And if you don’t have real-life examples of your work, create them, says designer Jennifer Clapp, principal at Boston-based architecture and design firm Hacin, an AD PRO Directory member. “Photograph palettes of beautiful materials,” she says. “Make presentation boards. Show renderings. Supplement them with conceptual images of art, nature, or fashion that are evocative of your concept or vision or style.”When Cotter Christian, the associate dean for the School of Constructed Environments and assistant professor of interior design at Parsons School of Design, went for his first interview at a big architectural firm, he brought along drawings of an off-Broadway set he’d designed. “That’s what we ended up talking about for the entire interview,” he says. “Think about what makes you interesting and unique.” As Hansen puts it, “Firms are hiring people, not portfolios.” So, for the most part, are clients.Get posting.Instagram is a great way to convey your aesthetic and style without necessarily showing your own work. “Quite a few young designers without portfolios make a name for themselves by curating—and crediting—a gorgeous selection of architectural and design images that speak to them on Instagram,” says Torrey. Christian encourages posting pictures with captions that give insight into why you’ve chosen them. “If you’re sharing someone else’s work, say why it inspires you and what you like about it,” he says. “If you’re posting an image from a hotel or museum, tell followers why you’re drawn to that place.”Everything You Need to Know About Interior Design Jobs and Their SalariesLooking to start or advance your interior design career? Here’s your guide to the interior design jobs to look out for—and what they payOnce you have something to showBuild a website...Having a digital presence is important. When Spence was starting out, she had an affluent client refer her to another affluent person. “When he asked if I had a website, I said I didn’t, but that I could show him works in person, which I thought would be even better,” she recalls. “I didn’t get the job. He felt I wasn’t legitimate enough if I didn’t have a website.”A website needn’t be slick or fancy, says Christian—you can use something simple like Squarespace, Wix, or another template-based portfolio site—but it should be clean and easy to use.…but also consider maintaining an old-school printed portfolio.Especially, says Geoffrey Taylor, dean of the School of Building Arts at SCAD, if you’re applying for jobs with a firm. “The iPad thing can get a little frustrating,” adds Christian. “I’m not suggesting you need a beautifully bound book, but well-printed drawings and sketches are a good idea. People still respond to touch and feel.”Invest in great photography—and graphic designA talented and experienced interior photographer can help make your portfolio look professional, and perhaps guide you on the best parts of a project to showcase. “Most clients won’t be able to see your work in person,” says Marie Carson of Los Angeles–area firm M. Elle Design. “So your work is only as good as your photographs.” Hiring a professional stylist will also assist. “Styling is just as important as beautiful furniture in a finished space,” says Chiprut. “[It] can make a project feel like a home and highlight the personal touches that bring a space to life.”

polygonrunway writes: Let’s model and render out a cool isometric Roman style architecture building in Blender. Source

Subscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTube809k Nintendo has today released a brand new update for its Switch Online Game Boy Advance library. Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones has been added for Expansion Pack subscribers. Released on the GBA in 2005, this was the second series entry to launch in the West (the first, The Blazing Blade, launched in North America in 2003 as plain old Fire Emblem and is already available on NSO) and focuses on the siblings Eirika and Ephraim and their quest to save the continent of Magvel from an a demon. If it isn't one thing, it's another, right?Subscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTube809kWatch on YouTube Here's an overview, courtesy of Nintendo: The kingdom of Renais lies shattered by a sudden invasion! Use cunning strategy to guide the royal heirs Eirika and Ephraim on their twin quest to rebuild Renais. Take advantage of your strengths and exploit your enemy's weaknesses, but be careful: if a soldier perishes on the battlefield, they're gone forever! In a world of dragons and magic, you must always be ready for battle. Take advantage of the terrain and the weapon in your hand, and attack enemies either from afar using magic or up close with your sword. Each weapon has its own strength and weakness, so choose wisely when attacking your opponent, because you don't want to be caught off guard. Build the perfect army. Do you want a pegasus rider or a wyvern rider? An assassin or a rogue? Upgrade your troops to different classes, each with their own skills and weapons, and save the land from the forces of darkness! If you missed this back in the mid-moughties, you may have played it on 3DS as part of the Ambassador Program for early adopters of that system. If you're curious, Japan got the same update, too. This latest update follows three Mega Drive games added earlier in April. Every retro game available with an NSO sub (plus the Expansion Pack) Available today All the GBA games, ranked by you What do you think of this latest addition to the Switch Online GBA service? You know where to go to let us know! Related Games See Also Share:0 0 Liam is a news writer and reviewer for Nintendo Life and Pure Xbox. He's been writing about games for more than 15 years and is a lifelong fan of Mario and Master Chief. Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment... Related Articles Switch 2's Backwards Compatibility List Provides Updates On Two Titles Here's what you can expect Opinion: It's Time To Get Rid Of Fall Damage Free faller Gallery: These 'Lunar Remastered Collection' Goodies Remind Us Of The Good Old Days When the moon hits your eye...

