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Forbes
4 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Sailing Into Culture: Casa Sanlorenzo Anchors In Venice
Casa Sanlorenzo Saloon Sanlorenzo Arts–a creative hub dedicated to the artistic and cultural initiatives of luxury yacht pioneers Sanlorenzo–has been unveiled in Venice during the inaugural Venice Climate Week (3-8 June, 2025), as the lagoon city presents la Biennale di Architettura. Venice Climate Week is a new Italian event celebrating World Environment Day and World Oceans Day, conceived and directed by Riccardo Luna in collaboration with the Future Food Institute as a week dedicated to climate change, sustainability, and restarting dialogue and exchange among institutions, citizens, businesses, activists, scientists, and artists. In the heart of Venice—where whispers of history echo along watery corridors, and the light dances off facades steeped in time—a new addition to the city's cultural tapestry has arrived: Casa Sanlorenzo–a new cultural cub conceived by acclaimed Italian yachting company Sanlorenzo–has opened its doors with a subtle launch that respects the city's legacy while gesturing boldly towards a more philanthropic and sustainable future. Casa Sanlorenzo Exterior Unveiled during the inaugural Venice Climate Week, with the Biennale di Architettura as its backdrop, Casa Sanlorenzo is not simply a building—it is a philosophy sculpted in stone, glass, and vision. It rises across from the majestic Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute, as if in quiet dialogue with the Baroque architectural masterpiece, promising not to compete but to converse. Sanlorenzo, long revered for crafting luxury yachts that glide elegantly across the water, now extends its creative ambitions onto land. With the opening of the new Casa Sanlorenzo cultural centre, Sanlorenzo pivots from producing exquisite vessels to becoming a vessel itself, one that carries culture, ideas, and transformation. At the Casa's inauguration, Massimo Perotti, Sanlorenzo's Executive Chairman, gave a welcome speech to guests beneath a pale Venetian sky. Above, a curious duel unfolded: a seagull clashing mid-air with a hovering drone. The spectacle, unintended yet symbolic, brought a moment of reflection—a metaphor for the uneasy embrace between nature and technology. In a city wrestling with the weight of cruise ships and rising tides, one must ask: can innovation coexist with fragility? And yet, it is precisely this tension that Casa Sanlorenzo seeks to explore, through a Salon-style space where thought, design and art intersect. Casa Sanlorenzo is designed as a visionary arts center and is an extension of the Sanlorenzo Arts project–a creative incubator where nautical production is juxtaposed with art, design and culture in a sustainable framework. Casa Sanlorenzo Exteriors Housed within a restored 1940s villa, reimagined by visionary architect Piero Lissoni, Casa Sanlorenzo is both contemporary and eternal. Lissoni–with his studio Lissoni & Partners–updated the space that spans almost 11,000 square feet with a generously sized garden, as well as a private apartment. The garden and gallery space will host exhibitions, shows and talks throughout the year to coincide with major cultural events in Venice such as the art and architecture Biennales. The Casa is designed to create a living dialogue between eras, aesthetics, and ideas. Here, white walls serve as breath between thoughts, showcasing Sanlorenzo's contemporary art collection, which bridges the radical transformations of post-1965 to the daring expressions of today. Casa Sanlorenzo Exteriors Lissoni has not erased the building's soul but coaxed it gently into the present. Brick facades glow with renewed dignity and modernity takes shape in glass staircases and concrete expanses, paired with Portoro marble and Palladian stone. In this fusion, past and future clasp hands. Outside the Casa Sanlorenzo, a contemplative Venetian Garden offers space for contemplation. Extending from the Casa like a whisper across the lagoon, is an architecturally daring new bridge designed by Piero Lissoni in a contemporary style yet with respect for Venetian heritage. A rarity in Venice where historic Renaissance design is King–the new bridge is a contemporary reinterpretation of a Venetian Ponte, constructed from prefabricated metal with a path of Istrian