Red Dead Redemption has more than proved itself as a franchise, where each protagonist has such an incredible story that is impossible to forget. When it came to Red Dead Redemption 2, players had to say goodbye to John Marston as a protagonist, which opened up a new path for a future protagonist in Red Dead Redemption 3 to be a gunslinger seen in a prequel or a sequel.

The Sniper Elite games are packed with features, one such feature being Kill Challenges. Sniper Elite: Resistance features these Kill Challenges for 7 of the 9 campaign missions. Kill Challenges can easily go awry, so it is a good idea to save at pivotal points during the operation. This is because enemies being alerted can spook the target and make the required condition unachievable.

Dynamax Moltres is the third Legendary were seeing in Max BattlesforPokmon Go. Its making its debut during Max Monday on Feb. 3 from 6-7 p.m. and will be available until Feb. 10 when the Max Battle rotation swaps.While Dynamax Moltres isnt as hard as the very tough Gigantamax battles weve seen in the past, it can be tricky as theres not many Dynamax Pokmon to use to counter it.Below, we list out some general Max Battle tips and counters for Dynamax Moltres inPokmon Go.Dynamax Moltres weaknessMoltres is fire- and flying-type, so it only has two weaknesses to exploit: rock-, water-, and electric-type moves. Just like with its siblings Articuno and Zapdos, the problem is that there arent any Dynamax Pokmon that have rock-type Dynamax moves (as of this writing).There are actually quite a few water-type Dynamax and Gigantamax Pokmon, so you should have a pretty decent spread to use for this.Dynamax Moltres best countersWith the above in mind, there are a few counters to bring to Moltres. We recommend the following to focus onoffensivemoves:Gigantamax Kingler with BubbleGigantamax/Dynamax Blastoise with Water GunGigantamax Toxtricity with SparkDynamax Inteleon with Water GunDynamax Zapdos with Thunder ShockMoltres doesnt have complex movesets like its siblings, so you dont have to worry too much about conflicting typing. The only concern here would be using Zapdos if Moltres has Ancient Power, which can hurt it quite a bit.As for defense, you should bring the following with Max Guard and Max Spirit:Gigantamax/Dynamax Blastoise with Water GunMetagross with Zen HeadbuttExcadrill with Metal ClawThese Pokmon are just meant to tank hits from Moltres, while they quickly charge up the max meter with their fast moves. Blastoise is preferred, but Excadrill and Metagross can both hold their weight.Even if you dont have these powered up, consider just bringing thestrongestDynamax Pokmon you have. If you have a maxed out Dynamax Gengar and your Dynamax Sobble isnt evolved to Inteleon (and you dont have the means to power it up), just bring your Gengar.General Max Battle tipsIf youve been struggling in Max Battles, here are some general tips to survive and make sure youre an asset to your team. While Gigantamax Battles are tough, a Legendary Max Battle shouldnt be as tough as that. You can slack a little, but you should still heed our advice:Make sure you have enough players.High-efficiency players with maxed out investments will likely be able to solo Moltres, but this isnt going to be realistic for most people. Try to go at it with three other players for the highest chance of winning. Note that unlike Gigantamax Pokmon, the Dynamax Legendary Pokmon have a max party size of four (rather than 40).Dont sleep on Max Spirit and Max Guard. Teams work best when theres a variety of moves, not just maxed-out attacks. Each player should bring Pokmon with the defensive and healing moves unlocked as well. Max Guard will focus single-target damage towards you and reduce the damage taken and Max Spirit will heal the whole party, so these moves are really important to make sure your damage-dealers can keep dishing.Remember to swap to super effective moves when its time to Dynamax. ForDynamax Pokmon, their max moves are determined by whatever type their fast move is. This means if you have a Cryogonal with Frost Breath, it will know Max Hailstorm. A Gengar with Lick will know Max Phantasm. Take advantage of this and make sure to swap to a Pokmon that will deal super effective damage to your target before Dynamaxing, if you can.Focus on your fast moves. You want to spam your fast moves to build up that Dynamax meter and often times, using your charge move is actually a DPS loss when compared to the damage you could be doing with your max move will be. Spam those attacks!Level up a few mons, but you dont have to go too hard. Depending on your group size, you absolutely do not need to max out all your Dynamax Pokmon to level 40-50. While this will make it easier on the rest of your group, if this isnt an investment you can make, you dont have to stress about it. Power things up as high as you can afford to, but dont fret if you dont have a maxed out Pokmon.That all being said,make sure to come as prepared as you can be. This is a team effort and theres a chance that a full group of four can still fail. Do not just bring your unleveledDynamax Woolooexpecting a free ride to a powerful Pokmon. (After all, ifeveryonedoes that, then you certainly wont clear the battle.) Again, you dont have to completely max out your Pokmon, but it will be better for everyone involved if you bring something helpful to the table.Keep your eye out for a shiny Moltres!If you clear the raid, there is a chance that the Moltres you catch will be shiny which also means itll be a guaranteed catch. Use a Pinap Berry to score extra candy if you get lucky enough to find a sparkly Moltres.

