From a Glamorous Hotel to a Living, Breathing Glass House, Here Are AD’s Discoveries of the Month
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Design: Tatenda Chidora.
Design: Nicole Nomsa Moyo takes over the Miami Design District with traditional beadwork
In the Miami Design District—where brands like Bvlgari, Van Cleef & Arpels, and Tiffany & Co. have planted their luxurious flags—fine jewelry is often kept behind glass. But this December, a fleet of supersized baubles will take to the streets in the form of an interactive installation by Nicole Nomsa Moyo. “They’re places for people to sit, for them to gather,” says the Zimbabwe-born, Toronto-based architectural and urban designer. “It’s really about place making, having spaces for people.”
Titled “Pearl Jam,” her project marks the 10th iteration of Design Miami Curatorial Lab’s annual neighborhood activation, timed to the city’s famous fairs. Moyo, who prioritizes cultural sustainability in her work, tapped women from the Southern African Ndebele tribe to create more than 1,000 spheres—she calls them “pearls”—encrusted with beads. The richly patterned orbs will be hung from the trees like earrings. Meanwhile, industrially produced steel structures will create interactive approximations of jumbo bracelets, necklaces, and more. “Traditionally, it was the women that really built and painted our homes,” Moyo says of the female practice of enlivening façades with bright colors and graphic motifs. Today, as customs have changed, these decorations live on in the form of dress and jewelry. “I wanted that craft to engage with architecture again, but in a different way.” nnmoyo.com —Hannah Martin
Debut: Ash teams up with Nordic Knots to devise a celestial rug for its new hotel in Richmond, Virginia
From the top floors of Shenandoah Mansions—the latest Ash hotel, opening next year in Richmond, Virginia—you can glimpse the mountains that enclose the Shenandoah Valley, so named for the Algonquin word meaning “daughter of the stars.” According to legend, celestial bodies would gather there in awe of the river below. Now the shimmering motif has inspired a new carpet, designed with Swedish rug maker Nordic Knots for the lodgings’ eight suites. “I wanted to draw the cosmos converging on this open body of water,” Ash creative director Xavier Donnelly says of the floor covering—a star turn if ever there was one. Available in two sizes; nordicknots.com —Hannah Martin
Architecture: Weiss/Manfredi and Reed Hildebrand unearth wisdom old and new to update Pennsylvania's beloved Longwood Gardens
In the early 20th century, when a rural Pennsylvania arboretum found itself destined for the lumber mill, business mogul Pierre Samuel du Pont stepped in to purchase the property and save the historic trees. In the decades since, he and his philanthropic successors have continued to add to its grounds, creating Longwood Gardens: 1,100 acres of meadows, woodlands, fountains, and conservatories displaying all manner of rare and exotic plants. That legacy of preservation now underpins the institution’s latest chapter, a 17-acre transformation designed by the architecture firm Weiss/Manfredi in collaboration with landscape studio Reed Hilderbrand.
At the heart of the project, debuting November 22, is a new 32,000-square-foot conservatory, overlooking the Brandywine Valley and seemingly immersed in a reflecting pool. Unlike existing masonry buildings, the asymmetrically pleated edifice will provide what Marion Weiss calls a “living, breathing glass house,” with operable vents, geothermal power, and earth ducts for passive cooling. A rainwater collection system will irrigate plantings inside, where agaves, aloes, espaliered citrus trees, and soaring Bismarck palms, among other flora primed for a Mediterranean climate, lure visitors through branching columns. “Greenhouses and large conservatories typically consume a huge amount of energy,” explains Michael Manfredi. “We wanted to demonstrate a new paradigmatic way.”
Fresh paths connect it to the project’s other components, including the restored water lily court (last revised by Sir Peter Shepheard in 1989) and Reed Hildebrand’s new bonsai courtyard. There’s also Weiss/Manfredi’s added educational and administrative building and a revitalized Roberto Burle Marx scheme of tropical plants and cascading water features (the Brazilian titan’s only surviving garden in North America). “New and old enter into a conversation with each other,” Manfredi continues, resulting in a “cinematic sequence of open and closed space.” (His office also collaborated with West 8 on the original 2010 master plan.) Adds Kristin Frederickson, a principal of Reed Hilderbrand: “The goal is that people really feel taken on a journey, the garden providing moments of discovery along the way.” longwoodgardens.org —Elizabeth Fazzare
Hotels: In New York City, The Manner ushers in a new era of high-end hospitality
Go big or go home. That was the directive given to Hannes Peer when designing The Manner, a new Manhattan hotel and the first outpost of an ultra-luxurious concept from the hospitality group Standard International. Working closely with Verena Haller, the brand’s chief design officer, the Milan-based architect took that mandate and ran with it—transforming an existing SoHo building into a bold oasis of glamour. The 97 guest rooms range from standard accommodations to a duplex penthouse, all sharing a visual language, with custom glass-and-steel chandeliers, warmcolor palettes, and lacquered headboards as common threads. Haller cheekily compares the accommodations to “your best friend’s home—but a best friend with exquisite taste.” Even in shared spaces, however, a sense of privacy abounds, as in The Apartment, the guest-only living room adjacent to Sloane’s, the discreet cocktail bar on the second level. “They’re an homage to the golden era of Milan,” Peer says of the interiors, which layer nods to several design heroes. “Gio Ponti, Carlo Mollino, the collective BBPR—they all experimented with materials and light. I wanted to translate that here.” Contemporary voices join the conversation. Whereas a ceramic wall installation by Giovanni De Francesco complements polished-wood totems by Nicholas Shurey in the lobby, a Renaissance-inspired mural by Elvira Solana dominates The Otter, the hotel’s ground-floor seafood restaurant. Corridors, meanwhile, reveal ceilings in abstract red-and-amber motifs by Alex Proba. “This project has been a dream come true,” says Peer. “I love telling stories, and with this hotel we were able to tell so many different stories at once.” themanner.com —John Wogan
This story appears in AD’s December issue. Never miss a story when you subscribe to AD.
Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
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