{"id":272228,"date":"2026-01-23T10:33:32","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T15:33:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/?post_type=canvasflow&p=272228"},"modified":"2026-01-26T11:06:48","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T16:06:48","slug":"the-peak-of-creativity-photo-essay-dec-2025","status":"publish","type":"id_news","link":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/designwire\/the-peak-of-creativity-photo-essay-dec-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Cr\u00e8me De La Cr\u00e8me: Must-See Design Moments Of 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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KOURTNEY ROY Resulting from her recent residency at Spot Home Gallery in Naples, Italy, the photographer\u2019s Failed Postcards of Napoli, Piazza Mercato, a Baryta inkjet print mounted on aluminum, was among the staged self-portraits in \u201cLa Volpina\u201d at Les Filles du Calvaire in Paris.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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January 23, 2026<\/p>\n\n\n

Words: <\/span>Lisa Di Venuta<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Cr\u00e8me De La Cr\u00e8me: Must-See Design Moments Of 2025<\/h1>\n\n\n

Massive outdoor installations, pink-infused coworking, bio-based pavilions\u2014those and more are among 2025\u2019s highly original work by artists, architects, and designers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Check Out These Mesmerizing Designs From The Past Year<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For Art D\u2019\u00c9gypte\u2019s fifth annual \u201cForever is Now,\u201d Echoes of the Infinite by StudioPROBA<\/a> and SolidNature<\/a> drew from such regional symbols as the Eye of Horus with an interlocking sculpture in marble, onyx, travertine, and quartzite, backdropped by the Pyramids of Giza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photography by Mahmoud Hima.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Resulting from her recent residency at Spot Home Gallery in Naples, Italy, the photographer Kourtney Roy<\/a>\u2019s Failed Postcards of Napoli, Piazza Mercato, a Baryta inkjet print mounted on aluminum, was among the staged self-portraits in Paris.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photography courtesy of Les Filles du Calvaire.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Cast concrete, Finnish oak, and two-toned Dekton surfacing yield a clean, crisp environment at BBA Bnei Brak Active Sports & Leisure Center, a 43,000-square-foot public swim facility in Israel by Studio Shira Lavi BD<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photography by Shai Gil.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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In addition to being actor Jude Law\u2019s sister, the graphic designer and painter Natasha Law is also known for her high-gloss, pared-down silhouettes of female figures, including, from top left, Reach in Red, Lean in Blue, Tilt in Red, and Redine in Pink, all featured in \u201cBend Here,\u201d her solo show at Voltz Clarke Gallery in New York.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photography courtesy of Voltz Clarke Gallery.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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For a Laatzen, Germany, outpost of coworking brand Brainhouse247, inviting, unconventionally conceived amenities, like this collaboration area by Ippolito Fleitz Group<\/a>, where ceiling-hung textile strips tamper acoustics and Claesson Koivisto Rune\u2019s W151 pendant fixture hovers above custom furniture, entice member usage and retention. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photography by Philip Kottlorz.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Power Portal<\/em>, in jacquard-woven polyester, silk, wool, and other fibers, is among 80 works in \u201cMotherlode,\u201d artist Liz Collins<\/a>\u2019s first U.S. survey, at RISD Museum in Providence, Rhode Island, through January 11.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photography courtesy of Liz Collins and Candice Madey.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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At Expo 2025 Osaka in Japan, the Null2 pavilion by NOIZ<\/a> and Yoichi Ochiai centered on a mirrored-body concept: Steel-framed cubes surfaced in a flexible mirrored membrane powered by blockchain and AI scanned and digitized visitors to create their virtual alter egos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photography by Roland Halbe.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The woven elements of the timber-framed Eclosion in Cabin Fever, by Dorottya Kiss<\/a> and Matthew McArthur, an annual summer-school, design-build event conceived by Hello Wood studio to bring students and architects together to create socially engaged, sustainable projects, nodded to the history of the site, a former textile factory in \u010cesk\u00e1 Kamenice, Czech Republic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photography by BoysPlayNice.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Agn\u00e8s<\/a> Baillon<\/a> and \u00c9ric De Dormael<\/a>, the sculptor and lighting designer, respectively, teamed up for the eyeglasses-esque Lunettes Marron brooch in resin, oil paint, and gilded brass, presented in Galerie Negropontes\u2019s \u201cArchitectural and Design Landscapes\u201d at the Venice Design Biennial, where Baillon\u2019s 22 carat gold\u2013leaf Cam\u00e9e pin also appeared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photography courtesy of Galerie Negropontes.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Photography courtesy of Galerie Negropontes.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Last spring, the wares of Los Angeles\u2013based jewelry designer Sophie Buhai<\/a> jumped the pond to Galerie Anne-Sophie Duval in Paris debuting a 20-piece collection, including Sun Sperm Tear Magnifying Glass, in brushed sterling silver, bronze, rock crystal, and blackened sterling silver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photography courtesy of\nGalerie Anne-Sophie Duval.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cLandscapes and Constellations,\u201d at the Buffalo AKG Art Museum in New York through April 26, features Constellation III<\/em>, Constellation II<\/em>, and Constellation IV<\/em>, among the screen prints from the late American artist Allan D’Arcangelo\u2019s 1971 series, Constellation I\u2013IV<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photography by \u00a9 D\u2019Arcangelo Family Partnership\/ licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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For the 11th annual Winter Stations outdoor exhibition in Toronto, the American designer Jesse Beus\u2019s Parade<\/em> was among the six winning installations interpreting the competition\u2019s dawn theme by reimagining lifeguard stations on Woodbine Beach as portals to metamorphosis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photography by Joel Gale Imaging.