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The new Powerbeats Pro 2 are expected to launch on 11 February. Here's what to expect

Before air-conditioning existed, staying cool during the summer months in the southern United States was a foreign skill for early European colonists. But enslaved Africans, hailing from similar warm climates, had developed, over centuries, architectural strategies for combating sweltering summer conditions. It was from these early enslaved builders that the most quintessential architectural feature of homes in the United States emerged: the porch.Porches, verandas, porticoes, and other types of outdoor coverings connected to a building have existed in various forms across the globe for centuries. However, what we think of as an American style of porch, first associated with homes in the southern United States, originally evolved from the dwellings of enslaved people. Anthropologist James Deetz explains that the early homes of colonists did not have porches and that the closest thing to porches were small, enclosed vestibules that were similar to mudrooms. He states, Porches are probably of African origin. . . . We have seen that porches have been found on slave cabins excavated at Kingsmill [Plantation in Virginia], dating to the third quarter of the eighteenth century. This is the earliest evidence that we have for porches to date.[Illustration: Johnalynn Holland/courtesy Chronicle Books]At around the same time that the porches at Kingsmill Plantation were built, shotgun homes emerged in New Orleans. A result of the major influx of Haitian free people of color who came to the United States in the early 1800s, shortly after the Haitian revolution, the shotgun home is an adaptation of West African residential architecture and almost always has a front porch. Shotgun homes are narrow houses, typically no more than twelve feet wide, in which one room leads to the next with no hallway between. Shotgun homes and their attached porches spread throughout the South from the 1860s through the 1920s. With the advent of industrialized lumber at the end of the nineteenth century, and thanks to the shotguns small footprint and ease of construction, this housing style became popular in poor, working-class, and middle-class communities, both Black and white. Engineering professor John H. Lienhard writes:When the cost of wood fell during the late 1800s, the shotgun house did indeed become the best way the poor could keep a roof over their heads. But, by then, shotgun houses had added a new element to the American architectural vocabulary. You see, shotgun houses gave us the southern porch. We didnt previously have porches like that in America. Like the shotgun house itself, southern porches are now all over America.Anthropologist John Michael Vlach writes of the front porchs hidden legacy: The impact of African architectural concepts has ironically been disguised because their influence has been so widespread; they have been invisible because they are so obvious. This unfortunate circumstance is demonstrated by the history of that common extension of the housethe front porch.[Illustration: Johnalynn Holland/courtesy Chronicle Books]Porches werent the only architectural innovation that enslaved people were instrumental in creating. Tabby, a unique building material used throughout the southeastern coastal region, is made from crushed oyster shells, sand, water, and ash. This cement-like substance has origins in Africa, Mesoamerica, and the Iberian coast, though historians debate where it was first used. Like most things in America, credit lies in the mixture of cultures and ideas among Indigenous, African, and European people. In many cases, innovations that are similar to each other have evolved independently all over the world, as different people have solved the same problems in similar ways. Scholars of material culture state:The oyster shells used to make the tabby were mined from shell mounds created by native peoples thousands of years before European arrival in the New World. By the early eighteenth century, tabby was used both in Spanish Florida and in West Africa. It is unclear whether tabbys origins lie in the coastal southeast or whether the technique was brought from West Africa through the slave trade.Some of the oldest original tabby structures are found among the dwellings of enslaved people at Kingsley Plantation in Jacksonville, Florida. Those enslaved at Kingsley worked under a task system, common in Spanish Florida. While still confined to the brutal boundaries of slavery, enslaved people under this system were afforded