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      Asteroid City exhibition immerses visitors in Wes Anderson’s Americana film sets

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      An exhibition of the 1950s sets, props, miniature models, costumes and artwork used in Wes Anderson’s latest film Asteroid City has opened at 180 The Strand in London.

      The exhibition was designed to immerse visitors in the film’s fictitious world – a desert town in 1950s America famous for its meteor crater and celestial observatory.
      The exhibition is on display at London’s 180 The StrandIts aim was to give visitors insight into the “1950s Americana world the film is set in”, said Asteroid City associate producer Ben Alder.
      Asteroid City was filmed on flat farmland in Spain, with the buildings made for the film set up to appear like a town.
      The exhibition features large sets”Everything you see in the film was physically built and laid out in a way that gave the actors and crew the sense of living in this real town,” Alder told Dezeen.

      “The exhibition is a great way for people to see how much work went into all the elements of the film, like the costumes, because you can spend more time looking at how they are made and how much care went into them.”
      Film sets used in the Asteroid City movie are on displayPieces in the exhibition are spread across three main spaces, with audio clips and parts of the film projected onto walls referencing scenes relevant to the nearby displays.
      “The idea was to use the largest open space for the sets to give people the sense of how big they were on the film, and you can imagine how massive our Asteroid City town was,” said Alder.
      Costumes and props are on display”Then there’s another space that’s a more traditional gallery-type curation where you can see smaller objects and props, going into the details of the characters,” Alder continued.
      Mimicking the exterior of the cafe featured in the film, a temporary wooden structure decorated with menu lettering and a desert scene spans the entrance of 180 The Strand.

      Ten cinematic interiors that could be in a Wes Anderson film

      Sets displayed in the exhibition include white wooden residential shacks, a train carriage and a bathroom scene.
      Other life-sized scenery props include telephone booths, billboard posters and humourous vending machines that dispense martinis and bullets in the film.
      The exhibition provides a close-up view of the Asteroid City film props”There are moments where visitors are invited to be in the sets and interact with them,” said Alder.
      “Not only can visitors see all the pieces from the film really closely but they can go inside some of the sets – they can sit inside the train compartment, recreate the scene with [actor] Scarlett [Johansson] in the window, or go into the telephone booth – which is something really special that not a lot of exhibitions have.”
      Visitors can explore a desert setSome of the character costumes are arranged together with set pieces to recreate scenes from the film.
      Also on display are puppets made by Andy Gent, who previously created puppets for Anderson’s films Isle of Dogs and Fantastic Mr Fox, and a series of glass flowers used in a stop-motion animation sequence where they transition from blooming to wilting.
      The Asteroid City exhibition showcases many details from the filmThe exhibition ends with a recreation of a luncheonette featured in the movie, where visitors can order food and drink.
      It has a 1950s-style decor, with stools lined up along the service bar, pastel-coloured blinds and the image of a desert landscape framed inside fake windows.
      A 1950s-style cafe is at the end of the exhibitionAsteroid City is out in cinemas now.
      Anderson is known for his distinctive film aesthetic, typified by retro influences and pastel colours. Interiors that have been informed by the director’s style include a pastel-yellow breakfast cafe in Sweden and a bottle shop in Los Angeles with mid-century influences.
      The photography is courtesy of Universal Pictures and 180 Studios.
      The Asteroid City exhibition is on display at 180 The Strand in London from 17 June to 8 July 2023. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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      AI-generated engravings feature in Dragon Flat by Tsuruta Architects

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      UK-studio Tsuruta Architects has combined artificial intelligence with CNC cutting in a revamp of a home in London’s Notting Hill.

