Even for someone with a cushy tech job, the prospect of going against their company is daunting. That bothered Shell so much that in 2022, she launched Valla, which seeks to make legal support more accessible to workers.

The key to navigating the AI skills gap lies in aligning leadership vision with frontline capabilities

You can replace your phone's battery yourself at home and save a lot of money. Here's what to do.

News Science & Society Students’ mental health imperiled by $1 billion cuts to school funding Cutting mental health services will harm students over the long term, educators say The Parent Empowerment Program, or PEP, at La Mesa–Springs Valley School District in San Diego helps caregivers and their children work through various challenges. Here, mother Janet Walton leads a group activity aimed at helping children share. That includes Walton’s son, Elijah, who is passing a toy to a peer. LMSVSD PEP By Sujata Gupta May 29, 2025 at 11:00 am Four-year-old Elijah’s task was to draw a penguin, his favorite animal, and then rip up the paper so the scraps could be used for another project. The adults leading the project hoped that making Elijah uncomfortable would help the preschooler navigate similar tricky situations in his daily life. “He was not having it,” recalls Elijah’s mother, Janet Walton. “He freaked out.” For most toddlers, ripping up a beloved drawing would be a challenging ask. But Elijah’s struggles went beyond the norm. After a particularly bad tantrum at public preschool last year, a mental health expert with the La Mesa–Spring Valley School District in San Diego referred Walton to the Parent Empowerment Program, or PEP. Sign up for our newsletter We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

On Designing National Pavilions: Power and Identity at Universal ExhibitionsSave this picture!Czech Pavilion Expo 2025 Osaka / Apropos Architects Image © boysplayniceWhat can a pavilion’s architecture reveal about its country? At major World Expos, national pavilions are designed to answer this question, transforming into spaces laden with symbolism. Though temporary, these structures are rich in meaning, functioning as architectural expressions of political identity. Their forms and materials encapsulate national ambitions. Expo Osaka 2025, the latest chapter in this ongoing narrative, showcases how nations increasingly use built space to construct global images of themselves—sustainable, technological, culturally distinct, and geopolitically relevant. Save this picture!Over the decades, these pavilions have evolved into meticulously curated narratives where architecture, politics, and culture intersect to shape national identity. At Osaka 2025, this symbolic and diplomatic function becomes even more pronounced. Pavilions communicate not only who a nation is, but who it aspires to be. The environmental agenda, for example, has become a compelling vector of soft power. Japan’s pavilion exemplifies this shift, employing local wood, parametric design, and natural ventilation not just for function, but as metaphors of circularity and harmony with nature.Save this picture!Meanwhile, countries like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are embracing immersive technologies—augmented reality, responsive facades, and AI—to reframe their narratives. No longer defined solely by oil economies, they seek to position themselves as innovation-driven futurescapes. In this context, national identity is staged like a multisensory installation. Materials, sounds, aromas, lighting, and spatial choreography become tools for storytelling—none of them neutral, all of them charged with intent. Related Article Are World's Fairs a Thing of the Past? The Role that Architecture Played on One of History's Biggest Stages Architecture as a Political StatementPavilions transcend cultural or technological display to become instruments of political messaging. Architectural choices convey nuanced—or at times overt—signals about values, ambitions, and worldviews. Denmark’s Expo 2020 Dubai pavilion, with open ramps and fluid circulation, subtly suggests democratic transparency and inclusion, while Russia’s monumental spiral structure evokes nationalism and technological command. Here, architecture becomes a codified discourse: every curve, void, and surface reads like a political sign.Save this picture!This language continues at Osaka 2025. Israel’s pavilion, inspired by the ecological resilience of deserts, presents a narrative of innovation and perseverance amid adversity—an architectural response to both climate challenges and regional geopolitics. Bahrain’s contribution, by Lina Ghotmeh Architecture, focuses on the adaptability of maritime cultures. South Korea’s high-tech, futuristic pavilion reinforces its position as a rising digital powerhouse.In some instances, however, absence speaks just as loudly. In previous editions, countries like North Korea and Syria have boycotted the Expo as a form of political protest. These silent gestures are part of the same strategic vocabulary, where presence, form, and even withdrawal shape the geopolitical stage set by architecture.Save this picture!Sustainability on DisplayAmid the global climate crisis, national pavilions have also become key arenas for environmental diplomacy. Sustainability—once a peripheral concern—is now central to the architectural narrative of Expos. It’s no longer only about meeting green standards, but about crafting a spatial language that embodies ecological responsibility. This shift also challenges the very notion of ephemerality: where temporariness once defined these structures, reuse, intelligent disassembly, and material reintegration now drive their conception.This ecological turn is particularly evident at Expo Osaka 2025. With the theme “Designing Future Society for Our Lives,” the event encourages models of regenerative, cooperative, and resilient living. Sweden’s and Germany’s pavilions are designed for a second life, to be repurposed as schools or community centers. The U.S. pavilion, designed by Trahan Architects, incorporates steel, fabric, and HVAC components repurposed from Tokyo 2020 Olympics structures—materials slated for further reuse across Japan. In this framework, the Expo becomes a laboratory of environmental geopolitics, where sustainability itself is a form of soft power.Save this picture!Technological