
Kouros Maghsoudi's Hug Chair Transforms Seating Into Personal Expression
Summary
DesignerKouros Maghsoudihas unveiled the Hug Chair, the latest addition to his Hug series, atNYCXDesign 2025. Known for his bold and unconventional approach to furniture design, Maghsoudi emphasizes its sculptural form and inviting presence with a low-lying silhouette, paired with thin metal legs. The legs serve the purpose of supporting the flat cushion seat, enclosed by bulbous, cylindrical arms upholstered in Italian leather.
The Hug Chair continues Maghsoudi's exploration of hedonism in design, following previous releases such as theHug BedandHug Tray. While the Hug Bed was explicitly crafted for multiple seating and reclining positions, the Hug Chair offers a more versatile experience, allowing users to interact with it in various ways. The chair's internal framing system, made from FSC-certified wood, ensures durability while maintaining a sleek, modern aesthetic. Its curved arms and low, grounded form subtly nod to intimacy without feeling overly delicate, reinforcing its bold yet approachable design.
Designed and crafted in New York City, the Hug Chair is available in a range of colors, patterns and textures. Fully customizable in any color or hide, the chair is intended to stand out effortlessly, making it a striking yet adaptable addition to contemporary spaces. The plush cushion wraps around the sitter, offering a physical embrace, much like the Hug Bed and Hug Tray. This continuity in design reinforces Maghsoudi's signature style, blending playfulness with opulence.
The Hug Chair debuted at an exclusive NYCXDesign exhibition, co-hosted by Dezeen, where attendees were encouraged to interact with the piece in unexpected ways. The piece is now available for order via Kouros Maghsoudi's officialwebstorewith a price point of $12,000 USD.

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Eater
2 hours ago
- Eater
4 Restaurants to Try This Weekend in Los Angeles: June 6
Every Friday, our editors compile a trusty list of recommendations to answer the most pressing of questions: 'Where should I eat?' Here now are four places to check out this weekend in Los Angeles. And if you need some ideas on where to drink, here's our list of the hottest places to get cocktails in town. For a great pizza (practically) anywhere in LA: Prime Pizza LA's pizza scene has grown substantially in recent years, with shops around town serving New York-style slices, square pies, New Haven-style pizza, and practically every other style under the sun. However, many LA pizza shops have only a single location, making them more of a neighborhood destination than a widely accessible option for pizza night takeout or delivery. Prime is among those outstanding pizza parlors in LA, but it has locations across the city, making it easy to grab a slice no matter what part of town one is in. The vodka pizza is a standout among the round pies, topped with mozzarella, basil, and Parmesan. Square pies consist of a simple grandma pie, a Sicilian, a spicy pepperoni, and a meat lover's. Prime even offers gluten-free crusts for those avoiding wheat. 1900 Allen Avenue, Altadena, CA 91001. — Rebecca Roland, editor, Southern California/Southwest For a gorgeous Italian patio vibe in the middle of residential Mar Vista: Beethoven Market One of the loveliest dinners I've had in recent memory, at least in terms of pure ambience, was at Beethoven Market, a neighborhood gem right in Mar Vista's residential expanse. Restaurateur Jeremy Adler has made a name overseeing some of the Westside's busiest spots, like Santa Monica's Cobi's, working for years to transform this former bodega into a community hub. On this front, Beethoven is overwhelmingly successful, perhaps to the chagrin of some neighbors who were happy to park their cars in our spots upon departing. But the benefit of a breezy, casual hangout like this must surely compensate for the traffic. Chef Michael Leonard serves a familiar California Italian menu of fried squash blossoms, blimp-shaped fried arancini, personal-sized pizzas, and medium-sized pastas. Evan Funke fans will find a lot of similar dishes here, such as grilled prawns in salsa verde, linguini al limone, burrata panzanella, and pesto-laden foglie d'Ulivo. Beethoven does venture in a different direction with the pizzas, sporting pillowy soft New York-esque crusts that offer a sweet fragrance, and the grilled sea bass over an herbaceous Sicilian tarragon sauce