To kick off our 21st-Century Architecture: 25 Years 25 Buildings series, we profile Herzog & de Meuron's Tate Modern in London the most significant building of the year 2000.The turn of the millennium prompted the opening of numerous high-profile buildings, but none have had the lasting impact of Tate Modern, setinside an abandoned power station on the banks of the Thames in London.Opened in May 2000, the gallery was ahead of its time with its focus on reuse, rejuvenating London's cultural offering and propelling Swiss studio Herzog & de Meuron to global fame.Herzog & de Meuron's Tate Modern opened in 2000The building fundamentally changed art gallery design. Today, institutions around the world from Sydney to Doha are looking to convert former industrial spaces into unique galleries with the aim of replicating the power of Tate Modern's Turbine Hall, but this wasn't always the way.Back in the early 1990s, London had no public institution dedicated to modern art.When Tate decided to establish a second London venue due to its original home running out of space, it was broadly expected that a brand new building would be commissioned.The gallery is located in a former power stationHowever, in what Herzog & de Meuron co-founder Pierre de Meuron later described as an "utterly surprising and daring choice", the institution chose an abandoned power station on London's deeply unfashionable and poorly connected South Bank to be its new home.By that time Bankside Power Station, designed by Battersea Power Station architect and telephone-box designer Giles Gilbert Scott, had lain empty for over a decade following its closure in 1981.The Turbine Hall was converted into a giant galleryThe Tate organisation, led by director Nicholas Serota, saw the potential of the giant building and its central location almost directly opposite St Paul's Cathedral.Tate organised a competition that attracted entries from all of the biggest architects of the day, including Rafael Moneo, David Chipperfield, Renzo Piano, Michael and Patty Hopkins, Nicholas Grimshaw, Alsop & Strmer, Future Systems, Tadao Ando and OMA.Herzog & de Meuron left much of the building's industrial character intactAlongside this star-studded lineup was a little-known studio from Switzerland that had built little beyond a series of railway signal boxes in Basel Herzog & de Meuron, which of course won the commission.Among the numerous dramatic proposals that made radical additions to the power station, Herzog & de Meuron's appeared to do very little to the building.Read: Tate Modern's Corner cafe revamped to be less "Herzog & de Meuron-y""Our design involved few but powerful interventions, with the aim of retaining the industrial character of the building as much as possible," said De Meuron.On the exterior, Herzog & de Meuron's design left the building looking like a power station, with only a two-storey glazed extension added to the roof of the brick building. If the exterior was radical in its subtlety, so too was the building's gallery space.The majority of the building's functions were stacked in the former power stationThe studio stacked the gallery's core spaces vertically in the main building. A bookstore, coffee shop and auditorium occupied the lowest two floors, with galleries of various sizes for the Tate's permanent collection and temporary exhibitions spread across the third, fourth and fifth floors and a bar and restaurant with views across London opened in the glazed extension on top.However, it is the former turbine hall that is the focal point of the building and has come to define Tate Modern. The giant, cathedral-like space, which stretches the full 150-metre length of the building and rises to its full height, was a dramatic new type of space in which to display art.It is, I'd argue, the finest new public space in the city. It is free to access, it is generous and there is a sense of the unexpected Edwin HeathcoteThe Turbine Hall has since been host to numerous attention-grabbing, site-specific artworks by leading contemporary artists including Olafur Eliasson, Louise Bourgeois, Anish Kapoor, Rachel Whiteread, Ai Weiwei and Carsten Hller.Described by Financial Times architecture critic Edwin Heathcote as the "finest new public space in the city", the huge plaza-like gallery changed how people thought about contemporary art and modern art galleries.A symbol of renewal in south London; the Tate Modern, bright star on the Thames's other side Alan Riding New York TimesVisiting the Tate Modern today, it is hard to imagine the scepticism faced by Tate for the choice of site, architect and design. Like much of the best architecture, it is hard to imagine the building as anything else.On its opening, the gallery was well received, with the New York Times calling it a "bright star on the Thames's other side".Numerous gallery spaces were created on the building's upper floorsThe gallery was opened by the Queen in May 2000 and quickly surpassed its expected annual visitor figures of two million, with more than five million visitors in the first year. Now, almost a quarter of a century after it opened, the Tate Modern is still the world's most visited contemporary art museum a testament to both Tate's and Herzog & de Meuron's vision.The New York Times's review went on to claim that Tate's original gallery, renamed Tate Britain, "does not want to be upstaged by its younger sibling".Looking back now, it is clear that it has been.Did we get it right? Was Herzog & de Meuron's Tate Modern the most significant building completed in 2000? Let us know in the comments. We will be running a poll once all 25 buildings are revealed to determine the most significant building of the 21st century so far.This article is part of Dezeen's 21st-Century Architecture: 25 Years 25 Buildings series, which looks at the most significant architecture of the 21st century so far. For the series, we have selected the most influential buildings from each of the first 25 years of the century.The illustration is by Jack Bedford and the photography is by Margherita Spiluttini.21st-Century Architecture: 25 Years 25 Buildings2000: Tate Modern by Herzog & de MeuronThis list will be updated as the series progresses.The post Herzog & de Meuron's Tate Modern was the most significant building of 2000 appeared first on Dezeen.