Spectacle as a National StrategyIn contemporary Universal Exhibitions, technology is no longer displayed as an end in itself but has become a narrative and experiential medium. Immersive installations, sensory interfaces, and AI-driven storytelling transform pavilions into interactive ecosystems, where visitors are both spectators and agents. This shift signals a significant change: it is no longer just about showcasing innovation, but about embedding technology into the dramaturgy of space. Architecture, in this context, ceases to be a static backdrop and merges with experience design, dissolving the boundaries between the built and the digital. Moreover, the way each country orchestrates these elements reveals its ability to envision desirable futures—and to position itself as a protagonist in the global technological transformation.Save this picture!At Expo Osaka 2025, this race for technological affirmation takes clear shape in pavilions such as that of the United Arab Emirates, which offers an interactive journey through environments responsive to human presence, narrative artificial intelligence, and real-time sensors that react to visitors’ actions—demonstrating a sophisticated technical mastery with implications across multiple spheres. In a similar vein, the Uzbekistan Pavilion stands out with an exhibition focused on empowerment, highlighting the country’s openness to innovation and its commitment to preparing for the future.Yet this immersion presents a growing tension: how to balance technological spectacle with architectural integrity. In some cases, architecture risks being overshadowed by its digital overlay, losing spatial coherence. The most compelling pavilions are those that fuse form, function, and innovation into a seamless whole, where technology becomes not an add-on, but an intrinsic architectural language.Save this picture!Intercultural Collaborations: The True LegacyWhile Universal Exhibitions are organized around national representation, they have also emerged as vital platforms for cultural exchange. Increasingly, national pavilions are designed by multicultural teams, resulting in more nuanced, inclusive, and inventive expressions of identity, not as a fixed essence, but as something fluid and co-constructed.Save this picture!At Osaka 2025, this collaborative ethos is exemplified by pavilions such as Switzerland’s, designed by an international team, and Indonesia’s, which brings together local architects and foreign consultants. These collaborations offer more than design efficiency—they signal gestures of quiet diplomacy. In a climate of resurgent nationalism, such exchanges underscore that innovation thrives through openness and dialogue. Each pavilion becomes a space of mutual learning, expanding the very meaning of global belonging.Save this picture!Ultimately, the lasting value of Expos may not lie in reinforcing national brands, but in fostering encounters—shared spaces where ideas, technologies, and cultures converge to respond to urgent global challenges. As architect Manuel Herz, designer of the Swiss Pavilion, puts it: “In a moment of global tension, every possibility for us to physically meet in a shared space and celebrate something that can still be described as a cosmopolitan spirit needs to be valued and utilized.” Amid so many crises, pavilions remind us that architecture is more than shelter or style—it is a vessel for connection, a space for learning, and a rehearsal for futures we must build together.We invite you to check out ArchDaily's comprehensive coverage of the Expo Osaka 2025. Image gallerySee allShow less About this authorCamilla GhisleniAuthor••• Cite: Ghisleni, Camilla. "On Designing National Pavilions: Power and Identity at Universal Exhibitions" [Projetando Pavilhões Nacionais: Poder e Identidade nas Exposições Universais] 30 May 2025. ArchDaily. (Trans. Simões, Diogo) Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1030539/on-designing-national-pavilions-power-and-identity-at-universal-exhibitions&gt ISSN 0719-8884Save世界上最受欢迎的建筑网站现已推出你的母语版本!想浏览ArchDaily中国吗?是否 You've started following your first account!Did you know?You'll now receive updates based on what you follow! Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors, offices and users.Go to my stream

Artur Debat/Getty ImagesGenerative AI is an astonishing technology that's not only here to stay but promises to impact all sectors of work and business. It's already made unprecedented inroads into our daily lives.We all have a lot to learn about it. Spewing out a few prompts to ChatGPT may be easy, but before you can turn all these new capabilities into productive tools, you need to grow your skills. Fortunately, there is a wide range of classes that can help. Also: I let Google's Jules AI agent into my code repo and it did four hours of work in an instantMany companies and schools will try to sell you on their AI education programs. But as I'll show in the following compendium of great resources, you can learn a ton about AI and even get some certifications -- all for free.I have taken at least one class from each of the providers below, and they've all been pretty good. Obviously, some teachers are more compelling than others, but it's been a very helpful process. When working on AI projects for ZDNET, I've also sometimes gone back and taken other classes to shore up my knowledge and understanding.So, I recommend you take a quick spin through my short reviews, possibly dig deeper into the linked articles, and bookmark all of these, because they're valuable resources. Let's get started. Course selection: Huge, more than 1,500(!) AI coursesProgram pricing: Free trial, then $39.99/moLinkedIn Learning is one of the oldest online learning platforms, established in 1995 as Lynda.com. The company offers an enormous library of courses on a broad range of topics. There is a monthly fee, but many companies and schools have accounts for all their employees and students. Also: Want a top engineering job in 2025? Here are the skills you need, according to LinkedInLinkedIn Learning is probably the one online education site I've used more than any other -- starting back in the late 1990s. For years, I paid for a membership. Then, I got a membership as an alum of my grad school, which is how I use it now. With so many courses on so many topics, it's a great go-to learning resource.I