doesn't have a tangle of shredded fennel slices like at Mother Wolf. For dessert, be sure to share the excellent housemade gelati. Most people coming to Beethoven probably won't mind the similarities, and there's something to be said about the very reasonable pricing here (pastas are all under $20, pizzas max out at $23, a good meal can be had for under $75 a person before drinks). And LA has never been a city to ever tire of California-Italian food. 12904 Palms Boulevard, Mar Vista, CA, 90066. — Matthew Kang, lead editor, Eater Southern California/Southwest For an easy breakfast in Virgil Village: Virgil Cafe Lines at Courage and Sqirl may never truly die down, but Virgil Village now has another option for a more easygoing breakfast or brunch. Virgil Cafe is an unassuming breakfast spot near the intersection of Virgil and Melrose, serving all the classics like French toast, pancakes, and eggs, alongside huevos rancheros, chilaquiles, and breakfast burritos. The interior is no-frills, but service is warm and quick, and the portion sizes are very generous. Fresh-pressed juices and smoothies are also available, like a green juice and a peanut butter and banana smoothie. During the daytime, Virgil Cafe serves more lunch-y dishes, including a tlayuda, a mushroom burger, and fajitas. 709 Virgil Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90029. — Rebecca Roland, editor, Southern California/Southwest For killer arroz chaufa and a la brasa chicken: Rosty Peruvian Rosty Peruvian owner Maritza Gomez hails from Peruvian restaurant royalty. Gomez's mother, Alis Reañ, owned two notable Lima restaurants called Listo de Pollo. Listo de Pollo opened in 1969 and closed permanently in 1993, while a young Gomez and her sisters (Carmen and Flor Bermudez also operate Rosty) learned the inner workings of a restaurant. The family debuted their Highland Park restaurant in 2018, which has some of the best Peruvian food in the city. It's a casual and friendly spot that serves lunch through dinner with an incredible arroz chaufa, a Peruvian fried rice that takes fairly uninteresting vegetables and makes them sing in a saucy, hearty mixture of herbs, tomatoes, and a healthy dose of onions. The addition of chicken makes it an incredibly filling meal, but it is absolutely stunning, even without protein. Traditional la brasa rotisserie chicken is available, but go beyond and try everything, especially the fried yucca, lomo saltado, and incredible ceviche that packs heat. The pescado frito is a filet that's deep-fried and served simply with salsa criolla, rice, and plantains. The best strategy is to go with a group, share, and enjoy every bite. 5511 N. Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, CA. — Mona Holmes, editor, Eater Southern California/Southwest Related The 38 Essential Restaurants in Los Angeles Sign up for our newsletter.


Chicago Tribune
3 hours ago
- Chicago Tribune
CSO hires a new chorus director; cancels next season's MusicNOW series
This week, Symphony Center saw a one-two punch of good news and bad news. On Tuesday, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra announced that Donald Palumbo, the former chorus master of the Metropolitan Opera, would lead its award-winning chorus on an initial three-year contract — a cheering development for an ensemble that has been without a director since 2022. That was followed on Thursday by word that MusicNOW, the CSO's contemporary music series, would be 'paused' next season. A statement from Cristina Rocca, the orchestra's vice president for artistic planning, said the organization intended to 'imagine new possibilities for connecting Chicago audiences with new music.' Once the domain of the CSO's composer-in-residence, MusicNOW programming is typically unveiled after the bulk of season programming has been announced. Instead, series subscribers were notified of the cancellation via a mailer. Palumbo will prepare the 2025-26 season's previously announced Chicago Symphony Chorus programs: Mozart's Requiem (Nov. 20-23), an Italian operatic potpourri conducted by music director emeritus Riccardo Muti (March 19-21, 2026) and Poulenc's 'Gloria' (May 14-16, 2026). He will also work with the chorus for 'Merry, Merry Chicago!', a CSO holiday tradition (Dec. 19-23). Palumbo spoke with the Tribune by phone between sessions with young singers at Lyric Opera's Ryan Opera Center. Rehearsals were well underway with the Chicago Symphony Chorus for Verdi's Requiem (June 19-24), his debut as chorus director designate. 