      Dragon Flat features engraved wall panels and joinery incorporating AI-generated images, including a map of the River Thames and a graphic floral motif.
      AI-generated engravings feature on both floors of the homeA CNC router – a computer-controlled cutting machine – allowed these designs to be directly transferred onto wooden boards, which have been used for surfaces within the interior.
      Taro Tsuruta, founder of Tsuruta Architects, said that he decided to experiment with AI because there wasn’t room in the budget to collaborate with a graphic designer.
      A map of the River Thames features in the living spaceUsing DALL-E 2, an AI program that transforms text instructions into high-quality images, he was able to create bespoke designs for the kitchen and bedroom space.

      “I typed a series of prompts and ran a series of variations, then came up with an unexpected yet expected result,” he told Dezeen. “It was like sculpting a form with a keyboard.”
      Upstairs, a tatami room features a row of engraved peoniesTsuruta’s clients for Dragon Flat were a young Asian couple who moved to London five years ago. The property they bought was a two-level maisonette in a 1950s council block.
      The renovation sees the home subtly reconfigured.

      Tsuruta Architects incorporates 27,000 cat faces into five homes in Catford

      The lower level is opened up, allowing the kitchen to become part of the living space, while the upper level has been adapted to create more storage.
      This revamped upper level includes a walk-in wardrobe and a tatami room – a typical space in traditional Japanese homes – as well as a main bedroom.
      The designs are etched into OSB wall panelsThe River Thames image features in the new living and dining room. Engraved plywood panels front a grid of cupboards, creating an entire wall of storage.
      The floral pattern, designed to resemble “an army of peonies”, can be found in the tatami room.
      Images of these flowers are etched into white-washed oriented strand board (OSB), which forms wall panels. This creates a colour contrast that allows the design to stand out.
      Whitewashed surfaces allow the floral design to stand out”We did quite a few sample tests, changing the needle size of the CNC router to get it right,” said Tsuruta.
      The aim here, he explained, was to create a design that playfully references Arts and Crafts, a movement that embraced floral imagery but rejected the technological advances of its time.
      “Arts and Craft was very labour-intensive,” said the architect. “Our process is the opposite, but we share a common goal of enriching the lives of occupants.”
      The addition of a walk-in wardrobe frees up space in the bedroomCNC cutting has played a pivotal role in many of Tsuruta’s projects. Examples include The Queen of Catford, a group of five flats filled with cat faces, and Marie’s Wardrobe, a home with a highly intricate custom staircase.
      Dragon Flat is his first completed project to incorporate AI, a process he said provides infinite options but requires human input in order to achieve a successful result.
      A floating timber staircase allows light to filter through”This process is pretty much the same as with any tool,” he said. “At the end of the day, we were the ones to select and move on to the next variation or stop there.”
      The interior also features other playful details, including a floating timber staircase. Built in the same position as the original stairwell, this perforated volume allows more light to filter between spaces.
      OSB and marble contrast in the bathroomThe bathroom combines marble with OSB, creating an intentional contrast between luxury and low-cost materials, and also includes some small motifs showing bats.
      “The symbolic meaning of peonies, dragons and bats, together with the Thames River, is ambiguous,” added Tsuruta.
      “We want people to keep thinking and talking about them, but overall they are believed to bring prosperity and a happy life.”
      The photography is by Tim Croker.

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      Apple reveals Battersea Power Station store as latest “evolution of the Apple Store”

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      Technology company Apple has unveiled its latest Foster + Partners-designed store in the recently revamped Battersea Power Station in London, which features updated fixtures and furniture.

      Set to open later today, Apple Battersea is the brand’s 40th UK store and represents an evolution in its retail design thinking with more of an emphasis placed on accessibility and sustainability.
      “We developed this material palette and this fixture set that is really trying to align with like Apple’s goals,” said Bill Bergeron Mirsky, a global retail design lead at Apple.
      “This material palette is new for us, it’s an evolution of the Apple Store,” he told Dezeen.
      Apple Battersea opens todayDesigned by UK studio Foster + Partners, the store is set on the ground floor of the shopping centre within the 1930s Turbine Hall A at the former power station, where the studio also designed the technology brand’s offices.