took two classes on LinkedIn Learning. Here's my testimonial on one of them. I also took the two-hour Machine Learning with Python: Foundations course, which had a great instructor -- Prof. Frederick Nwanganga -- who was previously unknown to me. I have to hand it to LinkedIn. They choose people who know how to teach.I learned a lot in this course, especially about how to collect and prepare data for machine learning. I also was able to stretch my Python programming knowledge, specifically about how a machine learning model can be built in Python. In just two hours, I felt like I got a friendly and comprehensive brain dump.You can read more here: How LinkedIn's free AI course made me a better Python developer.Since there are so many AI courses, you're bound to find a helpful series. To get you started, I've picked three that might open some doors:ChatGPT Tips for the Help Desk: Learn to apply strategic planning, prompt engineering, and agent scripting, as well as other AI techniques, to AI operations.Machine Learning with Python: Foundations: Get step-by-step guidance on how to get started with machine learning via Python.Building Career Agility and Resilience in the Age of AI: Learn how to reimagine your career to adapt and find success in the age of AI. It's worth checking with your employer, agency, or school to see if you qualify for a free membership. Otherwise, you can pay by month or year (the by-year option is about half price).A company representative told ZDNET, "LinkedIn Learning has awarded nearly 500K professional certificates over the past 2.5 years. And, generative AI is one of the top topics represented." Show more View now at Linkedin Learning Course selection: 93Program pricing: Free during the Skills Fest, mostly free afterMicrosoft earned itself a Guinness World Record for its online training session called Skills Fest, which ran in April and May of 2025. This was a mixed combination of live and on-demand courses that anyone could take for free. The only cost was giving up your email account and registering with Microsoft.Also: You can get free AI skills training from Microsoft for a few more days, and I recommend you doHere are three courses I took. The Minecraft one was adorable, and I recommend it for a kids' intro to generative AI.AI Adventurers: A Minecraft Education presentation about the basics of generative AIBuilding applications with GitHub Copilot agent mode:AI for Organizational Leaders:Not all the courses are available on demand. After Skills Fest ends, you should be able to get to the course catalog by visiting this link. There's a Filters block on the left. Click On-Demand and then Apply Filters. You should see a bunch of courses still available for you to enjoy. Show more View now at Microsoft Skills Fest Course selection: Quite a lotProgram pricing: Many free, some on a paid subscriptionAmazon puts the demand in infrastructure on demand. Rather than building out their own infrastructure, many companies now rely on Amazon to provide scalable cloud infrastructure on demand. Nearly every aspect of IT technology is available for rent from Amazon's wide range of web services. This also includes a fairly large spectrum of individual AI services from computer vision to human-sounding speech to Bedrock, which "makes LLMs from Amazon and leading AI startups available through an API."Also: I spent a weekend with Amazon's free AI courses, and highly recommend you do tooAmazon also offers a wide range of training courses for all these services. Some of them are available for free, while others are available via a paid subscription. Here are three of the free courses you can try out:Foundations of Prompt Engineering: Learn about the principles, techniques, and best practices for designing effective prompts. Amazon Bedrock -- Getting Started: Learn about Amazon's service for building generative AI applications. Twitch Series: AWS Power Hour Introduction to Machine Learning for Developers: This is a recording of a Twitch-based learning chat series. It helps you learn the foundations of machine learning and get a practical perspective on what developers really need to know to get started with machine learning. In addition to classes located on Amazon's sites, the company also has quite a few classes on YouTube. I spent a fun and interesting weekend gobbling up the Generative AI Foundations series, which is an entire playlist of cool stuff to learn about AI.If you're using or even just considering AWS-based services, these courses are well worth your time. Show more View now at Amazon Course selection: Fairly broad IT and career buildingProgram pricing: FreeIBM, of course, is IBM. It led the AI pack for years with its Watson offerings. Its generative AI solution is called Watsonx. It focuses on enabling businesses to deploy and manage both traditional machine learning and generative AI, tailored to their unique needs.Also: Have 10 hours? IBM will train you in AI fundamentals - for freeThe company's SkillsBuild Learning classes offer a lot, providing basic training for a few key IT job descriptions -- including cybersecurity specialist, data analyst, user experience designer, and more. Right now, there's only one free AI credential, but it's one that excited a lot of our readers. That's the AI Fundamentals learning credential, which offers six courses. You need to be logged in to follow the link. But registration is easy and free. When you're done, you get an official credential, which you can list on LinkedIn. After I took the course, I did just that -- and, of course, I documented it for you.My favorite was the AI Ethics class, which is an hour and 45 minutes. Through real-world examples you'll learn about AI ethics, how they are implemented, and why AI ethics are so important in building trustworthy AI systems. Show more View now at IBM SkillsBuild Course selection: Nearly 90 AI-focused coursesProgram pricing: FreeDeepLearning is an education-focused company specializing in AI training. The company is constantly adding new courses that provide training, mostly for developers, in many different facets of AI technology. It partnered with OpenAI (the makers of ChatGPT) to create a number of pretty great courses.I took the ChatGPT Prompt Engineering for Developers course below, which was my first detailed introduction to the ChatGPT API. If you're interested in how coders