What’s Happening: A soon-to-open exhibition at the National Building Museum suggests there’s ample design wisdom to plumb from the richly illustrated pages of children’s books, which impart many of our earliest notions of home.

The Download: Whether referring to a physical dwelling or a sense of belonging, “home” is a thorny concept that can be difficult to articulate. Many of our earliest notions of home, however, originate from the illustrated pages of children’s books, in which our lifelong desire for sanctuary persists as an indispensable storyline. Look no further than Margaret Wise Brown’s bedtime classic Goodnight Moon for a snapshot of an anthropomorphic bunny’s nightly rituals or Alice finding her way back from Wonderland in Lewis Carroll’s mind-bending fantasia. The light-hearted yet deeply felt stories we consume as children invite us to think more closely about the abodes we live in, the ones we leave, and how the concept strikes different chords around the world.

This universal concept informs “Building Stories,” a new exhibition at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., that opens on Sunday. Curated by leading children’s literature expert Leonard Marcus, the show offers an in-depth look at how the imaginative lens of children’s books influences early perceptions of home and the built environment—and calls attention to the spaces as overlooked characters in these stories. Snippets of homes from titles like The Snow Day, Last Stop on Market Street, and The Phantom Tollbooth are situated in an immersive scenography, designed by Portland experiential studio Plus And Greater Than, which serves both as a portal to this interiority and asks questions about how culture, economics, and climate shape how we first begin thinking about the roof over our heads.

The show suggests there’s ample wisdom to plumb from the worlds contained within children’s literature. And according to Nick Elias, indulging in this nostalgia can even sharpen one’s design skills. A decade ago, the English architect reimagined the English industrial town of Slough through the lens of Winnie-the-Pooh, the naive but friendly stuffed bear dreamed up by the lonely Christopher Robin as a reprieve from reality. A dreary landscape overlaid with scenes from the book, PoohTown, as Elias called his proposal, was built on an industry of happiness, not capital. “[It] argues if we were to start designing for our emotional, mental state,” Elias told Architizer, “then we may ask less of the physical world through a resolved sense of belonging.” No matter one’s age, location, or worldview, a sweeter future may be a mere page turn away.

In Their Own Words: “At its simplest, literacy is the way that we interact with the world around us, how we shape it and are shaped by it,” the National Council of Teachers of English said in a statement displayed on a placard in the show. “It’s how we communicate with others via reading and writing, but also speaking, listening, and creating. It is how we articulate our experience in the world and declare ‘We are here!’”

Surface Says: Charles Eames once quipped that “toys and games are the preludes to serious ideas.” The same can be said about picture books.

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This February, the Surface team will handpick a selection of elevated objects of affection for our exclusive Valentine’s Day Gift Guide. Expect a mix of sophisticated curiosities, housewares, fine art prints, and other covetable gifts that reimagine the holiday with a highbrow slant and represent worthwhile purchases that your Valentine will truly treasure.

Over the summer, the Baja and Sonora–influenced cocina Palmilla opened its doors on the coast of Newport Beach. Atelier Gulla Jónsdóttir, which oversaw its design, drew inspiration from the surrounding California coast to inform the interior. Sandstone leather banquettes and saddle-hued club chairs evoke the arid backcountry of the region’s canyon trails. Textural limewash walls seem to reference the spectacular vista off of the seaside cliffs jutting out from nearby Crystal Cove State Park.

Dining nooks positioned in arched recesses harken to the spectacular landscape of Three Arch Bay in neighboring Laguna Beach. They also make for an ideal nook from which guests can enjoy staples of the region’s coastal Mexican-American fare, like sea bass and prawn ceviches and shrimp taquitos. The robust mains, such as achiote corn cakes or grilled lobster and shrimp relleno, pair nicely with a refreshing margarita from the tequila bar.

Thanks to Élan Byrd’s penchant for material play and affinity for the natural world, her deeply layered earth-tone textiles bring welcome dashes of warmth to richly textured objects like pillows, canvases, and wall tapestries. The newly relocated Angeleno is now broadening her scope with a recent collection for furniture purveyor Lulu & Georgia in which she brings her textural style into lighting with slow, intentional construction and eye-catching contrasts, like adding black leather stitching to rattan pendants and table lamps.

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

Mark Zuckerberg’s Latest Startup: A Cattle Herd Raised on Beer and Macadamia [Bon Appétit]

Think Billionaires Suck? Get Ready for Trillionaires [Rolling Stone]

Lazy Use of AI Leads to Amazon Products Called “I Cannot Fulfill That Request” [Ars Technica]

Nine-Year-Old Bullied After Bringing Fake Stanley Cup to School [Dexerto]

YouTube Earns Millions a Year From Channels That Promote Climate Denial Content, Says New Report [CBC]

Adidas’ CEO Says He Gave His Cell Number to 60,000 Employees and Was Slammed With 200 Messages a Week, Report Says [Business Insider]

Passenger Trapped in Airplane Bathroom for Entire Flight Gets Note From Attendant: “Sir, We Tried Our Best” [New York Post]

When: Until March 9

Where: Claire Oliver Gallery, Harlem

What: The brownstone gallery’s latest exhibition opens today, with a group show of paintings, sculpture, and wood works by Simone Elizabeth Saunders, Moridja Kitenge Banza, Erika DeFreitas, and Shanna Strauss. The four artists use their respective bodies of work to challenge narratives—both folkloric and within the canon of art history—that fail to engage with the Black diaspora. As the title suggests, their re-interpretations of classical and spiritual iconography seeks to enrich the understanding of multifaceted narratives and histories.

The throes of deep winter weather make it the perfect time to refresh a collection of too-worn, threadbare sweats for a fresh, if not chic pair. Signs Point to Yes artist-founders Julia Dault and Hannah Whitaker hand-paint these cotton co-ords with playful patterns: their debut collection, Wet Look, features tulips, freehanded grid motifs, and squiggly abstractions. The duo emphasizes that they source each separate from a North American factory with fair wage practices. From $200

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Chilewich textiles enhance both indoor and outdoor spaces with products embodying the distinct aesthetic of creative director Sandy Chilewich. Continually stretching the boundaries of what we can expect from a textile, Chilewich is known for durability, ease of care, and inventive design. More than 1.6 million placemats and 15,000 rugs are produced annually in the United States.

Surface Says: With a deep love and knowledge of textile design, Chilewich takes an inspired approach to table and floor coverings. The brand continues to raise the bar in this category.

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