This article is part of a special section on design on water as a source of creativity.
Ancient Roman Baths, Chance to Shine Again
After 1,500 years of dry spells, the Baths of Caracalla in Rome are fully regaining their underwater beauty. Constructed in the early 3rd century during the reign of Emperor Septimius Severus and his son Caracalla, it was opened in 216 and attracted 8,000 visitors daily until the water source was destroyed by the Visigoths in the 6th century. I did.
The redevelopment of the 25-acre site is a 10-year project overseen by Rome's Special Superintendent Daniela Porro and Monuments Director Mirella Serlorenzi. Last month, the first phase was completed and opened to the public, introducing a 137-by-105-foot shallow reflecting pool known as the Water Mirror, designed by architects Hannes Peer and Paolo Bornello.
In an email, Mr. Peer explained that he was inspired by Natatio, an Olympic-size swimming pool in an ancient bathhouse complex. The Water Mirror includes 20 underwater water jets equipped with reflectors that send out delicate, light-infused geysers. The stage, located almost flush with the swimming pool surface, is intended for theatrical performances, lectures and concerts.
Mr. Peer also worked on redesigning the monument's entrance, restoring its connection to the urban fabric, and adding a botanical garden, refreshment areas and other amenities. The buildings surrounding the bathhouse, whose walls, colonnades and wide open spaces inspired the former Pennsylvania Station, will be restored to be architecturally striking. “Caracalla is a very comprehensive and complex project,” he said. rome.net/baths-caracalla. — Arlene Hirst
This year's rooms at the Kips Bay Decorator Show House were inspired by the Blair House by Ann Pyne, principal of interior design firm McMillen, and the firm's partner, Elizabeth Pyne Singer (and Pyne's daughter). The Presidential Guest House across from the White House. They started by recreating the historic Chinese wallpaper used in the 1964 restoration of the Lee Drawing Room.
But the women didn't want to simply recreate the space designed by McMillen's founder, Eleanor McMillen Brown. For example, they commissioned a textured white and metallic mantle from Brooklyn ceramic artist Peter Lane, a modification of the 18th-century style.
“It’s a matter of having objects that challenge conservative ideas about wallpaper and Blair House,” Mr Pyne said. She added that the obvious choice for the mantle would have been from the Confederate era.
Some of the colors used in the room, including the acid green of a 1950s Italian armchair, further reinforce the neutral palette favored by Jacqueline Kennedy, who oversaw the early stages of the restoration of Blair House when she was first lady. According to designer John S. Botello, who wrote his master's thesis on Blair House, Mrs. Kennedy thought the decorator's suggestions to use chartreuse, magenta and other vibrant colors were inappropriate for a traditional home. 125 East 65th Street through May 28; kipsbaydesignatorshowhouse.org. — Stephen Treppinger
Any flower, no matter how dazzlingly colorful or strangely petaled, is of interest to Polish artist Marcin Rusak until it dries. Workers at the Warsaw studio then insert these into plastic and metal, creating vessels and furniture with drooping, bulging contours, as if the plants are still trying to grow.
Through May 24, Carpenters Workshop Gallery in midtown Manhattan is displaying 10 of his new works in the exhibition “Vas Florum: Resina Botanica.” His milky white resin vases (costing between $20,000 and $30,000 each) are layered with petrified flowers and leaves, as if abandoned by an exhausted bride, adrift in a stream. An amoeba-shaped table made of resin and bronze ($90,000 to $120,000 each), with flowers scattered against a rusty and dark green backdrop, resembles a rock filled with fossils.
Mr. Rusak said he was particularly interested in how the flower industry manipulated plants to maximize marketability, such as growing stems to reduce thorns or dyeing petals fluorescent colors. When artificially colored flowers undergo a reclamation process, streaks of pigment may burst from the petals, as if the plant is eagerly shedding its artificial camouflage. “It’s a very strange scenario,” Mr. Rusak said. carpentershopgallery.com. — Eve M. Kahn
Nickey Kehoe opens store in West Village
Relocating to New York can mean endless real estate struggles. Todd Nickey and Amy Kehoe, owners of Los Angeles design studio and home boutique Nickey Kehoe, were planning to open their first store in Manhattan, and the process was surprisingly smooth.
“We were just starting our search when we stumbled upon it,” Mr. Kehoe said of the mid-19th-century Italianate brownstone in the West Village where they rent two floors. (Artist Jackson Pollock also lived here early in his career.)
The pair had built up a large trade clientele in the New York City area over the years, so it made sense to have a presence there, they said. As in Los Angeles, the store offers the duo's branded designs, vintage pieces, items sourced from around the world, and pieces from other artisans. “We’ve always had an East Coast and European feel,” Mr. Nickey said. The California department store was also inspired by the hardware and design shops of New York in the 1990s, where they met.
The upper floor, called Salon, displays furniture, lighting, textiles and custom objects. Downstairs, the homewares section has more basic items for the pantry, laundry and garden.
Nickey Kehoe is located at 49 East 10th Street between Broadway and University Place. nickeykehoe.com. — Stephen Treppinger