can use LLMs like ChatGPT, this course is worth your time. Interspersing traditional code with detailed prompts that look more like comments than commands can help you understand these two very different styles of coding.Read more: I took this free AI course for developers in one weekend and highly recommend itThree courses I recommend you check out are:ChatGPT Prompt Engineering for Developers: Go beyond the chat box. Use API access to leverage LLMs into your own applications, and learn to build a custom chatbot.Evaluating and Debugging Generative AI Models Using Weights and Biases: Learn MLOps tools for managing, versioning, debugging, and experimenting in your ML workflow.Large Language Models with Semantic Search: Learn to use LLMs to enhance search and summarize results.With AI such a hot growth area, I am always amazed at the vast quantity of high-value courseware available for free. Definitely bookmark DeepLearning and keep checking back as it adds more courses. Show more View now at DeepLearning Google Generative AI Leader course Designed for business leaders Course selection: 5Program pricing: Free to learn, $99 for a certificateGoogle is offering a 7-8 hour program that teaches generative AI concepts to business leaders. This is a pretty comprehensive set of courses, all of which you can watch for free. They include: Gen AI: Beyond the chatbot: Foundational overview of generative AIGen AI: Unlock foundational concepts: Core AI concepts explained Gen AI: Navigate the landscape: AI ecosystem and infrastructureGen AI Apps: Transform your work: Business-focused AI applicationsGen AI Agents: Transform your organization: Strategy and adoption of AIThere is a small catch here: If you want the actual certificate, you need to pony up $99 and take a 90-minute exam. But if you're calling yourself a business leader and want the recognition, I figure $99 is probably a fair price to pay for anointing yourself (with a Google seal of approval) as a generative AI business leader.Also: Google offers AI certification for business leaders now - free trainings includedI took the foundational learning module, which was mostly text-based with interactive quizzes and involvement devices. It provided a good overview for someone just getting into the field, and I'm sure the remainder of the classes are equally interesting. Show more Course selection: Thousands of courses on AI aloneProgram pricing: Free trial, then $20/mo. Courses are also sold individually.Udemy is a courseware aggregator that publishes courses produced by individual trainers. That makes course style and quality a little inconsistent, but the rating system does help the more outstanding trainers rise to the top. Udemy has a free trial, which is why it's on this list.  I spent some time in Steve Ballinger's Complete ChatGPT Course For Work 2023 (Ethically)! and found it quite helpful. Clocking in at a little over two hours, it helps you understand how to balance ChatGPT with your work processes, while keeping in mind the ethics and issues that arise from using AI at work.Udemy offers a $20/month all-you-can-eat plan, and also sells individual courses. I honestly can't see why anyone would buy the courses individually, since most of them cost more for one course than the entire library does on a subscription.Also: I'm taking AI image courses for free on Udemy with this little trick - and you can tooHere are three courses you might want to check out:ChatGPT Masterclass: ChatGPT Guide for Beginners to Experts!: Gain a professional understanding of ChatGPT, and learn to produce high-quality content seamlessly and grow your earning potential.Discover, Validate & Launch New Business Ideas with ChatGPT: Learn how to generate startup ideas, evaluate their potential, and test them with customers in real life.Midjourney Mastery: Create Visually Stunning AI Art: Learn how to use Midjourney to create art.One of the more interesting aspects of Udemy is that you may find courses on very niche applications of AI, which might not suit vendors offering a more limited selection of mainstream courses. If you have a unique application need, don't hesitate to spend some extra time searching for just the right course. Show more View now at Udemy Course selection: One AI courseProgram pricing: FreeGoogle's Grow With Google program offers a fairly wide range of certificate programs, which are normally run through Coursera. Earning one of those certificates often requires paying a subscription fee. But we're specifically interested in one Grow With Google program, which is aimed at teachers, and does not involve any fees.The Generative AI for Educators class, developed in concert with MIT's Responsible AI for Social Empowerment and Education, is a 2-hour program designed to help teachers learn about generative AI, and how to use it in the classroom. Also: Google and MIT launch a free generative AI course for teachersGenerative AI is a big challenge in education because it can provide amazing support for students and teachers and, unfortunately, provide an easy way out for students to cheat on their assignments. So a course that can help teachers come up to speed on all the issues can be very powerful.The course provides a professional development certificate on completion, and this one is free. Show more View now at Google Why should you trust me? I've been working with AI for a very long time. I conducted one of the first-ever academic studies of AI ethics as a thesis project way back in the day. I created and launched an expert system development environment before the first link was connected on the World Wide Web. I did some of the first research of AI on RISC-based computing architectures (the chips in your phone) when RISC processors were the size of refrigerators. I also wrote and deployed the AI Editor, a generative AI tool that built news and content dynamically. That may not seem like much today, but I did it way back in 2010, when I had to create a generative AI engine from scratch. At that point, to work, it had to be distributed across five individual servers, each running one agent of a team of clustered AI agents.Also: Six skills you need to become an AI prompt engineerI also have a master's degree in education, focusing on learning and technology. My specialty is adult online learning, so this kind of stuff is right up my alley. When it comes to the courses