Meet the 30-Year-Old Making Waves in Paris’s Tenth Arrondissement
Arnaud Lacombe is the head of Savoir Vivre, a lifestyle group that’s launched a series of smart,...
From the Archives: Surface #27, Fall 2000
Eighteen years ago, Surface recognized the graphic novel by profiling Daniel Clowes, a star...
The Mother of All Concept Shops Arrives in New York
Carla Sozzani’s legendary 10 Corso Como reminds us why shopping IRL is still very much a thing.
Seeking Geoffrey Bawa
Ahead of his centennial celebration next year, one writer sets out on the Bawa trail to witness how
Please Stop: Wearing Athleisure Everywhere
Stretchy pants and tank tops are not a dress code catch-all.
How One Laid-Back Portuguese Beach Town Became an Unexpected Playground for Architecture’s Elite
Comporta, one hour south of Lisbon, spent generations as a quiet agricultural stretch along the...
Gelato Made Danny Meyer the Restaurateur He Is Today
Growing up around Rome’s gelato joints and trattorias taught the New York hospitality maven...
Aston Martin’s Lightweight Legend Drops Another 155 Pounds
The carmaker turns to clever materials to give its latest design unprecedented levels of speed and...
Speed, Sprezzatura, and the Sins of Retro Design
Fabrizio Buonamassa, Bulgari’s quintessentially Italian design boss, speaks his mind.
Doug Aitken’s Latest Show Is a Beautiful, Alarming Meditation on Contemporary Life
The artist gives us an exclusive walkthrough of his exhibition at Galerie Eva Presenhuber in Zurich
Artist Prune Nourry Finds Healing With a Blowtorch
The French creative unveils “The Amazon” at The Standard High Line in New York during a...
Ai Weiwei’s Refugee Crisis Artworks Are Looking For a Home
Public Art Fund and eBay for Charity collaborate on the sale of limited-edition banners from the...
Collecting Vintage Guitars: Everything You Need to Know About Selecting the Ultimate Functional Design Object
The beginner’s guide, courtesy of Nashville's George Gruhn—the ne plus ultra of high-end...
Can Eco-Friendly Auto Racing Ever Be Sexy?
Formula E, the world’s foremost battery-powered racing series, tries to reinvent the green-car...
Weekend Cheat Sheet: June 4 – 10, 2018
Smash soap sculptures with Rachel Lee Hovnanian, eat free hot dogs with Erwin Wurm, rave with Nick...
Does Buying Knockoff Furniture Make You a Thief?
What counterfeiting really means for designers, customers, and collectors.
Hermès Has a Secret Special Projects Division
Everything you need to know about the superyacht set’s low-key luxury obsession.
Weekend Cheat Sheet May 29 – June 3, 2018
A one-day live performance from Joan Jonas in London, ancient Greek sculptures reinterpreted for...
Spoiler Alert: Mansur Gavriel’s Men’s Collection Is the Same as Its Women’s Collection
What does it say that the "new" men's collection isn’t so new at all.
Weekend Cheat Sheet: May 21 – 28, 2018
Women artists disrupt gender roles, fringe communities come into the spotlight, and more cultural...
Why Ana Kras’s Work Is Way More Important Than the NYCxDesign 2018 Scandal Overshadowing it
If there’s anything to take away from the maelstrom surrounding Japanese brand Kamarq’s...
Opening Shot: The New Palms Casino Resort Might Be Las Vegas’s Best Art Museum
As part of its $620 million renovation, the casino resort offers an insane collection of blue-chip...
Weekend Cheat Sheet: May 14 – 20, 2018
Artists tackle climate change, Georgia O’Keeffe on Hawaii, iconic Latin American houses, and more
Minimalist Churches to Swoon For
13 spiritual structures that inspire awe without ostentation.
Weekend Cheat Sheet: May 7 – May 13, 2018
Outsider artists finally get their due, Alaia dresses receive the museum treatment, and more...
