The Artful Life: 6 Things Galerie Editors Love This Week

1. OMA Constructs Mystical Pavilion at Bosco Sodi’s Casa Wabi Foundation in Mexico

Cut into the rough, dense vegetation on the Oaxacan coast in Puerto Escondido, Mexico, artist Bosco Sodi’s Casa Wabi Foundation is a longstanding haven for artists, who gather at the Tadao Ando-designed structure for residencies, exhibitions, and other creative programming. Now, a new building has opened on the 65-acre site: The Mushroom Pavilion, a capsular-shaped structure by OMA constructed to cultivate mushrooms and cooperative exchanges around art, food, nature, and community. The architecture studio’s first build in Mexico, the Mushroom Pavilion, is crafted from concrete intended to weather over time. Inside, tiers support artisan-made terracotta pots used for growing mushrooms and seating for in-the-round style presentations illuminated by a central oculus.

“Working with Bosco Sodi and Fundacion Casa Wabi, we conceived a pavilion for the very specific function of mushroom cultivation while offering a space for people to come together,” says OMA partner Shohei Shigematsu, a Galerie Creative Mind. “The result is an incubator of both food and community that’s spatially fit to support all types of activities for the locals, visitors, and the foundation. As a Japanese architect, it was especially meaningful to contribute an art campus guided by Japanese philosophy and spatial traditions.”—Jill Sieracki

2. Bower and Spectrum Weave Gradient Glass into Sculptural Mirrors

Known for layering pure metal elements on glass to achieve lustrous dissolving color gradients, South African design duo Spectrum found an intriguing collaborator after its Stateside gallery, Kombi, introduced founders Caitlin Warther and Wendy Dixon to Bower, the New York studio established by Danny Giannella and Tammer Hijazi. The partnership produced a series of woven mirrors using three finishes from Spectrum’s extensive gradient library: Ametrine, which shifts from dark purple to brass; Phantom Quartz, a transition from silver to brass; and Cyprine, which moves from orange to green. Strips of gradient glass thread across each surface in undulating sequences that suggest woven textiles, an approach Giannella and Hijazi developed while researching patterns for a new body of sculptural mirrors. 

Giannella recalls the immediate appeal of Spectrum’s material: “We loved the colors and gradients that Spectrum had developed and immediately began translating the darks to lights into illusions of undulations moving forward and receding back into space,” he says. Spectrum fabricated the gradient glass panels in South Africa before shipping them to Bower’s Brooklyn studio for assembly. The teams refined each piece through successive prototypes that balanced the limits of glass production with the demands of Bower’s compositions. The finished works present mirrored bands that glide over and under one another within finely crafted walnut frames, their shifting hues bending light across the surface as viewers move through a room. The works are currently on view at the Williamsburg showroom shared by Bower and Mociun, the jewelry and homewares brand founded by designer Caitlin Mociun, Hijazi’s wife. —Ryan Waddoups 

3. Chef Gabriel Kreuther Opens Saverne, a French-Style Brasserie in Hudson Yards

For many gourmands, a multi-course chef’s tasting meal at Gabriel Kreuther’s namesake restaurant on New York’s Bryant Park has been a bucket list item for a decade. Now, foodies can enjoy his culinary prowess in a more relaxed setting with à la carte options at the newly opened Saverne in Hudson Yards. Taking its name from a town in Alsace, this French-style brasserie shines for its exemplary execution of the basics as well as the magic of a wood-fired grill. Standout dishes include a half-roasted chicken with pommes purée, aged blue fin tuna with black garlic anchoiade, and boudin noir croquettes. Plus, fans of his extraordinary tarte flambée from his days at The Modern will be thrilled to see three variations of the classic on the menu.—Jacqueline Terrebonne

4. The History of the World’s Most Treasured Pearl Is Explored in Riveting Tome

Widely recognized as some of the most sought after and exquisite pieces of jewelry in the world, pearls sourced from the country of Bahrain’s Arabian Gulf hold a history as captivating as the gems themselves. In a new tome, Bahrain Pearls: Treasures From the Land of the Two Seas (Assouline), the object’s deep history is explored, starting from its origins as the power source of the pearl trade to its presence in multigenerational fine jewelry houses. Accompanied by stunning imagery provided by photographer Laziz Hamani and words from editor Carol Woolton, the new release is available now in classic and ultimate collection formats. —Shelby Black

5. The Dean Debuts in Berlin with a Color-Rich Hotel by Rachael Gowdridge

The Dean, the Irish-born lifestyle hotel brand known for its character-rich properties, has made its German debut with an 81-room hotel in Berlin’s Charlottenburg district. London-based interior designer Rachael Gowdridge oversaw the transformation of a late-19th-century building whose original character had faded after years of renovation and conversion to offices and hospitality use. When crews stripped back later finishes, fragments of texture and irregular surfaces surfaced across the structure, which Gowdridge embraced. “Although the building’s origins date back to the 19th century, much of its character had been stripped away through successive renovations,” she says. “We retained and celebrated those moments wherever possible, allowing patina and imperfection to sit alongside more precise contemporary insertions.”

Exuberant color and sculptural lighting define the interiors, which draw inspiration from Charlottenburg’s historic facades and modernist architecture. Guest rooms open with deep red vestibules before transitioning to bedrooms lined with painted paneling, bespoke furniture, and headboards upholstered in Pierre Frey fabrics whose graphic motifs recall Anni Albers. In the public areas, a lobby sequence incorporates a bakery, restaurant, lounge, and library nook clad in Ettore Sottsass veneer and furnished with vintage and contemporary pieces. Throughout the hotel, curator Thom Oosterhof has installed artwork by the likes of Xia Peng, Wolfgang Guenther, Ricky Lee Gordon, Erika Richter, and Wiebke Maria Wachmann. —Ryan Waddoups

6. Louis Vuitton Introduces New Stone to Color Blossom Collection

Louis Vuitton has launched a new Color Blossom collection that includes the introduction of a new stone, Sodalite. Inspired by the Monogram Flower, which was first designed in 1896 by Georges-Louis Vuitton, each piece of the Color Blossom collection is hand-polished with the stones meticulously selected by Louis Vuitton experts. The collection is offered in 18-karat rose, yellow, or white gold, and available in earrings, bracelets, rings, pendants, and necklaces, designed for mixing and stacking. Due to the natural origin of the stones, the colors may vary between creations, making them truly unique to the wearer. —Alexandria Sillo