Blog TSK

digital media fair ArtMeta brings robots, NFTs and AI art into basel’s historic heart

artmeta 2025 arrives in basel

From June 16 to 22, 2025, Basel becomes home to the inaugural edition of Digital Art Mile— a new and ambitious initiative by ArtMeta that transforms the historic Rebgasse district into a vibrant epicenter for digital creativity. This week-long event runs in parallel with Art Basel and offers a curated alternative that addresses a conspicuous absence: digital art. Spread across Space25, the 4th Floor, and Kult.Kino Cinema, the fair gathers an international network of artists, curators, collectors, and technologists to explore how digital media reshapes the canon of contemporary art. With exhibitions, robotic installations, and conferences led by global voices in art and culture, Digital Art Mile invites both industry professionals and curious publics to rethink the boundaries of art in a digital age.

For first-time visitors, Digital Art Mile offers a paradigm shift. From interactive to historically rich displays, the fair seeks to challenge preconceptions. ArtMeta seeks to convince the skeptics that digital art isn’t just about speculation and NFTs— it’s about a rich, evolving art form rooted in dialogue and human imagination.

From June 16 to 22, 2025, Basel becomes home to the inaugural edition of Digital Art Mile | all images courtesy of ArtMeta

the fair introduces the digital art mile 

ArtMeta, co-founded by curator and digital art pioneer Georg Bak and digital entrepreneur Roger Haas, is carving out a distinct path for how digital art is experienced, understood, and collected. The platform originally emerged from their mutual desire to elevate digital art beyond novelty, rooting it instead within a broader historical and cultural narrative.

For its 2025 Basel edition, ArtMeta introduces the Digital Art Mile, conceived as a boutique fair with curated exhibitions and educational programming. Unlike conventional commercial events, its focus lies in thematic cohesion and historical dialogue, linking the legacy of early digital pioneers to the cutting edge of blockchain, AI, and Web3. Through its growing curatorial reach, ArtMeta positions itself as an anchor point in the evolving landscape of digital-native cultural production.

Hackatao – PAINTBOX – Primitives (2025)

artists, curators, collectors, and technologists all meet in basel

Digital Art Mile 2025 offers an immersive entry point into the pluralistic worlds of digital art, from generative image-making and robotics to blockchain-based collecting and AI-driven creativity. This edition’s programming explores intersections between human expression and machine logic, between analog legacy and virtual futures. Beyond exhibitions, the fair includes a four-day conference series at Kult.Kino Cinema that brings together leading thinkers such as Christiane Paul (Whitney Museum), Ian Charles Stewart (Toledo Museum Labs), Sebastien Borget (The Sandbox), and Prof. Dr. Thomas Girst (BMW). Through these multi-perspective discussions, the fair aims not only to showcase the state of digital art but also to create frameworks for its institutional integration, economic viability, and cultural resonance.

Bryan Brinkman in the studio of Adrian Wilson

Bryan Brinkman – Love Bytes (2025)

A central highlight at Rebgasse 25 is the ‘Paintboxed’ exhibition, a landmark collaboration between ArtMeta, Objkt, and the Tezos Foundation. It resurrects the Quantel Paintbox, a pioneering digital painting tool from the 1980s, celebrated for its pivotal role in transforming visual culture—from MTV graphics to the iconic posters of ‘Pulp Fiction’ and ‘The Silence of the Lambs.’ Paintboxed positions this forgotten chapter of digital history in conversation with the present.

Artists including Justin Aversano, Grant Yun, Ivona Tau, Hackatao, and Simon Denny were invited to create new works using one of the few remaining functional Paintboxes. Tau even collaborated with ChatGPT to receive step-by-step generative painting instructions, blurring the boundaries between human intuition and AI guidance. These new creations are displayed in lightboxes and paired with NFTs minted on the Tezos blockchain, allowing collectors to own dual manifestations of the same work—both analog and digital.

