alongside hip-hop pioneer Cool Herc, that doubles as a DJ set-up. And a chair that’s designed exclusively for solo daydreaming. His favourite colour, British racing green, pops up throughout.

‘I just want people to just tune into themselves with this collaboration,’ Dean reflects. ‘The world is moving so fast and there's so much uncertainty that when you sit on this couch, or when you plug your set-up into this DJ set, or put some ice in this amazing bucket, you're doing it to reflect yourself.’

'I knew I had found my calling, I absolutely loved designing jewellery, but confidence grows when people are drawn to your work, when people are empowered by it, when they truly love it,' says Jacqueline Rabun, the American jewellery designer synonymous with sculptural, sophisticated jewels that have captivated collectors for over three decades.

After many years living in London, and a decades-long, ongoing collaboration with Danish heritage house Georg Jensen, Rabun is back living and working in her native Los Angeles. It is a move that has seen Rabun’s practice extend further, with a much-lauded retrospective at Carpenter’s Workshop Gallery, a growing roster of high-jewellery commissions and, now, the launch of Cave, an extended, reinterpretation of her renowned collection from 2002. 'When an idea comes, it feels like it is my duty to put it out into the world. It can be for a huge audience or it can sometimes just be [about] creating something and sitting with it for a while. But whenever the time feels right and the energy aligns, you must put it out there,' she says.

The original collection, released with Georg Jensen was a masterclass in effective design distillation. 'I was a very serious practicing yogi, and Cave was a natural outcome of everything that I was living at that time. And how meditation and yoga can be so healing and transformative for your life,' she recalls.

That collection consisted of a ring, a pendant and earrings in silver, with the inside of the ‘cave’, or hollow, a moody oxidized silver and the exterior polished; a later iteration came in gold with pavé diamonds. The pieces invited the wearer to ponder the necessity of drawing deep from one’s experiences to emerge into a better place, the material pointing to an evocatively brighter version of self.

Jacqueline Rabun’s new Cave jewellery collection

In this new iteration, Rabun inverts the conceit. 'I really wanted the inner world to shine, and so the inside is now polished and the outside has a more matte finish to it. Imagine if you did the work on yourself, meditated and focused on wellbeing and those around you, how your light would shine so much brighter, and the world would be better.'

Modern and resonant iterations of jewellery essentials that feel both novel and familiar are at the heart of the new collection. The ‘Charm’ ring is a contemporary take on a charm in art-jewellery form; the ‘Cave’ round-drop pendant discreetly references ancient priestly pectorals (ornamental breastplates); and the ‘Cave’ torque showcases the informed opulence that Rabun’s work is known for.

For Rabun, making and meaning have always been inextricably linked. 'I know there is an energy to these things, so I tend to work from my home studio.' Travel to Africa has also influenced her greatly. 'As an African-American, my ancestral homeland is West Africa and African shapes and forms have fed quite heavily into my practice.' Rabun’s travels have taken her to Nigeria, Ghana and Senegal, and in all three locations, the role jewellery plays culturally, and how the practice is informed by intergenerational experiences and knowledge, have inevitably fed into her design ethos.

She notes, 'African jewellery is more of a talisman, the reason for it existing goes deeper than just adornment. For me, jewellery that possesses a talismanic energy when you are wearing it, where you either feel protected or empowered when you’re wearing it, is really important.' Her own pieces possess a similar disposition, segueing into their wearer’s body and movement.

Rabun is aware of the dichotomy of being a feted legend while still continuing to create new bodies of work. 'It is lovely to be considered a jewellery artist, but I also love thinking of myself as a designer, creating jewellery that is artistic. It is really important that my pieces are accessible.'

Rabun’s work’s relatability can be attributed to the way she imbues it with so much of her personal biography. 'It really is about following my heart, my gut and shapes and forms in my subconscious mind.' So far, this design-led spiritual and artistic excavation has produced collections including Offspring, her paean in jewel form to motherhood; Black Love, her response to structural and social injustices; and now the reimagined Cave, a potent prompt to seek and present our highest selves to the world around us. Rabun continues to champion the notion of jewellery that is both collectible and transformative.

jacquelinerabun.com

In a world increasingly dominated by social media, artificial intelligence and digital screens, it might do us some good to touch grass. That’s precisely what American paint company Benjamin Moore is proposing with its 2027 colour of the year – a verdant hue called Webster Green HC-130.

The annual reveal – also known as ‘COTY’ in the industry – marks one of the important colour-trend forecasts in the world. Webster Green, according to Benjamin Moore’s colour specialists, will be the ascendant shade in the months ahead, a prediction based on intensive market research.

‘When we looked across the past, present and future of colour trends, variations on green consistently demonstrated remarkable staying power,’ said Andrea Magno, Benjamin Moore’s vice president of brand, colour and integrated marketing, in the announcement. ‘Webster Green HC-130 reflects this timeless appeal by pairing reassuring stability with optimistic energy.’

Webster Green lies somewhere between a vibrant emerald and a rich evergreen and, according to the paint company, ‘supports the current desire for trusted, grounded hues that create distinctive and noteworthy spaces’. Indeed, designers have been relying on green for years to bring both sophistication and Mother Nature into space, whether coating a sitting room or kitchen cabinets or a doorframe. In fact, the shade is so versatile it’s often referred to as ‘nature’s neutral’.

Benjamin Moore’s 2027 choice builds on a years-long trend cycle of nature-inspired colours in the home. Its 2026 COTY, Silhouette AF-655, was a warm blend of espresso and charcoal grey, a hue that was indicative of a wider brown trend across interiors and fashion.

But Webster Green indicates something else, according to Benjamin Moore’s colour experts – a desire to reconnect with the past. In a marketing video, illustrator Tanu Vasu sits at an antique desk and proceeds to paint a whimsical interior that could be plucked straight from Bridgerton. The company also revealed seven other complementary paints that comprise its 2027 colour trends palette, including a warm neutral called Shakespeare Tan; a berry-tinged mocha called Townsend Harbor Brown; and a milk chocolate hue, Antique Copper.

It all augments Webster Green’s essence, one that Magno, the Benjamin Moore VP, describes as ‘rooted and forward-looking’. By painting a space in the company’s 2027 hue or any of its sister colours, you’ll be able to create rooms that feel ‘distinctive, collected and continually new’ – a perfect analogue foil to this ever-changing world.

The work of photographer Tag Christof will take visitors to the new Herman Miller store in Palm Springs this week on a journey across the region's wealth of modernist architecture – a fitting prelude to the Palm Springs Modernism Week preview that launches in the desert city this week (15-18 October 2026).

Herman Miller commissioned the exhibition of Christof's work, titled ‘Hot Line’, to mark the opening of its largest retail location in North America.

Explore Tag Christof's mesmerising Palm Springs modernism photography

The new photography, which was especially produced for this show, spans the Californian hub of midcentury modern, capturing buildings and telling the story of its evolution in the region. It also explores contemporary use, preservation and adaptation of the 20th-century buildings, as they remain ever-popular and are often transformed to take on new functions and ways of life.

'I love these buildings because, even in states of change or transition, they are totems of a time of surging optimism that feels impossible today,' said Christof.

This response to changing needs and times reflects the US furniture brand's ethos too, as Herman Miller global creative directors Kim Colin and Sam Hecht say: 'Herman Miller helps people be comfortable living with change – not just surviving it but living with it, thriving, and understanding its potential as a beautiful way of life, both physically and atmospherically. Tag's photographs capture the beauty of change and the possibility of something new.'

Mixing Palm Springs' established legacy in midcentury treasures with modern-day ingenuity, stewardship, and adaptation provides an interesting platform for debate on what modernism means today – and how it can live on.

‘Hot Line’ is open until Modernism Week 2027 in February, at Herman Miller, 73-425 El Paseo, Suite 110, Palm Desert, CA 92260

millerknoll.com

modernismweek.com

When John H Johnson opened the South Loop, Chicago, headquarters of his publishing company in 1972, he called the new home of magazines like Ebony and Jet, among his other ventures, 'the miracle on Michigan Avenue.'

The 11-story building clad in bands of walnut travertine alternating with ribbons of tinted glass was the first downtown tower commissioned by a Black-owned company and became a universe unto itself. Its interiors – furnished wall-to-wall and floor to ceiling in explosive patterns, rich textures and modernist furniture – symbolised the dynamic expressions of Black life Johnson depicted across his media empire.

For nearly four decades, that architectural vision at 820 S Michigan Avenue remained virtually unchanged. Then, in 2010, the Johnson Publishing Company (JPC) had to sell its headquarters in order to cut costs and help stay afloat during a collapsing ad market. What was once the epicenter of Black media would soon become vacant, which sparked last-ditch actions from preservationists, artists, historians and more to document and save what they could from the building.

820 Ebony/Jet: Visions of the Johnson Publishing Company, an American Icon, a new book by the photographer Barbara Karant, is one such endeavor. It features new and archival photos of the building along with a foreword by Deborah Willis and essays by Cheryl Finley, E James West and Carla Williams, among others.

As soon as JPC left the building, Karant (who was teaching at Columbia College Chicago, which purchased the building) toured it. 'I was completely blown away,' she recalls. 'The interiors were so dynamic and lively and graphic and colourful.'

From 2013 until the building’s conversion to luxury residential units in 2017, Karant periodically documented every floor inside of the vacant building, photographing for six to eight hours straight when she came.

'I felt like it needed to be retained for posterity's sake, for historical purposes and cultural purposes,' Karant says. 'The vibrancy that still remained in this space was very compelling and intriguing to me. So I felt like I needed to set up some kind of project to document this interior before it disappeared.'

Karant's images aren’t time capsules. Rather, her frames of empty rooms picked clean serve as a post post-occupancy report, one final look at the center of gravity that was. The sun-bleached wallcoverings, delaminated veneers and scuffed furniture across the photographs depict decades of use. There is, of course, solemnity in seeing what is essentially the corpse of a culturally significant institution. But the fact that the headquarters’ interiors still looked so distinctive in the twilight of their life is still remarkable. Aging is its own kind of honour.

'I never really felt like it was abandoned because there was so much of the spirit of the company in the building,' Karant says. 'From the beginning, it was such a statement for JPC. It was deliberate and it empowered the company and everybody loved it. People were so committed to it that I think that's why everything may have stayed the same for the duration that it did.'

In 1969, Johnson hired John Warren Moutoussamy – a pupil of Mies van der Rohe at IIT and the first Black architect to become a partner in a major Chicago firm – to design its new headquarters. While glistening curtain-wall high rises defined the new downtown skyline, Johnson sought something different. As E James West writes in an essay in the book, 'it had to be Black. Black architect. Black enterprise. Black aesthetic.' Moutoussamy delivered a sophisticated tower whose mass imparted presence and staying power.

Eunice Johnson, the fashion director of Ebony and Johnson’s wife, oversaw the interiors and worked closely with Arthur Elrod and William Raiser on them. The Palm Springs – based designers gave each floor its own maximalist identity. To wit: The lobby was clad in panels of bronze and Mozambique wood and featured a monumental bronze sculpture by Richard Hunt along with red leather banquettes. The reception area of the ninth floor, which housed executive offices, featured a sculptural bronze-toned resin screen, a coffee table made of Mexican onyx, and an earth-toned checkerboard carpet. Some wallcoverings were stylized like peacock feathers and the famous Ebony test kitchen was enveloped in psychedelic, marbled laminate. Eunice’s own office, on the seventh floor, was adorned monochromatically in cream tones, with Space Age executive chairs, Italian lamps and African antiques.

JPC stuck to its aesthetic for the entirety of its tenure in the building. 'The idea that a corporation was so committed to a brand that was presented in their environment that they never renovated,' Karant says. 'They might have retrofitted or fixed things, but they didn't change it. I mean, it's pretty astonishing.'

One of her favorite design moments is a room with leopard-print carpeting that extends up the walls. 'It covers a fire extinguisher and the fire closet,' she says.

After JPC moved out, the building’s future became uncertain. It eventually received designation as a national landmark in 2017, sparing it from demolition; however its interiors were not protected, as is often the case with historic buildings. Rescue missions ensued. Its photo archives went to the Getty Research Center and the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC). Landmarks Illinois  managed to excise the Ebony test kitchen, which the NMAAHC acquired in 2023 for its permanent collection. With the blessing of Linda Johnson Rice, John Johnson’s daughter, the artist Theaster Gates retrieved over 15,000 objects from the space – 'anything movable,' he said. This included artwork, furniture, books, ephemera and fragments of its interior finishes, like wallpaper and carpet. 'So much was built into the architecture that you had to take large pieces of wall with you just to remove some things,' Gates recalled. 'You had to choose the cut to save the body.'

Evidence of this shows up in Karant’s photos, too. The building was not quite a shell, but it had been picked over. 'What's left behind is kind of always a bit of interest because it tells a story about what came before and it tells a story maybe about what's going to come afterwards,' she says.

And what comes afterward is, in some ways, still unfolding. In 2017, Columbia College College Chicago sold the building to developers who converted it into luxury condos. None of the JPC interiors remain, but the way they shaped the thousands of people who came through them and what their memory might yield remains to be seen. The daringness of JPC to create a corporate headquarters that was fully in its style remains peerless.

Karant hopes the ambition still serves as an inspiration. 'There was a residual message left in their departure,' she says, noting that she hopes the book offers a way to remember and appreciate everything the Johnson Publishing Company achieved.

Understanding the history of the ‘house of the future’ requires looking back 70 years. In San Mateo Highlands, Eichler X-100 was built as a promotional prototype for a new kind of domestic architecture: developer Joseph Eichler, who specialised in wood-framed family houses, saw it as an opportunity to explore whether steel could revolutionise residential construction.

Explore the Eichler X-100. now on the market

A grand opening brochure published in 1956 described it as a ‘new living form that served as a research laboratory for testing new design concepts, new materials, and new techniques of construction’. Designed as a test house by architects A. Quincy Jones and Frederick Emmons, the residence embodied many of the modernist principles that came to define the Californian ideal of postwar living: exposed steel, expansive glass, garden courts, skylights, built-in furniture, and seamless indoor-outdoor connections. Within a few months, it attracted more than 150,000 visitors and generated extensive press coverage.

What began as a research project is now looking for a fifth custodian who appreciates the opportunity to write its next chapter. Having been restored to its original condition, it spans 2310 square feet, comprising three bedrooms, two living areas and an open kitchen, with two bathrooms positioned at its centre. Two interior gardens invite nature into the home, while glass sliding doors along the entire rear façade create a sense of openness, with views of the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Initially sold for $47,000 in 1957, the house was later acquired by three other sets of owners. In 2016, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (the only Eichler house to receive the designation) and returned to its original glory the following year under the X-100 Renewal Project. Its current owner, Marty Arbunich, director of the Eichler Network, occasionally organises tours for educational purposes. Although it turned out to be the last steel house Eichler built, the X-100 remains remarkably relevant today as one of the most distinctive houses of the Californian modernist era.

For Sale: Eichler X-100, A. Quincy Jones and Frederick Emmons (1956), 1586 Lexington Avenue, San Mateo, CA 94402, via Boyenga Real Estate.

'What I was trying to understand was, what does it actually mean to make light,' says Gabriel Hendifar, artistic director of Apparatus. The question led him to Act V: Afsaneh, the New York design studio’s first new collection in five years, and a meditation on creativity, knowledge and the cycles of life.

'I really needed a moment to understand what I was saying and why,' he says of the time between collections. Hendifar had created an impressive body of work over the past 14 years, and wanted to consider 'the kinds of things and the ways of making that feel relevant now.'

In previous Acts, he channeled the glamour of late-1970s New York, the 'sparkly creative expression' of the Wiener Werkstätte, a reimagining of his family’s Iranian history and a playful vision of the future. With Act V, 'I am trying to make sense of where we are collectively by looking back at the cycle of the seed and the flower, and what it can mean for us to hold ideas dear and to amplify them.'

Afsaneh, which is both his mother’s name and the Persian word for fable, unfolds in four series: Esfand, the seed, symbolizing the mother; Gol, the flower, the amplification of the seed; Rahvi, the serpent and collector of knowledge; and Jahaan, the cosmos, where the seed, flower and knowledge are shared. As for materials, Hendifar explains, 'We’re working with materials that say something about the future, and something about the past, and place the work in an atemporal place.'

