At some point, everyone in their No Man's Sky playthrough wants to find an Earth-like planet to settle down on. From large bodies of water to green trees and almost no hazards, paradise worlds have everything you may want from a peaceful experience in No Man's Sky.

The Poppy Playtime community is nothing if not dedicated and creative. They sift through every crumb of information Mob Entertainment throws their way to determine if it contains clues to the many mysteries of the Poppy Playtime universe. These theories range from massive feats of collaborative deduction to wild ideas that are posted to Reddit or Wiki at 3 am after someone has had an epiphany.

Nintendos latest set of financial results would make bleak reading if it hadnt just announced that it will release its next console, the Switch 2, this year.Nintendo Switch has been an extraordinary success, but it couldnt last forever. As the hybrid handheld approaches its eighth birthday, Nintendo said that Switch hardware sales had fallen 30% compared to last year, while game sales were down 24%. Nintendo was forced to cut its forecasts for the second quarter in a row; it now predicts that it will sell 11 million Switches in its current fiscal year (which ends on March 31), down from an original estimate of 13.5 million. It also lowered its profit forecast for the year.Theres no mystery to these tumbling numbers. Although Nintendo held back the announcement of the Switch 2 as late as it could, it has been apparent for a long time that the Switch was nearing the end of its life. Eight years is a long lifespan for any video game console, leaks and rumours about the Switch 2 have been rife, and Nintendos software support for the Switch has been getting notably thin.Addressing the fall in game sales, Nintendo noted the unfavourable comparison to its previous fiscal year, which encompassed the release of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Super Mario Bros. Wonder. By contrast, Nintendos biggest hits of the last nine months have been relatively modest Super Mario Party Jamboree has sold 6.17 million units and The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom sold 3.9 million.It has been reported that Nintendo originally planned to release the Switch 2 in late 2024, which would make sense of the Switchs lackluster game lineup and slow sales in recent months. Nintendo confirmed that it still planned to release Metroid Prime 4: Beyond and Pokmon Legends: Z-A for the Switch in 2025, and theres the remaster of Xenoblade Chronicles X lined up for March 20, too.The Switchs exhausted sales slump shouldnt detract from the huge scale of the success it has achieved over its lifetime, however. Nintendo has now sold 150.86 million Switches only just shy of the 154 million tally of the Nintendo DS, the second-best-selling gaming device of all time. Even bearing the release of the Switch 2 in mind, the Switch is all but certain to beat that number at some point this year and become Nintendos most successful console ever.To become the best-selling console of all time, however, the Switch would have to beat the PlayStation 2s lifetime sales of over 160 million units. That ultimate accolade is probably if only just out of reach.

This article is a sponsored by StoryblokWhen computers first started talking to each other, the methods were remarkably simple. In the early days of the Internet, systems exchanged files via FTP or communicated via raw TCP/IP sockets. This direct approach worked well for simple use cases but quickly showed its limitations as applications grew more complex.# Basic socket server exampleimport socketserver_socket = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_STREAM)server_socket.bind(('localhost', 12345))server_socket.listen(1)while True: connection, address = server_socket.accept() data = connection.recv(1024) # Process data connection.send(response)The real breakthrough in enabling complex communication between computers on a network came with the introduction of Remote Procedure Calls (RPC) in the 1980s. RPC allowed developers to call procedures on remote systems as if they were local functions, abstracting away the complexity of network communication. This pattern laid the foundation for many of the modern integration approaches we use today.At its core, RPC implements a client-server model where the client prepares and serializes a procedure call with parameters, sends the message to a remote server, the server deserializes and executes the procedure, and then sends the response back to the client.Heres a simplified example using Pythons XML-RPC.