It's time to get cosy this January with a whole new slate of Max movies to watch and Max TV shows to binge.

The practical and digital effects that made sandworm riding possible in Dune: Part Two. An excerpt from befores & afters magazine.A signature moment in Dune: Part Two occurs when Paul Atreides (Timothe Chalamet) successfully learns to ride a sandworm, truly immersing himself into Fremen culture. The sandworm riding was one of our first Zoom calls which Denis had with the heads of department in soft prep, recalls visual effects supervisor Paul Lambert. Denis pitched this idea of how, to actually get onto a worm, he would have to climb up a dune and call the worm. The worm would crash through the dune and then Paul would fall onto the worm. He would travel down through the sand and onto the worm, which was an absolutely amazing visual. But, we were kind of stunned as to how the heck we were going to do this given our want for a practical approach.For Denis, it was extremely important that all the worm riding and all the scenes with the worm needed to be believable, remarks special effects supervisor Gerd Nefzer. Denis was concerned about how we could put this on the screen to make it believable, to make it look good, to see the speed of the worm, and the size, the huge size of the worm. Right from day one, right when we got the script and we had the first meeting, he said, This must be good and believable, and that the audience would say, Okay, we believe that, and we see the size, and we see the speed.Working off storyboards and limited previs, the filmmakers decided early on that one thing would be clearthe scene would be filmed outdoors to give the appropriate sense of light. Initially, a recce was arranged in an attempt to find a suitable dune or dunes to film on. That approach changed when DOP Greig Fraser pushed for the moment Paul is on the dune to always be backlit by the sun. While one location served as a wide shot, the moment Paul plunges down into the sand as the worm breaks through would therefore have to be achieved with a bespoke setup, that is, not on a full-scale dune. Instead, production built a much smaller man-made dune in the UAE under which Nefzer placed steel tunnels and drums. A stunt performer attached to a wire would run above this setup. As the performer got close to the tunnels and drums, those would be pulled away, causing the faux dune to collapse.Sand is tough to work with, advises Nefzer. Its kind of like water, its very, very heavy and you have to keep it under control because its going everywhere. But, we were able to build this dune out of three meter diameter and eight meter long pipes. We dug the hole out of our dune, placed these three cylinders under the dune, filled it, and made it look nice with wind machines and leaf blowers. We also rented three huge trucks from an oil company in UAE. They were really unbelievably big, and we hooked the steel pipes onto the trucks.As noted, the stunt performer would run on top of this man-made dune. On cue, Nefzers team would orchestrate the pulling out of the tunnels and drums by communicating with the truck drivers. The setup was highly successful. However, for the correct lighting to match the original dune, the stunt had to take place at a certain early time of day. And, once the dune was collapsed, it took a day to get everything back in place, meaning only one shot could be attempted daily. The first four days werent successful and we were disappointed, admits Nefzer. But then I think on the fifth or sixth day, we got the right timing. It took four attempts for us to actually do it, but what we got was gold, adds Lambert. Having got that footage, I was then able to extend the real photography with additional CG elements so that when we looked down, we could see the worm passing through. View this post on InstagramA post shared by Gerd Nefzer SFX (@gerdsfx)For the moment Paul slides down into the dune, a stunt performer was pulled down on a sled, which provided for plenty of practical sand kicking up around him. Further practical layers of sand and CG sand were added, too. It was kept deliberately messy, notes Lambert. The idea was that you were never going to make it a beautiful shot with this because we always try to say, if we did this with a camera for real and up on the top of the dune and actually shot this, how much would you actually see because theres going to be dust and sand everywhere? So thats basically what we piled on, and it got to the point where we put on so much that you couldnt actually see the action, so we turned it back a bit. The idea was to fully, fully immerse him in the sand and dust.When Paul rolls down the worm and places his maker hooks, Nefzers team built a platform that was 25 meters long and eight meters wide that was leaned against the studio wall. It allowed Timothe Chalamet or his stunt performer to jump on something practical, get the hooks in place, slide and stop.A motion base fit for a wormThe next step was to depict Paul on the worm. A dedicated Worm Unit was established to handle this work (led by the films second unit director Tanya Lapointe). Once Paul gets control of the worm and is able to use maker hooks to clasp onto the creature while in motion, production took advantage of filming in a more controlled environment in Budapest. Here, Nefzer established a worm riding motion base. We set up a similar thing that we had done for the ornithopters on Dune: Part One, outlines Lambert. This was where we had the cylindrical kind of dog collar which encompassed a gimbal/motion base which had a section of the worm created so that the stuntie could actually stand on it and hold on to the ropes. The idea being that, to try and sell something as being immersed in the desert, you need to immerse it in the bright