The seed becomes the collection’s building block, appearing in sconces, vessels and an incense burner. 'They feel like their own little universe, like they hold the entirety of the cosmos,' Hendifar says. In Gol, cast-glass seeds are enveloped by large fiberglass shades that suggest (depending on one’s point of view) flower petals, jellyfish or octopuses. 'This is the seed wrapped in beauty as a way to both protect it and attract the people who are meant to seek it,' he adds.

The amulets in Rahvi are crafted from seven semi-precious stones, including tiger’s eye, lapis lazuli and red jasper. Like the flower, they embody both amplification and protection. 'This is almost like a spiritual starter kit for leaning into the light,' he jokes. The final series, Jahaan, centers on the table. 'It’s where we gather to share knowledge. It’s where we gather to share food. The table is the idea of community.'

As with previous Acts, Afsaneh incorporates scent and performance. The fragrance, with notes of damask rose and oud, evokes what Hendifar calls 'moonlight in a desert rose garden.' This year he debuted five short films, made in collaboration with the Martha Graham Dance Company. Hendifar, who grew up as a musician and self-described theatre kid, sees film as another block in building each Act. 'It allows me to say a lot of things in a way that isn’t always so direct…it can feel like a collage.'

When scheming a new collection, he asks, 'What are we telling people in movement, sound and music? And what is the moment when we are gathering in a room together? What does it feel like to be at the party?'

For Hendifar, it’s about creating a world people want to enter, and leaving them with something that lingers long after they leave.

In Ojai, an understated bohemian town about 90 minutes from Los Angeles, you’ll find El Roblar – a 1919 Spanish Revival property recently reopened as a 50-room hotel after half a century largely closed to the public.

The project brings together an interesting cast of collaborators, among them Eric Goode, the entrepreneur behind New York's Bowery Hotel, and Ramin Shamshiri of Studio Shamshiri. Together with restaurateur Warner Ebbink (LA's Little Dom's) and filmmaker Jeremy McBride (Tiger King, Chimp Crazy), they've set about returning one of Ojai's oldest landmarks to its former role in the town.

‘We didn't want to do another designer hotel,’ explains McBride. ‘We found the original 1919 drawings early on, and we worked from those with a lot of collaborators on everything from the entry arch to the stone fireplace. More than anything, we wanted the town to feel like it was theirs again.’

What’s on your doorstep?

El Roblar is located on Ojai’s main street of independent shops, but the centre is all incredibly walkable. Opposite, you’ll find beloved local restaurants Rory’s Place and Rory’s Other Place, the latter of which has drawn a TikTok crowd for its famed matcha affogato. If you’re keen to swing by, do so early; on both days we visited, they’d sold out of sandwiches and salads by lunchtime.

Adjacent is the recently revamped Ojai Playhouse, a 1914 single-screen movie theatre which still offers select films on 35mm. Fun fact: David Lynch’s personal espresso machine resides in the lobby.

A short walk away is Libbey Bowl, an outdoor music venue with impressive programming (Cat Power and Big Thief were scheduled during our stay). And you’re just a quick drive from hiking trails, creeks and even a turtle conservancy, run by the hotel’s co-owner, Eric Goode: reception can arrange a visit.

Who is behind the design?

Ramin Shamshiri has worked alongside Goode and McBride on the interiors, filling the hotel with an extraordinary collection of art, antiques and objects. More than 1,000 pieces have been assembled across the property, much of it sourced from local estate sales and dealers.

The walls are a particular delight, hung with Western landscapes, wildlife studies and all manner of curiosities. Goode has contributed pieces from his own collection, amassed over several decades, while the owners spent months tracking down condor-related prints, stamps and other ephemera for the hotel's restaurant. More on that later.

Elsewhere, an informal 'Ojai Hall of Fame' pays tribute to the town's more illustrious residents and regulars, from outdoor pioneers Yvon Chouinard and Rick Ridgeway to the late actress Diane Ladd. It's a reminder of the rather eclectic crowd this small Californian town has attracted over the years.

The lobby features a distinctive mural by 1980s artist Stefano Castronovo – a contemporary of Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat – depicting the natural history of the Ojai Valley (spot the friendly T Rex). Elsewhere, the Mariposa Ballroom houses an elaborate hand-carved wall relief of the region's flora and fauna, restored by local craftspeople.

The details extend beyond the artwork: Mexican artisans in Guadalajara supplied the clay pots, ironwork and hand-painted animal tiles that decorate each bungalow.

The lighting is equally considered, lending the interiors a moody atmosphere. 'Most hotels are overlit. We wanted it to feel like being in someone's house at night, warm and low,’ explains McBride. ‘We brought in Sean O'Connor to help us dial in the lighting plan. It's mostly lamps, sconces and picture lights, all on dimmers.’

The room to book

Accommodation is divided between 31 rooms in the main building, 11 bungalows and eight in the newly built Sycamore House, which is available to hire in its entirety. The bungalows, with their generous private patios and kitchenettes, are probably the most appealing choice for anyone looking for a little seclusion (Bungalow 11 has its own Koi pond) while many of the main building's rooms also open onto garden terraces.

It's the little design details that make El Roblar unique, from the cowboy-hat brass key fob to the Monterey-style furnishings. Each room features a custom-embroidered Pendleton blanket and hand-carved birds that perch above the bed.

Lather products are found in the bathroom, alongside cosy organic striped robes from Autumn Sonata.

Staying for drinks and dinner?

The Condor Bar is the hotel’s main restaurant (La Cocina is the more relaxed space for breakfast and lunch). A continental breakfast of bread, jams and cold meats and cheeses is included with each room and hot breakfast is available at an extra charge.

In the Condor Bar, where umpteen condor-related artworks adorn the walls, the fare is California-inspired, grouped into a seafood and raw menu (tuna tostada is a winner), salads, and grilled dishes. The restaurant takes its name from the endangered California condor, whose recovery efforts have centred partly on the nearby Sespe wilderness. 'We filled the room with condor images, old banknotes and bird skulls in shadowboxes,' explains McBride. 'Kind of like an old natural history museum.'

Chef Brandon Boudet oversees a menu that makes good use of local produce and a Santa Maria-style wood-fired grill. I choose the miso salmon, with a subtle sweetness that plays beautifully against the natural richness of the fish. Summer corn is an elevated take on Mexican street corn, and be sure to save room for tres leches cake or churros y chocolate for dessert.

The Snug lobby bar is a cosy spot for a pre-dinner drink or a nightcap.

Where to switch off

By the pool, with the Topatopa mountains in the distance and soundtracked by a fitting playlist of modern indie and Americana (Pavement, David Allan Coe, Warren Zevon…). Six cabanas and sage-green umbrellas surround the water, while the nearby mountains turn pink in the late afternoon light. A modest on-site gym has space for one or two guests to work out and the hotel has plans to open a spa in 2027.

Elsewhere in the grounds, you'll find local heroes Abra and Cadabra: two giant Aldabra tortoises visiting from Goode's Turtle Conservancy. They make for rather unusual hotel residents, but seem perfectly at home.

The Verdict

El Roblar is the crown jewel in Ojai’s sleepy creative scene, with a sense of character that owes as much to the personalities behind it as to the building's history. With a carefully curated collection of objets that pay homage to the local area and community, El Roblar is a manifestation of Ojai's individualist spirit, with all the little luxuries that allow some welcome R&R from the big city.

El Roblar, 122 E Ojai Ave, Ojai, CA 93023

Design marketplace Basic.Space is an online platform where browsing feels like walking through a curated gallery. This week, it launches a $1 draw where the winner will take home a selection of objects and furniture inspired by the concept of the ‘lounge’. All proceeds will benefit the Virgil Abloh Foundation.

The draw, run in collaboration with Apple Pay, includes a series of design objects and never-before-seen pieces, such as a one-of-a-kind seat designed by Crosby Studios. The seat is heavily inspired by a business-class airplane seat, with an industrial, sculptural element. It is fully upholstered in a metallic silver fabric, and even though it looks like an installation, it is entirely functional, with a reclining chair, footrest and TV screen.

‘I travel so much that the airplane seat has become a kind of one-square-meter studio for me,’ says Harry Nuriev, designer and founder of Crosby Studios. ‘It’s where many of my ideas were born, a small, isolated capsule where I can focus, work, think, and disconnect from everything around me. With this object, I wanted to recreate that feeling.’

There will also be a rare Virgil Abloh Vitra collection up for grabs: the complete 2019 three-piece Virgil Abloh c/o Vitra collection, comprising a Ceramic Block, redesigned Jean Prouvé’s Antony chair (1950s) and Petite Potence lamp (1942), all in a baby blue colourway devised by Abloh.

Further design icons included in the draw are Gatto Lamps by Achille and Pier Castiglioni for Flos, the 'Bambole' Sofa by Mario Bellini for B&B Italia, a ‘Diamond Dusty White Rug’ by Nordic Knots, and an LC10-P Coffee Table by Le Corbusier, Charlotte Perriand, and Pierre Jeanneret, for Cassina.

The ‘lounge’ collection will be presented as a physical installation at Basic.Space New York (13-19 November 2026). The winner to be randomly selected on 8 December 2026.

Entries now open, closing 19 November 2026 at 11:59pm ET, exclusively via Apple Pay at basic.space/luxurydraw

Owning a historic work of architecture isn’t for the faint of heart – which may be why one of Los Angeles’ most famous houses has languished on the market.

Last November, Case Study House #22, otherwise known as the Stahl House, was listed for $25 million by the descendents of the home’s original clients, Buck and Carlotta Stahl. When completed, the house immediately drew acclaim, both for its stunning cantilevered design by modernist architect Pierre Koenig, and an iconic 1960 photograph snapped by Julius Schulman that went on to epitomise midcentury glamour. But buyers aren’t biting. In fact, the owners opted to slash the price by $5 million, hoping to attract the home’s next steward.

Why aren’t would-be buyers scrambling to snap up the Stahl House? First and foremost is the eye-watering $20 million price tag. The house, while visually breathtaking and historically significant, is modest in size, with just two bedrooms housed in its 2,200 sq ft. 'It’s impossible to put a price on fame,’ Mike Deasy, a real estate agent who has overseen the sale of a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed residence, told the Los Angeles Times.

There’s also the question of maintenance. Historic properties require specialised care and upkeep to address aging materials and systems, work that can be time consuming and costly. In fact, that’s part of the reason the Stahls, who’ve kept the home in the family for some six decades, opted to part with their cherished home. ‘This home has been the center of our lives for decades, but as we’ve gotten older, it has become increasingly challenging to care for it with the attention and energy it so richly deserves,’ The Stahl children wrote in a statement on the Stahl House website.

Because of the house’s historical designations (it’s on the National Registry for Historic Places, and an LA Historic-Cultural Monument), it would be tricky (not to mention controversial) to alter or expand the building.

Whether or not the discount will compel the right buyer to make a move remains to be seen. But one thing’s for sure: they’ll be owning a piece of America’s architectural history, something you can't put a dollar on.

Not too long ago, Daniel Humm got a text: ‘I’M FREAKING OUT,’ it read, in all caps. The note was from Italian artist Francesco Clemente, whom Humm – one of the world’s most acclaimed chefs – had commissioned to paint the ceiling of his first-ever standalone Manhattan restaurant.

The friends had collaborated on plenty of projects before. There were the hand-painted murals at Clemente Bar, the enveloping lounge tucked into the second floor of Eleven Madison Park, Humm’s three-Michelin star restaurant, not to mention cherished personal works like Humm’s own portrait and a painting that the chef used to propose to his wife. But this project, a 1,200 sq ft fresco, may have been a bridge – or at least scaffold – too far. ‘For like three weeks he didn't speak to me,’ Humm jokes.

Still, Clemente pressed on with the painstaking task. Over the course of two months, the vast tray ceilings came alive with whimsical images of stars, animals, trains and ticking clocks – one mesmerising allegory for passing time. Indeed, clocks seem to stop within the transporting interior of Humm, which opens to diners for the first time 10 October. Nearly two years in the making, the restaurant marks its namesake chef’s most personal project yet. ‘This place was really created by my friends,’ Humm says.

‘My friends are my story. [I wanted] to create a home, and you keep things in your home that are personal to you. Working with people that are in my life seemed like the way to do it,’ the chef adds.

As soon as you enter Humm, located in the former EN Japanese Brasserie space on Hudson Street, that convivial feeling is already apparent. Just beyond the host stand, a red textured sculpture designed by Rashid Johnson, you catch a glimpse of a roaring wood fire, contained in a monumental tile-clad oven that sprouts from the open-plan kitchen like a tree trunk. ‘I said, I want to open the door and I want to see the fire,’ Humm says.

No surprise, another friend brought Humm’s vision to life: New York and Paris-based designer Pierre Yovanovitch. ‘The thing is, it’s very hard to work with Daniel because his taste is better than anyone,’ Yovanovitch says. ‘His house is so nice. Every detail, every piece of furniture, every piece of art, I want to take.’

The project marked Yovanovitch’s first New York restaurant, so the city was naturally his muse, alongside Humm’s vision of elevated, wood-fired cuisine, and Clemente’s vibrant ceilings. So the designer got to work translating the colours and shapes in the artwork, as well as the spirit of Manhattan, into each space.

The 5,000 sq ft space unfolds as a series of soaring rooms. At the front of the house, you can choose to have drinks in a light-filled bar with space for about 30 guests, or opt to sink into mustard-coloured velvet banquette in a more intimate burgundy-doused lounge opposite the maître d' stand. The playful language of postmodernism is a clear touchpoint throughout, as is the theatre of New York’s grand hotels, like the Carlyle. In the bar, for instance, geometric tables and chairs evoke the towers of Philip Johnson and Kevin Roche, with a dash of Sex and the City for good measure. ‘Sometimes you miss the spirit of New York in new design,’ Yovanovitch says. ‘I wanted to go back, but not a pastiche.’

The primary dining space, flanked by a lively open kitchen, though, is Humm’s pièce de résistance. Yovanovitch brought the hues and shapes of Clemente’s murals down to the diners, through saturated hues like gold and burgundy, and contrasts in textures and materials. Lacquered red partitions create more intimate zones – where diners will encounter comforting dishes like charcoal-grilled fish and roast chicken for two – while table lamps and frosted glass chandeliers accentuate the residential feel. Clemente’s Sistine Chapel-worthy artwork will have guests looking up, but Yovanovitch created a surprise underfoot as well: intricate stone floors are bordered with the same whimsical creatures found in Clemente’s painting.

Art, as in Eleven Madison Park and Clemente Bar, is another throughline. Guests will discover works by Louise Bourgeois and Roni Horn in corners. Yovanovitch’s interiors are equally artful, as with a scenic tile mural that evokes a dreamy sunset landscape; a red acoustical ‘mushroom’ light fixture that hovers above the lounge; and twisting rope-like tablebases. More works by Clemente can be found, including in a private dining room, swaddled in a fabric tent.

‘It's a labour of love,’ Humm says, reflecting on his collaborators. ‘Because we all respect each other, everyone rises higher together. I think that's what I feel has happened.’

Clemente’s freakout, as a matter of fact, turned out to be a good thing: ‘I saw the room with the lights and almost everything in place,’ the artist typed, ‘and it's beyond.’

Humm is located at 435 Hudson Street New York, NY, 10014, USA

Design lovers might already be familiar with the residence: Los Angeles architectural photographer Julius Shulman, famous for spreading California's midcentury architecture around the world, captured this particular unit in 1964.

Explore this Cerritos Circle property on the market

Today, the four-bedroom garden home is on the market for $1,450,000, offering the opportunity to own a piece of Long Beach’s modernist architectural history. Located on Del Mar Avenue in the Los Cerritos / Virginia Country Club neighbourhood of Long Beach, an area known for its historic homes, the property is one of the 42 post-and-beam residential units designed by Clifton Jones Jr in 1963.

Spanning 2,768 sq ft of living space, the residence is arranged over a single storey as two mirroring side-by-side apartments, each featuring two bedrooms with their own ensuite bathrooms. At the centre of each home is an open-plan kitchen. East-facing dining areas were designed to capture the morning light, while west-facing family rooms receive the afternoon sun. Lofty, 10ft ceilings, sliding doors and monumental glass walls create a sense of spaciousness throughout, with living spaces leading to an entry courtyard and a fenced patio at the back.

