The 2024 Pritzker prize is announced, hotels are leaning into sleep tourism, and the world’s best restaurant will stay open (for now). All that and more in this week’s Five on Friday.
Riken Yamamoto honored with 2024 Pritzker Architecture Prize
The Yokosuka Museum of Art; photo courtesy of Tomio Ohashi
Japanese architect Riken Yamamoto has been selected as the 2024 laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, widely regarded as architecture’s most prestigious honor. Yamamoto, who founded Riken Yamamoto & Field Shop in 1973, is an “architect and social advocate,” according to the Pritzker Architecture Prize. Known for his projects throughout Japan, China, the Republic of Korea, and Switzerland, Yamamoto’s career spans five decades and encompasses private residences, public housing, elementary schools, university buildings, civic spaces, institutional buildings, and city planning. The 2024 Jury Citation states, in part, that he was selected “for creating awareness in the community in what is the responsibility of the social demand, for questioning the discipline of architecture to calibrate each individual architectural response, and above all for reminding us that in architecture, as in democracy, spaces must be created by the resolve of the people.”
Hotels are embracing sleep tourism
The reception at the Tempo by Hilton New York Times Square, designed by Wimberly Interiors; photo courtesy of Hilton
With a good night’s rest seemingly out of reach for many of us, hotels are turning to what should ostensibly be their main purpose: sleep. And while a focus on sleep tourism isn’t new, writes Carla Sosenko for The New York Times, some properties are stepping up their game—including rooms that feature AI-assisted mattresses from Bryte that adjust as the sleeper moves, to an eye mask that employs heat and massage to lower the heart rate, and even a private bedside session with a hypnotherapist at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park in London. At the Carillon Miami Wellness Resort, a four-night sleep retreat includes a room with a Bryte bed, a spa sleep circuit, and a sleep-promoting massage (plus a nearly $2,600 price tag). Hilton’s Tempo brand, meanwhile, has rooms divided into three zones: one of which is designed as a sleep-promoting environment with sound-absorbing acoustics, a temperature-control mattress, and lights that dim at sunset.
Noma to remain open through next spring
The bar at Piopiko at the Ace Hotel Kyoto; photo by Yoshihiro Makino
The world’s best restaurant isn’t closing just yet. Despite a 2023 announcement from chef René Redzepi that his groundbreaking Noma concept would shutter this year, the Michelin-starred restaurant has extended operations through next spring, according to Travel and Leisure Asia. Noma has also revealed its pop-up experience will return to Kyoto for a second 10-week residency at Ace Hotel Kyoto from October 8th to December 18th. “Ace Hotel Kyoto has been so successful, not just from a rooms and F&B standpoint, but also on the partnerships side,” Ace Hotels CEO Brad Wilson recently told HD. “We brought Noma to the hotel last year for one of their famed residencies, and it was such a brilliant experience that they’re coming back to do it again.”
Fashion icon Iris Apfel passes away
Iris Apfel with the Mist Vase from her collection with Istanbul-based glassware brand Nude; photo by Sebastian Kim
Famed multidisciplinary designer Iris Apfel died on March 1st at age 102. Known for her eclectic style, signature large-framed glasses, and maximalist approach, the New Yorker was the first non-fashion designer to garner an exhibit at the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, was the subject of an iconic 2014 documentary, Iris, and even signed a modeling contract with IMG Models at the age of 97, details Dezeen. Apfel’s career exemplifies the strides women have made in fashion and design. “Fashion really is women’s liberation in a lot of ways,” she once said.
HD also honors our own 2024 Women in Design, who will be celebrated at an awards breakfast during HD Expo + Conference in Las Vegas, April 30th-May 2nd. Tickets for the event are available now!
Learn to write better specs at HD University
The Lighting module from 2023’s HD University: Product Specification Bootcamp at HD Expo + Conference; photo by PWP Studio
Another highlight of this year’s HD Expo + Conference is HD University: Product Specification Bootcamp, which is returning for its second year. The pre-conference day is designed to help teams write better specs for flooring, casegoods, upholstered seating, outdoor furniture and fabrics, and lighting. Presented in collaboration with the International Society of Hospitality Purchasers (ISHP), the five training modules feature leading executives representing the entire scope of a project—from A&D, brand, ownership, purchasing, and manufacturers. The CEU-credited sessions also include networking and interaction. Add these tickets to your HD Expo + Conference registration today!