An Armored Vehicle For Art, Not War
With vehicle attacks and militarized policing on the rise in the U.S., the American debut of South...
Weekend Cheat Sheet: April 30 – May 6, 2018
A first look at The Shed, Creative Time’s new series of high-intensity dance parties, Dan...
There Are Too Many Good Events Going on in May…
So we put together a guide to the best art and design fairs around the world to help you...
Herzog & de Meuron Makes Fashion Out of Fake News
For their first-ever fashion project, in collaboration with Prada, Swiss architects Jacques Herzog...
Mathieu Lehanneur’s New Folding E-Bike Aims to Change Cycling Once and For All
Soon-to-launch Swiss brand Voltitude tapped the genre-bending designer to create the best e-bike...
How We Could Have Predicted Kanye’s ‘Dragon Energy’ Trump Tweet
All the clues lie in an interview we conducted with Yeezy right before his "psychiatric emergency"...
Weekend Cheat Sheet: April 23 – 29, 2018
Takashi Murakami's homage to Francis Bacon, redefining eroticism with Léon Ferrari, and more...
9 Standout Texas Artists at the Dallas Art Fair
The Dallas Art Fair celebrated its 10th edition over the weekend. This year’s fair featured a...
Weekend Cheat Sheet: April 16 – 22, 2018
Contemporary artists take on Plato in L.A., Elliott Puckette re-approaches the line, and more...
8 Things to Know About Neri Oxman (That Have Nothing to Do with Brad Pitt)
A non-exhaustive primer on the venerable MIT professor.
Weekend Cheat Sheet: April 9 – 15, 2018
Doug Aitken’s hallucinatory new installation, radical art and the female body, and more cultural...
A Silenced Russian Politician Faces New Censorship as an Art World Provocateur
The North Korean government criticized Alexander Donskoy’s Ultra Modern Museum of Art in Moscow,...
Weekend Cheat Sheet: April 2 – 8, 2018
Rarely seen works from Donald Judd, a new collection from architect and artist Tron Meyer, and more
With “Yerma,” Witness a Woman Unravel Inside a Terrarium
Director Simon Stone explains how the set design for his new production—now in previews in New...
Studio Visit: Cai Guo-Qiang
The artist shows us around his downtown Manhattan workspace to talk art, life, and the cosmos.
Nick Cave Invites You to His Dance Party
Drawing inspiration from nightclubs and queer safe spaces, the artist stages “The Let Go,” a...
NSFW: This VR Company Is Designing a New Reality Populated With Porn Stars
Welcome to Camastura VR’s strange new vision of sex in the 21st century.
Weekend Cheat Sheet: March 26 – April 1, 2018
Art Basel Hong Kong highlights, MoMA’s massive Adrian Piper retrospective, and more cultural...
Weekend Cheat Sheet: March 19 – 25, 2018
Superstring theory with Mariko Mori, a new foundation for Milton Resnick, portraiture with Cezanne,
Weekend Cheat Sheet: March 12 – 18, 2018
Interrogating Van Gogh's legacy in London, a blue-chip gallery pops up in Brooklyn, avant-garde...
Tony Fadell Wants to Disrupt Silicon Valley
With his firm Future Shape, the creator of the iPod and the iPhone seeks to dethrone tech’s...
Announcing Surface‘s 2018 Tech Issue Cover: Tony Fadell
The creator of our most addictive devices looks toward the next phase of his career.
Weekend Cheat Sheet: March 5 – 11, 2018
A double dose of Cy Twombly, Barbara Hepworth’s first American appearance in two decades, tips...
Last Night at “The Aesthetics of Matter” Cocktail Gala
Ahead of Volta 2018, opening March 7 at Pier 90, Mickalene Thomas and Racquel Chevremont celebrate...
Can Ole Scheeren’s Unconventional Architecture Change the World?
With his work in Asia, the architect has reimagined the skyscraper for the interconnected age. Is...