light and the bright bounce of the sand. This meant a sand-colored collarsandscreenssurrounded the gimbal, and would bounce light from all directions. Furthermore, the stunt performer on the gimbal was constantly bombarded with sand (to the point, says Lambert, that he would start with a suit which was black and a bit sandy, but then by the end of the day, he was way more orange. So we did have some more continuity issues to actually try to deal with that.) Some aerial plates of the wormriding filmed with a low flying helicopter were also captured and then sped up to match the right sense of movement. Having that particular setup and then having Greig lens it in a way that was sometimes on a long lensand then we would have the worm rise and twist and turnmade for a very dynamic kind of feel to the whole sequence, says Lambert.Nefzers motion base setup was also deliberately placed deep inside the dog collar thanks to a specially dug hole, essentially so that the motion base and the performer was not up so high in the air that Denis would have trouble communicating with them. I had learned that after Blade Runner 2049 and Dune: Part One, notes Nefzer. So we dug a big hole in the backlot and got the motion base into the hole. It really helped a lot.The motion base was constructed with a Lazy Susan-type functionality that allowed it to be turntabled around, always directing the worm skin to the sunlight. That was mega-important for Greig Fraser, says Nefzer. One particular motion base rig was fitted with a separate hinge that allowed it to tilt 90 degrees, the idea being that Paul would hang off the worm skin until he could control the riding. Other configurations were made to handle different angles.We have used motion bases on many other projects, but never with a worm on them, continues Nefzer. Usually with motion baseswhich are high-tech, computer-controlled machines running hydraulic oilyou are running them in very clean environments. This time, every day, they were covered completely in dust and dirt. We were really scared about getting some failures in the computer or on the bearings, so we tried to cover all the joints and hinges and covers with plastic bags. Then of course we shot it outside, sometimes in the rain. I still have red dust on my motion base!Once Paul stands atop the moving worm, he is hit with rounds and rounds of dust pushed through wind machines. Much of that was there, practically. I think the most dust that we used in one day was a ton of dust, says Nefzer. When my crew came back after shooting that, you couldnt really tell who they were. They were completely covered with dust.The dust was made from bentonite, a substance used in the make-up industry. The tricky thing was that we had to match the color of the Jordan desert and the Abu Dhabi desert, describes Nefzer. The Jordan dust or desert is very reddish and Abu Dhabi is not as red. It can also look different when its airborne compared to when you have it in the hand. The size of the corn of the dust was also important. If it was too big, youre not able to blow it like sand. We had three or four 70 kilowatt electric wind machines on Pettibones and on lifts and forklifts surrounding the worm skin. It was all about finding the right consistency.Facilitating Pauls rideUsing the practical effects photography as a base, DNEG played a significant role in how Paul came to be riding the worm. This started with the shots of the character running along the dune itself before it collapses with the worm going through underneath. Because they were constantly rebuilding the pieces of dune, we had to actually sculpt that for every take that they did, discusses DNEG visual effects supervisor Stephen James. We had some really incredible sculptors who did this by eye, and then that could blend down into our CG work. What that allowed us to do was match the crest of the dune really precisely, continues James. It allowed our compositing team to go through and paint back frame by frame footfalls, dust kickups and things like that. Our effects team would actually have to go in and precisely match things like foot kickups and the collapse as well, and then extend that into the wider simulation. So, there was a lot of really challenging work from effects to lighting to comp, to really precisely hit those blends, because it was so important that we did keep that magic that was in those plates. There is that energy that is in a lot of these plates that we just had to keep or we would lose something that was just too important.Importantly, too, DNEG was able to use the information from the plates to directly inform its own CG work, such as, James mentions, the way that light scatters through the dust and the way that the color and tone shift as light passes through. We took that practical photography reference into our full CG shots later in the film; everything we learned from those plates.For the subsequent moment of Paul falling down and onto the worm itself, DNEG was only required to do some minimal clean-up here of background seams or fans. That was because the shots were intentionally already heavily dust-filled. We did add a little bit of grit to the sand just to add some texture quality to it, says James.Once Paul uses the maker hooks to cling onto and then control the worm, DNEG worked with the motion base plates. Notes James: I think that was probably the most challenging portion because we had a lot of dust and sand on set being blown across the surface of the worm, that we had to make sense of it at a much larger scale. So if there was sand blowing on the surface on set, maybe thats sand that we would add on top of our CG worm that was from previous sections where it was under the sand and that would be cascading through down the back of the worm. Or maybe there was