A weekly recap to share with you our favorite links, discoveries, exhibitions, and more from the past seven days. This week: an art fair lounge formed from flesh-toned inflatables, a dentist’s office that miraculously doesn’t make our skin crawl, and the ongoing rehabilitation of the great American diner.

Interiors

Remember this dentist’s office in France with the sunny yellow bathroom? Something is happening in the medical interiors space, and we’re here for it. The extension to the T7 dental prophylaxis practice in Berlin was designed by Batek Architekten to look more like an art gallery, continuing the aesthetic they created for the practice’s original space. A monolithic aluminium-foam reception desk greets patients, who then take a seat in wooden armchairs within the minimalist waiting room. A cube-shaped volume in a glorious shade of green immediately draws the eye, and divides the holding area from the various treatment rooms behind. Cathedral glass doors with walnut frames and bathrooms colored entirely in pale pink also feature.

Much to our delight, the classic American diner is having a renaissance, as stalwart spots find new fans and contemporary interpretations continue to crop up across the country. In Albany, New York, Parts & Labor Design has taken all of the best elements of mid-century diner design — lacquered surfaces, leather-wrapped booth seating, chrome accents — and elevated them to create a space that feels both nostalgic and contemporary, with Capital City Diner. Linoleum flooring is swapped for checkerboard stone tiles, while reeded stripes cover feature walls between windows shaded by Venetian blinds. Mosaic trims, burgundy marble counters, impeccable light fixtures, and all herald a new era for this beloved restaurant typology.

A newly renovated Queens townhouse has become a stage for the sculptural furniture of Studio S II, the Brooklyn-based studio co-founded by designers Erica Sellers and Jeremy Silberberg. The pair’s inaugural flagship gallery, House of S II, showcases their own works alongside antiques, heirlooms, and pieces by 45 artists and designers in a dramatic residential setting. The tone, which the duo perfectly describes as “an atemporal marriage of grand, gothic flair, and striking contemporary form,” is set using black-stained wood floors, chainmail curtains, and skylights that cast a chiaroscuro effect over the interiors.

Discoveries

We’re not the only ones constantly obsessing over Milan’s architecture. Californian brand House of Leon has released a collection of furniture inspired by the city’s post-war transformation, as the fourth in its destination-themed series. Combining cool metals and rich, warm textiles and leather across bold contemporary forms evokes the dichotomy of elegant and industrial for which the Italian design capital is famed. The collection includes the Palazzo Sofa Series features white oak bases that mimic the ornate moldings of Milanese villas such as Palazzo Gallarati Scotti, plus soft mohair upholstery. Another highlight is the Ingresso Accent Chair, which pairs a rigid aluminum frame with a cast-iron finish with a soft hair-on-hide, shearling, or suede seat and backrest. 

Florals are hitting the Zeitgeist hard right now (we’ll refrain from making a Miranda Priestly reference here), and one of our favorite iterations is this one-of-a-kind set of five Murano glass vessels created by artist Conie Vallese for Danish fashion house By Malene Birger, displayed at the brand’s showroom on Place des Vosges during Paris Fashion Week. Each unique blown-glass vase is embellished with black or white flowers, a signature of Vallese’s work that is also incorporated throughout the brand’s Spring ’25 ready-to-wear collection.

Parisian creative office Unknown, Untitled has launched a new venture, UU Tiles, thanks to a partnership with a historic Normandy tile manufacturer. Not only do they produce gorgeous standard tiles, but also neat little ceramic hooks and light fixtures that can be laid seamlessly within a larger tiled expanse, or mounted individually. The collection includes a variety of rich colors like navy, burgundy and green, as well as pastel shades of peach, beige, powder blue, and more.

Created as a collaboration between New Delhi studio Zerom and artist St. Naive, the M. Dupont chair features a wavy stainless steel frame, tiny balls for feet, and an abstract visage traced within its back. The studio has also released a giant candle holder in a similar style. Titled Madame Coucou, the design balances three candles across its undulating stand, intended to be placed on the floor. Both come as a limited series of 15 pieces each.

Exhibitions

Inflatable flesh-toned partitions formed the VIP hospitality area at this year’s Melbourne Art Fair (MAF), which took place February 23-25. Aussie studio Oigall Projects was behind the installation, which intentionally called to mind “sinew and muscle” as a way to make the space feel “eerily and also comfortingly human.” Arranged within the glossy ribbed walls were a set of stainless steel tables accompanied by yellow chairs and stools, a range of red lacquered tables, and a host of artworks mounted on metal frames and easels — forming an exhibition in and of itself.

The new Viewing Room at Emma Scully Gallery in New York has been christened by a collection of works by Brussels-based designer Nel Verbeke. Titled Mirror at Dusk, the installation includes a series of objects that examine the magic of twilight, and the ephemeral quality of the fleeting moments between light and darkness. Verbeke’s set of domed, hand-blown and silver-coated glass mirrors are each mounted on a copper base and illuminated from behind by a single beeswax candle, creating a warm glow from within. The flames gently lick the interior of the glass, leaving a sooty residue, while the tarnished curved surfaces distort reflections of the viewer. On display until March 29, 2025.