Bjarke Ingels Group and ICON collaborate on a 3D-printed habitat for NASAs Mars mission simulationsSTIR2026-09-22 | Bjarke Ingels Group and ICON collaborate on a 3D-printed habitat for NASAs Mars mission simulationsThe National Museum of Uzbekistan sees Tadao Ando probe the origins of thought” | STIRworld.comSTIR2025-09-09 | Can architecture become the origin of thought itself? In Tashkent, Tadao Ando’s National Museum of Uzbekistan seeks to do so with pure geometry, concrete, and light - a space where memory, culture, and landscape may converge to carry a nation’s heritage into the world.
Read more at ibit.ly/lcIA8 - Image: Atelier Brückner; Courtesy of Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation - @acdfuz @atelierbruckner6172 - #tadaoando #tadaoandoarchitecture #ando #museumarchitecture #betonbrut #concretearchitecture #STIR #STIRworld #thinkNEXT #StaySTIRredADFF: STIR Curtain Raiser - London LaunchSTIR2025-09-08 | STIR announces the launch of the Architecture & Design Film Festival in London with a Curtain Raiser at the @vamuseum on Saturday, 13 September 2025. Presented in partnership with @LondonDesignFestival and supported by @britishcouncil , the event forms part of the London Design Festival’s Global Design Forum.
Location: The Lydia and Manfred Gorvy Lecture Theatre, Victoria & Albert Museum, Cromwell Rd, London SW7 2RL
The evening will feature a screening of the film Green Over Gray: Emilio Ambasz, followed by a conversation with its director, @francescamuse.
This marks the European debut of ADFF:STIR — extending its 17-year global journey from New York to Mumbai earlier this year, and now London, ahead of its first full edition in the city in 2026.
Made possible with the support of our launch partners: @MolteniandC, @Occhio_lighting, @soulsceramics and @locodesignindia; Communication Partner: @carocommsThe African Flow School by Urbanitree grounds education in land, craft and care | STIRworld.comSTIR2025-09-08 | Can a school itself become a teacher? Urbanitree’s African Flow School grounds education in land, craft, and care. Built from rammed earth and local woods, its spaces flow through four ecosystems - mountain, savanna, village, forest - inviting children to learn through play, movement, and memory.
From The Beatles’ ingeniously ‘dropped T’ to John Pasche’s iconic Rolling Stones tongue, witness how band logos transcend mere branding to become enduring symbols of cultural identity, attitude, and mythmaking. Explore the power of design legends—where Malcolm Garrett’s reflections meet the riot of Andy Warhol, and logos outlive the music itself.
Read more at ibit.ly/J1EKR - @thevelvetundergroundofficial @daftpunk @davidbowie @TheBeatles @TheRollingStones @thedoors @ironmaiden @ledzeppelin @acdc @nirvana - #LogoRhythm #BandIcons #RockHistory #RollingStones #TheBeatles #PopCultureDesign #MalcolmGarrett #GraphicIconography #STIR #STIRworld #staySTIRred #thinkNEXTTess Joseph and Gaurav Ogale on practising care as culture at ADFF:STIR Mumbai 2025 | STIRworld.comSTIR2025-09-06 | Revisiting ~log(ue) programmme at ADFF:STIR Mumbai 2025
Culture of/as Care—a ~dialog(ue) with Gaurav Ogale(@patranimacchi) and Tess Joseph(@tessjoseph19)—reflected on archives, empathy, and imperfection to frame care as both practice and philosophy.
“I think culture has to be colloquial. It’s not an elitist concept. It has to be very accessible. It has to be very relatable,” says Gaurav Ogale
The session posited care as a discipline to be taught and inculcated—not an afterthought, but a force shaping how we live, work, and create. Returning to archives of cities, cinema, and fleeting encounters, both speakers lingered on vulnerability—seldom acknowledged in Indian households, yet vital for art to be true and impactful.
Watch the full conversation at ibit.ly/02QIt Stay tuned for the ~log(ue) programme 2026 supported by @JSWGroupADFF:STIR London | Curtain Raiser at the Victoria & Albert Museum | STIRworld.comSTIR2025-09-05 | ibit.ly/-p_r8 STIR announces the launch of the Architecture & Design Film Festival in London with a Curtain Raiser at the @vamuseum on Saturday, 13 September 2025. Presented in partnership with @LondonDesignFestival and supported by @britishcouncil , the event forms part of the London Design Festival’s Global Design Forum.
The evening will feature a screening of the film Green Over Gray: Emilio Ambasz, followed by a conversation with its director, @francescamuse.
This marks the European debut of ADFF:STIR — extending its 17-year global journey from New York to Mumbai earlier this year, and now London, ahead of its first full edition in the city in 2026.
Made possible with the support of our launch partners: @MolteniandC , @Occhio_lighting,@soulsticeceramics7530 and @locodesignindia.Making writing forms and forms of writing intelligible with Graphic Languages | STIRworld.comSTIR2025-09-04 | Graphic Languages, edited by Oliver Häusle presents a compelling visual journey through 26 of the world’s most influential writing systems — from Latin to Kanji—highlighting the unique DNA of each script, its typography, and cultural significance.