stone. Piero Lissoni comments: 'This bridge is not simply architecture. It's a symbol. A cultural connector. Indeed, one does not merely walk across—it passes through you, inviting reflection on what it means to move forward while holding memory.' As part of Venice Climate Week, Casa Sanlorenzo hosts the 'Sanlorenzo Talks', a series of candid conversations about sustainability, design and the ecological imperative of our age. During the talks leading voices from science, industry and the arts gather to explore how creativity can become an engine of change. The message is clear: beauty alone is no longer enough—it must be paired with ethics. That ethos extends to the jewel of Sanlorenzo's nautical artistry: the newly revealed Almax, a 50-meter superyacht that glides with the conscience of a new era. Sleek and sculptural, Almax's interiors are designed by Lissoni with exteriors by Zuccon International Project. Sanlorenzo's commitment to environmentally friendly yachting is reflected in the Reformer Fuel Cell, powered by green methanol-derived hydrogen to ensure zero emissions during onboard operations. Inside, Almax evokes a serene New York penthouse adrift at sea: pale wood floors, glass walls, bespoke furnishings, and an almost meditative atmosphere. The Almax exemplifies Sanlorenzo's embrace of art, architecture and design–a philosophy which is mirrored in Casa Sanlorenzo—a celebration of restraint, intention, and aesthetic harmony. Highlights of Casa Sanlorenzo's art collection include commanding works on the upper floor including a vast map by Arte Povera artist Alighiero Boetti and a slashed red canvas by Lucio Fontana–giants of contemporary Italian art–while the ground floor galleries offer a monochrome meditation by photographer Marco Palmieri, who is taking part in the inaugural Sanlorenzo Talks. Works by German painter Emil Michael Klein are also featured. Marco Palmieri exhbition at Casa Sanlorenzo, Venezia © Lee Sharrock In all of this—the yacht, the bridge, the gallery—there is a consistent throughline: a belief that design is not decoration but direction. That architecture can be activism. That art is not passive, but participatory. Massimo Perotti, Executive Chairman Sanlorenzo said at the launch: 'Our aim with Casa Sanlorenzo is to offer a reference point for initiatives linked to the world of Sanlorenzo Arts, an entity conceived with the goal of celebrating and supporting the union between art, design and culture, where innovation and creativity can flourish without limits. Casa Sanlorenzo becomes a place where one enters to stop, reflect and share. A space of research, where art does not simply adorn, but rather interrogates. Where design does not impress, but guides. Where beauty is never for its own sake, but the bearer of ethics. In an increasingly virtual world, we wanted to invest in presence, in meaningful encounters, and in shared experiences. Because we believe that authenticity requires substance, time, and human connection. And Venice is the perfect place for this project.' Casa Sanlorenzo Founded in 1958, the Sanlorenzo shipyard has traveled far from its humble beginnings in Limite sull'Arno. Over decades it has grown and now has six shipyards across Italy. Through its Fondazione Sanlorenzo–founded in 2021–the company extends its hand to Italy's forgotten islands and communities, working to uplift, educate, and connect. Through Sanlorenzo Arts, it fosters the convergence of craftsmanship, culture and technology. And now, with Casa Sanlorenzo, this commitment takes architectural form. A place where yacht design steps ashore and becomes philosophy. Venice has long been a city of arrivals and departures, a threshold between lands and dreams. Now, with Casa Sanlorenzo, it welcomes a new kind of voyager—not a traveler seeking escape, but one seeking an anchor. Casa Sanlorenzo is a living organism, one that breathes through its spaces and speaks through its exhibitions. It also feels like Sanlorenzo's version of a love letter to Venice and declaration of its wish to be a custodian of culture by providing a permanent arts space where art, architecture, design, education and sustainability can converge. Find more information here on the Casa Sanlorenzo talks during Venice Climate Week. Casa Sanlorenzo Garden
Times of Oman
01-06-2025
- Business
- Times of Oman
Is the Philippines' reforestation drive coming up short?