To kick off 2025, Dezeen is naming the 25 most significant buildings of the 21st century so far in our 21st-Century Architecture: 25 Years 25 Buildings series.Over the next 25 days we will feature the 25 buildings that had the most impact on architecture from the first quarter of the 21st century.The Dezeen team selected a single building from each year of the 21st century so far, starting today with Herzog & de Meuron's Tate Modern art gallery in London from the year 2000.Following Tate Modern, we will be publishing one building a day throughout January alongside an illustration of each structure created for Dezeen by Jack Bedford.We picked Tate Modern as the most significant building of 2000Overall, we hope the 25 buildings will provide an overview of the key buildings, architecture trends and studios of the first quarter of the 21st century.Each of the buildings was chosen as we believed it was the most significant completed in that year. Of course, this is a subjective choice and with only one building from each year, we will have missed some hugely important structures.We invite you to let us know if we made the right decision for each year in the comments. Once all 25 buildings have been revealed, we will run a poll to determine the overall most significant building of the 21st century so far.21st-Century Architecture: 25 Years 25 Buildings2000: Tate Modern by Herzog & de MeuronThis list will be updated as the series progresses.The post 21st-Century Architecture: 25 Years 25 Buildings appeared first on Dezeen.

UK studio Zaha Hadid Architects has released its design for a sweeping arts centre intended to become the centrepiece of a cultural quarter in Shaoxing city's Shangyu District.Named Zheijang Shaoxing Shangyu District Cao'e River Culture and Art Centre, the building will be set on the banks of the Cao'e River and host local and international productions of opera, theatre, dance and drama.Zaha Hadid Architects has unveiled its design for an arts centre in ShaoxingIt will comprise a series of venues including a 1,400-seat grand theatre, a 7,500-square-metre heritage museum and a 10,000-square-metre art gallery, unified by sweeping interconnected roofs that Zaha Hadid Architects said will provide a "highly recognisable silhouette".Other spaces will include a 500-seat multifunctional hall, a 2,900-square-metre arts and education centre and a 3,000-square-metre conference centre.The centre will be topped by sweeping roofs. Render by ProloogA series of outdoor courtyards filled with greenery will wrap around the structure to provide gathering spaces for visitors and the wider city of Shaoxing."These outdoor gathering spaces flow into terraced landscapes which surround the centre and connect directly with the city, giving Shaoxing's residents and visitors a variety of natural parklands and gardens for relaxation and recreation along the river," the studio said.A series of venues will make up the centre. Render by TegmarkIn the renders, the roofs are seen cloaked in tiles, which the studio said is a "contemporary articulation" of the region's ancient Celadon ceramics a type of grey-green pottery."In this way, traditional materials and innovative architecture are integrated coherently, defining a 21st-century cultural building with a direct connection to the region's ancient past," it added.Read: Weaving brick forms define Uzbek cultural centre by Zaha Hadid ArchitectsAnother defining feature of the roofs will be wide overhangs that provide shading across the large glass facades. They extend furthest and lowest on the centre's southern elevations.Additionally, photovoltaic (PV) panels will be integrated into the roof design to help meet the building's energy demand.The curved exterior will be mirrored internally. Render by Zaha Hadid ArchitectsRaised walkways will provide circulation around the centre, with renders of the interior revealing large spaces encased by winding staircases and curving platforms that mimic the building's sinuous exterior.Wooden details will feature throughout.Wood will be used across the interior. Render by TegmarkElsewhere, Zaha Hadid Architects has recently completed a metro station decorated with geometric perforations in Saudi Arabia's capital city.It was also recently revealed that the High Court had ruled Zaha Hadid Architects to continue paying to use its late founder's name.The renders are by Atchain unless otherwise stated.The post Zaha Hadid Architects unveils sweeping culture centre for China appeared first on Dezeen.

