Good morning and welcome back to the start of another week. We’ve only just rolled into August, but it already feels like autumn is on the horizon; that said, there are still plenty of summer art and design events to get out and see.

Here’s what you need to know today:

Museums across the U.S. receive green energy grants to improve efficiency

Thanks to the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, visual arts institutions across America will split a $10 million grant to help modernize their energy systems. Disbursed through the Frankenthaler Climate Initiative, 79 museums in 25 states will receive $5.1 million through the first round of funding—with 15 of those institutions in New York City. The money will go towards creating more efficient energy systems and disaster-proofing. For instance, the California Indian Museum and Cultural Center in Santa Rosa will use its $100,000 to install advanced air filtration systems and backup power systems, allowing the museum to double as a shelter for those threatened by wildfires.

H/t to the New York Times

The federal eviction moratorium has ended, stoking fears of a nationwide eviction spike

The start of August means rent is due for millions of Americans—unfortunately, it also marks the end of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) eviction moratorium imposed in September 2020. The measure, which prevented landlords from kicking out tenants for failure to pay their rent, came as the economy was in freefall and businesses were forced to close to curb the rampant spread of COVID-19. Today, 11 million Americans are reportedly still at risk of losing their homes in the coming days if the moratorium isn’t extended, something neither the Biden administration nor Congress (which just left for August recess) has pushed for.

H/t to Vox

Osaka’s Super Mario World is already expanding

The Super Nintendo World in Osaka opened for business earlier this year (albeit with a “soft launch” as COVID cases continue to surge across Japan), and the Mario-themed park is already expanding. While the main area is a mashup of different Super Mario video games and contains everything from a replica of Bowser’s castle to a Yoshi’s Adventure ride, one mascot was conspicuously absent: Donkey Kong. Now that might be remedied, as recent visitors have pointed out cranes and scaffolding behind a conspicuous door-to-nowhere that’s been part of the park since day one. Rumors of a Donkey Kong–themed park have reportedly been going around for years, and the new expansion (if it actually is based on the tie-wearing ape) could include a roller coaster styled after a mine cart ride.

H/t to The Verge

David Adjaye’s rammed earth sculpture centers a group show at Manhattan Gagosian gallery

British-Ghanaian architect David Adjaye has, like many of us, been pursuing artistic endeavors while locked down during the pandemic. Now the result of his work is on display at the West 24th Street Gagosian gallery in Manhattan as part of the Social Works group show. Asaase (2021) was commissioned by the gallery for the show, which focuses on reclaiming space for Black community building. And reclaim space Asaase certainly does, as the towering rammed earth sculpture (Adjaye’s first large-scale art installation) invites visitors to wander into its inner chambers.

H/t to The New Yorker

The world’s first magnetized fusion plant will be built in Oxfordshire, England

Canadian energy company General Fusion is banking on magnetically driven fusion reactors as the future of energy generation. The company has announced that it will build a prototype fusion plant in Oxfordshire, England, on the UK Atomic Energy Authority campus, and that London-based firm AL_A had been tapped to design the project. From the renderings, AL_A has devised a panoramic viewing gallery to wrap around the reactor core. While the fusion technology on display at the plant (using intense pressure to compress hydrogen atoms until they merge to form helium, releasing an intense amount of heat that is then used to boil water and spin a turbine) is promising, the General Fusion plant will only be 70 percent of the size of an actual power plant and not used to create commercial electricity. The plant is expected to open sometime in 2025.

H/t to Dezeen

More residential towers are rising in Jersey City’s Journal Square

Jersey City’s Journal Square neighborhood, currently a low-slung residential section clustered around the PATH station, is getting some high-flying additions. The Long Island–based developer Namdar Group has revealed plans to build—or have already begun construction on—more than half a dozen residential towers in the area, all designed by New York’s C3D Architecture. 6sqft has rounded up all of the developments (the 16-story, mixed-use MRK having opened already), the tallest of which top out at 27 stories.

H/t to 6sqft