      The shop is arranged around four original brick piers and has steel roof supports exposed on the ceiling. On top of this base, Foster + Partners overlaid a revamped fixture set that Mirsky said “will become familiar over time”.
      Apple Battersea is the second store – after the recently reopened Tysons Corner store in the USA, which replaced Apple’s first ever store – to feature the redesigned fixtures.
      It features an updated fixture setAround the edge of the store is an oak framework of shelving that was developed with Foster + Partners.  The timber structure also defines a space dedicated to watches, a pick-up area and a redesigned Genius Bar.
      The Genius Bar has a counter for stand-up service along with a lowered area where people can be served sitting down. Along with its standard Parsons tables, which are made from sustainably harvested European oak, the store also has several lowered tables.
      The redesigned Genius Bar has a lower counter”We’ve thought about mobility issues across the whole fixture set,” explained Mirsky. “We have our traditional Parsons table with our standard height, but you notice that the tables in the back are varied and our new genius bar as well.”
      “We have a standing height because the team really prefers to stand and it lets them work with more people and then they can stand at the tables, but customers who want to sit or need to sit can actually use these slightly modified tables,” he continued.
      As part of the focus on mobility, Apple also increased the amount of circulation around the edge of the store.
      There is more space around the edge of the storeAlong with the timber framework, Apple aimed to replace other more carbon-intensive elements in the store with biomaterials.
      The floor, which was first used in the Brompton Road store, was made from aggregates bound together with a bio-polymer, while the acoustic baffles in the ceiling were made from biogenic material.
      The acoustic baffles and bright floor form part of a focus on improving visual and acoustic clarity in the store, with a dark band placed around the base of the walls to provide visual differentiation with the flooring.

      Foster + Partners designs Apple Brompton Road as “calm oasis” in London

      “Something I want to point out that is really part and parcel of the material palette, but also goes to our universal design, is the contrast in the store,” said Mirsky.
      “We wanted to make sure we have this really enhanced kind of navigation,” he continued. “So the floor is brightened – it helps us with our low energy – but it also makes it so that you can clearly see the table and the walls are defined.”
      The store has a dedicated pick-up cornerThe fixture set, flooring and ceiling baffles were also used at the Tysons Corner store and Mirsky believes the base can create a feeling of familiarity for Apple’s customers.
      “Each store is really dealt with as a unique circumstance Battersea has this incredible, incredible existing architectural fabric to work in,” he said.
      “We use the same fixture set at Tysons Corner in a mall setting in America which doesn’t have this sort of grand grandiose architecture, but the same fixture set can generate an environment that’s very familiar and welcoming no matter where you are.”
      The store is the latest to open in London, following the Brompton Road store that opened last year, which was designed to be a “calm oasis”. Other recently completed Apple Stores include the band’s first shop in India and a store in Los Angeles’ historic Tower Theatre.

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      Kim Kardashian brings poolside vibes to SKIMS swimwear pop-up at Selfridges

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      A three-tiered diving board stands next to a metallic palm tree inside this pop-up shop that designer Willo Perron has created for Kim Kardashian’s lingerie brand SKIMS in London.

      The brand’s first physical retail space in the UK, at the Selfridges department store in London, follows the same formula as its debut shop in Paris. Here, surfaces were coated in panels of glossy plastic with gentle thermoformed curves to suggest the shape of the human body.
      SKIMS has opened a swimwear pop-up in SelfridgesBut for this temporary summertime pop-up, Perron abandoned the brand’s typical fleshy colour palette in favour of a pale blue hue reminiscent of a heavily chlorinated swimming pool.
      The resulting plastic panels are so glossy they look almost wet as they form everything from mirror frames and bench seats to wall panels and the shop’s monolithic till counter, which is embossed with the SKIMS logo.
      A three-tiered diving board sculpture forms the centrepiece of the storeA huge replica of a three-levelled diving board stands at the heart of the store, with a stepped base and springboards formed from lengths of the same baby-blue plastic.