Picture yourself on a packed train during rush hour, a cacophony of announcements, chatter, and the low hum of the tracks surrounding you. Youre taking an urgent call. You lean in, whispering softly into your headset, barely audible to the person sitting inches away, yet your voice comes through crisp and clear on the other end. It might sound like noise-cancellation on steroids, but its possible thanks to an AI-powered headphone that lets you whisper entire conversations while the headphone does the rest, amplifying your voice.Designer: SkytedThe magic here lies in how Skyted handles soundyours and everyone elses. It relies on a highly precise microphone array that can even hear whispers, along with an AI that helps enhance the. Yes, it sounds a bit sci-fi, but its surprisingly intuitive in practice. It uses an intelligent microphone built into the front thats designed to capture even the slightest directional audio, along with a powerful AI algorithm that works hard to amplify your whisper while canceling out pretty much all kinds of external noise. What kind of cancellation are we talking about here? Well, I was in a noisy convention center and the wearer was whispering dialogues 2 feet away from me. I could hear every single word crystal clear.The result? Privacy, even in the noisiest, most public places. Whether youre whispering your side of a confidential work call or dictating notes for a project, no one around you will hear more than a faint murmur. And those on the other end of the line? Theyll think youre calling from a library, even if youre smack in the middle of a bustling airport terminal.What really makes this device fascinating is how flexible it is. Skyted feels tailor-made for the remote worker who doesnt want to be tethered to their home office or the podcaster tired of lugging around recording equipment. Its also a game-changer for anyone who frequently takes calls in noisy environmentsthink salespeople, journalists, or even students navigating group projects in crowded cafs. And gamers, too, might finally find a headset that lets them coordinate their next big raid without worrying about leaking every background noise in their room. Heck, I can totally envision a phone with this technology too, so I dont need to yell when I get a phone call in a noisy environment.The headset looks unassuming until you actually try it out. I had the chance to demo a unit, with someone wearing it and whispering to me. Without the Skyted, I couldnt hear a word of what he said. However, as soon as he switched the Skyted headset on, the microphone did a phenomenal job catching his audio and AI-enhancing it to make it crystal-clear. Skyteds team said that the headphone was just step one, the next step is to build this tech into smartphones so that you can answer calls without people around you hearing what youre saying.The design looks admittedly retro, but is got a clean, streamlined vibe that is comfortable to wear and gets the job done. Its lightweight and portable, which is crucial for something youll be tossing into your bag between meetings or after a long commute. Its also designed to stay comfortable for long periodsa feature thatll matter to anyone who spends hours on calls or gaming marathons.Surprisingly, the tech has roots in aerospace technology. Developed with support from ONERA and Airbus Dveloppement, it takes inspiration from systems built to handle the relentless noise and acoustics of aircraft cabins. That lineage shows up in how flawlessly it filters sound and isolates voices, even in settings that would make most headsets crumble. Its the kind of crossover you dont expect, like Bose, the audio company, also making suspension for vehicles. Or Yamaha, being equally good at making motorbikes and pianos.Although Skyted hasnt officially announced a price, its gearing up for a launch that aims to make this technology broadly available. Considering its polished performance and the excitement it generated at CES, it feels like a strong contender to shake up the headset market.The post Future of Noise Cancellation at CES 2025: This AI-Powered Mic Headset Can Even Hear You Whisper first appeared on Yanko Design.

