Originally planned for spring 2020, L'Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped was delayed due to the pandemic. It will enrobe the Champs-Élysées landmark in almost 25,000 sq. m of silvery blue fabric, made of recyclable polypropylene, and 7,000 metres of red rope. — The Art Newspaper

The artist Christo, who with his late wife and partner Jeanne-Claude was known for his monumental, often whimsical interventions on architecture and landscape, has died, aged 84. The artist’s studio confirmed on Twitter that he died at his home in New York [...] — The Art Newspaper

The artist Christo has announced plans to wrap the Arc de Triomphe in Paris next spring, covering the Champs-Élysées landmark with almost 25,000 sq. m of silvery blue fabric, made of recyclable polypropylene, and 7,000 metres of red rope. The piece, entitled L’Arc de Triomphe Wrapped (Project for Paris, Place de l’Etoile-Charles de Gaulle), which will be on view 6-19 April 2020, will be overseen by officials at the government body the Centre des Monuments Nationaux and the Centre Pompidou. — The Art Newspaper

And now he’s going to float a 150-tonne sculpture on a lake on London.

Is it an allegory of the west’s oil dependency, an indictment of how we’re polluting the planet, or both? Christo shakes his locks and smiles. “I have no reason to justify myself as an artist. I cannot explain my art. Everything I do professionally is irrational and useless.” This, he thinks, is exactly as it should be. “I make things that have no function – except maybe to make pleasure.” — The Guardian

Dear President-Elect Donald Trump: Please commission U.S. artist Christo’s with the creation of a new a version of his Running Fence to separate the U.S. from Mexico. His first project in Sonoma was completed in 1976 with great success. Though only 24.5 miles long then, in full length today it would transform a racist project into a public art event, and help improve the image of the U.S. with a cultural veneer. — Change.org

Although money is often seen as a taboo topic in art schools, a group of Yale alumni is urging professional architects to place more value on the relationship between money and architecture.

The Yale Architectural Journal’s latest edition, titled “Money,” discusses the controversial role of money in the field of architecture. [...] ranging from Frank Gehry to Yale School of Architecture Professor Keller Easterling, the issue urges architects to reconsider the financial side of their work. — yaledailynews.com

[ROAR] is concerned about the effects of the $50 million project, which will drill 9,100 holes into the ground, some as deep as 30 feet, and require a crew of 3,000 workers to install over a 27-month period. The area is a habitat for Rocky Mountain Big Horn Sheep, bald eagles, and Peregrine falcons, and the livelihoods of many locals depend on it. — denverpost.com

Big Air Package is the latest project from artist Christo installed at the Gasometer Oberhausen in Germany, a facility that still holds the record as the largest disc-type gas holder in Europe that was converted into an exhibition hall in the 1990s. Big Air Package is the largest ever inflated envelope without aid of a skeleton (Gasometer Oberhausen bills it as the largest indoor sculpture in history) and reaches 90 meters high, with a diameter of 50 meters and a volume of 177,000 cubic meters. — thisiscolossal.com

Christo is creating for Abu Dhabi a colossal structure that he claims will be the world's biggest permanent sculpture. Estimated construction costs of $340m (£212m) would also make it the world's most expensive.

A 150-metre-high, flat-topped pyramid would be taller than St Paul's Cathedral or St Peter's Basilica and would overshadow the Great Pyramid of Giza – creating Abu Dhabi's answer to Egypt's pyramids or Mecca's Kaaba. — guardian.co.uk