some measure of independent time to grow their own food, hunt, fish, socialize, and pursue crafts.Twenty-five of the original thirty-two tabby cabins where the enslaved lived at Kingsley Plantation still remain. Built in the 1820s, the cabins are arranged in a semicircle, facing a shared space where their inhabitants once socialized and cultivated gardens after completing their days tasks. The semicircular configuration of homes surrounding a communal center is a distinctly West African architectural characteristic; it is unique to Kingsley and not seen at any other plantation in the South.The prevailing explanation for this is that Anna Kingsley, the wife of Kingsley Plantation owner Zephaniah Kingsley, was from Senegal. Anna Kingsley was born Anta Mujigeen Ndiaye in Senegal and was purchased and enslaved by Zephaniah in Cuba in 1806, when she was only thirteen years old. Five years later, he emancipated her, and they entered into a public common-law marriage. Anna ran the affairs of Kingsley Plantation as well as Zephaniahs other estates and businesses. Anthropologist Antoinette T. Jackson writes of Annas remarkable and complicated life:At a young age, she learned to actualize her own power. She secured her freedom and the freedom of her children five years after her arrival in Florida when Zephaniah signed her emancipation papers in 1811, making her a legally recognized free woman of color. She went on to successfully run Zephaniahs varied businesses, manage his households, and enjoy land ownership and wealth herself.Annas story sheds light on the complicated social dynamics of the time and how they varied by region across the United States. Anna Kingsleys great-granddaughter says of her ancestors legacy: It is obviously a profoundly moving story. Its also a story which, in my view, has extraordinary complexity and contradictions. My great-grandmother was not only a slave, she owned slaves . . . so to feel that my great-grandmother had acquired the kind of wealth and the kind of prestige that would allow her to own slaves, I balance that with, She owned slaves! On the other hand, here was a woman of just extraordinary intelligence, ability. And, while I say that, I am conscious that she was probably in no sense uniquewe happen to have her story, but what we dont have, I am convinced, are the countless stories of women of no less intelligence, no less ability, whose stuff is simply lost.Anna Kingsleys Senegalese roots, coupled with the African architectural traditions present at the plantation, make this place a unique site of African American architectural history. The Kingsley story is also a testament to the incredible diversity of Black experiences during this period and the role that material culture can play in helping us understand how people lived and related to one another, oftentimes in more nuanced ways than we can imagine.Similarly, understanding the front porch as a distinctly Black architectural tradition challenges deep-seated assumptions about the diffusion of skill and knowledge in early America. Black people, whether enslaved or free, have long been portrayed as the recipients, not the bearers, of innovation. Nothing could be further from the truth.Excerpted from: A Short History of Black Craft in Ten Objects by Robell Awake, published by Chronicle Books 2025[Photo: Chronicle Books]Footnotes:1 John Michael Vlach, The Afro-American Tradition in Decorative Arts (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1978), 13638.2 James Deetz, In Small Things Forgotten: An Archaeology of Early American Life (New York: Random House, 1977), 228.3 Deetz, In Small Things Forgotten, 21929.4 John H. Lienhard, Shotgun Homes and Porches, The Engines of Our Ingenuity, episode 820, University of Houston, accessed January 15, 2024, https://engines.egr.uh.edu/episode/820.5 Vlach, The Afro-American Tradition, 13637.6 Susan D. Morris, Tabby, New Georgia Encyclopedia, last modified September 10, 2019, https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/tabby/.7 Pam James, Mary Mott, and Dawn Baker, Investigating a Tabby Slave Cabin, Project Archaeology: Investigating Shelter Series no. 12, accessed January 15, 2024, https://www.nps.gov/timu/learn/education/upload/KingsleyTeacher-Final-2.pdf.8 Antoinette T. Jackson, Shattering Slave Life Portrayals: Uncovering Subjugated Knowledge in U.S. Plantation Sites in South Carolina and Florida, American Anthropologist 113, no. 3 (September 2011): 44862, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41407471.9 Jackson, Shattering Slave Life Portrayals.10 Quoted in Jackson, Shattering Slave Life Portrayals.