'The rehearsals of the Verdi have gone really, really well so far,' Palumbo says. 'If I sound like a kid in a candy store, well, I kind of am.' Palumbo is only the third director of the Chicago Symphony Chorus in its nearly 70-year history. At 76, his tenure will doubtlessly be shorter than predecessors Duain Wolfe and founding director Margaret Hillis, the latter leading the chorus for a whopping 37 seasons. But Palumbo — whose remarkable career trajectory saw him ascend from being a primarily self-taught hobbyist musician to the most in-demand choral director in the country — says he's approaching the job like any other. 'I'm going to do my job, and it's going to go on as long as I'm doing a good job, I want to do it, and they want me,' he says. Palumbo's résumé made him a contender to watch after Wolfe's mid-season departure from the chorus in 2022. Prior to his appointment at the Met, the country's most storied opera house, Palumbo directed the Lyric Opera chorus from 1991 to 2007. He is still a known quantity to scores of local singers, including some who sang under him during his Lyric tenure. 'He prepares you in such a way that you feel so understanding of the piece of music that you're doing,' says Chicago Symphony Chorus alto Emily Price, whom Palumbo also hired to the Lyric Opera Chorus in his final season there. 'The language is so important, and the intensity of each line has to be so specific.' Palumbo's preparation of the chorus for two Muti-led programs in 2022 and 2023 — an unstaged 'Un ballo in maschera' and Beethoven's 'Missa solemnis,' respectively — sealed the deal. Muti made his affinity for Palumbo known when, after 'Missa solemnis,' the outgoing CSO music director implored Palumbo to consider leading the chorus 'permanently' in onstage remarks. 'That was very unexpected,' he recalls, laughing. But in time, the prospect began to make natural sense. Palumbo feels he'd done his time in the opera world, where margins are getting ever tighter. At this stage in his career, he prefers to focus on the music — a stated position of Muti, once again his collaborator in the forthcoming Verdi Requiem concerts. The CSO post, Palumbo says, allows him to get down to fundamentals. 'I was just in Japan for a month doing a 'Traviata' production with a chorus of young singers. … I told them, 'For better or for worse, this could be my very last 'Traviata,' and it's your first,'' he says. 'It's a progression.' The appointment comes at a time when the CSO is in need of steady leadership. Klaus Mäkelä, the CSO's music director designate, does not begin his term at the organization until 2027. While he continues to spearhead orchestral hires, Mäkelä did not participate in Palumbo's search committee, owing to the timing of his own appointment, in 2024. 'When we engaged Klaus, we informed him of any number of things artistically that were going on here, including the search for a new chorus director. Knowing that he wouldn't be working with the full chorus for quite a while, he agreed that we should just move ahead and have the committee make the selection,' says CSO president Jeff Alexander. Mäkelä will, however, be part of Palumbo's renewal talks in 2028, which were intentionally timed to the end of Mäkelä's first season. Though Mäkelä and Palumbo are not working together next season, Alexander confirmed they would begin working together on programs beginning in the 2026-27 season. The CSO has pointed to the same contractual awkwardness in its curtailing of MusicNOW, its contemporary music series. Last year, the CSO did not appoint a composer-in-residence, citing the interregnum between music directors Muti and Mäkelä, who have hiring power over the position. (Despite this, the CSO filled a similar gap between Muti and former music director Daniel Barenboim 20 years ago with a twin appointment of composers Osvaldo Golijov and Mark-Anthony Turnage.) Alexander reaffirmed the CSO's commitment to hiring a new composer-in-residence, 'probably' during Mäkelä's first season in 2027-28. But he acknowledged that MusicNOW, or anything like it, may not be under that person's aegis. 