Anne Quito

Next time you’re in an airport, look to the horizon and locate the tall tower governing the sky. A worldwide network of air traffic controllers perched in these soaring, heroic monoliths ensure the safety of millions of passengers by guiding some hundreds of thousands of flights every day. A new book, Art of the Airport Tower, by Smithsonian photographer Carolyn Russo captures the details of these functional buildings, generally off-limits to most passengers and architectural gawkers.

Geneva

At ceremony held in a former tram station in Glasgow, Scotland, a change-minded collective won the prestigious Turner Prize for contemporary art tonight (Dec. 7).

At the UN Climate Summit (COP21) in Paris this week, Olafur Eliasson has found a way to break the ice.

Get ready to be surrounded by a kaleidoscope of pastel hues. In an unexpected turn, Pantone, the world’s authority on color, has declared not one, but two “Colors of the Year” for 2016: A soft pink called Rose Quartz (Pantone 13-1520) and a muted blue called Serenity (Pantone 15-3919).

On Dec. 1, in New York City, Mallory was born.

An archive of some of the most daring art of the ’80s and ’90s is now open to the public, in a digital display honoring World Aids Day (Dec. 1). Called Art Lives, the online gallery features iconic artists whose creativity was lost to the world in the AIDS epidemic of the 1990s.

On Nov. 30 at a Comfort Inn in Okemos, Michigan, Numismatic Auctions is hoping to get $15,000 for an odd assortment of receipts, scraps of paper, a bottle cap, a Lipton tea bag wrapper, and two US dollar bills. Lot number 624P is called October Rent ($500), a framed mixed-media assemblage, (if you can call it that) is a work by the notorious American artist James Stephen George Boggs.

Light-speed internet may be upon us. A technology called “Li-Fi” uses light waves from ordinary LED light bulbs to deliver internet connectivity that that is cheaper, more secure and 100 times faster that broadband internet.

The honeycomb design on breakfast cereal, the fleur-de-lis spikes on an iron gate, a constellation of guilloché spirals on our banknotes—if we look close enough, most of our built environment is embossed or embellished with some kind of pattern. But behind those everyday patterns are surprising, sometimes scandalous stories.

Public restrooms in the United States have come a long way. Once humble colonial pit latrines and communal benches, American public toilets have evolved into potpourried petite palaces with ceramic thrones, automated seat cleaners, and ultra-strong hand dryers. Now, for the 14th year, we even have an “America’s Best Restroom Contest” to spotlight the crème de la crème of public toilets.

The Coca-Cola bottle was born 100 years ago, yesterday, when its iconic contour bottle—heralded as the “perfect liquid wrapper”—was approved for patent on Nov. 16, 1915.

Tonight, Nov. 16, a dramatic multimedia show is planned at the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) headquarters in Paris. In a projection called “Mosaic of Change,” seldom-seen photos from the institution’s archives will be projected on the façade of its iconic building in Paris, in commemoration of UNESCO’s 70th anniversary.

On Thursday, Nov 12, China’s central bank released a new set of 100-yuan banknotes into the market. The almost-imperceptible redesign is the first upgrade in 10 years for China’s highest-value banknote (worth about US $16).

This post has been updated with a statement from the artist.

Forget what you think an office looks like.

Over the last few years, we’ve all finally admitted that hospitals are depressing, sometimes toxic places. These places for healing can also make patients and staff ill, and the constant beeping of different machines doesn’t improve anyone’s mood. Frustrated patients often direct their ire at hospital staff—but what if the solution is to redesign the building itself?

For legions of truck drivers, employees chasing deadlines, and students burning the midnight oil, Manoj Bhargava’s best-selling invention, 5-hour ENERGY drink, has already been a lifesaver.

When Steve Jobs was shopping around for a logo designer for his post-Apple venture, NeXT, he asked graphic designer Paul Rand to come up with some sample ideas before formally hiring him. But instead of getting free designs, Jobs was served a sobering lesson on business ethics from the legendary designer.

A bad breakup can turn treasures into trash. But before dumping mementos and your ex’s stuff on the sidewalk, consider getting paid for it. Like an eBay for broken relationships, Never Liked It Anyway is an online marketplace for the jilted, the forsaken and the lovelorn.

A dinosaur with a wry expression, a four-legged tiger, and a goofy pear-shaped cyclops. These are among the cast of characters of Sagoskatt, a new line of IKEA hand puppets and plush toys based on drawings of young children.

Colors are tricky. If you’ve ever brought home a can of paint that you thought was taupe in the store but your partner points out looks “kinda pink” on the wall, you know how frustrating—and unreliable—color perception can be.

From George Clooney, Mark Zuckerberg and Kanye, to Barack and Michelle Obama, Martin Schoeller has photographed just about every important cultural and political celebrity of our time.

Organizations with a high degree of design intelligence, or which take design into account in their work, can expect higher returns from employees, according to new research published by UK nonprofit Design Council.