The worlds hunger for energy is growing at an unprecedented rate thanks to growing manufacturing and AI data centers. And our current electric generation capabilities just cant cope with the demand. The situation is so dire that the International Energy Agency predicts a tripling of solar panel installations in ten years, a surge that will require a near doubling of the workforce. The U.S. solar industry is currently installing approximately 15,000 modules per hour which is laughable when industry experts are saying it needs to reach a staggering 50,000 modules per hour by 2035 to keep up with electricity demand.The reality is that humans cant build wind and solar farms fast enoughwhich is why utility and energy generation company AES has invented Maximo, an AI-powered robot designed to double the speed of solar farm deployment. Building a solar farm requires moving and installing modules weighing more than 60 pounds and measuring an unwieldy 6.5 x 3.25 feet each. Its a tedious and potentially dangerous task. Maximo (nicknamed Max) is a medium-to-large, light gray robot that runs on two sets of tracks that is designed to make that operation a breeze. [Image: AES]Its boxy chassis with curved corners has a central platform that holds the multi-jointed robotic arm that lifts and places the solar panels. Small sensor modules dot the robot, mapping its surroundings so it knows where it is at all times as it reaches into the cradle on its back that holds the panels. Its a machine that looks like the future, thanks to the design work of industrial and brand design studio Fuseproject.Introduced last summer, AES says Maximo has become the first proven solar installation robot on the market. And while the company claims that Maximo isnt intended to replace human workers, it doesnt really need to. The solar industry faces an extreme shortage of skilled labor, so it cant tackle the sheer scale of the task at hand without using machines like this smart buggy with robotic eyes and arms.The genesis of Maximo began two years ago, as Yves Bhar, founder and principal designer of Fuseproject, told me during an interview. We had a really interesting initial discussion about increasing the capacity of solar power and making it more efficient, Bhar says. His experience with robotics and electric vehicles made the project particularly appealing to him. The combination of vehicle and robotics really at the service of accelerating the installation and the capacity of solar energy was something that I was very, very interested in.[Image: AES]Design principlesThe design process focused on several key principles. Scalability was paramount, as was seamless integration into existing workflows. Crucially, Maximo needed to be friendly in the field, a trustworthy friend to the human workers it would collaborate with. Its not meant to replace workers, Bhar says. Its really meant to complement. Its a tool to accelerate the transition to renewable energy, reducing the physical demands of having to lift panels [and accelerating the installation].Fuseproject wanted to give Maximo a distinct identity aligned with AESs brand, while following very specific function requirements to maximize efficiency in the movements and manufacturing cost-effectiveness. The design needed to be scalable, too, as the vision was to have an army of bots covering deserts and plains with oceans of dark silicon panels.One of the most important criteria was to visually integrate all the different parts, Bhar explains, as Maximo is basically a tank platform that needs to carry a lot of eclectic components. It has two mechanical arms for installation, a cradle that holds all the panels that need to get installed, the power unit, and the AI module. Bhar tells me that these disparate elements needed to be tied under a single form. His team came up with a metallic sine wave-shaped ribbon that expresses what the product does, while also providing essential protection from the elements.This continuous form turned out to be the most visually significant element of the robot. Deise Yumi Asami, AESs founder, says that Fuseproject did a phenomenal job on really getting into the fundamentals of what we wanted to convey with Maximo. The sine wave-like design incorporated into Maximos shape is a subtle nod to the alternating current of electricity. Its really tied to our core existence of energy, she explains.Other design elements, such as the aqua color, references the AES logo. The specific shade was carefully chosen, Asami explains, as was the light gray color of the main body: White on the construction site can be very challenging, so Fuseproject helped them tune the color to a very light color of gray that would, you know, be enough to meet our kind of like this kind of clean futuristic visuals of Max.