and programs I'm spotlighting here, there's no way I could take all of them. But I have taken at least one course from each vendor, in order to test them out and report back to you. And, given my long background in the world of AI, this is a topic that has fascinated and enthralled me for most of my academic and professional career.With all that, I will say that the absolute high point was when I could get an AI to talk like a pirate. Show more Some companies are promoting micro-degrees. They seem expensive, but fast, but are they any good? Let's be clear: A micro-degree is not a degree. It's a set of courses with a marketing name attached. Degrees are granted by accredited academic institutions, accredited by regional accrediting bodies. I'm not saying you won't learn anything in those programs. But they're not degrees and they may cost more than just-as-good courses that don't have a fancy marketing name attached. Show more So, do certificates have any value? Yes, but how much value they have depends on your prospective employer's perspective. A certificate says you completed a course of study successfully. That might be something of value to you, as well. Also: Want a job in AI? Check out these new AWS AI certificationsYou can set a goal to learn a topic, and if you get a credential, you can be fairly confident you have achieved some learning. Accredited degrees, by contrast, are an assurance that you not only learned the material but did so according to some level of standard and rigor common to other accredited institutions.My advice: If you can get a certificate, and the price for getting it doesn't overly stretch your budget, go ahead and get it. It still is a resume point. But don't fork over bucks on the scale of a college tuition for some promise that you'll get qualified for a job faster and easier than, you know, going to college. Show more Other learning resources you'll probably loveYou can follow my day-to-day project updates on social media. Be sure to subscribe to my weekly update newsletter, and follow me on Twitter/X at @DavidGewirtz, on Facebook at Facebook.com/DavidGewirtz, on Instagram at Instagram.com/DavidGewirtz, and on YouTube at YouTube.com/DavidGewirtzTV.Want more stories about AI? Sign up for Innovation, our weekly newsletter.Artificial Intelligence

Save this picture!Pitaya House / Taller General + Jose María Sáez. Image © JAG StudioIn partnership with the European Cultural Center (ECC), ArchDaily has launched its inaugural exhibition as part of the seventh iteration of Time Space Existence, an architectural showcase occurring concurrently with the 19th Venice Architecture Biennale. Open from May 10 to November 23, 2025, in various locations throughout Venice, this edition centers on the theme of "Repair, Regenerate, and Reuse," promoting innovative and sustainable approaches in architecture. ArchDaily's contribution is located at Palazzo Mora, complementing other venues like Palazzo Bembo, Marinaressa Gardens, and Palazzo Michiel. Save this picture!Save this picture!Aligned with the broader theme of the event, the exhibition focuses on six emerging practices that were previously selected as part of ArchDaily's ongoing series "Best New Practices." Initiated in 2020, this annual award aims to recognize innovative professionals across various fields related to architecture, highlighting the diversity of approaches and innovations brought by creatives working at the intersection of architecture and other related domains. With over 85 teams and professionals selected to date, representing contributions from 32 countries, the initiative reflects a commitment to geographical diversity and the inclusion of regions often overshadowed in the global architectural discourse. By highlighting firms from areas such as Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia, the initiative brings attention to unique architectural expressions and solutions emerging from these contexts and contributing meaningfully to the global debate.Save this picture!The six selected practices illustrate this variety by addressing all phases of the design process, introducing innovations from the roots of material sourcing to the potential of rethinking urban rooftops. Estudio Flume in Brazil exemplifies how transforming organic waste into sustainable building materials supports regional development and cultural preservation. Willow Technologies in Ghana advocates for circular economy strategies by reusing agricultural by-products to repair ecosystems and foster biodiversity. Taller General in Ecuador promotes social inclusion through collaborative architecture that reuses existing structures and materials. Studio Zewde in the U.S. integrates ecological and cultural history into landscape design. Wiki World in China democratizes architecture by engaging communities and children in the creative process. Meanwhile, Roofscapes in France focuses on retrofitting existing urban surfaces to adapt cities to climate challenges, transforming rooftops into ecological and social assets. Related Article ArchDaily's 2024 Best New Practices Collectively, these studios showcase how thoughtful intervention at the local level can foster resilient, sustainable environments, making a significant impact through bottom-up strategies aligned with the "root to roof" philosophy.Identifying and Leveraging Local ResourcesEstudio Flume, Noelia Monteiro [São Paulo, Brazil]Save this picture!Estudio Flume, founded in 2015 by Noelia Monteiro and Christian Teshirogi, uniquely addresses the intersection of environmental sustainability and community empowerment by transforming organic waste from Amazonian açaí production into locally created construction materials. Focusing on discarded açaí seeds, the studio collaborates closely with local harvesters to develop particleboard panels that serve as sustainable, locally made materials for community-driven designs. This approach not only reduces waste and preserves traditional practices but also provides economic benefits to communities reliant on açaí harvesting. Through participatory workshops and tailored material research, Estudio Flume emphasizes culturally sensitive, environmentally responsible design solutions that support regional development.Save this picture!Their work exemplifies how innovative reuse of natural resources can foster community resilience and promote