The Cerritos Circle was developed on land that previously belonged to the Jones family and had been used for racehorse training. Influenced by his academic background at the USC School of Architecture, where he studied under Edward Killingsworth and Calvin Straub, and inspired the Southern California’s Case Study House programme of experimental homes built between 1945 and 1966, Jones Jr was eager to put his education into practice. His transformation of the site into a residential development reflects the midcentury ambition to rethink the relationship between architecture and contemporary everyday life.

‘This particular unit is being sold by the family of the original architect and developer Clifton Jones Jr. They have held onto it as a rental property since it was built’, says Nate Cold of Modern Californian House, an estate agency dedicated to the preservation of great architecture and design. ‘The side by side units feel more like single family homes, which works well for an owner to live in one and rent the other.’

More than six decades after it was built, the simple structural forms, flexible open-plan layouts and indoor-outdoor harmony of the unit remain a compelling expression of modernist ideals – and a sought-after piece of California’s architectural heritage.

For Sale: Cerritos Circle Duplex, Clifton Jones Jr. (1963), 4175 / 4177 Del Mar Ave., Long Beach CA, $1,450,000, via Modern California House

Set in the leafy meadows of Sun Valley, Idaho, Three Barns is a new-build home in the American wilderness – a structure designed as much to provide cosy shelter as to nod to its striking, surrounding nature. The project is the first in the state by the California-based firm Field Architecture – a studio known for its high quality, crisp family homes and retreats, such as a Big Sur house completed in 2024.

Explore Three Barns by Field Architecture

The Sun Valley house was conceived as a complex of three gabled structures – forms that nod to the region's agricultural barns – which also lends the project its name. Surrounded by windy planes and undulating mountains, the architecture was always going to be influenced by nature's movement in the area, a part of the US wilderness that never stands still.

The architects explain: 'Mountain ranges rise in four directions, grasses bend with the prevailing winds, snow gathers and recedes with the seasons, and water moves across the hillside toward the Big Wood River below. Rather than level this terrain into a platform for the house, the architecture takes its cues from the land’s existing structure.

'Natural benches become places of occupation, drainage patterns remain legible, and the native meadow continues between and around the buildings. The house emerges from this reading of the site as a collection of inhabitable terraces, each held within the larger topography of the watershed.'

Each of the three barns is rotated to respond to its terrain and, as a result, has its own specific view, relationship to the valley and quality of light. But together, the three buildings form their own little mountain range – containing discrete areas for the bedrooms; the entertaining areas with the kitchen and dining space at their heart; and the entry sequence and main living room.

Meanwhile, 'circulation becomes an encounter with the land', the architects highlight, pointing out that when residents move between the volumes, glazed breezeways mean they experience stepping out into the open air and leafy meadows.

Inside, contemporary design meets the concept's robust nature, with all mods cons making this a true, four-season alpine landscape. The Three Barns' two large chimneys, built out of local stone, serve as marks, gently highlighting the Sun Valley home's presence.

fieldarchitecture.com

To most, the pop artist Roy Lichtenstein will forever be associated with Ben-Day dot patterns, comic strip subjects, and whaams, blams, and pows. But Lichtenstein, who created more than 5,000 artworks in his lifetime, loved to experiment in other mediums, including printmaking, sculpture, film – and, as an auction at Sotheby’s proves, furniture.

Back in the late 1960s, Lichtenstein designed a brass and glass coffee table, one of which is part of an online sale happening now at the global auction house. The sale, which coincides with a blockbuster Lichtenstein retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art opening this week, sheds light on this rare part of the artist’s practice – and also offers collectors the opportunity to seriously level up their living room.

‘Roy really dabbled in everything, and so this auction as a whole really demonstrates his versatility as an artist, his boundary-breaking approach to art making,’ says Keith Lebel, an assistant vice president in Sotheby’s contemporary art department. ‘This table represents an unusual foray into furniture design for him.’

The table is an extension of the Lichtenstein’s ‘Modern’ series, a vibrant body of work created in the 1960s that moved away from comic strip subjects in favour of geometric Art Deco motifs. Like the Modern paintings, the table features energetic shapes, as with its rounded, D-shaped legs and horizontal bands.

While experts don’t know precisely why the artist designed the table, they do know that it was made in an edition of three. Lichtenstein kept it for himself and his wife Dorothy to furnish their home in Southampton, New York. ‘This is an object that they lived with,’ Lebel explains. ‘He thought of it as a sculpture, but it was not this precious item not to be touched. It was certainly used.’

The other tables have equally legendary provenance: one went to legendary gallerist Leo Castelli, who swapped a Dan Flavin artwork for it. Meanwhile, the third went to artist Donald Judd in exchange for a sculpture (it’s since wound up in a private collection). ‘The only people who have ever owned these are just remarkable figures,’ Lebel says.

The Modern table as it’s known is part of two sales drawn from Roy and Dorothy Lichtenstein’s personal collection, one live in New York and one online-only. While the 21-lot live auction features works that will likely fetch in excess of $1 million, the online sale has markedly more accessible works, including the coffee table, which is estimated to fetch between $50,000 and $70,000.

‘I hope that collectors, both seasoned and new, will recognize this work as a really unique opportunity to acquire a work by Lichtenstein that is at once instantly recognizable and unusual,’ Lebel says. ‘It has that sort of old New York Art Deco glam that continues to be really appealing.’

Pow, even.

Selections from Reflections on Pop: Works from the Collection of Dorothy and Roy Lichtenstein are now on view at Sotheby's Breuer headquarters. 945 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10021, USA

A traditional showroom, at its core, is ‘something void of personality to showcase product only,’ says Alexia Beghi, a design director at Gensler. So, when carpet brands Tai Ping and Edward Fields tapped the architecture and design firm to dream up a joint showroom in New York, the teams set out to create the antithesis to that stiff, uninspiring setting.

Housed in midtown Manhattan’s A&D Building, the new flagship harnesses the energies of a cosy hotel lobby, high-end bar and elegant design atelier. Warm yet restrained, the showroom blends Tai Ping’s East Asian influence and Edward Fields’ midcentury roots — resulting in a unified vision built for settling in and getting inspired.

‘We wanted it to feel incredibly welcoming. We deliberately created a calm, almost transportive environment that feels like a respite from the energy of New York,’ says Kate Judd, managing director of the Americas for Tai Ping and Edward Fields. ‘We wanted it to feel completely non-transactional.’

The entry ignites that mood shift. Marked by vintage carved midcentury doors, the vestibule is enveloped in deep mauve Venetian plaster, wood paneling and travertine mosaic flooring that kindle serenity.

Conversely, the foyer flows into a bright reception area. Intentionally open for moving large carpets, the airy space features a custom three-panel tapestry full of Easter eggs tied to Tai Ping’s 70th anniversary, such as its pavilion roof silhouette emblem, and the showroom’s opening during the Year of the Horse.

Across the way, an illuminated, curved wall made of rippled glass blocks shapes a conference area and draws guests into the main showroom. There, white oak flooring and matching millwork form a cohesive backdrop for rugs and samples, ‘giving clients a familiar visual anchor to imagine the carpets in their homes,’ says Beghi.

The pom bar — for viewing carpet tufts in a wide colour range — adds a bit of drama with a whirlpool-like rug in rich tones under a custom stainless steel disc sculpture by Studio S II.

Throughout, archival pieces accessorise walls and surfaces, including Edward Fields’ early order books, Tai Ping ads from the 1960s and an original tufting gun from Hong Kong. These heritage objects ‘invite discovery and provide inspiration for palettes and patterns,’ says Beghi.

At the heart of the showroom, the lounge promotes intimacy and conversation. Guests can grab a complimentary drink — including Chinese tea, American whiskey and cocktails inspired by each brand — at the bar. Then, they can ease into inward-curving, velvet banquette seating, which hugs plaster columns, under a lowered ceiling with a lattice-screen-like design.

Guests may wish to make the showroom their go-to for rendezvous, but they can, at the very least, stay for much longer than a New York minute. ‘We really want people to feel comfortable dropping in, exploring the collections and spending time in the space,’ says Judd.

The Tai Ping and Edward Fields showroom is located at 150 E 58th St, Floor 11, New York, NY 10155

Desert Dreaming is the perfect book to chase those autumn blues away, as part of the world, at least, is heading fast towards colder weather and shorter days. Authored by writer and regular Wallpaper* contributor Jessica Ritz, this new title for publisher Gibbs Smith zooms into the desert architecture of North America and the often-minimalist styles of living, and building, in arid landscapes.

Explore the homes in 'Desert Dreaming'

The new book, full title Desert Dreaming: Design in the Southwest and Beyond, offers a thorough look into residential architecture in the challenging, hot climates and barren landscapes of the US deserts. Tracking the country's four corresponding key territories - the Chihuahuan, Mojave, Sonoran and Great Basin regions - the book spans from homes in the popular style of desert modernism to the equally appealing vernaculars in adobe and earth-building techniques.

The book is a fascinating journey across time and territory, discussing challenges and opportunities the desert environment brings - and how architects and builders' ingenious solutions not only overcame them, but produced results that fascinate and command our attention to this day.

'Desert dwellers are a unique bunch. Indigenous populations, settlers, subsequent native-born denizens, transplants, and seekers - who run the gamut from exploitatively opportunistic to earnestly enlightened - are made of hardy stuff. Tough realities can quickly dispel any romanticized ideals. It takes a certain constitution to be lured by the punishing realities of parched ecosystems where what sustains all life forms is extra precious,' writes Ritz in the book's introductory essay.

Featured projects include striking schemes by architects that often grace our pages too - from Wallpaper* Best Use of Material 2026 winners DUST and their New Mexico house Sombra de Santa Fe, to the origami shapes of OPA's Shapeshifter House in Nevada and an elegantly austere Arizona home by architecture studio A-I-R.

'Nature is the best designer,' Ritz concludes in her opening essay. 'Even the most confident architects concede this basic point and extract its lessons. Compelling tensions arise when human beings make their mark on a tabula rasa that comes with significant constraints.'

'From millennia-old adobe building traditions to sleek, innovative modernism and recent experiments that land somewhere in between the poles on this spectrum, desert-based design best evolves in tandem with people and places - whether at high or low elevation, in a coastal or rain shadow area. And, much like the residents themselves, its buildings and interiors are startlingly diverse.'

'Desert Dreaming: Design in the Southwest and Beyond', Jessica Ritz, Gibbs Smith, $50

simonandschuster.com

George Lucas has given the world an immense amount of entertainment over the decades, most notably via a dozen Star Wars films. Earlier this month, the filmmaker, along with his wife Mellody Hobson, gave America an otherwordly new cultural destination, The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art – and a restaurant, Skywalker Grill.

The restaurant sits at the top of Ma Yansong's otherworldly new building. And like the museum's broader mission, Skywalker Grill is all about the power of visual storytelling, not to mention fresh takes on classic American fare. With views over downtown Los Angeles and references to Lucas' famed Northern California workplace Skywalker Ranch, the destination provides an out-of-this-world place to unwind after a day traipsing through galleries. Here's what to expect.

Wallpaper* dines at Skywalker Grill

The Mood: A galaxy far, far away

Designed by Rockwell Group’s Los Angeles office, the restaurant features a generous open floor plan, defined by green-hued leather and velvet banquettes tucked into undulating timber room dividers. The sweeping dining room opens out onto a large dining patio with breathtaking city views.

According to firm founder David Rockwell, the design language borrows from midcentury modernism and the idea that architecture can also tell stories. ‘We wanted the restaurant to feel connected to George Lucas’ world through materiality, craftsmanship, imagination and an optimism about the future of design,’ Rockwell says.

While there are touches of luxe materials throughout (like a bar clad in silver gilt), cherry wood is the primary material, a stylish foil to the building's futuristic space-age envelope; no two panels are alike, thanks to the meticulous work of a local fabricator.

‘The continuous curves and sculpted transitions give the room a sense of movement,’ Rockwell adds. ‘George is naturally drawn to midcentury design and cherry wood is a featured material in his warm and inviting Skywalker Ranch. The space feels almost cinematic in its geometry.’

The food: surprisingly down-to-earth

Chef Diego Cardoso, the culinary director for Rhubarb Hospitality Collection and Oak View Group, oversee daily lunch, dinner and weekend brunch menus that lean on California-ingredient-driven American cuisine, along with some childhood comfort food favourites.

The chicken tenders are a hefty order served with a side of creamy ranch and a generous dollop of caviar. Another sharable hit comes in the form of pigs in a blanket with ballpark-style hotdog bites wrapped around an ‘everything’ croissant, with a spicy mustard dipping sauce. Both are pure comfort and great for bar snacks with a watermelon margarita or coconut martini after a day at the museum.

For a family meal with the kids, add a signature Skywalker Ranch wagyu burger or mac ’n’ cheese. Lobster salad or honey miso-glazed salmon are lighter options, and surprisingly, so is the chicken mushroom crepe. Large-format plates include pounded-flat crispy chicken Milanese on a bed of fennel and arugula with shaved Parmesan, or the prime New York steak with chimichurri, and herbed French fries, with a wine list that leans heavily on Napa Valley. The rich chocolate layer cake rounds out the meal, and you really won’t need to count calories when you are traversing across the massive museum, library and gardens.

While familiar, this is not your typical museum fare, and the modern, futuristic design of the room is a stunning addition to the Lucas legacy.

Skywalker Grill is located at the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, One Lucas Plaza, 3800 S Vermont Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90037, USA

When is a private jet not a private jet, but not a commercial flight either? Wade Black thinks he has the answer. He’s the serial airline-industry entrepreneur who has co-founded a new business by the name of Magnifica Air, which aims to tap both those private jet travellers who want to save some money, and those first-class flyers who want to step up to something more luxurious still. When we last checked in, the airline had just revealed its spacious interiors and amenities, while a campaign to recruit pilots starts in Spring 2027.

The idea is simple. Magnifica Air will operate new Airbus Corporate Jets – seven by the end of next year, with a planned 25 in all within five years – from private, purpose-built terminals in the US, where dedicated lounges will provide a ‘white glove’ service that means the check in/security process can happen as late as 30 minutes prior to travel.

Each aircraft will carry a maximum of 54 passengers – though Magnifica Air says as few as 40 remains profitable – so there’s plenty of space, though there will be a minimum of two private suites on board as well. On flights of more than three hours, all seats will be lay-flat ones.

‘The idea is to bring the world of private aviation to the scale that these kinds of [large] aircraft can offer,’ explains Wade, who has also served on the boards of Flexjet and the specialist medical airline Seven Bar Aviation. ‘If you look at current marketing data, everything points to a demand for more premium travel. People are demanding positive experiences and want something better than the inefficiency and anxiety of [typical airline travel], even in first class.’

He calls what Magnifica Air offers ‘private class’, with tickets at between 1.5 and two times the average first-class price, depending on route demand. Each of its aircraft has been outfitted, at a cost of around $20m per aircraft, to correct all of the things that people find bothersome about more standard airline travel, from overhead baggage compartments (there are none) to cramped toilets – on Magnifica Air’s aircraft, the facilities are, says Black, comparable to a ‘high-end residential bathroom’.

The food service, he promises, will be of a very high standard, while Magnifica Air will also be the first airline to offer a new $2m air purification system – reducing the chances of boarding a flight fit and leaving it with some kind of bug.

‘For most people [the incentive to fly with Magnifica Air] will be about stepping up,’ says Black, though not for all: he notes that, despite their public image, many private jets do not offer high interior or service standards, despite their advantages in providing point-to-point travel.

‘People are more service-minded now and are willing to pay for it,’ he adds. ‘The problem for the main carriers is that they are inherently hooked into a hub-and-spoke network [when an airline routes most of its flights though a central main airport to connect passengers travelling to smaller regional ones], so there’s not a lot they can do about the airport experience.’ And he adds that while they may want to devote more space to non-coach/economy seat classes, the cost and logistics of refitting aircraft are prohibitive.

Although Magnifica Air is launching in the US – its inaugural route is between Miami and New York, with other departures set to connect Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas and Houston, with seasonal routes to include the Caribbean and major cultural/sporting events – the company aims, in time, to partner with established carriers for long-haul international flights. ‘I can see the same model working elsewhere [around the world] too,’ Black adds.

