Imagine stepping through the entrance of Studio Takuya Hosokai’s forest cakeshop and feeling your sense of orientation immediately slip away. The floor seems level, yet something feels profoundly off-kilter. Your eyes search for right angles but find none. A barista slides a perfectly square cake box across a counter while shadows fall at impossible angles across its surface. Welcome to 45°, where nothing aligns with expectations, and that’s precisely the point. Located in Niigata’s ancient woodland, this architectural anomaly challenges conventional notions of spatial design through a deceptively simple concept: spaces rotated at precisely 45-degree angles throughout the structure, creating four distinct axes that deliberately disorient visitors and transform a modest cakeshop into an immersive journey through calculated spatial ambiguity. Designer: The designer and architect of the 45° cakeshop and café in Niigata is Studio Takuya Hosokai, with Takuya Hosokai as the lead architect. The project was designed by Studio Takuya Hosokai and completed in 2023. “We wanted people to experience the forest differently,” explains Hosokai in a rare interview about the project. “When you lose your bearings, you begin to see what was always there but never noticed.” Bold Blues and Floating Planes The exterior photographs reveal a structure that appears to levitate among the trees. Clean geometric forms assert themselves against organic irregularity, while bold blue steel supports arranged in striking V-formations slash through space with purpose. Their diagonal orientation aligns with the building’s conceptual framework while creating visual tension. These supports celebrate their structural purpose rather than hiding behind decorative facades. Substantial concrete volumes anchor the building with reassuring weight, while extensive glazing counteracts this solidity, dissolving boundaries between inside and forest. The glass doesn’t simply frame views but virtually eliminates barriers, allowing the forest to become an extension of the interior experience. In Niigata, snow loads reach depths of one meter, a standard structural requirement for buildings in the region. Traditional Japanese wooden construction techniques adapt throughout the structure to withstand these conditions. The cantilevered entrance canopy showcases remarkable engineering through flat beams providing stability against harsh weather. During winter, snow accumulates along these precise edges, creating visually striking formations that transform the building’s appearance, a phenomenon embraced throughout Niigata, where snow is celebrated as both a challenge and an artistic medium. Material Conversations and Spatial Flow Every junction where materials meet tells a story. Concrete greets steel with precise detailing. Glass meets wood with intentional clarity. Each connection emphasizes independence while maintaining harmony, creating a visual rhythm that extends throughout the structure. The site plan reveals thoughtful positioning within 4,500 square meters of ancient forest. The building maintains respectful dialogue with an existing restaurant completed earlier on the same property, with trees surrounding both structures, their natural placement preserved. A visitor from Tokyo remarked, “I came for cake but found myself studying trees for an hour. Something about the angles made me notice their shapes differently.” Inside, overlapping volumes create unexpected relationships that continuously reframe the forest beyond. White surfaces serve as canvases for the ever-changing natural light, while circular openings punctuate the ceiling, introducing focused beams that track across floors throughout the day. Textured vertical panels introduce tactile richness without competing with the angular geometry dominating the design. Floor surfaces remain minimal and continuous, allowing effortless movement through rotated volumes without encountering thresholds. Perceptual Puzzles and Temporal Shifts The rotated axes create visual disruptions that demand active engagement. You cannot passively occupy this space. It activates senses and requires participation in the experience. A staff member mentions that regular customers request specific tables based on the season. Some prefer morning light through autumn leaves, others the way afternoon sun creates patterns through bare winter branches. “After ten minutes inside, the forest outside looked different to me,” notes a regular patron. “The trees seemed more intentional somehow, as if I was seeing their geometry for the first time.” The building transforms with changing light and seasons. Morning reveals crisp edges and definitive shadows. Twilight softens everything, creating a luminous object floating among trees. Autumn brings warm colors that contrast with the cool blue supports. Winter snow creates new geometries atop the existing forms. A local farmer passing by each evening calls it “our geometric moon.” Raw concrete textures contrast with glass transparency and steel precision. Each material speaks honestly without pretense. On rainy days, the concrete darkens while the blue supports remain vibrant, creating new relationships between elements that seemed fixed. The architecture becomes a dynamic canvas for natural phenomena, responding to and amplifying subtle changes in its forest environment. Human Experience Beyond Function A young couple visits weekly, not just for the excellent cakes but for what they call “the tilted perspective.” They’ve developed a game of trying to photograph their desserts so they appear level while the forest beyond reveals the true orientation. Architecture becomes a playground for perception, a device for seeing differently. The cakeshop transforms how visitors experience the forest through unexpected perspectives. Its 45-degree rotation disrupts habitual patterns, forcing fresh engagement with familiar elements. An elderly local resident commented, “I’ve lived beside these woods for seventy years, but never saw them quite this way before.” Approaching the building, you experience gradual revelation rather than immediate understanding. The path curves slightly, offering glimpses that build anticipation. This choreographed approach reinforces discovery through disorientation. Inside, visitors report losing track of hours as light shifts across angled surfaces. The owner mentions that conversations last longer here, perhaps because the space itself becomes a topic of discussion. A Forest of Possibilities Studio Takuya Hosokai transforms a modest program into spatial poetry through 45°. The rotated geometry creates relationships between spaces that feel both surprising and somehow inevitable. Material honesty and structural clarity establish meaningful dialogue between built form and natural surroundings. The forest and building engage in continuous conversation through changing light, weather, and seasons. Disorientation serves as a tool for heightened awareness throughout your visit. The building encourages deeper engagement with both architecture and the forest through subtle manipulation of perception. You leave with your senses sharpened, noticing angles and relationships in your everyday environment that previously went undetected. The next time you walk through a forest, try tilting your head 45 degrees. The trees remain exactly the same, but your perception transforms completely. That simple shift embodies the profound insight at the heart of this remarkable building.The post Disorienting Nature: The Poetic Architecture of 45° in Niigata first appeared on Yanko Design.