Designed in collaboration with over 100 international type designers and experts, this book is both an inspiring introduction and a practical handbook for students, designers, and enthusiasts into the pluralistic world of letterforms. With monochrome precision, it explores how writing not only communicates but connects diverse cultures.
Read more at ibit.ly/mUa5n - Images: Courtesy of Slanted Publishers - @SLANTEDde - #GraphicLanguages #OliverHäusle #SlantedPublishers #VisualCommunication #CulturalHeritage #WritingSystems #DesignDiversity #GraphicDesign #StaySTIRred #STIRThe 2025 Aga Khan Award for Architecture winners redefine community and resilience | STIRworld.comSTIR2025-09-04 | In an exclusive interview with STIR, Farrokh Derakshani, director of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture shares anecdotes about the people, projects and processes that have shaped the influential architectural awards.
"What the award did when it was established some 40 years ago was to expand the notion of architecture. So we tried to think of it not as a building or just a plan or a section. Architecture is something which lives," Derakshani notes. One of the first international prizes dedicated to architecture, the Aga Khan Award is currently in its 16th cycle, committed to honouring projects that explore design's capacity to serve as a catalyst for pluralism, community resilience, social transformation, cultural dialogue and climate-responsive design.
Read more at ibit.ly/vV1_C - @TheAgaKhanAward @foundationforarchitecturec4566 @takweenintegratedcommunity3260 @zavarchitects4455 @TehranMunicipality - #agakhan #agakhanfoundation #architectureawards #architectureforchange #thinkNEXT #STIRworld #STIRAlessio Fava’s Mondobruto traces the gentle entanglement of concrete and moss | STIRworld.comSTIR2025-09-03 | Alessio Fava’s Mondobruto distills decades of nature’s quiet overture into intimate glass habitats. Within each terrarium, minimalist brutalist forms in custom porous concrete welcome mosses and creeping plants, transforming rigid geometry into evolving ecosystems. Fava’s hand-crafted structures—shaped from polystyrene molds, cast in concrete, then carefully microclimatised—chronicle a controlled yet unpredictable dance between built form and organic life.
Read More at ibit.ly/o8NXR - Images: Courtesy of Alessio Fava - #concretearchitecture #landscapedesign #terrarium #brutalistarchitecture #betonbrut #thinkNEXT #STIR #staySTIRred #STIR_SEERethinking borders at the 26th International Garden Festival in Grand-Métis, Canada | STIRworld.comSTIR2025-09-01 | The 26th International Garden Festival in Grand-Métis, from June 21 – October 5, 2025, explores gardens not merely as ornamental retreats, but also as deeply political spaces. Designers present them as porous, layered spaces where nature and nation, inside and outside, overlap.
Installations such as You Shall (Not) Pass, Peek-a-Boo, BACK / GROUND and Scars of Conflict explore how gardens can hold history, territory, memory and change.
Read more at ibit.ly/HHFK9 - Images: Martin Bond - @jardinsdemetisrefordgarden4693 - #canadaarchitecture #gardenarchitecture #architecturefestival #thisislandscapearchitecture #senseofplace #thinkNEXT #STIR #staySTIRred 30 m~monolog(ue) at ADFF:STIR | Ranjit Hoskote and Kaiwan MehtaSTIR2025-09-01 | Revisiting ~log(ue) programmme at ADFF:STIR Mumbai 2025
Waymarkers and Waystations in the City, a ~monolog(ue) at ADFF:STIR Mumbai 2025, brought poet @rhoskote and architect and theorist @kaiwanstudio into parallel reflection on the unfinished story of the city.
“The impressive urge to view cities floating above its mass and masses is the urge to freedom, the urge to comprehension, the urge for the fraction of a moment to believe that I know the city,” reads Kaiwan.
The session, in Hoskote’s words, brings forth “two different but overlapping perspectives and experience of what it means to live in a city, to see it as a stage for strife and conflict and violence and solidarity and also to look at it as a place of fantasy; of the extension of the imagination and the creation of new identities and really to see how—against all the forces of flattening that are now in place—we might still retrieve the histories of the city in different ways.”
Watch the full conversation at ibit.ly/P681O Stay tuned for the ~log(ue) programme 2026 supported by @JSWGroupSHAU on the mega-processes informing Microlibraries and their contextual impacts | STIRworld.comSTIR2025-08-30 | ibit.ly/uSZPg SHAU’s Microlibraries rethink what a library can be - compact in form yet expansive in purpose, transforming public life in Indonesia. Conceived as small-scale reading spaces within dense urban areas, these pavilion-like spaces embody the studio’s idea of ‘socio-climatic architecture,’ merging passive design strategies with social programming - inviting children and neighbours to read and connect. Built with local craft and shaped by climate, they act as fragments of change: architecture not as a monument, but as a catalyst. In each Microlibrary, reading becomes a shared act that strengthens the fabric of daily life.