[Image: AES]How it worksMaximos functionality is as important as its form. The ribbon sine wave, for example, also houses an integrated LED safety system that signals when human workers can approach Max. That was another core requirement from AES: The robot needed to be field-friendly, especially when its volume and power is so unwieldy. Max was really developed to carry all the heavy lifting, but not only that, it had to really accelerate the pace in which we are installing solar panels, Asami tells me. Maximo moves on its own, recognizing the terrain around it. An operator simply engages a safe switch just in case something bad happens and then Maximo takes over the entire operation thanks to a combination of computer vision, artificial intelligence, and a behavioral tree the company developed with Amazon AWS. It knows where to go. And it will decide whats the best path from path A to path B, Asami says. This allows Maximo to operate in the dynamic, uncontrolled environment of a construction site, a key difference from typical factory robots that are fixed in a single point and perform repetitive tasks always in the same place. This outdoor operation presented the most significant technological challenge, Asami says, requiring the development of robust AI and computer vision systems capable of handling glare and other visual issues that happen under different weather conditions and the changing position across different terrains.Safety was the third core requirement, not only through the integrated LED light system integrated in the ribbonwhich turns red, signaling to workers to maintain a safe distance when Max is working, even if its not movingbut with ultrasonic sensors that detect if anyone enters the operating zone, triggering an immediate stop. We have an abundance of redundancy, Asami points out.[Image: AES]The cradle that holds the solar panels was a unique design challenge. It seems like its the only module not perfectly integrated in the design. When I told Asami and Bhar, they acknowledged that there was no way around this, as it needed to adapt to different panel sizes. It needs to be continually accessible too, Asami says. And mechanically speaking, it adjusts to the different sizes of the solar modules.[Image: AES]The adaptability of every aspect of its design is key to Maximos autonomous nature. When it arrives to the solar farm, a worker carefully loads a rack of solar panels into the waiting cradle using a forklift. With its cargo secured, Maximo embarks on its journey along the solar farm, relying on its sophisticated computer vision and brain to chart the most efficient course and identify where each panel should go.Once it gets to the first solar array support structure, Maximo uses its arm to pick up a panel from the cradle, smoothly rotating it and carefully placing the panel onto the pre-installed mounting structure, called the torque tube, before securing it firmly in place. The mechanical installation is complete and then, the process repeats. Panel after panel, Maximo moves along the torque tube building the farm. The human operator only acts as a supervisor, ensuring everything runs smoothly, ready to intervene if needed. Once the cradle is empty, a worker reloads, and the cycle begins again.[Image: AES]Shiny skies aheadMaximo has already installed nearly 10 megawatts of solar and is projected to install 100 MW in 2025. From these first experiences, plans are going to be put on warp 9. AES claims it plans to deploy Maximo to help build up to 5 gigawatts of its solar project pipeline over the next three years. While AES isnt disclosing specific production numbers, Asami says they are seriously ramping up production of the robot for their clients.Asamis ambition is to make Maximo a standard in solar farm construction. With the increasing labor shortages in the industry and the growing demand for solar installations, it seems that it is going to be a must have rather than a may need. The challenge, she noted, is not just about building more solar farms, but also about bringing them online quickly. The majority of the time that its spent on the site, it is spent on the installation of solar modules, she explains, making Maximos contribution to installation speed crucial. We do believe that Max will have a big impact, she says. And thats why we see a lot of emerging competitors as well because everyone understands the need in the industry for something like Maximo. Heres to seeing more of these friendly beasts with their glowing aqua and red ribbons signaling the beginning of a new shiny solar world despite the dark stormy clouds now looming over us.