Weekend Cheat Sheet: Feb. 26–March 4, 2018
David Bowie comes to Brooklyn, Martin Margiela's first-ever retrospective, Chance the Rapper at the
Curator Gabriel Ritter Envisions a Post-Human Future
For the Armory Show’s Focus section this March, the Minneapolis-based curator confronts what...
Weekend Cheat Sheet: Feb. 19 – 26, 2018
Howardena Pindell's first major survey, a Virgil Abloh and Takashi Murakami mashup, and more...
Belgium’s Most Covetable Apartment Sits in a Converted Distillery Outside Antwerp
Get an exclusive first look at a new Axel Vervoordt–designed modernist duplex inside the Kanaal...
Weekend Cheat Sheet: Feb. 13 – 18, 2018
"Songs for Sabotage," Picasso pitchers, and more cultural intel to help you make the most of your...
Thessia Machado’s Handmade Instruments Turn Ambience into Music
The sound artist plays us her latest creation before it makes its live debut this month in New York.
Stuart Parr Owns the Sickest Collection of Vintage Italian Motorcycles
The designer, film producer, and artist manager on why there’s no better way of getting around...
In a Future of Autonomous Vehicles, Can BMW Still Make the “Ultimate Driving Machine”?
As the car industry faces a radical upheaval, BMW works to keep engagement in the driver’s seat.
Announcing Surface‘s Jan./Feb. 2018 Cover: Solange Knowles
A side of the Grammy-winning singer-songwriter you haven't seen before.
The Best of 2017
A look back at the year’s most-read stories, top new furniture and objects, most exciting fashion
Surface’s Most Popular Stories of 2017
The 10 articles that captured your attention this year, from our exclusive first look at Kanye...
Please Stop: Designer Christmas Trees
O’ commissioned tree: ’Tis the season for overthinking your decorations.
The Best Designed Hotels of 2017
We look back at the year of openings to isolate the most standout new properties around the world,...
Is Food Art? Chefs, Artists, and Curators Debate
Welcome to the intersection of inspiration and ingestion, where the art and food worlds'...
Please Stop: Menu Minimalism
Chefs, enough with your Brooklyn blackboard haiku. Just describe how your dishes are prepared.
Will Work With Food
As long as art has been made, artists have found in food an endlessly elastic metaphor. There are...
Konekt Debuts a Decadent New York Showroom for Its Equally Decadent Furniture
The mother-daughter duo behind the Philly-based collection opens a brand-new space in the city’s...
The Artist Who Drew With Computers, Before Computers Were a Thing
Vera Molnár, a little-known founding mother of computational art and thinking, will feature in...
A New York Studio Apartment’s Dream Chair
Hans J. Wegner’s midcentury CH88 chair is the perfect fit for a small living space.
Mexico City Reexamines Its Urban Plan After the Earthquake
Ahead of the city’s role as World Design Capital 2018, and in the wake of a severe natural...
The Sonos One Is a Smart Speaker for Music Geeks
The brand’s new speaker combines voice-activated performance with state-of-the-art sound...
These Sound Designers Are Creating Shapes You Can Hear
In their Format 3 series, on view now at the Museum of Art and Design, Danish duo Foo/Skou...
Who Said Byredo Is Just a Fragrance Company?
With a new collection of leather goods and a slew of interiors projects on the way, founder Ben...
Sunni Colón Wants You To Taste, Smell, and Feel Sound
With his brand-new design agency Tetsu, the musician floods your senses with light, sound, visuals,
Architects Weigh In on the “Bilbao Effect” 20 Years Later
For the museum’s 20th anniversary today, we asked boldfaced names to look back at the...
Ai Weiwei Brings the Global Refugee Crisis to New York
With his new, very personal project for Public Art Fund, “Good Fences Make Good Neighbors,” the
Studio Job’s Fast Food Furniture
The design firm teams up with Seletti for some all-American, cookout-inspired furniture.