Manila: Marlo Mendoza is the architect of one of the world's most ambitious regreening programmes. His office at the University of the Philippines in Laguna is crammed with books about trees and nature conservation. Hunched over his desk, he flicks through a glossy government brochure praising his project's successes, with 1.8 billion seedlings planted over 2 million hectares (approximately 4.9 million acres) across the Philippines. Millions of native trees have been replanted and are now growing into forests, sequestering carbon and supporting wildlife. Indigenous and farming communities cultivate produce among the forests and former timber cutters now manage tree farms. Communities sidelined in reforestation effort This is what Mendoza dreamed of — however, he admits it is far from the reality on the ground. "We mobilised the entire citizenry to plant, but where are all the trees planted?" Mendoza told DW. "I made the manual; many provisions were not followed." The Philippines National Greening Programme (NGP) was launched in 2011 as an ambitious response to decades of deforestation, which had become a huge issue during the 1970s and 1980s. But the NGP struggled with natural resource plundering, which depleted the Philippines' forest cover and replaced community and indigenous forests with plantations of invasive exotic species. An analysis of millions of satellite images suggests that as many as one in every 25 hectares of NGP land experienced a major deforestation event: That is, instead of barren sites being reforested, the opposite occurs — forests are cleared right before or during regreening efforts. More often than not, the sites are managed by communities with only short-term access to the land. They are required to grow single cash crops tied to the volatile global commodity markets, which do not provide a steady income. A group of environmental investigators that carried out the analysis said the results expose a new pattern of "greenwashing" — a marketing tactic used to make a product or service appear better for the environment than it is. The most common commodities grown on the sites, including timber and fruit, have a green stamp of approval, potentially eligible for export across the world. This includes the EU, despite the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which requires traders to prove that products do not come from land that was deforested after 2020. Much of the EUDR's attention has focused on small farmers' challenges with proving that their land has not been associated with previous deforestation. Investigators said the image analysis suggests commodities on these sites have been falsely grown under the sustainable banner. Native trees cleared to grow cash crops Additionally, the analysis suggested that forest loss on NGP sites may be more widespread than previously understood. The clearing of forests included communities trying to take advantage of NGP funds. Eduardo Corona, a forest ranger in Palawan, an area of the Philippines covered in re-greening program sites, said that one of the most frustrating parts of his job was seeing the NGP used to clear native forests and being powerless to stop it, despite trying to raise the alarm. Corona was able to obtain one of the complaints he filed with his superiors, which relates to the UNESCO-recognised Mount Mantalingahan Protected Landscape. The DENR Forest Management Bureau (FMB) told investigators that some forest clearing occurred as part of site preparation, particularly in areas dominated by invasive species. They claimed the clearing was a necessary step taken under technical supervision to allow native species to thrive. The bureau also explained that the monitoring of the program beyond the three-year planting contracts is limited by the scale of the programme and budget constraints, with site inspections done by sampling rather than full verification. In cases where sites failed to meet survival rates, they attributed the underutilized funds to community partners' non-compliance, rather than flaws in program design. The investigation said independent audits and field reports suggest that deeper issues — including poor site selection, limited community support, and weak long-term sustainability planning — remain unaddressed. A major selling point of the re-greening program is that local communities would be given unused land to grow crops, so they would no longer need to chop down forests to survive. But the process for applying is so complicated that most communities give up seeking long-term tenure and only get access to the land for three years. Mendoza recounted cases where community groups were given access to land but not harvest rights. Many became overwhelmed with the application process and finally gave up on trying to get long-term access. This led to despair and sometimes illegal logging activities. "The [community group] may get frustrated then [they] enter into illegal selling transactions and [are] forced to cut trees illegally," he noted. Monoculture undermines sustainable livelihoods The regreening programme was also designed so that communities would be able to grow local produce for their own consumption. Instead, most are forced to grow risky cash crops for export, including exports to the European Union. According to Mendoza, communities would need both time and choices to make NGP work as intended, to figure out a sustainable mix of crops to guarantee income for their families. They got neither. For those who did manage to secure tenure, which guarantees 25-year access to the land, the government's usual mandate for community groups to grow a single cash crop often precluded any hopes for successfully living off the land. Single crop sites — often fast-growing, cheap timber trees — are vulnerable to market crashes, disease and all the other problems that monoculture brings with it, including the loss of biodiversity. Just over half of the 1 million hectares of designated production sites are tenured. Six out of 10 hectares are monoculture — sites that are growing just one commodity crop — which is widely considered unsustainable for local communities. A third of land under the NGP is both untenured and growing a single commodity crop, the least sustainable combination of all. The regreening programme was also intended to regrow and protect native rainforests. Of the 130,000 sites covering over 2 million hectares across the Philippines, some sites designated as protection areas — where indigenous rainforests and the biodiversity that accompanies them were meant to thrive — have little to no tree cover.