In an internal email surfaced as part of the Meta antitrust trial, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg fretted about the potential that the company’s Instagram acquisition may cannibalize Facebook. Were that to happen, it could lead to the “network collapse of the more engaging and profitable product,” a worried Zuckerberg told other Meta executives in a confidential message. Zuckerberg proposed multiple ways to prevent this cannibalization from occurring, including building more bridges between Meta’s apps to make them function as a single network (suggesting that Instagram was contributing to Facebook’s loss of cultural relevance). He also openly wondered if Facebook would be better served by spinning out Instagram as a separate business. In its trial against Meta, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is attempting to prove that the company is operating a social networking monopoly and that its acquisition of competing apps like Instagram and WhatsApp allowed it to maintain its dominant position in the market. As evidence, the prosecution is surfacing emails and other messages that indicate that Zuckerberg understood the threat Instagram posed to Facebook, even after it became a part of Meta’s larger family of apps. In an email dated May 2018, Zuckerberg explained to other Facebook executives — including Meta Chief Product Officer Chris Cox, now former COO Sheryl Sandberg, former CTO Mike Schroepfer, former Chief Growth Officer (now COO) Javier Olivan, and former CFO David Wehner — that he was concerned the company’s approach to its family of apps was not correct. Instagram hurt Facebook’s growth Image Credits:Chesnot / Getty Images Specifically, Zuckerberg was worried that Instagram’s growth could hurt Facebook itself, saying that internal data shows that when users joined Instagram, their Facebook engagement “declines significantly.” “We are starting to get more data that suggests this hollowing out of Facebook usage compounds as a larger percent of the population gets on Instagram,” Zuckerberg wrote in a section of the email titled “cannibalization and network collapse.” The more the company pushed Instagram’s growth, the greater the threat Instagram posed to Facebook, Zuckerberg appeared to conclude. “This raises the issue that our models for the future may be wrong,” Zuckerberg continued. “We currently expect both Facebook and Instagram to be able to grow, but it seems likely to be the case that if we promote Instagram to be around the same size as Facebook, that will have significant negative effects on Facebook that we are not currently modeling,” he wrote. “That is, the Facebook network can likely sustain decreased engagement among some of its members, but if engagement among its entire population is hollowed out, that may lead to significantly worse outcomes than we currently expect,” Zuckerberg said. He also said that Instagram’s growth was mainly being driven by distribution from the Facebook app and its use of the Facebook friend graph. “What this suggests is that while we hope to grow two products, there’s a real chance we may be causing network collapse of the more engaging and more profitable product to replace it with one that is less engaging and less profitable,” Zuckerberg said. As a result, he said that Facebook was reducing its promotions to Instagram and that Instagram should introduce new integrations that would tip the balance back toward Facebook instead. He explained that he wanted bridges to be built between the two networks so the apps “increasingly function as a single network in more respects.” As one example, Zuckerberg pointed out that it should be easier for video creators with large audiences to engage across both apps more easily. Plus, he wanted to combine the voice and video calling networks across WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram to become a single network. (Meta eventually introduced cross-platform messaging in 2020, before rolling it back years later.) Family of apps strategy versus a spin-out Image Credits:Jens Büttner/picture alliance / Getty Images Notably, Zuckerberg also called out the difficulties of building new products and services within Instagram and WhatsApp because of “their founder leadership.” He lamented that management couldn’t openly discuss its concerns about Instagram in particular, as it might demoralize the team and prevent the company from retaining Instagram co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger. He also pushed for the company to rethink its branding of products, so that Facebook’s brand remained front and center. “When you open those apps, it would say ‘Instagram by Facebook’ and ‘WhatsApp by Facebook,’” Zuckerberg proposed in his email. “We may even need to put Facebook branding in the chrome of those apps where the app names and logos are today to cement this relationship in people’s minds.” Zuckerberg pushed for Meta to rethink its branding so that Facebook remained front and center. In 2021, Facebook instead rebranded as Meta, whose logo now appears across all the company’s apps. If the FTC wins its case, Meta may have to spin out Instagram and WhatsApp