I seem to have spoke too soon last week when I said 2021 was off to a good start. We made it a mere six days after finally concluding a year the New Yorker referred to as The Plague Year. Right as last week’s newsletter went out, an angry mob was attacking the U.S. Capitol in Washington DC. Even though the event still angers me, I will refrain from talking about what happened because the intent of this newsletter has always been to bring joy and serve as an escape from all the bad things we’ve had to endure this past year. But I feel the least I could do is to acknowledge it happened.
Why an assault on architecture can be felt viscerally
Designers reimagine the U.S. Capitol as a brutalist fortress
Curators assess the damage to U.S. Capitol artworks and museums respond in the wake of mob attack
Following the breach of the Capital, there have been demands for the removal of the Architect of the Capitol
The Smithsonian was quick to collect ephemera from the event
How pin-back buttons became a place for self expression before social media
The origins of a flag used by everyone from Trump supporters to Nike
According to architects who specialize in equity and justice, these five books are essential on making cities anti-racist
MoMA’s Architecture and Design department effectively banned Black architects from its exhibitions until just last year
Currently on view are Gordon Parks’s images that focus on Black life and struggle in midcentury America
Also on view are Danny Lyon’s visions of a New York that no longer exists
Don’t forgot the federally employed artists
What leading designers, educators and writers want to see in 2021
An Indian artist combines photos and graphics to create soothing minimalist pieces
If his art were an apartment it would be this pastel one in Berlin
Ever wonder how the the pastel suburbs of Edward Scissorhands were created?
A housing community in California features huge driveways and garages to accommodate the private airplanes of its residents
Fifty years ago a man hijacked a flight for a $200K ransom and then disappeared into the woods of Portland, Oregon after parachuting from the plane
Located in an Oregon forest is this black wood and glass home
This wooden cabin is in a Chilean forest
The Bali jungle is where you can find this concrete and bamboo villa
This pair of rusted steel cabins is in the middle of Joshua Tree desert in California
In upstate New York, six shipping containers were combined into a single family home
Watch a man in Australia secretly build his wife a Covid shed
Also in Australia is this rentable home in the Byron Hinterland, this midcentury home in Suffolk, this sustainable home in Victoria’s Hepburn Shire and this home of two architects living in Victoria
For $8M you can live in architect I.M. Pei’s former New York City home
Let’s revisit some of I.M. Pei’s most iconic buildings
The Seoul Photographic Art Museum is the world's biggest camera
Alain de Botton says most “nice architecture” was built before 1900
Why being creative is good for you and why finding time for it will give you respite from worries
Meet the creative NYC shop owners setting trends amidst the pandemic
Since we’re talking about shops in NYC, I’d like to mention a personal favorite, Nalata/Nalata
The Metropolitan Museum of Art just released an augmented reality phone experience that lets you explore its galleries and here’s one user’s amusing experience
I personally think this computer generated jellyfish project is way more fun
I mentioned The Social Dilemma last week and then was sent this interview with the director (thanks Tim)
And since this newsletter is hosted by Substack, I feel it’s only appropriate to share a New Yorker article on the very topic
That brings this week’s newsletter to a close. Thank you all for reading.
Feel free to say hello at capa@bloodandchampagne.com
Thomas
There's so much variety in your offerings. I really enjoy the new blog/newsletter/whateveryoucallit.