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The 35,000-square-foot Blake School Early Learning Center in Hopkins, Minnesota, by HGA<\/a> is the state\u2019s first all-electric, zero-emission facility of its kind, making it LEED Gold certified and an Interior Design<\/em> Best of Year Award honoree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photography by Kendall McCaugerty.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Swiss artist Sylvie Fleury<\/a>\u2019s Silver Rain<\/em>, in fiberglass resin and vinyl, was displayed in \u201cThe Impermanent: Four Takes on the Collection,\u201d the inaugural exhibition at the new permanent home of the Museum of Modern Art Warsaw by Thomas Phifer and Partners, the firm\u2019s first European project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photography by Marta Ejsmont\/courtesy of Sylvie Fleury.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Currently on view at the Glenstone museum in Potomac, Maryland, is conceptual artist Alex Da Corte<\/a>\u2019s Rubber Pencil Devil<\/em>, his 2018 film that explores themes of humor, satire, violence, and tenderness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photography \u00a9 Alex Da Corte.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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A collaboration between the late Pritzker Architecture Prize winner Balkrishna Vithaldas (B.V.) Doshi<\/a> and Studio Sangath, cofounded by his granddaughter Khushnu Panthaki Hoof, the Doshi Retreat is a sensory, contemplative addition to the Vitra Campus in Weil am Rhein, Germany, that, formed from weathered low carbon\u2013emission steel, is part architectural pavilion, part art installation and Doshi\u2019s final built work, his first outside India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photography by Julien Lanoo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The 4,000-square-foot Hybrid Flax pavilion in Wangen im Allg\u00e4u, Germany, by University of Stuttgart Cluster of Excellence Integrative Computational Design and Construction for Architecture<\/a> has a roof of locally sourced, cross-laminated timber panels reinforced with robot-wound, flax-fiber filament, demonstrating that bio-based materials can be used for permanent, load-bearing structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photography by Roland Halbe.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Cofounded by Joy Herra, the Milanese project space, THE GREAT DESIGN DISASTER<\/a>, presented \u201cUniforms on Chairs,\u201d a series of collectible seats provided by Nilufar, including Afra & Tobia Scarpa\u2019s 121 from 1965, dressed in items from Older, a Danish\/Italian company specializing in sustainable uniforms that expand the architectural spaces in which they\u2019re worn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photography by Louis De Belle.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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These 1960\u2019s production diagrams for Totems<\/em>, a suite of conceptual drawings mapping designer Ettore Sottsass\u2019s sculptural explorations in stacked form, were in \u201cEt Tu, Ettore\u201d at Galerie56 in New York.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photography courtesy of Friedman Benda and Galerie56.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Ghislaine Thesmar and dancers of the Ballet de l\u2019Op\u00e9ra de Paris, a Bettina Rheims photograph from 1982, is included in \u201cImagination at Work,\u201d fashion and costume designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac<\/a>\u2019s retrospective at Les Abattoirs, Mus\u00e9e-Frac Occitanie Toulouse in France through August 23.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photography \u00a9 Bettina Rheims\/ADAGP, Paris, 2025.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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For Arc\u2019teryx\u2019s Jilin City, China, outpost, a ski season\u2013only repair hub by Still Young<\/a> is housed in a 10-sided, steel-framed tent capped with a waterproof tarpaulin made from upcycled clothing scraps, crowned by a steel skeletal fossil of the archaeopteryx, the Jurassic-era creature that inspired the brand\u2019s name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photography by Yuuuun Studio.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Photography by Yuuuun Studio.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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At the eight-floor headquarters of a Los Angeles finance company, two stacked stairways Gensler<\/a> carved out of the 1965 building\u2019s floor plates are backdropped by a towering expanse of preserved moss by Garden on the Wall and encourage connectivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photography by Jason O\u2019Rear.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The rivers in Kenny Nguyen<\/a>‘s hometown in the Mekong Delta inspired such mixed-media paintings as Eruption Series No. 91<\/em>, in hand-cut silk and acrylic on canvas, in the Vietnamese artist\u2019s \u201cConfluence\u201d exhibition at the Branch Museum of Design in Richmond, Virginia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photography courtesy of Kenny Nguyen.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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In reception at the 225,000-square-foot headquarters of finance company Co-operators in Guelph, Canada, designed by HOK<\/a>, the custom rug\u2019s pattern was derived from an aerial view of the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photography by Eric Laignel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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At Doris C. Freedman Plaza in New York through August 2, the Kuwaiti artist Monira Al Qadiri<\/a>\u2019s site-specific First Sun<\/em>, in cast aluminum, steel, and iridescent automotive paint, is a 17-foot-tall hybrid human-scarab figure that reimagines the Egyptian sun god Khepri as a contemporary monument to explore nature, gender, and spirituality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photography by Nicholas Knight\/courtesy of Public Art Fund.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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At Burning Man in Black Rock City, Utah, Ukrainian artist and Expolight founder Mykola Kabluk<\/a> integrated anodized aluminum and sand with a system of mirrors for Point of Unity<\/em>, a 20-foot sculpture that connected sky and earth, creating an illusion of infinite space, allowing visitors to see themselves in the context of the universe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photography by Daniel Vegera.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n