There are few branding assignments more fraught than designing a logo for someones hometown. Unlike consumer brands, cities, towns, and counties are an intrinsic part of peoples identities. So when those places get a new logo that doesnt communicate that identity in a way they recognize, you can bet local governments are going to hear about it.[Images: Westchester County]Look no further than to the Facebook page of Westchester County, New York, where commenters panned the new county logoits first new logo in more than 20 years. The uninspiring new mark has been roundly criticized, with many of its detractors pointing out that its letter H looks like the H from the logo of the dating app Hinge.[Image: Hinge]The county says the design is meant to convey connection. The residents of Westchester County are linked, Westchester County Executive George Latimer said in a statement. This connection is symbolized by the hook that seamlessly joins the C and H in our logo. Were linked by rail, road, and air. By culture. And most importantly, by choice.But not everyone is feeling that connection, and its not just graphic designers. This is so bad that its made me care about something I didnt think I cared about, one person wrote.The rebrand was part of a transition away from a county website with a .com domain and accompanying logo that featured the web address to a new .gov domain. Westchester County communications director Catherine Cioffi tells Fast Company the reaction hasnt been all bad.When a decision involves style, opinions will always vary, she says. While we have received a very positive response overall, a few negative social media comments have garnered attention.For some communities, the blowback to a botched rebrand job can be so harsh it inspires change. The response last year to a rebrand for Visalia, California, was so intense that the city walked it back. While the citys old logo needed an overhaul, the new minimalist logo to mark the citys 150th anniversary was condemned for being boring and sterile. View this post on Instagram A post shared by City of Visalia (@cityofvisalia)The negative reaction to the new mark surprised even Visalias mayor, who assumed a ballot initiative taxing marijuana would be more controversial than the rebrand. The city went back to the drawing board and ended up going with a new logo created by a local designer that the city said it will use alongside its old legacy logo.For residents, civic rebrands are deeply personal, but its more than just the design of it all. Theyre also paying for it, too. Negative comments on the Westchester County page inevitably complain about the rebrand as a waste of taxpayer dollars.From left: Visalias legacy logo (left), the briefly used new logo, and the current companion version. [Images: City of Visalia]Rebranding cities, towns, and counties requires major buy-in from the community. While corporate rebrands have a business imperative behind them, municipalities would do well to communicate the why behind their new logos, be it the need to update an aging brand for a new generation or making their locale more compelling to attract new businesses, families, or tourists. In Pocatello, Idaho, city leaders earmarked $83,000 to rebrand the city this year for the first time in 30 years and they said the goal is to attract business. People will see us as a unified force for the community and it will actually draw businesses to Pocatello, Pocatello spokeswoman Marlise Irby-Facer told East Idaho News. Its going to market the the city of Pocatello, and the community.Municipalities should also know that pricey rebrands by out-of-town creative agencies are more likely to draw more scrutiny than work made by locals. Designers deserve to be compensated for their work, and in graphic design, you often get what you pay for, but some municipalities have found creative solutions to stay under budget. Flagstaff, Arizona is seeking input on three new logo options created in collaboration between the city and Northern Arizona Universitys VisualDESIGN Lab, so the city could engage professional designers at no cost.Luis Fitch, an artist and designer who chaired Minnesotas State Emblems Redesign Commission to redesign the state flag last year, told Fast Company ensuring community buy-in starts with inclusive engagement from the outset.Municipalities must actively involve residents throughout the process, from gathering input on the designs themes and symbols to hosting open forums or surveys that reflect the diverse voices in the community, he says in an email.Fitch says a comprehensive creative brief that outlined all those points for their flag and seal redesign process became their blueprint to guide the entire redesign process, ensuring alignment with community values and providing a clear framework for decisions. Celebrating the finished product with a story that connects it to the people was also essential.The more residents see themselves and their values reflected in the design, the stronger the support and pride in the finished work, he says.Even when communities try to do everything right, a new logo rollout might not go smoothly. In Westchester County, the new logo was made with input from focus groups of county residents, employees, and thought leaders, plus a public survey that was open to all residents, says Cioffi, the county communications director. The top theme that came out of those conversations was how the county connects a diverse population to a wide variety of experiences, cultures, and opportunities. Residents said a new logo needed to be simple yet bold.Engaging with the public was not just importantit was essential to creating a new brand that resonates with our community, she says. After thorough review and voting, this logo was selected. We are proud of it, as it embodies many elements that make Westchester County unique.Its true that rebrands never please everyone. Still, by clearly communicating to and with residents throughout the rebrand process, municipalities can end up with a logo that engages their communities in a positive way.

