THE FABULOUS FLOATING INFLATABLE VILLA
A plastic, 900-square-foot house was seen floating around Biscayne Bay during the week of Art Basel Miami last December. The 30-foot-tall inflatable pavilion, referred by its designer Luis Pons as “The Fabulous Floating Inflatable Villa,” is an artistic response to the recent surge of overindulgent real estate development and its toll on the city’s architecture. Pons claims an influx of Palladian “McMansions” is washing upon the shores of Miami, characterized by a predictable use of columns, arches, keystones, and the occasional flying buttress. The villa was kept pumped up by a generator and transported by a flatbed barge throughout Art Basel. Produced by Inflatable Concepts (who else?), the villa is set to sail to France and Italy this summer in time for the Venice Biennial, often thought to be sinking under its own weight too! www.luisponsd-lab.com

A BIOGRAPHICAL LANDSCAPE
The photography Stephen Shore is best known for—his large-format color prints of everyday urban American landscapes—is on a new worldwide tour. Organized by Aperture Foundation, The Biographical Landscape: 1968–1993 exhibition, to appear next at the Worcester Art Museum in Massachusetts (March 26–June 24), is designed to “remind viewers how their sense of vision changes quickly because of photography.” As the first living photographer to have a one-man show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (1971), Shore was influential. His dispassionate aesthetic has been co-opted by several artists since his days photographing Andy Warhol’s Factory, but today the extended collection (approximately 120 images of lonely-looking gas stations and parking lots) doesn’t seem worthy of yet another 15 minutes of fame. www.worcesterart.org

THE SOURCE OF VICTORIA'S SECRET
What does the design of today’s lingerie say about our culture? Based on the mediocre but lucrative line of undergarments sold at the ubiquitous chain Victoria’s Secret, one may say our culture lacks imagination or want of high-quality design. However, the curators of the exhibit Lingerie: Secrets of Elegance, at the Phoenix Art Museum until April 9, believe there’s more to contemporary lingerie than meets the ogling mall flower eye. To prove their theory of lingerie’s growing impact on culture, to the bottom line, so to speak, as an accessory to prêt-à-porter, they’ve selected examples of historical lingerie from the museum’s permanent collection (linen corsets, embroidered waistcoats, silk teddies) to track the industry’s aesthetic, economic, and technological advances. It’s a field trip the remaining cast of Bravo’s Project Runaway could benefit from. www.phxart.org

FLOATING LIKE A BUTTERFLY
Touted as an international cultural and educational center (in Louisville, Ky.), the recently revealed Muhammad Ali Center irrefutably conveys the “Greatest” heavyweight champ’s values and milestones. Inside and outside the 93,000-square-foot multiplex (10 theaters, a boxing ring, and 50 interactive kiosks) visitors can’t sidestep Muhammad’s mug—it’s plastered everywhere. Hotshot New York architectural firm, Beyer Blinder Belle, worked with fellow New Yorkers Lee H. Skolnick for the interior, and environmental design firm 2x4 for the exterior building “wrapper”—a panoramic pictorial tribute to the loquacious pugilist. The overall design accurately reflects the champ’s world-famous conceit: “It’s hard to be humble when you’re as great as I am.” The $75 million budget also included a logo, the least outsized aspect of the project, which features a quiet silhouette of Ali, provided by Michael Schwab. www.alicenter.org

A DISASTER IN PICTURES
Americans no longer have to wait for the aftermath of a disaster to witness its unfathomable damage. With live television crews responding swiftly to scenes of catastrophe, spectacular panoramas are broadcast instantly. But that wasn’t the case in 1906, the year the great earthquake struck San Francisco. In commemoration of the centennial, SF MOMA is exhibiting approximately 100 photographs drawn from its collection (until May 30) including the glass lantern slides of Arnold Genthe, whose work and studio —save for his famous Chinatown images that had been stored in a bank vault—were destroyed in the earthquake and resulting fire. Genthe traveled extensively thereafter and, eerily, produced a picture book in 1926 entitled Impressions of Old New Orleans documenting the historic city and its majestic architecture. www.sfmoma.org