While the concentrated light of a spotlight compels us to take center stage, the soft glow of a shaded lamp invites us to decompress and settle in. Through his new collections Touch and Strut, Coil + Drift founder John Sorensen-Jolink explores how different lighting can affect a room and its inhabitants. Presented together in Lookout, a new exhibition at Colony in New York, contrasts intentional illumination with atmospheric glow.

Photography by Haley Birt

As a contemporary dancer turned designer, Sorensen-Jolink understands the significance of light. Whether guiding focus, capturing movement, or establishing an ambiance, lighting shifts people’s experience of a space. He explores this relationship in Touch and Strut, working with a specialized team of in-house artisans to translate his understanding of movement and space into sculptural lighting.

Photography by Haley Birt

Touch reimagines the spotlight as a domestic object, inspired by Sorensen-Jolink’s early encounters with theatrical lighting. Growing up in a home renovated by a theater worker, he was surrounded by dimly lit interiors, where recessed and track lighting cast concentrated pools of light. Though initially resistant to this dominant, impersonal light source, Sorensen-Jolink returns to the spotlight with a hands-on approach in Touch.

Photography by Haley Birt

Constructed primarily from brass or steel, Touch features adjustable, cylindrical shades and slender stems that allow users to pivot the beams, while wooden accents emphasize tactility. Rather than remaining fixed, Touch allows light to shift in response to the room, balancing mechanical precision with the intimacy of human touch.

Photography by Haley Birt

“When you’re in a pool of light, you’re on, you’re performing,” Sorensen-Jolink explains. “When you step out, you can sort of disappear.”

Photography by Haley Birt

While Touch fosters focus, Strut introduces a quiet ambiance intended to support the everyday rhythm of a home. Inspired by the exposed wooden frameworks of fire lookout towers across the Catskill and Rocky Mountains, the collection translates this quiet utility into wooden lighting fixtures with subtle metal detailing and intentional use of negative space. Elongated linen shades, inspired in part by Sorensen-Jolink’s collection of vintage cloth-shaded lamps, emit an enveloping glow reminiscent of an ember or campfire.

Photography by Haley Birt

Together, the collections embody two contrasting approaches to illumination, informed by the changing light surrounding Sorensen-Jolink’s Catskills studio. Through their distinct forms and materials, Touch and Strut balance focused illumination with softer, ambient light, introducing the natural rhythms of sun and shade into the home.

Photography by Haley Birt

Lookout is on view until Oct. 21 at Colony Gallery in New York City.

Constructed in 1908 by government architect Keijiro Yamashita, the landmark Nara Prison is the only complex among Japan’s monumental “Five Great Prisons of Meiji” to survive almost entirely intact. More than a century later, Hoshino Resorts has transformed the former prison into Hoshinoya Nara Prison, , a 48-suite luxury hotel that preserves the building’s distinctive architecture while introducing an entirely new purpose.

Photography courtesy of Hoshino Resorts

Though the converted prison-hotel model isn’t anything new, Hoshinoya Nara Prison approaches adaptive reuse as an exercise in cultural preservation. With support from conservation specialists at Yasui Architects & Engineers, lead architect Rie Azuma (Azuma Environmental Architectural Research Institute) carried out a considered renovation that’s both deeply respectful of the site’s history and resolutely contemporary.

Photography courtesy of Hoshino Resorts

The Nara Prison complex relies on the conventional Haviland System—a radial layout in which five wings extend from a central guardhouse. Rather than masking this rigid institutional typology, Azuma and her team embraced its structural geometry, preserving the original circulation routes and emphasizing the architectural rhythm of the long corridors and brick arches.

Photography courtesy of Hoshino Resorts

“We aim to preserve the memory of how [Japanese people] of the time engaged with unfamiliar Western culture, while creating a space where modern guests can enjoy a comfortable stay,” Azuma explains. Despite this rigid geometry, the resulting interiors balance the building’s imposing architecture with the warmth and comfort expected of a contemporary hotel.

Photography courtesy of Hoshino Resorts

The primary design challenge was converting the narrow, isolated detention cells into expansive luxury suites. Azuma’s team solved this by connecting former cells to create larger accommodations while retaining elements of the original architecture. For signature suites such as The 11-Cell Deluxe, the team brought together 11 original blocks into a single footprint. The resulting suite includes an expansive living area and a separate dressing lounge.

Photography courtesy of Hoshino Resorts

Throughout the interiors, material choices balance historical preservation with contemporary structural requirements. Exposed steel seismic reinforcements—installed to fortify the century-old brickwork—create a compelling dialogue alongside restored plaster ceiling moldings and warm timber paneling.

Photography courtesy of Hoshino Resorts

While the sharp metallic lines stand in stark, graphic contrast against the rugged, hand-laid brick walls, celebrating the physical weight of the original construction, the wooden inserts introduce tactile warmth and soften the otherwise austere material palette.