Sabato Visconti – Mecha Rosie (2025)

Coldie, Keith Haring – Decentral Eyes (2025)

Located at Rebgasse 31, the 4th Floor reimagines a former warehouse as a future-forward gallery ecosystem, hosting some of the most experimental names in the space. Objkt.com presents ‘We Emotional Cyborgs: On Avatars and AI Agents,’ curated by Anika Meier—a provocative exploration of virtual identity and post-human aesthetics. Robotic artworks take center stage in Bright Moments’ ‘Automata,’ which includes autonomous painting machines creating works in real-time. Historic pioneers such as Waldemar Cordeiro, Manfred Mohr, and Joan Truckenbrod are spotlighted by Mayor Gallery, RCM, and Galerie Charlot, positioning digital art within a longer, often overlooked lineage.

Other participants include The Sigg Art Foundation, Cypherdudes, LaCollection, and Sarasin Foundation, each offering unique vignettes into contemporary crypto culture. A lounge hosted by Tezos offers a contemplative space to engage with the underlying technology.

Exhibition view 2024 – Aleksandra Jovanovic 2 (2025)

Digital Art Mile expands its cultural footprint with a robust conference series held at Kult.Kino Cinema on June 17 and 18. The talks tackle vital topics such as the role of digital art in museums, the evolution of AI-generated creativity, and how corporations are adopting NFTs and digital aesthetics into their branding and storytelling. Notable sessions include ‘Digital Art in Museums’ featuring Christiane Paul and Ian Charles Stewart, and ‘Digital Art in Corporations,’ moderated by designboom, with insights from BMW’s Prof. Dr. Thomas Girst and Sandbox’s Sebastien Borget. According to Bak, these sessions aim to close the gap between the institutional canonization of digital art and the vibrant discourse happening on social media. A particular point of interest is the integration of crypto culture in legacy institutions and how corporate players like UBS, Arab Bank, and luxury brands are shaping their own digital art narratives.

By building a space where curated exhibitions meet educational discourse, the fair aspires to become the leading marketplace and forum for digital art worldwide. Looking ahead, ArtMeta plans to expand its editorial output and continue fostering deeper conversations across cities and continents.

Adrian Wilson – Team For Hair 1985

Kiki Picasso, Fondateur de Quantel – Peter Michael par Kiki Picasso (2025)

Adrian Wilson – GPB Collage 1986

OMGIDrawedIt – SO REVIVA (2025)

project info:

name: Digital Art Mile
organization: ArtMeta | @artmetaofficial

dates: June 16 – 22, 2025

location: Rebgasse, Basel, Switzerland

The post digital media fair ArtMeta brings robots, NFTs and AI art into basel’s historic heart appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

colorful aluminum panels ripple across TEN’s house for women in bosnia-herzegovina

ten completes house for five women in bosnia and Herzegovina

On the outskirts of Gradačac, a town in northern Bosnia and Herzegovina, The House for Five Women, a vibrant residence by architecture studio TEN, rises from the countryside to defy conventional housing models through an architecture of care, resilience, and collective authorship.

Designed in collaboration with local activist Hazima Smajlović, NGO Naš Izvor, Engineers Without Borders, and the Gradačac municipality, the project provides a permanent home for five single women who have survived war, displacement, and systemic neglect. Positioned between privacy and solidarity, the house proposes a new paradigm for cohabitation with five individual living units clustered around communal spaces for gathering, working, and growing food.

Artist Shirana Shahbazi shaped the striking facade of the building, composing a vibrant arrangement of large, colored aluminum panels in shades of pink, red, green, and deep blue. Though seemingly spontaneous, the composition is carefully calibrated, with each panel being custom-made in a local car painter’s workshop. Their rippled, high-gloss surfaces catch and distort reflections, transforming the shell into a shifting, almost liquid canvas that responds to light, weather, and movement.

all images by Maxime Delvaux, Adrien de Hemptinne

Shirana Shahbazi composes colorful aluminum facade

Rather than imposing an external vision, the project, developed by Zurich-based collective TEN, emerged through years of on-site dialogue and intergenerational exchange. Each design decision, down to the textures of the floors and the species of trees planted, was made in close collaboration with local tradespeople, volunteers, and craftspeople, embedding the house deeply into both its physical and social context. Working in parallel with TEN, landscape architect Daniel Ganz orchestrated the integration of the site with the topography, planting trees sourced from the area and designing a garden meant not only for food production but also as a space of care, ritual, and shared activity.

