When full-fledged war broke out in Ukraine last week as Russian troops stormed the country, outpourings of solidarity with Ukraine circulated on social media. Many people admitted to feeling helpless in how to assist relief efforts for a country whose cities are being bombed and cultural artifacts destroyed, with hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing in a matter of days. The creative community stepped in immediately—Nadya Tolokonnikova of Pussy Riot, for example, established Ukraine DAO and raised $6.75 million by auctioning an NFT of the Ukrainian flag with proceeds benefiting the Return Alive Foundation and NGO Proliska.

On Instagram, artists and designers began auctioning some of their latest works and donating proceeds to charity. Among the first to announce auctions were Eny Lee Parker, Karl Monies, and Alex Proba, the prolific designer whose multidisciplinary practice encompasses murals, home accessories, and augmented reality. She’s teaming up with Portland art gallery Stephanie Chefas Projects to auction a painting from her current solo exhibition “Gemstone Groceries” in support of Ukrainian war victims and animals. “First and foremost, all my creations are supposed to evoke and spark a positive emotion—and make you feel joy and happiness,” Proba tells Surface. “Hopefully the donation will help humans and animals in this time of extreme hardship and horror.”

In particular, European designers were quick to get involved—and auction pieces bearing the colors of the Ukrainian flag. The Latvian designer Germans Ermics, known for injecting vibrant color gradients into ethereal glass components that make up tables, shelves, and mirrors, is offering up Blue-Yellow Mirror Beam (2021), a slender collectible that recently debuted at Design Miami/ Basel. “The reason why I’m speaking up is because I deeply care and I am worried,” says Ermics, who resides in Amsterdam and has friends in both Russia and Ukraine. The like-minded designer Sabine Marcelis, who’s based in Rotterdam, auctioned a royal blue version of her Candy Cube with proceeds going toward the International Rescue Committee. A blue glazed mirror by Marcelis is also being auctioned by e-commerce platform Rira Objects to support Red Cross Ukraine.

To show support to Ukraine citizens beyond the auctions, we recommend donating to Nova Ukraine, a nonprofit that provides civilians with baby food, hygiene products, and clothes; United Help Ukraine, which distributes food and medical supplies to displaced citizens; and the Kyiv Independent, an English-language newspaper currently reporting crucial news about the situation from on the ground.

Have a news story our readers need to see? Submit it here.

La Prairie’s latest innovation—White Caviar Essence Extraordinaire—recreates the pure, glimmering light unique to its hometown of Montreux, a Swiss village nestled between Lake Geneva and the region’s rolling hills. Harnessing the ephemerality of bright light reflecting off the surface of water, White Caviar Essence Extraordinaire’s formula increases skin hydration and gently exfoliates with collagen-supporting ingredients. Together, these actions enhance the reflection of light from the skin.

In the late 1920s, the Swedish design visionary Axel Einar Hjorth pioneered sportstugemöbler, an aesthetic of finely made pine cabin furniture that made use of simple yet robust geometries and upheld traditional Swedish craftsmanship. Progressive in style for its time, the range was marketed primarily to the forward-looking upper class and their rural vacation homes. It was only manufactured in limited numbers and produced until the early 1950s, relegated to obscurity following his 1959 death from a sudden illness.

Despite its obscurity, sportstugemöbler recently captured the attention of Pierre Yovanovitch, the French interior designer known for imbuing historic spaces with contemporary panache by means of vintage furnishings and museum-worthy artwork. At Nomad St. Moritz in Switzerland through March 6, his newly launched furniture line Pierre Yovanovitch Mobilier is debuting a collection of sofas, chairs, and lighting directly inspired by the movement that’s situated within three vignettes that recreate the ambience of an alpine lodge.