ecological balance within the Amazon. The transformation and repurposing of waste from a process essential to local communities demonstrate a grassroots approach for working within local contexts while also illustrating a particular interpretation of the themes of "Repair, Regenerate, and Reuse." The studio helps regenerate ecological balance within the Amazon, turning waste into a catalyst for both environmentally and socially responsible building practices.Restoring Balance with Circular Economy Practices Willow Technologies, Mae-ling Lokko [Accra, Ghana]Save this picture!Founded by Ghanaian-Filipino scientist and architect Mae-Ling Lokko in 2017, Willow Technologies conducts material research and pioneers circular and bio-based technologies that root material development into regional agricultural practices. Their initiatives take a holistic look at the broader needs of local communities, not only reusing discarded bio-based waste such as coconut husks into new building materials, but also employing these materials to provide essential services. One example is their collaboration with Global Mamas to employ moringa seed press cake—a by-product of oil extraction—as a water filtration system that treats toxic textile wastewater, providing safe water for municipal disposal.Save this picture!Furthermore, their focus on repairing and regenerating environmental systems is evident in their efforts to develop solutions that reduce waste, improve soil health, and restore ecological balance. Projects like transforming wastewater treatment by-products into usable masonry and creating stormwater management systems demonstrate how contamination risk is minimized and ecosystems are regenerated. By closing resource loops and promoting community involvement, Willow Technologies advocates for materials and practices that repair environmental damage, support biodiversity, and foster sustainable development.Enhancing Spaces through Collective WorkTaller General [Quito, Ecuador]Save this picture!Taller General, founded in 2017 in Quito, Ecuador, uniquely approaches architecture through the lens of collaborative work and social transformation, while not disregarding environmental responsibility. Acting within regions defined by informal urban growth, the studio's practice understands construction as a continuous process of learning through community engagement and resource reuse. Projects such as the Pitaya House feature laminated pine from certified forests, highlighting innovations in sustainable material sourcing and reducing ecological impact, while San Tola Cohousing rehabilitates and reuses existing structures to revitalize Quito's historic center.Save this picture!Taller General's initiatives extend beyond physical buildings—they promote social inclusion through programs like Femingas, which encourages women and diverse groups' participation in construction. Their work demonstrates how architecture can repair urban and social landscapes while regenerating local ecosystems and communities, fostering a more inclusive and sustainable future. By blending traditional practices with innovative materials and collaborative processes, Taller General exemplifies a holistic approach to addressing urgent social and environmental challenges through architecture.Grounded Connections to Land and CultureStudio Zewde [New York, United States]Save this picture!US-based Landscape architecture and urban design Studio Zewde integrates both ecological and cultural roots into their approach to landscape design. Their work begins with understanding the land's history, indigenous relationships, and natural systems, as seen in their Cuyahoga Valley project, which reconnects underrepresented communities with the site's ecological richness and cultural legacy. The studio's design interventions organize the environment with the aim of celebrating local histories and restoring habitat and human connections grounded in regional knowledge.Save this picture!Exemplifying a different aspect of the "Repair, Regenerate, and Reuse" theme, Studio Zewde actively repairs ecological and social systems through thoughtful interventions that foster community participation and cultural continuity. Their work not only regenerates natural habitats and urban environments but also reimagines the landscape as a platform for civic imagination and memory. It demonstrates the power of dynamic participation and the potential of landscape architecture to promote lasting social and environmental resilience.Harnessing Collective Intelligence in ArchitectureWiki World [Wuhan, China]Save this picture!Wiki World proposes a transformative approach to architecture and architecture education rooted in community involvement and sustainability. Based in Wuhan, China, the studio democratizes the building process by engaging local residents, especially children, in designing and constructing their environments. Their projects, such as the Wiki Tribe community cabins, showcase how participatory methods can foster a sense of ownership, cultural preservation, and environmental harmony. Using traditional craftsmanship and local materials, they minimize ecological impact while revitalizing regional techniques and providing economic opportunities for artisans.Save this picture!By starting from the community's needs, cultural context, and local resources, the studio acts not as the creator but as a facilitator in the process of design, creating spaces that reflect collective identity. Their use of modular, prefabricated materials allows for rapid deployment, adapting to rural landscapes and seasonal activities like harvest festivals. Through a process of repair, regeneration, and reuse, Wiki World creates resilient spaces that strengthen community bonds and nurture ecological awareness, highlighting the potential of participatory design to shape culturally rich environments worldwide.Urban Roofs for Climate AdaptationRoofscapes [Paris, France]Save this picture!Roofscapes exemplifies an integrated approach to urban climate adaptation by proposing solutions for the transformation of urban surfaces, especially roofs, into elements that can regulate the microclimate and create a more resilient and comfortable urban environment. The studio focuses on underutilized rooftops, particularly in European cities like Paris, thinking of solutions to adapt an urban infrastructure originally created