The Irish Sun
26-05-2025
- The Irish Sun
The Turkish holiday resort with overwater rooms, private beach and ‘one-of-a-kind' kids club
A TURKISH holiday resort has been praised as one of the best hotels people have been to. Biblos Resort in Alacati is a five-star resort that looks more like something in Bali. Advertisement 7 A holiday resort in Turkey looks more like the Maldives thanks to its overwater villas 7 Biblo Resort Hotel has suites with floating 'decks' on the pool Credit: Biblo resort hotel But its some of the swim up rooms that are the star of the show. The Laguna Suite is for adults only, which has overwater sunlounger decks that let you hop straight into the pool. Otherwise the Laguna Private Suite has its own Laguna pool . Restaurants include the Turkish Meftun as well as Miso serving seafood and Nori with Pan Asian food. Advertisement Read more on Turkey There is the Cocos pool bar and the Biblos Beach Club for cocktails and coffees It also says it has a "one-of-a-kind" Kids Club with everything from cookie workshops, kids yoga and Pilates as well as karaoke, hair braiding and face painting. The Kids Cinema has film screening nights while the Game Center has computer games and Playstations. Otherwise artistic workshops and educational workshops are alongside the new Jungle B soft play area with slides, swings and ball pits. Advertisement Most read in Beach holidays Kids will also love Marquise, which serves waffles and ice cream through the day. And parents can go to relax at the hotel spa which has everything from hydrotherapy pools, steam rooms, saunas, Turkish baths and and salt rooms. 7 The kids club has some amazing activities for younger guests Credit: Biblo Resorts 7 The hotel calls the kids club "one of a kind" Credit: Biblo Resorts Advertisement 7 There is even a cinema club with daily movie screenings Guests can even try the "experimental rain" rooms to improve blood circulation or the "spa cabanas" for a massage. A gym, fashion boutique, hair salon and health bar are also part of the complex. Previous guests have raved about it, with one saying: "This is the best hotel I've ever been to." Advertisement Another said: "It was a perfect hotel in the spirit of Bali." Families praised the resort too, with one writing: "I think the Kids Club at Biblos is the best one we have ever visited." Rooms start from £289, with loveholidays, while flights from London to Alacati take around 3hr45 from London Stansted with Pegasus. Turkey is home to some amazing holiday resorts. Advertisement Here's one that has been And the best 7 The overwater rooms are the highlight of the resort Credit: Biblo resort hotel 7 Some guests say they return to the hotel every year Credit: Biblo Resorts Advertisement
New York Times
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Bad Bunny (the College Course) Heads to the Ivy League
Beyoncé, Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga are among a handful of living pop artists who have amassed enough cultural clout to result in college classes being taught about them. At 31, the global superstar Bad Bunny is about to have (at least) his third, as Yale University plans to offer a course about him this fall. The Yale course, 'Bad Bunny: Musical Aesthetics and Politics,' was conceived by Albert Laguna, an associate professor of American studies and ethnicity, race and migration. The Yale Daily News was the first to report on the new course, saying that Professor Laguna was inspired to create the class by Bad Bunny's latest album, 'Debí Tirar Más Fotos,' which the artist has described as his 'most Puerto Rican album ever.' Bad Bunny was raised in the coastal town of Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, and has risen over the past decade to become a megastar of reggaeton and Latin trap, helping launch Spanish-language music into the contemporary pop mainstream. He has since netted three chart-topping Billboard albums, headlined at Coachella and become one of the most streamed artists in the world. But his new album, which was recorded in Puerto Rico, is a soulful ode to his roots and homeland, where he was born as Benito Martínez Ocasio. The Yale course intends to use the album to study the Puerto Rican diaspora, Caribbean politics and culture, colonialism and musical genres that Bad Bunny has experimented with, such as salsa, bomba and plena. In a phone interview, Professor Laguna described an experience with Bad Bunny's new album during a trip to New Orleans, which inspired him to design the class. 'I was walking around New Orleans listening to it, connecting with the Caribbean feel of the city in neighborhoods like the French Quarter, which can feel a bit like San Juan, and I just became struck by everything this album is doing,' Professor Laguna said. 'You have all these creative ways he's addressing Puerto Rico's colonial past and present in it and the current challenges the island faces. It's all over the album. And he's engaging these issues in music that's joyful.' The course, and its emphasis on a young Puerto Rican pop star, comes at a time when universities are under pressure from the Trump administration and conservatives to reshape themselves and to eliminate what could broadly be considered attempts at diversity, equity and inclusion. 