Photography courtesy of Hoshino Resorts

The interior concept draws directly from the Meiji era’s spirit of global integration. In a first for the Hoshinoya brand, European furnishings appear throughout the property, reflecting the Western influences that shaped Japanese architecture and culture during the period. Contemporary artworks complement the historic interiors, set within the building’s preserved architectural volumes. In the main lounge, an open atrium and exposed structural beams are complemented by a series of arches extending from the windows, creating an inviting atmosphere for quiet reflection and relaxation.

Photography courtesy of Hoshino Resorts

Lighting designer Masanobu Takeishi used subtle indirect illumination and handcrafted ceramic fixtures, thrown by local artisans, to soften the building’s severity and introduce depth and spatial richness. In the courtyard, lighting inspired by distant moonlight creates a similarly restrained atmosphere after dark.

Photography courtesy of Hoshino Resorts

Outdoors, landscape architect Hiroki Hasegawa imagined the expansive grounds through an “outside within” concept, introducing geometrically arranged walkways, private decks, and carefully maintained planting areas to offer guests serene outdoor spaces within the former prison walls.

“The vast, open spaces that once served security purposes have been preserved as much as possible, while fragments of the outside world—carefully maintained landscapes—have been introduced in selected areas,” Hasegawa shares.

Photography courtesy of Hoshino Resorts

Beyond its architectural transformation, Hoshinoya Nara Prison in adaptive reuse and heritage preservation. Rather than treating the building’s history as a backdrop, the project incorporates it into the guest experience, allowing visitors to encounter the original architecture alongside contemporary interventions.

Through what Hoshino Resorts has dubbed the “Cycle of Heritage,” the project proposes a model in which tourism contributes to the continued preservation of significant cultural properties. Connected directly to the on-site Nara Prison Museum through a dedicated pathway, the hotel invites guests to engage with the building’s complex institutional history beyond its newly restored interiors.

Kohler unveils a new Artist Editions collaboration with AERIN founder and creative director Aerin Lauder, introducing the Fleurette Collection. Inspired by the heritage of traditional Delftware, the collection brings hand-applied floral motifs to three iconic Kohler fixtures.

Photography courtesy of Kohler

Crafted in white vitreous china and rooted in the tradition of Delft tiles, the collection comprises three Kohler classics: the Memoirs Stately toilet, Memoirs Stately pedestal sink, and Caxton rectangle sink. Offered in two colorways, a traditional blue-and-white palette and a soft green-and-white option, the trio transforms functional fixtures into decorative bath forms. The green variation offers a fresh interpretation of Delftware, drawing on Lauder’s growing appreciation for the color and bringing what she describes as a garden-inspired sensibility into the home.

Photography courtesy of Kohler

Lauder’s vision for the collaboration stems from the blue-and-white ceramics that filled her grandmother Estée Lauder’s home. “My grandmother taught me to appreciate beautiful objects and the stories they carry,” she says. “I wanted to create pieces that feel timeless, objects that could become part of a family’s home and be enjoyed for years to come.”

Photography courtesy of Kohler

Having long admired the way Kohler elevates everyday spaces through design, Lauder was particularly drawn to the opportunity to work with its Artist Editions collection. Celebrating the intersection of art and craftsmanship for more than 40 years, the initiative combines precision manufacturing with decorative techniques executed by skilled artisans in Kohler, Wisconsin. The partnership not only reflects Lauder’s deeply personal perspective on the collection, but also underscores Kohler’s commitment to luxury design innovation. 

Photography courtesy of Kohler

Despite its centuries-old tradition, Lauder feels there is “something incredibly fresh about Delftware.” As bathrooms increasingly become opportunities for individual style and expression throughout the home, the collaboration between Kohler and AERIN merges heritage with enduring design, creating what Lauder describes as a “natural way to blend artistry, craftsmanship, and nostalgia, while creating something that feels modern and timeless for today’s interiors.”

“A passionate Mexican risk-taker” is how Mexican-born designer Alfonso Verduzco describes his creative point of view. Now practicing in Scottsdale, Arizona, Verduzco is still deeply influenced by his background, upbringing, and the art, culture, and traditions of his homeland.

“I want to honor the richness of Mexico, its materials, craftsmanship, architecture, and cultural history, and translate those influences into a new language of sophistication and innovation,” he says. “I never want to interpret those references literally; I want to understand their essence and reimagine them in a contemporary way.”

Photography courtesy of Alfonso Verduzco

Looking back, Verduzco recalls growing up in Mexico surrounded by artisan communities, which he visited with his family. “I remember seeing objects being made by hand and developing an appreciation for craftsmanship long before I understood it as design.”

His training in Italy and visits to factories like Poliform, B&B Italia, and Minotti reinforced that appreciation. Masters like Antonio Citterio and Piero Lissoni also had a lasting impact. “It made me want to represent my own Mexican heritage with that same level of pride, elegance, and global relevance.”

Once introduced to high-end furniture, craftsmanship, and manufacturing, Verduzco immediately “felt connected to that world,” he says, “and knew this was the path I wanted to follow.”