as separate businesses. Ironically, that’s something Zuckerberg himself suggested in his 2018 email as an alternative strategy — and possibly the “only structure” to accomplish the company’s goals. Spinning out Instagram could preserve Facebook’s growth, focus Meta’s teams, and allow the company to retain Systrom, wrote Zuckerberg. (Instagram’s founders left later that same year, in September 2018.) Ultimately, Meta chose not to spin out its acquisitions. But Zuckerberg had warned the other execs in the email that there’s a “non-trivial chance” that Meta could be forced to spin out Instagram and WhatsApp in the next 5 to 10 years, making all its work building a family of apps “something we don’t get to keep.” If the FTC succeeds in court, Zuckerberg will be proven right. Meta downplayed the magnitude of these emails in a statement shared with TechCrunch. “Out-of-context and years-old documents about acquisitions that were reviewed by the FTC more than a decade ago will not obscure the realities of the competition we face or overcome the FTC’s weak case,” a Meta spokesperson said.

Aki Hamada Architects, a Japanese architecture studio, has developed a 3D printed rest facility using locally sourced soil for Expo 2025 in Osaka. Built with a Crane WASP Stand Alone system, the structure is part of a broader initiative that includes 20 rest stations designed by emerging Japanese architects selected through a national call. The facility integrates rest areas, toilets, a satellite studio, and a pop-up stage within a canyon-like architectural installation. WASP, an Italian firm specializing in 3D printing technologies for architecture, provided the large-format construction printer used to fabricate key components of the facility. These included prefabricated exterior panels, planter-benches, modular earthen blocks, and cylindrical washbasins. All elements were produced using a soil-based mix composed of clay, straw, seaweed glue, pigments, and a magnesium oxide hardener. The formula was chosen for printability, mechanical performance, and its connection to Japan’s traditional earthen wall construction methods. Printed elements were cured for three days in a humid environment before air drying to achieve structural strength. The 3D printed rest facility at Expo 2025 in Osaka. Photo via WASP. “Through this project, we aim to present a glimpse of a future society in which humans, nature, and machines coexist—realized through architecture built with natural materials like earth and advanced robotics,” said Aki Hamada. As part of the design process, the team 3D scanned stone shapes from various regions across Japan, generating composite geometries. These forms were optimized through physical testing to ensure structural stability with soil alone and adjusted to respect overhang tolerances required for 3D printing. Panels were printed at a facility in Toyama, transported to the Expo site, and installed onto timber frames using pre-embedded wooden inserts. The construction system, with a 6.2-meter diameter and 1.7-meter height build volume, was also deployed onsite to produce planter-benches that serve as rest spaces and tables. The resulting geometries included curved enclosures and clustered island forms, allowing visitors to rest in multiple configurations. Smaller stacked planters were constructed from 45 individually printed earthen blocks, some of which were filled with magnesium-based hardener and reinforced with bamboo rods in place of rebar. Washbasins were printed at the factory with recessed fronts for knee clearance and rear access panels for plumbing integration, then placed beneath pre-installed sinks and countertops. Close-up of the earthen walls fabricated using a locally sourced soil mix. Photo via WASP. Expo 2025 in Osaka is framed as a platform for future-oriented technologies and experimental architecture. Aki Hamada Architects used this opportunity to propose an alternative to industrial construction—where complexity arises from time, not cost, and materials are gathered directly from the local environment. All elements of the structure are biodegradable, reflecting a design intention for the installation to decompose naturally or be removed without contributing to long-term waste. Recent developments in 3D printed architecture across Asia and the Middle East Japan has recently accelerated its adoption of 3D printing in public infrastructure projects. In early 2025, West Japan Railway Company (JR West), in partnership with JR West Innovations and Serendix, announced plans to construct a new train station building at Hatsushima Station using a 3D printer. Designed as a compact, culturally integrated structure, the 6.3-meter-wide reinforced concrete station is expected to be assembled in just six hours between overnight train operations. This pilot aims to assess whether 3D printing can replace conventional steel and concrete methods in rural railway renewal, reducing construction time and labor costs while accommodating location-specific aesthetics. In Dubai, large-scale architectural 3D printing also reached a milestone. Proto21, a UAE-based additive manufacturing firm, partnered with MYATA