What’s Happening: Equipped with an electric engine and capable of highway speeds, the tank-like vehicle by Vietnamese architect Nguyen Dac Chung stays faithful to Christopher Nolan’s original blueprint.

The Download: Everyone’s childhood dream of taking a spin in the Batmobile may soon become a reality. Parked inside Van Daryl, a Ho Chi Minh City gallery founded by Bandit9 Motorcycle chief Daryl Villanueva that specializes in futuristic automobiles “without the aura of pretentiousness,” is a fully functional Batmobile that uncannily resembles Christopher Nolan’s original blueprint. The tank-like vehicle is the brainchild of Nguyen Dac Chung, a 23-year-old Vietnamese architect whose firm, Macro Studios, specializes in cosplay.

In order to recreate Batman’s ride, which Dac Chung dubbed “The Tumbler,” he enlisted a team of designers, architects, mechanics, and engineers. They fashioned its frame out of steel and adorned it with armor-like panels in a medley of materials such as ABS, composite, steel, and carbon fiber. Tech-forward features abound, including remote control–operated automatic hydraulic doors and four tactical cameras for a 360-degree view.

Calling it the world’s first Batmobile may be a stretch; Bonhams recently auctioned a 1965 Ford Mustang that was transformed into a campy rendition of the famed vehicle driven by Michael Keaton, complete with winged tailfins and a low-slung body.

In Their Own Words: “As a kid, I was a fan of superheroes, especially Batman,” Nguyen Dac Chung says. “Growing up, I’ve always wanted to build a Batmobile, from Adam West’s to Christian Bale’s. While other cosplay businesses focus on costumes and accessories, I wanted to take things to the next level and completely blow people’s minds.”

Surface Says: Golly gee willikers, Batman!

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Drawing inspiration from iconic European drinking dens such as Bar Hemingway at the Ritz Paris and Dukes Bar at Dukes London, The Nines is a sultry new addition to downtown Manhattan’s nightlife scene. Situated above the mainstay subterranean club Acme, the piano bar is festooned in sumptuous details: House of Hackney’s “Wild Card” Carpet, red corduroy settees, gilded accents, and vintage Murano glass chandeliers hand-selected by owner and restaurateur Jon Neidich, who teamed with local firm Springs Collective on the design.

The menu mirrors the ones found in those grand hotel dining rooms, too, with caviar, tartares, smoked salmon blini, and club sandwiches. Renditions of classic cocktails—sherry-spiked Martinis, daiquiris blended with a mix of rums and lemon—anchor the beverage program. A rotating cast of piano players, including Sam Behr, Yosef Munro and Darnell White, will cover everything from Chaka Khan to the Rolling Stones.

Moses Sumney and Nicola Vassell Gallery celebrated the screening of “Blackalachia,” Sumney’s feature-length performance film and photographic series that poetically examines isolation, introspection, and Black cultural influence. The film, which he created in the North Carolina stretch of the Blue Ridge Mountains during summer 2020, plumbs the relationship between Blackness and the Appalachian region—and the severance of the two. Friends of both the artist and the gallery braved New York winter temperatures for the screening, which culminated in cocktails and light bites at Orchard Townhouse nearby.

When was it? Feb. 3

Where was it? Nicola Vassell Gallery, New York

Who was there? Antwaun Sargent, Hannah Traore, Emily Ratajkowski.

On Wednesday, a mysterious golden cube appeared on a mound of icy slush in Central Park’s Naumburg Bandshell amphitheater. Composed entirely of 410 pounds of 24-karat Nevadan gold, the $11.7 million cube is the brainchild of German pop artist Niclas Castello, who claims to be the first artist in history to cast such an enormous amount of gold into a single pure object. To create the sculpture, Castello sourced gold from a UBS Bank in Switzerland and paid a centuries-old bell foundry in Aarau to shape it into a cube—a highly technical process that required a special handmade kiln that could withstand the extreme temperatures needed to melt it.

Anticipation for the Castello Cube was high: a marketing campaign involved a wraparound ad in the New York Times, and curious viewers had mere hours to see it firsthand before it disappeared. (That evening, it was moved to Cipriani Wall Street for a celebratory black-tie dinner attended by celebrities and the art-world cognoscenti.) But was it worth the hype? Though few people can say they’ve ever been around that much gold before, onlookers described the knee-high cube’s appearance as beguilingly plain, if not underwhelming. Others pointed to the immense privilege and capital it requires to pull off such a stunt.

A museum cafe usually serves as a place for visitors to grab a bite to eat after exploring a show. But the Copenhagen Contemporary art gallery, housed in a former welding facility in the city’s Refshaleen area, is giving their culinary space a higher purpose. Danish studio Tableau and designer Ari Prasetya have turned the Connie-Connie cafe into an unexpected exhibition space, commissioning 25 designers to craft chairs from leftover wood. Tableau and Prasetya wanted to show that furniture is also art and how material can have a major influence on spatial design. All of the chairs are available for purchase as originals or reproductions.

Since 1980, Ratana has offered quality craftsmanship and timeless designs of outdoor furnishings. Inspired by legendary landscapes, Ratana debuted a range of furniture from traditional to contemporary that blends form and function with ease.

Surface Says: This outdoor furniture company elevates living spaces with high-quality pieces that channel nature’s finest elements and enhance the enjoyment of time spent at home.

Supply chain woes have now come for McDonald’s French fries in Indonesia.

MIT researchers are hard at work developing insect-size flying microrobots.

The world’s largest kaleidoscope offers stunning scenes of Saudi Arabia.

Rihanna’s Savage x Fenty is selling men’s lingerie in time for Valentine’s Day.