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MacworldMajor tremors in the iPhone rumorsphere last week, with the news that Apple is planning a name change for the next version of the iPhone SE. Goodbye, iPhone SE; hello, iPhone 16E.Here at Macworld our instinct when we hear reports like this is to respond first with skepticism and second with anger. Its probably not going to happen, we mutter, and if it does then were going to get mad. Why would Apple change a perfectly good and widely recognized brand in favor of one that is unfamiliar and, lets be honest, quite confusing? Does there really need to be five models in the 16-series iPhone range? And cant we leave the incomprehensible series of numbers and letters branding to the Android side of the aisle?But after the skepticism and the anger comes curiosity. Apple knows its marketing, so there must be some kind of logic here. Whats the rationale?Well, we know that Apple likes its letters to stand for something, even if its frequently coy about what that something is. SE stands for Special Edition. (Which, by the by, has always felt a little Orwellian. Whats so special about recycling an old design?) The E in 2002s eMac stood for Educationquite an easy code to crack, given its initial marketing to students and teachers. The C in iPhone 5c supposedly stood for Color, while the letter S stood variously for Speed (on the iPhone 3GS), Siri (on the iPhone 4s), Security (on the 5s), and Sheesh, Do We Really Have To Keep Coming Up With Words Beginning With S? in the years after until Apple gave up once and for all after the iPhone 11.There are many things this E could stand for, some of them considerably more accurate tags for a budget iPhone than Special Edition. Economy, most obviously. Or Entry Level (unless that would be EL?). After all, the whole point of the exercise is to be cheaper than the iPhone 16, although it would be understandable if Apple chose not to focus on that aspect of the product. Everyone wants a cheap iPhone but no one actually wants a cheap iPhone, if you see what I mean.Excellent, then? Or Effective? By all accounts the next version of the SEsorry, Eis going to boast a sparkling set of specs and features, with the antiquated Home button design finally a thing of the past and the RAM and processor bumped up in order to support Apple Intelligence. Some pundits even believe the long-gestated Apple 5G modem will make its debut in this product, bringing us improved battery performance and a point of difference, in a positive sense, from the late-2024 phones. The upcoming SE looks so promising, in fact, that it makes sense to create a new branding. Apple needs to mark a separation from the uninspiring 3rd-gen SE, and flag the fact that in tech terms this device is going to have a lot more in common with the iPhone 16. Ironically, the fact that the next SE really is going to be special means Apple cant call it that any more. The currency was debased by the last model. And if everyone is special, no one is.FoundryWelcome to our weekly Apple Breakfast column, which includes all the Apple news you missed last week in a handy bite-sized roundup. We call it Apple Breakfast because we think it goes great with a Monday morning cup of coffee or tea, but its cool if you want to give it a read during lunch or dinner hours too.Trending: Top storiesJason Snell explains why 2025 will be the year of Apple Intelligence (again).If you got a new iPhone for Christmas, you might want to return it.As a new year begins, the Macs Apple silicon transition is finally complete.Podcast of the weekOn this weeks episode of the Macworld Podcast, its all about your hot takes! You have thoughts about the iMac, the iPad mini and more! Its going to be a good one, so stick around!You can catch every episode of the Macworld Podcast onSpotify,Soundcloud, thePodcasts app, orour own site.Reviews cornerJourney Nova 3-in-1 Wireless Charging Station review: Super-stylish and speedy iPhone charger.The rumor millThe iPhone SE 4 might not be so special after all.And with that, were done for this weeks Apple Breakfast. If youd like to get regular roundups, sign up forour newsletters. You can also follow uson Facebook, Threads, or Twitter for discussion of breaking Apple news stories. See you next Monday, and stay Appley.