Good stays come in small sizes
New York’s new capsule hotel, Milan Design Week wrapped, and Gaudi’s path to sainthood
Welcome to The Journal, a new section for Linear that’s focused on noteworthy design news, long-form editorials, interviews, events, and musings
First, some updates on what’s new with Linear: I left my job a couple weeks ago which has given me a time to work on some Linear projects I’ve been putting off. I’m excited to spend some more time building out the site and experimenting with more content formats! Here’s what I’m focused on:
[1] Collections: we’re going to continue our regular Collections format. These will go out twice monthly and feature new projects we’ve curated for the site.
[2] The Journal: a new section I’m hoping to put out 1-2x per month — it’ll look more like this newsletter and feature more editorial content, latest happenings in the design world, and interviews with designers and architects. (If this isn’t your vibe, you can opt out of the Journal in your Substack settings while opting in to Collections, or vice versa.)
[3] New website: I’m adding search (finally), the ability to save projects to your own collection, a member portal to showcase exclusive discounts/perks, and redesigning project pages. I’m very excited to roll this out and create a new digital home for the Architecturally Curious. This is coming very soon!
[4] Travel Guides: I’m also excited to be rolling out Guides, starting with New York and Los Angeles where we’ll share opportunities to experience great design IRL from stays, to dining, to nightlife, to museums, to experiences, and more. These will be available to paid subscribers.
New York’s newest, bougiest capsule hotel
Good stays come in small sizes
New York’s first sleeper cabin hotel just opened in the Bowery. Inspired by the nostalgia of European train cars and the innovation of Japaneses capsule hotels, Now Now is a cozy, design-forward stay for solo travelers that want less fuss, more feeling.
Dovetail + Co, the team behind the Urban Cowboy Lodge in Upstate New York, teamed up with Islyn Studio to turn a historic Bowery icon into a “sanctuary for solo travelers.” Once a lodging house, then a tavern, then a dry goods store, later becoming “The Whitehouse,” the last operating flophouse in Bowery.
We sent Lorenzo Lasagna to the field for a review:
Calling Now Now a hostel feels reductive. There are no shared rooms, but while the footprint is tight, the hospitality isn’t. Housekeeping comes every day. Fresh linens and towels are provided daily, service at the front desk is excellent.
This is something else. A boutique stay for the “TikTok dupes” generation. A proof of concept for what happens when you treat budget travelers like VIPs.
In other news
Milan design week wrapped up a couple weeks ago. Truthfully I hadn’t paid much attention to it in previous years, but I was pretty blown away by some of the installations this year — I’m manifesting a trip for myself in 2026.
The theme for 2025 was “Connected Worlds” — we saw unlikely material mixes, unique cultural collaborations, a connection to the world itself through sustainability, and connection to the past with contemporary installations in historic sites. Here are some of my favorites:
Aesop designed a series of sensory, meditative experiences in a historic 1400s church that allowed visitors to explore “renewal and resensitisation” on a visceral level
Inspired by Donald Judd’s forms and the De Stijl art movement, Ryuichi Kozeki explores deconstructed minimalism in their piece “Frame Structured Arm Chair”
Juliana Lima Vasconcellos designed “Source of Pleasure,” a multi-sensory journey that transports visitors into Lavazza’s world of coffee
Office Talk
Headlines for a happy hour
—The Frick in NYC is open again after an impressive $220M restoration led by Selldorf Architects that focused on modernizing infrastructure, and restoring the architectural features to their Gilded Age splendor
—The Vatican put Antoni Gaudi, the architect behind La Sagrada Familia (among other iconic works), on the path to sainthood in recognition of his “heroic virtues,” declaring him “God’s Architect”
—Gallery CASA DE presented the “Sergio Rodrigues & Ricardo Fasanello Exhibition” at the Brazilian Embassy in Japan, an exploration of Brazilian modernism held in honor of the 130th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Japan and Brazil, established in 1895
Look Up!
IRL happenings for the Architecturally Curious
—Book talk: On 4/30 at 6pm at Rizzoli Bookstore (NYC), Fire Island Modernist takes a look at the history, culture, and architecture of this “gay paradise”
—Gallery opening: Tappan Collective’s new SoHo gallery is open to the public 5/1-5/22 at 100 Grand St. At their Melrose location, FORWARD is on display until June 14.
—Save the date: The NYCxDESIGN festival is running from 5/15 to 5/21 with no shortage of events to choose from. Keep an eye out for the next Journal issue — I’ll include the ones worth attending.