a bit of history from a dune that was hit that was already in the air, so wed always have sand particulate and dust history, and we had to think about what was coming and what was already happening in the sequence.issue #23 Dune: Part TwoThe sandscreen dog collar motion base setup in Budapest provided major assistance to DNEG, too. It really helped us to get the natural light of the desert bouncing up onto Paul and the worm, says James. We were using the sandscreen, whether it was in light or shadow, and matching to that in our lighting and compositing teams. So, if the sandscreen itself was maybe a bit darker, we would try to light the dunes in the background to motivate that.The wormskin Paul stands on was mostly replaced by DNEGs CG worm, with the first films asset used as the starting point. Obviously we didnt get as close as that on the first film, details DNEG visual effects supervisor Rhys Salcombe, so we had to rework the first one to some extent anyway, to make it a bit more malleable in animation, in particular. Because Paul stands on such a tiny portion of it, we essentially worked with a nested approach on the worm. At its most macro level, you have an asset thats relatively detailed. Then you extract smaller and smaller sections as you get towards the saddle, the part that he stands on. Then the smallest section was a replication of the set piece, which was based on our sculpt from the first film. We kept as much of it as we could in some of the shots, but we did end up with a CG version that we could use to replace it if required.A worm through the landscapeDNEGs role in the sandworm riding sequence was also, of course, to realize the worm traveling through the sands of Arrakis, and to incorporate plate photography into their digital creature and environment shots. This started firstly with effects tests using their existing CG worm model from Dune: Part One, as Salcombe outlines. Very early on we were told that 90% of the worms mass would be underground during the worm riding, which obviously affects the behavior quite a lot. We had to work out, if you have 90% of the kilometer long animal underground, what does that displacement of sand look like? Well, it looks like complete chaos when you simulate that for real. So one of the first things we had to come up with was a way of figuring out how to make it look aesthetically pleasing while also hitting that brief.The studio embarked on a series of wedge tests to establish how deep their effects container for the worm should be and how much sand beneath the surface should be moved. Quickly they realized that a deep container made for a constant explosion of sand. So, instead, says Salcombe, we went for a relatively shallow container. It led us to doing a rapid prototyping of our effects for worm riding with a ball pit process.DNEG came up with a great way in which they could visualize it and show myself and Denis as to what they were thinking by basically using particles the size of beach balls first as a quick and cheap render to be able to show what this is going to do, says Lambert. I then talked Denis through how the beach balls then became tennis balls and then became little grains of sand. It was a great way to have the director involved.The ball pit was exactly what it sounds like, states James. Instead of grains of sand, youre simulating with beach balls, basicallyjust a low resolution simulation. Denis and Paul really insisted on it because it was really important to them we werent wasting time adding details to something that just didnt have the right feel to it or the weight to it or scale to it. We could really tell pretty early on from these low resolution sims that it had that right feeling.Paul and Denis were also okay to let the dust and additional sand do whatever it did, adds James. So, if there was a big burst of dust and sand that happened naturally in the simulation, they would just leave it, and it may cover a lot of really expensive, beautiful simulation work, but I think on the whole, through the sequence, what it created was something that it really felt quite natural. Visibility would come and go throughout the sequence and other worm riding sequences. It just created a real sense of danger coming and going throughout.One of DNEGs main challenges early on, too, was finding a look for different levels of sand and dust going from chaotic worm sign (where the sand debris is visible on the surface) to essentially having the worm melt a dune as it goes through the sand. Then as Paul gets more and more control, says James, this really chaotic worm sign and all the stuff thats happening around the worm, needed to become more and more calm over time. We needed to visualize that early on and really understand how things were flowing before we pushed through into the up-res.Ultimately, DNEGs tests determined that their worm would be moving around 300 kilometers an hour through the sand (the animation team was led by senior animation supervisor Robyn Luckham and animation supervisors Ben Wiggs, Hitesh Barot and Omkar Fednekar). The simulations would be handled mostly in Houdini as Vellum simulations, with renders done in Clarisse (including at IMAX-level quality). We had some tools in-house for point replication and data management, which were important for when youre dealing with that larger scale of sim. It meant that we could get those simulations up-resd from the ball pit and then use the point replication tools to up-res even further. When youre dealing with sand thats so fine, it essentially behaves like a liquid. As many points as you can throw at it, the better the result will be.Read the full issue of befores & afters magazine on Dune: Part Two, available here.The post I still have red dust on my motion base appeared first on befores & afters.

