Artist Kelly Akashi's 'Monument (Altadena)' is a glass chimney sculpture at the Whitney Biennial, crafted from 821 hand-cast glass bricks. This artwork commemorates the devastating Los Angeles wildfires of January 2025, which destroyed Akashi's home and studio. The piece reflects on loss, memory, and the complex process of rebuilding, symbolizing resilience amidst fragility and transformation.
Actiu has introduced its Menssula line of adjustable desks and conference tables, featuring a distinctive cantilever design for enhanced modularity. This collection allows for effortless height adjustments, distinguishing itself with an asymmetrical form that maximizes user space and offers an uncluttered area beneath the tabletop, promoting active ergonomics for various work settings.
Milan Design Week 2026, held from April 20-26, showcases a diverse array of design installations, exhibitions, and collaborations across the city. Highlights include Zaha Hadid Architects' immersive mindfulness space, Kelly Wearstler's debut furniture collection for H&M Home, and a retrospective on Danish design at Triennale Milano. The event also features cutting-edge glass artistry, explorations of silk as a medium, and an examination of domestic propaganda through the White House's design.
Clive Christian Perfume has launched its latest fragrance, "Strange Heavens Out Of The Blue," as part of the Addictive Arts collection. This innovative scent, designed in collaboration with Spanish artist Domingo Zapata, features a unique cobalt blue bottle adorned with Zapata's signature panda artwork. The perfume aims to push the boundaries of contemporary perfumery, offering a complex and compelling aroma with notes of coffee, aniseed, orange flower, and vanilla caramel, embodying themes of balance, playfulness, and endless possibilities.
Designer Kelly Wearstler and retailer H&M Home have joined forces for a new collection of lighting, accessories, and modular furniture. This collaboration will debut at Milan Design Week with an immersive installation within the historic Palazzo Acerbi, marking both Wearstler's first Milan showing and H&M Home's inaugural presence at the prestigious design event.
This April, the global design calendar is packed with significant events, including Desert Design Week Scottsdale, Milan Design Week, Bogota Design Festival, PAD Paris, and Rural Design Week. These gatherings showcase the latest innovations, foster dialogues between historical and contemporary design, and highlight the impact of design on local communities and ecosystems, inviting professionals and enthusiasts to explore diverse facets of architecture and design worldwide.
Recent months have seen a surge in new design galleries across major cities like London, Copenhagen, New York, and Oslo. These spaces showcase a diverse range of artistic expressions, from contemporary art and decorative arts to culturally specific furniture and accessible everyday objects, fostering innovation and providing platforms for both established and emerging creative talents worldwide.
Astek introduces the Eterna Nouveau wallpaper collection, reimagining Art Nouveau with large-scale, painterly botanical prints. This collection offers a sophisticated and surprising aesthetic, featuring both traditional floral motifs and innovative designs like carnivorous plants and underwater kelp, all digitally printed on durable vinyl with a spot gloss finish.
This article highlights eight extraordinary furniture and lighting pieces, featuring unconventional materials like pink rubber, slanted timber, and colorful micro-algae. Curated by Dezeen's design reporter, these designs reflect cutting-edge creativity and thoughtful material application from various international studios, offering fresh perspectives on contemporary interiors and sustainable design practices.
Playrise, a UK-based charity, and OMMX, an architecture firm, have collaborated to design a flat-pack, modular playground system. This innovative solution aims to restore play opportunities for children residing in refugee camps and disaster-affected areas worldwide. The design, co-created with refugee children, prioritizes ease of assembly, adaptability, and cultural relevance, addressing a critical need for safe and stimulating environments in challenging circumstances.