Longchamp has reintroduced its iconic SoHo flagship, unveiling a bold new chapter in its architectural and artistic journey. Nestled in the heart of downtown Manhattan, the La Maison Unique boutique has been transformed into a space that merges retail with an immersive cultural experience – offering more than shopping, but a deep dive into the brand’s design philosophy, legacy, and creative ambition. At the core of this reimagining is the rekindled collaboration between Longchamp and celebrated British designer Thomas Heatherwick. Nearly two decades after his original work on the space, Heatherwick returns to re-envision the site with a fresh narrative. The result is a compelling blend of artistry, innovation, and Parisian warmth, translated into architectural form. The redesign honors the bones of the original building while elevating its purpose. One of the most striking updates is the reinterpreted central staircase. Originally made of steel ribbons, it has been reborn in Longchamp’s signature green – a vibrant pathway of swooping planes that guides visitors up from the ground floor, like ascending a hill. The dramatic feature sets the tone for the boutique’s organic, flowing atmosphere. Above, the retail space has been crafted to feel less like a store and more like an upscale, lived-in loft. Round rugs in rich green tones spill from carpeted columns across warm wood floors, creating a dynamic interplay of texture and form. Vintage and bespoke furnishings – like a 1970s croissant sofa by Raphaël Raffel and sculptural works by David Nash – anchor the room with both history and originality. Longchamp’s ties to the art world are on full display throughout the store. The brand’s private collection, along with newly commissioned pieces, gives the space a gallery-like feel. Highlights include ceramics and sculptures from artists such as Dorothée Loriquet, Bobby Silverman, and Tanaka Tomomi. Their works echo Longchamp’s commitment to natural materials, tactile surfaces, and organic design. In a deliberate shift from traditional retail layout, the central area has been opened to encourage conversation. Instead of focusing solely on product display, the well-lit space invites guests to linger and connect, mirroring the rhythm of a Paris apartment transplanted to a New York context. The visual storytelling continues with intentional quirks: neon signage, hand-drawn graffiti by artist André, and archive objects that trace Longchamp’s early heritage as a maker of leather tobacco accessories and travel games. These nostalgic elements add to the space, providing a bridge between past and present. This revitalization is part of a larger movement within the brand to reshape the in-store experience. It reflects a shift in luxury retail – from transactional to experiential. By creating a space where design, storytelling, and sensory detail converge, Longchamp is championing a new kind of flagship – one rooted in memory and human connection. “Retail moves fast, but architecture should last. We wanted to create something bold and joyful, yet warm and timeless – an apartment-like space that invites people to stay,” Heatherwick Studio partner Neil Hubbard says. “From the swirling green rugs under green-carpeted columns to curved furniture that feels custom but lived-in, everything was designed to feel unified and human. Even the red brick walls downstairs, set to host rotating installations, help ground the space in SoHo’s industrial roots while creating room for surprise.”

“Everything I did and wrote was based in love and my desire to entertain and bring glee and creativity to young people and to everyone,” Paul Reubens says in the newly released Max docuseries, Pee-wee As Himself. Reubens ascended to cultural ubiquity in the 1980s with his smash hit character, Pee-wee Herman. First as a live show, then in the Tim Burton film Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, and perhaps most lastingly, in the television series Pee-wee’s Playhouse that ran for five seasons, Reubens undeniably did just what he set out to. Visually, the show conveyed an off the wall giddiness that didn’t confine itself to typical television set design rules.The jagged-edged red door, the wagging-armed chair named Chairry, the beatnik jazz band’s brick wall alcove—an entire bustling world was contained in the walls of Pee-wee’s playhouse, from the very first episode. The walls and floor were painted with abstract patterns in a variety of colors, and tchotchkes abounded. From Chairry to the three flowers in the flowerbed to Magic Screen, the decorations were his friends and his friends were his decorations. His space was very much alive. “He’s a really imaginative person who doesn’t let other people make rules for him, so naturally his place would reflect his personality,’” Gary Panter, the show’s lead production designer, told the New York Times in a 1987 interview.Chairry (right of centre) and other Pee-wee’s Playhouse staples including Dirty Dog, Chicky Baby, and Cool Cat in the background. Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty ImagesPanter was an alt comic artist who’d designed the original stage sets for Reubens before Pee-wee made his jump to the screen. He worked with two other then-comic artists, Wayne White and Ric Heitzman, to flesh out the world further for the television series. While in retrospect, people might lump the Playhouse in with the rest of the ’80s postmodern milieu, the team had rules to avoid fitting too cleanly into that aesthetic. “Jokingly, we said, ‘Okay, no more ’80s new wavy stuff,” White says. “No flying triangles and squiggly lines.” The result was a surrealist explosion of color and pattern, a Pop Art take on a ’50s sitcom set.Laurence Fishburne appeared as Cowboy Curtis on the show. Photo: John Kisch Archive/Getty ImagesGiven their punk-leaning backgrounds, their approach to creating the sets had a DIY sensibility. The first season of the show was filmed in a loft in SoHo, rather than on a soundstage in Los Angeles, and the team got crafty figuring out how to create the things they’d drawn up, rather than passing the designs off to fabricators to see them through. “We were downtown New York artists struggling to build the stuff in our apartments and little studios here and there,” White tells AD. “It was mostly sculptors and painters and cartoonists [working on the show]. It didn’t have that institutional network of showbiz builders like LA has, there were no scenic artists, no guys that build props, things like that.”This fact is surely part of what gives Pee-wee’s Playhouse its art-school-project sheen: despite its success, it truly was a passion project for those that worked on it. “Being trusted to do this stuff gave me just so much confidence and drive. It really supercharged my sense of being an artist,” says White. “I was 28 years old, and I was willing to do anything. We burned very brightly that first year.”Paul Reubens filming an episode of Pee-wee’s Playhouse. Photo: John Kisch Archive/Getty ImagesFrom the start, Reubens let the production design team explore their wildest ideas. White’s comic strips (like Miss Car, which was published in the East Village Eye prior to Pee-wee’s Playhouse) featured anthropomorphized items, making the jump to Chairry and co. not too far of a leap. “I didn’t have to change [my style] at all,” White says. “I stepped right into another medium and it was a big lesson for me. You could take a vision or an idea or your imagination through all these different mediums, and they’re all really just the same.”Gary Panter and Paul Reubens. Courtesy of HBOPanter, White, and Heitzman didn’t worry about notes or being penned in by the network or anyone else. They were free to explore, to create as many drawings and iterations of items as were needed, from which Reubens would pick the option that he thought worked best. Reubens was already a major star by the time that the show was picked up, so it was intimidating to work with him so loosely at first. Still, “Paul was so interested in what we're doing that he quickly just became a friend,” White explains. “It was easy to go along with quickly, because he was a weirdo artist like me.” Reubens’s comfortability with his own oddity is what made the show so spellbinding, even for the adults who were well outside of the target demographic. Each episode presented an opportunity to disappear into a world where strangeness was not only expected, but celebrated too. “I do remember being on set and that it was the most exciting thing I’d ever done,” Natasha Lyonne, who was in six episodes of the show as a child, says in the docuseries. “I think it felt like permission to be myself.”Paul Reubens and Chairry. Courtesy of HBOFor much of Pee-wee Herman’s heyday, Reubens exclusively gave interviews in character. Though the new documentary thoroughly punctures that facade, the glimpses it offers into the Hollywood home that Reubens lived in from the mid-80s onward show that his personal taste wasn’t all that distant from the wacky world of Pee-wee. There were certainly no talking chairs, but still, the space was filled with color, pattern, and oodles of nostalgic memorabilia. Reubens also nurtured the wildlife that lived in the hills surrounding his house, spreading seeds for deer and crows, growing plenty of plants, and welcoming even the coyotes, wolves, and skunks of the area too. Though Pee-wee’s open door policy with his neighbors is a stretch further than Reubens’s, the nurturing relationship with these creatures certainly feels Pee-wee-esque.The Pee-wee’s Playhouse set. Courtesy of HBODecades after the final episode of Pee-wee’s Playhouse aired, White cites the lasting brilliance of the sets to Reubens himself. “He is the nuclear reactor core of it all. Without him, none of this would have had the magic that it had,” White says. “The character of Pee-wee was so resonant with people and then it just radiated out from there. I give him most of the credit for creating the magic, and we just kind of floated along on it. It was such a strong character and such an enchanted world that it couldn't help and bring out the best of any artist.”

