An unusual school year has started in earnest, and with it has come the return of digital proctoring programs. This is software that can lock down students’ computers, record their faces and scan their rooms, all with the intention to thwart cheating. These programs, with names like ProctorU and Proctorio, first raised alarms about privacy…
There are many uncanny elements to life during the pandemic, though many of them (Zoom classes, FaceTime births, D.J. sets on Instagram Live) have become almost normal over the last six months. The virtual audience thing, however, is still a work in progress. Sports arenas and TV studios have tried to recreate the experience of…
William Pedersen spent much of his distinguished architecture career designing sleek, towering skyscrapers that stand out among crowded urban landscapes. Several of the world’s tallest buildings came from the drawing boards of his prolific firm, Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates. But when it came to building his own home — a weekend retreat on the east…
The one-bedroom co-op in Queens that Calvin Royal III shares with his partner, Jacek Mysinski, is not what you’d call expansive. Mr. Royal, who was recently elevated to principal at American Ballet Theater (the third Black dancer in A.B.T. history to achieve that rank), could surely make it from the front door to the balcony…
This article is part of our latest Design special report, which is about taking creative leaps in challenging times. Two decades ago, when the designer Stephen Burks was beginning what would become a renowned international career, there were virtually no African-American role models for him to look to. After breaking out with a furniture collection…
This article is part of our latest Design special report, which is about taking creative leaps in challenging times. On Valerie Schweitzer’s front lawn in Water Mill, N.Y., a structure of intersecting cylinders, thrust aloft on posts and partly enclosed by vertical cedar boards, reaches for the sky. Is it a building? A sculpture? An…
This article is part of our latest Design special report, which is about taking creative leaps in challenging times. It is not unheard of for ambitious homeowners to imbue a mere building with narrative dazzle. But rarely is the mythologizing as specific and literary as it is for the Long Island guesthouse of Betsy and…
This article is part of our latest Design special report, which is about taking creative leaps in challenging times. I was clearly in over my head. When I signed up for an online course in feng shui, an ancient Chinese practice of using design to enhance health and prosperity, I somehow missed the part about…
This article is part of our latest Design special report, which is about taking creative leaps in challenging times. Tap the history of an object, no matter how small or specialized, and it will open up the universe. These design books focus on the likes of claw foot bathtubs, sommeliers’ gadgetry, mahogany linen chests and…
This article is part of our latest Design special report, which is about taking creative leaps in challenging times. The last shelters on the Marangu route to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro are little structures known as Kibo huts, the first built in 1932. When Robert Hune-Kalter, a Colorado-based bank employee, reached the huts, in…