Architecture studio Serie Architects has used interlocking walls cloaked in hand-chiselled bricks to outline Raj Sabhagruh, a complex dedicated to Jainism in Dharampur, India.Raj Sabhagruh comprises 16,000 square metres of space for discourse, study, rest and meditation, and takes visual cues from the architecture of India's Jain temples.Described by Serie Architects as "an ambitious complex", the building forms the centrepiece building in Shrimad Rajchandra Ashram a 100-hectare monastery on top of a hill in Dharampur in India's Gujarat state.Serie Architects has created a complex dedicated to Jainism in DharampurRaj Sabhagruh was designed for followers of Jainism, an Indian religion, and centres around a central auditorium with a capacity of 5,000 people. There is also a 1,000-square-metre museum, a 300-seater meditation hall and a number of classrooms."The architecture that emerges can accommodate a wide range of uses and continues to evolve with the spiritual mission it serves," said Serie Architects."It acts as a backdrop where Ashram life can unfold, anchoring it as a place for the acquisition of knowledge and inner spiritual experience."It forms part of Shrimad Rajchandra AshramSerie Architects won a competition to design Raj Sabhagruh in 2012 and worked with the Ashram and spiritual leader Pujya Gurudevshri Rakeshji throughout its development.The building's key visual reference is the stepped structure of the mythical temple Jain Samavasaran and how this represents knowledge acquisition bringing worshippers closer to enlightenment, Serie Architects said.The building is formed of interlocking walls"We worked very closely with Ashram and the Pujya Gurudevshri Rakeshji, listening to their needs and aspirations, responding with architectural ideas, and discursively refining them over a two-year-long design period," the studio explained."We tested several iterations exploring typologies of sacred form. There was a deep desire to find an architecture that was contemporary, memorable and timeless, that could serve as a signifier for a young, growing Ashram."They are clad in small hand-chiselled bricksOutside, the Raj Sabhagruh is formed of gently curving and interlocking concrete walls, lending the building the appearance of a series of stacked boxes.They are unified by hand-laid and hand-cut brick cladding, which took two years to position across the building's 36 elevations, and punctured by circular windows.There are a total 800,000 bricks across the walls, each formed from white marble off-cuts sourced nearby in in Makrana. They are deliberately small in size to accommodate the curves of the building and have textured surfaces intended to create playful patterns of light and shadow.Read: Babnimnim Design Studio encloses Kuwait mosque within rotated square forms"The rough cuts expose the crystalline structure of the marble, which refracts and disperses light in numerous luminous tones and hues across the building's surfaces, changing with the sun's movement throughout the day," said Serie Architects."Deep-set circular windows bring daylight deep into the interior, adding a layer of visual depth and animating the monolithic form."The building centres around a large auditoriumInside, the main 5,000 seater auditorium, or "discourse hall", is a 54-metre-wide and 20-metre-tall concrete space. Thanks to four curved arches that enclose the space, it is entirely column-free.The hall was positioned at ground level and accessed by a large foyer with eight entrances. Its concrete structure is warmed by wooden acoustic baffles, arranged concentrically to evoke the ceilings of Maha-mandapa gathering halls in Jain temples.There are eight entrances to the auditoriumTo one side of the auditorium is a stage for the Guru, while a mezzanine level with additional seating sits at the other.The floors above the auditorium include a 20-metre tall meditation hall, located on the top level with a capacity for 300 worshippers."The 300-seater meditation hall, placed above the auditorium rises 20 metres to cap the building composition as a glowing lantern, with over 1000 glowing pins of light etched into its marbled surface, visible afar from the streets of Dharampur," said the studio.A meditation hall occupies the top floorRaj Sabhagruh is complete with classrooms, a museum that celebrates the life of Shrimad Rajchandra a Jain saint and a library containing rare Jain texts."Programmatically, one ascends upwards from spaces of the discourse hall at the ground level, to experiential learning within the museum at the second level, deep study within classrooms at the third and finally to introspection within the meditation hall at the apex tier," said Serie Architects.Classrooms feature in the upper levelsOutside the Raj Sabhagruh, the plinth on which it is raised links to a large plaza, which incorporates a large dining hall to the north and a 5,000-seat open-air amphitheatre to the west. To the south is Shrimad Rajchandra Ashram.The plaza is laid in white marble that matches the brick cladding and is dotted with ficus trees designed to reflect heat in the summer.Other religious buildings recently featured on Dezeen include the red-brick Bait Ur Raiyan Mosque in Bangladesh and the "open and free" Frihamnskyrkan church in Sweden.The photography is by Rory Gardiner.Project credits:Architect: Serie ArchitectsClient: Shrimad Rajchandra MissionStructural design: LeraAuditorium consultant: RMM DesignsMEP consultant: Arkk ConsultingAcoustical consultant: Andy MunroeLighting consultant: ClarityDrawing manager: GleedsThe post Serie Architects adds "memorable and timeless" hall to Indian monastery appeared first on Dezeen.

