If the 13-room YOWIE hotel was a person, the vibrantly decorated Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, boutique hotel would be your multi-talented friend. They always seem to be confidently wearing the coolest and most colorful fits while doing a little bit of this with a little bit of that exuding the same welcoming, attainable, and most importantly, fun attitude across the board.

Launched by designer Shannon Maldonado as the hospitality arm of a trio of destinations that include YOWIE shop and WIM cafe – both located around the corner along Philadelphia’s South Street neighborhood – YOWIE first emerged as “The Coolest Shop in Philadelphia” (as proclaimed by Bon Appétit in 2019). The brand has since evolved into a hotel, officially opening last summer in conjunction with an updated and expanded storefront alongside the cafe.

YOWIE today invites guests to partake in Ms. Maldonado’s colorfully curated collections of contemporary art, design, and crafts. Pieces are sourced from friends, independent artists, and well-known designers into something akin to a Pinterest board or your favorite IG design feed brought to life. Imagined by Maldonado in collaboration with architects Canno Design and S2 Design, each of the hotel’s rooms are decorated with bold, graphic patterns, mixing vintage and contemporary pieces in a manner that seems aspirational in their attainable simplicity.

The Philadelphia native not only wanted to establish a nexus where guests could enjoy a place to shop, eat, and sleep while staying within the city of Brotherly Love. Visitors can also experience “different neighborhoods and cultural spaces across the city” previously not listed as a design destination.

Mosaic-tiled bathrooms of varying color add to each of the rooms’ unique character and are accessorized with bubbly fun ceramic soap dispensers sourced from Philadelphia’s Cloud 9 Clay.

The notion of attainability also plays prominently as a unique element of the YOWIE guest experience – nearly everything within each of the hotel’s rooms is shoppable, including the glassware designed by Sophie Lou Jacobsen, shades by Elisa Johnson, and original works by Clyde Henry. Brands such as Blu Dot, HAY, and Shelfology furnish the rooms playfully, with older elements like the “chubby vintage sofa” in the Suite 301 One Bedroom King, interspersed to keep the feeling this side of “staying at a design-loving friend’s flat” rather than a traditional hotel.

The local vibes include one-of-a-kind artwork adorning many of the walls, all sourced from Philly artists. Most of the hotel’s suites are also equipped with small kitchens and cookware by Caraway Home to invite the option to dine in during a guest’s stay (or enjoy leftovers as snacks), furthering the home-away-from home experience.

Maldonado says hospitality was always a realm she envisioned for the YOWIE brand to venture into. Originally the multihyphenate creative imagined realizing these plans as a pop-up shop within another existing hotel. But in the process of planning, Maldonado turned the idea of adding a piece into creating her own puzzle. Today, YOWIE anchors a section of Philadelphia as a nexus of local design, allowing guests and locals alike to experience the city’s creative culture firsthand… and maybe even return home with a piece of its history.

What: YOWIE Hotel
Where: 226 South Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147
How much: From $140 per night for 2 guests
Design draw: The Center for Architecture and Design is within walking distance (or 12 minute taxi ride), and hosts the annual DesignPhiladelphia Festival. The Fabric Workshop Museum also nearby within the city center, with tours and hands-on workshops hosted regularly. The Philadelphia Museum of Art and Rodin Museum are further out, but require only a reasonable 15-minute taxi ride.
Book it: YOWIE Hotel

Go virtually on vacation with more design destinations right here.

Gregory Han is a Senior Editor at Design Milk. A Los Angeles native with a profound love and curiosity for design, hiking, tide pools, and road trips, a selection of his adventures and musings can be found at gregoryhan.com.

Group exhibition B-side: (Broken) Memory and Remix draws upon and immortalizes methods crucial to the preservation of Black innovation and experience as told through Hip-Hop’s production techniques reimagined: sampling, splicing, and storytelling. Exemplary of these elements is Raque Ford’s checkered plexiglass dance floor on view at Brooklyn’s BRIC House through January 21st. Within the exhibit’s expansive, interactive framework – in some ways literally – lies the potential to fashion fresh futures from cultural artifacts with a poetic resonance sure to continue long after the show closes.