'It may still include some curation of some kind regarding our contemporary music offerings, and the rest will probably remain pretty much the same: writing a new piece for the orchestra each year, et cetera,' Alexander says. Above all, economic factors prevailed. Alexander noted that MusicNOW — essentially a chamber series featuring members of the CSO — tended to follow the ticket-sale trends of those programs, filling just a fraction of Orchestra Hall's capacity. That's despite having costs not usually associated with those programs, like music licensing fees or guest artist expenses. (Featured composers and, occasionally, soloists and conductors were typically flown out for the series.) Instead, Alexander signaled that a short-term strategy may be to program more contemporary music on the CSO's mainstage. Though the CSO's 2025-26 season includes just one premiere (Matthew Aucoin's 'Song of the Reappeared' in December), subscription concerts feature works by 16 living composers: Camille Pépin, Carlos Simon, Thea Musgrave, Unsuk Chin, Jörg Widmann, Paquito d'Rivera, Gabriella Smith, Kevin Puts, Joel Thompson, Jennifer Higdon, Erkki-Sven Tüür, John Adams, Wynton Marsalis, Joe Hisaishi and former CSO composer-in-residence Jessie Montgomery. 'The word we're using is 'pause,' because, as we thought about it, we're a symphonic organization first of all,' Alexander says. 'If we put a contemporary piece on a CSO subscription program and it's performed three times, on a good week, 6,000 people are hearing it. If we put it on a MusicNOW concert, maybe 300 people were hearing it. … Part of our thinking is, let's beef up the contemporary offerings on the CSO main (series). Cautiously, of course. But more than normal.' Rocca's written statement went on to say that 'conversations with the artistic planning team' and Mäkelä 'are underway to guide future plans' for contemporary music programming at the CSO.


CNN
3 hours ago
- CNN
I tested Apple's 11th-gen iPad for a week, and it's still the best tablet
Apple put so little effort into revealing the new 11th-generation iPad this past spring that I'd bet most don't know that there's a new basic iPad for 2025. Announced within the press release for the new iPad Air M3, the new entry-level iPad is both massively important and admittedly boring. That's what we expect, though, when Apple continues to make small tweaks that don't rock the boat on its most-accessible iPad. Still, this latest iteration ensures that Apple's most affordable tablet is still the best iPad for most people and likely the top tablet as well. But is this update one that demands purchase right now, or can you wait until you need it? Let's find out. Apple iPad (11th Gen) The 2025 iteration of Apple's basic tablet is faster than before, but the biggest difference comes with a starting storage upgrade that makes it easier to download and use a bunch of apps. The iPad is still the de facto tablet for most people For a while, the regular iPad had the same boring design and the same dark and flat colors you get on its pricier laptops. Then, in 2022, Apple introduced the 10th-generation iPad with flat sides that match the rest of its tablet hardware. This iPad is the first update to that model, and it is physically identical, sharing all the same dimensions and weight. The iPad's 11-inch screen is surrounded by bezels that aren't especially chunky and give you a fair amount of room to grip the tablet without activating the display accidentally. While the iPad Mini is arguably better for reading books and for smaller spaces like an airplane's seat-back tray table, this screen is pretty great for most activities, including multitasking in split-screen mode. While the iPad's screen is a bit too glossy (more on that below), it's still otherwise great for everything I watched and played this week. From the bright yellow plane in the trailer for 'Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning' to the lush greens of the grass in Genshin Impact, just about all my content looked pretty good. It looked good enough, in fact, that I was wishing there were a larger, 13-inch version of this iPad, a size that's currently reserved for the iPad Pro. The iPad draws power from the USB-C port on the bottom, and it's got a three-dot Smart Connector for connecting various keyboard accessories. It's sold in blue, pink, silver and yellow, a bold set of colors that I wish were available throughout Apple's lineup and not just for the iMac M4. You also get some of the same standards as before, such as the rear 12-megapixel camera that can record 4K video. The 10th-generation iPad had this same camera, which was an upgrade from the 8-megapixel camera with 1080p video in the 9th-generation iPad. I'm not sure who needs that resolution in a tablet, but it's