Ever wanted to take a dip, smoke up, break bread or go on a birdwatching expedition with your favourite architect, artist or designer? If any of these were on your bucket list now is your chance to cross them off. From 6 until 20 May, the Van Alen Institute is hosting an online auction featuring a host of adventurous ‘experiences’ with the likes of Charles Renfro, Bjarke Ingels, Yabu Pushelberg and more.
The offerings include a chance to pick the brains of Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia on a Pacific coast hike, peruse through graphic designer Irma Boom’s vast collection of handmade books and a wander around the Tadao Ando-designed Pulitzer Arts Foundation with Emily Pulitzer. Lauded landscape designer Piet Oudolf, meanwhile, will offer a rare tour of his private gardens and self-described ‘dream landscape’ in Hummelo, Netherlands, followed by drinks at his local haunt, the nearly 400-year-old Gouden Karper.
Elsewhere, one lucky bidder (and five of their guests) will wine and dine with design duo George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg at the striking Manhattan home they created for themselves in a Richard Meier-designed tower, while another will get to talk buildings and birds with architect Jeanne Gang in one of Chicago or New York’s iconic urban parks.
For the more intrepid, there’s a chance to join Bjarke Ingels and partner Jakob Lange as they test their self built smoke ring generator for BIG's new waste-to-energy power plant at the Amager Resource Center in Copenhagen. And if you really feel like getting intimate on your blind design date, there’s a hot tub roundtable with architect Charles Renfro of superfirm Diller Scofidio + Renfro on offer, hosted at his mid-century modernist house on Fire Island - cocktails included.
The auction marks the Van Alen Institute’s annual Spring Party in Lower Manhattan, which this year includes a seated dinner and performances by My Midnight Heart, DJ David Pacho and Brooklyn-based dystopian funk super group LÁ-BAS. Proceeds from the sale will help fund the Van Alen Institute’s inventive cross-disciplinary research, design competitions and public programmes. Now that's a bidding war that's priceless.
Among the lots up for grabs is a chance to accompany Ingels and BIG partner Jakob Lange as they test their self-built smoke ring generator for the firm's new waste-to-energy power plant at the Amager Resource Center in Copenhagen
Lauded landscape designer Piet Oudolf, meanwhile, will offer a rare tour of his private gardens and self-described ‘dream landscape’ in Hummelo, Netherland
Elsewhere, one lucky bidder (and five of their guests) will wine and dine with design duo Glenn Pushelberg (left) and George Yabu...
...at the striking Manhattan home they created for themselves in a Richard Meier-designed tower
Another winning bidder will get to talk buildings and birds with architect Jeanne Gang in one of Chicago or New York’s iconic urban parks
For a truly intimate experience with a creative luminary, join architect Charles Renfro for a lazy summer Sunday and hot tub roundtable discussion at his home on Fire Island, New York. Pictured: Renfro's home, as featured in Fire Island Modernist.
Other offerings include a cycling tour of Los Angeles with architect Michael Maltzan where you'll pass some of the city’s iconic mid-century and contemporary architecture before arriving at a Maltzan-designed private residence in Beverly Hills for a well-earned lunch.
Accompany curator and philanthropist Emily Pulitzer to see her outdoor sculpture and prarie in St. Louis. She'll share her thoughts on her most prized pieces, which include site-specific works by Richard Serra, Donald Judd, Dan Flavin and many others. Pictured: 'Joe', by Richard Serra, 1999.
Fine-tune your Instagamming skills with some of the biggest names on the platform, art director/photographer Matthew Foley and design strategist Eric Petschek.
Lebaneser furniture maker and interior designer Nada Debs is dishing up a 24-hour whistle-stop tour inside Beirut's underground design scene and culinary hotspots
See what goes on under the hood through a private tour with BMW's head of cultural engagement Thomas Girst. He'll offer insights into the BMW Museum and Plant that the average autobahn tourist won't hear, as well as explain the visions behind the famed art cars designed by the likes of Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, and Jeff Koons (pictured)
ADDRESS
The Surrogate's Courthouse
31 Chambers Street
New York
-
Inside ‘De toutes beautés!’, the Louvre’s new exhibition narrating 10,000 years of beauty ideals through art‘De toutes beautés!’ marks the beginning of a three-year partnership between the Louvre and L’Oréal Groupe. India Birgitta Jarvis reports on the show for Wallpaper*
-
First look: ‘Christofle, A Brilliant Story’ is a glittering celebration of silver across two centuriesA landmark Christofle exhibition opens today at Paris’ Musées Des Arts Décoratifs and is the first monographic show dedicated to French silverware house
-
‘Beyond Bloomsbury’: the life of Dora CarringtonA new exhibition, ‘Beyond Bloomsbury’, at Pallant House Gallery, UK, explores the life and loves of artist Dora Carrington
-
Rare Carlo Scarpa Venini vase found in a thrift store fetches over $100K at auctionInside the story of Carlo Scarpa’s ‘Pennellate’ vase for Venetian glass brand Venini, which recently emerged from the most unlikely of places
-
Lost Lalanne classics up for sale at Sotheby’sA series of Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne classics (think apples, donkeys and ginkgo leaves) have been discovered, hidden inside the late couple's workshop, and are up for sale by Sotheby’s on 4 October 2023
-
Simon de Pury’s new design auction presents a variety of contemporary works while redefining the auction modelCreate! – 21st Century Architecture and Design is an online auction by Simon de Pury, launching on 26 July 2023 and featuring works by the likes of Rick Owens, Ron Arad and Tom Dixon as well as emerging talent
-
Sotheby’s to auction Marie-Antoinette’s armchairs, amid other regal lots, in aid of French châteauSotheby’s Paris will auction works from the collection of interior designer Jacques Garcia in aid of Château du Champ de Bataille
-
Judy Chicago wins Best Fireworks: Wallpaper* Design Awards 2022Judy Chicago wins Best Fireworks award for Forever de Young, her biggest ever public performance, staged at San Francisco’s de Young Museum. The epic work, created in collaboration with Pyro Spectaculars by Souza also adorns the limited-edition subscriber cover for the February 2022 issue
-
Solange judges Wallpaper* Design Awards 2020With a repertoire that – in addition to music – encompasses filmmaking, choreography, performance art, sculpture and design, Solange has lent her creative energy to judging our highest honours
-
Artcurial offers cultural case studies on French and Italian designA duo of sales taking place today at auction house Artcurial present fresh perspectives on French and Italian icons
-
Zaha Hadid Design’s dog kennel joins a pack of pooch pads in London