The physical 12-foot-by-12-foot dance floor surface is an amalgam of laser cut acrylic tiles in deep teal, black, tangerine, and metallic silver. The monotype prints relate materially and through content, often remixing elements from previous projects, featuring texts that are painted prior to lamination on yellow rubber atop an MDF platform. The narrative composition is intimate and derived from Ford’s own repository.

“I typically keep my writing in the notes app on my phone. It’s a mix of my personal musings and what I’ve overheard or read that I’m drawn to. I keep a diary of sorts for all this and when it’s time to make a work I reread through it and add and merge thoughts that I feel reflect where I am at the moment of creating the work,” Ford says. “This piece in particular is all found text. There’s a line from the Godard film Contempt, a quote from a TikTok about renovating an ugly fireplace, and lastly an excerpt from a New York Times article about Beverly Buchanan and her yellow VW Beetle.”

As with each iteration of her signature approach, technical challenges arise while bringing it to fruition. It’s paramount that the work be designed with modular components, and that the acrylic squares can be easily disassembled for collection after the exhibition with the intent of repurposing them during the next “remix” – an inherently sustainable art practice. In doing so, the dance floor components are more like ephemera, quite literally becoming a physical record by storing marks left behind from one show to celebrate that which is broken or scratched once recontextualized at the next.

Upon activation, the installation invites viewers to participate in community performance, connect with the physical space, and commune with one another. “Seeing when people chose to stand or sit to watch the performance and when people decided to relax and dance was exciting, and it helped me to think of what to change or add in the future.” The daughter of a late Hip-Hop producer and writer, Rober Ford, Raque contributes to her legacy in remixing personal elements with popular culture all embedded into the zeitgeist.

To find out more about B-side: (Broken) Memory and Remix visit BRICArtsMedia.org.

With professional degrees in architecture and journalism, Joseph has a desire to make living beautifully accessible. His work seeks to enrich the lives of others with visual communication and storytelling through design. A regular contributor to titles under the SANDOW Design Group, including Luxe and Metropolis, Joseph serves the Design Milk team as their Managing Editor. When not practicing, he teaches visual communication, theory, and design. The New York-based writer has also contributed to exhibitions hosted by the AIA New York’s Center for Architecture and Architectural Digest, and recently published essays and collage illustrations with Proseterity, a literary publication.

Led by Creative Director and Co-founder Jonathan Glatt, Rhode Island’s O&G Studio is a prime example of traditional design and technology enhancing one another. In the town of Warren, Rhode Island, artisans and engineers work together in a classic textile mill to redefine home furnishings while focusing on pushing boundaries to create a reflection of contemporary New England style and values. Chairs, tables, lighting, and benches are individual masterpieces made using ethically sourced materials by a team of skilled craftspeople, creatives, and artists. The brand’s mantra – “great design marries memory and invention” – guides the ideation and manufacturing of their furniture and interior products. Today, we’re sharing three of O&G Studio’s latest pieces alongside some classics.

The Campina Side Table is an accompaniment to the Campina Coffee Table as its form and material recall the local coast. Tapered spindles embrace the silhouette – representing meadow grasses – while a feather edge top brings to mind a calm ocean.

Sculptural and generously proportioned, the Doca Studio Lounge Chair combines solid wood legs with an upholstered linen velvet frame, also available in a range of other curated textiles. A scaled down version of their original lounge chair, this piece is made to bring relaxed luxury into smaller spaces.

Hull Credenza

The new Hull Credenza continues the theme of great proportions, hand-shaped legs, and a broad top surface, carefully selected woods and finishes are showcased. Functional and beautiful, the cabinets feature adjustable shelves and soft close drawers.

The latest pieces above expand the existing Intervalo Collection, complemented by their standout hardware.

Ancora Sconce

Campina Coffee Table

Lula Ottoman

Pantano Cabinet

Torre Floor Lamp

Atlantic Hardware

Cleat Hardware

A typical O&G Studio workbench detail

Rhode Island factory equipment detail

Jonathan Glatt, Creative Director and co-founder Rhode Island’s O&G Studio

To learn more about O&G Studio and their latest releases, visit oandgstudio.com.

