"Embrace" by Klára Hosnedlová @ Hamburger Bahnhof


text by Arlo Kremen

Embrace is the largest installation of the Czech-born artist Klára Hosnedlová. The installation was produced as the culmination of the annual CHANEL Commission at Hamburger Bahnhof—the old train hall turned art institution. Her resulting work has a remarkable all-at-once effect, where disparate facets of existence overlap: tactile, industrial, sound, history, architecture, scale, the land, and heritage are all interwoven in her piece, compelling visitors to sit patiently in Hosnedlová’s singular world.

The artist transforms the exhibition hall’s original floors with grey stone tiles. The plane of grey is interrupted by gashes of sand, dirt, and water—natural material invades the clinical space of art reception. Industrial speakers sourced from Berlin clubs, some of which no longer exist, pile onto some of the intruding earth beds. While some speakers amplify the audio cycle for the show, others lie entirely inert as empty vessels.

The show’s soundtrack was developed by Berlin- and Brussels-based composer and artist Billy Bultheel. The track cycles through a women’s choir, Lada, who sing in Moravian micro-dialects, instrumental sections, church bells, and the voice of Czech rapper Yzomandias. Much of the work originates in memories and histories of where Hosnedlová grew up, the Moravian town of Uherské Hradiště, where the inorganic structures of central-east European communist industrial architecture and the region’s rich cultural landscape came into contact. The eight steel walls bordering the show hold sand-covered reliefs that similarly evoke memories. Both referring to Moravia’s history, they also call on the socialist wall friezes common in public buildings. With the fossils embodying both prehistoric and communist histories, they turn to Hosnedlová’s childhood in the immediate aftermath of Czechoslovakia’s Velvet Revolution, her birth taking place just a year after and three years before the formation of the modern Czech Republic in 1993. But they simultaneously represent her childhood hobby of collecting fossils, believing them to be remnants of another world.

Embrace, 2025
Klára Hosnedlová
Installation view
Courtesy Artist, Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler, White Cube / Nationalgalerie – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Zdeněk Porcal – Studio Flusser

These reliefs also bear the work of glass-making artisans whose practice has been informed by generations of glass-makers, joining the separate referents of the reliefs through their regionality and as a historic artisan medium. Like claws, the hand-cast glass protrudes from the reliefs, mimicking, too, the carbonization of a prehistoric relic. Nine pieces of colored glass in total, whose material contrasts with the rigid structure of the reliefs, balancing fragility and durability.

The embroideries embedded in the reliefs act as portals to the past, depicting scenes from unseen staged performances that were photographed at brutalist structures in Berlin. These slow, intimate moments transport the viewer into a still past. Some depicted scenes emphasize physical touch. One embroidery shows a man with a lighter flaming right by his ambomen; his skin, brightened by the fire, evokes the sensation of a flame near the skin—its primal warmth. Another shows someone fiddling with a lit match, meditating on the feeling of an enclosing fire, a moment before movement. These gentle images are blown up within the immensity of the reliefs, both in size and in their references to ancient life and architecture, considering these ephemeral interactions with the body and natural phenomena like fire as contained within the vastness of history, politics, and culture.

 

Embrace, 2025
Klára Hosnedlová
Installation view
Courtesy Artist, Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler, White Cube / Nationalgalerie – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Zdeněk Porcal – Studio Flusser

 

Some reliefs, displaced from the steel walls, are fixed to the hemp and flax tapestries hanging in the middle of the hall. Six in total, they hang from the ceiling and culminate in clumped tendrils, which cover the floor around the tapestry. Each is made from spun flax and hemp and dyed in an earthy tone from plant-based dyes. Such works also return to Bohemia, for the region has a long, pre-industrial tradition of flax and hemp cultivation that largely ended after the Second World War, when global industrialization and the legacies of colonial trade displaced regional textile production across Europe. For these works, Hosnedlová worked with the last flax and hemp processors in that region of modern-day Czech Republic. These fixtures, both blocking the viewer out and trapping the viewer in, disassemble traditional notions of inside and outside, inculcating the viewer into a landscape.