Photography courtesy of WVH

But the road was not exactly linear. Verduzco earned a degree in accounting in Mexico before moving to the United States at age 18, without speaking English. He began taking various design courses before finding his way to architecture at the University of Colorado in Boulder.

“This country has given me so much, but Mexico is where my roots are, and I think starting over made me even more aware of how important those roots are to me,” he says. “Today, they are an essential part of my identity as a designer and something I want to represent with pride through my work.

Alfonso Verduzco joins us for today’s Friday Five. We spent five minutes with him discussing the inspiration behind ALMA, an acoustic wall panel collection he designed in collaboration with WVH.

Photography courtesy of WVH

ALMA

Launched at NeoCon earlier this year, ALMA was inspired by the material, architectural, and cultural heritage of Mexico, translated into contemporary surfaces using natural materials, including volcanic stone, copper, obsidian, and wood veneer.

“When I started ALMA, I wanted to challenge the idea of what an acoustic panel could be,” Verduzco says. “Yes, it had to perform, but I also wanted it to create an emotional and sensory connection with the person experiencing it. I began looking at materials, places, and architectural details from Mexico that have stayed with me throughout my life and sought to reinterpret them abstractly without losing their essence.”

Photography courtesy of WVH

What Inspired ALMA?

ALMA was conceived as a family of nine designs, each with its own story and identity, reflecting a cultural, architectural, material, or historical reference from Mexico.

The first three designs of the line—SENDERO, SAGRADO, and REFLEJO—reflect Verduzco’s own journey. “Mexico gave me the roots and the story,” he says. “My education and career in the United States, together with my training and exposure to design in Italy, gave me a different perspective through which to interpret them. Bringing those worlds together into something that can now be experienced in interiors here and internationally has been incredibly meaningful to me.”

Even at the highest level of design, the human hand, the material, and the attention to detail are what give an object its soul.

Below, Verduzco describes his distinct and vivid sources of inspiration for the ALMA collection, which won a Best of NeoCon award and a MetropolisLikes2026 recognition.

Photography courtesy of WVH

Historic Volcanic Stone Streets

“SENDERO (meaning pathway in Spanish) was inspired by the historic streets of Mexico, where large volcanic stones have been shaped over generations by rain, footsteps, horses, and carts.

“I’ve always been fascinated by how every stone develops its own character and carries a sense of time and history. I wanted to capture that feeling in an abstract way, translating the irregular rhythm of those streets into the composition of the panel and creating a contrast between the warmth of natural wood veneer and the raw presence of solid volcanic stone.”

Photography courtesy of WVH

Traditional Mexican Cathedral Doors

“SAGRADO (sacred in Spanish) was inspired by the monumental wooden doors found in historic Mexican cathedrals—particularly the decorative iron and copper nails that have aged alongside the wood for generations.

“I was drawn to the contrast between the metal, its natural patina over time, and the character of the surrounding wood. I abstracted those details using solid end-grain larch treated with the Shou Sugi Ban technique, paired with copper elements that reinterpret the original metalwork in a contemporary way.”

Photography courtesy of WVH

Mexican Obsidian

“REFLEJO (reflection in Spanish) celebrates Mexican obsidian, a volcanic glass valued for centuries for its natural beauty and later used in jewelry for its deep black color and reflective qualities.

“I was intrigued by the idea of taking something we normally experience at the scale of a precious object and translating that feeling into an architectural surface. By combining real Mexican obsidian with the beautiful grain of a gray maple wood veneer, the design reimagines the wall almost as a piece of jewelry, allowing light, reflection, and material contrast to become part of the experience.”

At 262 Fifth Avenue, the elevator shafts, major MEP risers, and service infrastructure sit outside the perimeter of the apartments. Architecture studio Meganom developed this exo-core arrangement for the 860-foot NoMad tower in collaboration with structural engineers at WSP and MEP engineers at GEA, leaving its 26 full-floor and duplex residences free of interior columns. Moving these systems outside the apartments creates cleaner, more open interiors.

Photography by Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen

“Architecture is part of our everyday lives, and we should treat it as such,” says Boris Kuzinez, founder of Five Points Development Group, who worked closely with the design teams throughout the project. “At its core, architecture is about protecting and shaping the environments where people live.”

Photography by Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen

For Meganom founder Yury Grigoryan, that philosophy extends to the building’s exterior. “We are trying to find human significance and expressiveness in simple forms,” he says. The facade comprises more than 220,000 sculptural anodized aluminum brick elements, whose textured surfaces capture and reflect daylight as the sun moves across the city. At the crown, a 70-foot oculus frames a 24-karat gold inverted arch, created in collaboration with Florentine gold-leaf atelier Giusto Manetti Battiloro, whose restoration work includes Florence Cathedral, Big Ben, and Rockefeller Center’s Prometheus statue.