The next instalment in our 21st-Century Architecture: 25 Years 25 Buildings series looks at Zaha Hadid's Bergisel Ski Jump, which was the turning point in Hadid's career. Although it's hard to imagine now, at the beginning of the century Hadid was still called a "paper architect", known primarily for her drawings and numerous striking, but unrealised, schemes.Towering above Innsbruck in Austria, the Bergisel Ski Jump marked a turning point for Hadid as her first major completed project, clearly demonstrating that her ambitious designs could be built.Zaha Hadid's Bergisel Ski Jump was her first completed major building. Photo via ShutterstockHadid's studio, Zaha Hadid Architects, won the international competition to replace the ageing ski jump in Innsbruck in December 1999. It was the latest in a series of high-profile competitions won by the studio.Hadid first gained global attention when she won the competition to design The Peak private club in the hills of Kowloon, Hong Kong, in 1983.Although the project didn't end up being built, it in part led to her inclusion in the seminal Deconstructivist Architectureexhibition at New York's Museum of Modern Art in 1988, where she featured alongsideFrank Gehry,Rem Koolhaas,Daniel Libeskind,Peter EisenmanandCoop Himmelb(l)au.The ski jump replaced a historic structureThe studio went on to design several small-scale projects, including a restaurant in Singapore and a private fire station for the Vitra furniture factory in Weil am Rhein, as well as the first Serpentine pavilion. Hadid also won another high-profile competition in 1990 to design an opera house in Cardiff, but this project was also later abandoned.The result was that almost two decades after winning The Peak competition, the studio had still not completed any major projects.It is the architectural incarnation of the sensations experienced by the ski-jumpers Lilli Hollein in DomusThat would change in Innsbruck, where a ski jump had stood on the Bergisel hill since 1926. Although the jump was updated in the 1960s ahead of the town hosting the Winter Olympics in 1964 by the 1990s it no longer met international standards.This prompted the Austrian Ski Federation to organise a competition to design a replacement, which, along with a launch ramp for the jump, would also contain a cafe and viewpoint. It also wanted to create a landmark for the city."The challenge here was to integrate a new, initially alien element the cafe and sundeck into a given [ski jump] formula," Hadid told Building magazine at the time. "The result is a rather unusual silhouette on Bergisel."The structure combines a ski jump with a cafe and viewpointDescribed by the studio as "a combination of a tower and a bridge", the structure is 50 metres high and 90 metres long. It has two distinct elements a tower topped with athletes facilities and a cafe, and the ski jump itself.The sections are supported by a seven-metre-by-seven-metre-square tower that contains two lifts along with stairs for skiers to reach the jump and visitors to reach the cafe.Very few buildings can stand up to the Alps without retreating into modesty Joseph GiovanniniWrapped entirely in stainless steel, the three-storey block has athletes' facilities on its lowest floor, a cafe with 360-degree views above and an outdoor viewing platform on its top floor.The distinctive ski jump seemed to achieve the impossible of both standing out and sitting harmoniously with the impressive surrounding landscape.The structure overlooks the city of Innsbruck. Photo via ShutterstockCritics praised the project, which was shortlisted for a Mies van der Rohe Award in 2003."It is the architectural incarnation of the sensations experienced by the ski-jumpers," wrote Lilli Hollein in Italian architecture magazine Domus at the time."In a region where almost everyone has a strong relationship with sport and with the natural landscape, it has become a new symbol of the evolving Tyrolean identity."Read: Herzog & de Meuron's Tate Modern was the most significant building of 2000Later it was described as "dynamic and lyrical" by architectural critic Joseph Giovannini in an essay to mark Hadid winning the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2004."Very few buildings can stand up to the Alps without retreating into modesty, but Zaha Hadid's dynamic and lyrical Bergisel Ski Jump in Innsbruck, Austria, completed in 2002, confronts the surrounding mountains with an equivalent architectural majesty," wrote Giovannini.The structure has the swooping forms that Hadid later became famous forFollowing the opening of the ski jump, the studio completed a series of major projects in quick succession, securing Hadid's reputation as a creator of actual buildings.The Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art in Cincinnati, Ohio, opened in 2003, was her first major cultural building and was followed in 2005 by the Ordrupgaard Museum extension, BMW Central Building and Phaeno Science Center.As Dezeen founder Marcus Fairs wrote in UK magazine Building at the time, the Bergisel Ski Jump marked the "end of an era for Hadid".Did we get it right? Was Bergisel Ski Jump by Zaha Hadid the most significant building completed in 2002? 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 building from each of the first 25 years of the century.The illustration is by Jack Bedford and photographyis by Hlne Binet, unless stated.21st-Century Architecture: 25 Years 25 Buildings2000: Tate Modern by Herzog & de Meuron2001: Gando Primary School by Dibdo Francis Kr2002: Bergisel Ski Jump by Zaha HadidThis list will be updated as the series progresses.The post Zaha Hadid's Bergisel Ski Jump was the most significant building of 2002 appeared first on Dezeen.