'The intellectual right's perspective on classes like this is, they tend to pooh-pooh on them, seeing them as lacking rigor or even indoctrinating,' said Lauren Lassabe Shepherd, the author of 'Resistance from the Right: Conservatives and the Campus Wars in Modern America,' who cited previous criticism of courses on Ms. Swift. 'For the faculty teaching these classes, though, they take them dead seriously, as chances to view a topic through a critical lens.' 'The Ivies tend to make headlines,' Ms. Shepherd added. 'It can be easy to anticipate the Fox News headline banner, just because it's at the Ivies. But if it happened at a community college, it probably wouldn't even make a wave.' That response may come, but Professor Laguna believes the time is right to study Bad Bunny and the impact his music has already had on the world. 'I think we often mistakenly believe that to study culture we have to study the past, but that couldn't be more wrong,' he said. 'Bad Bunny is interesting for many reasons, and it's important for students to understand him in regards to the Puerto Rican diaspora, but he's also a global star, which isn't new. Music from the Hispanophone Caribbean has shaped the world before, and Bad Bunny is a link in a longer chain.' Professor Laguna said that the response to the course's announcement had been enthusiastic on Yale's campus. 'There are only 18 seats, and I've gotten notes from about a hundred students who want to get in,' he said. 'I've also gotten notes from Yale alums, some of them Puerto Rican, who appreciate we're doing this. There's really a hunger for this material.' Professor Laguna's course won't be the first of its kind. Wellesley College has offered a class taught by Petra Rivera-Rideau called 'Bad Bunny: Race, Gender, and Empire in Reggaetón.' And there has been one at Loyola Marymount University taught by Vanessa Díaz, titled 'Bad Bunny and Resistance in Puerto Rico.' Those professors launched an online resource, 'The Bad Bunny Syllabus,' dedicated to their scholarship of the artist and his cultural influence. A representative for Bad Bunny did not reply to a request for comment about the Yale class, but the artist was asked about the other courses during an appearance on 'The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon' in 2023. 'Did you ever think you were going to be taught in a course at a school?' Mr. Fallon asked. 'That's a very crazy thing,' Bad Bunny said. 'I don't know, it feels weird. But I would love to take one of those classes.' 'You'd be really good,' Mr. Fallon replied. 'I think I would get an A,' Bad Bunny said. 'Totalmente.'
Yahoo
10-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Local non-profit funds battle against cancer with ‘Victory Bowl' watch party
People came together to watch the big game from house parties to major events across Jacksonville, one being at the Craig Airport to help raise money for people battling cancer. More than 500 people came out to watch the Eagles crush the Chiefs. But on a night with plenty of Super Bowl excitement, tonight was bigger than just the game. Cancer survivor, Gwendolyn Laguna said she is so thankful to give back. 'I had breast cancer and 'V for Victory' was there and I had a conversation with them about my business. I'd like to give back and it's helped my business a lot.' It is the third year the non-profit, 'V for Victory' has hosted their 'Victory Bowl' watch party featuring a casino, games, and plenty of food and drinks. The money raised goes towards providing everything from house cleaning to haircuts and meals. 'It's not just for cancer patients because it's such a big help,' said Laguna. Read: 'Get a designated driver': JSO on alert for intoxicated driving on Super Bowl Sunday The organization said they helped more than 1000 families last year and provided around $1.75 million in services. The Super Bowl is their biggest night of the year because survivors, neighbors, and business owners across our area like Steve Howard all come together to help. 'My wife and I lost all four of our parents to cancer and we care immensely about this cause. We're grateful 'V for Victory' is here and the team has done such a great job to have the opportunity to help them,' said Howard, owner of Trivia Nation. One fan celebrating the Eagles' win said it felt all the sweeter because of the way they celebrated. 'This is such a successful event. I get to see some of my fellow warriors. It's a wonderful event, just makes my heart happy how many people are supporting us,' said Gwendolyn Laguna. The Executive Director said they are looking to double all the success they had in 2024. She said with more community partners, that is 100% possible. If you are interested in partnering with 'V for Victory,' click here. [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] Read: Super Bowl LIX: Fox Sports debuts new scorebug, to universally negative reaction [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