Read more at STIRworld.com - Images: Courtesy of SHAU; Instansi Direktorat PKP; Kemla Montesa; Andreas Widi; Dudi Sugandi - #microlibrary #publiclibrary #libraryarchitecture #urbandesign #modernarchitecture #indonesianarchitecture #thinkNEXT #STIR #staySTIRredLooking Back and Forward with artist Victor Ekpuk at Aicon Gallery, New York | STIRpad.comSTIR2025-08-29 | "Aicon New York hosted Looking Back and Forward, the third solo exhibition of Nigerian-American artist Victor Ekpuk, on view from July 17–August 23, 2025. Showcasing both new and earlier works in painting and sculpture, the exhibition highlighted Ekpuk’s dialogue between heritage and modernity. Drawing from Ibibio traditions such as Mbre and sacred Nsibidi forms, while weaving in Dutch wax prints and Western artistic expressions, Ekpuk blended African and Western influences to create a “third order of imagination.”
Read more at ibit.ly/FLmMY — Images: Victor Ekpuk; Courtesy of Aicon — @AiconContemporary — #africanartist #africanart #nycgallery #africandiaspora #thinkNEXT #STIR #staySTIRred #STIRworld"Graphic Languages, edited by Oliver Häusle, explores the many writing systems around the worldSTIR2025-08-28 | The book 'Graphic Languages', published by Slanted, provides a visual compendium of various scripts and variations within their letterforms to show the similarities, differences and possibilities of the tools we use to write with.
The volume compiles a delightful selection from the approximately 4000 writing systems that currently exist in the world, presented through collaboration with international type designers and type experts. Through the book, Häusle hopes to highlight "the unique DNA of each typeface", bringing together the distinct forms they employ and the cultural significance of each typographical nuance.
Read more:No Trespassing at Ishara Art Foundation revels in the aesthetics of the street | STIRworld.comSTIR2025-08-21 | ‘No Trespassing’ at Ishara Art Foundation, Dubai, transforms the galleries of the Dubai-based institutute into a space charged with the vibrancy of the streets. Curated by Priyanka Mehra, artists from the UAE and South Asia bring bold, site-specific works reflecting the raw energy of urban art into the white cube’s polished setting, challenging traditional art world boundaries. On view till August 30, 2025, the showcase attempts to question the often opaque notions institutions uphold about contemporary art and value for contemporary artists.
Read more: stirworld.com/see-features-no-trespassing-at-ishara-art-foundation-revels-in-the-aesthetics-of-the-street - Images: Courtesy of Faraz Khan - #contemporaryart #streetart #artexhibition #thinkNEXT #STIR #staySTIRred #STIR_SEEVyšehrad Bridge Foundation weighs in on the fate of Prague’s industrial relic | STIRworld.comSTIR2025-08-21 | The Vyšehrad Railway Bridge in Prague, Czech Republic, a key piece of infrastructure spanning the Vltava River is at a crossroads. Planners want to replace it, but the Vyšehrad Bridge Foundation, supported by international engineers and 25,000 locals, proposes reinforcing most of the steel, adding a third track and revitalising the spaces underneath.
Should the city preserve this piece of industrial heritage or start fresh?
Read more: stirworld.com/see-features-vysehrad-bridge-foundation-weighs-in-on-the-fate-of-prague-s-industrial-relic - Inages: Courtesy of Michal Slusar, SDAR and Monolot Studio - #czecharchitecture #bridgedesign #bridgerestoration #thinkNEXT #STIR #staySTIRred #STIR_SEE @bambooandmatchaRot, burn, fade: Charwei Tsai on spirituality and impermanence | STIRworld.comSTIR2025-08-20 | Taiwanese artist Charwei Tsai's first solo exhibition in Malaysia, ‘Tofu, Incense, and Sky’, explores themes of impermanence and spirituality through the lens of Buddhist philosophy, particularly the Heart Sutra. Held at Blank Canvas gallery in Penang, the exhibition features digital video works (Tofu Mantra, Incense Mantra, Sky Mantra), a live performance (Edible Mantra) and excerpts from her ongoing publication Lovely Daze.
Tsai inscribes the Heart Sutra onto ephemeral materials like tofu, incense and sky-reflecting mirrors, allowing nature to rot, burn and fade the words, visually embodying the Sutra’s message: “form is emptiness, emptiness is form.” On view through August 31, 2025.
Read more: stirworld.com/see-features-rot-burn-fade-charwei-tsai-on-spirituality-and-impermanence - Video: Courtesy of Blank Canvas Gallery - #contemporaryart #artexhibition #Visualart #Taiwaneseart #thinkNEXT #STIR #staySTIRred #STIR_SEELatent AI and the makings of sub’s Spatial Intelligens at Biennale Architettura 2025 | STIRworld.comSTIR2025-08-15 | Berlin-based studio sub, led by Niklas Bildstein Zaar, introduces ‘Spatial Intelligens’ at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025. Commissioned to design the Curator’s Exhibition, sub developed a system that merges AI with modular exhibition design. It pairs a triangulated layout of displays and circulation paths with a mobile guide that personalises content and maps visitor engagement, revealing architecture as a living system of natural, artificial and collective intelligence.In conversation with STIR, Zaar discusses how their exhibition design and AI guide reframe ‘intelligence’ as a living, responsive element within architectural space.
Read the full conversation: stirworld.com/see-features-latent-ai-and-the-makings-of-sub-s-spatial-intelligens-at-biennale-architettura-2025 - Video: Courtesy of sub - #venicearchitecturebiennale #exhibitiondesign #interactiveexhibition #thinkNEXT #STIR #staySTIRred #STIR_SEEMeet the Jury of Jaquar Pavilion Park at ADFF:STIR Mumbai 2026STIR2025-08-14 | This January, the Pavilion Park returns to ADFF:STIR Mumbai 2026 at the NCPA, curated by Aric Chen, Director of the Zaha Hadid Foundation and guided by an international jury for the first time.
