What’s Happening: The inaugural Design Doha biennial has gathered 74 designers and studios from the MENA region for a look at “Arab Design Now.”

The Download: “What does it mean to create in our region today?” That, according to curator Rana Beiruti, is the animating query behind her exhibition “Arab Design Now,” the vibrant heart of the inaugural Design Doha. Qatar Museums has organized the biennial, which this year filled John McAslan’s concrete M7 building and surrounding venues throughout Doha’s creative district, with exhibitions devoted to the architectural history of the city, Arab graphic design, an emotional tribute to the expertise of women weavers in Afghanistan, and more, all under the artistic direction of Glenn Adamson.

Among the exhibitions, “Arab Design Now” feels particularly urgent. Walking through its dozens of loans and commissioned work, one might sense the three strands of Beiruti’s question untangle and weave into something vibrant. Much of the work explores materiality to assert the value of creation itself: Sahel Alhiyari’s Eleven (2024), for example, stacks hand-crafted terra cotta into fluted columns that form an impressively imperfect enclosure while Ali Kaaf’s Helmet (2024) explores how blown glass can reference and replicate, but not replace, historical battle gear—yet possibly still outlast the human such a helmet is meant to protect.

“Qatar has a large and vital design scene,” Adamson tells Surface, “but of course it’s only one relatively small country within a huge and diverse region. We really wanted to take on that larger picture as we saw a need for a well-researched and highly selective project that surveyed what was happening.” One thing that’s happening: designers are looking to their own region—and families—for inspiration. Louis Barthélemy roped in his own siblings to help embroider, weave, and dye his fabulous triptych Manhood, Dancer, and Gazelles, which flaunt playful explorations of ancient and contemporary Egyptian representations of gender. Mohammad Sharaf formed a crumbling corner of “brickbooks,” each achingly printed with photographs of abandoned Kuwaiti buildings.

Today, of course, the MENA region is under unprecedented challenges. As ceasefire talks continued in Doha, the biennale was refreshingly direct about the political climate. It awarded an inaugural prize for product design to Fabraca Studios, a Lebanon-based studio that crafted an aluminum “light impact” fixture of modular, flexible cylinders to replace a Lindsey Adelman chandelier that shattered in the 2020 Beirut explosion. On opening night, a projection of the Palestinian flag illuminated the facade of M7; inside, wall texts pointed out Palestinian crafts, like the embroidered patterns on the Naqsh Collective’s Green Bridal Chest (2023) and the Ornamental by Lameice’s elegant glasswork by the Twam family of Jaba’, which are under threat of disappearing. They underscored the stakes of what Adamson called “the largest museum survey of contemporary Arab design ever staged.” Hopefully, it’s not the last.

In Their Own Words: “Arab design is not disconnected from the global condition of design,” Beiruti says. “At the heart of it all is an act of storytelling.”

Surface Says: Right now, the stories in “Arab Design Now” deserve hearing.

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This winter, a one-time office block tucked between Opéra Garnier and Palais Brongniart has become the latest confection from Laura Gonzalez, this time in a collaboration with creative director Olivier Leone. A sister to Anouska Hempel’s Monsieur George Hotel & Spa in the 8th, Hotel Hana has an identity all its own, a five-star tribute to both the Japanese diaspora who made the area a “Little Tokyo” in the 1920s and the eternal magic of Paris. Hana dispenses with traditional reception—instead, guests are greeted with matcha and sesame madeleines and then led to one of the 26 rooms and suites, each secured with perfect feng shui by Hélène Weber. Straw walls, floral poufs, and glossy lacquer complement the carpeting of either signed examples by Marguerite Lemaire or Gonzalez’s own designs for Pierre Frey over parquet.

Spa specialists Lymfea devised the wellness space, which offers energy treatments including Reiki, Kobido, and Chi Nei Tsang. Shirley Garrier of The Social Food crafted the menus, from traditional Ochazuke with dashi and tea-broth as a nourishing room-service breakfast, to a lunch of shiitake and brown butter risotto at the Zen-meets-Belle Epoque restaurant Hanabi, to a golden-hour aperitif of a dry martini with Japanese gin and sansho pepper-infused vermouth at the glowing bar. Cap it off with a Hanabi dinner at the marble chef’s bar or floral banquettes starring mushi nabe pot-au-feu and Okinawa sweet potato crème brûlée.