MagnificaAir.com, @Magnifica.Air

There are plenty of reasons why theatregoers will be seduced by Verity, the erotic psychological thriller hitting cinemas 2 October: its twisty plot, courtesy of director Michael Showalter; an all-star cast starring Dakota Johnson, Anne Hathaway and Josh Hartnett; not to mention a host of steamy scenes with – shall we say – bite. But architecture and design buffs will be lured in by a different type of eye candy: the striking midcentury modern lake house where the majority of the drama unfolds.

The film, adapted from the best-selling 2019 book by Colleen Hoover, centres around novelist Verity Crawford (Hathaway), who has been left incapacitated after a car accident. Her husband, Jeremy (Hartnett), enlists struggling writer Lowen Ashleigh (Johnson) to finish one of Verity’s final projects. While at the Crawfords’ secluded forest retreat, Lowen discovers a manuscript that reveals a horrifying secret about Verity’s past.

While the storyline may leave you questioning reality (no spoilers here though), the house where Verity is set is actually a real building in Armonk, New York, a hamlet in Westchester County just north of New York. The home was built in the early 1960s by Danish designer Jens Quistgaard for Martha and Ted Nierenberg, the founders of the beloved American homeware brand Dansk. Today, the house functions as a wellness retreat centre called Beckoning Path.

Quistgaard designed some 4,000 products over his prolific career (he's particularly noted for his charming timber pepper mills). He rarely designed homes, but the one he designed for his employers was just as imaginative. Quistgaard's boldest design move for the residence was its saw-tooth roof, which makes the structure stand out against its rocky lakeside site like a jagged gash. ‘The idea behind the house was that it was a shipwrecked boat, crashing into a landscape,’ says Emmy Award-winning production designer Amy Williams, who oversaw all of Verity’s sets. ‘That also really worked for our story.’

For Williams, a frequent Showalter collaborator and a self-professed design obsessive, the opportunity to create Verity’s sets was a dream assignment. ‘As soon as I saw [the house], I was like, oh my God, I can't wait to design this,’ she says.

For one thing, the home’s unusual silhouette provided the perfect sinister setting; with dim winter light and slow camera pans, the roof can be interpreted as bared teeth or fangs. Conveniently, the zig-zags could also be read as inverted v’s for ‘Verity.’ ‘It's scary and it's stylistically interesting,’ Williams adds.

Working with set decorator Kendall Anderson, Williams got to work dreaming up Verity’s interior world. ‘There's not a great description of the house in the book. It's really up to interpretation,’ she explains. ‘Michael shares mostly cinematic references and I come back with visual references and renderings that you can walk through to see how the space works.’

Midcentury modernism, of course, was a primary touchpoint for the sets. ‘We love mid century. We love brutalism, and we got to bring a lot of that to the house,’ Williams says. ‘Kendall and I were all up on Pinterest and 1stDibs.’ If they couldn’t find the perfect piece, the design team fabricated it themselves as with a custom sectional in the living room, inspired by a midcentury design by Harvey Progger. There are Easter eggs referencing Quistgaard and the home’s original clients, too: look closely and you’ll notice the kitchen is stocked with Dansk dishware and decorative objects.

One of the most conspicuous pieces of furniture in the film is the bed in the primary bedroom – Jeremy and Verity’s erstwhile marital bed and, later, the one Lowen, on her quest to finish Verity’s book, sleeps in. In a creepy moment of foreshadowing, Lowen spots a bite mark on the headboard.

‘The bed was one thing that at first Michael and I weren't on the same page about. I wanted to use a Noguchi piece. I thought it would be very elegant in the space,’ Williams says. But that idea was nixed in favour of a custom build, using a soft wood to accommodate teeth marks created in a moment of on-screen ecstasy. ‘You can't bite into mahogany. So we had to use a very soft balsam wood. We did a lot of testing with it,’ Williams says – testing that involved false sets of teeth, test-chomps from the crew (including Showalter) and food dye. ‘We joked the bed was edible,’ Williams says.

Some sets, including the bedroom, bathroom, and Verity’s office were designed on a soundstage in order to accommodate the actors and crew. In these sets, Williams made sure to be true to Quistgaard’s vision, with timber built-ins and even rock outcroppings. A particular memorable set is Verity’s study, complete with a hexagonal skylight, shag carpet and a sunken living room. The aim was to create a space that was feminine and womblike. ‘It makes no sense to have a conversation pit in someone's office, but it was a really fun one to design,’ Williams says. ‘I got to fantasize that I was Frank Lloyd Wright for a minute.’

A monumental mirrored desk – ’where all the secrets are kept,’ per Williams – was sourced on 1stDibs (the production designer loved it so much that she bought a version for herself). Hathaway, meanwhile, picked out the Italian chandelier.

The result is an opulent and foreboding domestic world that will inevitably send chills down viewers’ spines – or, at the very least, inspire their next home decor project. As Lowen, Dakota Johnson’s character puts it in the film, ‘This house is insane.’

Atlanta’s art scene speaks in many vernaculars, unfolding across converted industrial spaces, artist-led initiatives, university museums and a network of independent studios that have shaped the city’s distinctive cultural cadence. Atlanta Art Fair houses that energy, returning to Pullman Yards for its third edition with more than 80 galleries – its largest line-up yet – alongside installations, performances, talks and special exhibitions. This year’s edition also expands its international reach while keeping Atlanta and the wider American South firmly at its core. With the 2026 edition taking place from 1-4 October, five of the city’s artists, curators and cultural figures share the cafés, bars and restaurants they return to beyond the fair.

Where to eat and drink in Atlanta, the insiders’ guide

Alicia Felder

Morning treat at East Pole Coffee Co

‘I don’t need caffeine, so for me a cappuccino is a dessert treat I’m very serious about – which means I’m incredibly picky about getting it right. I’ve been known to try a cappuccino and throw it away after one sip if it’s bad. I usually pair mine with an almond croissant from The Little Tart Bakeshop on Krog Street – they’ve had me in a chokehold forever.’

East Pole Coffee Co is located at 676 N Highland Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30306, United States

Wine o’clock at VinoTeca

‘VinoTeca is the perfect place to do a wine flight and discover new wines, have a meeting, or simply go for the atmosphere. The environment is comfortable and welcoming, the crowd is always great and open to interacting if that’s what you want, dogs are allowed; and their sommelier, Jeanine, is fantastic. The wine selection is also incredible for a shop of its size.’

VinoTeca is located at 299 N Highland Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30307, United States

Dinner at The Consulate Atlanta

‘The Consulate is a proper elite dining experience in Atlanta. The global cuisine is always authentic and sublime, while the atmosphere and décor are sexy perfection. Every 90 days, they literally spin a globe and select a random country to inspire an authentic new menu. The mixologist also creates masterful, limited-edition craft cocktails to coincide with each new concept. Although a few fan favourites have made it onto the permanent menu, I always try the new one because the food is consistently outstanding.’

The Consulate Atlanta is located at 10 10th St NW Ste P200, Atlanta, GA 30309, United States

Kevin W. Tucker

Morning treat at Alon’s Bakery & Market

‘As a city of the South, Atlanta is more of a ‘biscuits for breakfast’ hub rather than a place known for its pastries, but Alon’s Bakery & Market is my neighbourhood ‘go-to’ for a croissant or pain au chocolat and a cappuccino. For the complete vintage diner experience and Southern breakfast complete with biscuits, try the Silver Skillet on Westside. Decidedly unfancy, but a true flavour of the city.′

Alon’s Bakery & Market is located at 1394 N Highland Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30306, United States

Wine o’clock at Lucian Books and Wine

‘Lucian Books and Wine is a relaxing and elegant spot in Buckhead that, as its name suggests, brings together these two great things. Enjoy their French-inspired bites, sip a Spanish Tempranillo, and peruse an art book (of course) or three for a wonderful evening experience. For cocktails, I enjoy seeking out hidden spots around the city, from inspired gin creations at Whoopsie’s in Reynoldstown to rum-infused tiki cocktails at Trader Vic’s only East Coast location in the downtown Hilton Atlanta.’

Lucian Books and Wine is located at 3005 Peachtree Rd Ste 300, Atlanta, GA 30305, United States

Dinner at Elise

‘Elise, next to the High Museum of Art, is a new favourite for its beautiful setting and its refined menu crafted by chef Craig Richards. Try the risotto cacio e pepe or the roast chicken and savour the presentation, service, and flavours of one of Atlanta’s best dining spots right on the museum’s piazza in midtown. And be sure to check out their dedicated vermouth menu as an aperitif to an excellent meal.’

Elise is located at 1280 Peachtree St NE, Atlanta, GA 30309, United States

Sarah Higgings

Morning treat at Aurora Coffee

‘For coffee, Aurora Coffee in Little Five Points is my stop. They’re not pastry-oriented, but my morning order does include a chocolate chip cookie. In summer, it’s a large iced coffee; in winter, a hot dirty chai latte. But really, Atlanta is a sit-down breakfast city, and visitors shouldn’t skip that experience. My favourite, by a mile, is Homegrown on Memorial Drive. I even met my fiancé there, sitting at the breakfast counter! Be warned, though: their comfy chicken biscuit will send you straight back to bed for a nap.’

Aurora Coffee is located at 468 Moreland Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30307, United States

Cocktails at Whoopsie’s

‘Whoopsie’s is my favourite for excellent boozy cocktails, delicious food and impeccable vibes. Whoopsie’s is like the fanciest dive bar – or a fancy bar that has slid, ever so slightly, into grittier times. It’s like a switchblade with a crystal handle. For the vino sophisticate, I’m also a fan of Lucian Books & Wine. It’s the perfect place for those who want to pair their glass with a beautifully designed art book in an elegant yet relaxed setting.’

Whoopsie’s is located at 1 Moreland Ave SE Ste c, Atlanta, GA 30316, United States

Dinner at Ticonderoga Club

‘I love sneaky, hole-in-the-wall places. Not quite speakeasies, but restaurants that feel cosy and a little eccentric, with a sense of discovering a hidden oasis. Ticonderoga Club on Krog Street is a favourite. My cocktail is the Horsepower – bourbon, apricot eau-de-vie, lemon, ginger and bitters. I’d start with the steak tartare, served with daikon medallions, then follow it with the S&S chargrilled pork steak with green papaya salad, nuoc cham, fresh herbs and sweet-and-sour tamarind sauce. Obviously, this is a place for carnivores. I’d finish with the chocolate mousse and maybe a nightcap.’

Ticonderoga Club is located at 99 Krog St NE, Atlanta, GA 30307, United States

Tiffany LaTrice

Morning treat at Portrait Coffee

‘My favourite place to grab coffee and a pastry in the morning is Portrait Coffee. It’s a short walk from my house and a Black-owned coffee shop in Atlanta’s West End, so it feels like a true neighbourhood spot. I always order the Aunt Viv with an extra shot of espresso, along with a chocolate croissant for a little sweet treat. I usually sit inside and enjoy both because I almost always run into a friend. What starts as a quick coffee often turns into sitting around and catching up, which is one of my favourite parts of going there.’

Portrait Coffee is located at 1065 Ralph David Abernathy Blvd SW # A, Atlanta, GA 30310, United States

Wine o’clock at JoJo’s Beloved Cocktail Lounge

‘My favourite cocktail bar is JoJo’s Beloved Cocktail Lounge in Midtown. It’s a cute, swanky speakeasy tucked inside Colony Square, with great cocktails, good music and an effortlessly fun atmosphere. It’s one of those places that feels special without taking itself too seriously.’

JoJo’s Beloved Cocktail Lounge is located at 1197 Peachtree St NE, Atlanta, GA 30309, United States

Dinner at Poor Calvin’s

‘I’ve been a huge fan of Poor Calvin’s for more than 10 years, and it’s still one of my favourite dinner spots in the city. My go-to order is the lobster crawfish wontons, followed by the country fried chicken with lobster mac and cheese and collard greens. And you absolutely have to save room for the toasted pound cake for dessert. Everything on the menu is incredible, but those are my must-orders.’

Poor Calvin’s is located at 510 Piedmont Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30308, United States

Victoria Dugger

Morning treat at Little Tart Bakeshop

‘I love Little Tart Bakeshop for coffee and pastries. I’m pretty simple with coffee – usually a latte with oat milk – and then whatever pastry looks best that day. I have a hard time saying no to a sweet treat.’

Little Tart Bakeshop is located at 437 Memorial Dr SE, Atlanta, GA 30312, United States

Wine o’clock at Madeira Park

‘I like places where you can actually sit and talk and stay for a while, and Madeira Park has that kind of energy. I’m usually a wine person, but I would get a good cocktail if something interesting is on the menu.’

Madeira Park is located at 640 N Highland Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30306, United States

Dinner at Antico’s Pizza

‘Antico’s Pizza is one of those places I always want when I’m in Atlanta – casual, loud, a little chaotic, and just really good. I usually get something with mushrooms.’

Antico’s Pizza is located at 1093 Hemphill Ave NW, Atlanta, GA 30318, United States

While Palm Springs, California has no shortage of marvellous midcentury architecture, not all of these historic homes were created equal.

The vast residence – completed by architectural designer Howard Lapham in 1966 and spanning 10,000 sq ft – is one of the largest and most impressive properties from the era within the city limits. A real estate developer bought it and, along with his girlfriend, hired Los Angeles-based interior designer Jessica Ayromloo to reanimate its capacious entertaining spaces and no less than 9 bedrooms 'They were looking for somebody who could re-envision it, but still keep the original aesthetic and bones,' Ayromloo tells Wallpaper*.

The sheer scale of the interior spaces could have been daunting. 'They're enormous,' said Ayromloo, whose initial thought was: 'What am I going to do with this giant gallery-sized living room that’s 60 feet long?' But she approached the project like a small boutique hotel, treating the main social space as a lobby.

Here, Pierre Paulin chairs that the clients had already bought at auction and various configurations of B&B Italia’s Camaleonda modular sofa – a design the clients dreamed of owning – are arranged to invite more intimate moments. 'If you're hosting a party, you want it to be conversational,' Ayromloo says. 'You can either sit and face the pool, or the fireplace. And if you get bored of this layout, you could always change it up.'

While retaining the classic mid-century features, Ayromloo dialled up the drama a few notches to live up to the 'party house feel.' Located in Palm Springs’ Movie Colony neighbourhood, the home lent itself to her aptly cinematic references. These included the 1968 sci-fi film Barbarella, whose sets and costumes inspired the home's mirrored and metallic finishes, curvaceous forms and highly textured surfaces. In the living area, these manifest as a fireplace clad in metal panels set against a reflective wall, amorphous coffee tables with shiny surfaces and a custom rug that stretches the full length of the room. 'I sometimes think of myself as more of a set designer than an interior designer,' Ayromloo says.

On the back wall, a trio of disc-shaped sculptures by LA artist Nicholas Biddle – one of which the designer discovered at Rhett Baruch Gallery, with the others commissioned in slightly different warm colour gradients – offers another movie nod, according to Ayromloo. 'In the really kitschy sci-fi film Total Recall, with Arnold Schwarzenegger, there's a woman with three breasts, and it reminds me of that,' she says.

Continuing in the dining room, a glass-topped table with mirrored legs and matching chairs all reflect a patterned Kyle Bunting area rug to create 'trippy' illusions. A Slinky-esque pendant light helps to resolve the tall ceiling height, while a mirrored-mosaic Space Curtain from Paco Rabanne presents a disco motif that will reappear later.

In terms of spatial reconfiguration, the kitchen received the most attention. Appliances were shifted around to improve the flow, with the stove landing below a cut-glass, mosaic-tiled hood. A long central island is accompanied by 'ice cream parlour' bar stools that could’ve been lifted straight out of The Jetsons, while the distinctive cabinet colour required a compromise. '[The client] wanted a green kitchen but super faded, and I actually wanted a darker green,' Ayromloo shares. 'So we met in the middle, and eventually landed on this desaturated pistachio.'

The same pistachio shade appears in the numerous guest bedrooms across Flavor Paper wallpaper, paired in geometric patterns with silver to match the patent leather bed frames and metallic linens. Meanwhile, the family room at the end of the property received a punchier injection of colour thanks to a painting by Ozzie Juarez sourced from the Frieze art fair, which informed the furniture choices. 'Here, the desaturated colours get a little more saturated,' Ayromloo explains. 'You’re dabbled in colour through the other spaces, and then come to the end of the rainbow.'

