Palazzo Giustinian Lolin, a Baroque-style palace facing one of Venice’s most picturesque waterways, has weathered the mark of many characters. Built in the 15th century, reconstructed shortly after by Venetian architect Baldassare Longhena to use columns of all three classical orders, and now home to the European music foundation of Ugo and Olga Levi on the second floor, the palazzo has retained centuries-old details like Murano glass chandeliers and cyan silk panels. “It’s full of a material history with generations of architectural references built on top of each other,” says the architect Vincenzo de Cotiis, who found kinship between the palazzo’s history and his own practice, which involves layering disparate materials both in historical interiors and on sculptural objects to explore the passage of time.

That may explain why de Cotiis moved into the first floor—and inaugurated his foundation there, too. Coinciding with the Venice Art Biennale’s 60th edition, the Vincenzo de Cotiis Foundation aims to enhance the city’s creative sphere with exhibitions and publications that advance our understanding of contemporary art and design. It starts with “Archaeology of Consciousness Venice,” which features a trio of monumental arches installed within the palazzo’s courtyard. “I wanted to show something that connected back to the city,” de Cotiis tells Surface, explaining that arches symbolize the architectural development of La Serenissima. They feature recycled fiberglass, ancient stone like Rhodonite, and Murano glass, layered atop and around one another in an organic, seemingly effortless style.

Visible through the palazzo’s main water door, the arches forge the appearance of gateways rising from the lagoon—dated relics imbued with histories expressed through marble and stone—while also nodding to the arches lining and supporting the palazzo’s famous facade. De Cotiis intends for them to be treated as portals to the past, present, and future, activated in our imagination by moving under them. “Art is often concerned with movement—the idea of bringing something static to life,” he says. “Arches inspire that movement in their audience, like a charisma that pulls you through them. It’s inherently exploratory.”

A sense of exploration will also apply to his foundation, which will be run by his wife, Claudia Rose. When pressed for future plans, the couple demurred, though admitted that figuring out how to weave in music is on the docket. “We’re also looking forward to the Architecture Biennale next year, but can’t say any more about that yet,” she tells Surface. “Central to the foundation is the idea that Vincenzo and I have built a home here. The foundation has a very personal resonance for us. It has to be lived with.”

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Following last year’s sold-out rooftop party at Spring Studios, Surface is again partnering with furniture designer Kouros Maghsoudi to host a NYCxDesign showcase and a cocktail party to put the rest to shame. Interested in learning more about partnership opportunities and event integrations as we shake up design week and celebrate New York’s creative spirit? Let’s chat.

Tucked just off of Budapest’s Danube river, the newly revitalized Dorothea Hotel embodies a nouveau-aristocratic sophistication thanks to a full renovation by Lissoni & Partners. The firm had a singularly challenging task, with three different buildings from across time and space making up the colossal 216-room lodgings. Lissoni’s firm unified the common area’s interiors in a slick, moody palette of silky blacks, steely grays, and luminous pops of light. In the guest rooms, crisp white walls offset the brown-black four poster beds, jewel-toned velvet sofas, and white-veined marble accents.

A trained interior designer and practicing photographer whose product design practice is bearing fruit, Roham Shamekh pours his heart into every single piece he dreams up for his eponymous Dubai-based studio in the pursuit of bringing more beauty into the world. Lately, the Tehran-born talent has been ruminating on climate change and humanity’s fraught role in both exacerbating and mitigating its impact, which informs his most recent collection of meticulously detailed silver-toned floral candelabras that debuted in Milan but are heading to NYCxDesign.

The Canadian painter unleashes a strange vortex of apocalyptic tableaux in vivid hues, rendering a collective lived experience shared among the universe.

Here, we ask an artist about the essential details behind one of their latest works.

Bio: Cindy Phenix, 35, Los Angeles

Title of work: Common Contemplation Extends to Prolongate Deeper into Themselves the Echo.

Where to see it: Nino Mier Gallery, New York.

Three words to describe this work: Abyss, excess, iridescence.

How the work reflects your practice as a whole: My practice takes interest in the interplay between humans, non-humans and technology through the lens of Theatrum Mundi, the baroque concept of the world as a grand stage. The narrations in my tableaux depict complex apocalyptic portrayals of our shared reality, evoking catastrophes that saturate our lived experience through drama, comedy, and tragedy.

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Tend is the first dentist you’ll look forward to. Launched in October 2019, Tend was created to set a new standard for oral health by providing dentistry the way it should be—hassle-free, personalized, and straightforward, with a focus on patient happiness—all in a calm, inviting, and thoughtfully designed space.

Surface Says: By prioritizing hospitality and design in equal measure, Tend has made dental care downright chic.

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