# Serverfrom xmlrpc.server import SimpleXMLRPCServerdef calculate_total(items): return sum(items)server = SimpleXMLRPCServer(("localhost", 8000))server.register_function(calculate_total)server.serve_forever()# Clientimport xmlrpc.clientproxy = xmlrpc.client.ServerProxy("http://localhost:8000/")try: result = proxy.calculate_total([1, 2, 3, 4, 5])except ConnectionError: print("Network error occurred")RPC can operate in both synchronous (blocking) and asynchronous modes.Modern implementations such as gRPC support streaming and bi-directional communication. In the example below, we define a gRPC service called Calculator with two RPC methods, Calculate, which takes a Numbers message and returns a Result message, and CalculateStream, which sends a stream of Result messages in response.// protobufservice Calculator { rpc Calculate(Numbers) returns (Result); rpc CalculateStream(Numbers) returns (stream Result);}Modern Integrations: The Rise Of Web Services And SOAThe late 1990s and early 2000s saw the emergence of Web Services and Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA). SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) became the standard for enterprise integration, introducing a more structured approach to system communication.<?xml version="1.0"?><soap:Envelope xmlns:soap="http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap-envelope"> <soap:Header> </soap:Header> <soap:Body> <m:GetStockPrice xmlns:m="http://www.example.org/stock"> <m:StockName>IBM</m:StockName> </m:GetStockPrice> </soap:Body></soap:Envelope>While SOAP provided robust enterprise features, its complexity, and verbosity led to the development of simpler alternatives, especially the REST APIs that dominate Web services communication today.But REST is not alone. Lets have a look at some modern integration patterns.RESTful APIsREST (Representational State Transfer) has become the de facto standard for Web APIs, providing a simple, stateless approach to manipulating resources. Its simplicity and HTTP-based nature make it ideal for web applications.First defined by Roy Fielding in 2000 as an architectural style on top of the Webs standard protocols, its constraints align perfectly with the goals of the modern Web, such as performance, scalability, reliability, and visibility: client and server separated by an interface and loosely coupled, stateless communication, cacheable responses.In modern applications, the most common implementations of the REST protocol are based on the JSON format, which is used to encode messages for requests and responses.// Requestasync function fetchUserData() { const response = await fetch('https://api.example.com/users/123'); const userData = await response.json(); return userData;}// Response{ "id": "123", "name": "John Doe", "_links": { "self": { "href": "/users/123" }, "orders": { "href": "/users/123/orders" }, "preferences": { "href": "/users/123/preferences" } }}GraphQLGraphQL emerged from Facebooks internal development needs in 2012 before being open-sourced in 2015. Born out of the challenges of building complex mobile applications, it addressed limitations in traditional REST APIs, particularly the issues of over-fetching and under-fetching data.At its core, GraphQL is a query language and runtime that provides a type system and declarative data fetching, allowing the client to specify exactly what it wants to fetch from the server.// graphqltype User { id: ID! name: String! email: String! posts: [Post!]!}type Post { id: ID! title: String! content: String! author: User! publishDate: String!}query GetUserWithPosts { user(id: "123") { name posts(last: 3) { title publishDate } }}Often used to build complex UIs with nested data structures, mobile applications, or microservices architectures, it has proven effective at handling complex data requirements at scale and offers a growing ecosystem of tools.WebhooksModern applications often require real-time updates. For example, e-commerce apps need to update inventory levels when a purchase is made, or content management apps need to refresh cached content when a document is edited. Traditional request-response models can struggle to meet these demands because they rely on clients polling servers for updates, which is inefficient and resource-intensive.Webhooks and event-driven architectures address these needs more effectively. Webhooks let servers send real-time notifications to clients or other systems when specific events happen. This reduces the need for continuous polling. Event-driven architectures go further by decoupling application components. Services can publish and subscribe to events asynchronously, and this makes the system more