Platinum to build what has been officially recognized as the world’s largest 3D printed structure by volume. Finalized in February 2025, the project involved over 150 printers running continuously across three additive manufacturing technologies—FDM, SLA, and LfAM—to create more than 21,000 custom parts. Inspired by canyon formations, the project’s intricately modeled geometry demonstrated the capacity of 3D printing to bypass traditional manufacturing constraints, particularly in producing non-repetitive architectural components at scale. Inside MYATA Platinum Dubai. Photo via: Proto21 Ready to discover who won the 20243D Printing Industry Awards? Subscribe to the 3D Printing Industry newsletter to stay updated with the latest news and insights. Featured image shows the 3D printed rest facility at Expo 2025 in Osaka. Photo via WASP. Anyer Tenorio Lara Anyer Tenorio Lara is an emerging tech journalist passionate about uncovering the latest advances in technology and innovation. With a sharp eye for detail and a talent for storytelling, Anyer has quickly made a name for himself in the tech community. Anyer's articles aim to make complex subjects accessible and engaging for a broad audience. In addition to his writing, Anyer enjoys participating in industry events and discussions, eager to learn and share knowledge in the dynamic world of technology.

MLB The Show 25’s Patch 9 improves gameplay, updates Diamond Dynasty trading limits, and adds player model tweaks and key visual fixes across multiple modes.

Table of Contents Table of Contents Apps supporting GPT‑3.5 Turbo API GPT‑3.5 history and updates Whisper API shows open-source upgrades  GPT‑3.5 Turbo isn’t the only ghost model  OpenAI has released its GPT‑3.5 Turbo API to developers as of Monday, bringing back to life the base model that powered the ChatGPT chatbot that took the world by storm in 2022. It will now be available for use in several well-known apps and services. The AI brand has indicated that the model comes with several optimizations and will be cheaper for developers to build upon, making the model a more efficient option for features on popular applications, including Snapchat and Instacart.  OpenAI detailed some of the companies that will use the GPT‑3.5 API to update their popular applications. Many of the apps will use the API to incorporate AI chat features into their interfaces. Snap Inc. recently announced a My AI feature for its Snapchat+ subscription tier. It will serve as a custom chatbot for users, offering recommendations and text editing, among other unique functions for Snapchat’s 750 million monthly users. Quizlet is a learning platform used by over 60 million students globally, which will integrate the API as an AI tutor that can interact with students based on their topic and level of study. Instacart collaborates with over 75,000 retail locations to provide shopping experiences. Its “Ask Instacart” API integration, set to launch later this year, will allow users to ask functional questions, such as how to make a certain recipe, to assist with shopping needs. Shopify is an e-commerce app that allows its 100 million shoppers to easily find their desired products and brands. The addition of the GPT‑3.5 API will enable a shopping assistant that will provide personalized, prompt-based recommendations of the app’s extensive product database.  Recommended Videos ChatGPT 3.5 was OpenAI’s first publicly available AI model, with the introduction of ChatGPT in November 2022. It powered the chatbot’s free tier with various updates from its inception until July 2024, when it was succeeded by GPT-4o mini. The current GPT-4o mini model remains in use at the base mode for all ChatGPT tiers. During its time, ChatGPT 3.5 was especially known for its hallucinations, or making up responses when it didn’t have the answers readily available. This was primarily because the model was trained on data up to September 2021 and could not answer questions beyond that point.  Related However, OpenAI indicated that the GPT‑3.5 Turbo API has been formulated for developers to use to create beyond chat-based products. The company added that all updates made available will be a stable version, which it recommends developers opt for use. The current GPT‑3.5 Turbo API is also cheaper for developers to use at $0.002 per 1k tokens and is 10x cheaper than prior GPT‑3.5 models. OpenAI also discussed its upgrade of the Whisper API, a speech-to-text model that was first developed as an open-source model and made available to developers in September 2022. The brand noted that the model was originally hard to run but has now been optimized for faster performance. Whisper API works by transcribing the source language into English. It works with several audio formats, including, m4a, mp3, mp4, mpeg, mpga, wav, and webm.  