Supported by Jaquar, this year’s theme, ‘Mumbai Transcripts’, invites you to explore how space can hold memory, provoke meaning and spark reflection.
The format remains democratic and participatory in spirit, while going deeper in intent. Select professionals from the fields of architecture, design and art are invited to respond to the curatorial brief. From these, eight proposals will be selected by the curator and jury for realisation.
What emerges is a shared experience - where every encounter with space, story, or stranger becomes a thread in a living narrative shaped by our social, cultural, and ecological realities.
Join us from January 9–11, 2026, as the Jaquar Pavilion Park returns to NCPA for ADFF:STIR Mumbai and blurs the lines between architecture and cinema, inviting the audience into the story.How Onassis ONX is cultivating and curating immersive, interdisciplinary artscapesSTIR2025-08-14 | Step inside the world of Onassis ONX, the hybrid art-tech incubator and interlocutor with bases in New York and Athens, pushing the boundaries of immersive art, VR, AI, and spatial storytelling. In a conversation with STIR, Program Director Jazia Hammoudi and Technical Director Matthew Niederhauser share the studio’s vision for uplifting the voice of interdisciplinary artists. By curating immersive exhibitions such as 'With All Due Respect', 'Group Hug' and 'In Search of Us' at the Tribeca Immersive 2025, the studio is challenging conventional institutional models by breaking down silos between art, technology and culture, shaping the future of new media art.
Watch the full interview on stirworld.comNous, le Climat at BAP! Île-de-France: sensing climate at the table | STIRworld.comSTIR2025-08-11 | At the 2025 Biennale d’Architecture et de Paysage in Versailles, French collective TER transformed the historic Potager du Roi with ‘Nous, le Climat’, a 300-meter-long climate-responsive table. Presented from May 6 to July 13, 2025, the installation made wind, heat, humidity, light and water tangible through sensory design, inviting visitors to engage with climate challenges and reimagine public space through bioclimatic principles, shared knowledge and new ways of living amid environmental change.
Read more: stirworld.com/see-features-nous-le-climat-at-bap-ile-de-france-sensing-climate-at-the-table - Images: Courtesy of Agence TER, Pierrock Daul - #BAP2025 #ClimateDesign #landscapearchitecture #thinkNEXT #STIR #staySTIRred #STIR_SEEArchitecture as Storytelling: Pavilion Park Returns to ADFF:STIR Mumbai 2026STIR2025-08-10 | The Pavilion Park returns to ADFF:STIR Mumbai 2026 at the NCPA, curated by Aric Chen, Director of the Zaha Hadid Foundation and guided by an international jury for the first time.
Supported by Jaquar, this year’s theme, ‘Mumbai Transcripts’, invites you to explore how space can hold memory, provoke meaning and spark reflection.
The format remains democratic and participatory in spirit, while going deeper in intent. Select professionals from the fields of architecture, design and art are invited to respond to the curatorial brief. From these, eight proposals will be selected by the curator and jury for realisation.
What emerges is a shared experience - where every encounter with space, story, or stranger becomes a thread in a living narrative shaped by our social, cultural, and ecological realities.
Join us from January 9–11, 2026, as the Jaquar Pavilion Park returns to NCPA for ADFF:STIR Mumbai and blurs the lines between architecture and cinema, inviting the audience into the story.Ruya Akyols Tracing Origins is a furniture collection grounded in place and purpose | STIRworld.comSTIR2025-08-09 | Ruya Akyol Studio’s debut furniture collection, Tracing Origins, unveiled at SaloneSatellite, blends cultural memory with modern functionality. Based between Istanbul and Milan, the studio draws on Anatolian heritage and Mediterranean sensibilities to shape a thoughtful vision of contemporary living; where each piece reflects craftsmanship, timeless design and purposeful utility.
Read more: stirworld.com/see-lifestyle-ruya-akyols-tracing-origins-is-a-furniture-collection-grounded-in-place-and-purpose - Images: Courtesy of Ruya Akyol Studio - #contemporarydesign #furnituredesign #sofadesign #productdesign #tabledesign #thinkNEXT #STIR #staySTIRred #STIR_SEEFrom fragility to resilience: Omar Degan’s vision for the Pan-African Architecture BiennaleSTIR2025-08-08 | For Somali-Italian architect Omar Degan, architecture begins with memory, ritual and the communities living within fragility. In conversation with STIR, he discusses curating the first Pan African Architecture Biennale, dismantling “hero narratives” and celebrating knowledge that is iterative and rooted in place.
Video: Courtesy of STIR
Know more at: http://bit.ly/4m8TtB6Habitat 0 offers a circular dialogue between architecture and landscapeSTIR2025-08-08 | Habitat 0, designed by RA Design Studio in Ahmedabad, India, is a circular community hub where architecture and nature seamlessly merge. Led by principal architect Radhika Dutt, the layout centers around a courtyard flowing into an amphitheatre, terraced garden and semi-open pool, creating a seamless dialogue between built space and nature.