This article is republished with permission fromWonder Tools,a newsletter that helps you discover the most useful sites and apps.Subscribe here.I dont know how to code. So I was delighted this week to discover a new AI service,Windsurf Cascade, that helped me make several little games and apps right after downloading the free software.How it works:I draft a prompt explaining to the AI what Im envisioning. It spits out code I can test, then I ask for revisions. I then publish and share an app.Why it matters:Windsurfis the first tool Ive seen that makes it easy for absolute beginners to code full games and applications without any prior experience. If youve ever been curious about coding but intimidated by the complexity, nows a great time to dive in with AI assistance.What you can do:If theres a game youd love to makeor a simple applicationyou might finally be able to do so without professional help. Read on for how it works, what you can do with it, and why Im so excited about this new service.Getting startedDownload thefree Windsurf code editor. Once installed, the software1lets you chat with an AI assistant in one window, while code shows up in another. The AI guides you through generating code to run new games or apps you make.How to begin:Chat with it just as you would with ChatGPT or Claude. Windsurf incorporates both top AI models to understand your requests and generate the necessary code.Your first prompt:Start by telling Windsurfs AI in a few sentences about the subjects, games or applications of interest to you, asking it for ideas for what you can make.Start simple.Consider beginning with the simplest of gameslike Tic-Tac-Toe or Hangman. Youll get a quick feel for the interface.Level up a bit.Move on to a trivia or arcade-style game, or a little converter or calculator.Make something useful.After youve made a couple of quick apps, try customizing a mini application you can use for work or a hobby. Consider making a teaching or learning game. Or an information assistant that looks up policy information in your own documents or spreadsheets. Use it yourself or share it with a friend or colleague.What the founder saysVarun Mohan, the CEO and co-founder ofCodeium, which makes Windsurf, told me in a recent Zoom interview that he was surprised at the surge of interest from non-coders.We have a lot of non technical people at the company. Very quickly, once the product was released internally, all of them were spending the entire day building apps instead of doing their job, he said.He said Codeiums goal is to help developersand othersmore efficiently complete ambitious projects. Our goal is to actually reduce the time it takes to build apps by 95%.Pricing, platform and privacyPricing: Freefor the first two weeks. You can continue using the code editor indefinitely for free, but after that the AI assistance costs $10/month.Platform:Works onMac,WindowsandLinux. Not designed for mobile devices, though the apps and games you make will work on mobile browsers, and you can theoretically use Windsurf to make mobile apps.Privacy:Your games, apps and other software canrun locallyon your machine. The files are private until and unless you upload them to a public server.Ideas for what you can makeTrivia gamesAsk the AI to create aJeopardyorWho Wants to Be a Millionaire-style game with questions it designs or pulls from a public database like theOpen Trivia Database. Or post your own questions in a published Google spreadsheet or Airtable and share it with the AI.Action gamesIf you miss your old Atari or arcade games of yore, ask the AI to help you make your own version of Frogger, Pac-Man, or Donkey Kong.Learning gamesBrush up on your geography, periodic table, presidents, star formations, or whatever else youd like to study.Skill gamesStrengthen your typing with an app measuring your speed and accuracy. Or improve your listening skills by guessing the pitch of notes played or the name of a song. Customizing skill games allows you to choose your own look, feel, and functionality.Mini work applicationsMake a little cost or sales calculator tied to your specific services. Or a timeline estimator for planning projects with particular parameters. Or an analysis tool that references a particular spreadsheet or document.Watchsomeone make a check-sharing app and apersonalized email weather alert.Useful featuresThe AI excels at debugging code.Programming errors can cascade through an application, making it difficult for novices to identify and correct problems. When somethings not working right, I just tell the AI whats wrong. It figures out the problem and helps me fix it.You can learn as you go.The AI can answer questions as well as write or edit code for you. As I watch the AI generate code and iterate on app features, I can ask it to explain what its doing or how a bit of code works.You can create as many public or private projects as you wantThe software lives on your computer, so you can keep all your work private. In my case, Im aiming to make and share teaching applications, so the AI has been helping me to publish code to Github Pages. I can host games and apps for free for others to try, like the examples below.This article is republished with permission fromWonder Tools,a newsletter that helps you discover the most useful sites and apps.Subscribe here.