Kelly Beall is Director of Branded Content at Design Milk. The Pittsburgh-based writer and designer has had a deep love of art and design for as long as she can remember, from Fashion Plates to MoMA and far beyond. When not searching out the visual arts, she’s likely sharing her favorite finds with others. Kelly can also be found tracking down new music, teaching herself to play the ukulele, or on the couch with her three pets – Bebe, Rainey, and Remy. Find her @designcrush on social.

When designer Gino Sarfatti originally designed the 2097 Pendant Light in 1958, he was modernizing the traditional Murano glass chandelier by stripping the fixture of its embellishments down to a minimal form. Now, Flos has made the contemporary pendant even more so by giving it a brightening makeover. Available with 18, 30, and 50 bulbs, the new 2097 pendant now comes in a milky matte white finish, joining the rest of their modern selections donning the same color.

Sarfatti’s design is recognizable from its minimalist language featuring a central steel tube with radial arms that support individual luminaries. He took parts of the chandelier typically hidden away, such as cables and lightbulbs, and made them focal points. In its new matte white iteration, where even the smallest details are coated, the 2097 continues to make a striking visual statement in a variety of interiors.

To learn more about the matte white 2097 Chandelier, visit flos.com.

Photos by Adrianna Glaviano.

As the Senior Contributing Editor, Vy Yang is obsessed with discovering ways to live well + with intention through design. She’s probably sharing what she finds over on Instagram stories. You can also find her at vytranyang.com.

Garden Lane Residence is a minimalist historic home located in Melbourne, Australia, designed by Oliver Du Puy and produced by Karine Monié with styling by Jess Kneebone. The main objectives were to reconfigure and extend the heritage home to address the issues of darkness and confinement. Du Puy’s vision was to unearth and celebrate the concealed period details while crafting expansive and light-filled spaces that exuded warmth and serenity.

Du Puy’s philosophy centered on providing healthier alternatives derived from nature and promoting wellness. The spaces within this reimagined home were thoughtfully designed to slow down and ground its inhabitants, enhancing the domestic rituals of living, such as bathing and cooking. Japanese architect Kazuo Shinohara’s symmetrical spatial compositions served as an inspiration, infusing the design with simplicity and surprise.

The design focus extended beyond aesthetics in order to create a home imbued with calm and tranquility. The aim was to forge a sanctuary from the outside world, where natural, breathable internal finishes played a pivotal role in maintaining air quality and eliminating harmful toxins. Such finishes included lime-based paints from Farrow & Ball and custom waterproofing by béton ciré in the bathrooms.

Sustainability was also a top priority, with measures implemented to optimize environmental performance and reduce waste. Original clay bricks removed during construction were salvaged and repurposed, blending seamlessly with sustainable Hebel walls. Solar PV power was harnessed to offset grid energy reliance, while strategically placed steel windows and doors ensured a connection to the natural surroundings and an ever-changing interior atmosphere.

Photography by Tom Ross

Leo Lei translates his passion for minimalism into his daily-updated blog Leibal. In addition, you can find uniquely designed minimalist objects and furniture at the Leibal Store.

In an unlikely turn of events for the company’s history, Bank of Montreal (BMO) has relocates its 3,000 employees, originally working in multiple offices throughout Toronto, to a new location that no one would have guessed – the mall. The company now occupies four floors originally belonging to a Sears store in Ontario’s Eaton Center, one of the province’s largest shopping malls. With a whopping 346,401 square feet of space, BMO’s new location required the expertise of IA Interior Architects to create a cohesive workplace solving the unique problems that come with occupying a former department store.

Traditional offices are often located in towers spread over multiple floors, with little to no visibility between them. The new BMO campus has the distinct feature of being able to see different departments thanks to the traditional retail store layout in the central 100-foot atrium, which fosters a relationship amongst employees of different divisions. The escalators are painted with a graphic kaleidoscope of vibrant colors that remind visitors they are all one company, despite being on separate floors.

