What’s Happening: Purdue University researchers are starting to get the world’s whitest white paint out of engineering labs and onto the market for commercial use.

The Download: First came Vantablack in 2014: the world’s darkest material created by Surrey Nanosystems absorbed 99 percent of visual light and also set the art world alight in a comedy of one-upmanship over licensing rights. Then, in 2019, MIT unveiled its Blackest Black, a carbon nanotube material that absorbs ten times more light than Vantablack. But in 2020, Purdue University’s Dr. Xiulin Ruan, a mechanical engineering professor, embarked on a different path: creating the most reflective pigment for use in climate-cooling paint.

“If you were to use this paint to cover a roof area of about 1,000 square feet, we estimate that you could get a cooling power of 10 kilowatts. That’s more powerful than the central air conditioners used by most houses,” Ruan said in 2021, when the university first announced the innovation. Since then, the professor and his lab team have updated the formulation to reflect 98.1 percent of sunlight and infrared heat, and developed a lighter-weight version (pictured above) suitable for vehicles.

In contrast to conventional heat-reducing paints that reflect 80 to 90 percent of sunlight, Purdue’s paint is a significant advancement. Its high reflectivity allows it to cool surfaces—and interiors—more effectively than most air conditioners, without contributing to heat emissions. As Dr. Ruan explained in a recent interview, it could potentially reduce air conditioning needs by up to 40 percent.

The one, ahem, bright spot in a sequence of increasingly worse heat waves and historically hot ocean temperatures is the news that this paint could be ready for commercial use in a year, or possibly longer. The university researchers are working with an unnamed company to also develop colored paints that will use the Purdue white as a base for other pigments, though Ruan notes, “they will work less ideally than the white [alone], but better than some of the other commercial colors.”

In Their Own Words: “I never expected that our cooling paint technologies would attract so much media attention,” Ruan tells Surface. “It really amazed me how much our society cares about mitigating the climate crisis with innovative yet simple solutions.”

Surface Says: So much for painting the town red—meet paint the town white.

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The magnificent Drechsler Palace, a 140-year-old neo-Renaissance building in the heart of Budapest, once housed a grand café and the Hungarian State Ballet Academy before sitting vacant for 15 years. Thanks to a meticulous restoration by Bowler James Brindley and Bánáti + Hartvig, the historic structure is now home to the latest outpost of W Hotels. Besides modernizing the interiors, the renovation aimed to honor the building’s heritage and the surrounding architectural context of Andrássy Avenue, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The result is a fusion of playful modernity and historic glamour, with the palace now featuring 151 rooms, a restaurant, lounge, spa, and speakeasy.

The two firms approached the restoration with careful consideration for the palace’s original features, implementing “second skin” interventions to preserve its fabric, including reinstating the palace’s original entrances and creating a vibrant glass-enclosed “living room” in the inner courtyard. The vaulted basement spa underwent a transformation inspired by Harry Houdini, utilizing mirror illusions creating a visual effect of boundless space. The guest rooms, meanwhile, showcase a captivating blend of turquoise wall paneling, gold-toned screens, and chess-themed details paying homage to Hungary’s rich connection to the game.

Known for her cinematic, slightly Surrealist approach to dining experiences, Laila Gohar made waves this past year with the launch of Gohar World, a line of tongue-in-cheek fashion and dining accessories, as well as a jubilant tableware collection with Hay. Now the chef-turned-designer is teaming up with The Luxury Collection, part of Marriott Bonvoy’s hotel portfolio, to create a line of barware and cocktails that pay homage to such disappearing craft traditions as mouth-blown glass, porcelain, needlework, and silversmithing.

The line takes subtle cues to Luxury Collection hotels worldwide, from hand-stitched cocktail napkins and a mouth-blown champagne coupe nodding to the hedonism of Paris’s grand Prince de Galles hotel to a sake cup and bamboo oshibori tray inspired by Suiran in Kyoto that Gohar created with Japanese artisans. “My favorite way to discover a destination is through the senses. Enjoying a meal or drink while traveling is an incredible way to learn about the local culture,” Gohar says. “Often the way a table or bar is set, and the objects used, are just as important as the food and beverage offerings themselves.”

Our weekly roundup of the internet’s most preposterous headlines, from the outrageous to the outright bizarre.

I Want to Kill Hugh Grant’s Wonka Oompa-Loompa With a Hammer [GQ]

There’s So Much Milk That U.S. Farmers Are Dumping It in the Sewer [Bloomberg]

Sriracha Sauce Shortage Hiking Some Huy Fong Bottles Over $60 [Napa Valley Register]

HGTV Is Making Our Homes Boring and Us Sad, One Study Says [Washington Post]

Over Half of America’s Beaches Are Covered in Poop and Unsafe to Swim At [New York Post]

The South American Capital With a Week’s Worth of Water Left [Telegraph]

America Is Wrapped in Miles of Toxic Lead Cables [WSJ]

When: Until Aug. 26

Where: Pretend by Appointment and Stroll Garden, Los Angeles

What: Taking the title from a 1972 radio interview with Marc Bolan of T-Rex, who revealed one of his recent tracks was about reincarnation, the exhibition sees two seemingly disparate gallery settings in Hollywood converge under one roof to cover a variety of genres and mediums. The curator, Ezra Woods, draws on the idea of reincarnation to explore the unloved ulterior lives of a selection of artworks: a ceramic sculpture by Jeffery Sun Young Park, Mary Weatherford’s tangled vines, and more.

Florida’s coral reefs are facing an unprecedented threat as a marine heat wave warms the Gulf of Mexico, resulting in record-breaking sea surface temperatures of around 90 degrees Fahrenheit in the Florida Keys. The concern is that it’s still only July, and corals typically experience the most heat stress in August. Scientists warn these temperatures pose an existential threat to reefs, which provide vital ecological support and generate significant economic benefits for the region.

Art + Loom is a bespoke rug company based in Miami. Founded ten years ago by designer Samantha Gallacher, Art + Loom’s mission is to bring fine art to the floor in homes around the world. Each rug is designed by Gallacher and hand-made in Nepal or India using techniques handed down over generations.

Surface Says: A roster of collaborations with prominent creatives and Gallacher’s dedication to overcoming challenges posed by the built environment positions Art + Loom where art and design meet.

Drift is embracing “Barbie Mania” with a sculpture of deconstructed doll parts…

…while most Barbie collabs in makeup, skin care, and hair care are falling flat.

“Flying dress” vacation shots in must-see destinations are fueling a new boom.

Anchor Brewing, America’s oldest craft brewer, is closing down after 127 years.