Photography by Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen

For the interiors, Meganom turned to Copenhagen-based Norm Architects, marking the first Manhattan luxury residential project for both studios. The separated core allows for full-floor customization and unobstructed city views, with floor-to-ceiling windows reaching up to 20 feet. The building also follows Passive House principles, incorporating triple-filtered fresh air and radiant floor heating by Rehau.

Photography by Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen

Norm Architects approached the interiors through three guiding concepts: Sanctuary in the Sky, Soft Elegance, and Sculptural Balance. “From the beginning, we approached the project as a sanctuary in the sky—but ultimately also as ‘just’ a home,” says partner Peter Eland. The studio envisioned the residences as a retreat from the intensity of the streets below, while maintaining a connection to the city through carefully framed views.

Photography by Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen

Natural light plays a central role in that relationship, moving across walls, floors, and other surfaces throughout the day to create shifting patterns of light and shadow. A tone-on-tone palette emphasizes the inherent qualities of the materials, while geometric forms, sculptural details, and subtle metallic accents reference the building’s aluminum facade.

Photography by Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen

That restrained approach carries through to the material selections. Sustainably sourced oak flooring by Listone Giordano establishes a warm foundation, while Trapattoni Marmi’s sculptural Grigio Alpi stonework brings a more substantial presence to the kitchens and bathrooms, complemented by minimalist fixtures from Ceadesign. Molteni&C produced the kitchens and wardrobes, while Perugini finished the staircase handrails in leather. Custom doors by Lualdi incorporate acoustic insulation without interrupting the interiors’ clean lines, and glare-free lighting by Flos, integrated with Lutron controls, provides illumination without drawing attention away from the architecture.

Photography by Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen

Meganom’s structural decisions create the openness and flexibility that Norm Architects builds upon, while the interiors introduce warmth and intimacy to a building of considerable scale. Together, the two studios demonstrate how architecture and interior design can work toward the same goal: creating a sense of calm high above the city without losing its connection to the streets below.

For a device designed to disappear into the reading experience, even the smallest physical details matter. How it feels in your hand, how light hits the screen, and how you turn a page can all influence whether you’re absorbed in a book or distracted by the technology holding it. With its newly redesigned Kindle lineup, Amazon is reconsidering those details from the inside out. The refresh encompasses the Kindle, Kindle Paperwhite, and Kindle Colorsoft, introducing thinner profiles, new materials, a more cohesive design language, and an expanded collection of accessories.

Photography courtesy of Amazon

“As we approach Kindle’s 20th year, we’ve been thinking about how we continue to make a product people already love meaningfully better,” says Chris Green, VP of design at Amazon. “Using learnings from our most recent Kindle Scribe refresh, we redesigned this new lineup from the ground up, introducing a consistent design language with flush-front displays and edge-to-edge color plus new colors and aluminum housing.”

Central to that redesign is a new reverse-stack display construction, which Amazon describes as a first for the e-reader category. By rethinking how the display, front light, and touch layers are assembled, the team was able to create a completely flush reading surface, eliminating the raised borders found on earlier devices. The result is a cleaner, more continuous surface that also contributes to thinner, lighter hardware. But reducing weight was only part of the challenge.

Photography courtesy of Amazon

“When you’re holding something in your hand and reading for hours, it’s not just how much it weighs; it’s how that weight sits in your hand,” Green explains. “The closer the device can get to your hand’s natural density, the more it stops feeling like a thing you’re holding and starts feeling like a natural extension of you.”

Photography courtesy of Amazon

This new design language extends across the family, but each model addresses a slightly different reading experience. The six-inch Kindle remains the most portable, now with the option of a matte aluminum housing made from 80% recycled aluminum. The Kindle Paperwhite introduces a thinner, lighter body, while retaining its adjustable warm light.

For the Kindle Colorsoft, the emphasis shifts toward bringing color to the reading experience without sacrificing the qualities that distinguish an e-reader from a tablet. Its redesigned display incorporates nitride LEDs to enhance brightness and color, an oxide backplane to improve contrast, and an ultra-thin optical coating for greater clarity. The goal is to make illustrated books, comics, and other visual content feel more natural on a paper-like screen.

Photography courtesy of Amazon

While the technical changes are largely invisible, the new color palette certainly isn’t. “Customers are telling and showing us that they want their Kindle to express who they are through color,” Green says. “Two years ago, we introduced a matcha-colored Kindle, and it was a success we couldn’t ignore.”

Across the lineup, Amazon has introduced Ube, Seaglass Green, Alpine Sky, Fig, and Graphite—a palette Green says was drawn from café and dessert culture.

Photography courtesy of Amazon

The redesign also introduces a new collection of accessories, including the Kindle Click, a compact Bluetooth remote that lets readers turn pages. A magnetic Page-Turn Cover incorporates physical buttons directly into the case, while a charging dock allows compatible devices to remain upright while charging. Additionally, new covers in knit fabric, plant-based leather, and pebbled leather complement the new devices.

