NYC Announces Preapproved ADU Plans—and Everything Else You Need to Know About This Week

• New York City just rolled out eleven preapproved ADU designs and an online guidebook to streamline construction across its five boroughs. From modular micro-units to rooftop studios, the plans aim to cut red tape, lower costs, and turn underused space into flexible homes that are compatible with multigenerational living. (The New York Times)

• A string of oddly specific burglaries targeting Los Angeles tastemakers, from influencers to vintage furniture dealers, has been traced to a single thief focused on coveted design pieces, like an Eames chair, Togo sofa, and even a $58,000 Mah Jong sofa by Roche Bobois. Here’s how victims connected on social media to expose the suspect. (NBC News)

• China is banning so-called "bone ash apartments," the use of empty high-rise units as makeshift memorial spaces to store cremated remains, targeting a growing workaround to high funeral costs and scarce cemetery plots in the country. (The Guardian)

• Start-ups like Jubilee Homes in San Francisco are pitching an unorthodox twist to homeownership—letting buyers purchase a house while leasing the land or sharing equity with investors. But critics warn these "fractional" lease holds might very well be too good to be true. (Business Insider)

• After two decades and a whopping $724 million, LACMA will soon unveil the David Geffen Galleries to the public. The unconventional, single-level museum by Swiss Architect Peter Zumthor invites visitors to rethink how they experience art itself, blurring the line between past and present while cementing director Michael Govan’s legacy. (The New York Times)

Top photo courtesy Reform Architecture