“In many ways, this show reflects the essence of my approach in that it focuses on the use of vernacular materials to create modern, yet light-hearted furniture and lighting,” Yovanovitch says. “It’s a celebration of the alpine aesthetic, but deeper inspiration comes from my longtime love for the Swedish Grace movement of the 1920s of which Hjorth, and his sportstugemöbler aesthetic, were the cornerstone.” Highlights include the oak-backed Mindy Sofa and Eloi Chair, the wood-based Hexa Chair offered in a vintage tapestry fabric, and a gouged wood floor lamp with a flared lampshade. Also on view are handcrafted desk accessories—cigar boxes and trays made of Vosges oak and a hornbeam mirror—designed with Dior Maison that celebrate the French house’s signature savoir-faire.

Matt Byrd often scours abandoned scrap yards to salvage granite slabs that he meticulously sculpts into beguilingly intricate architectural forms. Thanks to the Raleigh local’s expertise in traditional stonemasonry, the rounded edges of his hand-chiseled objects seamlessly interlock like puzzle pieces and enable the otherwise rough material to flex its playful side.

“This piece needed to be extra,” says Nicholas Hamilton Holmes of the DJ booth on display in Surface’s gallery, showroom, and event space in the Miami Design District. “It needed to dance ‘till six in the morning, and then go for a swim in the ocean.” Holmes’ Ontario-based studio drew inspiration from the booth’s eventual destination, the Magic City, where vibrant hues, loud expression, and curvaceous forms are the aesthetic du jour.

Showcasing Holmes’s skill as both sculptor and cabinetmaker, he turned 300 pounds of white, oiled baltic birch plywood into undulating psychedelia, notable for its dozens of ribs fixed to the structure’s frame that evoke the lift and pinch of fabric. The accordion-like belows are spray painted and splattered in dayglow white for an ombre effect. The booth is finished with hand-turned feet (and requisite rolling castors) and a solid-ash countertop to remind admirers of its striking silhouette—one familiar to anyone who has spent a night traipsing about in the South Beach debauchery. (Just ask Zack Bia, who christened the booth during Art Basel.) “I wanted the overall form to look like a beautiful woman perched on heels,” he says. “I wanted it to scream party, but work like a busboy.”

New & Notable is a cultural catchall that highlights interesting new products and projects from our brilliantly creative members of The List. With new releases, events, and goings-on, the below moments indicate the power they have to move the needle in so many realms, including architecture, design, fashion, and art.

Even if you’ve never heard of “voguing” or find yourself stiff-limbed on the dance floor, there’s a chance you’ll feel much more confident after visiting “Assembly,” Rashaad Newsome’s sensorial new solo exhibition at Manhattan’s Park Avenue Armory through March 6. Voguing informs nearly every aspect of the show, which puts Newsome’s multidimensional practice on full display and beckons visitors to rethink the roots of American culture.

The breakout star of “Assembly” is Being, a virtual femme AI robot based on the African griot, a storyteller, artist, and healer. Designed by Newsome, the supermodel-like entity’s head references Pho masks from Congo’s Chokwe peoples, traditionally worn by male dancers in celebration of femininity. Being offers lessons that nurture visitors into embracing voguing’s distinct movements.

An avant-garde retail concept selling collective toys has cropped up in Wenzhou, China. Conceived by Bloomdesign, the X11 flagship store is located in the Incity Mega shopping mall and features a giant architectural installation that blends modern and traditional Chinese influences. Connected by transparent glass bridges, the suspended platform reinterprets factory-style shelves and displays the toy collections like a museum exhibition.

Reach the design world every morning. Find out more about advertising in the Design Dispatch.

Leah Ring is the multidisciplinary designer behind Another Human. Ring honed her aesthetic over the past decade working in high-end interior design before founding her Los Angeles–based studio in 2017. Drawing inspiration from the Memphis Group to outer space, her aesthetic is playful yet highly considered, often blurring the line between design and art.

An innovative new spacecraft will track inclement weather on Earth and in space.

Volodymyr Zelensky’s news dispatches take place near an ornate Gaudí-like church.

A documentary about Andy Warhol will be narrated by a deepfake of his voice.

Public chargers fueled an electric coach bus from the Bay Area to Seattle and back.