In the mid-1990s, Manhattan’s Meatpacking District was a place in flux. Its sidewalks still ran with blood from the animal processing industry, which itself was dying out in urban corridors; Sex and the City hadn’t quite yet made over its recent history as sites for queer sexual exploration into fashionable faux-edginess. It remained home for communities of queer—and particularly trans—sex workers, but everyone suspected their time was limited.

It was also home to the Cooler, a downstairs club with a downtown sensibility. From 1993 until summer 2001, it offered space for legendary parties like Giant Step, Koncrete Jungle, and Mutiny, and a stage for everyone from Gil Scott Heron to Autechre. Artist and curator Gavilán Rayna Russom was taken by the Monday programming after seeing the experimental filmmaker and musician Tony Conrad workshop new work with a cellist. “One thing about those nights,” she says, “was that they were artist-curated. Two: They were free. And three: They were on Monday nights. Because of those things, you could see artists who have a developed practice doing something genuinely experimental and trying something new.”

That space and time was on her mind when the Center for Art, Research, and Alliances dedicated the summer programming of its airy duplex gallery space in Chelsea to a collaboration between Voluminous Arts, the trans-led organization and record label for trans artists founded by Russom in 2020, and the Octavia Project, a future-oriented nonprofit and summer camp for women and non-binary and trans youth. The result is “bloom how you must, wild until we are free,” which transforms CARA into a multimedia study program for six artists on the Voluminous Arts roster and a free summer program for high school students that focuses in STEM, writing, art, and digital media—and, on five summer evenings, Cooler Nights, Russom’s reimagining of those underground nights in the ‘90s.

The inaugural night offers a screening of Vera Chytilova’s anti-totalitarianism 1987 film Wolf Chalet, and performances by Gyna Bootleg and Naija Couture. These works might have fit in at the Cooler, but perhaps wouldn’t have been welcomed. “The Cooler existed in a part of New York that was very contextualized not only by sex worker communities,” Russom says, “but by sexual organizing communities. And, specifically, trans and drag and gender nonconforming sexual communities. A lot of the knowledge that has informed New York’s nightlife culture in a commercial way was created in these communities.”

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Interior architect Enis Karavil started the Sanayi313 brand in 2015 with his brother, Amir, as a way to blend his penchant for what he calls “maximalist expressions in minimalist details” with their Turkish roots and international experience. What began as a line of accessories has now expanded into design studio housed in a converted auto repair shop in Istanbul; a culture publication called Paper; Store, a boutique where you can buy it along with design objects produced in the studio or otherwise collected by the brothers; and Kitchen, a canteen where you can read it while treating yourself to a brunch patisserie buffet.

Store’s inventory now includes the brand’s striking Oblong Collection for furniture. Sanayi313 articulates the titular shape in solid mazel and maple burl to form a series of T-shaped stools that tuck charmingly underneath a graceful dining table. A chunkier, low side table offers the wood maximum impact, as does a monumental bench, while small side tables appear to telescope upwards. Each is handmade by local artisans, and all are offered on the brand’s website and at Love House, with selections also available at Galerie Philia and 1stDibs.

Côme Ménage founded his firm Re-A.D to carefully explore how new architecture can work in concert with past layers of development to support a more sustainable future. Each project undertaken by the firm—which operates out of Brooklyn, Miami, and Paris, all locales where adaptive reuse thrives—serves a wider purpose to revitalize historic structures and neighborhoods at all scales, an approach that helped land him this year’s Chicago Athenaeum and the European Centre for Architecture’s prestigious “Europe 40 under 40” Architecture and Design Award.

Name: Jolene Brooklyn

Designer: Bar Lab Hospitality, Space Invaders, and Link Miami Rebels

On Offer: Since it opened in March, the Moxy Williamsburg has already established itself in north Brooklyn thanks to its packed indoor/outdoor rooftop bar, LilliStar, and its enviable views of Williamsburg and the Manhattan skyline. A pair of restaurants from chef Eli Buli—the automat-inspired cocktail bar and all-day cafe Bar Bedford and Mesiba, a Tel Aviv-inspired restaurant—have only buoyed its reputation. This summer, Moxy is offering nightlife fans its own version of the popular Sound Room concept with Jolene.

Accessed through its own entrance on bustling Bedford Avenue, Jolene starts on a retro-futuristic note with an entry defined by a painted ceiling illuminated by fluorescent tubes. Inside, disco-style banquettes line the walls and the poufs are ready to be pushed to the corners as the dancefloor fills up. Warm walnut and cool leather keeps the temperature right, while the glowing bar keeps the crowd lubricated with Bar Lab libations. And the bold red, marquee lighting system is fully customizable, ensuring the mood is in sync with the music.

Our new weekly scoop on industry players moving onwards and upwards.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation announced that Kirsten Reoch will take over as the Glass House’s executive director starting in September. A seasoned cultural nonprofit leader, Reoch has worked at the Park Avenue Armory for more than 25 years.

The Shed has tapped Meredith Hodges (known as Max), formerly the executive director of the Boston Ballet, to become the Hudson Yards institution’s next chief executive officer. That role was initially held by Alex Poots, who will remain on board as artistic director.

Walter Chiapponi will exit his role as creative director of Tod’s following the brand’s Spring 2024 womenswear show in September. Chiapponi, who previously worked alongside former Bottega Veneta creative director Tomas Maier, joined the label in 2019. A successor hasn’t been named.

Tiona Nekkia McClodden will now be represented by White Cube, the London gallery with locations in Hong Kong, Seoul, Paris, West Palm Beach, and soon New York. The artist and filmmaker will have her first solo exhibition with the gallery at its Bermondsey space in February.

When: Until Aug. 4

Where: The Goldwyn House, Los Angeles

What: Jane Yang D’Haene has gained renown for her expressive interpretations of traditional Korean moon jars, which currently star in an exhibition at The Future Perfect’s outpost in Los Angeles at the Goldwyn House. This show expands on her exploration of heritage, memory, and identity, featuring oversized hand-built objects alongside three bodies of work inspired by Korean craft and folk art traditions. The collections include vessels named Kiwa, reminiscent of Korean rooftops, and Minhwa, showcasing supersized versions of her moon jars, both characterized by contrasting finishes that highlight her experimental techniques.

Wallpaper Projects is a boutique design studio specializing in custom-made, custom-fit, high-end wallpaper and fabric. Working closely with artists and clients, the brand’s experimentation with different materials and chemical processes promotes a collaborative exploration of exciting new designs with which they transform traditional uses of wallpaper and other wallcoverings for commercial as well as residential applications.

Surface Says: Wallpaper Projects designs wall coverings that feel more akin to murals. The studio transforms spaces through both its artist collaborations and unapologetic use of color.

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