Americans hoping for a promotion in 2025 should prepare to face stiffer competition.Economic instability took a bite out of payroll budgets in recent years, and as employers finally find themselves in a position to start dishing out raises and promotions again, theyre expected to have their fair share of worthy candidates to choose from.According to a recent survey of 2,000 employers by ZipRecruiter, most are anticipating stronger earnings this year, and intend to use some of those funds to increase compensation. Roughly 55% are planning modest pay increases of 1% to 4%, and about a quarter expect to bump up salaries by 5% or more. By comparison, nearly half of employers planned to reduce payroll budgets this time last year.While thats good news for employees, the significant swing in employer sentiment means many promotions have been deferred, and more employees are waiting in line for their next career advancement opportunity. At the same time, a weakened economy has resulted in less job-hopping in recent years, meaning there are fewer vacancies to fill.Weve seen overall quit rates drop, and theres not a lot of turnover within companies, so people are staying in their positions longer, meaning theres potentially fewer spots available, says Amy Garefis, ZipRecruiters chief people officer. So, its even more important to stand out from a group of people that may be tenured, all vying for the limited promotion positions available.Here are a few key steps that employees can take to help their odds of getting one of those coveted promotions in 2025:1. Dont be indispensableThose looking to move up the career ladder this year need to walk the fine line between effective and irreplaceable, says Garefis.If youre too indispensable doing one specific thing, youre never going to get the opportunity to do anything else, because people are scared to move you off of that, she says. Its about making yourself valuable but not indispensable.To be seriously considered for a new position your manager needs to be confident that the whole operation wont fall apart after you leave your current post. Thats why Garefis says its important to find opportunities to pass off some of those skills, like training a temporary replacement to take over during a vacation, or while youre busy with other internal projects.You need to be very good at your job, but you also need to be willing to teach others and not hoard that information, as if youre the only person on the planet [who] can do it, she says.2. Step up to the challengeAs you make it easier for your boss to envision someone else managing your responsibilities, its also important to help them see you excelling in a different role. Demonstrating that youre up to the task, according to Garefis, requires identifying and volunteering for opportunities beyond your usual job description.That means stepping up and taking on responsibilities that are at that next level, but also just thinking outside of your immediate box, she says.Garefis explains that some opportunities to go above and beyond come about naturally, and its important to volunteer for those when they do arise, but most will need to go out of their way to create them. She recommends identifying problems and presenting a plan to address them, or better yet, volunteering to take on some of the responsibilities that otherwise fall to your manager.Think about what you can do to support your manager and make their lives easier, Garefis suggests. By simplifying your managers life it gives you more responsibility and gets your manager firmly on your side as a supporter.3. Dont let your work speak for itselfThough most of us hope that strong work will be recognized for what it is, the squeaky wheel usually gets the grease. If youre hoping to get promoted in 2025 its important to communicate both your ambitions and your qualifications to those who will make the ultimate decision.Get very clear on your unique value; how do you set yourself apart from your competition? says Tabatha Jones, a career advancement and leadership coach, and author of Promotion Ready in 3 Months. [Consider] what are your skills, your experience, your accomplishments, and start getting really comfortable talking about those.Jones advises those seeking a promotion to go on something of a personal marketing campaign, ensuring that decision-makers are familiar with them and their work before a promotion is even on the table.4. Get out thereThose seeking a promotion are often focussed on impressing their direct superiors or hiring managers, but Jones suggests such decisions are rarely made without the input of others. Therefore, internal networking is vital.I have been in the rooms in my past career where I would hear names come up and see the faces go blank because nobody knew who that person was, she says. It may be the hiring managers final decision, but there are a lot of whispers in that persons ear.Though it may be a challenge for more introverted workers, Jones says its vital to make yourself known in the organization. She recommends requesting informational interviews with superiors, following up with fellow meeting participants that you dont work with regularly, and shaking hands at internal events as much as possible.Ive worked with a lot of clients who are frustrated because they didnt get a promotion, but when I asked what were you doing while you were preparing? How are you staying visible? Who knew you wanted this promotion? Its usually my boss, and thats it, she says. It is critical to get out, get into networking events, and get into conversations with other people.5. Understand your own motivationsBefore you dedicate the necessary time and energy to seeking a promotion this year, its important to take a step back to really consider what you want out of your career, and whether a promotion will help you get it.Getting promoted can be a great boost to the ego, but the rush will be short-lived if it takes you from a job you enjoy and excel at to one you arent well suited for.The number-one step is getting really clear on what you want, where you want to go, so that when [an opportunity] gets posted, you recognize it quickly, says Jones.Before vying for a promotion, you have to understand what you really want out of it, adds Garefis. Instead of making your New Years resolution get a promotion, I would really evaluate what youre actually looking for, and then decide if thats going to work in this company, if I maybe need to look elsewhere, or reset my expectations.