For the primary bedroom, a custom white-lacquer and polished-steel bed, silvery carpet, chainmail curtains and more metallic accents reinforce the Barbarella theme. This is taken even further in a stand-out powder room, where original gold mosaic tiles were replaced with silver—evoking the inside of a disco ball. 'We wanted to pay homage, but do our own thing in a way that goes with the rest of the house,' says Ayromloo. 'It's a disco ball party!'

Meanwhile, the mosaic tiles that surround the outdoor bar and lounge are iridescent, creating a mother-of-pearl backdrop for glowing Artemide Alphabet of Light numbers that divulge the home’s address. 'Who doesn't want to be inside of a seashell? We just need a mermaid posted up in there,' Ayromloo says.

A separate pool house was treated similarly, with pink and aqua decor and transparent furniture reminiscent of a life-size Polly Pocket toy. 'It speaks more to the outdoor lounge, with the iridescent pink tile and the blue of the pool,' Ayromloo says. 'We really had fun with it.'

Finishing touches included repainting the huge front doors beyond a pair of koi ponds in a peach melba hue. 'We wanted to go with something not as expected for Palm Springs,' said Ayromloo. 'This colour echoes the koi fish without matching too perfectly.'

The sculptural door handles that resemble Georg Jensen vessels were thought to be original to the home, but when they were removed to be repolished, Ayromloo discovered that they were in fact from a 1990s Ikea designer collaboration. 'That was a really unexpected surprise that really threw us all,' she says.

Now glistening anew, these pulls and a pair of custom vertical lights on either side of the entrance subtly hint at the exuberant sci-fi fantasy that visitors can expect to encounter inside.

The future is not what it was, and ‘Home of the Future, 1925-1985: Designing Domestic Utopias’, a new exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), shows us what we have gained and lost. Advertisements, labour-saving gadgets, and models of model homes trace the rise and fall of America’s faith in material progress. Since then, visions have come to pass; science fiction has often turned into fact, yet the public mood is one of deep disquiet. A future of AI and climate change, for instance, could make for a terrifying prospect.

Step inside 'Home of the Future, 1925-1985: Designing Domestic Utopias'

Decorative arts are one of LACMA’s great strengths. Curator Wendy Kaplan and her associate Grace Converse have assembled an extraordinary array of objects and images to show how the US was transformed in those six decades and how the optimism of that era soured. The exhibition is divided into four sections that flow into each other and overlap.

In the first, 1925-1945: Health, Efficiency and Mechanization, speculative fantasies - from a self-cleaning house to flying cars - proliferate. Those were years in which electrification remade rural America, radio and telephones bound it together, and war generated new materials and technologies.

The second section, 1945-1965: Plastics, Push Buttons and Prefabrication, illustrates a consumer paradise for the middle class; a cornucopia of gadgetry, pastel décor and a two-tone sedan (or two) in every suburban garage. It was also the heyday of Charles and Ray Eames, George Nelson, Henry Dreyfuss and many more brilliant designers, whose best work has a timeless appeal.

There’s a model of Buckminster Fuller’s Dymaxion House, an aluminium rotunda that might have gone into production at a former bomber plant in Wisconsin, except that the inventor was too busy tweaking the prototype and lost his chance. Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth House comes across as a model of rigour and abstraction in contrast to Barbie’s Dream House and the all-plastic Monsanto House of the Future, which had a ten-year run at Disneyland.

In parallel to this showcase of high and low design is the third section, 1950-1970: The Cold Was Command Center, in which the home is visualised as a shelter from nuclear attack and other threats. In an age of anxiety, movies and television peddle fantasies of living in space or underwater, with architects and designers scrambling to keep up.

The concluding section, 1965-1985: the Counterculture and the Computer, takes us from The Whole Earth Catalogue and hippie communes to Apple’s first Mac and the wired age we now inhabit.

Complementing ‘Home of the Future’ is a pocket show, ‘The Kitchen and its Discontents’, focusing on two modern classics that LACMA has acquired. Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky’s Frankfurt kitchen was a feature of progressive housing estates in Weimar Germany; and Le Corbusier called on Charlotte Perriand to design a modular kitchen for his Unité housing blocks in Marseilles and other European cities. Both eliminated drudgery for low-income tenants.

These two exhibitions, which run through March 14, 2027, fuse aesthetics and technology, social history and commerce, to explore a half-century of progress. Both appeal to the senses, as one covetable object, image, and furnishing follows another.

Only an artist as imaginative as Isamu Noguchi would have conceived the speaker for a 'radio nursemaid' as a helmet that Darth Vader would love to wear. And it took the inspired graphics of Lester Beall to convince conservative farmers that a government program of electrification would change their lives. Including these and more, the profusely illustrated catalogue for this exhibition (New York: Del Monico, $80) features 15 thematic essays and is likely to become an enduring work of reference.

'Home of the Future, 1925–1985: Designing Domestic Utopias', Sep 27, 2026 – Mar 14, 2027, Resnick Pavilion, LACMA, Los Angeles, USA

lacma.org

New York’s Crown Building comes with a history as flamboyant as the bejewelled coronet that sits at its top, including stints as the original home of the Museum of Modern Art and, infamously, a one-time birthday gift for Imelda Marcos. In 2022, though, the upper storeys of the landmarked tower reopened as a bastion of understated sophistication, Aman New York, marking the ultra-luxury, Swiss-based hotel brand’s first urban location in the United States.

Like Aman’s other US destinations – notably Amangiri, the storied desert escape in Canyon Point, Utah – Aman New York quickly became one of America’s top hotels. It’s even earned the Michelin Guide’s coveted Three-Keys designation, one of just four hotels in the city to meet the standard.

Not being a property to rest on its laurels (though the top of the building is festooned in carved floral wreaths), Aman New York recently added a new class of luxury accommodation to join its existing 83 guest suites and residences. The property’s Home collection consists of seven sprawling private residences that are geared towards discerning travellers looking for a personal, apartment-like feel, whether they’re staying for a few nights or a few weeks, travelling with extended family or a retinue. With luxury amenities that include everything from private pools to private chefs to private butler service, Aman New York’s Homes offer a new benchmark for luxury hospitality in the Big Apple. Here’s what to expect.

Wallpaper* checks in at the Aman New York Homes

What’s on your doorstep?

Located on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 57th Street – aka Billionaire’s Row – Aman New York places you in the heart of Manhattan’s most iconic shopping district. In fact, some of New York’s most storied shops can be found no further than you can throw a Birkin, including Bergdorf Goodman, Tiffany & Co, Gucci and Louis Vuitton, all of which are across the street. Don’t feel the need to cross a chaotic city road? Bulgari and Prada are just downstairs.

Walk two blocks north and you’ll find yourself in the lush expanse of Central Park. Enjoy a leisurely stroll, or – if you’re feeling ambitious after all that shopping – lace up your sneakers for a brisk six-mile loop. Cultural attractions abound in this part of Manhattan, too, whether you hoof it four blocks to MoMA (the institution left the Crown in 1932) or hitch Aman’s private car to Lincoln Center, the Met, the Guggenheim or the Frick.

Who is behind the design?

Aman relied on longtime collaborator and hospitality veteran Jean-Michel Gathy and his Kuala Lumpur-based design firm Denniston for the interiors. The name ‘Aman’ is derived from the Sanskrit word for ‘peace’, one that can feel incongruous in a city as intense as the Big Apple. ‘The challenge,’ the firm said, ‘was to bring Aman's stillness into one of the world's most relentless cities.’

That’s a feeling as soon as you step in from the busy street to the hushed double-height lobby. Visitors ascend an elevator to the 14th-floor reception area, a step that provides additional removal from the stressful metropolis.

In contrast with the Crown Building’s opulent exterior (30 gallons of liquid gold purportedly coat its summit), Gathy designed the spaces with warm Japanese minimalism in mind, emphasising mindful materials and connections with nature. The ceilings in the reception are in a rhythmic basketweave, a pattern that’s picked up in the subtle-yet-sumptuous dark marble flooring. Finishes like timber, grasscloth and raw stone create an enveloping, wabi-sabi atmosphere. Even though you’re in the middle of the concrete jungle, thoughtful touchpoints with the outdoors can be found everywhere, from precise ikebana floral arrangements to an outdoor terrace that’s planted with rustling maple trees to the vertiginous views out to Central Park.

The room to book

Guests of Aman New York can expect an exceptional experience from any of the hotel’s 83 suites, each of which comes equipped with its own working fireplace. But for discriminating travellers looking for an even more immersive experience – and more room for their friends and family – look no further than the four new Homes. Two feature private pools, offering the chance to almost quite literally float on the clouds.

For the ultimate chance to spread out in style, aim for the full-floor residence. Encompassing a mind-boggling 6,300 sq ft, this residence comes with three bedrooms, an open-plan living and dining area, a sprawling kitchen stocked with matching Le Creuset cookware, a dedicated office, an entertainment room and even staff quarters. The quarters even come with a private butler.

The level of detail is on par with the rest of Aman’s spaces, from the refined parquet floors inlaid with brass; fireplaces in the living room, primary bedroom and (yes) bathroom; and bespoke furnishings. Ikebana arrangements are brought in fresh. Even the door surrounds are perfumed with cinnamon-scented wood, a feature that leaves a softly-scented wake as you drift from room to room.

Just as luxurious is the surfeit of square footage, a rarity in New York’s cramped hospitality market. The walk-in closet comes with an additional closet; the living room has two sitting areas; the private office has its own en-suite bathroom. A recent visitor even had to call her husband’s cell phone to find him. The biggest treat, though, is the views. This plush aerie affords wrap-around views of Central Park, the green mansard roof of the Plaza Hotel, and Louis Vuitton’s trunk-shaped scaffolding.

Staying for drinks and dinner?

There’s no shortage of fine dining options in this part of Midtown. But some of the best – and most exclusive – can be found at the Aman New York; in fact, dining spaces are only accessible to hotel guests, residents and members of the Aman’s private club.

For unforgettable Japanese cuisine, allow the elevator to whisk you down to Akari on the 14th floor. The organic interiors, which feature a ceiling inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright, allow you to prepare yourself for the exquisite feast to come, courtesy of chef Takuma Yonemaru. For the best experience, opt for the Chef’s Tasting Menu, which highlights seasonal ingredients and the finest seafood, flown in directly from Japan. (And don’t miss the Matcha-misu, a green-tinged riff on the Italian classic). Craving comforts? Head to Arva, the Aman New York’s Italian concept. Choose from classics like veal Milanese and spaghetti alla carbonara, or have a leisurely Sunday morning on the terrace during the restaurant’s weekend brunch.

If you’re craving light bites and cocktails, the Aman also offers a host of relaxed nooks in which to imbibe and unwind, from the verdant Garden Terrace, to the seductive lounge bar to a speakeasy-style jazz bar. Of course, you may not want to leave your gorgeous suite at all. Not to worry: you can book your own in-home chef experience.

Where to switch off

Aman New York takes wellness seriously. So seriously, in fact, that three floors and 25,000 sq ft of the property are dedicated exclusively to fitness, longevity and relaxation. Work out on cutting-edge Technogym equipment in the fitness centre, where you can also access a yoga and a pilates studio and a cryotherapy chamber for recovery. Looking for more? Book a private class in everything from yoga to Brazilian jiu-jitsu, a custom fitness assessment, or special wellness journeys curated by Maria Sharapova and Novak Djokovic.

But more likely than not, you’ll want to spend your time on the second floor lounging alongside a fire pit in front of a 65ft lap pool. Here you can also find a banya and hammam, each with a terrace and cold plunge. The Aman New York’s spa is best in class, with specially-designed treatments to leave you calm and refreshed. The 120-minute Aman New York signature journey is especially designed to calm stressed-out urbanites, with a ritual that begins with a fluorite crystal (a mineral that can literally be found in Manhattan’s bedrock) and continues with massage, singing bowls and an Aman x 111Skin hydrogel mask.

The verdict

Like the name of its building implies, the Aman New York is a jewel in the crown of Manhattan hospitality. With everything literally at your doorstep – from world-class shopping to superlative service – the Homes category allows well-heeled travellers to feel like they have their very own city pied-à-terre, whether they’re spending a night or two, or settling in for a multi-week stay. A slice of the Big Apple with no strings attached? We can’t think of a finer luxury.

Aman New York is located at the Crown Building, 730 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10019, USA

Guzema's first boutique in New York mirrors its fine jewellery: minimal yet far from ordinary.

Inside the SoHo shop, guests can gradually discover elegant, everyday pieces from the Ukrainian brand, founded by jewellery designer Valeriya Guzema, against a soft-yet-sculptural backdrop.

‘The jewellery is not simply shown to you,’ Ukrainian architect, interior designer and artist Victoria Yakusha tells Wallpaper*. ‘You have to come closer and look.’

Before entering the boutique, a window installation lures passersby with a white, sunflower-inspired lamp by Yakusha’s Faina collection. Nearby, custom, rounded sculptures mimic the lamp and showcase oversized models of the brand’s jewellery — which is handcrafted in 18k gold and set with responsibly sourced natural diamonds. ‘I like to bring something artistic into a space, something that makes you stop for a moment and pulls you in,’ Yakusha says.

Limited by the existing long, narrow space with nearly no natural light, Yakusha leaned into fluidity by creating connected jewellery displays with integrated lighting that become part of the architecture. In central oval cases and on grey cones in glass boxes, the accessories rest as if the displays materialised around them. Mirrors on the walls, essential for trying on jewellery, also enhance the unified look.

‘What surrounds an object is as important as the object itself. It is what allows you to see it,’ says Yakusha. ‘There are many surfaces, but you don’t see them as separate elements. They almost disappear, and the jewellery becomes the focus.’

Everything, from the walls to the ceiling, is finished in microcement in grey and warm beige tones, giving all surfaces a cohesive, velvety appearance. ‘The depth comes through texture rather than colour contrast,’ adds Yakusha.

Beyond the main area, visitors can indulge in complimentary private appointments. These sessions are held in an intimate continuation of the boutique, tucked behind a glass block wall and outfitted with a Faina sofa and ottoman that melt into the surroundings. There, stylists in slate grey uniforms — created by Safiyaa to echo the curved interiors — assist jewellery seekers in finding the right piece for them.

Along with the brand’s enduring designs and custom engraving service, the boutique offers an exclusive jewellery collection only available at the SoHo store that reinterprets Guzema's signature styles.

‘Jewellery is very personal, so the space has to do more than display it,’ says Yakusha. ‘It gives you time to slow down and find the piece that feels entirely your own.’

GUZEMA is located at 112 Wooster St, New York, NY 10012

What could the future of our homes look like, in this ever-changing, ever-challenging world? This is the type of question this new small house was conceived to address. Titled Null, the structure sits in Jackson, California, on the West Coast's mainland. Designed by architect Hasfa Burt and her studio, hb+a Architects, the small but perfectly formed project is a prototype and a thought experiment towards achieving climate-resilient architecture – and it is also a comfortable, boutique, private home.

Step inside Null, a small house design for a sustainable future

The small house was designed to be the home of the manager of a larger piece of land in the area – a 9-acre site – where Null sits on a plot shared with another, existing, building. The architect and her team (which operates out of three bases - in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Castro Valley) worked with their client to craft a structure as part of Burt's Box Lab initiative, a 2018 action 'focused on resilience measures in a changing climate for vulnerable communities subject to more than one challenge,' she explains.

Beyond the design development of this residence as a real home, Burt was intrigued to explore the typology as a testbed for her sustainable architecture. 'The project is exploring residential design in a changing world as a response to man-made and natural elements. It isn't a cabin; instead, it shifts thinking about the future of single-family housing, following a just-enough philosophy in program, systems, materials and spaces. The site is located in a part of Northern California where median income is 70% lower than the rest of California,' she says.

'The area is also prone to wildfires and experiences significant temperature swings from summer to winter. It was important not to rely on any source of fossil fuels for any of the operations and to use the site in its existing character, welcoming the wildlife that frequents the reservoir and can be heard and seen running around.'

The building is made of structural steel, with carefully insulated walls and ceilings. Its drywall elements and exterior wood cladding have been upcycled, taken from the construction surplus of another ongoing project nearby. It was important to Burt to keep materials to a 'bare minimum', covering the scheme's needs but not 'drowning in excessive exterior and interior finishes as a design language.'

Meanwhile, the architect's low-carbon approach extends from the building's construction to its upkeep and operational needs, ensuring it functions seamlessly and safely while keeping things simple and focusing on what's required rather than adding unnecessary ornamentation.