scalable, responsive, and simpler.import fastify from 'fastify';const server = fastify();server.post('/webhook', async (request, reply) => { const event = request.body; if (event.type === 'content.published') { await refreshCache(); } return reply.code(200).send();});This is a simple Node.js function that uses Fastify to set up a web server. It responds to the endpoint /webhook, checks the type field of the JSON request, and refreshes a cache if the event is of type content.published.With all this background information and technical knowledge, its easier to picture the current state of web application development, where a single, monolithic app is no longer the answer to business needs, but a new paradigm has emerged: Composable Architecture.Composable Architecture And Headless CMSsThis evolution has led us to the concept of composable architecture, where applications are built by combining specialized services. This is where headless CMS solutions have a clear advantage, serving as the perfect example of how modern integration patterns come together. Headless CMS platforms separate content management from content presentation, allowing you to build specialized frontends relying on a fully-featured content backend. This decoupling facilitates content reuse, independent scaling, and the flexibility to use a dedicated technology or service for each part of the system.Take Storyblok as an example. Storyblok is a headless CMS designed to help developers build flexible, scalable, and composable applications. Content is exposed via API, REST, or GraphQL; it offers a long list of events that can trigger a webhook. Editors are happy with a great Visual Editor, where they can see changes in real time, and many integrations are available out-of-the-box via a marketplace.Imagine this ContentDeliveryService in your app, where you can interact with Storybloks REST API using the open source JS Client:import StoryblokClient from "storyblok-js-client";class ContentDeliveryService { constructor(private storyblok: StoryblokClient) {} async getPageContent(slug: string) { const { data } = await this.storyblok.get(cdn/stories/${slug}, { version: 'published', resolve_relations: 'featured-products.products' }); return data.story; } async getRelatedContent(tags: string[]) { const { data } = await this.storyblok.get('cdn/stories', { version: 'published', with_tag: tags.join(',') }); return data.stories; }}The last piece of the puzzle is a real example of integration.Again, many are already available in the Storyblok marketplace, and you can easily control them from the dashboard. However, to fully leverage the Composable Architecture, we can use the most powerful tool in the developers hand: code.Lets imagine a modern e-commerce platform that uses Storyblok as its content hub, Shopify for inventory and orders, Algolia for product search, and Stripe for payments.Once each account is set up and we have our access tokens, we could quickly build a front-end page for our store. This isnt production-ready code, but just to get a quick idea, lets use React to build the page for a single product that integrates our services.First, we should initialize our clients:import StoryblokClient from "storyblok-js-client";import { algoliasearch } from "algoliasearch";import Client from "shopify-buy";const storyblok = new StoryblokClient({ accessToken: "your_storyblok_token",});const algoliaClient = algoliasearch( "your_algolia_app_id", "your_algolia_api_key",);const shopifyClient = Client.buildClient({ domain: "your-shopify-store.myshopify.com", storefrontAccessToken: "your_storefront_access_token",});Given that we created a blok in Storyblok that holds product information such as the product_id, we could write a component that takes the productSlug, fetches the product content from Storyblok, the inventory data from Shopify, and some related products from the Algolia index:async function fetchProduct() { // get product from Storyblok const { data } = await storyblok.get(cdn/stories/${productSlug}); // fetch inventory from Shopify const shopifyInventory = await shopifyClient.product.fetch( data.story.content.product_id ); // fetch related products using Algolia const { hits } = await algoliaIndex.search("products", { filters: category:${data.story.content.category}, });}We could then set a simple component state:const [productData, setProductData] = useState(null);const [inventory, setInventory] = useState(null);const [relatedProducts, setRelatedProducts] = useState([]);useEffect(() => // ... // combine fetchProduct() with setState to update the state // ... fetchProduct();}, [productSlug]);And return a template with