What’s Happening: As Western firms test new techniques to build low-cost refugee housing in flood-prone Pakistan, homegrown architect Yasmeen Lari is advocating for a more sensible approach using local materials.

The Download: Yasmeen Lari’s most famous building may be the headquarters for Pakistan’s state-owned oil company, a hulking Brutalist behemoth in Karachi. But lately the 82-year-old—Pakistan’s first certified female architect and the recipient of this year’s RIBA Royal Gold Medal—is fixed on a much different typology: refugee housing. It’s a noble pursuit given how the Central Asian country has repeatedly endured once-in-a-generation disasters at an alarming frequency. A major earthquake displaced 400,000 people in 2005; monsoon floods affected 33 million Pakistanis last year, submerging one-third of the country.

Yet refugee housing often leans on Western building materials ill-suited for the region. “I call it the international colonial charity model,” she tells Time. “NGOs and UN agencies say, ‘let’s bring in concrete, let’s bring burnt brick.’” Besides being “alien,” such carbon-intensive materials worsen the greenhouse effect causing climate disasters. As an alternative, Lari and her Heritage Foundation of Pakistan are building flood-resilient homes using local, low-carbon materials such as bamboo panels reinforced with earth and lime that sit on raised platforms. More than 3,500 homes were built last year at $200 each; a million are slated by 2024.

Lari’s approach stands out as Western design firms grapple with addressing refugee housing amid increasingly frequent disasters. Outlandish PR-chitecture proposals like mud-spraying drones might be well-intentioned, but rarely scale. The tent structures Zaha Hadid Architects built for Pakistani schools are beloved by locals, but aren’t quite aligned with the vernacular—manufacturing, transporting, and installing foreign materials drive up costs. Architects like Pritzker Prize laureate Shigeru Ban have made designing for disaster sites a mainstream practice, and more firms are following suit. In Lari’s eyes, however, there’s always room for architects to step back and listen to what these communities really need.

In Their Own Words: “I believe this is the moment to bring about a whole change in the social system,” Lari says. “Climate change shouldn’t be taken only as a threat. If we start doing the right thing, it can really transform lives.”

Surface Says: We’ve said it before, but maybe San Francisco can take some notes?

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Taking residence on Calle Larga XXII Marzo, Venice’s illustrious high-end shopping artery, is the newly unveiled boutique of Barovier&Toso, a beacon of Italian glassblowing artistry whose heritage stretches back to the 1200s. This miniature jewel of a shop, designed by Nichetto Studio, spotlights decorative pieces like vases and table lamps.

Anchored in a neoclassical monument aesthetic, the interior employs liberal use of rough travertine and a harmonious medley of Venetian terrazzo and smoothed concrete. It’s a space where the past and present collide—much like the city it calls home. Expect more outposts from the brand in China (Shenzen and Shanghai) and New Delhi later this year.

For the fahsion icon’s latest collection with Kvadrat, models don his new accessories and little else. The Prada co-creative director’s second collection with the Danish textile house marks something of an about-face from his Shaker System, which was streamlined, pragmatic, and named for the protestant group’s affinity for orderliness and peg rails. The new drop explores more intimate moments with an assortment of luxuriant robes, status-dopp kits, and cozy throws ready for any air-conditioned space.

Are Supreme’s fortunes taking a nosedive? The streetwear giant recorded annual revenue of $523.1 million this year compared to last year’s $561.5 million—a year-on-year loss of $38.4 million. Since being acquired by VF Corporation, which owns labels like Vans and Timberland, Supreme has been dragged for diluting its exclusivity with larger product ranges and opening more stores, causing demand for its limited-edition drops to wane. Perhaps Virgil Abloh was right about streetwear’s demise.

When: Until April 28

Where: Yorkshire Sculpture Park

What: Known for reimagining commonplace objects by giving them human characteristics, the Austrian sculptor has lately been contemplating what sculpture is and what it can be. His ludicrous scenarios—a strutting Hermès Birkin bag with elegant 16-foot-long legs, a giant freestanding pickled cucumber—transform the verdant park into a playground of the absurd.

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. With NYCxDesign having come and gone, we look back at the product debuts from our List members.

David Weeks Studio: Inspired by the geometry of a fragmented I-beam found on the street two decades ago, the lighting designer tapped his studio team to bring his newest industrial fixture to life. The Hi-Beam floor lamp stands 12 feet tall with a welded base. To the untrained eye, the luminaire could appear to be precariously balanced or even a work of found-object design, but is in fact handcrafted and designed to the exacting standards of Weeks and his team.

Ornare: A leader in bespoke storage solutions and accessories, Ornare’s aptly named Timeless Collection uses rich upholstery, leather accents, and wood to exquisite effect by showcasing sumptuous solutions for wardrobe, bar, and vanity storage. The resulting jewel-box atmosphere can even extend to one’s workspace with the brand’s first desk, which rounds out the collection by elevating crucial but functional touchstones of any home.

thehighkey: The digitally driven furniture studio helmed by John Vieweg made its ICFF debut in 2022 with his Relief collection and amorphic Glove sofa. Fashion designer Isabel Deng and Juju Studio founder Jing Ju were both so taken with the sofa’s glamour that they commissioned Vieweg to collaborate with Ju on a custom version for Miss Circle, Deng’s new SoHo boutique. The vibrant red upholstery evokes the vision of a red carpet, which Deng envisioned as “a backdrop for the real stars of the store: the people and clothing.”

RIOS is a design collective working beyond boundaries to combine disciplines and amplify the impact of design. The firm’s talents comprise a wide range of skills including architecture, landscape, urban planning, interior design, video, graphics, and product design. Its work is irreversibly connected to the narrative of place and the complex order of human culture.

Surface Says: Across residences, workplaces, and public space commissions, RIOS has a knack for connecting people to nature in breathtaking ways.

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