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has rapidly transformed the chip industry since its mainstream arrival over the past two years, driving demand for specialized processors, accelerating design innovation, and reshaping global supply chains and markets.The generative AI (genAI) revolution that began with OpenAIs release of ChatGPT in late 2022 continues to push the limits of AI inference, large language models (LLMs) and semiconductor technologies. In short order, traditional CPUs, insufficient for AIs parallel processing needs, have given way to specialized chips: GPUs, TPUs, NPUs, and AI accelerators. That prompted companies such as Nvidia, AMD, and Intel to expand their portfolios to include AI-optimized products, with Nvidia leading in GPUs for AI training and inference. And because AI workloads prioritize throughput, energy efficiency, and scalability, the larger tech industry has seen massive investments in data centers, with AI-focused chips like NVIDIAs H100 and AMDs MI300 now powering the backbone of AI cloud computing.At the same time, companies such as Amazon, Microsoft, and Google have developed custom chips (such as AWS Graviton and Google TPU) to reduce dependency on external suppliers and enhance AI performance.In particular, the AI revolution propelled has propelled growth at Nvidia, making it as a dominant force in the data center marketplace. Once focused on producing chips for gaming systems, the companys AI-driven hardware and software now outpaces those efforts, which has led to remarkable financial gains. The companys market capitalization topped $1 trillion in May 2023 and passed $3.3 trillion in June 2024, making it the worlds most valuable company at that time.The AI-chip industry, however, is about to change dramatically. Over the past several years, semiconductor developers and manufacturers have focused on supplying the data center needs of hyperscale cloud service providers such Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform and Microsoft Azure; organizations have relied heavily on those industry stalwarts for their internal AI development.Theres now a shift toward smaller AI models that only use internal corporate data, allowing for more secure and customizable genAI applications and AI agents. At the same time, Edge AI is taking hold, because it allows AI processing to happen on devices (including PCs, smartphones, vehicles and IoT devices), reducing reliance on cloud infrastructure and spurring demand for efficient, low-power chips.The challenge is if youre going to bring AI to the masses, youre going to have to change the way you architect your solution; I think this is where Nvidia will be challenged because you cant use a big, complex GPU to address endpoints, said Mario Morales, a group vice president at research firm IDC. So, theres going to be an opportunity for new companies to come in companies like Qualcomm, ST Micro, Renesas, Ambarella and all these companies that have a lot of the technology, but now itll be about how to use it. This is where the next frontier is for AI the edge, Morales said.Turbulence in the market for some chip makersThough global semiconductor chip sales declined in 2023 by about 11%, dropping from the previous years record of $574.1 billion to around $534 billion, that downturn did not last. Sales are expected to increase by 22% in 2025, according to Morales, driven by AI adoption and a stabilization in PC and smartphone sales.If youre making memory or making an AI accelerator, like Nvidia, Broadcom, AMD or even Marvel now, youre doing very well, Morales said. But if youre a semiconductor company like an ST Micro, Infinium, Renesas or Texas Instruments, youve been hit hard by excess inventory and a macroeconomy thats been uncertain for industrial and automobile sectors. Those two markets last year outperformed, but this year they were hit very hard.Most LLMs used today rely on public data, but more than 80% of the worlds data is held by enterprises that wont share it with platforms like OpenAI or Anthropic, according to Morales. That trend benefits processor companies, especially Nvidia, Qualcomm, and AMD. Highly specialized System on a Chip (SoC) technology with lower price points and more energy efficiency will begin to dominate the market as organizations bring the tech in-house.I think its definitely going to change the dynamics in the market, Morales said. Thats why youre seeing a lot of companies aligning themselves to address the edge and end points with their technology. I think thats the next wave of growth youre going to see along with the enterprise; the enterprise is adopting their own data center approach.Intel will continue to find a safe haven for its processors in PCs, and its decision to outsource manufacturing to TSMC has kept it competitive with rival AMD. But Intel is likely to struggle to keep pace with other chip makers in emerging markets.Outside of that, if you look at their data center business, its still losing share to AMD and they have no answer for Nvidia, Morales said.While Intels latest line of x86 and Gaudi AI accelerators are designed to compete with Nvidias H100 and Blackwell GPUs, Morales sees them more as a stop gap effort not what the market is seeking.I do believe on the client side theres an opportunity for Intel to take advantage of a replacement cycle with AI working its way into PCs, he said. They just received an endorsement