all our data:<h1>{productData.content.title}</h1><p>{productData.content.description}</p><h2>Price: ${inventory.variants[0].price}</h2><h3>Related Products</h3><ul> {relatedProducts.map((product) => ( <li key={product.objectID}>{product.name}</li> ))}</ul>We could then use an event-driven approach and create a server that listens to our shop events and processes the checkout with Stripe (credits to Manuel Spigolon for this tutorial):const stripe = require('stripe')module.exports = async function plugin (app, opts) { const stripeClient = stripe(app.config.STRIPE_PRIVATE_KEY) server.post('/create-checkout-session', async (request, reply) => { const session = await stripeClient.checkout.sessions.create({ line_items: [...], // from request.body mode: 'payment', success_url: "https://your-site.com/success", cancel_url: "https://your-site.com/cancel", }) return reply.redirect(303, session.url) })// ...And with this approach, each service is independent of the others, which helps us achieve our business goals (performance, scalability, flexibility) with a good developer experience and a smaller and simpler application thats easier to maintain.ConclusionThe integration between headless CMSs and modern web services represents the current and future state of high-performance web applications. By using specialized, decoupled services, developers can focus on business logic and user experience. A composable ecosystem is not only modular but also resilient to the evolving needs of the modern enterprise.These integrations highlight the importance of mastering API-driven architectures and understanding how different tools can harmoniously fit into a larger tech stack.In todays digital landscape, success lies in choosing tools that offer flexibility and efficiency, adapt to evolving demands, and create applications that are future-proof against the challenges of tomorrow.If you want to dive deeper into the integrations you can build with Storyblok and other services, check out Storybloks integrations page. You can also take your projects further by creating your own plugins with Storybloks plugin development resources.

Apple has published a support article detailing how you can stop your MacBook from turning on when you open the lid.

A new Marvels Spider-Man 2 patch has been released on PC, which addresses various bugs while improving stability.

Last year, when an apple orchard in rural Washington State invested in new cold storage equipment, the price was steep$187,000. The farm had won a USDA grant that was supposed to cover half of the cost of the technology, which is being shipped to the farm now. But after the Trump administration paused spending on energy grants and loans, the farmers are questioning whether theyll ever be paid back.The project will save the orchard thousands each year on energy bills, and the benefits extend beyond the orchard itself: The equipment can save 500 megawatt-hours of energy each year, or roughly as much electricity as a million-dollar solar farm could generate. In an area where data centers are proliferating and sucking up power, the energy efficiency could play a meaningful role in supporting the electric grid.The grant was one of dozens that a startup called Zero Emissions Northwest helped farmers and rural business owners secure through the USDA over the last 15 months. The projects were designed to help rural businesses save money by saving energy, using American-made equipment, from heat pumps to a Chevy Silverado EV that would save a farmer $12,000 a year in fuel costs.The USDA funding was one piece of the Inflation Reduction Act, which Congress passed in 2022 with bipartisan support. But because Trump signed an executive order on his first day that paused any spending through both the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for 90 days, some of the projects may never happen. Other business owners with projects underway, like the apple orchard, are now stuck with bills that they cant afford.Some people are very frustratedtheyve spent $100,000 on a project, and they were expecting to get paid this month, and they havent, says David Funk, founder and president of Zero Emissions Northwest.The grantwriting startup had been growing quickly over its 1.5-year existence. Before Trump took office, the startup submitted invoices for work that it had done in the last quarter of 2024; it had previously been told by government officials that grants that were already committed would be paid. But last week, it learned that the funding for its own operations was frozen. Funk was forced to furlough his employees. (The company is a contractor for