      Shiny chrome tubes act as handrails and are repeated throughout the store in the form of gridded partitions and clothing rails, curving around the columns of the Grade II-listed department store.

      Kim Kardashian launches first pop-up SKIMS store in Paris

      Rounding off the poolside atmosphere is a matching metal palm tree sculpture, integrated into the long bench set that runs along the shopfront.
      To display stacks of rolled-up nude-coloured SKIMS towels, Perron also added two smaller freestanding platforms with the same steps and chrome handrails as the diving platform but minus the springboards.
      Thermoformed plastic panels in glossy blue glad most of the interiorTaking over Selfridges’ ground-floor pop-up space The Corner Shop until 8 July 2023, the shop will offer the brand’s core collection of swimsuits and bikinis alongside limited editions and seasonal colourways.
      Customers will also be able to buy ice cream to match their swimwear, stored in baby-blue freezers courtesy of London gelato company Chin Chin Labs.
      A metallic palm tree decorates the store”I’m thrilled to bring SKIMS Swim to London for the first-time ever and take over The Corner Shop at Selfridges with our most conceptual pop-up experience to date,” said SKIMS co-founder and creative director Kim Kardashian.
      “We have followers all over the world,” she added. “As we enter the next phase of SKIMS retail, I look forward to connecting with these customers through innovative shopping experiences on a global scale.”
      A metallic palm tree completes the poolside atmosphereReturning for its second year, SKIMS’s swimwear offering is pitched towards providing various levels of coverage for different body types and modesty requirements.
      This is an extension of the brand’s drive to create inclusive underwear and shapewear that works for people of different sizes and abilities, following the launch of its Adaptive Collection last year.
      Over the next three years, the brand is planning to open a roster of freestanding stores across the UK and EU.

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      Daytrip imbues Victorian terrace in Highbury with “gallery-like minimalism”

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      Curving, organic forms are juxtaposed with clean-lined minimalism in this home that interiors studio Daytrip has completed in north London.

      Daytrip worked with architecture firm Studio 30 to extend the ground floor of the Victorian terrace house to the rear and side to increase the available space while excavating down to boost the ceiling height and give the space more gravitas.
      Daytrip has overhauled a Victorian terrace in north LondonIn the process of increasing the space, period features that remained in the home such as skirtings, architraves and panelling were lost. Daytrip saw this as an opportunity to achieve a completely new aesthetic.
      “Our contemporary interior shell treatments provided a clean, architectural approach, with minimal plaster and skirting details, sharp timber floor and stair nosings and high ceilings that are ornament-free,” the studio’s director Iwan Halstead told Dezeen.
      Furniture such as Benni Allan’s Low armchair were selected by Béton BrutThis approach informed the home’s crisp, clean aesthetic, which was deliberately juxtaposed with more organic forms as seen in the vintage 1970s Gilda sofa by Michel Ducaroy and the snaking Z dining chairs by Gastone Rinaldi, upholstered in off-white mohair velvet.

      “The contrast of gallery-like minimalism with organic forms intrigued the client and we decided to explore this,” said Halstead.
      Throughout the house, Daytrip developed a sense of flow by replacing standard doorways with large, full-height openings.
      Wide prime oak timber was combined with polished concrete flooring”These openings bring much more daylight into the property and unite the different spaces,” Halstead explained.
      The homeowners – a young professional couple – made the decision to move the kitchen to the front of the house, away from the more traditional location at the rear of the building.
      With its monolithic marble island, the kitchen is at once low-key and sculptural, designed to sit comfortably within the wider living space.
      Among the vintage furniture pieces are Z dining chairs by Gastone Rinaldi”A palette of off-white matt lacquered joinery and powdery warm grey cloudy marbles resonate with the palette of the interior,” said Halstead.
      “Soft and shadowy, the subtlety is satisfying to minimalist aficionados. It is also the perfect backdrop to an ever-changing countertop and display shelf for collectible ceramics and glassware.”
      The kitchen counter runs seamlessly into an upholstered bench, connecting the kitchen with the dining area, which is illuminated by a high-level box window that runs the remaining length of this space, merging with a wall of glass that looks onto the garden.
      The kitchen features a monolithic marble islandOn the opposite wall, the design for the wood-burning stove was kept deliberately minimal and integrated into the white, plaster-finished walls.
      A honed, pale grey limestone was used as the cantilevered base, floating above the concrete floor.
      Thanks to the positioning of the kitchen, the living area makes the most of the widest section of the ground floor, looking onto the courtyard garden.

