Handbag: The Latest Architecture and News

The Graham Foundation has announced the award of 69 new scholarships to individuals around the world who support architectural projects. The funded projects represent diverse lines of research with original ideas that advance our understanding of the designed environment.

Selected from more than 500 proposals, the funded projects include exhibitions, publications, films, and performances that promote rigorous academic study, stimulate experimentation, and foster critical discourse in architecture. Innovative projects are led by established and emerging architects, artists, curators, filmmakers, historians, and photographers, among other professionals.

Renzo Piano has designed a limited-edition handbag for the Italian fashion brand Max Mara to match his newly completed Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. The leather, top-handle bag, inspired by the "pure design and sophisticated materials" of the Whitney, features distinct ribbing inspired by the museum's facade.

"Our aim was to apply one of the most characteristic elements of the museum project - the facade - to the bag: hence the idea of the modular strips enveloping the exterior," said Piano in an interview with Max Mara. "We tried to maintain a simple, pure design, working only on the details by applying a creative use of technology and placing the accent on respect for the materials."