USDA, and gets paid a fee by its clients only if they win a grant.) A long list of other companies are also being affected by the pause in funding. One source told me about an early-stage mapping startup that had won multiple different grants to bring its product to market; now it plans to shut down. (The startup didnt respond to a request for an interview.) Several companies said they werent ready to talk publicly. We cant even predict whats going to happen at this point, one startup founder said. All of the rules that we abided by in the past just went out the window.Thats true both for small startups, like Zero Emissions Northwest, and larger companies with infrastructure projects that are underway or poised to begin. The uncertainty of clean energy tax credits adds to the challenge.The impacts are huge, says Bob Keefe, executive director of E2, a national, nonpartisan group of business leaders and investors with a focus on both the environment and the economy. Youre starting to see some companies cancel projects. One E2 member with an EV charging company told Keefe that the company would likely have to furlough some staff and give other employees pay cuts. They quite literally may be going out of business, he says. The company went to six different banks to try to get a bridge loan, but all of them turned it down because of the uncertainty in the market. The funding freeze created significant uncertainty, which is of course bad for business in the short term, but it also undermines business confidence in the long term, says Tyler OConnor, a partner at the law firm Crowell who focuses on energy. The first executive orderfollowed by multiple memos, including a pause on all federal grants and loans that was later rescindedhas caused confusion throughout the energy industry, he says. (The vague phrasing of the original executive order means that it also may impact projects that have nothing to do with clean energy, such as bridge repairs that were funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.)Still, some companies are more optimistic than others; the type of energy technology makes a difference. Plug Power, a company that makes green hydrogen and was awarded a $1.66 billion loan guarantee in the last days of the Biden administration, expects that it will still be able to move forward with building a new facility in Texas later in the year. I dont think hydrogen is as controversial as some other technology, says CEO Andy Marsh. Maybe if I was building a wind plant or EV charging stations, Id be more concerned. Hydrogen is liked by oil and gas people.Most Americans support clean energy like low-cost wind and solar power. Trump opposes wind, in particular; hes also trying to fight the growing adoption of electric vehicles. Stopping wind development will make energy bills higher, and slowing down EV production will make the U.S. fall farther behind competitors like China, Manish Bapna, president and CEO of the nonprofit NRDC, said in a statement. Nobody voted for this, but somebody else asked for it: thebillionaire oil and gas donors Trump solicitedto help bankroll his campaign, Bapna wrote.With the shift in federal policy, some companies are beginning to talk about their work differently: Instead of talking about climate change, theyre focusing on the other benefits that they provide, from energy security to creating jobs. We talk a lot about securing supply chains, says Daniel Goldman, a managing partner at the VC firm Clean Energy Partners. Companies like Nth Cycle, which does critical minerals recovery from recycled materials, are super important to develop in North America so were not dependent on Chinas critical mineral supply.Now, some of the companies that are being affected are pushing for political support. Zero Emissions Northwest is encouraging its customersmany of whom voted for Trumpto contact their local representatives and share their stories. E2 is bringing hundreds of company leaders to D.C. to lobby Congress to support clean energy tax credits, another policy that will be critical to whether some companies survive and grow.Theres not a lot of reason for optimism right now, unless Congress steps in and does something in the next couple of weeks to reassure corporate America that we can get this country moving in the right direction again, Keefe says. More than 350 major clean energy projects are underway or in planning across the country, with 112,000 jobs at stakemany in red districts. Hopefully there are some people in Congress who can realize the risks to our economy, to their districts, to working class Americans, and do the right thing, he says.