Burt adds: '[What makes this project special is] exploring a paradigm shift in residential programming focused on the future of this project type using a systems-thinking approach. Everything for me starts with the program, and I find it quite exciting to take apart and reassemble a more efficient version of an existing problem.'

'The project utilised an existing flat pad and, in a machine-like approach, which I insist on as an honest expression, systems are left exposed to showcase the workings instead of hiding them. It is positive energy connected to onsite solar [power] and has been oriented to maximise the site elements. Rainwater is harvested in 2500-gallon cisterns, with excess running off to a reservoir; environmental strategies weren't an add-on or late-stage consideration but were integrated at ideation.'

This small house can now act as a prototype and an example, which can be replicated in different areas and terrains as needed.

hbaarchitects.com

A generous bundle of perfectly yellow bananas crowds an intricately crafted crimson basket; an army of mammoth hippos pile on top of each other with dramatic roars. Look more closely and you'll also find, amid Pablo Bronstein’s new drawings in his solo exhibition ‘Clocks’ at Olney Gleason gallery in New York’s Chelsea, narratively deviant mantel clocks brimming with historical allegory and technical elegance. Leaving time-telling purposes behind, the Buenos Aires-born and London-based artist’s clocks in acrylic tease with references to historical grandeur and nationalist dominance; some completely devoid of arms or too miniature to even notice, they claim dramatic footings in each of his detailed compositions.

Infused with historical references that range from colonial greed to land extraction, Bronstein’s decorative illustrations on paper act out history’s bond between power and ornamentation. ‘The clock as an allegory ties with my interest in decorative arts and in talking about history and geography,' Bronstein tells Wallpaper*. He considers clocks as 'objects that speak more than they are supposed to' and finds 'a lot of content about empires' in them.

For the artist who previously exhibited four antique clocks on pedestals in his 2024 show at Palazzo Bentivoglio in Bologna, such timepieces all 'have history crammed into them as allegory'. Bronstein, whose fascination with mantel clocks is also embodied in his personal collection of 19th-century French examples, is drawn to their decorative abundance rather than their ability to track time.

As a former collector of antiques – particularly silver sugar casters, a passion that started with a gift from his Argentine grandmother – he believes clock design has a uniqueness that is lacking in other decorative arts. 'There is a flat symbolic clarification of the moment and then there is the ornate case,' he says and points out the 'jog between the allegorical sophistication and the numbers that go around'.

This waltz between the globally accepted yet abstract flow of time and a desire for beautification echoes in Bronstein’s complex reference system in the show’s eight drawings. Banana Basket, for example, has one larger banana raised from the generous feast basket with its curvy peels revealing the ripe fruit. Amid the dramatically arched peels and the phallic offer, a central clock shows what Bronstein explains as the Boston time. The entire composition is a reference to the operations of the United Fruit Company and the history of the pejorative term ‘banana republic’, used for countries that, ultimately, were exploited by other nations and corporations.

In Classical Triumphant, a grand Greek Revival building spreads across the drawing’s nearly 2m width and sits over a pedestal adorned with intricate patterning and three clocks, of which the middle is left blank. The referenced architectural period speaks to many world leaders’ inclination towards Classicism and attempts to redecorate their residences in glorifying fashion. ‘In the context of culture war,’ the artist says, 'the presence of purity and perfection signifiers is all the more aggressive.'

In other drawings, a clock-biting alligator climbs a building inspired by Lower Manhattan’s windowless AT&T Long Lines building, and a lion-riding angel hauls a cart full of coals, based on a decorative object on the artist’s own fireplace.

Architectural, historical, or diaristic, the show’s visual cues stems from Bronstein’s own wealth of titles in his personal library. He often starts with a pencil outline while surrounded by numerous books with open pages and lets intuition usher him through the process, including adding the shading with ink. The twisted embellishments and blurred hyperboles rub shoulders with Bronstein’s inquiries about queering the power structures of aesthetics. 'Queer culture is good at pulling extremes together, such as making an enormous drama out of nothing and subverting traumatic elements with humour,' Bronstein says, and adds that this duality lets him 'worm my way into two different places at the same time'.

‘Pablo Bronstein: Clocks’ is on view at Olney Gleason in New York through 17 October 2026

olneygleason.com

There are wonders of the world to trek to and bucket-list hotels in which to celebrate life’s milestones. Then there are spa treatments worthy of a transcontinental pilgrimage. As wellness resorts and top hotels compete to create ever more ambitious experiences, the treatment itself has become reason enough to make the trip. From futuristic facials at Paris’ largest hotel spa to site-specific spa safaris in Indonesia and centuries-old purification rituals in Morocco, these are the best spa treatments to travel for.

The best spa treatments around the world

Aman Kyoto

Set at the base of the Higashiyama Mountains, within one of Kyoto’s most serene spa resorts, this three-step Purifying Journey unfolds overlooking the property’s famed Secret Garden. Over 180 minutes, guests experience a Purifying Body Polish & Wrap, Purifying Massage and Purifying Facial. The opening body treatment is designed to encourage lymphatic drainage, using quartz, seaweed-rich fucus oil, raw honey, essential oils and other mineral-rich marine ingredients. The Purifying Massage follows the same intention, while the concluding facial uses brightening pearl and further marine extracts.

Aman Kyoto is located at 1 Okitayama Washimine-cho, Kita Ward, Kyoto, 603-8458, Japan

Ananda In The Himalayas

Ananda in the Himalayas has spent decades establishing itself as a leading authority on destination Ayurvedic wellness. In Ayurveda, the Koshtha is the body’s internal cavity, which houses the digestive and reproductive organs. During this 45-minute Abhyanga massage, a medicated castor oil known as Gadharva-hastadi thailam is applied in movements designed to follow the natural pathways of these systems. Towards the end, steam is directed over the abdomen and pelvis to deepen absorption and encourage circulation. The property’s chief operating officer, Mahesh Natarajan, says the treatment is shaped by years of research and observation, and has become a keystone of its week-long women’s health modules.

Ananda In The Himalayas is located at The Palace Estate, Narendra Nagar, Sakalana, Uttarakhand 249175, India

Lanserhof Sylt

More an immersive seven-day experience than a traditional treatment, Lanserhof’s signature programme, The Cure, has set the gold standard for holistic wellness and longevity for 40 years. Each stay is unique. Its constants are a medical assessment on arrival and a dining programme designed to support gut regeneration, a central component of The Cure. Day to day, a guest’s schedule may encompass treatments, movement, relaxation sessions, lectures, meals and downtime. For some, the on-site team may recommend Inuspheresis or neurofeedback sessions to address sleep issues and other contemporary lifestyle concerns.

Lanserhof Sylt is located at Am Lanserhof 1-8, 25992 List auf Sylt, Germany

NIHI Sumba

True wellness devotees – those regularly texting their energy healer or with standing energy-work reservations – speak of NIHI Sumba with reverence. While the wider resort experience is a coveted adventure in itself, its signature Spa Safari offers a full-day, culturally rich immersion. The fully outdoor experience brings together Sumbanese ritual, indigenous botanicals and equine therapy. Guests arrive by horseback or safari vehicle at an open-air bale overlooking the Indian Ocean, where a series of bespoke Sumbanese rituals might include the signature Sumba 7 Botanical Elixir facial, a volcanic body wrap or a Hydrating Hair Smoothie. All treatments use locally sourced ingredients and conclude with an equine massage: an elevated foot massage surrounded by horses.

NIHI Sumba is located at Hoba Wawi, Wanokaka, West Sumba Regency, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia

Pendry Newport Beach

Set in Newport Beach, California’s aesthetics mecca, Spa Pendry’s Ultimate Facial is a fully customised, near two-hour treatment with maximalist intent. It is entirely high-tech, save for a glass of Champagne at the end: skin undergoes a series of zips and zaps designed to improve tone and texture, while supporting healthy ageing. The experience includes exfoliation, hydration, microcurrent, LED therapy, cryotherapy and bespoke add-ons such as dermaplaning. Its fans include Orange County’s taut and toned housewives, naturally, as well as Los Angeles’ most plugged-in beauty influencers, for whom the freeway journey may as well be a plane flight.

Pendry Newport Beach is located at 690 Newport Centre Dr, Newport Beach, CA 92660, United States

The Peninsula Paris

The largest hotel spa in Paris may be home to a striking 20-metre subterranean swimming pool, but the savvy skincare set is likely to be drawn to the property’s partnership with Parisian medspa Maison Lutetia, which brings its high-tech philosophy to a traditional luxury spa setting. The partnership’s signature Expert Cellulaire Treatment merges these two worlds through a protocol designed to improve skin metabolism and glow, using a combination of devices and hands-on techniques. A great deal is packed into its 60- or 90-minute sessions: the five-step protocol begins with an Aquapeel and electroporation to enhance absorption, followed by electrostimulation, cryotherapy and thermotherapy, before concluding with LED light therapy. There is no downtime afterwards, so guests can go straight from the spa to dinner.

The Peninsula Paris is located at 19 Av. Kléber, 75116 Paris, France

Royal Mansour Marrakech

A decadent hammam in a design-led spa is a compelling draw at any hotel, wherever it may be, but nothing compares with the real thing in Morocco, using Moroccan-made products. At Le Spa, this contemporary interpretation of the historic ritual begins on a heated marble slab, where guests recline in the humidity to soften the skin before a head-to-toe scrub with a traditional kessa glove and black soap. A cleansing rinse and invigorating cold plunge follow. The full-day hammam experience extends into a spa journey, with a traditional Takhilta hair wrap, facial, massage, lunch, shampoo and blow-dry.

Royal Mansour Marrakech is located at Rue Abou Abbas El Sebti، 40000, Morocco

Sensei Lanai, A Four Seasons Resort

Sensei Lanai is one of the few destinations where what happens after the therapist leaves the room is as memorable as the treatment itself. Tucked amid lush tropical grounds, the spa hales that host the property’s treatments can be booked for additional time following almost any solo or couples treatment. Each private, standalone space becomes a personal spa retreat, equipped with an Ofuro bath, infrared sauna, steam shower, outdoor rain shower, soaking tub, plunge pool and generous living area. The hales can also be booked as an evening experience for up to 120 minutes.

Sensei Lanai, A Four Seasons Resort is located at 1 Keomoku Highway, Lanai City, HI 96763, United States

SHA Mexico

SHA’s original location outside Madrid has earned a devoted international following for its signature seven-day health-optimisation programme. In 2024, the brand opened a second clinic in Costa Mujeres, Mexico, which this year introduced stem-cell treatments as part of its new Cellular Regeneration Programme. SHA is among the few health-optimisation clinics to offer allogeneic mesenchymal stem-cell (MSC) and exosome therapies authorised by Mexico’s national health regulator, COFEPRIS. An on-site regenerative medicine physician may recommend and administer the treatments, which are available as an add-on to the resort-clinic’s signature four- or seven-day programmes, incorporating diagnostics, biomarker analysis and personalised nutrition.

SHA Mexico is located at Carr. a Punta Sam 84, 77420 Cancún, Q.R., Mexico

Set in a cosy, friendly pocket of San Francisco, Precita House is a residence designed around light, explains its author, local architect Ryan Leidner. The home 'explores light as a material – at times expansive and open, at others softened through structure, threshold, and fabric,' he adds.

The project, created for a family of four, was designed to act as an urban retreat, a sheltering cocoon that remains in touch with the natural rhythm of time passing during the day, while balancing creature comforts with the sensibilities of a desert landscape – in the sense of being frugal with materials and smart with the points where the inside meets the outside.

Leidner's past experience – he's a deft hand at both urban and rural residential work – includes High Desert House, a modernist architecture-inspired Joshua Tree home conceived with similar principles in mind.

In the case of Precita House, the architect brings the same approach to a more urban environment, creating an internal journey within the existing home by completely redesigning its transition from the public-facing street elevation to the more private interior and the secluded-feeling garden at the rear.

The home's quiet, inward-facing presence sets the tone from the get-go. Meanwhile, the project's main communal and family areas are orientated towards the sleepy garden and its leafy planting, courtesy of Stephens Design Studio.

The architect's chosen material palette supports the house's organic minimalism throughout. Douglas Fir cladding floors, ceilings, cabinetry, and stair elements, meets Venetian plaster in a soft composition that invites the play of light.

Several elements across the plan serve as sculptural focal points: the deep green marble kitchen island; the geometric timber staircase; and the vertically slatted ceiling that brings beams of sunlight and moving shadows from the skylights above in.

'A muted palette and varied textures, informed by the clients’ affinity for desert environments, allow the landscape to function as an extension of daily living,' Leidner writes, explaining the project.

'Precita House brings together spatial clarity, material restraint, and moderated daylight to create a residence that balances privacy at the street with openness to the garden, shaping daily life through gradual transitions of light, space, and view.'

ryanleidner.com

Frank Lloyd Wright was nothing if not prolific. The great American architect was both a workaholic and a natural self-publicist, pioneering the use of elaborate conceptual schemes to draw attention to his studio and his work. Over the course of a long, long career, Wright reputedly designed over 1,100 buildings, of which around 46 per cent were actually built. A substantial number of these were houses, ranging from hilltop mansions to World Heritage-listed sites of global importance, and more modest, out-of-the-way buildings.

This house in Michigan is one of the latter. For sale through Signature Sotheby’s International Realty, the Samuel Eppstein House dates back to 1953, when Wright was very much in the twilight of his career (he was 85 when the house was completed). Nevertheless, the house, in Kalamazoo County, is a finely realised example of his ‘Usonian’ vision for middle-class housing, often located in pre-planned housing developments and intended to be a more generous and creative response to the homogeneity of suburban design.

The Eppstein House is modest in scale, at 2,500 sq ft. Containing five bedrooms, four of which are little more than compact sleeping cells, the house saves its powder for the primary living space at one end of the linear plan. Set beneath a soaring monopitch roof above an array of glazing leading out onto a terrace, this room stands in stark counterpoint to the rest of the single-storey, low-slung structure.

In common with the majority of the Usonian houses, the Eppstein House is made from monumental concrete blocks, visible both outside and in. Largely modified – and certainly not extended – it survives as an expression of the original architectural vision.

The surrounding areas are also pretty special. The plot is located on the Galesburg Country Homes community, a 70-acre spread of land half way between Detroit and Chicago that gives each house a unique rural outlook. In fact, it’s one of four Wright-designed houses at ‘The Acres’ – the others include the Weisblat House, the Curtis Meyer House and the Eric & Pat Pratt House. All follow similar design principles, animated by the use of sculpted building blocks, bespoke joinery and linear floor plans.

Joining the community of Frank Lloyd Wright owners is not for the faint-hearted, such is the demand for information, rentals and photoshoots. If you have the enthusiasm and passion for one of the true masters of modern architecture, then it’s good to know there are still opportunities for ownership.

Samuel Eppstein Residence, 11090 Hawthorne Drive, Galesburg, Michigan, USA, $2.1M at Signature Sotheby’s International Realty, SothebysRealty.com, @SothebysRealty

For an artist most associated with her renderings of the natural world – flowers, landscapes and bones – it is perhaps nonintuitive to consider architecture as a constant in Georgia O’Keeffe’s career.

Indeed, ‘Georgia O’Keeffe: Architecture,’ which opens today at the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) is the first exhibition concerned exclusively with the artist’s relationship to the built environment. As the show ably demonstrates through an assembly of 36 paintings spanning almost 40 years of O’Keeffe’s career, architecture was a fundamental and perennial fascination for this painter-of-flowers.

The show was passionately cultivated by curator Benjamin W. Colman, who developed the concept from the sole O’Keeffe painting in the DIA’s permanent collection: Stables (1932). The work appears in the Barns section of the exhibition, which collects paintings developed mostly in relationship to upstate New York, particularly Lake George, to which O’Keeffe frequently sojourned from the city.

One of the earlier pieces in this section, My Shanty, Lake George (1922), provided an important talking point for O’Keeffe. Her exploration of colour, form and architecture in this painting was, among other things, a response to the sexism and pigeonholing that would attend her long and singular career in an extremely male-dominated profession.

‘I can paint one of those dismal-coloured paintings like the men [e.g. Arthur Dove, John Marin, Charles Demuth, Marsden Hartley and Paul Strand],’ O’Keeffe said, in a recollection captured by the Phillips Collection, regarding Shanty. ‘I think just for fun I will try – all low-toned and dreary with the tree beside the door.’