A Reclusive Artist Shows in Paris
Daniel Brush, who prefers spinning gold to leaving his home, appears at L’Ecole Des Arts...
Did Land Rover Design the Sexiest SUV Out There?
The stylish new Range Rover Velar is exactly the design-minded sport utility vehicle you were...
Artist Adama Delphine Fawundu Fights the Power
Watch an exclusive clip from the artist’s short film—one of nine video and digital works at...
A Hot New Homewares Collection for Metalheads
Black Creek Mercantile teams up with San Francisco homewares giant March on a range of functional...
36 Artists Find Sanctuary in a Rug
Ai Weiwei, Hamra Abbas, and other artists from 21 countries grapple with ideas of refuge and...
These Beautiful Rugs Were Inspired by Climate-Change Anxiety
Fernando Mastrangelo addresses the precarious condition of the planet in a new collection of floor...
This Sleek Speaker Fixes Auditory Anomalies in Your Architecture
Bang & Olufsen’s new BeoLab50 uses groundbreaking technology to deliver the ultimate sonic boom.
Why MoMA’s “Items: Is Fashion Modern?” Is Not the Exhibition You Were Expecting
Plus, the behind-the-scenes stories of 10 objects in the show—and one more that got away.
Inside Istanbul’s First-Ever Art Week
Our report from on the ground during the city’s 15th Biennial, the 12th Contemporary Istanbul,...
Father John Misty’s Album Cover Makes Fun of Everything
Cartoonist Edward Steed talks landing his absurdist aesthetic on the cover of the musician's latest
What’s Next for Ambush Design?
The high-fashion machine has brought Yoon Ahn’s experimental Japanese streetwear label into the...
Carsten Höller Doesn’t Care How You Interact With His Art
The scientist-cum-artist opens up about his recent solo show at Spain’s Centro Botín, and the...
How Twin Peaks Got Its Super Creepy Sound
Dean Hurley, sound and music supervisor on Twin Peaks: The Return, talks working with David...
The Knife’s Crazy, Bespoke Instruments on Auction
The strange sounds of the Swedish duo are made solid in these custom designed instruments from...
The Sisters Behind Rodarte and Artist Catherine Opie Talk Politics, Periods, and California
With Woodshock their first feature film, premiering in September, Laura and Kate Mulleavy of
Bosco Sodi Rallies Mexicans to Build a Wall in New York City
The Brooklyn-based artist celebrated for his monumental abstract paintings discusses his...
These New York Architects Put Nature Before Buildings
Marion Weiss and Michael Manfredi discuss their all-encompassing projects, including a bold new...
With Virtual Reality Entering the Studio, Is Automotive Design in Danger?
Carmakers like Nissan are sloughing off the hands-on habits of old for a new reality—one with...
Steve Guttman Is the Art World’s Consummate Concierge
The Uovo founder discovered a void in the arts, and filled it with a suite of tech-driven...
Is There Such a Thing as Too Many Emojis?
Our dictionary of digital pictograms keeps growing, but is it costing us our creativity?
Katherine Glenday Dances With Ceramics
The artist’s latest Dust Storm and Sea Grass collection brings her signature movement to Atelier...
A Wonka Wonderland Opens at Marianne Boesky
For its largest group show yet, the blue-chip art gallery unveils "Cells," a boundary-breaking...
Aesop’s Signature Aesthetic Now Comes in a Bottle
The Australian skincare brand has distilled its award-winning design sensibility into three new...
Stephen Shore Captures America in a New Light
The legendary photographer reflects on color, his career, and his obsession with Instagram.
Melissa McGill Saves the Sounds of Venice
The American artist records the voice of the city’s mutating public squares.
Hermès Finds a New Muse in Downtown Manhattan
The fashion house’s latest silk scarf takes inspiration from the reinvigorated neighborhood...
Philippe Starck Claims He’s Created the World’s Best Beer
The French provocateur talks with us about his recent forays into perfume, boating, and brewing,...