WEEK IN REVIEW

two long-awaited projects opened to the public this week, both located in france. after 16 years of extensive renovation works, parisian department store 'la samaritaine' now welcomes visitors with a new undulating glass façade designed by SANAA, and luxurious light-filled interiors redesigned by yabu pushelberg. frank gehry's sculptural luma arles, defined by its twisting, rippling geometry, is now open too, with an exhibition of works by over 45 artists and designers.

nendo unveiled 'petit market', a roadside vegetable stand that supports direct sales from farmer to consumer. the stand kit comes flat-packed and can be assembled by one person without any special tools in about 10 minutes. meanwhile, OMA/AMO set a meandering red tunnel on a sardinian beach to host prada's SS22 menswear collection show.

this week, designboom spoke with MAEID's daniela mitterberger, who, together with tiziano derme, conceived 'magic queen'. on view at the 2021 venice biennale, the project presents a 3D printed, biodegradable landscape cared for by a robotic 'gardener'. also, don't miss our conversation with architectural photographer rafael gamo, and discover more recent interviews here.

ever thought about what taking a balloon ride with 360º views of planet earth might be like? space perspective, a florida-based space tourism company, is now selling seats for luxurious 6-hour trips to the stratosphere.

last, using light painting techniques, designer and photographer yang xiao transforms brutalist and soviet modernist architecture from across eastern europe into eerie and otherworldly images. see more submissions by our readers here, and find out here how to upload your own project here.

the weekly is an inside review curated by sofia lekka angelopoulou.