Weekendpaper* | Decadent party dressing and deeply desirable gifts

When the Studio Museum in Harlem reopens today (15 November), much of the attention will fall on the building itself. The new 82,000 sq ft space is the first purpose-built home for an institution that, since 1968, has served as a forum for artists of African descent. For Thelma Golden, the museum’s director and chief curator, the architecture is only part of the story. What fills the building – the artworks, the conversations, and even the chairs, tables and stools – matters just as much.

The Margherita was invented in 1889 to commemorate the visit of Queen Margherita to Naples. But it is the world’s other most famous pizza city, which has led to a recent pizza boom in London: New York.

Gerry del Guercio, who, with Paul Delany, runs the Bite Twice Instagram account, reviewing pizzas across the capital, credits Tom Vincent with introducing authentic American-style pizza to the UK when he brought New York pies to Vincenzo’s in Bushey, Hertfordshire, in 2022. The Bite Twice boys this year opened their own homage to East Coast pizzerias, Carmela’s, in Islington. The small space evokes a midcentury Midtown bar crossed with a Little Italy pizzeria. Crisp-yet-foldable 13-inch pies with classic toppings like fennel sausage and pepperoni are complemented by cocktails and Italian wines. Like many of the newcomers that del Guercio reviews on Bite Twice, Carmela’s is East Coast Americana refracted through a London lens. ‘In the past, London only replicated very literal versions of other pizzas,’ he explains. ‘What we are seeing now is London developing its own distinctive pizza culture.’

Ben McCormack gets more than a slice of the action, checking out new openings including Spring Street Pizza, launched in April by chef Tom Kemble, ex of Michelin-starred kitchens; Crisp Pizza, relocated this month to The Marlborough in Mayfair, where founder Carl McCluskey offers ‘New York method, Neapolitan ingredients’; and Alley Cats, now with locations in Marylebone, Chelsea and Notting Hill. Read on for the full story – with extra toppings and a pizza map to boot.

Almost like an exaggerated A-Frame, this new home’s sloped roof with reflective tiles and the abstract stacking of breeze blocks in different sizes showcase how Robert Stone works hard to challenge the norm of what a contemporary Palm Springs house might look like. ‘I want to get [people] past “Wow, this looks different”, to “This makes me look at things differently”,’ says the locally born architect. ‘Palm Springs has an amazing history of iconic houses, but I was always lost by its disconnect with contemporary culture. I just want to make architecture that engages our time. We're alive now. I tell my clients that the audience is not them or me, it's the world.’

The first noticeable element is that the roof touches the ground, but the floors don’t. ‘In most homes, nothing happens until you get four feet above a person's head. And I like to do things that engage the body at the ankle, knee, hip, shoulders, and head,’ notes Stone. He has also elevated the artificial astroturf lawn as a key building material: ‘It flows into the living room interior to rethink our connection to nature with a candour that fits our time.’ And then there are the square mirrored ceiling panels, blending inside and outside by reflecting the desert flora. ‘You think it's going to be kind of tacky, but if it's detailed and done right, it can be taken seriously. It feels like what California architecture should be, but it can also be sexy and kind of druggie. That is who we are.’ Join Carole Dixon for a tour of this radical desert home.

Using the canvas of the McLaren W1, the newest member of the brand’s Ultimate Series of limited-edition hypercars, Wallpaper* got to spec our own dream machine. It was part of a deep dive into McLaren Special Operations, the company’s in-house granter of over-and-above requests from owners. As thrifty-minded (virtual) billionaires, we’re hoping the spec doesn’t add too much more to the W1’s £2m starting price.