from Microsoft for Copilot, so that gives their x86 line an opening; thats where Intel can continue to fight until they recover from their transformation and all the changes that have happened at the company.To stay relevant in modern data centers where Nvidias chips are driving growth Intel and AMD will need to invest in GPUs, according to Andrew Chang, technology director at S&P Global Ratings. While CPUs remain essential, Nvidia dominates the AI chip market, leaving AMD and Intel struggling to compete, Chang said. AMD aims for $5 billion in AI chip sales by 2025, while Intels AI efforts, centered on its Gaudi platform, are minimal. Both companies will continue investing in GPUs and AI accelerators, showing some incremental revenue growth, but their share of the data center market will likely keep declining.Politics, the CHIPS Act and what happens after Jan. 20Geopolitical and economic factors such as export restrictions, supply chain disruptions, and government policies, could also reshape the chip industry. President-elect Donald J. Trump, who takes office Jan. 20, has signaled he plans to impose heavy tariffs on chip imports.The CHIPS and Science Act is also promising billions of dollars to semiconductor developers and manufacturers who locate operations in the US. Under the Act, $39 billion in funding has been earmarked for several companies, including TSMC, Intel, Samsung and Micron all of whom have developed plans for, or are already building, new fabrication or research facilities.But in order for tax dollars to be divvied out, each company must meet specific milestones; until that time the monies remain unspent. While the promise of billions of dollars in incentives are unquestionably helping reshore US chip production, Morales pointed to the CHIPS Acts 25% tax break as a greater benefit.Even a company like Intelis getting about $50 billion dollars [in tax breaks], which is unheard of. Thats where the winning payouts are, he said.Though Trump has signaled that government funding to encourage reshoring is the wrong tactic, industry experts do not believe the CHIPS Act will be drastically cut when he regains office. We expect modest revisions to the CHIPS Act, but not something drastic as cutting funding yet to be dispersed, Morales said. The CHIPS Act received bipartisan support and any attempt to revise this would face pushback from states that stand to benefit, such as Arizona and Ohio.Though high-end processors to power energy-sucking cloud data centers have dominated the market to date, energy-efficient AI processors for edge devices will likely continue to gain traction.Think about an AI PC this year or a smartphone that incorporates AI as well, or even a wearable device that has a smaller, more well-tuned model that can leverage AI inferencing, Morales said. This is where were going next, and I think its going to be very big over the coming years.And, I think AI inferencing, as a percentage of the companies, will be as big if not bigger than what weve seen in the data center, so far, he added.From LLMs to SLMs and edge devicesEnterprises and other organizations are also shifting their focus from single AI models to multimodal AI, or LLMs capable of processing and integrating multiple types of data or modalities, such as text, images, audio, video, and sensory input. The input from diverse resources creates a more comprehensive understanding of that data and enhances performance across tasks.Over 80% of organizations expect their AI workflows to increase in the next two years, while about two-thirds expect pressure to upgrade IT infrastructure, according to a report by S&P Global.Sudeep Kesh, chief innovation officer at S&P Global Ratings, noted that AI is evolving towards smaller, task-specific models, but larger, general-purpose models will still be essential. Both types will coexist, creating opportunities in each space, he said.A key challenge will be developing computationally and energy-efficient models, which will influence chip design and implementation. Chip makers will also need to address scalability, interoperability, and system integration all of which are expected to drive technological advances across industries, improve autonomous systems, and enable future developments like edge AI, Kesh said.In particular, as companies move away from cloud-based LLMs and embrace smaller language models that can be deployed on edge devices and endpoints, the industry will see increased interest in AI inferencing.Its an environment where its feast or famine for the industry, IDCs Morales said. Whats in store for the coming year? I think the growth weve seen in the data center been phenomenal and it will continue into 2025. What Im excited about is enterprises are beginning to look at prioritizing IT spending dollars in AI, and that will break a second wave of demand for processors.