We came, we saw, we conquered. From Long Island City to DUMBO, Greenpoint, Chelsea, Tribeca, Nomad, and Soho, design took over New York this past week for NYCxDESIGN. As the widespread agenda can attest, it was a buzzy and busy week in celebration of design. This year, the week coincided with both ICFF and Shelter, which made its inaugural debut. If two fairs didn’t present enough design to see, there were also a dizzying array of exhibitions, gatherings, and talks, including AN Interior’s own 10th anniversary party held at Salvatori’s showroom. Brooklyn had a stronger showing than in past years: The programming officially kicked off in Williamsburg and then celebrated its closing night in DUMBO, a newly designated design district. Throughout all the latest products presented, the following stood out for its visual concept, craftsmanship, attention to production, and longevity. Below are the latest releases pulled from both fairs as well as the many showroom and gallery activations throughout the city that were well worth traversing boroughs to check out in-person. The Arcora by HEAKO Studio (Courtesy HEAKO Studio) Arcora and Himalaya Lunar by HEAKO Studio These refined yet playful lights from HEAKO Studio were on view at Shelter. In addition to the standing Oblique Glow light, which balances off of a skyscraper-inspired steel base, the Himalaya Lunar and the Arcora were the latest lighting from the New York–based studio. The former is a white stone affixed to an L-shaped brass pipe, finished by hand. The latter continues the geometric language with a curved aluminum body, built around an illuminating globe. It can be a sconce or tabletop lamp. A wood and leather chair on view at OUTSIDE/IN (Jonathan Hokklo) Reflect by Tanuvi Hegde Presented at OUTSIDE/IN by Lyle Gallery and Hello Human, Reflect is a chair designed for the fidgety, stimulated, and anxious. Brooklyn-based furniture designer and architect Tanuvi Hegde uses cherry wood with a hand-stitched leather cushion to craft seating embedded with a steel ball within the armrest for fidgeting. Reflect is part of Hedge’s thesis, ”Exhibit (A): Furniture for the Anxious Being,” that explores how furniture can respond to emotions and mental health. The CMPT collection resolves compact living (Courtesy Lichen/Karimoku Furniture) CMPT by Lichen and Karimoku Furniture Design platform and showroom Lichen collaborated with Karimoku Furniture at ICFF. In addition to re-introducing the ZE sofa from Karimoku’s archive, the duo launched a new collection, CMPT, that combines the latter’s craftsmanship with the former’s New York sensibilities. Designed for practicality, storage, and the limits of compact spaces, the collection begins with the Apple Box, a chestnut cube that can be stacked atop one another to create shifting consoles or compartments. Each modular box is held together by an exposed wooden peg. The collection, elegantly simple, is designed to grow with its owners throughout their life. Read more about the latest product releases that caught AN’s eye on aninteriormag.com.

Floyd Bennett Field is a massive piece of federal property in Marine Park, Brooklyn, a floodplain that’s regularly deluged since Hurricane Sandy. Noah Martz, a Brooklyn Law School student, has an idea for how to use it that has Reddit talking. What to do with Floyd Bennett Field (FBF) has long perplexed planners, and the site now finds itself entangled in an online tug of war match between competing architectural ideologies.  “Hero Village” is the name of Martz’s land use proposal for the former airfield. It would bring approximately 20,000 residential units designated for NYPD and FDNY officers, and EMTs to the 1,300-acre plot. The design is “inspired by President Trump’s vision to build beautifully again,” Hero Village’s promotional video states. “Mr. President, it’s time for New York to truly back the blue,” the video concludes.  Martz regularly makes appeals to “MAGA YIMBY” and “neotrad” accounts on X (formerly Twitter) to drum up support for the proposal through the Hero Village NYC X account, which arrives amid other traditional propositions for New York. Penn Station’s revival, for instance, could very well yield a neoclassical design. It’s safe to say trad architects and their sympathizers feel emboldened by this president. “The idea for Hero Village came from witnessing firsthand how increasingly unaffordable New York City has become, especially for those who protect and serve the city,” Martz told AN. “Today, over 52 percent of NYPD officers live outside the five boroughs, largely due to high housing costs. At the same time, the city faces a chronic shortage of new housing construction, especially larger, family-sized units. Hero Village is a response to these problems.” The proposal however hasn’t been without criticism from other very online interlocutors. Traditional loft buildings would line Hero Village’s main thoroughfare, supported by a cyberlink rail system. (Courtesy Hero Village) “In reality, there are much more efficient ways of building density, even if you want to add facade articulation in the unclear ‘historic’ style described in the post,” said AN contributor Ryan Scavnicky, author of Architecture and Videogames: Intersecting Worlds. As a professor at Marywood University, Scavnicky studies internet subcultures and how architectural ideas proliferate on social media. “Critiquing the proposal itself—it’s in a floodplain, its inefficient layout—are moot points because this proposal is just using architecture as a medium to sway political power,” Scavnicky added, with emphasis. (Anti) Co-op City? The FBF Shelter Complex, otherwise called the Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center at FBF, was established at the South Brooklyn airfield in 2023 for migrant families inside shuttered aircraft hangars. By December 2024, there were at least 850 children living in the complex and attending New York City public schools. The complex was shut down in winter 2025 by New York City Mayor Eric Adams—teachers have since raised grave concerns over displaced migrant family welfare.  Hero Village was rolled out in the months after the Adams administration evacuated the FBF Shelter Complex. Its proposed architecture takes cues from Poundbury, a master planned community in the U.K. “endorsed by King Charles III,” Martz said, but also places closer to home like Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, and Brooklyn Heights. The Cumberland Street development near Barclays Center and Gateway Estates in East New York are other precedents Martz pointed to.  A cyberlink rail system would support Hero Village, with a direct connection to the 2/5. (Courtesy Hero Village) The main drag at Hero Village is a north-south thoroughfare lined by the kind of loft buildings you’d see in Soho or the Garment District of Manhattan. A cyberlink rail system would shuttle the main axis, which terminates at a monumental obelisk. This rail line would connect Hero Village denizens to the Flatbush Avenue–Brooklyn College (2/5) subway stop. The cyberlink rail system itself is inspired by Elon Musk’s Hyperloop and Tesla’s Robovan. In the future, “advanced tunneling technology” could extend the 2 Train down Flatbush Avenue, connecting Hero Village with New York City, Martz posited. Martz drew up the master plan himself in Google Sketchup, he said, which took “over a year.” He then hired a rendering studio for the final graphics. Every street at Hero Village would be named after an NYPD or FDNY officer killed in the line of duty.  “I believe it’s essential to create places that also serve as spaces of reflection and remembrance,” Martz said in regard to the obelisk and the street names. He added: “The idea of an obelisk as the central memorial was inspired by its deep historical significance in American public spaces. One of the earliest examples dates back to Williamsburg, Virginia, where an obelisk was erected to honor those who opposed the Stamp Act of 1765.” Martz finds inspiration from obelisks erected after the 1765 Stamps Act rebellion. (Boston Public Library/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY 2.0) “Obelisks are now common markers of solemn remembrance, particularly for fallen service members,” Martz continued. “Hero Village will include several other memorials within park spaces and community centers dedicated to those who have given their lives in service to New York.” To mitigate flooding, Martz alluded to an unlikely example: Co-op City in the Bronx, which was likewise built on marshland. “There is ample precedent for successful residential development in flood-prone areas,” Martz noted. “While Hero Village differs significantly in style [from Co-op City], this precedent shows the feasibility of development with proper mitigation measures.” Martz does have misgivings about the comparison, however. “I am strongly opposed to the modernist ‘tower in the park’ planning approach championed by Le Corbusier, which shaped developments like Co-op City,” Martz replied when asked about his philosophy. “While Co-op City successfully provides a large number of affordable housing units, its 1960s-era design reflects a deeply flawed urban planning philosophy. The development suffers from an inefficient use of land, a lack of street-level connectivity, and an absence of human-scale, mixed-use environments.” “By contrast,” Martz continued, “Hero Village would deliver more housing on a smaller footprint through thoughtful design and land use. It emphasizes traditional urbanism with walkable narrow streets, mixed-use buildings, human-scaled architecture, and a transit-oriented layout that supports both residents and the broader community.” The main thoroughfare would terminate at a monumental obelisk. (Courtesy Hero Village) The North Forty Natural Area would be preserved and existing aircraft hangars would become museums and event spaces at Hero Village. Daycare centers, supermarkets, and playgrounds would abound. Martz elaborated Hero Village would incorporate best practices from New York’s East Side Coastal Resiliency Project. This means Hero Village would have a resilient seawall and ample park space which is not only “an aesthetic feature,” Martz said, but also “a core piece of flood protection infrastructure.” A Ruinous Ideology? Today, Martz is actively courting the Trump administration to help make Hero Village happen, but also New York City Councilmembers including