The show accomplishes an evocation. Through Embrace, a feeling of loss and slippage permeates, but its subject is not turning to pure nothingness. What is decaying—whether it be the cultural traditions and history of Moravia due to colonial capitalism or the regional sonic topography of language and music felt passing through the dusty, beaten, and partially defective speakers—it is going somewhere. Whether in memory-soaked imaginative environments like the one Hosnedlová crafts, or as a relic for new generations to uncover, the artist demonstrates her trust that the Moravia of her childhood will not disappear—it will carbonize under the earth for someone else to uncover and cherish as a key to another world.

Embrace is on view through April 1, 2026 @ Hamburger Bahnhof, Invalidenstraße 50, Berlin.

Design, Desert, and the Art of Slowing Down: A Family Stay At The Desert Wave House

text by Oliver Kupper

We packed the car and headed to Palm Desert to stay at the Desert Wave House, a mid-century modern dreamscape nestled among the palms and rock formations. It was one of those family getaways that somehow managed to be both restful and quietly transformative—a pause, a breath. And, thanks to a new collaboration with Design Within Reach and Boutique Homes, it became something else too: a design-lover’s immersion, curated down to the very last detail.

It’s the first time Design Within Reach has offered this kind of experience—a full takeover of a private architectural home, styled with furniture pieces from the Paul Smith Collection, which merges iconic pieces from DWR’s roster with the legendary British designer and fabrics textiles developed with Maharam. And you can feel that intention the moment you step inside. It’s not just staged to be photographed—it’s designed to be lived in.

The Desert Wave House, designed in the 1950s by Walter S. White, is almost unreal in its beauty. From the road, it ripples into view like a mirage—low-slung, curvilinear, with its signature undulating roofline that echoes the nearby Santa Rosa Mountains. Inside, the architecture feels elemental. Soft light pours through clerestory windows, bouncing across poured across uncovered original terrazzo floors. But what makes the space sing right now is the way Design Within Reach has layered in warmth and ease—simple lines, beautiful textures, tactile materials. We arrived midafternoon and immediately dropped our bags. The house gently asks you to slow down.

One of my favorite rooms is the living room, with a vinyl record player—yes, a real one—which sat on a credenza stocked with records. We put on Miles Davis while making breakfast and then later flipped to Fleetwood Mac as the sun dipped low. It sounds like a small thing, but those musical moments grounded the day. There’s something so physical and present about putting a record on and letting the crackle warm the room.

And then, of course, there’s the pool. A sparkling, perfectly proportioned pool with views out to mountains. We spent hours floating and watching shadows stretch across the patio. Design Within Reach had furnished the outdoor space with low-slung loungers, architectural umbrellas, and side tables made for lemonade (or spritzes, depending on the hour). In the evenings, we watched the sky go pink, then purple, then absolutely star-splattered.

What struck me most was how seamless everything felt—not just the interiors, but the experience of being in the house. The kitchen was stocked with beautiful tableware; the bedrooms had DWR linens so soft they might as well have been washed a hundred times. Every corner was photogenic—but also intuitive and functional. It’s not easy to create a space that feels elevated and effortless. But they did.

This partnership between Design Within Reach and the Desert Wave House feels like something new. Not just a showroom in situ, but a lived-in, emotionally resonant experience of what good design can actually do. How it can set a tone. Encourage rest. Invite connection. For years, DWR has been synonymous with accessible modern design—you walk into their stores and can imagine these pieces in your own home. But this collaboration takes that idea a step further. It asks: What happens if you let people live inside the fantasy for a few days? The answer is: you come away inspired.

For our family, it was more than just a stylish weekend. It was a memory—of barefoot breakfasts and shared swims, of design conversations. It was time spent inside a space that reminded us how much atmosphere matters. How much the way a room feels shapes the way you show up in it.

