Good afternoon and welcome back to even more news to close out the year with. There’s still a lot going on, so let’s get to it.
The Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair is pushed back over Omicron fears
As the Omicron variant of COVID continues to spread seemingly unfettered, international trade shows are once again being forced to postpone until 2022. The latest casualty is the Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair, which announced on December 22 in a press release that the fair would be moved from February 2022 to September 6 through 9.
“We are an international fair with exhibitors and visitors travelling here from all over the world, including our neighbouring Scandinavian countries,” said Hanna Nova Beatrice, Project Area Manager for Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair and Stockholm Design Week, citing the rise of COVID cases worldwide. “We have great interest and engagement for the 2022 edition of the fair, but we need to move it forward due to the current situation in the world.”
Meanwhile, Stockholm Design Week will take place as originally planned and run from February 7 through 13.
H/t to Designboom
Berlin’s DJs want a UNESCO heritage designation for Berghain
Techno is part of the heart and soul of Berlin, at least that’s what the city’s DJs are arguing, and now they want the United Nations to back up their claim. A group of DJs are lobbying the German government to apply for UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) status, arguing that the genre was formative in helping the city recover after the city’s reunification—and a UNESCO designation would help protect sites like Berghain, Tresor, and other nightclubs.
H/t to The Guardian
The U.S. Energy Department has sunk over $1 billion into failed carbon capture tests
The U.S. Government Accountability Office is reportedly taking the Energy Department (DOE) to task over the $1.1 billion the DOE has spent on carbon capture and storage programs since 2009. According to a December 20 report, the department’s invested in 11 projects meant to capture and sequester emissions at coal power plants and industrial facilities. Of those, only three were ever built, but the sole coal plant participating shut down in 2020, leaving two industrial projects in operation.
The Accountability Office alleges that the DOE knew the projects in question had little chance of success due to market uncertainty thanks to the move to renewable energy sources. In the future, the DOE has stated its new Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations will develop recommendations and responses to the aforementioned issues.
H/t to Engineering News-Record
A new office complex will neighbor L.A.’s Anita May Rosenstein Campus
A new office complex seems in the cards for Hollywood, as developer Bardas Investment Group has revealed a new Otherworks-designed building with a wavelike roofline sited next to the Anita May Rosenstein Campus. The new $120 million, three-story office building at 1149 N. Las Palmas Avenue will be joined by an office conversion of an adjoining building and four others to span a total of 123,000 square feet.
H/t to Urbanize Lost Angeles
Failed bidders for Charlottesville’s Robert E. Lee statue sue the city
The monumental statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville, Virginia, at the heart of the deadly Unite the Right rally in 2017 was pulled down earlier this year and donated to the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center, who will melt it down and repurpose the bronze for art projects.
However, two of the other bidders who were in the running to acquire the memorial aren’t happy with that. The Trevilian Station Battlefield Foundation and the Ratcliffe Foundation have reportedly filed a lawsuit against the city, the City Council, and the Jefferson School to reverse the donation, claiming the state code does not allow for the statue’s destruction. The complaint also claims that the decision to remove the Lee monument was politically motivated in the face of the Unite the Right rally, and the groups are hoping for a temporary injunction as the statue has reportedly already been transported to a foundry and broken apart.
H/t to The Daily Progress
The U.K. will double its emergency arts funding in the face of Omicron
It’s not just art, trade, and design fairs facing hardship as Omicron spreads worldwide. With the closure of museums, movie theaters, and pretty much any place people would meet face-to-face, the United Kingdom government has decided to double its emergency arts funding to $80.4 million.
The decision was made on December 23 in an effort to keep smaller arts institutions and independent cinemas afloat, and an additional $2 million was handed out to struggling freelancers.
“Thanks to the dedication and ingenuity of people working in the arts, culture and heritage – as well as unprecedented government support – these cherished sectors have already withstood many challenges over the course of the pandemic,” said Arts Minister Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay in the announcement. “The new Omicron variant has added to those challenges by hitting at what is a crucial time of the year for so many artists and organisations. This additional emergency funding will make sure that those most at risk are able to receive the urgent help they need. We are also working with Arts Council England and charities supporting artists across the sectors to help freelancers who have been particularly hit by the cancellation of productions in what should have been a busy and vibrant period. We will continue to work closely with groups and organisations across the sectors to see how we can best provide support to those affected.”
H/t to Artnet News