- #Indianarchitecture #circulardesign #contemporaryarchitecture #landscapedesign #thinkNEXT #STIR #staySTIRred #STIR_SEELe Boe del Forte is Dainelli Studios ode to Forte dei Marmis timeless charm | STIRpad.comSTIR2025-08-07 | stirpad.com/news/designers/le-boe-del-forte-is-dainelli-studios-ode-to-forte-dei-marmis-timeless-charm #studionews Le Boe del Forte, a beach resort project by Dainelli Studio in Forte dei Marmi, reinterprets the town’s 1960s ‘easy chic’ spirit with a contemporary touch. The project combines Italian craftsmanship with carefully crafted furnishings and natural fabrics that harmonise with the coastal environment, with umbrellas, awnings and seating expertly crafted by Tuscan heritage brand Piastri 1961, offering a refined and relaxed experience along the Versilia coastline. - Explore the NEW in #contemporarydesign at STIRpad.com - Your #Pointofnew - Discover the NEW from designers, brands, galleries, events, projects and more - Images: Courtesy of Dainelli Studio - #italiandesign #furnituredesign #beachresort #productdesign #thinkNEXT #STIR #staySTIRred #STIRpadEco-social designer Henriette Waal on design that thinks with bioregions | STIRworld.comSTIR2025-08-07 | STIR speaks to Henriette Waal, eco-social designer and research director of Atelier LUMA, on her approach to bio-design and the relevance of peat landscapes today. Focused on restoring the Frisian peat meadows in the Netherlands, Waal champions collaborative, regenerative design using sustainable materials such as algae and invasive plants in built environments and product design. She emphasises working closely with local communities, scientists and ecosystems and the value of true innovation through doing.
Watch the full conversation: stirworld.com/inspire-people-eco-social-designer-henriette-waal-on-design-that-thinks-with-bioregions - Video: Courtesy of STIR, Victor Picon, Tryntsje Nauta - #sustainabledesign #enviromentaldesign #circulardesign #designexhibition #thinkNEXT #STIR #staySTIRred #STIR_INSPIREThreads of tradition: How Kutnia revived Gaziantep’s near-extinct Kutnu fabric | STIRworld.comSTIR2025-08-07 | STIR speaks to Jülide Konukoğlu, founder of Kutnia, about her encounter with Gaziantep’s near-extinct Kutnu fabric, the brand’s origins and its cultural mission. Through sustainable production, design innovation and artisan training, Kutnia has revived this traditional silk-cotton weave once cherished in Ottoman palaces. Today, it bridges heritage and global design, with collaborations including Dior and showcases at Salone del Mobile.
Read the full conversation: stirworld.com/inspire-people-threads-of-tradition-how-kutnia-revived-gaziantep-s-near-extinct-kutnu-fabric - Video: Courtesy of Kutnia; Images: Courtesy of Kutnia, Harun Isik, Ekin Ozbicer - #fashiondesign #kutnufabric #sustainabledesign #textiledesign #Turkishtextiles #thinkNEXT #STIR #staySTIRred #STIR_INSPIRECraft and caste: Roots of the Earth tells an intertwined story | STIRworld.comSTIR2025-08-07 | ‘Roots of the Earth’, on view at Jhaveri Contemporary through August 16, 2025, brings together artists Prabhakar Kamble and Akshay Mahajan to explore the deep ties between craft, caste and marginalised communities in India. Through sculpture, photography and mixed media work, the exhibition engages with folk traditions and artisanal practices, revealing how caste hierarchies and colonial histories shape and often appropriate the work and lives of rural artisans and lower-caste communities.
Read more: stirworld.com/see-features-craft-and-caste-roots-of-the-earth-tells-an-intertwined-story - Images: Courtesy of Jhaveri Contemporary - #contemporaryart #kineticsculpture #photographyart #artexhibition #thinkNEXT #STIR #staySTIRred #STIR_SEEBrutalism meets habitable art in Renesas House Around the Oblique Column | STIRworld.comSTIR2025-08-07 | New Delhi-based Renesa Architects’ House Around the Oblique Column is a 12,000 sq ft brutalist sculptural home designed as a living gallery. Centered around a slanted column, it breaks conventional geometry to guide movement, light and spatial flow using exposed concrete, local materials and an open-plan design. Designed for a family including an artist and curator, the house turns architecture into a form of creative and artistic expression.
Read more: stirworld.com/see-features-brutalism-meets-habitable-art-in-renesas-house-around-the-oblique-column - Images: Courtesy of Avesh Gaur - #brutalistarchitecture #concretearchitecture #interiordesign #residentialarchitecture #thinkNEXT #STIR #staySTIRred #STIR_SEEServing ‘lewks’ and ‘aesthetics’ with Virtual Beauty at Somerset House | STIRworld.comSTIR2025-08-06 | ‘Virtual Beauty’, an exhibition at Somerset House, London, curated by Gonzalo Herrero Delicado, Mathilde Friis and Bunny Kinney, examines how evolving digital technologies blur the lines between online aesthetics and physical realities.
Featuring works from contemporary artists across sculpture, video and photography, the show critiques societal beauty standards and consumer-driven aesthetics while exploring pervasive digital culture’s impact on individual identity and the physical body.