We left reluctantly, peeling ourselves away from the sun-drenched terrace and carefully repacking our half-read books and damp swimsuits. But we also left with ideas. About what it means to create a beautiful, functional home. About the joy of a well-balanced chair. About the luxury of slowing down enough to notice details.

It’s rare that a branded experience actually sticks—that it feels like more than a surface-level showcase. But this one did. The Desert Wave House wasn’t just beautifully curated—it was generous, lived-in, soulful. It reminded us that good design doesn’t shout. It whispers. It nudges. It opens up space for presence.

The experience can be booked until August 31st here.

Prada’s Architectural Meditation in Osaka

Prada Mode, Osaka
Courtesy of Prada

text by Andrea Riano


At a time when fashion’s cultural events are so often reduced to surface-level branding, Prada Mode’s second edition in Japan is a serious meditation on how architecture can reimagine the ecosystem of an island. In the heart of Osaka, the brand collaborates with architect Kazuyo Sejima, inviting guests to participate in a critical dialogue, exclusive performances, and an immersive exhibition.

Open to the public through June 15th, Prada Mode Osaka takes place in Umekita Park, a rare oasis nestled between Osaka’s glass towers and directly connected to the country’s busiest train station. This is the twelfth edition of the brand’s cultural journey, which has landed everywhere from Miami to Hong Kong and now, for the second time, in Japan. This particular edition is curated by Pritzker Prize-winning architect and head of SANAA, Kazuyo Sejima, a frequent collaborator of Prada.

Prada Mode, Osaka
Courtesy of Prada

In 2008, the Fukutake Foundation, which manages the Benesse Art Site Naoshima, invited Sejima to reimagine and shape the built environment of the small Seto island of Inujima. At Prada Mode, the architect shares this ongoing work through models, videos, and other materials at a SANAA-designed pavilion in the park. In the days leading up to Prada Mode Osaka, Inujima Project offered a private preview of Inujima, introducing the history of the island, Sejima’s projects there over the past 17 years, and her vision for its future. During the Inujima Project, Prada and the architect unveiled a permanent pavilion at Inujima Life Garden, designed by Sejima and donated to the island by Prada.

“On Inujima, a tiny island rich in nature, visitors will encounter and experience symbiosis - a landscape that combines history, architecture, art, and daily life. In Osaka, a city with historical ties to Inujima, this experience will be shared and expanded to reach a wider audience. At this edition of Prada Mode, Symbiosis will take shape through conversations and discoveries, creating a new landscape that continues to grow with the participation of all,” says Kazuyo Sejima.

Kazuyo Sejima at Prada Mode, Osaka
Courtesy of Prada

The programming reflects that same ethos. The week-long schedule is a soft collision of art, intellect, and experimental sound curated by Craig Richards, featuring performances by Nik Bärtsch, Reggie Watts, and C.A.R. (Choosing Acronyms Randomly), the latter being an incredible post-punk performance. Guests lounged on floor cushions, sipped Prada-branded negronis and olives, while watching film screenings by Bêka & Lemoine and a dance piece by choreographer Wayne McGregor, joined by composer Keiichiro Shibuya. Shibuya also presented “ANDROID MARIA,” a newly created android developed with a team of leading developers, produced and presented by ATAK.

“It’s not about promotion here. It’s about architecture, music, ideas. The curation is unique. Prada genuinely wants to support culture.” says Shibuya, who is known for challenging the boundaries between humans and technology through his compositions and collaborations with artists and scientists, such as his Android Orchestra. 

Indeed, Prada Mode has never really been about fashion, instead, it's about the contexts that shape it: cities, people, materials, and memory. In Osaka, that vision reaches a new level of clarity.

Prada Mode, Osaka
Courtesy of Prada

Prada Mode is on view through June 15th at Umekita Park, Ofukacho, Kita Ward, Osaka, 530-0011