An app that currently supports the Whisper API is Speak, an AI-powered language learning app available in South Korea, which is the premier app for learning English in the country. The Whisper API update is intended to expand support for Speak globally. The app promises to assist users with achieving fluency in language learning, with open-ended practice and accurate feedback. Notably, OpenAI is providing an update to the Whisper AI API– a model that has always been open source in its library, after the sudden popularity of the Chinese AI brand DeepSeek. The company’s CEO, Sam Altman, stated in a Reddit AMA in early February that OpenAI was “on the wrong side of history” and that the company needed to reconfigure its open-source strategy. Additionally, OpenAI’s chief product officer, Kevin Weil, also stated during the AMA session that there was potential for the company to make its older, less cutting-edge models open-source. He didn’t give any specifics about which model could be used for an open-source project at that time; however, Whisper API appears to be a good example of what he had in mind.   OpenAI has been making many changes to model availability recently. Over several months, the brand has had a focus on releasing several reasoning models, which are better at logical thinking and can show the thought process behind results. As said, the ChatGPT base model is currently a reasoning model, and OpenAI allows full access to several other reasoning models through its paid subscription tiers. With several reasoning model options available, OpenAI recently announced its decision to retire the GPT-4 large language model (LLM), which powered the ChatGPT Plus tier before GPT-4o mini. The model will be available in the ChatGPT interface until April 30.   OpenAI detailed that the GPT-4 LLM will still be available as an API for developers. While it remains unknown how OpenAI will use the GPT-4 API moving forward, seeing what the company did with GPT‑3.5 Turbo might give an idea of what’s in store.  Notably, when OpenAI first announced GPT-4 in March 2023, the company detailed its several business integrations of the LLM, including the language learning app Duolingo, the education website Khan Academy, the Danish mobile app Be My Eyes, the payment app Stripe, the AI agent company Auto-GPT, and the AI assistant You.com, in addition to its major collaboration with Microsoft for its Copliot AI assistant. Editors’ Recommendations

When Tesla launched the Cybertruck in 2023, it was the product of four years of hype. The boxy electric pickup was the company's first new model since 2020. Kim Kardashian, Pharrell Williams, and Justin Bieber were spotted riding around in it. With a million people on the truck's reservation list and a $120,000 price tag, it quickly became a status symbol.Less than two years later, the waitlist has disappeared. Trucks are piling up in sales lots. Fewer than 50,000 vehicles have been delivered. Some owners have become political targets thanks to CEO Elon Musk's association with President Donald Trump.Enter a quiet rebrand.Over the past few months, Tesla has moved to position the Cybertruck as a working man's vehicle — less DeLorean, more Ford F-150. The company updated its website, ditching an other-worldly aesthetic for images that feature the truck hauling equipment and an Airstream trailer. And sales workers at the company told Business Insider it's become increasingly difficult to move the truck off sales lots. The vehicle, they said, needs to appeal to the traditional truck buyer."Pitching it to truck people is more about the functionality," said one salesperson who works in the South. "They want to know how much it can tow, how much can fit in the truck bed."As the company prepares to deliver first quarter earnings, it faces sluggish delivery numbers, a brand crisis, and a stock price down over 43% year to date — and is looking for a boost."They initially pushed too hard into the out-of-this-world aesthetic," Ivan Drury, the director of insight for the automotive research firm Edmunds, told Business Insider. "That only appeals to the outskirts of the market. Now they need to take a more traditional route."Taking on the traditional truck marketAs recently as April 9, Tesla's website included renderings of the truck in a Mars-like atmosphere and ad copy that touted it was "built for any planet" with a "cabin as quiet as outer space." (The brand famously shies away from traditional advertising and relies on Musk, the website, its reputation, and its X presence to sell vehicles.)Early on, Ford CEO Jim Farley dismissed the Cybertruck as only for "Silicon Valley people" and "like a cool high-end product parked in front of a hotel." "I don't make trucks like that," Farley said shortly before the Cybertruck's release. "I make trucks for real people who do real work, and that's a different kind of truck."In mid-April, Tesla redesigned its product page for the first time since the truck's release. Gone are the futuristic aesthetics and allusions to Mars; now the vehicle is fit for a construction worker or a family outing.It's strikingly similar to advertisements for the 2024 model of Ford's F-150, the best-selling pickup in the US for the past 40 years. Tesla's new Cybertruck page looks similar to some F-150 advertisements. Tesla and Ford The lead image for both truck's webpages featured Airstream trailers, and both included images of truck beds filled with wire.Tesla and Ford did not respond to a request for comment.The