Inna Vernikov, and Mayor Adams. He’s written letters to U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, and NYPD and FDNY union associations. The promotional video for Hero Village congratulates Trump for his “stunning victory.” Floyd Bennett Field is in proximity to Councilmember Vernikov’s South Brooklyn district. Today, Vernikov is a polemic figure—she recently made headlines for showing up to a Brooklyn College protest “with a gun visible in her hip,” but she was later cleared of the “illegal gun charge.” Hero Village has publicly asked for Vernikov’s support on social media. Still, Martz affirmed he thinks Hero Village could garner bipartisan favor. “In March, a joint task force was launched to explore how underutilized federal land can be repurposed to increase housing supply and reduce costs across the country,” Martz added. “Utilizing [FBF] to provide housing for those who have dedicated their lives to public service is a logical and moral use of the site. It’s a bipartisan solution, one that should unite local, state, and federal officials.” Scavnicky however sees cracks in this logic: “In an attempt to woo Trump, Musk, and their base constituents, it seems almost like just an attempt to get their attention,” he said of the plan. “The proposal does create affordable housing for the working class, yet only members of the working class who serve the crown, err, I mean the state are worthy of purchasing units [sic].” “This X account wants to get retweeted so badly that they are willing to create architecture that betrays the needs of the people,” Scavnicky continued. “But more importantly, it serves as a fine example of an ideology’s inherent class discrimination through reasoning: Why wouldn’t these politicians support this project if it was for everyone instead of just for cops and firefighters?” Hero Village takes inspiration from Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill, and other historic neighborhoods. (Courtesy Hero Village) Renderings of Hero Village are similar to another recent proposal for FBF shared last March by Eli Lever, a local real estate developer. Lever’s design calls for much larger proto-Hausmannian courtyard buildings, as opposed to Martz’s brownstones. The Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy (JBRPC) has also proposed a climate hub for the grounds, a decidedly different use from the housing ideas. When asked about who will be eligible to live in Hero Village, and whether or not it’d be open to teachers and social workers like Co-op City, Martz replied: “These details are still being developed. The proposal has only recently been made public. The current focus is on generating community interest and gathering feedback.” Scavnicky cautions against attempts to look to the past to inform the future. “The need for architecture to uphold some image of an ideal past is a ruinous ideology, as can be seen in any American suburban house with fake storm windows,” Scavnicky elaborated. “This is inefficiency in service of the image—all when we should be looking toward new ways of living rather than romanticizing the past. And it’s not just about aesthetic treatment—the architectural plan of the proposed city is also an exact duplicate of an older world that doesn’t, to me, deserve to be recreated with such monotony.”

Mark Jupiter always knew he was a creator, and in his youth he embraced different forms of expression. He eventually felt a deep pull to design and built his first house, with care in every element. “I felt that it was something I needed to do at least once in my life,” Jupiter says. “From raising a massive Gambrel timber frame to constructing the first LEED Platinum homes in the country, it became clear that the crossroads of craft and invention was where I was meant to be.” The path to success wasn’t an easy one for Jupiter. After both of his parents passed away, and experiencing the collapse of his housing company during the financial crisis of 2008, Jupiter was at a loss. He credits his wife with providing support and giving him the courage to reinvent himself. Her belief in his talents inspired him to go back to the basics and start making furniture, a world he knew well. Mark Jupiter \\\ Photo: Michael Biondo Jupiter’s father was a furniture maker, and he learned the tricks of the trade from him, pitching in and doing a little bit of everything, from lifting materials to sanding wood. It all came naturally to him, and so this native New Yorker decided to move back to the city from upstate and start his own business. He found the perfect space in Brooklyn’s DUMBO neighborhood, and in 2013 opened his eponymous studio with a dozen pieces, which he describes as “the functional jewelry of any room.” The operation has grown from a modest one-man shop to a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility and showroom. At a time when craft-based businesses are continually being pushed out of high-end areas of the city, the workshop is more than a place where furniture is made – it’s a space for the community to come together to connect and inspire one another. Jupiter loves to collaborate with people, and nothing fuels him more than when he is alongside others who are inspired, especially team members. “Though it’s my name on the door, the truth is that none of it happens without the incredibly talented people I get to work with every day,” he notes. “This crew brings relentless skill, passion, and precision to everything we create.” Today, Mark Jupiter joins us for Friday Five! Photo: Mark Jupiter 1. My Wife’s Pottery I don’t watch her make it – I just see what she brings home, and every time I’m blown away. Her pottery has this quiet power to it. There’s nothing showy, just form, texture, and restraint. It reminds me that great work doesn’t need to announce itself – it simply belongs. Her pieces inhabit our space and shape how I think about presence and utility. Photo: Mark Jupiter 2. Chopping Wood I love the clean rhythm of chopping wood. It’s one of the few acts left that connects you directly to consequence – swing, crack, split. The weight of the axe, the resistance of the grain, the satisfaction of stacking something you’ve shaped with your own hands. It’s design in its most primitive form. Photo: Josh Wong 3. My Daughter’s Poetry and Singing My daughter writes and sings with an honesty I can’t touch. Watching her grow into her own creative voice reminds me of what it means to express something without pretense. She proves that beauty doesn’t need polish – it needs truth. Her creativity brings me back to the core of why I build anything at all. Photo: Mark Jupiter 4. Watching a Great Artist Work There’s a sacredness to watching someone who’s mastered their craft. Whether it’s a painter, a chef, or a sculptor – that zone they enter is electric. One of the most powerful examples was working with the artist Craig Anthony Miller – CAM – who created a commissioned mural for my new DUMBO showroom. He painted it right in my shop, and I had the privilege of watching him work every day. The decisions, the energy, the confidence – it was all a kind of a moving meditation. Photo: Mark Jupiter 5. Goats And then there’s this one – me and a goat, sharing a moment. I’ve always had a deep love for goats… really, most farm animals. Not in a Deliverance kind of way – just in a grounded, soul-level kind of way. Goats especially. You give them a little kiss, feed them some grain, and the next minute they’ll surprise you with a good-natured head butt when you least expect it. It’s their honesty I love – no pretense. Although I was born and raised in New York City, I’ve always felt a real connection to the mountains and farm country of upstate New York. There’s something about that life that stays with you, even when you’re back in the city, covered in sawdust.   Works by Mark Jupiter: Photo: Mark Jupiter Mark Jupiter DUMBO Showroom When I first started the company, I wanted to reimagine how people experience custom furniture. It wasn’t enough to just have a great shop – I knew I needed a showroom that felt equally considered. That’s why I built them side by side. Clients can walk in and see the finished pieces in a curated environment, then step through the doors and watch those same pieces being crafted by hand. It’s a full-circle experience – one that honors both the artistry of the object and the integrity of the process behind it. Photo: Courtesy of KITH KITH’s Women’s exclusive flagship store in Soho The KITH Women’s flagship store in SoHo is one of the latest chapters in an ongoing collaboration with KITH and its founder, Ronnie Feig. It all started with the Daisy Coffee Table, a piece I designed and named after my daughter. From that single gesture grew a multi-year, now global partnership, bringing the essence of that same design into KITH spaces worldwide. It’s a rare thing when a personal story becomes part of a larger cultural one, and I’m grateful to be building that story together. Photo: Mark Jupiter The Jacqueline Desk This is the Jacqueline Desk. Its quiet elegance and underlying complexity are what I’m most proud of. It’s a form I’ve adapted over time into desks, dining tables, and custom pieces in all shapes, sizes, and finishes. Like many of my designs, it’s named after someone I love and admire. This one is especially close to my heart. It’s named after my sister Amy Jacqueline Jupiter – a brilliant woman who, like the piece itself, is both elegant and beautifully complex. Photo: Mark Jupiter The Gabriel Credenza The Gabriel Credenza is a unique piece originally designed for a client inspired by the slow, hypnotic movement of his lava lamp. That’s where the curves and organic flow originate. Equally meaningful is the name. I named it after Gabriel Davis, the craftsperson who brought it to life. Gabriel has been a part of my studio for nearly eight years, and he’s one of the most gifted furniture makers I’ve ever known. The man is a genius with a table saw, and this piece carries both his precision and his spirit. Photo: Courtesy of KITH Collaboration with KITH and Bose I was asked by KITH and Bose to reimagine the classic 901 Speaker for its 60th anniversary. Working with Ronnie Feig and the engineers at Bose – individuals at the top of their creative game – was both a privilege and a creative high point. The exchange of ideas, the trust, and the shared pursuit of excellence – that’s the kind of collaboration I live for.