Most parents are shocked to learn how much plastic gets tossed out with every diaper change. It’s easy to overlook just how many everyday products, including those that seem soft and harmless, are packed with plastics that stick around for centuries. Even items as seemingly innocent as baby diapers can pile up in landfills, leaching microplastics into our soil and water. Traditional diapers offer convenience, but their environmental cost is enormous. The plastic components can linger long after your child outgrows them, contributing to the growing crisis in waste management. Now, there’s a solution that speaks directly to eco-conscious parents: a baby diaper that not only protects your little one but is also designed to return to the earth, thanks to the surprising power of plastic-eating fungi. Designer: Hiro Technologies These innovative diapers look and feel as soft as any premium product, offering up to 12 hours of leak protection so babies and parents both get a good night’s sleep. They’re hypoallergenic, dermatologist-tested, and gentle even on sensitive skin. What sets them apart is a clever twist: after use, the diaper is placed inside a pouch containing special fungi, which then get to work. The fungi used with these diapers are remarkable for their ability to break down common plastics like PET, PE, and PP. The secret lies in their enzymes, which have evolved to decompose lignin, the tough material in wood. Because the chemical structure of these plastics is similar, the same processes allow fungi to digest them, transforming what would have been waste into harmless organic matter. Using this system is refreshingly simple. Once your baby’s diaper is ready for disposal, just place the designated fungi pouch inside it, roll the diaper up, throw it away, and let nature take over. There are no complicated steps or special trips to a facility, just a straightforward, at-home way to make a positive impact. Within a few weeks, the fungi begin to break down the diaper’s plastic layers, dramatically reducing the time it would normally spend in a landfill. Parents who have long grappled with the guilt of disposable diaper waste can now feel reassured. By swapping out excess plastics for materials fungi love, these “mycodigestible” diapers offer a guilt-free alternative that actually helps nourish the earth. The result is a diaper that cares for your baby’s skin and the planet at the same time. The post Plastic-eating fungi decompose these baby diapers in a just weeks first appeared on Yanko Design.

Long before Dylan Kerler developed memecoin launchpad Pump.Fun, somebody going by the same name made tens of thousands of dollars “rug-pulling” crypto coins that they created.