One of the most striking elements of The House for Five Women is its facade, a lively surface orchestrated by Iranian photographer Shirana Shahbazi using vibrant color compositions and material contrasts. Shahbazi’s interventions turn the building into a living tapestry, changing with the light, the seasons, and the daily rhythms of its inhabitants. This visual dynamism signals the presence of life, creativity, and shared purpose in a landscape marked by both beauty and historical trauma.

The House for Five Women, a vibrant residence by architecture studio TEN

collaborating with local workers for solidarity design

Beneath this expressive crown, the ground level contrasts with radical clarity. A continuous band of vertically aligned glass doors and fixed windows runs the length of the elevation, framed by raw concrete volumes at either end. This transparency anchors the building to the ground and opens the communal interior to the outside world.

The process of building the house, as much as the final structure, reflects TEN’s ethos. The team approaches design as a relational practice. Collaborations with local metalworkers, car painters, and carpet repairers brought knowledge and resources together across social and cultural divides. In doing so, the project acts as a micro-institute where design, art, and social work converge to imagine new infrastructures of care. TEN sees this as a prototype for what design can become when it abandons spectacle in favor of solidarity.

The House for Five Women builds a foundation for dignity, autonomy, and interconnected living. In a region where the aftermath of war still shapes daily life, the project reclaims the built environment as a site of healing. 

a vibrant arrangement of large, colored aluminum panels fronts the building

the composition is carefully calibrated, with each panel being custom-made in a local car painter’s workshop

each design decision was made in close collaboration with local tradespeople, volunteers, and craftspeople

the project emerged through years of on-site dialogue and intergenerational exchange

concrete, wood and tiles clad the interior

The House for Five Women builds a foundation for dignity, autonomy, and interconnected living

reclaiming the built environment as a site of healing

project info:

name: The House for Five Women

architect: TEN | @ten_studio

location: Gradačac, Bosnia and Herzegovina

collaborators: Hazima Smajlović, NGO Naš Izvor, Engineers Without Borders, Municipality of Gradačac, Bessire Winter (initial phase)

structure: Dr. Miodrag Grbić

landscape architect: Daniel Ganz

facade artist: Shirana Shahbazi | @shiranashahbazi

supporter: foundation Naš Izvor

photographer: Maxime Delvaux | @maxdelv, Adrien de Hemptinne | @adriendehemptinne

The post colorful aluminum panels ripple across TEN’s house for women in bosnia-herzegovina appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

wooden shell wraps eco cabins by S-AR framing mexican valley views

Madriguera Eco Reserve Stays merge architecture with nature

Madriguera Eco Reserve Stays by S-AR is the first built component of Glampeer, a hospitality initiative that aims to integrate architecture into mountain-based nature tourism. Located within a forested area that opens onto a small valley in Sierra de Arteaga, Mexico, the project explores how built structures can frame and enhance the experience of the surrounding landscape.

This initial phase comprises two separate cabins, Cabaña Conejos and Cabaña Liebre, each designed with distinct spatial programs but unified by a consistent material palette including wood, concrete, steel, and glass. Positioned along the western edge of the site’s natural slope, both cabins are oriented to maximize views toward a nearby mountain range. Their siting leverages the terrain for unobstructed visual access to both the valley and the forested backdrop.

all images by Recording Architecture

S-AR Sets Cabaña Conejos and Cabaña Liebre on a forested slope

Cabaña Liebre is compact in scale, roughly equivalent to a standard tent footprint, yet incorporates full interior amenities including a bathroom and kitchen. The structure employs a hybrid system of concrete supports and steel framing, enclosed with thermally insulated wooden boards. A concrete volume containing the bathroom and storage is inserted into the larger wooden shell. A surrounding terrace provides exterior space, adaptable for temporary features such as a portable fireplace. Cabaña Conejos, the larger of the two, accommodates multiple functions including sleeping, cooking, dining, and living, with the capacity to adapt interior configurations based on occupancy needs. The building is constructed using load-bearing concrete block walls and lightweight concrete slab systems, clad externally with thermally insulated black-painted wooden boards. Interior surfaces include wood flooring with a natural finish and walls coated with a cement and black paint mixture. Additional features include a workspace, a balcony, a rooftop viewing platform, and multiple access terraces.