May 23, 2025Ravie LakshmananThreat Intelligence / Network Security Cybersecurity researchers have disclosed that a threat actor codenamed ViciousTrap has compromised nearly 5,300 unique network edge devices across 84 countries and turned them into a honeypot-like network. The threat actor has been observed exploiting a critical security flaw impacting Cisco Small Business RV016, RV042, RV042G, RV082, RV320, and RV325 Routers (CVE-2023-20118) to corral them into a set of honeypots en masse. A majority of the infections are located in Macau, with 850 compromised devices. "The infection chain involves the execution of a shell script, dubbed NetGhost, which redirects incoming traffic from specific ports of the compromised router to a honeypot-like infrastructure under the attacker's control allowing them to intercept network flows," Sekoia said in an analysis published Thursday. It's worth noting that the exploitation of CVE-2023-20118 was previously attributed by the French cybersecurity company to another botnet dubbed PolarEdge. While there is no evidence that these two sets of activities are connected, it's believed that the threat actor behind ViciousTrap is likely setting up honeypot infrastructure by breaching a wide range of internet-facing equipment, including SOHO routers, SSL VPNs, DVRs, and BMC controllers from more than 50 brands like Araknis Networks, ASUS, D-Link, Linksys, and QNAP. "This setup would allow the actor to observe exploitation attempts across multiple environments and potentially collect non-public or zero-day exploits, and reuse access obtained by other threat actors," it added. The attack chain entails the weaponization of CVE-2023-20118 to download and execute a bash script via ftpget, which then contacts an external server to fetch the wget binary. In the next step, the Cisco flaw is exploited a second time, using it to execute a second script retrieved using the previously dropped wget. The second-stage shell script, internally referenced as NetGhost, is configured to redirect network traffic from the compromised system to third-party infrastructure controlled by the attacker, thereby facilitating adversary-in-the-middle (AitM) attacks. It also comes with capabilities to remove itself from the compromised host to minimize forensic trail. Sekoia said all exploitation attempts have originated from a single IP address ("101.99.91[.]151"), with the earliest activity dating back to March 2025. In a noteworthy event observed a month later, the ViciousTrap actors are said to have repurposed an undocumented web shell previously employed in PolarEdge botnet attacks for their own operations. "This assumption aligns with the attacker's use of NetGhost," security researchers Felix Aimé and Jeremy Scion said. "The redirection mechanism effectively positions the attacker as a silent observer, capable of collecting exploitation attempts and, potentially, web shell accesses in transit." As recently as this month, exploitation efforts have also targeted ASUS routers but from a different IP address ("101.99.91[.]239"), although the threat actors have not been found to create any honeypot on the infected devices. All the IP addresses actively used in the campaign are located in Malaysia and are part of an Autonomous System (AS45839) operated by hosting provider Shinjiru. The actor is believed to be of Chinese-speaking origin on the basis of a weak overlap with the GobRAT infrastructure and the fact that traffic is redirected to numerous assets in Taiwan and the United States. "The final objective of ViciousTrap remains unclear even [though] we assess with high confidence that it's a honeypot-style network," Sekoia concluded. Found this article interesting? Follow us on Twitter  and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post. SHARE    

The overall winner has been named as oo office. Its winning concept ‘Proudspeaker’ has been designed as a monumental megaphone intended to amplify LGBTQIA+ voices and stories in public spaces. ‘The form of the Proudspeaker is composed of individual stories, gathered and woven together in a magpie-like process,’ said practice co-founders Rania Francis, Karl Mok and Oleg Sevelkov. ‘It becomes speech made visible – an act of joy, pride and protest.’ The competition was open to students, emerging architects and representatives from established firms. It sought innovative proposals for a float in the annual festival and parade, which will be held in the capital on 5 July.Advertisement The project – backed by Brookfield Properties – will celebrate the contributions of LGBTQIA+ architects to the built environment. Proposals were required to respond to this year’s LFA theme of ‘Voices’ by expressing identity, inclusion and creativity while demonstrating a commitment to sustainability and the circular economy. Rosa Rogina, LFA director, said: ‘Architecture doesn’t just shape our buildings, it shapes our communities, our conversations and our sense of belonging. Proudspeaker is a defiant, joyful, and beautifully conceived response to our 2025 theme. It honours queer creativity and boldly asserts that LGBTQIA+ voices not only belong in the built environment – they are fundamental to it.’ Founded in 1972, the annual Pride parade and festival is the largest LGBTQIA+ event in the UK and the seventh largest in the world, attracting around 1 million people. The London event, traditionally held in July, features a large performance area in Trafalgar Square, with a procession of floats and walking groups. Hawkins\Brown won LFA’s inaugural contest for a float representing LGBTQIA+ architects at 2018’s London Pride. Raw Architecture Workshop won LFA’s 2019 contest for a float at Pride in London and Manchester. In 2021, a group of early-career architects working at Foster + Partners won an open call for a £10,000 installation representing LGBTQIA+ architects at St Anne’s Church in Soho.Advertisement The latest contest sought ‘safe, structurally sound, and suitable’ proposals for a float installation that will be mounted on a 7.5-tonne dropside truck during the annual parade. Concepts had to include handrails, space for speakers and weather-resistant materials. The winning design will now work closely with production specialists to bring their vision to life in time for the parade.

Hans Noë wore many hats—architect, sculptor, Fanelli Cafe proprietor. He was also a Holocaust survivor, and a protégé of Tony Smith, Barnett Newman, and Mies van der Rohe. Noë died in his sleep on May 11 at his home in Garrison, New York, at age 96. Alva Noë, his son, confirmed his death for The New York Times. Noë had a retrospective in 2023 at New York’s National Museum of Mathematics curated by author Lawrence Weschler, reviewed by AN. This was just one of two solo shows the indelible artist had his entire life—the first was in 2021 at the Fireplace Project in East Hampton, New York. The deceased’s retrospectives were always by invitation of someone else, he never sought them out. That’s partially from trauma he carried with him since fleeing his childhood home in Czernowitz, a city in the Bukovinian region on the edge of the Austro-Hungarian empire in what is now southwestern Ukraine. House 1, East Hampton, New York c.1963 (Hans Noë) Noë was born in 1928. He saw the magisterial central synagogue just down the street from his Jewish family’s home get torched by the fascist Romanian army not long after. He spent his remaining teenage years hiding from the Gestapo. This trauma followed Noë wherever he went; his family immigrated from Europe to New York City on Christmas Day, 1949. In the handful of interviews he later gave, like those with Weschler, Noë said any glimmer of the limelight made him panic. He later admitted he had PTSD. After immigrating, Noë enrolled at Cooper Union, where he studied under Tony Smith, the subject of a new book edited by James Voorhies and Sarah Auld. There, he also met Barnett Newman, and stretched canvasses for Mark Rothko. He was in the same orbit as Jackson Pollock, Ad Reinhardt, Theodoros Stamos, and others. Noë told Weschler in 2023: “When it came to art, Tony became my father and Barney my uncle.” Noë later enrolled at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) and studied under Mies van der Rohe. At IIT, he met a ceramics student, Judy Baldwin. They got married in 1960. House 2, East Hampton, New York c.1965 (Hans Noë) House 3, East Hampton, New York c.1971 (Hans Noë) Baldwin and Noë subsequently left Chicago and moved to New York. There, between 1963 and 1971, Noë designed and built 12 houses with his partner Richard Schust. Noë detested the client-facing side of practice, so he’d often build the homes himself, mostly on Long Island, with a team of friends and apprentices, and then sell them off. “I came to realize how a successful architect has to be not one but three things: he has to be a great architect, he has to be a great self-promoter, and he has to be a great businessman. And I was only one of those three,” Noë told Weschler in conversation. It was around this time when Noë started buying up properties in Soho, and renting them to artists. Noë bought Fanelli Cafe in the early-1970s. “When you opened the door” at Fanelli, Sasha Noë said, “the wind would come in, and it would make everyone cold. So he built a little half wall out of glass to keep people warm. But he didn’t make it look like it was built in 1847. He used his Mies van der Rohe knowledge to do it. He didn’t try to fake it.” Fanelli Cafe became a New York City staple, and Noë and Baldwin eventually moved to Garrison, New York, where they raised their family. There, he produced geometric wooden maquettes imbued with subtle poetic meaning—all in relative isolation and without celebration. Study by Hans Noë (Dario Lasagni) A model by Hans Noë on display at the National Museum of Mathematics (Dario Lasagni) “I used to imagine my general distaste for self-promotion and my indifference toward fame as sort of emblematic of a certain kind of moral or at any rate aesthetic superiority,” Noë said. “With high considered self-regard, I was refusing to enter into that whole delusional rat race.” “But I’m no longer so sure,” Noë continued. “I think rather that my problem may simply have been one of fear, a prolonged PTSD, as it were, with its roots wending back to my experience of the war, when survival enforced an entire regime of perpetual hiding, since any and every calling of attention to oneself could so easily have proven fatal not only to myself but to my entire family. And maybe it’s just that I never got over that way of being in the world.” House 3, East Hampton, New York c.1971 (Hans Noë) Today, Noë’s son, Sasha, still runs Fanelli and Alva is a world-renowned philosophy professor at UC Berkeley. Judy lives in Garrison, and Noë is survived by his children and grandchildren.