To kick off the new year, here's a look at 12 exciting architecture projects expected to open in 2025, including a giant domed skyspace and an earth-covered sports complex.Render courtesy of Sou FujimotoExpo 2025 Osaka masterplan, Japan, by Sou FujimotoOne of the most highly anticipated openings of 2025 is the World Expo in Osaka, which is being masterplanned by Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto.Fujimoto has designed a 60,000-square-metre wooden ring to encircle the expo site and its mass of architect-designed pavilions, serving as a symbol of international unity.Among the pavilions inside will be the Blue Ocean Dome by Shigeru Ban and a fragmented wooden structure by Lina Ghotmeh.Find out more about Expo 2025 Osaka masterplan Render courtesy of Schmidt Hammer LassenThe Next Level, Denmark, by Schmidt Hammer Lassen ArchitectsIn Denmark, the long-awaited subterranean extension to ARoS Aarhus Art Museum by Schmidt Hammer Lassen will finally open.Its centrepiece will be The Dome (above), which is being developed with American artist James Turrell to be "the largest skyspace in the world within a museum context"."The Dome at ARoS, with its 40 metres in diameter, will form one of the most spectacular spaces ever built into an art museum," said the studio.Find out more about The Next Level Render courtesy of Foster + PartnersZayed National Museum, United Arab Emirates, by Foster + PartnersNearly 15 years after Foster + Partners revealed its design, Zayed National Museum will open in Abu Dhabi in 2025.The project forms part of Saadiyat Island a cultural district under development off the coast of the UAE capital with a cluster of landmark buildings by an illustrious roster of architects.Among them is the Guggenheim Museum by Frank Gehry, which is also rumoured to be opening in 2025.Find out more about Zayed National Museum Render courtesy of Kr ArchitectureThe Benin National Parliament, Benin, by Kr ArchitectureA late arrival in 2025 will be The Benin National Parliament by the studio of Dibdo Francis Kr, which also featured on our list of buildings to look forward to in 2024.The government building in Porto-Novo is modelled on palaver trees, a species that has been used by generations of communities in West Africa as meeting points for public gatherings.Kr said the project illustrates "the importance of indigenous forms of governance and what contemporary African architecture can be on a national scale".Find out more about The Benin National Parliament Render courtesy of MAD (also top)Quzhou Sports Campus, China, by MADMAD fans will be excited to hear that the studio has several projects opening in 2025, but its most unusual is Quzhou Sports Campus.It comprises a group of sports facilities with green roofs, which appear to emerge from the ground like volcanoes. According to the studio, it is "the largest earth-sheltered complex in the world".The first phase of the project, a stadium with a halo-like roofscape, opened in 2022.Find out more about Quzhou Sports Campus Render courtesy of BIG and Heatherwick StudioGoogle King's Cross, UK, by BIG and Heatherwick StudioIn London, the studios of architect Bjarke Ingels and designer Thomas Heatherwick will wrap up work on the new Google campus.Widely known as London's landscaper, the building will stretch 330 metres in length, making it longer than the Shard the UK's tallest building is tall.Find out more about Google King's Cross Render courtesy of OMANew Museum extension, USA, by OMAThis year will see the completion of OMA's extension to SANAA's sculptural New Museum in New York, doubling the size of the contemporary art gallery.OMA's intervention will have an angular silhouette that juxtaposes the irregularly stacked form of its neighbour, but the two structures will be unified by metal mesh detailing on their facades.Find out more about New Museum extension Render courtesy of Dorte MandrupWadden Sea World Heritage Center, Netherlands, by Dorte MandrupThe Wadden Sea World Heritage Center by Dorte Mandrup will open in April, welcoming visitors to learn about the intertidal zone, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.According to the studio, its design draws on "the endless cycle of the tide", with a gradual spiralling incline that provides panoramic views of the surrounding fishing village."It almost gives you the feeling of being one with the sea," said Dorte Mandrup.Find out more about Wadden Sea World Heritage Center Render courtesy of Zaha Hadid ArchitectsShenzhen Science and Technology Museum, China, by Zaha Hadid ArchitectsAnother late arrival on the list is Shenzhen Science and Technology Museum by Zaha Hadid Architects, which was originally due to open in 2023.Its pebble-shaped form will centre around a large atrium and