Read more: stirworld.com/see-features-serving-lewks-and-aesthetics-with-virtual-beauty-at-somerset-house - Images: Courtesy of Onkaos, Amalia Ulman, Deborah Schamoni, Qualeasha Wood, Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, Somerset House, Lil Miquela, brud, Li Roda-Gil, Ines Alpha, Minne Atairu, Ben Cullen Williams, Isamaya Ffrench and Frederik Heyman - #digitalart #artexhibition #contemporaryart #thinkNEXT #STIR #staySTIRred #STIR_SEESee You Later on storytelling through stage, sound and scenography | STIRworld.comSTIR2025-08-06 | See You Later, a Los Angeles-based stage design studio led by Darrius Medina and TJ Hoover, transforms live shows into immersive storytelling experiences through stage, sound and lighting. They have designed for artists like Travis Scott, Sabrina Carpenter, Eminem, Doechii and more; crafting environments that elevate each performance with bold vision, precision and atmosphere. In conversation with STIR, Medina and Hoover reflect on their collaborative process and why narrative remains at the heart of every stage they create.
Watch the full conversation: stirworld.com/inspire-people-see-you-later-on-storytelling-through-stage-sound-and-scenography - Video: Courtesy of See You Later - #setdesign #stagedesign #performancedesign #lightingdesign #thinkNEXT #STIR #staySTIRred #STIR_INSPIRETakuto Ohtas designs occupy the limbo between the mundane and extraordinary | STIRworld.comSTIR2025-08-06 | Japanese designer Takuto Ohta explores the space between the mundane and the extraordinary through whimsical, culturally rooted and materially conscious design. His work spans furniture, lighting and sculpture, blending function with meaning to invite fresh perspectives on familiar objects. In conversation with STIR, Ohta discusses the cultural and material influences behind his creative practice.
Read more: stirworld.com/inspire-people-takuto-ohtas-designs-occupy-the-limbo-between-the-mundane-and-extraordinary - Images: Courtesy of Takuto Ohta - #contemporarydesign #furnituredesign #lightingdesign #productdesign #thinkNEXT #STIR #staySTIRred #STIR_INSPIREPEARCE+ on optimising scarcity and building as an act of commitment | STIRworld.comSTIR2025-08-06 | Owen Hughes Pearce, founder of UK-based studio PEARCE+, creates architecture through hands-on building, collaboration and context-driven design. The studio embraces scarcity as a creative force, working with local materials and communities to shape spaces from Arctic pop-ups to rural shelters that are experimental, sustainable and socially grounded. In conversation with STIR, Pearce shares the ideas behind his practice and how it breaks away from standardised models of architecture.
Read the full conversation: stirworld.com/inspire-people-pearce-on-optimising-scarcity-and-building-as-an-act-of-commitment - Images: Courtesy of PEARCE+, Joseph Horton, Simone Rusnak, Hugh Broughton Architects, Satori Photos and PJ Jordan - #sustainablearchitecture #popuparchitecture #restaurantdesign #thinkNEXT #STIR #staySTIRred #STIR_INSPIRELatent AI and the makings of sub’s Spatial Intelligens at Biennale Architettura 2025STIR2025-08-06 | STIR speaks to Niklas Bildstein Zaar of sub, a Berlin-based architecture and design studio, on how their exhibition design and AI exhibition guide for VAB reframes ‘intelligence’ as something architecture can live and perform.
Spatial Intelligens is accessible through a web-based interface on visitors' phones during their visit to the biennale.sub presents Spatial Intelligens, a digital guide of the Biennale Architettura 2025STIR2025-08-06 | STIR speaks to Niklas Bildstein Zaar of sub, a Berlin-based architecture and design studio, on how their exhibition design and AI exhibition guide for VAB 2025 reframes ‘intelligence’ as something architecture can live and perform.
Using computer vision, the system localises itself by simply taking a picture of the exhibition, enabling visitors to instantly receive personalised information and engage with a conversational AI trained on the full breadth of the show.The lay of the land: Deep-time ecologies at the Folkestone Triennial 2025 | STIRworld.comSTIR2025-08-05 | The 2025 Folkestone Triennial, ‘How Lies the Land?’, explores our evolving relationship with the land by uncovering deep histories, ecological changes and geopolitical tensions. Curated by Sorcha Carey, it features 18 international artists whose works invite us to see the ground beneath our feet not as fixed, but as a shifting, storied archive shaped by time, conflict and care. The Triennial runs through October 19 across locations in Folkestone, Kent, UK.
Read more: stirworld.com/think-opinions-the-lay-of-the-land-deep-time-ecologies-at-the-folkestone-triennial-2025 - Images: Courtesy of Thierry Bal, Emilija Škarnulyté Studio - #FolkestoneTriennial2025 #contemporaryart #artexhibition #sculptureart #thinkNEXT #STIR #staySTIRred #STIR_INSPIREA group show at kurimanzutto turns landscape painting on its side | STIRworld.comSTIR2025-08-05 | ‘a door left ajar’, a group exhibition at kurimanzutto New York, reimagines landscape painting through a postmodern lens. Featuring artists Diambe, Thiago Hattnher and Michael Ho, the show departs from traditional horizontal landscapes in favor of vertical, portrait-mode canvases that emphasise memory, perception, and subjectivity over realistic depiction. Curated by Malik Al-Mahrouky, the exhibition showcases the artists’ use of layering and cross-medium practices, inviting viewers into a dreamlike, sensory experience of the natural world. On view through August 1, 2025.