As a testament of their commitment to an inclusive workplace, BMO features a number of accommodations including prayer and meditation rooms, mother’s rooms, a foot washing station, and a sea for smudging ceremonies with augmented ventilation. A multi-language welcome sign echoes the mission.

Accessibility is also an important priority, so IA made sure to create wide corridors for wheelchairs and scooters, as well as voice-activated elevators. Braille and color-coded cardinal zone directions help employees with vision impairment or low vision find their way.

BMO’s brand colors are used to distinguish the four floors. Each one is a signature shade of blue with the lightest on the bottom floor, which receives the least amount of natural light, and the darkest on the top floor.

As with all modern offices these days, various modes of working are supported by the different spaces and furniture. Open areas for informal meetings coexist with dedicated quiet zones for heads down work. Seating is unassigned, though reservations for specific workspaces can be made ahead of time. Workstations are outfitted with L-shaped desks but can be transformed into regular, harvest-style tables for larger meetings. Collaboration nooks, conference rooms, focus rooms, and telephone rooms offer additional flexibility.

BMO is also committed to sustainability, which is why it chose to renovate and repurpose rather than tear down and rebuild. The campus is seeking LEED Gold certification and is making strides toward that goal by adding energy-efficient mechanical/electrical/lighting systems, water-conserving fixtures, and a central waste-management strategy to reduce CO2 emissions. The benefit of being located at the Eaton Center is also accessibility to public transit.

Employees enjoy generous amenities like a recreation room with stadium-style seating, foosball and ping pong tables, a wellness center for yoga/fitness classes and health seminars, two coffee bars, and an adjacent community hub on the roof deck.

Photography by Ben Rahm of Aframe Studio.

As the Senior Contributing Editor, Vy Yang is obsessed with discovering ways to live well + with intention through design. She’s probably sharing what she finds over on Instagram stories. You can also find her at vytranyang.com.

Seth Rogen is first and foremost known for being a funny gent with an infectiously staccato chortle and an affinity for high times. We all know that guy from his many years portraying various freaks and geeks with unguarded aplomb. But quietly and consistently Rogen has gone onto create a small catalog of ceramics for his own cannabis, housewares, and lifestyle brand, Houseplant, which he co-founded with friend Evan Goldberg. Rogen’s pieces are primarily mid-century modern in style, occasionally veering into wonderfully-weird detours of the organic, and joined by an assortment of accessories designed “for people who like nice things.” His latest design is a measured pour, pairing a traditional tortoise glaze with a contemporary silhouette into a 5-piece Sake Set arriving ahead of Houseplant’s next surprise announcement.

Comprising four cups and a matching carafe with just enough capacity to fill each respectively, the Sake Set is handsomely fired to exhibit a subtly speckled and reflective tenmoku-style glaze. The effect is achieved by firing ceramics using high temperatures and precise additions of iron oxide to enliven the edges of the high-gloss and deep black color. It also creates the vessel’s contrasting red-orange gradient.

The pinched silhouette of both cup and serving vessel offers a satisfying hold, both for pouring and drinking. Sake itself is highly affected by the shape of the cup from which it is served, with Rogen’s contemporary design falling somewhere between a traditional ochoko-style sake cup and the modern tapered glass cups increasingly used for the Japanese spirit.

As hinted above, the $165 Sake Set is intended to be paired with a new venture. Houseplant recently revealed the upcoming launch of their own Junmai Daiginjo sake, a floral and complex expression of highly polished rice fermented to deliver a smooth finish. But even without that specific spirited companion, the Sake Set makes a fine gift for any connoisseur of the slow sip.

Gregory Han is a Senior Editor at Design Milk. A Los Angeles native with a profound love and curiosity for design, hiking, tide pools, and road trips, a selection of his adventures and musings can be found at gregoryhan.com.

Soft curves and a voluminous profile combine to make you feel right at home in the Sundae Seat by Jason Ju, Design and Production Coordinator for Australia-based DesignByThem. The armless, compact easy chair beckons you with its low height, deep seat, and bubbly proportions the newest modular addition to the larger Sundae Collection.