cheaper, scaled-down version of the Tesla truck, which launched in April, is also similar in price, range, and towing capacity to Ford's electric F-150.Two Tesla sales workers told Business Insider that they've seen a push to market the vehicle more toward the typical truck buyer since late last year. The sales worker who works in a Southern state said the truck's flashy exterior has made it difficult to find people willing to buy it."Most of the test drivers aren't real truck buyers," they said. "It's more of a novelty thing." The Cybertruck's updated website focuses on the truck's functionality. Ford and Tesla Despite the truck's "bulletproof" exterior, Tesla struggled to market it as worksite-friendly and durable early on. Within weeks of its release, owners and critics took to social media to post Cybertruck fails, including footage of the truck getting stuck in snow or struggling to drive up a dirt hill. The phenomenon even spawned a popular Reddit channel with more than 300,000 members called "Cyberstuck." The pickup has also had eight recalls since its release.Even though a typical truck owner may not work on a farm or a construction site, there's value in selling that image. Drury sees the new marketing materials as a step in the right direction."They need to advertise durability. It needs to be used and abused, and all of the capabilities that make it a work truck need to be on full display," Drury said. "People might not use it for those capabilities, but it's about selling an image or lifestyle."Musk's pivotTesla's Cybertruck revamp has coincided with Musk's rightward political shift.Traditionally, Teslas have appealed to left-leaning buyers; many of the company's sales centers are located in blue states and urban areas, and Democrats have been more likely to purchase an EV.But as Musk has become increasingly tied to President Donald Trump and DOGE, some of those people have started to turn on Tesla, staging protests outside sales centers. Other people have vandalized Cybertrucks and targeted their owners.Tesla's sales numbers have followed suit, particularly for the Cybertruck. The company sold 6,406 Cybertrucks during the first three months of 2025, about half the number it sold the previous quarter, according to an estimate from Cox Automotive.Along with pitches from Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, the "working man" marketing may well appeal to a different kind of customer. (Tapping into a broader cultural push toward traditional masculinity, which Musk has championed, also doesn't hurt.)At least one analyst sees a potential red-state boon. "Tesla could actually net meaningful sales gains over time" in red counties, Itay Michaeli, a TD Cowen analyst, wrote in March.Politics aside, the Auto Trader editor Brian Moody told Business Insider that he thinks the Cybertruck marketing strategy has been a smart move for the brand and represents a natural progression."Right out of the gate, they were appealing to the Tesla fans, but most of those people have probably already bought the car, and now they have to appeal to the regular people," Moody said. "Now they need to focus on the practicality."Do you work for Tesla or have a tip? Contact this reporter via email at gkay@businessinsider.com or Signal at 248-894-6012. Use a personal email address and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.

By Thomas Maxwell Published April 21, 2025 | Comments (0) | Amazon is pulling back on some data center leases, following similar moves by Microsoft. Bloomberg/Getty The number of tech giants paring back on their AI data center plans rises to two. According to banks Wells Fargo and TD Cowen, Amazon has paused negotiations on some co-location data center deals, primarily in Europe. The news comes shortly after several reports have indicated Microsoft has paused or cancelled some of its plans. “It’s not clear the magnitude of the pause,” a Wells Fargo report reads, “but the positioning is similar to what we’ve recently heard from MSFT—they are digesting aggressive recent lease-up deals.” It goes on to emphasize that Microsoft still appears to be going through with deals already signed. Co-location is the concept of sharing enormous infrastructure costs by building data in partnership with other companies that need it. It is important to keep in mind that other companies, including Meta and xAI, continue to aggressively build out data centers to fuel their AI models. Building out large-scale data centers requires significant amounts of power, which grids have struggled to satisfy, and Amazon may need more time to open data centers already under construction. The Wells Fargo report states that the e-commerce giant already has 9 GWs (gigawatts) of active power capacity in its existing data center infrastructure. But the news further supports some concern that demand for AI infrastructure is cooling as businesses still struggle to find ways to actually use the new technology to save time and money. It does not help that President Trump’s ongoing trade war is causing stocks to tumble. Amazon is down 24% this year, and the company is exposed to tariffs on China, as estimates