Read more: stirworld.com/see-features-a-group-show-at-kurimanzutto-turns-landscape-painting-on-its-side - Images: Courtesy of Dheurle Photography, Diambe, Michael Ho, Thiago Hattnher, kurimanzutto gallery, Ana Pigosso, Almeida e Dale, Mark Blower, Erika Mayumi and Simões de Assis - #contemporaryart #abstractart #artexhibition #landscapeart #postmodernart #contemporarypainting #thinkNEXT #STIR #staySTIRred #STIR_SEEOMA envisions Dior’s Designer of Dreams as a rhythmic journey of spaces & concepts | STIRworld.comSTIR2025-08-05 | The OMA-designed ‘Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams’ exhibition at DDP Seoul reimagines a fashion showcase as an immersive, rhythmic journey through interconnected spaces, inspired by Korea’s culture heritage and Dior’s iconic legacy. The exhibit flows through contrasting rooms—organic vs. geometric, light vs. dark—evoking scenes like walking inside a skirt or jar, including near-scale recreations of Dior’s Paris address, a kaleidoscopic color room, a suspended field of white toiles and artist interpretations of Dior’s legacy, creating an evolving, sensorial experience.
Read more: stirworld.com/see-features-oma-envisions-dior-s-designer-of-dreams-as-a-rhythmic-journey-of-spaces-and-concepts - Images: Courtesy of Kyungsub Shin - #exhibitionspacedesign #dior #setdesign #luxurydesign #immersivedesign #thinkNEXT #STIR #staySTIRred #STIR_SEEConcéntrico 2025 reimagined Logroño as a site of care, play and protest | STIRworld.comSTIR2025-08-05 | Concéntrico 2025 transformed Logroño into a living lab of care, play and protest through 23 urban interventions. Marking its 10th edition, the architecture and design festival explored themes of food, water, climate and community rituals, blurring the lines between design and everyday life. It showcased participatory, ecological and inclusive approaches that pushed architecture beyond aesthetics toward resilient, shared urban futures where public space fosters connection, care, and imagination.
Read more: stirworld.com/see-features-concentrico-2025-reimagined-logrono-as-a-site-of-care-play-and-protest - Images: Courtesy of Josema Cutillas, Sara Cuerdo, Javier Peña, Sahra Hersi, JMBAD, studio An-An - #Concentrico2025 #architecturefestival #urbaninterventions #climateresponsivedesign #thinkNEXT #STIR #staySTIRred #STIR_SEEArtist Prabhakar Kamble’s kinetic sculpture ‘Material Turn’ at Jhaveri ContemporarySTIR2025-08-01 | Indian multimedia artist Prabhakar Kamble’s ‘Material Turn’ (2025) is a kinetic sculpture made with nylon ropes, woven fabrics, leather straps, metal cowbells affixed to wood. Every five minutes, a motor turns the teeming collection of fabrics and materials, mimicking the sound of a cow as it walks. Leveraging powerful symbols of caste and caste-based oppression, Kamble draws viewers’ attention to the unfair material conditions Indian craftsmen and artisans face as a result of casteism.
This work is a part of the exhibition ‘Roots of the Earth’ on view at Jhaveri Contemporary from 10 July - 16 August 2025.
Read more: - Visit us at stirworld.com Video: Courtesy of STIREco-social designer Henriette Waal on regenerating wetland ecosystems with bioregional designSTIR2025-08-01 | The co-founder of Atelier LUMA speaks to STIR on the initiation of her new project, Veenweide Atelier, in the Frisian peat meadows of the Netherlands. Expanding on her research and design methodologies, Waal speaks about the potential of bioregional design in envisioning regenerative futures, that don't consider human and nature as separate entities. Instead, sustainability is only possible by intervening within eco-social networks, as she hopes to show through her projects.
Video: Rael van Tour, Courtesy of Veenweide Atelier, Faber Futures and STIR
Read more on STIRworldInkiostro Biancos Monochrome combines biophilic design, harmony and elegance | STIRpad.comSTIR2025-07-31 | stirpad.com/news/brands/inkiostro-biancos-monochrome-combines-biophilic-design-harmony-and-elegance #brandfeature Inkiostro Bianco’s ‘Monochrome’ collection redefines interior design through biophilic inspiration and emotional depth. Featuring refined rugs and wallpapers in geometric, textural and organic styles, it transforms living spaces into sensory sanctuaries—where colour, light and material whisper stories of balance and contemporary sophistication. - Explore the NEW in #contemporarydesign at STIRpad.com- Your #pointofnew - Discover the NEW from designers, brands, galleries, events, projects and more - Images: Courtesy of Inkiostro Bianco - #interiordesign #rugdesign #wallpaperdesign #productdesign #thinkNEXT #STIR #staySTIRred #STIRpadFlowing Heritage at Arthshila Delhi examines waters dynamic influences | STIRworld.comSTIR2025-07-31 | ‘Flowing Heritage: The Indian Water Narrative’, a recent exhibition at Arthshila Delhi (Feb 1–Apr 27, 2025), presented in collaboration with JSW Foundation, explored water’s transformative presence in Indian life through multisensory installations, ritual objects, folklore and architectural forms. From stepwell-inspired structures and fertility symbols to textile storytelling and earthy scents that evoke personal memories, the exhibition—curated by Anjana Somany revealed water as muse, sustainer and sacred force.