“Sundae was all about designing comfort into the aesthetic, to create a range that immediately comes across as welcoming and calming, but built internally to withstand both commercial spaces as well as living rooms,” Ju shares.

Known for commercial-grade easy chairs, armchairs, lounges, and ottomans in your choice of upholstery, DesignByThem blurs the line between residential and commercial furniture with Sundae. Its form has been sculpted to enhance the softness of the chair’s upholstered exterior, lending it an inviting presence with playfulness. Designed to bring a sense of comfort and ease to any space, its modular capabilities make the Sundae Chair highly scalable in seating configurations without the overuse of materials.

“Many lounges utilize a lot of material, structurally, in order to keep it together, but we designed the Sundae Range to challenge this. We needed to build around a minimal steel structure, but keep the voluminous shape,” Ju says. “To do this we experimented over multiple prototypes with foam layering techniques, using specific layers and densities to get a comfortable feel. We also had to be mindful when it came to upholstery, as different types of foams interacted differently once stretched and covered.”

Featuring a hybrid metal and FSC plywood frame, the foam used is low VOC, commercial-grade, and green star rated. The design utilizes multi-layered foam and springs to balance the need for support and longevity. Choose your upholstery from DesignByThem’s house fabrics and leathers, or specify your own.

To learn more about the Sundae Seat, visit designbythem.com.

Photography by Pete Daly.

Kelly Beall is Director of Branded Content at Design Milk. The Pittsburgh-based writer and designer has had a deep love of art and design for as long as she can remember, from Fashion Plates to MoMA and far beyond. When not searching out the visual arts, she’s likely sharing her favorite finds with others. Kelly can also be found tracking down new music, teaching herself to play the ukulele, or on the couch with her three pets – Bebe, Rainey, and Remy. Find her @designcrush on social.

Oftentimes non-professionals approach lighting as a singular solution rather than an orchestrated effort requiring primary, secondary, and ambient light sources to illuminate and conjure a mood within their space. That might be partially attributed to the fact most lamp designs limit the possibilities and applications as a light source. The same cannot be said about Thomas Bentzen’s Dedicate Lamp system for Muuto – a light that can stand, clamp, mount, and pin itself onto a myriad of surfaces.

Unsurprisingly the classic architect’s lamp – a design that permeated the designer’s education, work, and home – played prominently as inspiration for Bentzen’s Dedicate design. But equally so, the Danish designer delved into finding a mechanical muse of form and function from an immensely larger scale: the industrial crane.

“When you look at Dedicate Lamp, I think you see the way it refers to the classic industrial crane principles. The design intuitively tells you how it moves, about the gravity and forces at work. Creating and showcasing this expression has been a bit of an obsession for me,“ Thomas Bentzen says.

Bentzen began the design in 2018, and over a five year span explored a myriad of forms and iterations to eventually settle upon a lighting solution not limited to a single lamp, but three models with the choice of four different bases – Table Clamp, Wall Mount, Table Pin, and Table Base.

“Design wise, it has been about playing with this kind of iconic form, but adapted till today’s light sources to create something that elevates function without losing track of the original idea. It should feel like a nod to its pre- decessor,” Thomas Bentzen says.

The spring-armed aluminum body and machined steel base LED light is equipped to operate just like any other traditional desk lamp, but additionally, as a swing arm sconce or secondary light source well equipped to be angled toward walls or aimed as spot lighting. Alongside its handsomely realized design, the option to completely avoid placement across a surface opens a world of application beyond a typical desk lamp.

A wall-mount option allows the Dedicate to completely liberate itself from the horizontal plane and find a home across walls or other vertical surfaces where the light can deliver its glow with focused attention.

Bentzen also points a finger at designers too often captivated by the inherent sleek minimalism of LED light sources, resulting in awkward “lampshades with equally minimal, flat proportions” prone to glare and unflattering light.

“One of our missions with this project has been to design a shade that minimizes the chicanery on our coworkers,” notes Bentzen jokingly. But while he may throw shade in jest, harsh lighting is no joke, and his unique system proposes a desk lamp with aspirations for more.

A simple push button switch is positioned across the lamp’s die-casted aluminum lamp head.