Nearly two decades after the original Kindle debuted, Amazon’s latest redesign illustrates how much room remains for refinement in an established product. The most significant changes aren’t necessarily the ones that immediately catch the eye, but those that make the technology feel less like something you’re holding and more like an extension of the reading experience.

Photography courtesy of Amazon

The new Kindle is available now at amazon.com, starting at $149.99. The Kindle Paperwhite and Kindle Colorsoft will be available October 28, starting at $199.99 and $289.99, respectively.

Editorial Transparency: This article was developed with the assistance of AI tools, which may have been used for research, outlining, editing, or copy refinement. Reporting, fact-checking, and editorial decisions were made by the Design Milk editorial team.

Cigar lounges have traditionally favored the atmosphere of a private club, with dark woods, leather furnishings, and an emphasis on exclusivity. For N53, located more than 300 feet above Dubai, Bergman Design House took a different approach, creating an interior that draws on regional heritage while responding to its distinctly contemporary architectural setting.

Photography by Vigo Jansons; courtesy of One&Only One Za’abeel and Bergman Design House

Set within The Link, which connects the two towers at One Za’abeel, this new cigar lounge needed to highlight its unique architectural setting.

“Within this modern architectural envelope (One Za’abeel development), N53 introduces a layered interior language, one that blends contemporary luxury with heritage craftsmanship, creating a timeless counterpoint to the building’s striking modernity,” says Marie Soliman, co-founder of Bergman Design House.

Photography by Vigo Jansons; courtesy of One&Only One Za’abeel and Bergman Design House

Conceived as an open-plan lounge, N53 is carefully zoned to encourage both privacy and social interaction. Seating clusters are arranged around a cigar display, retail area, and custom bar, while a private VIP area features a locked humidor. The lounge also offers a collection of 90 premium cigars and a selection of rare spirits, including Hakushu 18-Year-Old Japanese single malt whisky.

Photography by Vigo Jansons; courtesy of One&Only One Za’abeel and Bergman Design House

Falconry, a longstanding tradition in the region, became a central reference for the interior’s design narrative. Recognized as a symbol of power and precision throughout the Middle East, the ancient sport is interpreted here through a contemporary lens. Bespoke marquetry artwork pays tribute to the practice, introducing a cultural reference that complements the contemporary space.

Photography by Vigo Jansons; courtesy of One&Only One Za’abeel and Bergman Design House

Warm shades of tobacco leaf, caramel, and cognac are complemented by deep charcoals on the ceiling and underfoot. Hints of slate blue and amber round out the color palette. Rich woods, Cipollino marble, leather, and brushed metals introduce contrasting textures, while accessories include Elie Bleu cigar pieces and cigar cutters made from Damascus steel.

Photography by Vigo Jansons; courtesy of One&Only One Za’abeel and Bergman Design House

Lighting plays an equally important role in shaping the atmosphere. A metal mesh installation forms a cloud-like piece that seems to float overhead, while Murano glass floor lights add an artisanal touch. Together with the rich materials, intimate seating arrangements, and acoustic softness, these elements create an environment designed to encourage guests to linger.

Photography by Vigo Jansons; courtesy of One&Only One Za’abeel and Bergman Design House

Rather than compete with the striking architecture of The Link, N53 introduces a more intimate scale, using materials, craftsmanship, and regional references to create a counterpoint to the city beyond its windows.

For decades, Ebony and Jet were among the most important publications documenting Black American life and culture, making Johnson Publishing Company the era’s most influential Black-owned media corporation. Completed in 1972, its headquarters at 820 South Michigan Avenue in Chicago gave that cultural presence a physical form. More than 40 years later, photographer Barbara Karant began documenting the now-abandoned building, capturing its kaleidoscopic patterns, mirrored surfaces, and remarkably intact 1970s interiors. Her photographs are now collected in 820 Ebony/Jet: Visions of the Johnson Publishing Company, an American Icon, a new monograph from MW Editions that preserves the building and its design legacy.

Photography courtesy of courtesy MW Editions

The headquarters was significant before anyone stepped inside. Publisher John H. Johnson had faced resistance from real estate agents and bankers wary of financing a Black-owned company, and ultimately commissioned John Moutoussamy, the first Black architect to design a downtown Chicago high-rise. Rather than the glass-and-steel towers common to the era, Johnson wanted a building with permanence and character. Moutoussamy delivered a restrained exterior clad in travertine marble.

Photography courtesy MW Editions

Inside, restraint gave way to something far more expressive. Palm Springs designers Arthur Elrod and William Raiser gave each of the building’s 11 floors its own combination of color and pattern, creating interiors that reflected Johnson Publishing Company’s cultural ambitions as much as its corporate identity. The cafeteria paired orange, purple, and gold chevrons, while co-founder Eunice Johnson’s cream-and-honey office incorporated pieces from the couple’s art collection. Geometric wallpapers, mirrored surfaces, bold carpets, and richly patterned finishes appeared throughout.