suggest more than 70% of goods on its namesake marketplace come from China. There is concern amongst economists that the trade war and potential recession could slow down the AI boom as major players, including Nvidia, are caught in the crossfire. That company receives a substantial amount of its business from China and is under scrutiny for potentially turning a blind eye to high-end chips evading sanctions and landing in China. If Amazon cuts back investment on new data centers, that could further hurt Nvidia’s sales of chips. Amazon reports its next earnings on May 1st, and there will be close eyes on how AI demand is looking. Microsoft recently pulled back on an ambitious $1 billion data center project in Ohio, surprising officials there who offered the company generous tax incentives to snag the deal despite concerns that it would employ very few people and require immense energy and water resources. CEO Satya Nadella has tried to tame expectations regarding the AI revolution, saying in an interview that the technology has not yet turned into a meaningful lift for the U.S. economy, though his company has reiterated plans to spend $80 billion on infrastructure in the next few years. If there is any silver lining, it is that locals will not have to pay as much in taxes to support these upgrades that have been cancelled. On the flip side, they do employ a lot of construction workers for initial rollout, and there has been some hope that the demands of data centers would finally push local municipalities to upgrade fraying infrastructure and build out clean energy. There was a sliver of hope that AI would provide something of immediate practical value, if not chatbots that still get things wrong all the time or Palantir-based police state systems. Daily Newsletter You May Also Like By Vanessa Taylor Published April 21, 2025 By Thomas Maxwell Published April 21, 2025 By Thomas Maxwell Published April 18, 2025 By Isaiah Colbert Published April 17, 2025 By Thomas Maxwell Published April 17, 2025 By Alex Cranz Published April 15, 2025

Earth Day 2025: Our Agency in Rethinking Sustainability Across Cities, Scales, and SectorsSave this picture!Santuario de la Naturaleza Humedal Río Maipo.. Image Courtesy of Fundación CosmosOn Earth Day 2025, observed annually on April 22, we are once again reminded of the urgent environmental and sustainability challenges that face our planet—challenges that continue to evolve alongside global economic, political, and cultural shifts. The building and construction industry remains one of the most critical sectors in the effort to manage and reduce global carbon emissions. This year, these issues are being addressed through increasingly diverse lenses, calling for more holistic and integrated approaches. It's vital that we view sustainability not as a one-size-fits-all solution, but as a multi-scalar effort—one that spans from large-scale urban development and strategic planning, to the advancement of sustainable materials, and even to temporary, thought-provoking interventions like exhibitions and installations. In doing so, we reaffirm our commitment to reducing our collective carbon footprint, while shaping a built environment that promotes human well-being and planetary health.Contextual Sustainability: Rethinking Urban Strategies for Lasting ImpactArchitecture is inherently tied to its environment, demanding specificity rather than one-size-fits-all solutions. Yet in rapidly developing cities, the pressure for economic growth often leads to standardized, efficiency-driven approaches that sideline thoughtful, context-sensitive architecture. This tension raises a critical question: does the lack of specificity in economic development necessitate the same in architectural response? While the answer is no, the bias toward speed and cost-efficiency often prevails. Meanwhile, in already developed cities, the challenge shifts toward balancing the preservation of historical and cultural heritage with the need to retrofit aging buildings for sustainability and safety. Here, the emphasis is not on building too quickly, but on adapting existing structures that may underperform by today's environmental standards—an effort that demands both innovation and respect for the past. Together, these contrasting urban conditions call for a more nuanced architectural approach that resists homogenization in favor of specificity, resilience, and long-term value. Related Article Earth Day 2024: Urban and Architectural Strategies to Navigate the Climate Crisis Rethinking Sustainability Through Site-Specific Strategies Save this picture!The Price of Growth: Urban Sprawl and Sustainability in South Asian CitiesSave this picture!Madrid: A Vibrant Confluence of History, Modernity, and Sustainable Urban RegenerationSave this picture!Rethinking Urban Living: 8 Conceptual Collective Housing Projects from the ArchDaily CommunitySave this picture!Designing for Well-Being: Where Nature, Health, and Sustainability MeetSustainability and wellness have often been treated as separate priorities in design, yet there is growing recognition that integrated solutions can simultaneously support ecological health