In the history of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), eighth-grade reading scores have never been this low.According to new data, 33% of eighth graders in the United States have below basic reading levels. Thats even below the sub-proficient level, basic, at which 37% of eighth graders score. The NAEP has been administering their reading assessment since 1992, when 31% of eighth graders were below basic. But then it went down; in 2013, that below basic figure reached a low of 22%. Now, its reached an all-time peak.When reading scores go down, blame is inevitably pointed at teachers. Twenty-four years ago, then-President George Bush effectively tied schools Title I funding to their ability to show testing progress. But the smartphone era has brought us dwindling attention spans and plummeting reading levels. The issue isnt the teachers; its the tech.How bad is tech for childrens reading?This dip in reading scores extends beyond the teachers. In a new paper for the American Enterprise Institute, researcher Nat Malkus tracked the rise and fall in student testing scores over the past decades. Since the pandemic, performance has sharply declined for students. But adults have also been scoring poorly on performance assessments, with those scores moving in a parallel trend to children. It must be something beyond the classroom, Malkus surmises, that is dumbing us (and our children) down.While Malkus is reluctant to point the finger at one specific external factor, theres a strong case for tech. In the Surgeon Generals 2023 advisory on youth mental health, they noted that excessive social media usage could lead to changes or malformation of the amygdala, the part of the brain associated with learning. Social media is also rapidly destroying our focus. Per psychologist Gloria Mark, the average computer-focused attention span in 2004 was 2.5 minutes; now, its 47 seconds. When we cannot focus on long-form tasks, reading is left by the wayside.But the research here is patchy. Much of it is limited to the medium; theres a long-proven track record that students comprehension goes down when material is read off a screen, or that reading online ruptures the ability to consume large quantities of text. Discourse has also localized around mental health, like to set age restrictions on social media platforms, or even a cigarette-style hazard warning. (Across most of these conversations, Jonathan Haidt remains the perennial boogeyman, loved by his fans and reviled by his critics.)But these overlapping timelines are hard to ignore. Reading levels plummeted in the pandemic, the same period in which technology usage (and over-usage) spiked. The NAEPs below basic reading statistic first began climbing in 2019, the same year TikTok reached one-billion installs. While more than half of American kids play Roblox, 29% of 13-year-olds say theyve never or hardly ever read for fun.Can reading levels recover?There are small but mighty movements to break up the stranglehold tech has over Americas children. New York is pushing closer to an in-school cellphone ban. Other states across the partisan divide, from California to Florida, have already instituted their own versions of the policy. More parents are cutting their kids off from YouTube, TikTok, and Fortnite.But the damage may already be done. Eighth graders in 2019 (when the below basic reading level percentage started to tick up) are now in college. And, among todays college students, reading is on the decline. Professors are dealing with classrooms full of students who are unwilling or unable to complete basic reading assignments.Those reading levels likely wont turn around anytime soon. When the next, even-lower batch of statistics comes out, lets not blame the teachers. Its our iPhones that deserve the scrutiny.

A facade of glimmering steel surrounds this concert hall in southern Poland, designed for a state music school by local studio SLAS Architekci.The cube-shaped building is a contemporary extension to the traditional Jzef wider State Music School in Jastrzbie-Zdrj, a former spa town that became an industrial city after coal mines were built in the region.SLAS Architekci has completed a concert hall in southern PolandLocated on a border between old tourist resorts and newer urban development, the multipurpose venue provides a 362-seat auditorium in which music students can practice and perform."The new concert hall with natural acoustics is an instrument designed to give students the opportunity to learn to play and develop their talent," said SLAS Architekci co-founder Mariusz Komraus.The cube-shaped concert hall has a mirrored facadeAlongside its educational role, the building is used by the city as a concert venue and cultural institution, with its cafe space doubling up as an art gallery to showcase the work of regional artists.The 17-metre-high concert is surrounded by traditional buildings andfills its small corner site, leaving no room for a buffer between the building and the pavement. According to SLAS Architekci, this led to the design of its mirrored facade."The facade material was intended not only to shine and neutralize the volume of the facility with reflections of the surroundings, but above all to withstand the test of time and be resistant to vandalism," added Komraus.It is clad in corrugated steelSLAS Architekci used reinforced concrete for the concert hall's structure, with the auditorium's walls formed with wavy formwork. Here, the concrete is left exposed and finished with black glaze paint, eliminating the need for additional acoustic cladding.The wave is referenced in the corrugated steel facade, creating visual continuity between the building's exterior and interior spaces.Read: Arkkitehdit NRT renovates Alvar Aalto's Finlandia Hall in HelsinkiA main entrance on the ground floor leads from the street to the concert hall. This level is also home to cloakrooms and backstage areas including dressing rooms, with stairs leading up to the first-floor foyer, cafe and the main auditorium.The building has limited glazing to reduce energy use, but strips of tall windows run along its facades to allow passersby to look in from the street outside.A staircase leads to the first-floor foyerAccording to the studio, the building connects to the existing music school in such a way that it "maintains the autonomy of both buildings".A new public square between them adds to the street scene and provides a space for locals to gather.The auditorium has a seating capacity of 362"The building was built using public funds and its limited budget meant the architect had to think carefully about each design decision," said co-founder Aleksander Bednarski. "The limited budget paradoxically worked to the building's advantage.""Reduction has become the main tool or even a method of design work in which financial constraints encourage thoughtful spending of public funds and redirecting them to the most important elements of the building," he said.Other concert venues that have recently been featured on Dezeen include the renovation of Finlandia Hall in Helsinki and a multi-functional art centre in Beijing with swooping roofs.The photography is by Jakub Certowicz.The post SLAS Architekci wraps Polish concert hall in mirror-like steel facade appeared first on Dezeen.