Both structures operate as contemporary interpretations of the mountain refuge typology, using material economy and structural clarity to establish a visual and spatial dialogue with their environment. Madriguera Eco Reserve Stays by S-AR Studio frame specific landscape views while maintaining compact footprints, prioritizing environmental responsiveness and architectural precision.

Conejos Cabin Exterior

Both Cabins Exterior

Conejos Cabin Exterior

Liebre Cabin Exterior

Conejos Cabin Exterior

Conejos Cabin Roof Top Terrace

Liebre Cabin Interior View Towards The Landscape

Liebre Cabin Interior

Liebre Cabin Interior View Towards The Landscape

Conejos Cabin Interior View Towards The Landscape

Conejos Cabin Interior

project info:

name: Madriguera Eco Reserve Stays
architects: S-AR | @stacionarq

location: Sierra de Arteaga, Mexico

photographer: Recording Architecture | @recording.architecture

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: christina vergopoulou | designboom

The post wooden shell wraps eco cabins by S-AR framing mexican valley views appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

frankey blows giant bubble that breaks through windows in latest rooftop sculpture

Frankey Blows Up the Streetscape with ‘Hubbabubbabuilding’

Dutch street artist Frankey unveils Hubbabubbabuilding, a new bubblegum-inspired sculpture perched atop a roof on the Zandvoort promenade in the Netherlands. The site-specific installation features a 4-meter-tall caricature of Frankey himself, balanced on a ladder and blowing an enormous bubble of pink chewing gum that appears to burst out of the building’s windows. The piece debuts as part of Street Art Zandvoort 2025 and acts as a preview for Gumballin’ 2, the sequel to the artist’s 2020 solo show.

all images courtesy of Frankey

playful sculpture marks the start of Gumballin’ 2 exhibition

Hubbabubbabuilding reflects Frankey’s signature style of ‘positive interventions’—humorous, unexpected elements that momentarily reframe the built environment. Playful and cartoonish in form, the figure injects a dose of absurdity and childlike wonder into the seaside skyline. ‘Chewing gum is perhaps the weirdest product on earth,’ the Dutch artist explains. ‘It’s pointless, and maybe that’s the point. In its uselessness lies something real: wonder, play, fun.’

The installation not only nods to Frankey’s own likeness but also to the familiar act of bubble-blowing. Set against the backdrop of Zandvoort’s rooftops, the giant gum bubble reads as both joyful disruption and whimsical monument, prompting passersby to pause and look up. Hubbabubbabuilding also signals the official start of Gumballin’ 2, a forthcoming exhibition that continues the themes explored in Frankey’s earlier work at the Gashouder. While the first show positioned bubblegum as a playful material and metaphor, the upcoming sequel promises to delve deeper into its cultural and emotional resonances. The rooftop intervention os set to remain on view through September 6th, 2025.

the 4-meter-tall figure is a caricature of frankey himself, mid-bubble, balanced on a ladder high above the street

playful and absurd, Hubbabubbabuilding invites passersby to pause, smile, and look up

part street art, part self-portrait, and part ode to childhood wonder

‘chewing gum is pointless—and maybe that’s the point,’ says Frankey of the inspiration behind the piece

the artist rendered in cartoonish form, frozen in a playful act of bubble-blowing

project info: 

name: Hubbabubbabuilding
artist: Frankey | @streetartfrankey
location: Zandvoort, the Netherlands 

The post frankey blows giant bubble that breaks through windows in latest rooftop sculpture appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

prada mode osaka and the inujima project trace SANAA’s architecture across japan

prada mode osaka x inujima project

In Osaka’s newly opened Umekita Park, soft lines ripple across a SANAA-designed pavilion, drawing visitors to the twelfth edition of Prada Mode. This layered story of architecture and transformation brings Kazuyo Sejima’s decades-long vision for Inujima into an urban context. This is not simply a site for viewing architectural models or reflecting on theory. It is a site of convergence, where the past and future of a small island are refracted through the lens of a metropolitan installation.