and human well-being. This article explores how strategies like green infrastructure—used to mitigate urban heat—can also promote mental restoration, encourage outdoor activity, and reduce carbon emissions. In the post-pandemic era, the importance of connecting with nature has gained renewed urgency, particularly in relation to public health. This is especially evident in healthcare environments, where biophilic design has become central to supporting healing and recovery. At the same time, regional and site-specific approaches to integrating nature into the built environment reveal nuanced differences across geographies—offering valuable insight into how climate, culture, and context shape the relationship between sustainability and wellness in architecture.Architecture for Public Health: A Joint Approach to Sustainability and WellnessSave this picture!Green Therapy: How Does Nature Contribute to Healing Hospitalized Patients?Save this picture!Rooted in Tradition, Nature, and Community: Wellness and Healing Spaces from the North to the South AfricaSave this picture!Designing in Harmony with Nature: Architecture in Urban Wetlands and the Pursuit of Territorial Well-BeingSave this picture!From Waste to Wonder: Rethinking Materials for a Circular Built EnvironmentSustainability in design often begins with materials—both by embracing technological innovation and by reexamining traditional practices. Terrazzo, for example, has regained popularity not only for its visual versatility and durability but also for its sustainable potential: originally developed in 15th-century Italy as a way to reuse stone offcuts, it now often incorporates recycled glass, industrial waste, and other aggregates, reducing the demand for virgin materials. At the same time, materials like polyurethane foam—commonly used for insulation—present environmental challenges due to their non-biodegradable nature. Emerging solutions include mechanical recycling processes and the development of natural polymer binders derived from plant cell walls, pointing to more circular futures for synthetic materials. Meanwhile, concrete—perhaps the most pervasive material in cities—is being creatively reclaimed in efforts to transform expired infrastructure into green public spaces, inviting a renewed balance between built form and natural systems. Together, these examples illustrate how material choice can serve as both a technological and cultural strategy for sustainable interior and architectural design.Terrazzo's Sustainable Design Strategy: Integrating Tradition, Reuse, and InnovationSave this picture!From Disposable to Sustainable: The Transformation of Recycled Polyurethane into High-Performance ProductsSave this picture!Transforming Portland: How a Demolished Highway Became a Pioneering Waterfront ParkSave this picture!Global Stages, Local Futures: Sustainability at the Forefront of 2025's Design ExhibitionsThe year 2025 marks a dynamic moment for global design and architecture, as several major non-annual events—including the Venice Biennale of Architecture (held biennially), the World Expo (every five years), and the Setouchi Triennale (every three years)—are all set to take place. Unsurprisingly, sustainability stands at the forefront of many of these platforms. At the Venice Biennale, the Bulgarian Pavilion tackles the future of sustainability through a provocative lens, exploring how natural processes might increasingly be shaped—and distorted—by artificial intelligence. The exhibition embraces contradiction, revealing the paradoxes and fragile relationship between technological advancement and environmental responsibility. In contrast, the Dutch architecture firm MVRDV presents Carbon Confessions, a candid and data-rich installation that sheds light on the real-world carbon impact of design and construction practices. Rather than speculating on utopian futures, it offers a brutally honest look at the industry's current footprint and the complexities of reducing emissions. Meanwhile, at Expo 2025 in Osaka, the Portugal Pavilion turns to the ocean—one of Earth's most vital and vulnerable resources—as the centerpiece of a multi-sensory journey. Through immersive storytelling, it not only confronts the urgent environmental challenges facing our oceans today but also imagines a future in which humanity and marine ecosystems coexist in balance. Across these varied approaches, the exhibitions underscore the need for nuanced, multi-scalar conversations on sustainability—rooted in both technological innovation and ecological reverence.The Bulgarian Pavilion at the 2025 Venice Biennale Explores the Paradoxes of Artificial Intelligence and SustainabilitySave this picture!MVRDV "Carbon Confessions" Exhibition in Germany Reveals the Realities of Sustainable ConstructionSave this picture!Kengo Kuma's Portugal Pavilion for Expo 2025 Osaka Opens as a Tribute to the OceanSave this picture! Image gallerySee allShow less About this authorJonathan YeungAuthor••• Cite: Jonathan Yeung. "Earth Day 2025: Our Agency in Rethinking Sustainability Across Cities, Scales, and Sectors" 22 Apr 2025. ArchDaily. 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