A canopy of parasols clad in bamboo shelters this business school's social hub in southwest India, which local practice The Purple Ink Studio has designed to challenge conventional academic buildings. The Purple Ink Studio's extension of the Tapmi Center business faculty is located on a prominent corner site on the T A Pai Management Institute campus in the town of Manipal, Karnataka, set against a backdrop of lush forested valleys.The Purple Ink Studio has added a social hub to an Indian business schoolIt consists of two white buildings arranged in wings, which provide classrooms, administration space, workshops and a small cafeteria. Sitting at the heart of these structures is a "porous" sunken amphitheatre called Angala.This communal hub was built to address the town's lack of space for its 30,000-strong student community to socialise and gather and is designed to be accessible from the road below, through a series of ramps and staircases.It has a sunken amphitheatre sheltered by parasols"The campus already hosts several academic buildings, but these often follow a conventional, closed design," said The Purple Ink Studio principal Nishita Bhatia."They are rigid blocks that, while functional, fail to engage with their surroundings or the students in a meaningful way. Our approach was to break away from this norm," she added.The parasols are positioned at different heights to mimic a tree canopyDue to the area's heavy rainfall, the amphitheatre required shelter, leading the Bangalore-based studio to design a canopy inspired by traditional Chhatris the sunshades that line the steps of the Ganges riverbanks in Varanasi.Eleven umbrellas sprout above the extension, positioned at different heights to mimic the nearby tree canopy in the valley. Together they form a covering, made of a steel structure held together with trusses, then overlaid with bamboo canes hand-cut on site."The parasols took more time to construct than the building itself. Each bamboo piece was meticulously bent on site to follow the parasol profile," said Bhatia.Read: Nmena Arquitectura and ARE shad school in Bogot with perforated metal panelsMeasuring 12 to 14 metres in diameter, the shades are covered by metal sheets on top and sloped in the central direction to catch rainwater.This is then funnelled into rainwater collection systems in the central core of each column and carried away into a stream.Rainwater is funnelled into collection systems at the core of each columnsAccording to The Purple Ink Studio, the construction of traditional Chhatris is becoming a dying art in India, due to their complex weaving process and a tendency for the materials to degrade.The studio's design for the Tapmi Centre extension was, therefore, aimed to "bring back the memory" of the practice and engage craftsmen on the project, so their skills could be showcased at a larger scale.The parasols are made of steel wrapped in bambooAccording to Bhatia, the Tapmi Centre social hub is hoped to be used by students as well as other citizens in Manipal. To accentuate its openness, the centre has no doors with people able to use the building in the evenings."The academic space responds to the community giving it an after-life," said Bhatia. "The building becomes a symbol of inclusivity, encouraging collaboration between the academic community and the city's residents, fostering creativity, dialogue, and shared experiences."Other academic buildings recently featured on Dezeen include a cuboidal primary school in Austria and a public school with a projecting external staircase and perforated metal facade in Colombia.The photography is by Suryan//Dang.The post The Purple Ink Studio covers Tapmi Centre in India with bamboo parasol canopy appeared first on Dezeen.