‘Dreary’ seems a harsh characterisation for any of the pieces in the show, which continue over two more sections, focused on the architecture of New York and New Mexico, respectively. The works are united in their formality, and perhaps more strictly figurative than some of O’Keeffe’s trademark subjects – as if turning up the volume on the 'objectivity’ aspect of the dialectic she famously outlined between objectivity and abstraction. Nonetheless, even in her imagery of a city undergoing an industrial revolution and hyper-phallic building boom, there is undeniable emotionality and sly yonic detail in paintings like New York Street with Moon (1925) and Abstraction (1926).

The exhibition comes home, appropriately, to the Southwest, where O’Keeffe settled into her New Mexico environs. This includes her Ghost Ranch homestead, whose patio door was a famous point of obsession in her later works. Here, the curators have provided some charming immersive elements, including a 360-degree video panorama of her Ghost Ranch courtyard, and a hands-on drawing area featuring 3D-printed models and midcentury modern furnishings that were hallmarks of O’Keeffe’s eclectic New Mexico living spaces.

This section offers the viewer much opportunity to meditate on O’Keeffe’s sense of place, from The House I Live In (1937), to the tender, bodily details of her various Ranchos Church renderings, to her patio door. ‘That door was what I bought the house for,’ O’Keeffe says in a video at the entrance of the exhibition.

In a final nod to its lingering importance, the exhibition closes out with a black-painted corridor, a gesture to the portal that held such lingering fascination, with a final work Ladder to the Moon (1958) hanging wistfully in the dark, seemingly pointing the way toward the infinite.

‘Georgia O’Keeffe: Architecture’ is on view from 11 September 11, 2026 – 3 January, 2027 at the Detroit Institute of Arts.

‘What does America look like?’ is a question whose answer has shifted incessantly across National Geographic’s 138-year history, from frontier landscapes and postwar prosperity to a nation tussling with its own complexities and contradictions. A new tome from Taschen meshes those perspectives together, using the magazine’s archive to survey the United States through a century of photography.

Tour the history, people, and beauty of the United States 

On the cover, the Mayflower II – a reproduction of the 17th-century ship – enters New York Harbour in 1957, greeted by a flotilla beneath a silver US Navy airship, with the Manhattan skyline hovering in the distance. Captured by B Anthony Stewart, the brilliant photograph perfectly frames the country’s founding mythology, technological ambition and appetite for spectacle, setting the tone for the 792 pages that follow.

National Geographic. The United States of America takes shape as a substantial XL Taschen edition. Organised geographically, the title journeys alphabetically through all 50 states before turning to US territories. Each chapter opens with a quote that waxes lyrical about its destination, drawn from figures ranging from musicians and scientists to authors and poets, which is then followed by an introduction by travel writer Joe Yogerst that traces the state’s history, culture and regional identity alongside National Geographic’s own coverage.

Recurring subjects include the grandeur of the American landscape, the growth of its cities, industrial and agricultural labour, transport, leisure, religion and regional traditions – all captured through a candid, occasionally irreverent lens. Collectively, the photographs chart the country’s shift from an agricultural and industrial power towards an increasingly urban, suburban and consumer-driven society, while objectively registering the environmental damage and social tensions that accompanied its growth.

National Geographic. The United States of America also maps the evolution of photographic technology. Early black-and-white images and Autochromes from the 1920s and 1930s give way to the saturated Kodachrome photography that came to define National Geographic’s postwar identity. During the 1970s and 1980s, staged scenes and picturesque travel imagery were increasingly joined by documentary work confronting pollution, poverty, urban decline and cultural change. Digital photography closes the century with an expansive, often ambiguous portrait of American life.

Photography editor David Walker examines this evolution in his introductory essay, ‘America the Beautiful’. He considers how the magazine’s photographers helped construct an aspirational national image rooted in exploration, prosperity and individualism, while frequently reinforcing the perspective of white, middle-class America. As its editorial priorities evolved, the archive began to accommodate a fuller and increasingly complex picture of the country – one marked by social unrest, ecological damage and regional identities threatened by economic and technological development.

The evolution can also be traced through the photographers themselves. Early figures including B Anthony Stewart, J Baylor Roberts, W Robert Moore and Willard R Culver arguably initiated the magazine’s carefully composed visual language. Later generations – among them William Albert Allard, Jodi Cobb, Nathan Benn, Jim Richardson, Cary Wolinsky and Michael Melford – introduced documentary immediacy, psychological depth and increasingly individual approaches to colour and composition.

Edited by Reuel Golden and designed by Andy Disl, the book pairs its photographs with captions by Jeff Z Klein and illustrations by Cristóbal Schmal. Its generous format allows each image to act as historical evidence, editorial construction and object of visual nostalgia. The 250th-anniversary edition revisits material first published by Taschen in 2016, presenting it anew at a moment when American identity is once again under intense examination.

‘National Geographic. The United States of America’, published by Taschen, is available now, priced £125

Ninjago is a world where ancient temples exist alongside powerful dragons, mechanical giants and ninjas mastering elemental powers. Drawing on mythology, martial arts and East Asian influences, Lego’s long-running franchise (initially released in 2011) began as a toy line before expanding into television, film and video games. Yet beneath its battles, mystical powers and fantastical landscapes, the series has always been about how young people can unlock their potential.

To mark Ninjago’s 15th anniversary, Lego has partnered with New York-based artist Futura to create new artwork drawing on the fantasy series. It brings together two worlds connected by imagination, curiosity and a shared instinct for world-building.

Inside the Lego x Futura Ninjago collaboration

Born Leonard Hilton McGurr in New York, Futura adopted his moniker as a teenager when he emerged from the city’s graffiti and subway culture during the 1970s. From the beginning, anonymity became a space for invention. ‘I started off anonymous but wanted to create a mythology behind my work,’ he explains. That impulse would become central to a practice populated by recurring characters, symbols and forms that together feel like fragments of a larger universe.

Over the decades, Futura developed a distinctive graphical approach of fluid aerosol gestures, atmospheric colour and floating forms. Figures such as Pointman emerge from these compositions as different facets of an imagined future. Moving between painting, sculpture and product design, he has continually expanded that language without losing his youthful approach. This energy and playfulness drew Lego to Futura, whose visual language seemed naturally suited to the Ninjago series; he has now been named an official creative collaborator and artistic co-creator for the brand.

The collaboration began in Billund, Denmark, at Lego’s headquarters. There, Futura met the designers shaping Ninjago, delved into the company’s archives and witnessed how designs move from an initial sketch to a finished object. Walking through the factory and seeing the precision and care invested in every component shifted his sense of what the partnership might become. ‘My visit completely expanded my vision of what could be possible,’ he says. ‘After that experience, I truly understood the outcome would be fantastical.’

Back in New York, McGurr’s studio became a playground of scattered bricks and unfolding ideas. At the centre was the minifigure, one of Lego’s most important storytelling objects, first launched in its current form in 1978. This plastic figurine became the vessel for Futura to carry his visual language into the Ninjago universe. As a result, ‘the design process began with simple silhouettes, front, back and side views’.

A natural point of departure was Pointman, Futura’s elongated, futuristic figure that has appeared throughout his work for decades. With its sharp edges, stretched head and extended limbs, this alien-like symbol exists somewhere between human and machine. But the intention was never simply to reproduce this character as a minifigure. Instead, the Lego team worked closely with Futura to explore how elements of his creative style could be translated into the Ninjago world – the result was Ninja of the Futura, a 3D art piece. ‘We started by working up sketches of a mask, gear and body plates,’ says Futura.

Pointman’s influence is most clearly seen in this new artwork, its elongated form, pointed details, and sharp oval eyes echoing the silhouette of Futura’s iconic figure while fitting carefully within the Ninjago universe. In Lego’s fantasy series, this type of accessory conceals a person’s identity, but can also be a powerful magical artefact, giving the design both a visual and narrative role. Yet for the New York-based artist, appearance is only the starting point.

‘There are two parts to creating this character. What they look like and, more importantly, who they are,’ explains Futura. ‘There is so much room to tell a wonderful story, but we also have to respect the audience Ninjago has created and understand how young people grow with that world.’

Rather than creating a hero defined by strength alone, Futura has imagined a grounded figure who acts as a teacher to the young ninjas. ‘The character does not necessarily need to be the strongest or have the most spectacular powers. His strength could come from knowledge, experience and wisdom,’ states Futura. To reflect this, Ninja of the Futura’s rucksack is filled with tools rather than combat equipment. ‘The backpack has an assortment of selected items, not weapons, but necessary tools. These will be of great power to the character and the community,’ he explains.

Futura’s collaboration with Lego also includes original artworks that reimagine fan favourite characters from the fantasy series, Nya and Kai. ‘This project feels bigger than a single product. It brings together an entire world that can continue to grow.’

For Futura, collaborating with the Danish toymaker marks the fulfilment of a long-held ambition. A lifelong Lego collector, he had imagined what it might be like to work with the company for decades, long before the opportunity became a reality. ‘For years, I always thought it would be incredible to work with the brand, and now it is happening,’ he notes. ‘This is not a vanity project or simply about being able to say that I worked with Lego. What excites me is the possibility of becoming part of a story that can guide, empower and inspire young people.’

Ultimately, the collaboration goes beyond placing an established artist within a global franchise. Through Futura’s work, the Ninjago universe introduces a different idea of what power can look like in the series. Not greater strength or a more spectacular weapon, but knowledge, experience and the ability to pass both on.

In a fantasy world built around young ninjas learning to master extraordinary powers, Futura’s character feels especially fitting. He offers a reminder that growing stronger is not only about what you can do, but what you can share, teach and leave with others.

The new partnership will be experienced for the first time on Friday 18 September 2026 at the I Park Mall Yongsan, Seoul, as part of the Lego Ninjago: Legends DuskFall Fan Event

lego.com

Ask many a skincare obsessive what their favourite brand is and chances are the response will be Biologique Recherche. Founded in the late 1970s by the biologist Yvan Allouche and physiotherapist Josette Allouche, Biologique Recherche has achieved its cult following and commercial success almost entirely through word of mouth, rarely engaging in traditional advertising or public promotion. But the brand has yet to become a household name, at least beyond its native France.

That, however, is about to change, thanks to the opening this week (8 September 2026) of the brand’s first flagship store in New York City. Located on 132 Greene Street in SoHo, the 2,500 sq ft space is the brand’s debut of its new, more public-facing identity. In the words of Wandjina Glasheen-Brown, SVP of global creative at Biologique Recherche, it’s a space that ‘is giving our reputation a voice, a vibe, and a physical grammar’.

Designed by London- and Berlin-based architecture studio Casper Mueller Kneer, ‘the Residence’ is the first boutique to bring Biologique Recherche’s new architectural concept to life. Inside, visitors will find a retail area for products; a space for the brand’s signature ‘Skin Instant’ diagnosis and expert consultation, allowing staff to create a personalised skincare routine for clients; and treatment rooms for both facials and body treatments.

‘Casper Mueller Kneer’s approach allowed us to explore the contrasts and contradictions that are central to Biologique Recherche,’ says Glasheen-Brown. ‘Precision and warmth, science and emotion, technical expertise and human touch – while also creating a dialogue between the maison’s Parisian heritage and the energy of New York. Together, we developed a new architectural language for the maison that feels contemporary and distinctive, without losing the unconventional spirit that has always been part of its identity.’

Upon entering the space, visitors are greeted by an ‘altar table’ where the products are displayed and which gives the serums, in Glasheen-Brown’s words, ‘a kind of sculptural authority, almost reliquary-like’, while a gold-leaf ceiling creates a warm, opulent aesthetic that contrasts with the clinical appearance of the glass-cylinder bottles. That clean, restrained look is picked up in the stainless-steel display area beyond, however, and, past that, the opulence returns with a blue marble bar inspired by the journey that the Seine takes through Paris.

Those who visit the treatment rooms will find themselves transitioning into a progressively more secluded environment, with the acoustics and atmosphere shifting to create a more intimate feel. Soft carpets underfoot are decorated with a design inspired by the Sistine Chapel ceiling, while the lighting and soundscapes in the treatment rooms are engineered to complement the rhythm of each treatment.

For Biologique Recherche, the New York space is an important moment for the brand, reflecting its move into a more public arena. That said, it is essential to all those behind it that the company retains the principles that have defined its approach since the 1970s.

‘Growth, for this maison, has to stay disciplined and highly selective. The things that built our reputation – professional expertise, the quality of our client relationships, and a genuinely personalised approach – are not negotiable as we scale exposure,’ says Glasheen-Brown. ‘What makes Biologique Recherche special was never scarcity for its own sake; it is the depth of methodology, of efficacy, and of the practitioner relationship. Our job now is to protect that depth while finally letting the maison show up with the confidence it's earned, on a global stage.’

Visit the store at 132 Greene Street, New York City, NY 10012, biologique-recherche.com/en-us

Shop Biologique Recherche

The white stucco church with a crucifix-topped bell tower on the corner of Lucile Avenue and Griffith Park Boulevard in Silver Lake has stood as a local landmark for almost a century. Originally constructed in 1931 as Bethany Presbyterian, the building was put to various uses before sadly spending the best part of the last decade vacant, bar a brief spell as an antiques market.

Now, Casetta, the California-based boutique hotel group that specialises in breathing new life into architecturally significant properties, have made it the sixth addition to their portfolio and pulled off a wholly remarkable act of resurrection. Not only is the gracefully refurbished and rechristened Hotel Lucile ideally located for exploring the east side of Los Angeles and beyond, but it’s also home to Sous Sous, a superlative restaurant set inside the church’s high-ceilinged nave with a menu that blends Southern French cuisine with Deep South flavour.

Wallpaper* checks into Hotel Lucile, Los Angeles

What’s on your doorstep?

Silver Lake has long been established as the trendy, creative heart of east Los Angeles, but strangely the neighbourhood has limited hotel options. The opening of Hotel Lucile may be bad news for the area’s AirBnb hosts, but it’s a winning development for anyone seeking an elegant stay within stumbling distance of Sunset Junction. Many of the city’s best and buzziest bars and restaurants, including the Seco, Bar Stella, Bacari and Night + Market Song, are all just moments away. Outdoor activity hubs such as Silver Lake Reservoir and Griffith Park are also close by, as is Barnsdall Art Park and Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hollyhock House. The hotel has teamed up with the Usal Outdoor Research Center to provide guests with a tailored field guide to local experiences.

Who is behind the design?

The Romanesque Revival-style church was designed by architect Scott Quintin in 1930 and built at a cost of around $75,000 (equivalent to just under $1.5 million in 2026). Casetta’s tasteful renovation was overseen by architecture and interior design studio Electric Bowery, led by Lucia Bartholomew and Cayley Lambur, who say they set out to celebrate the church’s ‘European sensibility’. The central nave of the building is now occupied by the restaurant, Sous Sous, with a food concept by The Butcher’s Daughter founder and creative director Heather Tierney.

The original wooden beams, vaulted ceilings and stained glass windows have all been lovingly preserved and are complemented by two large, impressive murals by the classically trained oil painter Erin Lynn Welsh. Each references the local landscape: The deep red mural above the chancel stage pays tribute to Altadena’s Eaton Canyon, which was devastated by wildfire in January 2025, while at the other end of the space is a verdant green scene inspired by the native flora of Elysian Park.

The room to book

Hotel Lucile’s 25 guest rooms are designed in a refined, minimalist style, featuring Parachute linens and Aesop bath amenities. The walls display original works by local Los Angeles artists, curated by the Rhett Baruch Gallery. Minibars are stocked with select products from the nearby Erewhon market, including sea salt popcorn, dark chocolate protein bites and Anytime organic vodka and gin. Wellness products such as a hydrating sheet mask and citrus-vanilla vitamin C gel are also available. The pick of the rooms is number 106, known as the Lucile Suite, which has a living room and its own private courtyard.

Staying for drinks and dinner?

The hotel’s restaurant Sous Sous dominates the main building, and seems destined to become a Silver Lake institution in its own right. In part, this is due to the sanctified ambience that remains in the beautifully renovated space, but it’s also down to the earthly delights being cooked up in the kitchen. Led by Chef Patrick Costa and bar director Lee Zaremba, the restaurant’s inspired mingling of Southern Californian ingredients, Southern French recipes and flavours drawn from the American South leads to some ingenious creations.

