Connecting the dots—the Benefits of Collaborative Set Design

TDF: When the pandemic disrupted life, especially in the theatre, three set designers embarked on a remarkable collaboration that jump-started their careers post-shutdown. In 2020, Andrew Moerdyk, Kimie Nishikawa and Santiago Orjuela-Laverde, immigrants from South Africa, Japan and Colombia respectively, formed the NYC-based collective dots. The lowercase moniker, as per Moerdyk, signifies “how many individual dots/points/pixels come together to form a single beautiful image.”

A Three-Story Set, a 65-Foot Fly Rig: The Lost Boys Promises a True Broadway Spectacle

Playbill: After each winning a Tony Award for their work on the currently running Maybe Happy Ending, the pair’s latest project, The Lost Boys, has descended upon Broadway at the Palace Theatre to mysterious fanfare. Based on Joel Schumacher's 1987 cult classic of the same name, the musical is honing in on the emotional vulnerability that underpins the disarmingly stylized vampire film.

‘Death star’ chandeliers and disco dancefloors: making this year’s most dazzling theatre shows

Olivier awards | The Guardian: What does it take to create a giant chandelier on stage, decked out with more than 100 perfectly balanced, flickering candles? What about a disco floor that dazzles the audience in a play’s final moments but is hidden from view until then? On the eve of the 50th Olivier awards, we meet the artists, apprentices, engineers and designers behind some of London’s most memorable theatrical moments this year.

James Gwertzman bases Burning Man temple on rare desert flower

www.dezeen.com: American artist James Gwertzman has revealed a sprawling wooden structure based on an ephemeral desert bloom for the 2026 Burning Man temple. Called Temple of the Moon, the structure will be based on the shape of the Queen of the Night – a cactus flower that only blooms once during the year.

‘Temple of the Moon’ Selected as Burning Man’s Sacred Space

www.ticketnews.com: Burning Man Project has announced the design for the 2026 Temple: Temple of the Moon, created by James Gwertzman with support from the Moonlight Collective and the Temple Build Crew.

Designing Scares: A Chicago Halloween

AMERICAN THEATRE: Inside the Merle Reskin Space at Steppenwolf, Rough House Puppet Arts has set up camp for House of the Exquisite Corpse V: Blood & Puppets, a multi-room, immersive puppet haunted house (through Nov. 1). It’s the fifth official Halloween season for House of the Exquisite Corpse, born from an idea of a decade ago, when Rough House co-founder and artistic director emeritus Mike Oleon brought up the possibility of doing a puppet haunted house. The first year Rough House gave it a try was 2018, under the name Harrow House.

Meet the Experimental Collective Reimagining Set Design for the Contemporary Stage

Architectural Digest: It’s hard to think of a more iconic exchange in the history of theater than the balcony scene of Romeo and Juliet. Those legendary lines. That stolen kiss. It’s been performed countless times the world over. And it was for that reason that Andrew Moerdyk, Kimie Nishikawa, and Santiago Orjuela-Laverde, founders of the Brooklyn-based scenic design studio dots, hoped to reinvent it, when tapped by director Sam Gold for the Circle in the Square Theatre’s recent Broadway adaptation.

Apple TV+ leads the 2025 SDSA Awards

www.goldderby.com: Is this the start of an Apple TV+ Emmy landslide? The boutique streaming service emerged as the big winner at the 5th Annual SDSA Awards, held by the Set Decorators Society of America. Apple TV+ took home three awards — the most of any platform — when the winners were unveiled on Monday.

'Severance,' 'The Last of Us' Among Set Decorators Society of America Award Winners

variety.com: The Set Decorators Society of America has unveiled the winners for its 2024-25 SDSA TV Awards. Taking home the top honors were “Severance” and “The Last of Us.” The SDSA honors the top achievements in small-screen decor/design from June 1, 2024-May 31, 2025. Other winners include “The Studio,” “1923” and “Saturday Night Live.”

The challenge and thrill of staging North by Northwest

limelightmagazine.com.au: Adapting the more epic elements of Alfred Hitchcock’s classic satirical 1959 spy thriller film North by Northwest for the stage became possible with live filming and projections and innovative set and lighting design, augmented by some old-fashioned actorly running on the spot.