Before the exhibition opened in Osaka, a smaller group traveled to Inujima itself, an island in the Seto Inland Sea where Sejima has quietly worked for nearly two decades. The Inujima Project, held from June 4th to 6th, offered a direct encounter with the material and social landscape her architecture has helped reshape. Here, a permanent new pavilion designed by Sejima and donated by Prada now stands within the Inujima Life Garden.

Prada Mode Osaka | image courtesy Prada

On Inujima, Architecture as a Way of Living

SANAA’s engagement with the island began in 2008, when the Fukutake Foundation invited architect Kazuyo Sejima to reimagine the built environment as part of the broader Benesse Art Site Naoshima. What emerged was a long-term, evolving effort to fold architecture into the rhythms of local life. Vacant homes became art spaces. Gardens, once neglected, grew again with shared labor. Architectural interventions happened slowly, sometimes invisibly. Rather than fixing a place in time, Sejima’s approach allows it to keep shifting.

The Inujima Project, which ran from June 4th — 6th, previews this philosophy through direct experience. Visitors walked narrow paths between restored buildings, listened to music inside historic structures, and joined conversations curated by Sejima across spaces that blur thresholds between art, architecture, and everyday use. The permanent pavilion at the Life Garden continues that ethic. It is part stage, part shelter, and always open.

Prada Mode Osaka | image courtesy Prada

prada mode osaka: Translating Island to City

Where Inujima immerses, Osaka frames. From June 7th to 15th, the Prada Mode Osaka pavilion opens that island story to broader public view. Designed by SANAA, the pavilion in Umekita Park hosts an exhibition curated by Sejima, with architectural models, videos, and artifacts from the Inujima work. On June 7th, the space was a private club. From June 8th, it welcomed the public.

Workshops and conversations throughout the week extended the themes of the exhibition. These were less about highlighting individual projects than about exploring the intertwined systems — natural, social, historical — that shape how architecture takes root. A café and information center fold into the same curving forms that define the exhibition hall, creating space for rest, listening, and exchange. The park’s proximity to Osaka Station reinforces this openness. In contrast to Inujima’s remoteness, the pavilion becomes a threshold anyone can cross.

Inujima Project | image courtesy Prada

Kazuyo Sejima’s language has never been one of imposition. In Inujima, it is through restraint that her architecture becomes generous. Buildings align with existing paths. Openings invite in sea breezes. Materials respond to age and wear. Her design for the Prada pavilion in Osaka carries forward this same quality: calm, porous, intentional.

The choice to present both the Inujima Project and Prada Mode Osaka in tandem reveals a commitment from Prada to deeper cultural production, less tethered to the immediate and more aligned with architectural continuity. It also renews their collaboration with Sejima, following their earlier work together in a previous edition of Prada Mode. This year’s iteration, shaped by shared values around process and place, adds another layer to an evolving archive of architectural experimentation and care.

Inujima Project | image courtesy Prada

Prada Mode Osaka | image courtesy Prada

Prada Mode Osaka | image courtesy Prada

project info:

name: Prada Mode Osaka, Inujima Project

brand: Prada | @prada

architect: SANAA | @sanaa_jimusho

location (Inujima Project): Inujima Island, Japan (June 4th — 6th, 2025)

location (Prada Mode Osaka): Umekita Park, Osaka, Japan (June 7th — 15th, 2025)

photography: courtesy Prada

The post prada mode osaka and the inujima project trace SANAA’s architecture across japan appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.