Sweden's design scene is shining even as the country's economy struggles, with a trend for innovative, playful pieces marking its most important moment in a generation, Dezeen heard ahead of Stockholm Design Week.Swedish design has long been associated with minimalism or IKEA, whose affordable, practical furniture is now synonymous with the country around the world. But in recent years, Sweden's design scene has become increasingly varied.With a difficult economic environment contributing to an uptick in innovative design, designers are blending traditional craft with new technology and focusing on sustainability."The perception has evolved""People outside Sweden often struggle to distinguish Swedish design from the broader concept of 'Scandinavian design'," Note Design Studio design manager Cristiano Pigazzini said."For many, Swedish design remains synonymous with IKEA. However, for those with a deeper interest or knowledge of design, the perception has evolved. Swedish design is increasingly seen as moving from traditional, production-optimised work to something more playful, artistic, and highly sustainable."In the words of Stockholm Furniture Fair and Stockholm Design Week director Daniel Heckscher, emerging Swedish designers have helped build a scene that is "bold, explorative, conscious and f***ing amazing".Above: Matsson Marnell recently designed a wooden table with unconventional legs. Photo by Andy Liffner. Top: Simon Skinner's Buk lamps are on show in Stockholm. Photo by Gustav Almestl"The scene, as it should be, is way ahead of the audience and the industry in general," he told Dezeen. "It's created by emerging designers, most of them with no means other than an innovative creative mind and a skillset adapted to a world in chaos."A host of newer brands are also challenging the traditional notion of Swedish design, according to Hanna Nova Beatrice, The New Era magazine founder and chief brand officer of retailer NO GA Group."Brands like Teenage Engineering, Hem, Niko June, Gustaf Westman and Massproductions have all played a big part in paving the way for a Swedish design language that is very far removed from the idea of Scandinavian minimalism promoted by mainly Danish brands," she said.Swedish design having a "more interesting moment" than in the '90sThe result, according to Marcus Engman, creative director at IKEA franchisee Ingka Group, is that Sweden is currently experiencing its most important design movement in decades."We had a big Swedish design moment back in the 1990s, but I would argue that we have a far more interesting and diverse moment of design right now," he said. "Whether or not it is a Swedish moment, I don't think it matters.""My line of thinking has always been that you can never be too supportive when it comes to emerging talent," Engman added. "I think it is an obligation to us all in the creative industries to make it possible for a more diverse pool of talent that better represent the people our designs should serve."Read: Ten unmissable exhibitions and installations at Stockholm Design Week 2025Among the most interesting design studios in Sweden right now is Malm-based Lab La Bla, which works with innovative materials such as mining dust and ground-up wine corks. Its founders argue that Swedish designers often turn to innovation to create more sustainable designs."Swedish design seamlessly blends tradition and technology, using innovation as a tool to address ecological and cultural responsibilities," founders Axel Landstrm and Victor Isaksson Pirtti explained. "There's a growing ambition among creatives to reclaim Swedish design on the international stage."The ongoing recession in Sweden has clearly been a factor, with journalist and co-founder of design brand Matsson Marnell Katarina Matsson arguing that the economic downturn has made room for experimentation.Lab La Bla used ground-up corks for its mini-golf course at Stockholm Furniture Fair. Photo byErik Lefvander"The recession has taken a big toll on the traditional design market and brands who are depending heavily on business-to-business, but that also gives room for a younger scene to evolve and expand," she said."There's a lot of new talent to watch, working on a small scale within historic Swedish industries such as wood, glass and ceramics, and innovative handicraft and creative designers focusing on high-end collectibles."But Landstrm and Isaksson Pirtti argue that a tendency towards "gatekeeping and a reliance on safe aesthetics" can also be stifling."Emerging voices struggle to break through entrenched networks, especially in a tough economic climate where risk aversion dominates," they said."Swedish design seems to be in a transitional phase"Nova Beatrice agrees that the economic woes have had a knock-on effect on designers."Many Swedish brands and producers are having a very hard time at the moment," she said. "Due to the economic situation on the market, many brands are forced to cut down on costs and personnel, which affects their self-confidence and strength to invest, which in turn affects the designers. This is not only true for Sweden, but you can really sense it here."Sweden's design scene is now at an "in-between" moment, says Note's Pigazzini.Among Note Design Studio's work is this installation for Vibia. Photo courtesy of Note Design Studio"Swedish design has been one of the strongest voices in the Scandinavian scene for many years, but with the rise of a new Danish era, Swedish design seems to be in a transitional phase," he said."This is also evident in the latest Stockholm Design Week and Furniture Fair. Many well-known Swedish brands chose not