Iris Apfel needed no introduction. Throughout the style icon’s illustrious career, she wore many hats—literally and figuratively—though she was keener on oversized eyewear, necklaces, and bangles stacked in jangling multiples. After launching a textile firm called Old World Weavers with her late husband Carl in 1950 and spearheading design restoration projects for nine different U.S. presidents, her maximalist sensibilities permeated nearly every corner of popular culture. Perhaps most notable was an acclaimed 2005 exhibition about her sui generis personal style at the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which attracted 150,000 visitors.

Apfel, who died this past weekend at age 102, remained enterprising until the end. As a nonagenarian, she became the face of Australian fashion brand Blue Illusion, appeared in a commercial for the French vehicle DS 3, and launched a maximalist rug collection with Ruggable. Mattel even created a Barbie doll in her likeness in 2018. She appeared in fashion editorials alongside Karlie Kloss and Tavi Gevinson, and amassed an epic collection of objects, furniture, and keepsakes culled from years of international travel. As we remember the style maven’s indelible impact on design and fashion, revisit Surface’s 2015 interview with Apfel in which she talks about how she collects and her experience being the star of a feature-length documentary by late director Albert Maysles.

If the buzz and spectacle of Frieze L.A. leaves you in need of a bit of mindfulness, the Elder Statesman has you covered—or, at least, a corner of your floor: The Elder Statesman x Christopher Farr offers a quartet of meditation mats by the noted rug artist, all handmade by his weavers in Mirzapur, India. The mats sport reproductions of pen and ink drawings made in the 1960s by Thelma Chait, grandmother of The Elder Statesman founder Greg Chait, and offer her iterations of radiating lines and darting eyes in a dozen colorways including a particularly groovy match-up of gold and pink. With their ancient Persian knot technique and exacting designs, each takes 20–24 weeks to produce—but nobody said mindfulness comes quickly.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has revealed the next two artists who are taking over its Fifth Avenue facade and rooftop garden in 2025. The former will go to Jeffrey Gibson, the Choctaw-Cherokee artist known for vibrant abstract works that celebrate Native identities. He’s planning four sculptures that he describes as “ancestral spirit figures” for the niches. The commission follows his selection to represent the U.S. at this year’s Venice Biennale. The rooftop commission, meanwhile, will go to Jennie C. Jones, who is known for her minimalist sound installations that probe Black avant-garde music.

Interior designer Jeremiah Brent has joined the cast of Queer Eye, completing the Fab 5 following Bobby Berk’s exit after the Netflix show’s first eight seasons. Brent founded his namesake design firm and lifestyle brand Atrio and rose to fame while working as Rachel Zoe’s styling associate on The Rachel Zoe Project. He has collaborated on multiple projects with his husband, Nate Berkus, including an exclusive line with Living Spaces and co-hosting several renovation-themed reality shows. The ninth season of Queer Eye, which will take place in Las Vegas, is expected to air in 2025.

Last week, an intimate group of artists, patrons, and friends of Serpentine Galleries gathered at Sybil Robson Orr and Matthew Orr’s West Hollywood home to raise a glass for the Serpentine Americas Foundation’s tenth anniversary year during a busy Frieze week. Hosted by Serpentine CEO Bettina Korek and artistic director Hans Ulrich Obrist, the event celebrated a milestone moment in the gallery’s efforts to champion new ideas in contemporary art and amplify the voices of American artists worldwide.

When was it? Until Feb 28.

Where was it? West Hollywood.

Who was there? Lana Del Rey, Lauren Halsey, Refik Anadol, Antwaun Sargent, Tyler Mitchell, Maja Hoffmann, Alex Israel, Zachary Quinto, Kenturah Davis, Jammie Holmes, and more.

Studio Plow is a San Francisco–based, multidisciplinary design studio known for an aesthetic that is restrained, yet warm and soulful. Each project is seen as a new opportunity for discovery, resulting in completely bespoke design. The firm’s highest priority is listening to a client’s vision and values. Working in collaboration, the firm crafts a narrative that uncovers the soul of each space, mapping its full potential.

Surface Says: Studio Plow excels at creating expressive interiors with a strong sense of place. The soul of each space shines through every commission and is contextualized by Plow’s dedication to creating interiors that perfectly balance contemporary design and warmth.

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