      Daytrip creates calm broken-plan interior for Edwardian home in west London

      A poured, polished concrete floor with a slight cream tint is used on the ground level, continuing out into the garden.
      “Inspired by gallery spaces, the poured concrete is a neutral, hard surface that is reflective and tough,” Halstead said.
      “It immediately transforms a Victorian property into a contemporary home, especially for young professionals who use their living spaces for multiple purposes.”
      Polished concrete flooring reflects the lightThe pared-back material palette also includes wide prime oak timber, used on the two upper floors.
      “Timber brings a natural warmth and character that is often needed to compliment the sometimes austere quality of concrete,” said Halstead. “The soft, honey-toned character of oak is a calming neutral and easily adaptable to all spaces.”
      Cloudy-patterned marble features in the kitchen and bathrooms, complemented by cementitious walls and lime paints.
      Curved walls add softness to the bedroomsIn the bedrooms, linen curtains and curved walls add a sense of softness and tactility.
      On the first floor, a study overlooking the garden fulfils the client’s request for space to work from home, while the loft now houses a guest suite and utility room.
      Daytrip worked with Sophie Pearce, founder of east London design gallery Béton Brut, to furnish the house with a selection of antique and mid-century furniture.
      Several of the bedrooms feature integrated storageThese are balanced with pieces by contemporary makers including David Horan’s tactile Paper lights, which explore French and Japanese decoupage techniques, and the Low collection of curvilinear furniture in blackened oak from EBBA Architects founder Benni Allan.
      “We referenced Andrée Putman with our styling choices and discussed adding a touch of black during the design process,” said Daytrip director Emily Potter, nodding to the late French interior designer.
      “We had the opportunity to highlight sculptural moments with mono-blocking and also felt that the house could be a hybrid of a relaxing and welcoming home, with a touch of London townhouse smartness about it.”
      Linen curtains bring tactilityDaytrip has previously collaborated with Béton Brut on a number of residential projects in the British capital.
      Among them are an east London townhouse with custom Douglas fir joinery and another Victorian terrace house that was converted into understated apartments.
      The photography is by Gareth Hacker.

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      Camille Walala takes colourful aesthetic to the max in self-designed studio

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      London designer Camille Walala has worked with carpentry workshop Our Department to fit out her own studio with a no-holds-barred version of her colourful design style.

      Electric blue floors, graphically patterned cabinetry and a kitchenette with cartoon-like proportions feature in the space, which is located in the Regent Studios building off Broadway Market in East London.
      Camille Walala designed her studio to include a kitchen with exaggerated proportionsThe seventh-floor space attracted Walala and her studio manager Julia Jomaa with its sweeping views.
      Knowing they would be in no hurry to vacate, the duo took their time with the design, working side by side in the studio for over a year while adjusting the position of their space-dividing furniture until they arrived at a layout with the perfect functionality for them.
      The studio chose to embrace colour in the designOnce they decided to embark on the interior design, it was not a given that they would embrace Walala’s signature bold colour palette, as they worried about it potentially clashing with future work.