is hoped to become a landmark for Shenzhen's new district called Guangming Science City."The museum will be a key destination to learn and explore the power of science and technology and understand their impact on our life and future," the studio said.Find out more about Shenzhen Science and Technology Museum Render courtesy of White ArkitekterKvarter 7 in Wood City, Sweden, by White ArkitekterThe only housing project to make this list is Kvarter 7, designed by White Arkitekter to place children's needs at the forefront and be built almost entirely from timber.It forms the first part of the upcoming Wood City in Stockholm the world's largest mass-timber development that White Arkitekter is creating with Henning Larsen to have the feel of a forest.Find out more about Wood City Render courtesy of Jean NouvelFondation Cartier, France, by Jean NouvelFor Jean Nouvel, 2025 will see the unveiling of the new home for the Fondation Cartier, which his studio is creating in the heart of Paris for the contemporary art museum's 40th anniversary.It will occupy the Htel du Louvre, a Haussmannian-era luxury hotel in the Palais-Royal district, and provide 6,500 square meters of flexible exhibition space.Render courtesy of SnhettaQueensland Performing Arts Centre, Australia, by SnhettaBuildings due to open in Australia this year include this performing arts centre in Brisbane by Snhetta, which will be used for ballet, opera, theatre and musicals.This centre will be distinguished by its undulating glass shell, which pays homage to the Brisbane River and celebrates its place in the indigenous land known as Meanjin, originally inhabited by the Turrbal people.The post Twelve architecture projects to look out for in 2025 appeared first on Dezeen.

Designer Tom Dixon has been awarded a CBE, while architect Peter Clegg and graphic designer Neville Brody have been awarded OBEsin King Charles III's New Year Honourslist.Also recognised by King Charles were architect Timothy John Beech Williamson and landscape architect Richard Wilson, who both received OBEs.Industrial designer Dixon hasbecome aCommander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) the highest Order of the British Empire honour in the King's biannual honours programme.Dixon, who was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2001, is known for his furniture, lighting and accessories created under his eponymous homeware brand.Read: Patty Hopkins and Michael Anastassiades recognised in King's New Year Honours listHe founding his brand in 2002, having previously worked as worked as creative director of furniture companies Habitat and Artek. In 2022 the brand celebrated its 20th anniversary with an exhibition of its designs at Milan design week.In a Dezeen podcast he described the Tom Dixon brand ethos as "expressive minimalism".Peter Clegg (above) and Tom Dixon (top) have been recognised in the New Year Honours listAlso honoured was Clegg, co-founder of UK architecture practice Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, who received an OBE.Clegg founded the studio, which is known for its sustainable-led designs, in 1978. Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios won the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Stirling Prize in 2008, alongside Alison Brooks Architects and Maccreanor Lavington, for the Accordia housing development in Cambridge.Recent projects by the studio include the transformation of a historic mill in Shropshire, the Brighton Dome cultural complex and the Aga Khan Academy Dhaka boarding schoolinBangladesh.Neville Brody was awarded an OBEBrody, who was a Dezeen Awards 2024 judge, was also awarded an OBE. Brody is a leading graphic and typography designer who first rose to prominence in the 1980s as art director for cult magazine The Face.He later moved into commercial work and has designed Coca-Cola's first ever own-brand typeface, bespoke typefaces for a Channel 4 rebrand and the typeface for an England football kit.Read: Tom Dixon retrospective exhibition opens at Themes & Variations in LondonAlso recognised on the honours list was Williamson, who was made a Member of the Orders of the British Empire (MBE).Williamson is best known for his role as member of the School Design and Building Unit at the Department for Education.The King's New Year Honours are awarded each year in December. Together with the Birthday Honoursgiven out on the King's official birthday in June, they make up part of the British honours system.Last year architect Patty Hopkins and lighting designerMichael Anastassiades were awarded OBEs in the New Year Honours list.The post Tom Dixon, Peter Clegg and Neville Brody recognised in new year's honours appeared first on Dezeen.

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