The Green Tomato Margarita is one such example, a crisp, refreshing twist on the classic cocktail served with a rim of espelette pepper and Old Bay seasoning. The hamachi crudo pulls off a similar trick, with Virginia peanuts and red pepper relish lending the yellowtail a Deep South tang. There’s also warm, crunchy country bread that seems to have appeared directly from a farmhouse in Provence, but the star of the show is the delicate rainbow trout served with a smoky, Cajun-style blackened polenta crust. Given the surroundings, it seems apt that Sous Sous does miraculous things with loaves and fishes.

Where to switch off

The spacious rooftop deck, which is reserved for guests only, offers panoramic views of Silver Lake. There’s also a pool tucked away in a sun-kissed grotto below street level, which may be too small for swimming laps but is just the right size for sipping cocktails.

What’s the verdict?

Hotel Lucile might have rested on the laurels provided by its prime Sunset Junction location, but thankfully it has loftier ambitions. The gorgeous stained glass windows and innovative menu at Sous Sous make it a restaurant worth proselytising about, while the hotel’s commitment to showcasing local artists on its walls suggests a sincere intention to restore this former church to the centre of its community. Silver Lake’s prayers have been answered.

Hotel Lucile is located at 1629 Griffith Park Blvd, Los Angeles, California 90026, United States

A weekend in the woods – or indeed, any kind of wilderness – has perennial appeal when it entails a stay in a contemporary or vintage cabin. The humble architectural cabin is as romanticised as it is versatile; it may adapt to different terrains, climates and levels of social battery, but its quirky, pared-back allure remains. Here, from a midcentury gem in Sonoma County to an off-grid red hut set in Irish turf and a treetop hideaway swallowed by the Ecuadorian forest, we’ve handpicked ten cabins for design lovers with a discerning eye and a fondness for a good old wooden refuge.

Book ten of the world’s best architect-designed cabin stays

Cedar + Skye, Sea Ranch Living, California, USA

Twenty-five feet separate the floor from the ceiling in Cedar + Skye’s living room – arguably an extravagant gesture in a cabin built for two. Architect Ralph Matheson designed the midcentury home within Sea Ranch, the northern Californian planned community established in the 1960s, and it now belongs to Sea Ranch Living, The Sea Ranch Lodge’s collection of 13 renovated modernist homes. Downstairs, glass walls surround a freestanding wood stove and a kitchen finished with white quartz, Italian appliances and cerulean glass. Meanwhile, the bedroom occupies an open loft, with an en-suite shower, compact workspace and a skylight trained on the treetops and night sky. Stays include access to Sea Ranch’s recreation centres, private beaches and 50-plus miles of hiking trails.

Cedar + Skye is located within Sea Ranch, Sonoma County, California, USA; rates vary by date

Cucu, WestMeath, Ireland

Cucu is the latest addition to Irish company Samsú’s roster of bijou off-grid cabins. An hour from Dublin, the 20 sq m off-grid shelter occupies 350 acres of County Westmeath countryside, its tapered red form punctured by a single circular window. Studio Bucky, led by Irish architect Alexander Buckeridge, oversaw the architecture, merging a compact timber shell with plywood walls, terracotta tiles and copper details. A custom roll-top copper bath calls for rest and relaxation, while a private sauna extends the bathing ritual outside. The analogue kit supplies a cassette player, film camera, journals, dumb phone and local map; there is also a king-sized bed, wood-burning stove and locally roasted coffee.

Cucu is located on the Meath–Westmeath border, Ireland. Rates: from €225

El Hormiguero, Mindo, Ecuador

From the road, El Hormiguero by Añanku Cabins is a charcoal-black triangle half-swallowed by the ferns of Ecuador’s Andean Chocó. Estudio 2850 and Janna Lasso Hadweh positioned the 24 sq m A-frame on nine steel legs, leaving roots and undergrowth undisturbed beneath its blackened timber, metal and glass shell. The roadside flank cleverly comprises the cabin’s services, including a semi-open shower screened by eucalyptus slats, while the south-west façade faces towards Mindo and the mountains beyond. Stairs, tables and partitions shift to accommodate different uses within the compact interior. Upstairs, a ridge skylight opens the bedroom to the sky and funnels daylight down to the lower level when fog settles over the forest. Birdwatching begins on the charred-timber balcony; waterfalls and butterfly farms are nearby, and central Mindo is a seven-minute walk away.

El Hormiguero is located in Mindo, Pichincha, Ecuador; rates vary by date

JR’s Eco Hut, Nangus, Australia

This solid, A-frame wooden structure, designed by Luke Stanley Architects and located in the rolling hills overlooking the bushlands of south-western Australia, resembles the top half of a Swiss chalet, emerging from a gravel bed. A celebration of off-grid living, the eco hut is intended as a place for dropping out and forgetting the rest of the world, a feat facilitated by panoramic views and congenial midcentury élan, thanks to Anthony Hunt Design’s luxuriously minimal treatment of its airy interior. Solar power runs the lights, gas heats the water, and cooking happens outdoors on a Weber barbecue and twin-burner stove. In winter, the wood-fired tub keeps guests outside after dark; in summer, it becomes a plunge pool. In the morning, expect cockatoos returning to roost and a regional-produce breakfast ready to cook.

JR’s Eco Hut is located at 1214 Nangus Rd, Nangus NSW 2722, Australia; rates vary by date

ÖÖD at Sûr Jumigny, France

Sûr Jumigny pairs two mirrored cabins with two rather older neighbours: a 350-year-old wine cellar and a historic dovecote. The Cave cabin has a private terrace above the cellar, while Pigeonnier turns the dovecote’s chalk-white interior into a cold post-sauna shower. Designed and built by Estonian cabin maker ÖÖD House, the structures stand in a wildflower meadow on an old manor estate at the edge of Champagne. Host Godfrey Hill led the interiors and landscape execution, marrying mirrored glass with limestone, long grass and the estate’s 19th-century buildings. Each cabin sleeps two, with a kitchenette, private terrace, sauna and outdoor shower. Naturally, champagne awaits on arrival.

ÖÖD by Sûr Jumigny, 1 Rue du Jeu de Paume, 02160 Jumigny, France; rates from: €220 per night

Pan Treetop Cabins, Finnskogen, Norway

Moominvalley appears to have taken a detour into Finnskogen, leaving three steep, black cabins among the pines. Norwegian architect Espen Surnevik also borrowed from North American A-frames and electricity pylons, raising each 40 sq m structure eight metres above the forest floor on four supports. The cabins occupy the rocky ground lightly and can be removed without leaving a permanent trace. Each sleeps four to six, with heated floors, a kitchen, fireplace and full-height glazing trained on the birch, spruce and pine outside. Elsewhere, reclaimed barn materials frame a hot tub inside the roofless House with Three Walls. Autumn days can be spent hiking, canoeing and tracking elk (or perhaps elves).

Pan Treetop Cabins is located at Gjesåsen, Åsnes, Finnskogen, Norway. Rates from: £407 per night

Scrubby Bay, New Zealand

Scattered across Banks Peninsula, a rocky Pacific headland of muscular ridges, private coves and grassy hills, Annandale’s collection of spacious villas is the work of architect Andrew Patterson of Pattersons. Of the collection, Scrubby Bay comes closest to the ideal of the New Zealand bach: the cedar-clad villa stretches along the beach, with three sea-view suites, an eight-bed bunk room, a deck with a fire pit and an outdoor spa. Arrival, naturally, is effected by helicopter or a panoramic 40-minute drive along cliff-top farm tracks.

Scrubby Bay is located at Pigeon Bay 7583, New Zealand; rates on request

Skyhawk, Vermont, USA

Skyhawk sits in the woods at the foot of Mount Ascutney, with a bike trail tracing the edge of the property. Catherine and VW Fowlkes of Fowlkes Studio redesigned the midcentury cabin as a four-bedroom retreat for eight, opening the upstairs ceiling to create a lofty gathering room. Original wall boards were reused between exposed joists; rubber floors, caged bulkhead lights and custom steel kitchen furniture add a utilitarian note. Bedrooms swap wardrobes for peg rails and open niches, while a former bedroom serves as a timber-lined boot room. Outside, new Accoya cladding is paired with a large deck, where a built-in bench screens the hot tub. There is no TV, but Mount Ascutney makes a strong case for hiking, snowshoeing and skiing.

Skyhawk is located in West Windsor, Vermont, United States. Rates from: $375 per night (two-night minimum)

Vipp Salaca River, Latvia

Vipp Salaca River arrived at its riverside plot one log at a time. The listed fisherman’s house, built in 1876, was dismantled and rebuilt on 180 stones in Salaca National Park, having once served travellers between Riga and Wolmar. Now part of Vipp’s guesthouse portfolio, the 110 sq m cabin has interiors by Julie Cloos Mølsgaard. Dark log walls and a grey-brown ceiling frame a black Vipp V1 kitchen, mirrored fireplace and open living area. Upstairs, the master bedroom – freestanding bathtub included – overlooks the room below; a twin bedroom faces the woods. A separate terrace holds a wood-fired hot tub with panoramic views. The Salaca River Valley is perfect for kayaking, salmon fishing, cross-country skiing, swimming and autumn mushroom hunting.

Vipp Salaca River is located within Salaca National Park, Latvia; rates from: €375 per night (two-night minimum)

Yamanakako 1st, Japan

Two hours from Tokyo beside Lake Yamanaka, Yamanakako 1st forms part of the Sanu 2nd Home’s nationwide network of bookable retreats. Its Bee cabins were designed by Kotaro Anzai of ADX Architects, who combined a mountain-like profile with the structural logic of a honeycomb. Digitally slit cedar bends into curved partitions around the sleeping and work areas, while a floor-to-ceiling window borrows the surrounding woodland as scenery. Domestic timber construction and raised foundations limit disturbance to the site, while vacuum glazing and substantial insulation prepare the cabin for Japan’s humid summers and snow-heavy winters. Each cabin sleeps four, and features a kitchen, workspace and terrace.

Yamanakako 1st is located at Lake Yamanaka, Yamanashi, Japan; sa-nu.com; rates vary by date

Another Fire Island architectural wonder is up for sale, this time in the distinctive form of Julio Kaufman’s Pyramid House at 443 Sail Walk. Just a few streets away from the recently marketed Horace Gifford-designed beach house on Ocean Drive, the Pyramid House is one of the more distinctive homes in a neighbourhood renowned for its architectural self-expression.

Explore Fire Island's Pyramid House, now for sale

The house was designed at the start of the 1960s by Kaufman, an architect who was born in Buenos Aires but came to the US to study architecture at Columbia in 1952. After building his own home on Fire Island in 1957, Kaufman was commissioned by one John Goodwin (a grandson of JP Morgan, no less) to design a private retreat. The pyramid shape came from Kaufman’s idiosyncratic approach – he wanted the living room at the centre of the house to have views of the whole island.

The original structure was raised up above the dunes on a rickety deck on a generous plot going down to the beach. In the decades that followed Sail Walk became more and more developed and the house required sturdier foundations. The original two-bedroom configuration was expanded and altered, whilst still retaining the dramatic silhouette – by then a familiar local landmark. The original Asian-inspired décor has been switched out for a more beach house friendly aesthetic.

In addition, the restored property now has an entire wall plane of steel and glass, dramatically improving on Kaufman’s original vision. The impressive views range across what are now the protected Fire Island National Seashore. Another bedroom was added, with the primary suite located on the lower level, which opens directly onto the pool with the dunes beyond.

There are also three small pyramid-shaped structures that add another two guest bedrooms and bathroom. In total, the Pyramid House offers 2,100 square feet of accommodation, arranged as private, self-contained complex. The agents note there is scope to update and expand still further, although it is being sold with central air conditioning and a refurbished pool.

It wasn’t Kaufman’s only major project in the area – he was also responsible for the new Pines Yacht Club and Botel, following a 1959 fire that destroyed the original, owned by former Ziegfeld girl, actress and producer Peggy Fears. Kaufman designed the replacement – a place for boat owners to moor up and stay for the night that became one of the island’s popular nightspots – despite losing an arm in a seaplane accident during the construction phase of both projects.

‘More than six decades after its creation, the Pyramid House remains remarkably private and unmistakably iconic - a landmark of Fire Island modernism ready for its next chapter,’ says agent Esteban Gomez.

The Pyramid House, Fire Island, NY, is for sale for $3,300,000, through Compass.com, listed by Esteban Gomez at @TheCreativesAgent

Earlier this week, Victoria Beckham revealed that her eponymous fashion and beauty line has made a profit for the first time in its 18-year history (she founded the label in 2008, and has hosted runway shows in Paris, New York and its native London). Those profits amounted to 7.3 million, something bolstered by her critically lauded beauty line, which launched in 2019. ‘We have all worked hard for a long time for this moment of profitability and growth,’ she told the Financial Times.

It feels an apt moment, then, for Beckham to open the doors to the brand’s second permanent home, an outpost in New York’s SoHo district. Designed as a companion to her 2014-opened London flagship on Mayfair’s Dover Street – a two-storey conversion in sleek planes of polished concrete by Farshid Moussavi Architects – the New York address was overseen by artist Alexander May and designer Ole Lund of LNP, drawing on the distinctive cast-iron, post-industrial architecture of the neighbourhood.

‘I really wanted the SoHo store to honour the building’s unique character and give the space a distinctly New York sensibility,’ Beckham tells Wallpaper*. ‘We did this by keeping some of the original features and drawing inspiration from the art deco world of Tamara de Lempicka.’ (De Lempicka, a Polish art deco artist known for her bold, stylised portraiture, inspired Beckham’s A/W 2026 collection shown at Paris Fashion Week earlier this year). ‘At the same time, it needed to feel unmistakably Victoria Beckham – warm, intimate and like an extension of the house.’

‘Our starting point was to create a distinctly New York expression of the Victoria Beckham world: precise and confident, but also intimate and welcoming,’ add May and Lund. ‘We preserved the original character of the SoHo building and introduced a disciplined palette of mineral tones, burgundy, marble, timber, lacquer and velvet, balancing the strength of the architecture with softer, more tactile elements.’ Beckham describes it as a clash of ‘masculine and feminine’, a juxtaposition which also runs through her runway collections.

Much of this mood is created through May and Lund’s curation of furnishing and textiles, which add a feeling of richness to the otherwise simple, wood-floored space. Velvet drapery and curtains, created in collaboration with The Shade Store, line the space’s entranceway, while bespoke sculptural, curving sofas were designed by Pierre Augustin Rose. Elsewhere, a pair of monolithic marble counters intersect the space, used to display accessories and beauty, while a Gio Ponti lantern hangs over the entranceway staircase. Paints draw on the palette of Dorset-based company Farrow & Ball.

The store’s opening coincides with New York Fashion Week, which begins next week (10-15 September) and will feature a number of other big-name retail launches, including a vast new Moncler store on Fifth Avenue and a new Acne Studios address in the West Village. They are part of a bricks-and-mortar luxury retail renaissance in the city, which is largely centred around Fifth Avenue and Madison Avenue, bolstered by ‘mega-flagships’ like the four-floor Peter Marino-designed House of Dior New York, which opened in 2025 on the corner of East 57th Street and Madison. In April, property company Savills placed New York as the top city for luxury retail openings for the first time since 2019.

‘New York is where I started my brand, showing my collections there for the first time in 2008, and it’s also where I launched my beauty business,’ says Beckham of the city, where she showed for a decade before shifting to London in 2018. ‘Today, my teams are based in London and New York, so to now have retail spaces in both cities feels incredibly special and exciting. They are two places that have truly become home to my brands.’

Victoria Beckham New York, 150 Mercer Street, New York, NY 10012.

victoriabeckham.com

Multi-brand fashion boutique Lang has set up shop in Los Angeles’ new format Row DTLA complex. Founded by Kayla Wong, the mission-driven retail platform showcases gender-neutral apparel from Asian-founded brands and independent talents. Local architect Paul Chan brought down the scale of the raw, post-industrial space by creating a series of theatrical vignettes staged with custom furnishings and finishes that contrast, fuse – and ultimately transcend – references to Asian and North American culture.

‘The design grew from the shared experience Kayla and I have of growing up in Hong Kong and now living in Los Angeles, carrying a sense of being between two places at once,’ Chan says. ‘Our native home became the muse but the store is not a direct recreation. It’s an assemblage of fragments and memories transformed through their encounter with our adoptive city.’