Photography courtesy MW Editions

Remarkably, much of that design remained unchanged until Johnson Publishing Company left the building in 2012. Karant began photographing the empty headquarters the following year and continued through 2018. With the furnishings gone, she focused her lens on the surfaces and details that defined the interiors: geometric wallpapers, mirrored dressing rooms, and the Test Kitchen’s swirling laminate cabinetry, whose psychedelic patterning recalls Italian marbled paper. Mirrors double and multiply motifs within her compositions, while the executive floor’s picture windows bring Lake Michigan and Grant Park into view.

Photography courtesy MW Editions

The building’s emptiness is part of what gives the photographs their power. Stripped of the people, magazines, and day-to-day activity that once animated the headquarters, the rooms become studies in color, pattern, and material—but also records of a workplace and cultural institution that no longer exists in this form.

The book broadens that record with documentary images of the original interiors and Ebony’s in-house photo studio, as well as Richard Hunt’s site-specific lobby sculpture, Expansive Construction (1972). Recollections from former employees add firsthand accounts of life inside the building, while the book also traces its influence on artists including Theaster Gates, Hank Willis Thomas, Kwame Brathwaite, Lorna Simpson, Martine Syms, and David Hartt.

Photography courtesy MW Editions

At 240 pages, 820 Ebony/Jet brings together 142 color and eight black-and-white images, with a foreword by artist Deborah Willis and essays by Aaron Bryant, Cheryl Finley, Carla Williams, Jon Ott, Brenna Wynn Greer, and E. James West. The book preserves a remarkable chapter of American design history—and the physical environment created for two publications that helped shape how Black American life was seen, documented, and celebrated.

Published by MW Editions, 820 Ebony/Jet: Visions of the Johnson Publishing Company, an American Icon, is available Oct. 13 for $65.

In a market saturated with collaborations of all shapes and sizes, it can be challenging to break through the noise. Sure, these partnerships create buzz, but collab fatigue is real. Every once in a while, though, a collaboration still manages to hit, as is the case with the latest endeavor from Spinnaker and seconde/seconde/. For the fourth year running, the duo is launching a new edition of the 50 Phantoms series.

Photography courtesy of Spinnaker

What started as a bit of cutesy wordplay—a watch inspired by the iconic Blancpain Fifty Fathoms dive watch, speckled with 50 luminous ghosts—has become something of a phenomenon among watch enthusiasts. This latest edition, offered in two distinct configurations, launches on Oct. 16 with a $600 retail price.

Photography courtesy of Spinnaker

Starting with the bolder Crazy edition, limited to an initial run of 1,500 pieces, the phantoms are clearly visible in daylight. The ghosts are scattered across a layered white dial, with printed and embossed figures positioned at different depths beneath the sapphire crystal. The arrangement creates a three-dimensional effect that becomes even more pronounced in dim light, revealing luminous shades of blue, green, white, and yellow.

Photography courtesy of Spinnaker

In contrast, the Quiet edition narrows its initial availability to 850 pieces, and its phantoms are, as the name suggests, much less conspicuous. At first glance, the matte white dial appears relatively conventional, with silver hour markers and little indication of what lies beneath. But shine the included UV flashlight across its surface, and 50 hidden ghosts reveal themselves. This is easily the most understated edition of the 50 Phantoms series to date, but that’s not the only notable change. The Quiet is also the slimmest watch in the series thus far, with a case measuring 11.8mm thick compared to the Crazy’s 12.15mm.

Photography courtesy of Spinnaker

Both variants are part of Spinnaker’s Fleuss collection, measuring 40mm in diameter and powered by the Miyota 9039 automatic movement. They feature stainless steel cases and polished white ceramic bezels with an undulating edge inspired by the hem of a ghost’s sheet. It’s a small but clever detail that carries the collaboration’s playful character beyond the dial.

Photography courtesy of Spinnaker

Each watch comes with a stainless steel bracelet and two additional straps at no extra charge. An orange nylon strap provides a bold contrasting accent, while a white silicone strap creates a more monochromatic look. On the Crazy edition, the silicone strap features ghost-shaped cutouts, while the Quiet’s strap glows in the dark.

Photography courtesy of Spinnaker

The watchmaking industry has a propensity to take itself a little too seriously at times, and both Spinnaker and seconde/seconde/ have made room for levity in their respective approaches to watch design. Romaric André, the French artist behind seconde/seconde/, first made a name for himself by modifying vintage watches, introducing clever and playful changes to the hands of timepieces from Rolex, Omega, and other established brands. Spinnaker, meanwhile, has built its identity around colorful, relatively affordable watches that stand in contrast to the more conservative offerings of many traditional watchmakers.

Photography courtesy of Romaric André / seconde/seconde/

The 50 Phantoms series brings those sensibilities together, balancing the familiar proportions and mechanics of a dive watch with an irreverent design approach. Four years in, the collaboration is still finding new ways to play with the same simple idea. This year’s editions take that concept in opposite directions: one puts its ghosts on full display, while the other makes discovering them part of the experience.

