Dezeen Magazine

This week, creatives responded to racial inequality

This week on Dezeen, international creatives rallied in response to the Black Lives Matter movement and readers remembered the work of artist Christo, who passed away.

Creatives from all around the world looked for ways to raise awareness of racial inequality after African-American George Floyd was killed by a white police officer on Monday May 25.

Graphic designers share illustrations and resources in support of Black Lives Matter

Artist Jammie Holmes flew banners stating Floyd's last words across the skies of five US cities, while a wave of graphic designers created visuals in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

"Illustrators hold a responsibility not only to be aware of the lack of diversity within mainstream media, but also to strive to create representational multicultural artworks that create positive change," said artist Harriet Lee-Merrion.

Architects and designers also showed solidarity online by posting black squares to their Instagram feeds.

Christo, the artist famous for wrapping buildings, dies aged 84

The Belgian artist Christo Vladimirov Javacheff, known simply as Christo, passed away in his New York apartment this week on 31 May.

He started creating large-scale installations with his wife, Jean Claude, back in the 1960s and eventually became known for wrapping structures – such as the Pont Neuf in Paris and Berlin's Reichstag – in dramatic swathes of fabric.

"Christo lived his life to the fullest, not only dreaming up what seemed impossible but realising it," his office said in a statement.

"In the future home, form will follow infection"

Both the architecture and design industries continued to ponder the ways in which humans will live post coronavirus.

Interiors writer Michelle Ogundehin predicts we'll increasingly crave tactile home environments as touchless tech becomes the norm in the outside world.

Tirana Riverside, coronavirus-resilient neighbourhood in Tirana, Albania, by Stefano Boeri Architetti 
Stefano Boeri Architetti designs coronavirus-resilient neighbourhood in Tirana

Meanwhile Helen Berresford – who heads up studio ID:SR – thinks that the pandemic won't kill the concept of the office, but companies will have to completely rethink shared spaces like lobbies and lifts.

Stefano Boeri Architetti and Albanian studio SON-Group also revealed visuals for Tirana riverside, a neighbourhood designed to fend off further outbreaks of Covid-19.

1200 Bay Street by Herzog & de Meuron
Herzog & de Meuron designs Canada's tallest skyscraper

Tall buildings also peaked readers' interests this week, as Herzog & de Meuron revealed plans to build a super-skinny skyscraper in Toronto, Canada that will rise up 324 metres.

Over in Miami Beach, Italian architect Antonio Citterio completed a tower that's fronted by stone and glass balconies.

Courtyard House by No Oregon
Faceted glazed courtyard pierces Oregon house by No Architecture

Other popular projects on Dezeen this week include Casa Borrero, a 40-metre long Spanish house designed by Studio Wet, Courtyard House by No Architecture, which wraps around a garden filled with deciduous trees, and a dwelling in Sydney by interiors studio Esoteriko that has one bright-blue room.

This week on Dezeen is our regular roundup of the week's top news stories. Subscribe to our newsletters to be sure you don't miss anything.