Read more: stirworld.com/see-features-flowing-heritage-at-arthshila-delhi-examines-waters-dynamic-influences - Images: Courtesy of Arthshila - #contemporaryart #artexhibition #indianart #multisensoryart #waterinculture #textileart #thinkNEXT #STIR #staySTIRred #STIR_SEEDavid Benjamin on suggesting new kinds of architectures for an unknowable future | STIRworld.comSTIR2025-07-31 | “The way things are is not the way things have to be,” says David Benjamin—architect, educator and founder of The Living—whose philosophy of questioning conventional norms in architecture, embracing uncertainty and using research and living systems to imagine radically different, sustainable futures seeks to transform how we think about the built environment. In conversation with STIR, he expands on this vision.
Watch the full conversation: stirworld.com/inspire-people-david-benjamin-on-suggesting-new-kinds-of-architectures-for-an-unknowable-future - Images: Courtesy of David Benjamin, Daniel Salemi and The Living - #davidbenjamin #sustainablearchitecture #bioarchitecture #enviromentaldesign #thinkNEXT #STIR #staySTIRred #STIR_INSPIREKutnia: The art of weavingSTIR2025-07-31 | In 2017, Jülide Konukoğlu, a cultural advocate and entrepreneur, turned a municipal preservation initiative into a private expedition to rescue the Kutnu fabric as a living tradition, a symbol of Gaziantep's past. Her vision culminated in Kutnia, a brand born of social responsibility, entrenched in local culture and elevated by modern design thinking.
Since its founding, Kutnia has become known for its innovative workmanship, elevating Kutnu through extensive research and development. The fabric’s weave width and durability have now been improved and adjusted for both fashion design and interior applications, while preserving its distinct silk-cotton blend and vertical stripes. With cultural celebration at its heart, Kutnia abides by international standards for elegance and sustainability.
Video: Courtesy of Kutnia
#turkey #textile #sustainability #productdesign #fashion #staystirred #thinknextMeet the Pavilion Park Jury for ADFF:STIR Mumbai 2026STIR2025-07-26 | The Pavilion Park returns to ADFF:STIR Mumbai from January 9–11, 2026 at NCPA.
A way to think beyond buildings — pavilions create spaces that invite people in, encourage reflection, and hold space for shared experiences. The Pavilion Park, rooted in the tradition of using temporary architectures, opens up conversation, connects disciplines, and imagines new ways of being together in space.
For the 2026 edition, the festival has invited a respected curator and a distinguished international jury to guide a new chapter, keeping the format democratic and participatory, while going deeper in intent. Select professionals from the creative fields are invited to respond to the curatorial brief, “Mumbai Manuscripts”. From these, eight proposals will be selected by the curator and jury for realisation.
Curator & Jury chair: Aric Chen
Jury: Hans Ulrich Obrist, Lesley Lokko OBE, Ma Yansong, Martha Thorne, Raj Rewal - Photo: Courtesy of Alix McIntosh, Frank Bauer, Greg MeiDesigning emotion: Inside See You Later’s stagecraftSTIR2025-07-25 | In an exclusive conversation with STIR, See You Later co-founder Darrius Medina discusses his studio's approach to stage design; one that goes beyond aesthetics to become a tool for storytelling, emotion and live performance.
Video: Courtesy of STIRPhilippe Rahm on curating 4°C Between You and Me at BAP! 2025 and climate as an architectural toolSTIR2025-07-04 | The Swiss architect and educator elaborates on the design philosophies that guide his practice with an aim to extend the discipline’s parameters from the physiological to the meteorological. The conversation stems from Rahm's curation of 'Four degrees Celsius between you and me', the main exhibition for the third edition of the Île-de-France Architecture and Landscape Biennale (Bap! 2025), situated in Versailles, co-curated with Tunisian architect Sana Frini. The exhibition presents architectural responses to a speculative future where France experiences sub-tropical climatic conditions. Spotlighting traditional responses to extreme climates, Rahm and Frini aim to reconceive climate as essential to architectural design. This same guiding ethos has shaped Rahm's practice for more than two decades.
Video: Courtesy of STIR Images: Rafael Gamo; Courtesy of Philippe Rahm architectes
Read more: http://bit.ly/44q03NfTosin Oshinowo on alternative urbanisms emanating from the traditional markets of LagosSTIR2025-06-27 | The Nigerian architect and curator speaks to STIR about her project, 'Alternative Urbanisms: The Self-Organising Markets of Lagos', currently on view at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025, presenting the infrastructural logics of Lagos' markets as an alternative to top-down planning systems. The mixed media display at the Arsenale highlights three key markets in the region—Ladipo, Katangua and Computer Village—to foreground the traders' practices of circularity. In conversation, Oshinowo highlights the need for the Global North—whose ideal of progress is predicated on the mirage of cornucopianism—to learn from the Global South's adaptation to scarcity. She touches upon how we can no longer continue consuming the way we do, and must embrace the ideals of resourcefulness.