nice to know it's there. Additionally, you get a 12-megapixel front camera that supports Apple's Center Stage feature that keeps you properly framed on the screen by zooming in and out on video calls. When I dialed up my colleague Mike Andronico on Slack for a video call, he said I sounded and looked 'normal,' which is basically a ringing endorsement because I primarily use a 4K webcam (which Slack compresses). Apple's A16 chip delivers a performance boost This iPad has proved a stellar part of my days and nights during this past week. While I've been at work, I've kept it open next to me with Messages, Mail and one other app (sometimes Todoist for my productivity, other times Safari for my social media) open at the same time. I was able to juggle those, along with Apple's Photos and Notes apps, without a smidge of a hiccup or stutter. Gaming on the 11th-generation iPad also worked well, at least for mobile titles. The modestly demanding but massively addictive Balatro card game ran super smoothly, and the iPad also did a fine job with the 3D adventure game Genshin Impact. Everything looked correct as my characters ran around the woods and I switched between sword and bow-and-arrow attacks. Just don't expect the big AAA games that have been announced for iPads and Macs to run on this basic iPad: the recent Resident Evil and Death Stranding ports require an M-series chip, so they're exclusive to the iPad Air and iPad Pro. The A16 chip also delivered great scores on the Geekbench 6 benchmark tests, beating pricier tablets such as the Google Pixel Tablet, Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE+ and Microsoft Surface Pro 2024. Interestingly, though, the 11th-generation iPad's single-core score on that test — which measures performance in less-demanding, everyday apps — is basically within the margin of error of what we saw from the iPad Air M2. Sure, Apple's already updated that model with faster internals with the iPad Air M3, but it's great to see an A-series chip hold its own in any way against Apple's brawny M-series silicon. Decent battery life Expect decent battery life from the new iPad. When I ran our battery test on the 11th-generation iPad, draining it of a full charge by playing a looping 4K video at 50% brightness with Airplane mode on), it got a perfectly reputable score that was just north of 11 hours. That iPad time compares very well against similar slates: 1.5 hours longer than the Google Pixel Tablet and nearly an hour longer than the latest iPad Air. The current iPad Mini only lasted 24 minutes longer, which is basically within the margin of error. The Galaxy Tab S10 FE+ lasted more than three hours longer, but that's to be expected when it's a larger tablet that has more room for battery. Anecdotally, I'd say you can get two days of serious use out of this iPad before it needs to charge. I was down to only 54% after eight hours of use that consisted of work, gaming and three hours of streaming video. Twice as much storage as before There's one other specs boost under the hood, as the 11th-generation iPad now starts at 128GB of storage. This is an overdue doubling of its previous 64GB minimum, especially when Apple's marketing continues to promote games like Genshin Impact that take up well over 30GB of space. On top of that, just logging into my iCloud account meant my Photos library would sync up, and that alone took up more than 32GB. That's all the argument I need to make for why it's good Apple's moved to 128GB by default. No longer will you have to pay a higher price merely to avoid a flurry of 'Storage Almost Full' alerts. Apple's entry-level iPad is still pricey compared to the field While the $349 iPad is the least-expensive Apple tablet, you don't have to spend much time to find similarly sized tablets that cost notably less. Amazon's Fire Max 11 is $230, Lenovo's 10.1-inch Tab is $200 and Samsung's Galaxy Tab A9+ is $220. The price gaps grow far greater if you look at smaller tablets, such as the $60 Amazon Fire 7. This isn't to say I want Apple to make a tablet like the Fire 7, which is much slower and of lower build quality. I merely want to see iPadOS get out from under the hefty $349 minimum barrier of entry. This iPad is not meant for the sun or the bright lights Aside from price, my biggest frustration with the 11th-generation iPad is that it can be a bit too glossy depending on your situations. That's because its screen still doesn't have the anti-reflective coating Apple