Architecture embraces a more regenerative role, the Louvre launches a design competition for upcoming expansion, and private clubs take a more family-friendly approach. All that and more in this week’s Five on Friday.
The remote work gender gap widens
Photo courtesy of Adobe Stock
As companies tighten return-to-office mandates, The Wall Street Journal explores how this shift is playing out differently for men and women. While more women than ever are part of the workforce, they’re also more likely to stay remote, often to balance childcare responsibilities. In 2024, 36 percent of employed women reported working from home compared to 29 percent of men, down from 34 percent. Remote work offers flexibility, especially for parents, but it also comes with risks. Economists warn that women may be missing out on mentorship, visibility, and promotions. With the remote work gender gap growing, so do the stakes: executives say they plan to reward in-office workers with raises and favorable assignments.
Rethinking architecture through rewilding
The Tirpitz Museum in Denmark from BIG; photo by Rasmus Hjortshoj
As the climate crisis intensifies, architecture is embracing a more regenerative role. A recent ArchDaily feature explores the emerging practice of rewilding—a design ethos rooted in restoring biodiversity, rebalancing human presence, and allowing landscapes to evolve on their own terms. No longer confined to conservation biology, rewilding in architecture challenges the notions of permanence, authorship, and dominance. Take Studio Ossidiana’s Earthsea Pavilion in Bruges, which functions as a living organism—decomposing, regenerating, and housing other species. These projects prioritize light-touch interventions, often reversible, adaptive, and shaped by local ecologies. Examples like Scape Landscape Architecture’s Living Breakwaters project off Staten Island and Tirpitz Museum in Denmark by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) show how architecture can become a scaffold for ecosystem recovery rather than an obstacle to it. Meanwhile, initiatives like the Knepp Estate and Rural Studio highlight the value of low-impact design, encouraging a shift from form-making to facilitating natural processes.
The Louvre’s growing pains spark a $316 million expansion
The Louvre in Paris; photo courtesy of Adobe Stock
After a recent workers’ strike left Louvre visitors locked out and frustrated, the Louvre is looking to the future with a major expansion plan, writes Smithsonian magazine. The Parisian museum just launched a global architecture competition for a $316 million overhaul aimed at alleviating overcrowding and improving operations. At the heart of the redesign: a second entrance tucked into the 17th-century colonnade near the Seine to ease strain on I.M. Pei’s iconic pyramid. Also in the works is a 33,000-square-foot room dedicated to the Mona Lisa, offering a more intimate experience. As Louvre president Laurence des Cars puts it, the pyramid “is no longer enough” to handle the institution’s nine million annual visitors. Finalists for the design will be announced this fall, with completion slated for 2031.
The rise of the family clubhouse
The Cocoon in Tribeca in New York; photo courtesy of the Cocoon
New York’s latest wave of private clubs is taking a more family-friendly approach, writes Curbed. Opening next summer in an 1860s Brooklyn Heights building, the Beginning aims to blend the sensibility of a Soho House with kid-friendly offerings like a double-height play space and a pizza restaurant. “Usually there is nothing to do with kids indoors besides taking them to a crappy play space or to a restaurant where they’re not really welcome,” says Chris de Koos, who founded the Beginning with Michael Schoen. The duo is part of a broader movement addressing a long-overlooked need: beautiful, functional spaces that kids and parents both can enjoy. At Cocoon, a Montessori-inspired space in Tribeca and the Upper West Side, parents sip wine while kids climb handwoven webs. Dubbed “a play space made for parents,” House of Wonder in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn wraps a Nordic café around a modern play zone with clear sightlines. “There’s no reason why you can’t make spaces that are cohesive and design-led for families, where parents actually want to spend time,” adds de Koos.
Waldorf Astoria makes its return to New York
The Waldorf Astoria New York lobby; photo by Noë & Associates and courtesy of the Boundary
Last month, after nearly eight years and a $1.95 billion transformation, the iconic Waldorf Astoria New York reopened its doors. The Art Deco landmark has been reconfigured: 1,600 historic guestrooms condensed into 375 luxurious hotel rooms and 372 private residences, all designed to feel spacious, modern, and distinctly Manhattan, writes The New York Times, which details the hotel’s journey throughout the years. Preserving its storied heritage, the hotel, from Skidmore Owings & Merrill (SOM) with interiors by Pierre‑Yves Rochon, keeps treasures like the Queen Victoria-gifted clock and Cole Porter’s Steinway piano. Further, the public spaces (including the forthcoming Guerlain Wellness Spa, envisioned by Wimberly Interiors) have been painstakingly restored but with a contemporary edge, ushering the property into the 21st century. Three new culinary experiences—the AvroKO-designed Lex Yard, a Michael Anthony-helmed two-story brasserie; Yoshoku, an intimate kaiseki-style Japanese restaurant; and the signature Peacock Alley—have also opened to entice guests.
