After facing controversy for more than two decades, the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, DC, will finally open to the public this week. Congress first authorized a design competition for a memorial to the nation’s two-term 34th president, who led the D-Day invasion, helped defeat the Nazis, and bring stability to the U.S. during his presidency, in 1999. Frank Gehry’s unorthodox winning design, which featured a giant metal tapestry hung from masonry-clad columns, quickly attracted criticism when it was selected one decade later. Controversy ensued at nearly every step—the project was subject to congressional hearings, political infighting, design tweaks, government defunding, and even opposition from Eisenhower’s family.

But that’s all in the past. The memorial, dedicated today and officially open tomorrow, feels like a triumph. Set slightly above street level in an open-air plaza near the Air and Space Museum, it features two stacked pink limestone slabs that backdrop tableaux of heroic-size bronze figurative sculptures, designed with Russian artist Sergey Eylanbekov, that highlight major milestones of Ike’s career. On one, General Eisenhower addresses a group of troops before D-Day; the other sees President Eisenhower surrounded by advisers in the Oval Office. Nearby, a teenaged Ike stares longingly at the two vignettes, signifying his humble origins as a kid from Kansas while making a poignant statement about hope and the American dream. Backdropping the scene is a 450-foot-wide stainless steel tapestry by L.A. artist Tomas Osinski that renders the Normandy coastline during peacetime.

As Phillip Kennicott writes for the Washington Post, the new memorial “is unlike any other memorial in Washington, or the world.” Gehry’s design lacks the grand, sweeping gestures of other presidential memorials—think George Washington’s towering white obelisk or Abraham Lincoln’s giant looming statue—and creates an oasis of greenery in an area known for rigid bureaucratic buildings. It also comes alive at night; the backlit statues create an almost theatrical ambiance set against the limestone bas-reliefs, and Osinski’s tapestry glows. Even though monuments, especially those honoring powerful white men, face a fraught future, Gehry’s memorial seems to create a human-scale space to reflect on non-polarized times, both past and future.

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At this point, Studio PCH is fluent in Nobu’s design language. The practice based in Venice, California has collaborated on several global projects with the high–gloss culinary and hotel empire helmed by chef Nobu Matsuhisa and his Hollywood partners Robert De Niro and Meir Teper. One of the most recent to open is the Nobu Hotel Los Cabos on the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja Peninsula.

Led by French architect Severine Tatangelo, Studio PCH has established itself as a top-tier hospitality design firm thanks to an organic style, appreciation for local materials, and talent for creating transformative experiences. Nobu Los Cabos embodies those qualities and is a masterful example of interpreting a brand’s identity in the context of a different culture. The result is a serene escape that seamlessly fuses Japanese and Mexican elements, from wood tubs and shoji-inspired closet doors to local art and indigenous plant species.

When: Sept. 17–Nov. 5

Where: Nahmad Contemporary, New York

What: Featuring works across centuries, “Superunknown” juxtaposes a set of mysterious, fantastical Surrealist paintings alongside the debut of an immersive wallpaper installation that draws from Fischer’s recent photographs of desolate New York cityscapes. The pairing, which feels at once jarring and relevant, captures creative expression during historical times of unrest, unearthing an eccentric beauty through a haze of darkness.

Billions of overwhelmed visitors float through Ikea’s giant labyrinthine stores every year, often seeking out affordable furniture and home goods for their first apartment. Not all of it, however, gets put to good use. The Swedish furniture giant has faced criticism that its affordable, flat-pack business model leads to overconsumption and waste—an image the company is seeking to curb with a spate of new initiatives as part of an ongoing sustainability strategy. Efforts include a pilot project enabling customers to rent furniture; in Vienna, it’s opening an outpost with zero parking spots geared toward pedestrians and cyclists.

Later this year, Ikea will open its first secondhand store, which will sell furniture and home goods with minor scuffs, dings, and scratches but have been repaired and are still perfectly usable. Likely resembling “as-is” sections, the new concept will open inside Sweden’s ReTuna shopping center, which is considered to be the world’s first secondhand mall. Few other details are available, but it’s reasonable to assume that the store will offer even lower price points. “We’re looking at a change of our total business,” Lena Pripp-Kovac, Ikea’s sustainability chief, recently told Dezeen. “The aim is to remove waste. It’s a big journey but it’s also quite exciting.”

KEEP’s hand-blown glass lighting utilizes traditional Italian techniques to create contemporary work with exquisite craftsmanship and signature patterning. Founded by partners Susan Spiranovich and Adam Holtzinger, KEEP lighting is designed and handmade in Brooklyn.

Surface Says: Thanks in part to KEEP, glassblowing is alive and well in Brooklyn. The studio’s sculptural, expertly blown fixtures give an age-old technique a contemporary twist.

Tom Ford’s latest timepiece is made from 35 bottles worth of ocean plastic.

Adidas Originals and Lego team up for a sneaker with a color-block palette.

Andy Goldsworthy’s flags at Rockefeller Center give an anti-imperialist nod.

Sweetgreen is pushing more into digital with new online-only menu items.