Interviews Andor – Season 2: Mohen Leo (Production VFX Supervisor), TJ Falls (Production VFX Producer) and Scott Pritchard (ILM VFX Supervisor) By Vincent Frei - 22/05/2025 In 2023, Mohen Leo (Production VFX Supervisor), TJ Falls (Production VFX Producer), and Scott Pritchard (ILM VFX Supervisor) offered an in-depth look at the visual effects of Andor’s first season. Now, the trio returns to share insights into their work on the second—and final—season of this critically acclaimed series. Tony Gilroy is known for his detailed approach to storytelling. Can you talk about how your collaboration with him evolved throughout the production of Andor? How does he influence the VFX decisions and the overall tone of the series? Mohen Leo (ML): Our history with Tony, from Rogue One through the first season of Andor, had built a strong foundation of mutual trust. For Season 2, he involved VFX from the earliest story discussions, sharing outlines and inviting our ideas for key sequences. His priority is always to keep the show feeling grounded, ensuring that visual effects serve the story’s core and never become extraneous spectacle that might distract from the narrative. TJ Falls (TJ): Tony is a master storyteller. As Mohen mentioned, we have a great history with Tony from Rogue One and through Season 1 of Andor. We had a great rapport with Tony, and he had implicit trust in us. We began prepping Season 2 while we were in post for Season 1. We were having ongoing conversations with Tony and Production Designer Luke Hull as we were completing work for S1 and planning out how we would progress into Season 2. We wanted to keep the show grounded and gritty while amping up the action and urgency. Tony had a lot of story to cover in 12 episodes. The time jumps between the story arcs were something we discussed early on, and the need to be able to not only justify the time jumps but also to provide the audience with a visual bridge to tell the stories that happened off-screen. Tony would look to us to guide and use our institutional knowledge of Star Wars to help keep him honest within the universe. He, similarly, challenged us to maintain our focus and ensure that the visual tone of the series serviced the story. Tony Gilroy and Genevieve O’Reilly on the set of Lucasfilm’s ANDOR Season 2, exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Des Willie. ©2024 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved. As you’ve returned for Season 2, have there been any significant changes or new challenges compared to the first season? How has the production evolved in terms of VFX and storytelling? (ML): The return of nearly all key creatives from Season 1, both internally and at our VFX vendors, was a massive advantage. This continuity built immediate trust and an efficient shorthand. It made everyone comfortable to be more ambitious, allowing us to significantly expand the scope and complexity of the visual effects for Season 2. (TJ): We had all new directors this season. The rest of the core creative and production teams stayed consistent from Season 1. We worked to keep the creative process as seamless from Season 1 as we could while working with the new directors and adapting to their process while incorporating their individual skills and ideas that they brought to the table. This season we were able to work on location much more than on Season 1. That provided us with a great opportunity to build out the connective tissue between real world constraints and the virtual world we were creating. In the case with Senate Plaza in Coruscant we also had to stay consistent with what has previously been established, so that was a fun challenge. How did you go about dividing the workload between the various VFX studios? (ML): I can give an answer, but probably better if TJ does. (TJ): We were very specific about how we divided the work on this series. We started, as we usually do, with a detailed breakdown of work for the 12 episodes. Mohen and I then discussed a logical split based on type of work, specific elements, and areas of commonality for particular environments. While cost is always a consideration, we focused our vendor casting around the creative strengths of the studios we were partnering with on the project. ILM is in the DNA of Star Wars, so we knew we’d want to be working with them on some of the most complex work. We chose ILM for the opening TIE Avenger hangar sequence and subsequent escape. We utilized ILM for work in every episode, including the CG KX/K2 work, but their main focus was on Coruscant, and they had substantial work in the ninth episode for the big Senate escape sequence. Hybride‘s chief focus was on Palmo Plaza and the Ghorman environments. They dealt with everything Ghorman on the ground from the street extensions and the truck crash, through the Ghorman massacre, sharing shots with ILM with the KX work. For Scanline VFX, we identified three primary areas of focus: the work on Mina Rau, Chandrila, and Yavin. The TIE Fighter sequence in Season 2 is a standout moment. Can you walk us through the VFX process for that particular sequence? What were some of the technical challenges you faced, and how did you work to make it as intense and realistic as possible? (TJ): This is a sequence I’m particularly proud of as VFX played a central role in the sequence coming together from start to finish. We were intimately involved from the initial conversations of the idea for the sequence. Mohen created digital storyboards and we pitched ideas for the sequence to Tony Gilroy. Once we had a sense of the creative brief, we started working with Luke Hull (Production Designer) and the art department on the physical hangar set and brought it into previz for virtual scouting. With Jen Kitching (our Previz Supervisor from The Third Floor) we had a virtual camera set up that allowed us to virtually use the camera and lenses we would have on our shoot. We blocked out shots with Ariel Kleiman (Director) and Christophe Nuyens (the DoP). This went back through previz and techviz so we could meticulously chart out our plan for the shoot. Keeping with our ethos of grounding everything in reality, we wanted to use as much of the practical set as possible. We needed to be sure our handoffs between physical and virtual were seamless – Luke Murphy, our SFX Supervisor, worked closely with us in planning elements and practical effects to be used on the day. Over the course of the shoot, we also had the challenge of the flashing red alarm that goes off once the TIE Avenger crashes into the ceiling. We established the look of the red alarm with Christophe and the lighting team, and then needed to work out the timing. For that, we collaborated with editor John Gilroy to ensure we knew precisely when each alarm beat would flash. Once we had all the pieces, we turned the sequence over to Scott Pritchard and ILM to execute the work. Scott Pritchard (SP): This sequence was split between our London and Vancouver studios, with London taking everything inside the hangar, and Vancouver handling the exterior shots after Cassian blasts through the hangar door. We started from a strong foundation thanks to two factors: the amazing hangar set and TIE Avenger prop; and having full sequence previs. The hangar set was built about 2/3 of its overall length (as much as could be built on the soundstage), which our environments team extended, adding the hangar doors at the end and also a view to the exterior environment. Extending the hangar was most of the work in the sequence up until the TIE starts moving, where we switched to our CG TIE. As with Season 1, we used a blend of physical SFX work for the pyro effects, augmenting with CG sparks. As TJ mentioned, the hangar’s red warning lighting was a challenge as it had to pulse in a regular tempo throughout the edit. Only the close-up shots of Cassian in the cockpit had practical red lighting, so complex lighting and comp work were required to achieve a consistent look throughout the sequence. ILM London’s compositing supervisor, Claudio Bassi, pitched the idea that as the TIE hit various sections of the ceiling, it would knock out the ceiling lights, progressively darkening the hangar. It was a great motif that helped heighten the tension as we get towards the moment where Cassian faces the range trooper. Once we cut to outside the hangar, ILM Vancouver took the reins. The exterior weather conditions were briefed to us as ‘polar night’ – it’s never entirely dark, instead there’s a consistent low-level ambient light. This was a challenge as we had to consider the overall tonal range of each shot and make sure there was enough contrast to guide the viewer’s eye to where it needed to be, not just on individual shots but looking at eye-trace as one shot cut to another. A key moment is when Cassian fires rockets into an ice arch, leading to its collapse. The ice could very easily look like rock, so we needed to see the light from the rocket’s explosions scattered inside the ice. It required detailed work in both lighting and comp to get to the right look. Again, as the ice arch starts to collapse and the two chase TIE Advanced ships get taken out, it needed careful balancing work to make sure viewers could read the situation and the action in each shot. The world-building in Andor is impressive, especially with iconic locations like Coruscant and Yavin. How did you approach creating these environments and ensuring they felt as authentic as possible to the Star Wars universe? (ML): Our approach to world-building in Andor relied on a close collaboration between the VFX team and Luke Hull, the production designer, along with his art department. This partnership was established in Season 1 and continued for Season 2. Having worked on many Star Wars projects over the decades, VFX was often able to provide inspiration and references for art department designs. For example, for locations like Yavin and Coruscant, VFX provided the art department with existing 3D assets: the Yavin temple model from Rogue One and the Coruscant city layout around the Senate from the Prequel films. The Coruscant model, in particular, involved some ‘digital archaeology.’ The data was stored on tapes from around 2001 and consisted of NURBS models in an older Softimage file format. To make them usable, we had to acquire old Softimage 2010 and XSI licenses, install them on a Windows 7 PC, and then convert the data to the FBX format that current software can read. Supplying these original layouts to the art department enabled them to create their new designs and integrate our real-world shooting locations while maintaining consistency with the worlds seen in previous Star Wars productions. Given that Andor is set approximately twenty years after the Prequels, we also had the opportunity to update and adjust layouts and designs to reflect that time difference and realize the specific creative vision Luke Hull and Tony Gilroy had for the show. StageCraft technology is a huge part of the production. How did you use it to bring these complex environments, like Coruscant and Yavin, to life? What are the main benefits and limitations of using StageCraft for these settings? (SP): Our use of StageCraft for Season 2 was similar to that on Season 1. We used it to create the exterior views through the windows of the Safehouse on Coruscant. As with our work for the Chandrillan Embassy in Season 1, we created four different times of day/weather conditions. One key difference was that the foreground buildings were much closer to the Safehouse, so we devised three projection points (one for each room of the Safehouse), which would ensure that the perspective of the exterior was correct for each room. On set we retained a large amount of flexibility with our content. We had our own video feed from the unit cameras, and we were able to selectively isolate and grade sections of the city based on their view through the camera. Working in context like this meant that we could make any final tweaks while each shot was being set up and rehearsed. While we were shooting a scene set at night, the lighting team rigged a series of lights running above the windows that, when triggered, would flash in sequence, casting a moving light along the floor and walls of the set, as if from a moving car above. I thought we could use the LED wall to do something similar from below, catching highlights on the metal pipework that ran across the ceiling. During a break in shooting, I hatched a plan with colour operator Melissa Goddard, brain bar supervisor Ben Brown, and we came up with a moving rectangular section on the LED wall which matched the practical lights for speed, intensity and colour temperature. We set up two buttons on our iPad to trigger the ‘light’ to move in either direction. We demoed the idea to the DP after lunch, who loved it, and so when it came to shoot, he could either call from a car above from the practical lights, or a car below from the LEDs. (ML): Just to clarify – the Coruscant Safehouse set was the only application of Stagecraft LED screens in Season 2. All other Coruscant scenes relied on urban location photography or stage sets with traditional blue screen extensions. The various Yavin locations were achieved primarily with large backlot sets at Longcross Studios. A huge set of the airfield, temple entrance and partial temple interior was extended by Scanline VFX, led by Sue Rowe, in post, creating the iconic temple exterior from A New Hope. VFX also added flying and parked spaceships, and augmented the surrounding forest to feel more tropical. Andor blends CG with actual real-world locations. Can you share how you balanced these two elements, especially when creating large-scale environments or specific landscapes that felt grounded in reality? (SP): A great example of this is the environment around the Senate. The plates for this were shot in the City of Arts & Sciences in Valencia. Blending the distinctive Calatrava architecture with well-known Star Wars buildings like the Senate was an amazing challenge, it wasn’t immediately clear how the two could sit alongside each other. Our Vancouver team, led by Tania Richard, did an incredible job taking motifs and details from the Valencia buildings and incorporating them into the Senate building on both large and small scales, but still contiguous with the overall Senate design. The production team was ingenious in how they used each of the Valencia buildings to represent many locations around the Senate and the surrounding areas. For example, the Science Museum was used for the walkway where Cassian shoots Kloris (Mon’s driver), the main entrance to the Senate, and the interior of the Senate Atrium (where Ghorman Senator Oran is arrested). It was a major challenge ensuring that all those locations were represented across the larger environment, so viewers understood the geography of the scene, but also blended with the design language of their immediate surroundings. Everything in the Senate Plaza had a purpose. When laying out the overall layout of the Plaza, we considered aspects such as how far Senators would realistically walk from their transports to the Senate entrance. When extending the Plaza beyond the extents of the City of Arts & Sciences, we used Calatrava architecture from elsewhere. The bridge just in front of the Senatorial Office Building is based on a Calatrava-designed bridge in my home city of Dublin. As we reach the furthest extents of the Senate Plaza, we begin blending in more traditional Coruscant architecture so as to soften the transition to the far background. Coruscant is such a pivotal location in Star Wars. How did you approach creating such a vast, densely populated urban environment? What were the key visual cues that made it feel alive and realistic? (ML): Our approach to Coruscant in Season 2 built upon what we established in the first season: primarily, shooting in real-world city locations whenever feasible. The stunning Calatrava architecture at Valencia’s City of Arts and Sciences, for instance, served as the foundation for the Senate exterior and other affluent districts. For the city’s grittier neighborhoods, we filmed in urban environments in London, like the Barbican and areas around Twickenham Stadium. Filming in these actual city locations provided a strong, realistic basis for the cinematography, lighting, and overall mood of each environment. This remained true even when VFX later modified large portions of the frame with Star Wars architecture. This methodology gave the director and DP confidence on set that their vision would carry through to the final shot. Our art department and VFX concept artists then created numerous paintovers based on plates and location photography, offering clear visual guides for transforming each real location into its Coruscant counterpart during post-production. For the broader cityscapes, we took direct inspiration from 3D street maps of cities such as Tokyo, New York, and Hong Kong. We would exaggerate the scale and replace existing buildings with our Coruscant designs while preserving the fundamental urban patterns. When it comes to creating environments like Yavin, which has a very natural, jungle-like aesthetic, how do you ensure the VFX stays true to the organic feel of the location while still maintaining the science-fiction elements of Star Wars? (ML): Nearly all of the Yavin jungle scenes were shot in a large wooded area that is part of Longcross Studios. The greens and art departments did an amazing job augmenting the natural forest with tropical plants and vines. The scenes featuring the two rebel factions in the clearing were captured almost entirely in-camera, with VFX primarily adding blaster fire, augmenting the crashed ship, and painting out equipment. Only the shots of the TIE Avenger landing and taking off, as well as the giant creature snatching the two rebels, featured significant CG elements. The key elements connecting these practical locations back to the Yavin established in A New Hope and Rogue One were the iconic temples. The establishing shots approaching the main temple in episode 7 utilized plate photography from South America, which had been shot for another Disney project but ultimately not used. Other aerial shots, such as the U-Wing flying above the jungle in episode 12, were fully computer-generated by ILM. K-2SO is a beloved character, and his return is highly anticipated. What can you tell us about the process of bringing him back to life with VFX in Season 2? What new challenges did this bring compared to his original appearance? (SP): We had already updated a regular KX droid for the scene on Niamos in Season 1, so much of the work to update the asset to the latest pipeline requirements had already been done. We now needed to switch over to the textures & shaders specific to K2, and give them the same updates. Unique to Series 2 was that there were a number of scenes involving both a practical and a digital K2 – when he gets crushed on Ghorman in episode 8, and then ‘rebooted’ on Yavin in episode 9. The practical props were a lot more beaten up than our hero asset, so we made bespoke variants to match the practical droid in each sequence. Additionally, for the reboot sequence on Yavin, we realised pretty quickly that the extreme movements meant that we were seeing into areas that previously had not required much detail – for instance, underneath his shoulder armour. We came up with a shoulder joint design that allowed for the required movement while also staying mechanically correct. When we next see him in Episode 10, a year has passed, and he is now the K-2SO as we know him from Rogue One. K-2SO has a unique design, particularly in his facial expressions and movement. How did you approach animating him for Season 2, and