      “We were like, how colourful should we go?” Walala told Dezeen. “Should we keep it quite simple or should we actually go for it?”
      But ultimately, she says the desire to feel inspired by their workspace and “inhabit the aesthetic fully” won out.
      The studio is divided into two rooms including one for “clean” computer-based workThe studio is divided into two rooms – one for “clean” computer-based work and the other for “messy” activities such as painting and model making.
      Walala and Jomaa created a 3D model of the interior in SketchUp before bringing in their favourite carpenters” Our Department – a studio specialising in design and fabrication for the creative industries – to realise the design.
      The duo of Simon Sawyer and Gustave Andre built all of the elements in the space with a focus on achieving clean lines and pure block colours along with maximum functionality.
      Our Department achieved clean lines by sticking coloured shapes onto MDF doorsFor the cabinetry, they used doors made of melamine-faced medium-density fibreboard (MDF) and applied a decorative technique they had used on previous Walala projects.
      This involved CNC-cutting shapes out of thin MDF, before spraypainting and precisely glueing them onto the doors to create a graphic pattern while avoiding the fuzzy lines that can sometimes come from painting directly onto surfaces.
      In the kitchen, the group worked together to exaggerate proportions as much as possible, with Walala saying she dreamed of achieving a “Bart Simpson kitchen” through elements such as chunky handles and bold grout.

      Camille Walala shares colourful vision to make Oxford Street a car-free shopping district

      “We designed the Lego House a few years ago, this really colourful house,” she explained. “Especially the kitchen in that space was really quite bold and almost like a cartoon, and we thought we should do something similar in our studio.”
      By contrast, a more subtle feature is the double sliding door between the studio’s two rooms, which consists of a transparent fluted screen set within a black frame.
      While it may be less attention-grabbing, Jomaa says the mesmeric effect of the fluted panels sliding against each other is like a “little animation of colour”.
      The workspace also includes natural details like custom tulipwood desk legsThere are also a few natural wood elements throughout the interior such as tulipwood desk legs to balance the liberal use of colour.
      As with all residents of Regent Studios, Walala will need to return the rented space to its original condition when her studio eventually leaves, so there are no permanent fixtures and everything is designed to be dismantled.
      Even the central “wall”, which contains floor-to-ceiling storage on one side, is freestanding. But the team used kitchen-unit feet to wedge it against the ceiling for stability.
      Everything is designed to be dismantled when the studio one day moves outWalala and Jamaa have been working together for eight years and started off sharing a desk in a basement studio. Their recent projects have included murals, installations and a proposal for a car-free Oxford Street.
      Walala is often seen as being part of the New London Fabulous wave of maximalist designers, alongside Yinka Ilori, Morag Myerscough and Adam Nathaniel Furman.
      The photography is by Taran Wilkhu.

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      Tomás Saraceno adapts Serpentine gallery to welcome all species

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      Argentinian artist Tomás Saraceno has changed the HVAC and electrical system of the Serpentine gallery in London, in an effort to make an exhibition for all the nearby species.

      Titled Web(s) of Life, the exhibition presents some of the artist’s most recent and well-known environmentally focused works, while also encompassing interventions into the building itself.
      These interventions aim to make the Serpentine South building housing the exhibition more porous and responsive to its setting in Kensington Gardens, challenging anthropocentric perspectives that only consider the interests of humans and not any other beings.
      Tomás Saraceno has made changes to the Serpentine South building for his exhibitionSculptures made for the enjoyment of a variety of different animals are placed on the building’s grounds, facade and roof as well as inside the building, while complex webs woven by multiple types of spiders working “in collaboration” with Saraceno feature inside the dimly lit galleries.
      “You see that many architectures today are somehow not so inclusive of what is happening on the planet,” said Saraceno, who trained as an architect. “I’m very happy to think that for the first time at the Serpentine, there are many spiderweb pavilions.”