Car brand Toyota has announced that the first phase of its Woven City in Japan, a smart city designed by architecture studio BIG as the "future of mobility", has reached completion.Woven City is currently being built near the base of Mount Fuji at the former 70-hectare site of Toyota Motor East Japan's (TMEJ) Higashi-Fuji Plant in Susono City, Shizuoka Prefecture.Woven City was designed by architecture studio BIGBuildings for the first phase have now been completed and approximately 100 residents are expected to move in around autumn 2025 or thereafter. Phase one will accommodate 360 people, Toyota said, with the official launch set for autumn.Projected to eventually house 2,000 people, the city features staggered wooden buildings by BIG flanking a central square and surrounded by a road.The city includes buildings with staggered formsThe houses, primarily built of wood, feature solar panels on their roof while the apartments have been designed so that residents have access to planted terraces.Woven City, which will have a mix of housing, business and retail, was designed to "demonstrate Toyota's long-term commitment to shaping the future of mobility".Its residents will be testing vehicles and products from companies including Toyota and its Woven by Toyota (WbyT) brand.Solar panels cover the roofs of buildingsOther brands that have been confirmed for Woven City are Nissin Food Products, which will create "food environments to inspire new food cultures" and air conditioning company Daikin, which will test "pollen-free spaces" in Woven City.BIG designed the city as a "woven grid" that is 150 metres wide. Streets will be used by vehicles, pedestrians and "other mobility types", the studio said.Read: Toyota redesigns its e-Palette vehicle for Tokyo 2020 Olympic athletesRoads will be divided into three sections, with one the primary street occupied by autonomous vehicles including the Toyota e-Palette.A secondary section will be used by bicycles, scooters and other personal modes of transport, while the third will be a "linear park" dedicated to pedestrians and plants.Roads will be divided into sections for different modes of transport"Connected, autonomous, emission-free and shared mobility solutions are bound to unleash a world of opportunities for new forms of urban life," BIG founder Bjarke Ingels said when the project was first announced."With the breadth of technologies and industries that we have been able to access and collaborate with from the Toyota ecosystem of companies, we believe we have a unique opportunity to explore new forms of urbanity with the Woven City that could pave new paths for other cities to explore."Buildings will be constructed from woodWork has begun on phase two and on the renovation of a former TMEJ Higashi-Fuji Plant facility into a manufacturing hub for Woven City.Elsewhere, BIG is also currently working on luxury residences for Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi and the overhaul of a 1950s power plant in Connecticut.The photography is courtesy of Toyota.The post BIG completes first phase of Toyota Woven City in Japan appeared first on Dezeen.