were there any specific changes or updates made to his character model or animation? (SP): Following Rogue One, Mohen made detailed records of the takeaways learned from creating K-2SO, and he kindly shared these notes with us early on in the show. They were incredibly helpful in tuning the fine details of the animation. Our animation team, led by Mathieu Vig, did a superb job of identifying the nuances of Alan’s performance and making sure they came across. There were plenty of pitfalls to avoid – for instance, the curve to his upper back meant that it was very easy for his neck to look hyperextended. We also had to be very careful with his eyes, as they’re sources of light, they could very easily look cartoonish if they moved around too much. Dialling in just the right amount of eye movement was crucial to a good performance. As the eyes also had several separate emissive and reflective components, they required delicate balancing in the comp on a per-shot basis. Luckily, we had great reference from Rogue One to be able to dial in the eyes to suit both the lighting of a shot but also its performance details. One Rogue One shot in particular, where he says ‘Your behavior, Jyn Erso, is continually unexpected’, was a particularly good reference for how we could balance the lights in his eyes to, in effect, enlarge his pupils, and give him a softer expression. K-2SO also represented my first opportunity to work with ILM’s new studio in Mumbai. Amongst other shots, they took on the ‘hallway fight’ sequence in Episode 12 where K2 dispatches Heert and his troopers, and they did a fantastic job from animation right through to final comp. K-2SO’s interactions with the live-action actors are key to his character. How did you work with the actors to ensure his presence felt as real and integrated as possible on screen, especially in terms of timing and reactions? (ML): Alan Tudyk truly defined K-2SO in Rogue One, so his return for Andor Season 2 was absolutely critical to us. He was on set for every one of K2’s shots, performing on stilts and in a performance capture suit. This approach was vital because it gave Alan complete ownership of the character’s physical performance and, crucially, allowed for spontaneous, genuine interactions with the other actors, particularly Diego Luna. Witnessing Alan and Diego reunite on camera was fantastic; that unique chemistry and humor we loved in Rogue One was instantly palpable. In post-production, our VFX animators then meticulously translated every nuance of Alan’s on-set performance to the digital K-2SO model. It’s a detailed process that still requires artistic expertise. For instance, K2’s facial structure is largely static, so direct translation of Alan’s facial expressions isn’t always possible. In these cases, our animators found creative solutions – translating a specific facial cue from Alan into a subtle head tilt or a particular eye movement for K2, always ensuring the final animation remained true to the intent and spirit of Alan’s original performance. Were there any memorable moments or scenes from the series that you found particularly rewarding or challenging to work on from a visual effects standpoint? (ML): The Plaza sequence in episode 8, which runs for about 23 minutes, stands out as particularly memorable – both for its challenges and its rewarding outcome. Just preparing for it was a daunting task. Its successful execution hinged on incredibly tight collaboration between numerous departments: stunts, creature effects, special effects, the camera department, our tireless greenscreens crew, and of course, VFX. The stunts team, under Marc Mailley, drove the choreography of all the action. Our On-Set VFX Supervisor, Marcus Dryden, was instrumental. He worked hand-in-glove with the director, DP, and assistant directors to ensure we meticulously captured all the necessary elements. This included everything from crowd replication plates and practical effects elements to the performances of stunt teams and creature actors, plus all the crucial on-set data. The shoot for this sequence alone took over three weeks. Hybride, under the leadership of Joseph Kasparian and Olivier Beaulieu, then completed the environments, added the blaster fire, and augmented the special effects in post-production, with ILM contributing the KX droids that wreak havoc in the plaza. (SP): I agree with Mohen here, for me the Ghorman Plaza episode is the most rewarding to have worked on. It required us to weave our work into that of so many other departments – stunts, sfx, costume – to name just a few. When we received the plates, to see the quality of the work that had gone into the photography alone was inspirational for me and the ILM crew. It’s gratifying to be part of a team where you know that everyone involved is on top of their game. And of course all that is underpinned by writing of that calibre from Tony Gilroy and his team – it just draws everything together. From a pure design viewpoint, I’m also very proud of the work that Tania Richard and her ILM Vancouver crew did for the Senate shots. As I mentioned before, it was a hugely challenging environment not just logistically, but also in bringing together two very distinctive architectural languages, and they made them work in tandem beautifully. Looking back on the project, what aspects of the visual effects are you most proud of? (TJ): I’m incredibly proud of this entire season. The seamless collaboration we had between Visual Effects and every other department made the work, while challenging, an absolute joy to execute. Almost all of the department heads returned from the first season, which provided a shorthand shortcut as we started the show with implicit trust and understanding of what we were looking to achieve. The work is beautiful, and the commitment of our crew and vendors has been unwavering. I’m most proud of the effort and care that each individual person contributed to the show and the fact that we went into the project with a common goal and were, as a team, able to showcase the vision that we, and Tony, had for the series. (ML): I’m really proud of the deep integration of the visual effects – not just visually, but fundamentally within the filmmaking process and storytelling. Tony invited VFX to be a key participant in shaping the story, from early story drafts through to the final color grade. Despite the scale and spectacle of many sequences, the VFX always feel purposeful, supporting the narrative and characters rather than distracting from them. This was significantly bolstered by the return of a large number of key creatives from Season 1, both within the production and at our VFX vendors. That shared experience and established understanding of Tony’s vision for Andor were invaluable in making the VFX an organic part of the show. (SP): I could not be prouder of the entire ILM team for everything they brought to their work on the show. Working across three sites, Andor was a truly global effort, and I particularly enjoyed how each site took complete ownership of their work. It was a privilege working with all of them and contributing to such an exceptional series. VFX progression frame Lucasfilm’s ANDOR Season 2, exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Lucasfilm. ©2025 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved. How long have you worked on this show? (TJ): This show has been an unbelievable journey. Season 2 alone was nearly 3 years. We wrapped Season 2 in January of 2025. We started prepping Season 2 in February 2022, while we were still in post for Season 1. I officially started working on Season 1 early in 2019 while it was still being developed. So that’s 6 years of time working on Andor. Mohen and I both also worked on Rogue One, so if you factor in the movie, which was shooting in 2015, that’s nearly ten years of work within this part of the Star Wars universe. (ML): I started on the project during early development in the summer of 2019 and finished in December of 2024. (SP): I started on Season 1 in September 2020 and finished up on Season 2 in December 2024. What’s the VFX shots count? (TJ): We had a grand total of 4,124 shots over the course of our 12 episodes. Outside of Industrial Light & Magic, which oversaw the show, we also partnered with Hybride, Scanline, Soho VFX, and Midas VFX. What is your next project? (TJ): You’ll have to wait and see! (SP): Unfortunately, I can’t say just yet either! A big thanks for your time. WANT TO KNOW MORE?ILM: Dedicated page about Andor – Season 2 on ILM website. © Vincent Frei – The Art of VFX – 2025