Photography courtesy of Spinnaker

The Spinnaker x seconde/seconde/ Fleuss 40 Automatic 2026 Edition launches Oct. 16, 2026, at 12:30 a.m. EDT, with both the Crazy and Quiet editions priced at $600 each. Those who ⁠sign up in advance on spinnaker.com will receive access to the collection one hour before the official launch. 

In New York City’s ever-constrained real estate landscape, transitioning from a sleek Manhattan residence to a historic Brooklyn brownstone often means more room to stretch out, greater privacy, and a slower pace. In this respect, Manhattan and Brooklyn really are in different time zones, as the adage goes. For one empty-nester couple, that shift meant leaving their urbane Tribeca townhouse for a landmarked 19th-century brownstone in Clinton Hill, where they found a richer, more characterful backdrop for their next chapter.

Photography by Gieves Anderson

The couple’s core ambition was not merely to update a period house but to create a home that could gracefully balance an extensive collection of midcentury furniture and contemporary art with a warmer, more spirited material palette. They turned to Brooklyn-based practice Barker Architecture Office/BAAO to update the four-story brownstone.

Photography by Gieves Anderson

Previously, the building had been divided into short-term rentals, stripping away much of its original ornamentation. BAAO approached the renovation with subtle, surgical precision: carefully preserving the few surviving architectural elements and setting them against clean, minimal modern additions. The resulting scheme emphasizes a deliberate contrast between historic context and contemporary craft; yielding a consistent light environment tailored specifically to the couple’s daily rituals and love of design.

Photography by Gieves Anderson

The spatial narrative unfolds immediately at the threshold, where a thoughtfully calibrated foyer sets the tone for the home’s overall color story. Deep olive front doors swing open to reveal a terracotta-lined vestibule, offering an inviting view toward the central staircase, painted sunny yellow and trimmed with a bold red runner.

Photography by Gieves Anderson

Moving onto the parlor floor, traditional details are subtly reinterpreted and amplified. White oak floorboards laid diagonally call back to Victorian-era parquet patterns while aligning visually with a relocated staircase that leads seamlessly down to the garden level.

Photography by Gieves Anderson

In the living room, original plaster crown moldings frame a working fireplace reclad in tactile, textured porcelain tile. Suspended from an intricately restored plaster rosette, an expressive Richard Tuttle chandelier anchors the grand room. Generous spatial proportions accommodate a curated selection of fine art, including works by Alfred Stieglitz, Inez Nathaniel Walker, Amy Sillman, and tattoo artist Stoney St. Clair.

Photography by Gieves Anderson

Reoriented to wrap the perimeter of the room, the kitchen was configured to abandon the sterile austerity of conventional modern prep zones in favor of better flow, while also introducing warmth and texture. Custom white oak cabinetry and honed soapstone countertops pair with a dramatic, veined lilac marble backsplash.

Photography by Gieves Anderson

Instead of a standard kitchen island, BAAO placed a central dining table beneath a pair of vintage aluminum pendant lights sourced in France, creating an inviting focal point centered on gathering and conversation. Tucked nearby, a pocket powder room is clad in graphic wallpaper designed by artist Duke Riley.

Photography by Gieves Anderson

A sculptural staircase—bathed in soft ambient light from three meticulously positioned hand-blown-glass Jeff Zimmerman milk-drop pendants—guides occupants down to the garden level. Here, the layout splits into two distinct sensory environments.

Photography by Gieves Anderson

At the rear, a bright, expansive family room opens onto the landscaped garden. In cozy contrast, the front of the garden level houses a dark-paneled library with a custom walnut bookshelf and a pair of Hans Wegner Papa Bear chairs, creating a quiet retreat for reading and contemplation.

Photography by Gieves Anderson

On the second floor, the primary suite unfolds as a peaceful retreat grounded in an autumnal palette of russet, ochre, and moss green. The bedroom walls are enveloped in a hand-painted landscape mural, creating an atmosphere of quiet immersion that carries through to a custom white oak reading nook overlooking a small private terrace. In the adjoining bathroom, soft limewash walls complement a resonant blue-green zellige-tiled shower and arched vanity.

Photography by Gieves Anderson

The top floor is dedicated to the couple’s three adult children, featuring three bedrooms organized around a skylit central lounge. Here, graphic blocks of saturated hue usher in energy, clarity, and visual rhythm, synthesizing the home’s overarching balance of warmth, modernity, and playfulness. BAAO collaborated closely with the homeowners on all furniture selections and the placement of their art collection across every level.

Photography by Gieves Anderson

This residential transformation typifies BAAO’s core ethos: clear spatial configuration, expressive color theory, and clever material juxtapositions. The firm consistently crafts environments that honor historic context without succumbing to nostalgia. By seamlessly weaving together vibrant colorways, contemporary art, and refined craftsmanship within historic shells, BAAO creates living environments that are both architecturally rigorous and deeply personal.

