The Wave and the Tower
Brussels carpeted its main square in 750,000 dahlias to rebuild Hokusai's Great Wave, marking 160 years of friendship with Japan. The same fascination once paid for a pagoda across town — with a fortune pulled out of the Congo.
Ten Days to Tear It Down
In 1939 the city gave itself ten days to demolish the Obelisco — the monument its own mayor called "the soul of Buenos Aires" and everyone else called worse. This year it turned 90, opened to the public for the first time ever, and held the whole country's heart twice in one week.
Lola Mora's Last Address
Argentina's Congress found her sculptures too indecent to keep. A century later they got a museum — the last building by an architect who also had to leave the country to get famous.
The Shoe Built to Feel a Brake Pedal
PUMA's best-selling sneaker started as a fireproof racing boot, modeled on one Formula One driver's own shoe — a driver who never lived to see it hit shelves. This week it grows another branch, on a runway, under A$AP Rocky's name.
Any 7 Records or Tapes — 1¢
For 71 years, Columbia House's "penny record" pitch hid one of the most fined negative-option billing schemes in retail history. It just shut down for good — right as vinyl posts its best year since 1983.