      “It’s a little bit about trying to think how animal architecture could enter into the discourse and how we need to have a much more equilibrated and balanced way of building cities today on Earth,” he told Dezeen.
      Saraceno’s Cloud Cities sculptures can be found in the groundsTo make the gallery interior more comfortable for spiders and other insects, the equipment that controls the building’s temperature and humidity has been switched off and some doorways opened to allow for free movement of both air and animal life.
      Given the exhibition will run throughout the British summertime, this might mean some discomfort for human visitors – but within limits. According to the Serpentine’s chief curator Lizzie Carey-Thomas, the gallery will allow the staff on its floor to decide when conditions are too hot for them to work safely or for visitors to have an enjoyable time.
      At that point, the gallery will close rather than switch on the air-conditioning, encouraging visitors to enjoy the installations outside in the park and under the trees.
      The sculptures also feature inside the galleryA further intervention by Saraceno comes in the form of a new solar array on the Serpentine’s roof, which will power all the films and lights in the exhibition.
      The destructive effects of lithium mining on the environment and Indigenous communities is a key theme of the exhibition. So Saraceno and the Serpentine are avoiding the use of a lithium battery and instead embracing the intermittency of solar power by adapting the exhibition’s energy use to the level of sunshine outside.

      Tomás Saraceno installs Aerocene metallic orbs in Paris’ Grand Palais

      On cloudy or partly cloudy days, films will run less frequently and lights will be dimmed. On particularly sunless days, the films may switch to audio-only, while some lights will switch off altogether.
      “The irony there is that on the extreme heat days with lots of sun, we will have full power but we won’t be able to open the exhibition,” said Carey-Thomas.
      As the Serpentine South building is heritage listed, both Carey-Thomas and Saraceno say the process for making any alterations was complex and drawn out, with approval for the solar panels taking two years and other plans to remove windows and doors quickly abandoned.
      The exhibition environment is meant to be more comfortable for spiders, whose webs are on displayThe works within the exhibition include Saraceno’s Cloud Cities sculptures, which feature compartments specifically designed for different animals such as birds, insects, dogs, hedgehogs and foxes.
      The artist is also screening a film that documents one of the instalments of his Aerocene project, which involves making an entirely fossil-free aircraft powered purely by air heated by the sun with no need for batteries, helium, hydrogen or lithium.
      In the film, the Aerocene team completes the world’s first piloted solar-powered flight, flying a balloon sculpture over the highly reflective salt flats in Salinas Grandes.
      A film in the exhibition documents Saraceno’s fossil-free flight projectThere is also a work created specifically for children, called Cloud Imagination, which is accessed through a dog-shaped door that’s too small for most adults to enter.
      Saraceno and the Serpentine describe the Web(s) of Life exhibition as having been created “in collaboration” with a host of different contributors, both human and non-human.
      These include the communities of Salinas Grandes and Laguna de Guayatayoc in Argentina, spider diviners in Cameroon, the communities around Aerocene and Saraceno’s Arachnophilia project, and the lifeforms found in the Royal Parks surrounding the Serpentine, which will continue to evolve the works over the next three months.
      The films may run less frequently when the levels of solar energy are affected by cloud coverThe artist and gallery also want to extend the ethos of the exhibition to the potential sale of the artworks by developing a scheme called partial common ownership or, Saraceno hopes, “partial common stewardship”, which means any buyer would “co-own” the work along with a designated species or community.
      Another recent artwork to have explored ideas of intermittency in energy and design is Solar Protocol, which looks at the potential of a solar-powered internet.
      The photography is by Studio Tomás Saraceno.
      Tomás Saraceno In Collaboration: Web(s) of Life will take place at Serpentine South in London, UK from 1 June to 10 September 2023 and culminate with a day-long festival on Saturday, 9 September including a weather-dependent Aerocene flight. For more information about events, exhibitions and talks, visit Dezeen Events Guide.

