Dror Benshetrit, the founder of Studio Dror and SuperNature Labs, spoke to the students at Stuart Weitzman School of Design at the University of Pennsylvania as part of the Surface Summer School lecture series. The students are in the midst of a competition to design a mobile Covid-19 testing unit.

Benshetrit recanted his post-graduation journey and how he learned to manifest his experiences into his multidisciplinary work, which includes product design and architectural projects. For instance, his signature Peacock Chair was born out of a breakup. “It left a strong duality in me in terms of what it means to be vulnerable and gather strength,” he said, comparing the feeling to a peacock’s plumage, which both scares predators and attracts mates.

More recently, moving outside of New York City to help remedy his then-pregnant wife’s insomnia sparked a new relationship with nature and a fresh outlook on eco-consciousness that led him to launch Supernature Labs. “Today, our most important task as architects, designers, policy makers, [and more] is shifting from sustainability to ecological harmony,” he said. “We have to think about our problems holistically and comprehensively, and look at the built environment as a whole.” He advised students to focus on what’s meaningful to them as they embark on their careers. “Your curiosity is what is going to make the world a better place.” Watch now.

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When: Until Oct. 15

Where: Galerie Alexandre Biaggi, Paris

What: Celebrating more than two decades of collaboration together, the French designer Hervé Van der Straeten and antiques dealer Alexandre Biaggi present unseen pieces by the former that draw inspiration from the Italian Futurism movement. The new collection sees Van der Straeten experiment with materials like bronze, marble, and alabaster, yielding a crop of lamps, a console, and a guéridon. “A creation by Van der Straeten is immediately recognizable,” says Biaggi. “From his subtly balanced deconstructed consoles to the extraordinary, historical Chinese lacquer cabinets, I’ve always admired his stylish way of working.”

The pioneering Marsha P. Johnson became a central figure in New York’s gay liberation movement from the 1960s through the ‘80s. Though the late trans-rights activist leaves behind a legacy of openness and perseverance, she isn’t as well-known in her hometown of Elizabeth, New Jersey. That may soon change as more than 75,000 people have signed a petition in support of replacing a statue of Christopher Columbus there with one of Johnson.

Locals plan to bring the request to city council. “Obviously, we’re not asking the city council to consider putting up a statue,” says Daniel Cano, who created the petition with his girlfriend, Celine da Silva, in response to growing momentum behind the Black Lives Matter movement. “This is a demand. We’re going to honor Marsha in the way that she deserves to be honored.” The petition follows a 2019 announcement that New York would commemorate Johnson and her friend, the activist Sylvia Rivera, with their own statues—some of the first monuments to honor transgender people—in Greenwich Village.

In the early aughts, Quentin Kelley moved to Providence, Rhode Island, to apprentice for master studio furniture maker Hank Gilpin. His studio, a converted church, was a place for Kelley to reignite his love of making furniture. He’d recently returned from the Dominican Republic, where he used his engineering degree to refine water and sanitation systems as a Peace Corps volunteer. In his spare time, Kelley made furniture for his apartment, using skills he learned through helping his father build their Massachusetts home growing up.

When the apprenticeship ended, Kelley returned to Boston and got a job building architectural models. He also rented a studio space, where he spent nights and weekends building his own designs. Soon, an interior designer he met through work commissioned him to design furniture for a project. He never looked back, and founded Infusion Furniture to design and build objects for commercial and residential projects, in 2005.

This Parisian cafe uses giant teddy bears to help enforce social distancing.

New paintings by Markus Åkesson see his subjects draped in ornate fabrics.

Two lion statues outside the New York Public Library are wearing giant masks.

Fans roast Virgil Abloh’s artwork for an album by the late rapper Pop Smoke.