Ongoing Regent’s Park Estate Story Trail Regent’s Park Estate, London NW1Regent’s Park Estate Story Trail is a public art trail. Artworks include Unwritten by Polish artist Rafal Zajko, which excavates the history of a clandestine LGBTQ+ bar located beneath St Mary Magdalene church and You Are Here by Ocean Stefan, a queer, trans and non-binary artist based in Margate. olddiorama.com Unwritten by Rafal Zajko. Photography: Nick Turpin 22 May AJ goes OUT sixteen3’s showroom, London EC1Advertisement Sponsored by UK furniture designer sixteen3 and held at its showrooms in Clerkenwell as part of Clerkenwell Design Week, the AJ is holding a party to celebrate the release of this issue. Expect music, drinks, posters, copies of the AJ and lots of networking with co-collaborators and contributors. sixteen3.co.uk 24 May Queer Archi* Social London LGBT+ Community Centre, London SE1Organised by Queerscapes, Queer Archi* Social is a meet-up for queer and trans people working in the architecture, landscape, horticulture and built environment sectors. Not a formal networking event, it’s a chance to meet others who get it, swap stories and find new collaborators. londonlgbtqcentre.org queerscapes.com Still from E.1027 Eileen Gray and the House by the Sea. Credit: Rise And Shine World Sales 31 May Linden Archives Museum of LiverpoolStuart Linden Rhodes established Instagram account @Linden_Archives during Covid, digitising hundreds of 35mm photographs he shot for All Points North and Gay Times in the 1990s. This talk covers his books on the pub and club scene from Birmingham to Newcastle, as well as Pride events across the whole of England. liverpoolmuseums.org.ukAdvertisement 7 June Queer Realms – Zine Workshop Ada Haus, London SW8Part of The London Festival of Architecture, this zine workshop, organised by and for LGBTQ+ people, invites attendees to explore how their identities shape and are shaped by the London landscape, using zine-making as a creative tool. londonfestivalofarchitecture.org You Are Here by Ocean Stefan. Part of Regent's Park Estate Art Trail. Photography: Nick Turpin 9 June-14 September The Painted Picnic – A Summer Pavilion Citypoint, London EC2Designed by artist John Booth, Citypoint’s plaza will be transformed into a vibrant scene from an outdoor party. Inspired by the LFA’s 2025 theme Voices, the installation reimagines a still-life composition at an architectural scale that visitors can interact with. Digital illustrations by Booth celebrating Pride month will also be on display on the screen at Citypoint throughout June. Brookfield Properties as the commissioners. londonfestivalofarchitecture.org 14-18 June Queer Frontiers 1 Customs Wharf, EdinburghHeld over five days of the 2025 Architecture Fringe in Scotland, Queer Frontiers is a project that explores the ‘corporate capture’ of the queer as we progress towards a future where queer has become the norm. The event includes an exhibition and talks, organised by designer and researcher Kirsty Watt, designer Samuel Stair and Architecture Fringe co-director Andy Summers. architecturefringe.com Still from E.1027 Eileen Gray and the House by the Sea. Credit: Rise And Shine World Sales 18 June E.1027 Eileen Gray and the House by the Sea Museum of BathAs part of Queer Bath 2025’s festival and in partnership with FilmBath, this screening sheds light on Irish designer and architect Eileen Gray’s story and the significance of the Modernist villa E.1027 in queer architectural history. The screening will be followed by a discussion on gender, space, and visibility in design. queerbath.co.uk June, date TBC Architecture LGBT+ Life Drawing HOK, London W1Architecture LGBT+’s next free-to-attend monthly life drawing class is being held at HOK’s offices near Warren Street. A queer model will do a variety of poses throughout the evening for attendees to draw. Drawing supplies, music and drinks are all included. The event is aimed at those who work or study within the architectural field. architecturelgbt.com Life drawing at Heatherwick Studio. Photography: Daniel Innes and Joe Stancer 21 June Soho Queer History – Walking Tour Trafalgar Square, London WC2A two-hour walking tour exploring the history of London LGBTQ+ life. It takes you through the West End, sharing stories of drag queens of the 1700s, gay soirées of the 1920s, and the development of this queer neighbourhood. londonfestivalofarchitecture.org 4 July Queer Nightcrawl Through the City NLA, The London Centre, London EC2Dani Dinger and Dan de la Motte of Queer Tours of London shine a light on London's hidden queer stories. The tour strolls down Sodomites Walk, heads to the docks to discover the secret lives of the Mollies of 18th Century Wapping and minces down Old Compton Street to navigate the danger and dalliance of 1930s Soho. thelondoncentre.org 5 July Architecture LGBT+ London Pride Celebration 2025 London, location TBCArchitecture LGBT+ hosts a breakfast and drinks ahead of the London Pride parade to gather architects and built environment professionals together before joining the parade with the official architecture float. architecturelgbt.com London Pride Float competition winning scheme Proudspeaker by oo office. Credit: oo office 5 July London Pride Float Hyde Park Corner, LondonIn March this year, the LFA, Architecture LGBT+ and Freehold announced an open call for the annual £8,000 pride float competition, which is backed by Brookfield Properties and will celebrate the contributions of LGBTQIA+ architects to the built environment. The winner is oo office. architecturelgbt.com November, date TBC Queer Places: The Exhibition 2.0 Liverpool, location TBCLaunching its second round, exhibition Queer Places, a growing archive of Liverpool’s LGBTQ+ spaces past, present and future, opens its doors again in November. The exhibition will be filled with art, architectural models, maps, photographs and artefacts celebrating queer heritage. New this year are interactive 3D models of historic queer spaces. queerplaces.co.uk Queer Places exhibition. Credit: Queer Places Organisations, initiatives and platforms Architecture Foundation Young Trustees’ Spatial Queeries Spotlight Sunday A weekly spotlight on LGBT+ practitioners, design initiatives and queer spaces. @youngtrusteesArchitecture LGBT+ Not-for-profit organisation run by volunteers. It aims to provide an inclusive and prejudice-free environment for LGBT+ architects and those working and studying within the profession through learning, mentoring and networking events – including life drawing and yoga. architecturelgbt.com @architecturelgbtArchitecture LGBT+ Academic Champions Network (ACN) An alliance of academic champions – one per architecture school in the UK – working to improve representation and understanding of queer identity and action in architectural education. architecturelgbt.com/academic-champions-networkBuilding Equality UK-wide member association with resources for built environment consultants, engineers, developers, contractors and institutions – plus events. buildingequalityuk.comFirst Brick Community-led, democratically run housing organisation aiming to build housing and community spaces for LGBTQ+ people who want and need it. firstbrickhousing.co.ukFreehold Networking hub for LGBTQ professionals and allies in the UK’s real estate industry. freeholdlgbt.comFriends of The Joiners Arms: The JOIN Project Collaboration with community partners to explore how LGBTQIA+ venues and organisations can help create inclusive spaces and better opportunities for work, training and volunteering. friendsjoinersarms.comHomotopia Arts and social justice organisation based in Liverpool supporting local, national, and international queer and trans creatives, artists and makers. homotopia.netInterEngineering A professional network aiming to connect, inform and empower lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender engineers and their straight allies. interengineeringlgbt.comLondon LGBT Community Centre Based in pop-up premises in Southwark, this centre is a safe, sober space that welcomes and supports anyone identifying as LGBTQ+. The space was fitted out by the design and architecture community, who rallied around to support the space. londonlgbtqcentre.orgOpen Plan Scotland A volunteer-led advocacy and support network for all who identify as LGBTQIA+ and study or work across architecture in Scotland. openplan.scot @openplanscotlandOutwardly Creative A new event in Brighton bringing together queer members of the arts and creative industries, including architects. outwardlycreative.co.uk @outwardlycreativePlanning Out Network for LGBT professionals in the town planning and planning sector. @planningoutPride of Place: England’s LGBTQ Heritage Resource and interactive map uncovering and celebrating the LGBTQ heritage of buildings, places and landscapes across England. historicengland.org.ukThe London Queer Housing Coalition Specialist steering group made up of by-and-for LGBTQ+ housing and homelessness organisations working in the capital. stonewallhousing.org/lqhcThe Outside Project London’s LGBTIQ+ community shelter, centre, domestic abuse refuge and trans night shelter. lgbtiqoutside.orgThe Proud Place, Manchester Manchester’s LGBT+ Community Centre hosting The Proud Trust in a purpose-built building. theproudtrust.orgTonic Community-led, not-for-profit organisation focused on creating vibrant and inclusive urban LGBTQ+ affirming retirement communities to address issues of loneliness and isolation of older LGBTQ+ people. tonichousing.org.ukRIBA Collections: LGBTQ+ spaces Research guide to a few of the historical spaces that have formed sites where LGBTQ+ communities have explored, celebrated or concealed sexual and gender identities. architecture.comQueerscapes A platform and community for queer and trans spatial practitioners, including architects, designers, landscape architects, urbanists, builders, gardeners, artists and anyone working with space. queerscapes.com @_queerscapesQueercircle Charity founded to fill the gaps and advocate for systemic change where other arts, health and education institutions fail or actively perpetuate harm, based in the Design District in a David Kohn-designed building. queercircle.orgQueer Design Club Online platform where LGBTQ+ designers can celebrate queer contributions to the design industry and visual culture, share their work and connect with each other. queerdesign.clubQuEAN: Queer Educators in Architecture Network Network of queer spatial design educators – with a focus on queer theory, pedagogies, identities and intersections with spatial design – founded by Gem Barton. @quean_the_networkQueer Places A growing, free digital archive celebrating the vibrant LGBTQ+ spaces of Liverpool’s past, present and future. queerplaces.co.uk @queerplacesQueer Scenarios A research, practice and dissemination community that explores and supports queer identities and queer approaches within critical spatial practices, working collaboratively between teaching staff and students. Based at Central Saint Martins. @queer_scenariosThis list is by no means comprehensive and there are plenty of other resources available. If you are doing something in this field, the AJ would love to hear from you.