Shining a light on the Overlook Hotel's Room 237 carpet

Film and Furniture: Considerable attention has been bestowed upon the iconic hexagonal carpet that lines the corridors of The Shining‘s Overlook Hotel, but what of the infamous Room 237 carpet? Join us as we investigate the captivating carpet and design details of Room 237 and ask renowned film set decorators and interior designers to share their thoughts on this most foreboding of hotel rooms. We also show you where you can buy luxury versions of the Room 237 carpet, rugs and runners for your own home.

Tony-Winning Theatre Designer Ming Cho Lee Dies at 90

Playbill: World-renowned theatre designer Ming Cho Lee, who designed more than 300 productions across the globe, passed away October 23 of natural causes at the age of 90. Born October 3, 1930, in Shanghai, Mr. Lee moved to the United States in 1949 and attended Occidental College. He would go on to become one of the foremost set designers in the country, receiving the National Medal of Arts in 2002. His extensive credits included work in opera, dance, and theatre.

BWW Interview: How Emmy Award Winning Set Designer Matthew Anderson is Rebuilding NYC's Restaurant Industry

www.broadwayworld.com: The ongoing global health crisis has affected businesses all over the world, many of which have been forced to shutter their doors- leaving millions of people out of work- in order to slow the spread of COVID-19. The arts and hospitality industries have been hit especially hard, with the hospitality industry in New York City facing a decline of over 400,000 jobs, and the arts industry facing around 1.4 million jobs lost overall in the United States.

Behind the scenes of TV's wealthiest characters: Succession, Billions, Big Little Lies

Business Insider: From the hedge funders of "Billions" to the media moguls of "Succession," the TV anchors of "The Morning Show" to the murderous California clique in "Big Little Lies," a slew of recent shows offers a glimpse into the lives and homes of the uber-rich.

Each of those series has its own aesthetic, but there's a consistency between them, too — call it the New Rich Look. But what does that mean, and how do you create it? We talked to the three people who should know: the set decorators and designers whose creative drive shaped the look and feel of all those shows.

Netflix’s "Floor Is Lava" Has The Hottest Set Design

www.housebeautiful.com: Netflix’s latest hit show, Floor Is Lava, is not only fun to watch because of its likeness to the 90s game shows that we grew up watching, but also because of the amazing set design. Riffing off of the game we all played as kids, Floor Is Lava takes place in various rooms throughout the house, including the basement, the kitchen, a bedroom, the study, and even the planetarium. To learn how these crazy hot rooms came to fruition, House Beautiful spoke to art coordinator Alison Gondek and production designers Bruce Ryan and Bill Horbury—and we can’t guarantee that no furniture was harmed in the making of this show.

Two Different Stories, Two Different Sets in Sweet Land

LiveDesignOnline: Worlds converge and stories diverge in The Industry’s recent opera, Sweet Land, where audience members were separated into different story tracks across L.A. State Historic Park. Directed by Cannupa Hanska Luger and Yuval Sharon, Sweet Land featured a diverse creative team, including scenic designers Tanya Orellana and Carlo Maghirang, projection designer Hana S. Kim, lighting designer Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew, and sound designer Jody Elff.

Grit and heart: Arnel Sancianco draws on both for his evocative theater sets

Fall Theater and Dance | Chicago Reader: Back when he was an aspiring actor in the University of California-Irvine's undergrad theater program, Arnel Sancianco joined some classmates at an In-N-Out Burger. "And one of my friends, jokingly, with all love, was like, 'It's gonna be really hard for you, Arnel, because they don't write roles for Asians.'"

How Sharp Objects Built Amma’s Creepy Dollhouse

www.vulture.com: Spoilers ahead for the Sharp Objects finale.

As if Amma’s eerie fascination with her dollhouse wasn’t enough to make Sharp Objects viewers cringe, now we know evil was buried in the floors all along, hiding Wind Gap’s darkest secrets inside the magnificent replica of her family’s Victorian mansion.

30 Under 30: Ethan Hartman, Art Assistant/Set Designer

Live Design: Artist and designer, Ethan Hartman earned his B.F.A. in Scenic Design from the University of Oklahoma before receiving his Masters in Applied Design from the California Institute of the Arts. He has since worked in set design for theatre, film, and television, working for notable networks including Fox, Warner Bros., HBO, and Dreamworks. Currently working on back-lot designs for Blue Cloud Movie Ranch, Hartman is next on Live Design's 30 Under 30 list.