to conserve heat into one that actively mitigates it, thus adapting to the changing climate conditions of contemporary times. The roofing system is reimagined to incorporate green technologies such as shaded areas, vegetation, and permeable surfaces. These strategies address heat accumulation and foster cooling from the ground up, starting with the building envelope—its "roof"—and extending to urban microclimates and ecological systems.Save this picture!The studio's work highlights the potential for retrofitting and reimagining existing structures rather than demolition and rebuild, prioritizing sustainability and cultural preservation. By repairing and reprogramming rooftops with green infrastructure, Roofscapes not only mitigates urban heat but also regenerates biodiversity, manages stormwater, and creates accessible outdoor spaces. This comprehensive approach demonstrates how adaptive reuse and nature-based solutions serve as vital tools in shaping resilient, climate-adapted cities, further showcasing the "root to roof" approach of repair, regeneration, and reuse.Save this picture!Credits: Curators: Christele Harrouk, Daniela Porto, and Romullo Baratto Editorial and Project Management: Romullo Baratto Visual Concept: Miwa Negoro and Victor Delaqua Diagram Concept: Miwa Negoro We invite you to check out ArchDaily's comprehensive coverage of the 2025 Venice Biennale.This article is part of the ArchDaily Topics: What Is Future Intelligence?, proudly presented by Gendo, an AI co-pilot for Architects. Our mission at Gendo is to help architects produce concept images 100X faster by focusing on the core of the design process. We have built a cutting-edge AI tool in collaboration with architects from some of the most renowned firms, such as Zaha Hadid, KPF, and David Chipperfield.Every month, we explore a topic in-depth through articles, interviews, news, and architecture projects. We invite you to learn more about our ArchDaily Topics. And, as always, at ArchDaily we welcome the contributions of our readers; if you want to submit an article or project, contact us.

The Cannes film festival isn’t typically associated with video games, but this year it’s playing host to an unusual collaboration. Lili is a co-production between the New York-based game studio iNK Stories (creator of 1979 Revolution: Black Friday, about a photojournalist in Iran) and the Royal Shakespeare Company, and it’s been turning heads with its eye-catching translocation of Macbeth to modern-day Iran.“It’s been such an incredible coup to have it as the first video game experience at Cannes,” says iNK Stories co-founder Vassiliki Khonsari. “People have gone in saying, I’m not familiar playing games, so I may just try it out for five minutes. […] But then once they’re in, there is this growing sense of empowerment that people from the film world are feeling.”The Cannes festival’s Immersive Competition began in 2024, although the lineup doesn’t usually feature traditional video games. “VR films and projection mapping is the thrust of it,” says iNK Stories’ other co-founder, Vassiliki’s husband Navid Khonsari. But Lili weaves live-action footage with video game mechanics in a similar way to a game such as Telling Lies or Immortality. Its lead, Zar Amir Ebrahimi, won best actress at Cannes three years ago.Lili focuses on the story of Lady Macbeth, here cast as the ambitious wife of an upwardly mobile officer in the Basij (a paramilitary volunteer militia within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard in Iran). As in the play, she plots a murder to secure her husband’s rise. “I think that the narrative of Lady Macbeth is that she’s manipulative, and that’s exactly what got us interested,” says Navid.“The social limitations based on her gender forced her to try to attain whatever leadership role she can,” he continues. “If she was a man, she would have been one of the greatest kings that country would have ever experienced, but because she was a woman she had to work within the structure that was there for her. And I think this is the same thing that we have with our Lili character: because of society, she’s limited to how high she can rise.”The player is cast as a member of the Hecate Web, a group of hackers who stand in for Macbeth’s witches, and you begin by accessing Lili’s phone and computer, watching her on CCTV cameras inside her home. The oppression of surveillance and censorship is a key theme. At one point Lili tries to access a YouTube makeup tutorial, only to be blocked by the state’s firewall. The fact that the player takes on an uncomfortable voyeuristic role is intentional. “We’re all part of the problem when it comes to surveillance, when it comes to looking at each other, spying on each other,” says Navid.‘She’s suffocating in the various layers of masks that she must put on’ … Zar Amir Ebrahimi in Lili. Photograph: Ellie SmithYou can bypass it to give her access, however, prompting a memorable scene in which she wraps her head in clingfilm before applying eyeliner and lipstick. “That is her ritual, applying makeup in a world that she cannot do that [in], without her husband knowing or anyone else knowing,” says Vassiliki. “We love it as this sort of allegory, that she’s suffocating in the world and in the various layers of masks that she must put on herself … our Lady Macbeth, our Lili, has an awakening, and all of those tools that we’ve used to hack her become tools that we actually give her to help her take the system down from within.”Lili is scheduled for release in late 2026, and the RSC’s Sarah Ellis says that it might well be turned into a play at some point in the future. Navid says there are already plans for a film version, using some of the same footage shot for the game – a reminder that the boundaries between the worlds of gaming, movies and theatre are increasingly porous. This is unlikely to be the last time the RSC is involved in games.“I was always interested in games, and the convergence of games and theatre in particular,” says Ellis, who originally approached iNK with the idea for this collaboration. “We’ve worked with some of the best Shakespeare scholars … Professor Emma Smith from Oxford has been an absolute keystone in the dramaturgy of this work,” says Ellis. Smith has said that if Shakespeare were alive today, he’d be writing for games, and Ellis agrees: “He was an innovator.”

