ARTES

With an in-depth knowledge of periods and styles, Watson is known for his meticulously researched designs. His rooms always make architectural sense and his work is often inspired by collaborations with architects. Watson strives to uncover and recognize the special qualities found in historic structures and furnishings, and to preserve them while moving them forward into the present. Watson’s interiors are noted for their calm and lightness of being, which he achieves through a gracious sense of proportion and a harmonious continuity via subtle repetitions in color, pattern, material, and silhouette.

Ottavi enjoyed a rare degree of open and candid access to Lagerfeld in his later years, and this biography offers an unparalleled look into the iconic designer’s complex personality and wide-ranging creativity. Lagerfeld himself wanted this to be a frank, honest, serious account that would be an invaluable resource for fashion lovers and admirers of his incomparable legacy. Unlike other recent books, this intimate portrait deftly reveals his true inner nature in his own words.

Much more than a resort destination, Palm Springs has served as a laboratory of the Modern; here so much architectural innovation and design took form. From the steel-and-glass boxes of Richard Neutra to the earthy organic homes of John Lautner, and everything in between, the solutions of architects and designers—including notably William F. Cody, E. Stewart Williams, and Albert Frey were diverse and are ever more relevant in the face of contemporary challenges. Their answers addressed questions that still hold urgency: How to design sustainably in harsh climates? How to use technology efficiently and creatively to meet those challenges? How to build affordable and high-quality mass-produced housing? How to reflect a region’s culture, economy, and distinctive atmosphere?

New York City, arguably the world’s Art Deco capital, is well known for its striking and still iconic towers that were early expressions of the style writ large most famously the Empire State and Chrysler buildings, both of which still speak so eloquently of the future and the machine age that continues to move us all forward. Art Deco is drawn in steel, in tile, in brass, in bronze, and in stone upon great buildings and small and in the details, as so engagingly shown here. The reader is brought, for example, into the extraordinary Fred F. French Building at 551 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, a treasure house of the form whose ornate lobby is a wonder of sparkling seduction in all directions: racing above is a fan palm and fleur de lis decorated architrave, and golden Assyrian equestrian archers on a field of onyx take aim while stunning chandeliers set with crystal feathers and bronze shoot out their own thin arrows of illumination.

Over her thirty-year career, celebrated designer Jo Thompson has become recognised for her timeless planting, well-proportioned, English-style gardens rendered modern by a staunch commitment to biodiversity to the eye this translates as a looser formality than English gardens of the past, though every bit as romantic.

Berggruen’s collection with more than one hundred masterpieces is a spectacular tribute to the foresight of this major player in the Paris art market during the second half of the twentieth century. Born into a Jewish family in Berlin in 1914, he went into exile in California on the eve of World War II. He became art critic for the San Francisco Chronicle and assistant to the director of the San Francisco MoMA. After the war, Berggruen returned to Europe, first to Munich as a journalist, then to Paris where he worked at the UNESCO headquarters before becoming an art dealer specialized in the graphic arts of modern artists. He quickly established contacts within the Parisian cultural scene, meeting both the artists he would represent and the poets, dealers, historians, critics, and collectors of the day. Guided by his personal tastes, he built a solid collection of twentieth-century works now housed at the Neue Nationalgalerie Berlin spanning the careers of Pablo Picasso and Paul Klee and including Henri Matisse’s collages and Alberto Giacometti’s sculptures. The vast ensemble was exhibited at the Orangerie in 2024 and is housed in the Berggruen Museum/Neue Nationalgalerie Berlin.

With new photographs of houses steeped in the period revival tradition, from 1838 to today, not since Rizzoli’s Santa Barbara Style (2001) has a book so eloquently captured the distinctive splendor of this seaside paradise. Known worldwide for the Santa Barbara style, the town epitomizes a type of building at once elegant and suffused with poetry. At its heart is the historic downtown, featuring white-washed Mediterranean-style stucco buildings with tile roofs and the iconic Santa Barbara Mission of 1786, whose austere beauty set the tone for all that followed. From its earliest days, the influence of this place has been felt and has since radiated across the sunbelt; it continues to be a model of emulation and inspiration. But it is the houses and the dream of living in Santa Barbara and its sister communities of Ojai, Carpinteria, Summerland, Goleta, and Montecito that casts the most profound spell.

This debut volume presents several extraordinary homes, ranging from a stone-clad villa in Austin to a casual seaside retreat to an art-filled family compound, each of which gracefully balances high style with easygoing comfort. Mohon draws on the heritage of the Mediterranean world to fashion living environments that transport their occupants to an enchanted realm far removed from day-to-day concerns. Intimate foyers beckon from behind carved wooden doors, dining rooms boast dramatically embellished chandeliers suspended above sleekly simple tables, and sitting rooms entice with luxurious blends of color, texture, and furnishings both modern and antique.

Known for a pretty and polished Palm Beach meets Park Avenue aesthetic, Bromley’s interiors are beloved. Often described as “classic with a kick,” her work is steeped in history but infused with a modernity that reflects how her clients want to live today. Bromley’s first book showcases her interiors from New York, St. Louis, and Palm Beach with the Hamptons and Connecticut between. Whether in a historic house in the country or a townhouse in the city, Bromley’s flair for pattern and color defines her interiors, which nevertheless remain true to their surroundings. She makes casual look chic and infuses each home she designs with a cheerfulness and tranquility that is rare. Walls lacquered in bright colors highlight a home’s architecture, while comfortable upholstered furnishings in bold, patterned fabric make it feel livable and fun.

A new tower stands out against the city skyline: the Unipol Tower designed by Mario Cucinella Architects, an internationally renowned architecture studio based in Milan and Bologna. The Unipol Tower is a 124-meter elliptical tower in the Porta Nuova area, in the heart of the city. Made from glass and steel, it has a glasshouse on the rooftop serving as a cultural venue. Commissioned by Unipol, the leading Italian insurance company, the tower looks beyond the corporate identity and headquarters of Unipol and has been acclaimed as one of the most advanced architecture projects ever created.