Today, with algorithms often determining exposure, seeing a new project finally catch fire online is undeniably rewarding. But digital visibility can be inherently fleeting. When an independent designer, emerging agency, or in-house team pitches against a much larger, established competitor, those short-lived social metrics rarely translate into actual leverage.

True competitive advantage requires recognition that outlasts momentary online buzz. Earning distinction alongside the best in international design carries weight and authority that lasts. That is the strategic edge the iF DESIGN AWARD delivers as the world’s largest independent design award. And with the award’s final deadline quickly approaching on Nov. 2, the window to elevate your strongest work to the global stage is rapidly closing.

Don’t Miss the Deadline—Apply Today

Photography courtesy of iF Design

For designers and creative teams, winning an iF DESIGN AWARD offers unparalleled global visibility with real staying power—from permanent placement in the iF Design winners’ archive and online ranking tool to lifetime, unlimited use of the iF winner’s logo and continued promotion through international marketing campaigns. In client conversations and pitch decks, this level of independent validation provides a strategic advantage that competitors cannot simply outspend. And when the iF winner’s logo appears directly on a product’s packaging, it instantly differentiates the product across languages—signaling to consumers that the design, execution, and quality are exceptional.

The weight of that recognition and credibility stems from the sheer scale, rigor, and transparency of the award’s evaluation process. Each year, more than 130 independent design experts from around the world evaluate entries across 93 categories and nine disciplines. To earn the distinction, projects must demonstrate mastery of form, function, differentiation, and sustainability. The jury evaluates the design decisions behind the execution—looking for innovative solutions, flawless functionality, and a forward-thinking approach to modern design constraints.

Photography courtesy of iF Design

Recent iF Gold Award winners illustrate this standard in practice. The TATAMI ReFAB PROJECT reintroduces traditional Japanese flooring into modern life, using large-scale 3D printing to create sustainable furniture from a blend of recycled tatami and biodegradable plastic. Birdie 2.0 revolutionizes the standard indoor air quality monitor by stripping away complex interfaces and translating invisible environmental data into a purely intuitive, visual device modeled after a coal-mine canary. These winners offer more than aesthetic and functional value; they are thoughtfully executed, tangible solutions to complex modern problems—exactly the caliber of work that earns lasting recognition on the global stage.

Photography courtesy of iF Design

Outstanding design deserves more than a brief moment of online visibility or recognition limited to a local market. Earning an iF DESIGN AWARD provides independent validation that carries lasting recognition. With the final deadline quickly approaching, this is your last chance to elevate your work to design’s biggest stage. Enter the iF DESIGN AWARD 2027 by Nov. 2 and secure the global recognition your best designs deserve.

Enter now.

The streets of London are currently home to art on the move—literally. In collaboration with Brooklyn-based artist Kozo and Cart Department, The Peninsula London has transformed six of its signature green vehicles into A World Within, a traveling exhibition that intertwines mythology, history, and contemporary art.

Photography courtesy of The Peninsula London

Timed to coincide with Frieze London, the exhibition brings Kozo’s artwork onto the streets of the city. The cars retain their signature Peninsula Green, which serves as the backdrop for Kozo’s graphic illustrations. Conceived as one continuous story, the designs draw on the hotel’s history, the wider Peninsula brand, and its British surroundings.

The Peninsula Pages, white-uniformed attendants, appear to peel back the exterior of each vehicle, revealing historical scenes underneath. Grazing animals, stately homes, and winding rivers appear in subtle greens and grays that complement the fleet’s existing color, while classical motifs such as the Guardian Lions and British landmarks like Wellington Arch connect the hotel to its surroundings.

Photography courtesy of The Peninsula London

The contrast between the three-dimensional landscapes and the flatter, monochromatic figures creates a distinction between past and present. The result reflects Kozo’s intention to bring history and myth back to life, inviting viewers to become part of the story as they travel in the Art Fleet.

Creating A World Within required Kozo to adapt his experience in painting and tattoo art to an atypical surface. Starting by digitally sketching over photographs of each vehicle, he developed illustrations guided by each car’s curves and angles. The shape and size of each hood, door, and trunk determined how the imagery unfolded across the body. Rather than fighting the existing elements, Kozo worked them into the graphics, using each car’s contours to guide his design choices. The finished artwork was translated into bespoke vinyl wraps, which were applied by detailing experts at Topaz.

Photography courtesy of The Peninsula London

“A car is not a blank white canvas,” Kozo explains. “This project forced me to translate my language as a painter and tattoo artist onto a moving vessel.”

The collection includes two Rolls-Royce Phantoms, a Bentley Bentayga, an electrified Austin Taxi, a BMW i7, and a LEVC, all bookable for guest transportation throughout October. Together, the six vehicles connect The Peninsula’s longstanding automotive tradition with contemporary art, turning an everyday journey through London into an encounter with the hotel’s history.

Photography courtesy of The Peninsula London

A World Within is on view through Oct. 31, with all six vehicles available for booking by guests of The Peninsula London.