Ive never had the desire to have an indoor garden or a garden of any kind because Im too lazy to take care of anything and also anything I touch actually dies. But sometimes when I see my friends who can harvest their own herbs and vegetables, I get a little jealous. Now if there only was a way that I can keep a couple of plants alive that I can use for my kitchen while still being a lazy, low-maintenance person.Designer: PlantaformThe Plantafrom Smart Indoor Garden might just be the answer to my problem as it employs fogponics technology. The creators guarantee that this transformative way of growing food indoors is easy to use and maintain. Fogponics is a more water-efficient way of raising plants indoors compared to other systems like aeroponics or hydroponics and even traditional gardening. Its also supposed to develop roots faster and produce yields faster since it delivers water and nutrients directly to plant roots through an ultra-fine mist.Plantaform is an egg-shaped device that has a fully automated lighting and nutrient and water delivery. It also has a custom LED system that is able to mimic natural sunlight so plants can grow regardless of the season. The plant pods are also designed to be soil-free so theres no messy digging around. The system uses non-GMO seeds and is pesticide-free. You can also connect it to the app that can help you from setup to maintenance to harvesting. The device itself is minimalist in design and is small enough to fit in a small table or on your kitchen counter. You can choose between white or black. They say even if you dont have any experience in planting or if youre like me that has a black thumb, youll still be able to grow things in this indoor garden system. The post Plantaform lets you grow plants indoor hassle-free and eco-friendly first appeared on Yanko Design.

MPC's Audrey Ferrara explains why this one mattered.

Mark Zuckerberg has fully adopted the language of his former right-wing critics about what constitutes censorship.

As our week in Las Vegas winds to a close, here's a final look at the most clever, smart, and forward-looking tech at CES 2025.

Research and development is underway to create robots that can hunt for signs of life in the vast oceans that exist under the thick ice shells of bodies like Europa.

MacworldEven with 14-inch and 16-inch screens, many MacBook users have already upgraded to two larger desktop screens at home or in the officeoften using a laptop docking station to benefit from the extra video ports required for such a setup, plus extras such as multiple USB ports and Ethernet. Some hook up three monitors and there are even docks that support up to four external screens.At CES, accessory maker Plugable unveiled the first docking station that can support five external monitors. Through the use of DisplayLink technology this expanse of screen real estate is available even to owners of the plain M1 and M2 MacBooks previously limited by Apple to just the solitary one external display.The UD-7400PD is a hybrid docking station that uses two technologies to drive the connected displays: USB-C Alt Mode Video and DisplayLink (third-party software that the user downloads before setting up the dock). For more details, see our explainer on how to connect multiple external displays to a Mac using DisplayLink.Up to five high-resolution displays can be added: three 6K screens, or one 6K plus four 4K displays. For Windows PCs, the 6K screen can be upgraded to a full 8K one. This mega multi-screen support is made possible by the docks use of the DisplayLink DL-7400 chipset.PlugableDo you need five screens?Probably not. Very few people actually need or desire five monitors, but the UD-7400PD dock offers flexibility. Users can choose from the five video optionsone HDMI 2.1 for the highest 6K resolution, one HDMI 2.0 for 4K at 60Hz, and three 10Gbps USB-C ports with DisplayLink enabled for 4K at 60Hzwith any unused USB-C ports free for other devices with full data, video and power potential (up to 15W).Having the same and full USB-C options available for each port makes usage simple for the user, rather than having to select a particular one for video and others for power or data. The UD-7400PD dock offers PD 3.1 140W Power Delivery, meaning it can be used to fast-charge even the top-end 16-inch MacBook Pro.PlugableThe top-end specs continue with a 2.5Gb Ethernet port, which will dramatically speed up a network supported at the same speed. At the front is another USB-C port capable of outputting 30W of power, enough to fast-charge any iPhone. Two legacy but speedy 10Gbps USB-A ports (7.5W) and a combo 3.5mm audio socket round out the front ports.The UD-7400PD dock is expected to be available in March for approximately $265. For more options, check out our roundups of the best docking stations for Mac and best DisplayLink docks.PlugablePlugable USB-C Quad HDMI Graphics AdapterPlugable also announced a smaller video-only solution using the same DisplayLink DL-7400 chipset that supports four independent high-resolution displays via one USB-C cable but without the extra ports boasted by the fuller five-display docking station. The compact USB-C Quad HDMI Graphics Adapter (USBC-7400H4) uses the same DisplayLink technology as the UD-7400PD dock to drive four 4K 60Hz HDMI outputs from a single USB-C port, and allowing for up to 100W USB-C PD pass-through charging.The USBC-7400H4 will cost $125.