uses in all its other (more expensive) iPads. I saw this flaw for myself while enjoying AMC's macabre drama 'Interview with the Vampire,' which has a suitably dark color palette. This meant I had to raise the iPad's brightness and keep it pointed away from nearby lights to get the optimal visibility. If you buy the iPad with cellular 5G capabilities (and not just Wi-Fi) to use it out and about, you might find yourself running from your reflection and looking for some shade. That's exactly what happened to me when I brought the iPad out on a sunny day in Manhattan's High Line park, where my reflection nearly obscured the showtimes of movies playing at my local theater. Apple Pencil support is here, but other iPad features are absent Unfortunately, you still may need a decoder ring to figure out which Apple Pencil works with your iPad. The good news is that the 11th-generation iPad works with both the original Apple Pencil and the new Apple Pencil with USB-C, which are the historically cheaper options — just like this iPad. That said, I do wish the pricier Apple Pencil Pro and second-generation Apple Pencil also worked with this iPad. The annoying news, though, is that you can't charge an Apple Pencil when you magnetically snap it to one side of the tablet — which is how the iPad Mini, Air and Pro work. Instead, you plug in a charging cable (either USB-C or Lightning, depending on how old the stylus is). Another arguably big missing feature is Stage Manager, which enables a desktop-like interface where your apps exist as floating windows. Those trying to make their iPad double as a laptop might see this as a reason to upgrade to the iPad Air, which also works with Apple's Magic Keyboard. Want a smoother screen or facial recognition? You'll need an iPad Pro for those perks, though you do get some biometric security on the 11th-generation iPad with Touch ID fingerprint recognition. Oh, and you can't run the generative AI features found in Apple Intelligence on this iPad, though that makes me like it more. After a week letting the iPad take the wheel for a lot of what I'd normally do on my laptop or phone, I'm happy to say that even Apple's entry-level tablet offers a pretty good (if not great) experience. So, while I will argue that a more-affordable iPad should exist, there's nothing that bad about this one, as should be the case when we're talking about a $350 gadget that's either the second- or third-most-important screen in your living room. At the end of the day, I'd argue that the vast majority of those who want a tablet should probably get the basic iPad. Only those looking to sync text messages with an Android device or desire a windowed app experience really need to look elsewhere. What is the best way to pair an Apple Pencil to an iPad 11? What is the best way to pair an Apple Pencil to an iPad 11? You'll want to connect your Apple Pencil physically to the USB-C port at the bottom of your iPad. Either way, you'll need a USB-C cable (one came with your 11th-generation iPad), and those with a first-generation Apple Pencil (which has the shiny ring near the butt of the stylus) will need Apple's USB-C to Apple Pencil Adapter. Then, you slide down the cap on the end of the Apple Pencil to reveal the USB-C port on the newer Apple Pencil or the Lightning port on the end of the first Apple Pencil. If you have the older Apple Pencil, you plug the USB-C to Apple Pencil Adapter into the Lightning port. Now, connect the USB-C cable to both the Pencil and the iPad, and follow the on-screen prompts. How big is the screen of the iPad 11? How big is the screen of the iPad 11? The 11th-generation iPad's LED screen measures 11 inches diagonally, with a 2360-by-1640 resolution. Does the iPad 11 support wireless charging? Does the iPad 11 support wireless charging? No, the 11th-generation iPad doesn't support wireless charging. No iPads offer such a feature. CNN Underscored editors thoroughly test all the products in our testing guides, and we take tablets just as seriously as we do laptops and all other tech. We're made up of a skilled team of editors and writers who provide full transparency about our testing methodology for our product reviews. Electronics writer Henry T. Casey has been testing tablets for more than a decade, having tried everything from the chunkiest kids' tablet to the priciest iPad Pro. He's seen plenty of tablets turn into doorstops and paperweights over the years and wants to make sure you love the one you buy.