Architecture studio Populous has released visuals of the planned Kop Stand at Wrexham AFC's STK Cae Ras stadium in Wales, as the club aims to expand under the ownership of actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.The stand, which will have a capacity of 5,500 people, was designed to restore the stadium's four-sided enclosure and become a visible landmark within the football club's home city of Wrexham.Reynolds and McElhenney purchased Wrexham AFC in 2020 and the club has been promoted twice since, while the Welcome to Wrexham series has draw global attention to it.Populous has unveiled the Kop Stand for Wrexham AFCThe planned stand's facade will be formed of red brick, arranged in a perforated lattice to allow inward and outward views, and "dissolve the boundary between the stand and the public". According to Populous, the use of brick is a nod to traditional Ruabon red brick used throughout the area, which has led the city to be nicknamed Terracottapolis."The physical design of the facade at the back of the stand takes inspiration from the local brickwork and the city's 'Terracottapolis' nickname, to link it to the generations of fans that have visited the ground in the past," said Populous global director Declan Sharkey."The angled planes and carved form of the brick facade echo the strata of coal and slate seams that represent the industrial heritage of the local area, with the feeling that they have emerged organically from the ground they stand."The stadium stand is designed to amplify soundOnce complete, the Kop Stand will incorporate a mix of hospitality and accessible seating areas. Its structure will be adaptable to ensure future expansion if required.Its brick facade will be laid with the same flemish bond that is often used around Wrexham, "creating a signature brickwork pattern for the club that is rooted in the area", Populous said.Adorning one corner of the brickwork will be two dragon motifs, referencing the club's crest.Inside, the Kop Stand's seating is being designed to amplify sound from fans towards the pitch and "reinforce the atmosphere within the STK Cae Ras". It will also incorporate a player tunnel, allowing spectators to welcome the team as they enter the pitch.Its rear facade will be finished with perforated brickwork"We have designed the new Kop Stand to be both authentic and unique in its approach to hosting Wrexham's passionate fans," said Sharkey."To do that we involved our team of audio consultants to maximise atmosphere."Read: Populous set to design stadium "inspired by classical Roman architecture" for AS RomaCompleting the project will be a public plaza, positioned by the rear brick facade, designed to be enjoyed by fans as well as the wider public outside of match days.According to Populous, it will feature a memorial to the Gresford Disaster a mining accident in 1934 in which an explosion and underground fire killed 261 workers.Two dragons will be embossed in one corner of the facade"The distinctive design of the new Kop Stand embodies the history and heritage of Wrexham rooted in the local community creating a timeless, authentic piece of civic architecture that complements other landmarks," said Wrexham AFC CEO Michael Williamson."It will provide an iconic landmark standing at the gateway to the city giving it a true sense of place."Populous is currently working on stadiums around the world, including one for Italian football club AS Roma that is "inspired by classical Roman architecture".Several are being designed to host games during the 2034 FIFA World Cup, an event that has recently come under fire for human rights violations. The designs include a 92,000-seat stadium in Riyadh and a 47,000-seat stadium in Al Khobar.The visuals are courtesy of Populous.The post Populous unveils Wrexham AFC stand that will "emerge organically from the ground" appeared first on Dezeen.