Since Monday, viewers have watched nearly 7 million minutes of Conclave, a film about the process of choosing a new pope. The Two Popes saw its numbers go up 417 percent.

Kevin Systrom said during testimony in a landmark antitrust trial that he believed Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s chief executive, viewed Instagram as a threat.

Macworld Recent reports have said that Apple has plans for UI enhancements in iPadOS 19, which could make the iPad window management a little more Mac-like. But if you can’t wait until September for iPadOS 19, you could always turn to…Microsoft Windows. A developer called NTDEV figured out how to run Windows 11 on an M2 iPad Air. The implementation involves using an app called UTM that was sideloaded onto an iPad (sideloading is allowed in the European Union, thanks to the EU’s Digital Markets Act). UTM is then used to run a JIT emulator that runs Windows 11 on the iPad. You can see it working in the video NTDEV posted on YouTube. If you don’t feel like watching over eight minutes of Windows 11 on an iPad (booting feels like it takes forever), NTDEV said on X that it “actually works quite decently.” Windows Latest reports that NTDEV used “a slimmed version of Windows 11” made with Tiny 11, which is used to “install the operating system without bloatware.” (I admit, I snickered at the “bloatware” bit.) While NTDEV made a cool demo, you’re probably asking, why? Microsoft makes these things called Surface 2-in-1 PCs that run Windows much more efficiently and have a touchscreen UI, so why even bother with Windows on an iPad? Well, NTDEV’s X profile says, “Trying stuff so you don’t have to,” which says it all right there. But if you really “have to,” Windows Latest has steps at the end of their report on how to do this.

Macworld We’re used to nice savings on Apple’s MacBook Air, but we can’t remember the last time we saw such a huge discount—even on last year’s model. The 15-inch MacBook Air with 512GB of storage is only $999 at B&H Photo right now, a whopping savings of $500 and the best price we’ve seen—or will likely ever see. Powered by last year’s M3 chip, this MacBook Air will still deliver swift performance for a wide range of tasks, from editing photos and videos to doomscrolling your socials. It’s got a fantastic 15-inch Liquid Retina screen that’s great for multitasking and movie watching, and the inclusion of a 512GB SSD (twice the base model) offers ample storage for your applications and files. The only downside is that it only has 8GB of RAM, but that’s still plenty for most tasks. When we reviewed the M3 MacBook Air last year, we summed up the laptop as “simply the best, but better,” appreciating the performance boost delivered by the M3 chip. We have the laptop with a 4.5-star rating, appreciating its overall performance, excellent battery life, and the great combination of price and features. And now that you can get this powerful M3 MacBook Air for only $999 it’s an absolute bargain that you should not miss. Take $500 off for this MacBook AirBuy now at B&H Photo

One of the biggest problems with today’s AI models is that they tend to simply make up answers when they don’t know what’s going on, something called hallucinations. You would think that the number of hallucinations would decrease over time, but according to internal tests from Open AI, the opposite is true. The o3 and o4-mini reasoning AI models produce more hallucinations than their predecessors o1, o1-mini, and o3-mini, Techcrunch reports. In one of the tests, the o3 model hallucinated in 33% of responses, compared to 16% for the o1 and 14.8% for the 03-mini. Open AI has no idea why this is the case, but the company’s developers are looking into it and hopefully it will get better in the long run.

The United Arab Emirates is planning to use AI to review and adjust existing legislation as well as write entirely new laws, reports the Financial Times. The Middle Eastern country is the first in the world to do so. Other countries are currently using AI to streamline various types of work, but not to create entirely new laws. The UAE plans, for example, to use AI to see how laws affect the country’s population and economy by creating a database of laws with public sector data. The expectation is that AI will make local laws 70% faster and ensure they can be updated regularly. It is currently unknown what kind of AI system the country’s authorities will use. “This new legislative system, powered by artificial intelligence, will change the way we create laws and make the process faster and more accurate,” said Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Emir of Dubai and Prime Minister and Vice President of the United Arab Emirates, according to the country’s state media.