The Muuto Dedicate is available in Black or Brown Green and three different sizes, ranging in price between $445 and $549, with four different base options to choose from. More info at Muuto.com.

Gregory Han is a Senior Editor at Design Milk. A Los Angeles native with a profound love and curiosity for design, hiking, tide pools, and road trips, a selection of his adventures and musings can be found at gregoryhan.com.

MPavilion is Australia’s leading architecture commission, celebrating a decade as the country’s “cultural laboratory” as of 2023. MPavilion 9, designed by Thailand’s all(zone), is a standout orange marquee that delves into the potential of tensile architecture. The canopy resembles a low lying cloud, using flexible materials for a light and ethereal look, which filters the summer sun through three layers. In September 2024, it will move to its permanent location in Victoria.

Lauded with honors, MPavilion 9 has been received eight Australian and international awards thus far. They include Winner in Architectural Design – Cultural, BLT Built Design Awards 2023, Gold, Architectural Design & Social Impact, Good Design Awards 2023, Jury Winner, Architecture + Colour, and Architizer A+ Awards 2023. The project was also shortlisted in the Best Use of Colour and Completed Buildings – Culture, at the World Architecture Festival Awards in November 2023.

The structure was recently gifted to RMIT University and will be relocated to its new home at the Brunswick campus with an official opening on September 1, 2024. The marquee will be located at the heart of the campus’s central courtyard just in time for the new semester, inviting visitors and passing students to stop and explore further.

“We are delighted that all(zone)’s MPavilion will be relocated to RMIT’s Brunswick campus, a campus focused on a range of design disciplines,” says Naomi Milgrom AC, the Australian business leader, philanthropist, and founder of her namesake not-for-profit. “We hope that the pavilion’s innovative design will inspire students and visitors alike at its new permanent home.”

Rachaporn Choochuey, co-founder and design director of all(zone), said “We hope our collaborative efforts with MPavilion will inspire people to reflect more on how our built environment can help us to live better ‘together’.”

The temporary structure’s canopy consists of three successive layers of flexible composite materials. Two membranes used in the project were specially developed by Serge Ferrari for tensile architecture and solar protection. The top layer was constructed with Soltis Horizon 86, built using fishing nets to showcase its weightless appearance.

For the middle layer, 250 square meters of STFE membrane was added to weatherproof the venue. It was specifically developed for high structural resistance and transparency, with this project being the first time it was used in Australia. STFE, one of the developmental highlights used in the construction of the project, is made from lightweight polyarylate mesh that’s 10 times lighter than glass. It provides structural strength for large free-span designs, and minimizes the need for additional supporting structures and cables. It’s easy to install and guaranteed to last for more than 30 years, making it an ideal choice for those trying to minimize waste and avoid replacement in the future.

Lastly, the bottom layer was crafted from 1,400 square meters of Soltis 86, a mesh screen manufactured using patented Précontraint technology. Assembled into a waffle-like pattern, the fabric filters the sunlight, creating a play of brightness that delights visitors.

When the MPavilion is brought to life, it kicks off a five month long design festival full of free events where visitors are invited to consider how architecture, art, and design change lives. So far, it has hosted 3,400 events with 4,000 individuals and organizations over the past ten years. When the season draws to a close, each installation is gifted to the people of Victoria and relocated to a permanent home in the community.

Since 2014, the Naomi Milgrom Foundation has invited architects from around the world to design a meeting place for the Queen Victoria Gardens, located in the heart of Melbourne. MPavilion also reflects a broader cultural approach, one that seeks to celebrate the overlooked diversity and depth of aboriginal cultures.

To learn more about MPavilion 9 and discover where you can visit past editions across Victoria, click over to MPavilion.org.

Kelly Beall is Director of Branded Content at Design Milk. The Pittsburgh-based writer and designer has had a deep love of art and design for as long as she can remember, from Fashion Plates to MoMA and far beyond. When not searching out the visual arts, she’s likely sharing her favorite finds with others. Kelly can also be found tracking down new music, teaching herself to play the ukulele, or on the couch with her three pets – Bebe, Rainey, and Remy. Find her @designcrush on social.