to participate in the fair or design week, reflecting a more hesitant approach.""The energy, innovation, and creativity these established Swedish companies traditionally brought were noticeably absent."Read: Dezeen to launch Dezeen Dispatch at Stockholm Design WeekHowever, this has also left an opening for others to take their place, he adds, though the shift is still at an early stage."Swedish designers and creators seem to have stepped in to fill this gap, taking on a bigger role and substituting for the companies. While new brands like Pholc and Verk are emerging, they remain relatively small and cannot yet take on the role of Swedish design ambassadors."Initiatives pairing established brands with emerging designers also remain a significant part of the Swedish design scene. One such example at Stockholm Design Week is Design Collaboration, established by design school Beckmans, which helps young designers get designs onto the market."The Swedish design scene is supportive of emerging designers, but of course, the uncertain economic times globally also affect recent design graduates that struggle to get into the design world," explained Anna Holmquist, a Beckmans tutor and co-founder of design studio Folkform.Design in Sweden "seen as part of larger global trends"Holmquist takes a positive view of the Swedish design scene, which she says is "more interdisciplinary and diversified" than in the past."A new generation of designers in the furniture industry are bringing sustainability, fashion, music and contemporary culture together, and are using sustainable materials, ethical production processes, and innovative approaches," she said.Emerging designer Simon Skinner, who will be showing at Stockholm Furniture Fair this year, concludes that Swedish design continues to be relevant in a changing world.A Stockholm Design Week show curated by Nova Beatrice's The New Era is displaying Mellsa-based designer David Taylor's playful Standing Clock. Photo by David Taylor"I think people outside Sweden view Swedish design differently today than they did 20 years ago," he said. "Unless something has a distinctly Scandinavian expression or execution, Swedish creative work now tends to be seen as part of larger global trends."That said, I believe Sweden plays a significant and unique role in shaping those trends, which reflects the strength of our influence on the global design scene."This article was originally written for the Dezeen Dispatch magazine at Stockholm Design Week 2025.Stockholm Design Week 2025 is taking place at various locations around the city from 3 to 9 February. To see what's on, visit Dezeen Events Guide.The post Swedish design is "bold, explorative, conscious and f***ing amazing" appeared first on Dezeen.

Smartphones are powerful tools that help us stay connected, informed, and productive. Theres almost nothing they cant do these days, except probably keep us from being distracted by them. While there is indeed almost an app for everything, the devices present a never-ending stream of temptations and distractions that keep us from doing what we really need to do. Starting a timer to keep track of our time, for example, might turn into an hour-long journey into the deepest recesses of social media and the Internet.Why would you use your phone instead of a proper timer in the first place? Maybe you dont have such a time-keeping device at hand, or maybe you need some integration with a time-logging app on your phone. Fortunately, you dont have to lose on some of the benefits of a phone-connected timer with his gadget concept that does keep time but, at the same time, lets you keep your phone as far away as possible.Designers: Eduardo Gouffran, Andrea FanelliOne of the most common tips given by productivity gurus for staying in focus is to simply block out 20 to 25 minutes of uninterrupted time to do some deep work. Sounds simple enough, at least until you realize how our brains today seem to have been trained to jump from one thing to the next. It gets even worse when we instinctively reach for our phones to use the timer app, only to end up mindlessly scrolling and tapping away on, ironically, videos and posts about productivity tips.METI, a combination of mind and time, is a design concept for a digital timer that puts itself between you and your phone. Its shaped like an hourglass to indicate its primary function, and it can use a dot matrix grid of lights to show time trickling down like small grains of sand. It has a simple function and a simple interface, not unlike a simple kitchen timer but with a few fun twists.Its main point of interaction is a scroll wheel that lets you set the timer, for example. In a way, it exploits that scrolling habit by associating the action with a different activity, swapping distraction with focus. The device also pairs with your phone, using a rather unusual but fun shaking motion, that lets you set different sessions from the phone. This also opens the door to gathering data and monitoring your use to learn just how focused or distracted you are.In the final analysis, the METI concept is pretty much a glorified physical timer, but one that doesnt completely throw away its digital ties. It brings that familiar or at least iconic behavior of using an hourglass to keep time, while still leaving the door open for integration with apps and services. Its color options also convey a sense of fun and joy, implying that productivity and keeping track of your time shouldnt be such a boring chore after all.The post Hourglass-shaped device concept wants to help save your fingers from doomscrolling first appeared on Yanko Design.