In an era dominated by artificial intelligence and smartphones, one of the most overlooked engines of economic growth sits quietly at the heart of every neighborhood: the public library.  Gone are the days when libraries were sanctuaries reserved for only reading and research. Today, they are being reimagined as dynamic hubs for workforce development, creative sector support, and cultural exchange. Across the country, these reservoirs of knowledge are evolving into digital and physical beacons of community resilience.  Local access, global reach: A case study in artist empowerment  In Huntsville, where I serve as the city’s first music officer, we’ve partnered with our public library system to develop a multifunctional creative hub—with music at its core. A primary pillar of our collaboration is Blast Music, a digital streaming platform designed to showcase local talent. It’s a model other cities can and should replicate.  Through the Blast program, artists are paid, promoted, and added to a curated library collection—offering not only exposure, but bona fide industry credentials. Over 100 local artists are currently featured on the platform, and we will welcome up to 50 additional artists into the program annually.  The ripple effect of Blast is real. The free service empowers local listeners to discover homegrown talent while giving musicians tools to grow their fan base and attract industry attention. Perhaps most importantly, Blast provides emerging artists with resume-worthy recognition—essential for building sustainable careers in a tough industry.  But Blast isn’t just about digital reach—it’s embedded in Huntsville’s cultural DNA. From artist showcases like the Ladies of Blast event at the Orion Amphitheater, to community events like Hear to Be Seen (a portrait exhibition of Blast musicians), to stages designated exclusively for Blast artist performances at Camp to Amp, PorchFest, and more, Blast is bringing music into public spaces and cultivating civic pride. That’s the kind of community infrastructure that libraries are uniquely equipped to deliver.  There’s no such thing as too much visibility, and even artists with international acclaim see value in the platform. Huntsville native Kim Tibbs, a vocalist, songwriter, Alabama Music Hall of Fame honoree and UK chart-topper, submitted her album The Science of Completion Volume I to Blast—not only for more exposure, but to mentor and support the next generation of artists in her hometown.   Libraries as talent incubators  Huntsville is part of a broader national trend. In cities like Chicago, Nashville, and Austin, libraries are integrating creative labs, media production studios, and music education into their core services—functioning as public-sector incubators for the creative economy.  As technology continues to reshape traditional jobs, libraries are well-positioned to bridge skill gaps and fuel the rise of creative economies, including the vital but often overlooked non-performance roles in the music industry.  Huntsville is doubling down on this approach. We’re investing millions into programs that bring interactive music technology workshops to teens at the local library—focusing on hands-on training in production, recording, and audio engineering. With professional equipment, studio spaces, and expert instruction, we’re preparing the next generation for careers both onstage and behind the scenes.  Local industry is stepping up too. Hear Technologies, a global leader in sound and AV production, has been designing cutting-edge audio devices for years. They’re now part of a dynamic team collaborating with city leaders to help develop the library’s music maker space, nurture new talent and accelerate our region’s creative growth.  This matters now, more than ever  Libraries have always been entry points for education, employment, and exploration. But today, they’re more than just information access points—they are gateways to opportunity and launchpads for industries that define the future. By utilizing public space and collaborating with local talent, libraries can become platforms for economic mobility and cultural innovation. This investment isn’t a feel-good gesture. It’s a smart, strategic move for any city building a future that works—for everyone.  The playlist is simple: Invest in creative ecosystems, embed them in trusted community institutions like public libraries, and treat music as critical infrastructure.   Matt Mandrella is music officer for the City of Huntsville, Alabama.