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      Pirajean Lees creates Arts and Crafts-style interior for Mayfair restaurant

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      London design studio Pirajean Lees referenced Mayfair’s pastoral past and created a series of spaces that nod to the idea of a Georgian manor house when designing restaurant 20 Berkeley.

      Pirajean Lees aimed to build a story around the space and its sequence of many small rooms, while tapping into the restaurant’s British produce-led culinary approach.
      Pirajean Lees has completed the 20 Berkeley restaurant in Mayfair”The restaurant is situated in the heart of Mayfair, a place once on the cusp of the city and countryside,” Pirajean Lees told Dezeen.
      “The farming history of the area and its connection to the surrounding rural lands is prevalent throughout the project and paramount to the dining experience.”
      The restaurant features a series of cosy rooms on the first floorPirajean Lees wanted to put nature and craft at the heart of this design project to align it with the ethos of Creative Restaurant Group, the restaurant’s founders.

      “This led us to build on the strong connection of an imagined Mayfair Georgian manor house and its rural lands, which would have been used to grow produce,” the studio said.
      “A central staircase leads to rooms usually found in a traditional family home, such as the drawing room, music room, pantry, orangery and salon. Each room has its own character whilst belonging to the one property.”
      Among them is the music roomOn the upper-ground floor are the richly designed reception and main dining rooms.
      The lower-ground level houses a 14-seat private room with its own exclusive lounge and dining area, alongside the kitchen, wine cellar and main bar, The Nipperkin.
      The design of the interiors references the arts and crafts movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
      Stained glass features in the drawing room”At 20 Berkeley, we have developed a layered story of handmade details and tactile finishes that exude elegance,” said Pirajean Lees.
      “The project’s expression is rooted in the traditions of craftsmanship and how the process of making decorative objects and furniture should showcase the beauty of both its materials and construction.”
      Antique mirrors were used to surround the building’s columnsThe resulting aesthetic is detailed, with a palette of rich, warm tones including ambers, ochres and dark reds, used across upholstery and textural wallcoverings. Floor tiles have been hand-crafted in Wales and feature clay embedded with fossils.
      Bespoke joinery work was utilised throughout the space, including for the wall panelling, dowelled ceilings and an English oak staircase.

      Pirajean Lees and Olly Bengough design “timeless” interiors for House of Koko members’ club

      The project also features bespoke elements that were added to bring a sense of opulence to the various spaces.
      These include a pantry, in painted timber, that provides a strong focal point of the upper floor. Here, chefs prepare dishes on the pantry island, “inviting guests to witness the chefs’ craft, as one would do in one’s home, whilst hosting guests for dinner,” said Pirajean Lees.
      In the orangery, a bespoke pickling cupboard, made from sapele wood and marble, serves as “a pleasing curiosity”, used by the chefs to store jars of vegetables for their recipes.
      An English oak staircase leads down to 20 Berkeley’s lower ground levelThe bespoke dining tables and chairs were made of oak, while the chairs have been traditionally upholstered for maximum comfort.
      “The bespoke and craft elements bring depth to the project, anchoring it in its strong narrative and creating timeless interiors,” said Pirajean Lees.
      A private dining room is located on the lower ground floorBespoke stained glass, handcrafted in a North London studio, is another of the restaurant’s features.
      Used in the reception and drawing room, the stained glass has been strategically positioned, backing onto the busy central bar to give a sense of movement and energy.
      In front of the windows, it warms the light coming into the rooms to create an immersive atmosphere.
      Mixed clay tiles are laid across the floor”The stained glass introduces shadows and reflections, which change throughout the day and are different in each room,” said Pirajean Lees.
      “As per each of our projects, the tailored finishes, joinery and surfaces here, have been carefully created to ensure optimum use of the space by the restaurateur and their guests.”
      Other hospitality projects from the studio include an ornate sushi restaurant in Dubai with interiors informed by 1920s Japan and a members club in London, housed inside the iconic music venue Koko.
      The photography is by Polly Tootal.

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