June 16: Foundation Day of the Akal Takht (Sikhism) James Joyce 632 – The final king of the Sasanian Empire of Iran, Yazdegerd III, ascended the throne at the age of eight. 1819 – A strong earthquake in the Kutch district of Gujarat, India, caused a local zone of uplift that dammed the Nara River, which was later named the Allah Bund ('Dam of God'). 1904 – Irish author James Joyce (pictured) began a relationship with Nora Barnacle, and subsequently used the date to set the actions for his 1922 novel Ulysses, commemorated as Bloomsday. 1936 – A Junkers Ju 52 aircraft of Norwegian Air Lines crashed into a mountainside near Hyllestad, Norway, killing all seven people on board. 1997 – The English rock band Radiohead released their landmark third album OK Computer in the United Kingdom. John Cheke (b. 1514)Tomás Yepes (d. 1674)Helen Traubel (b. 1899)Tony Gwynn (d. 2014) More anniversaries: June 15 June 16 June 17 Archive By email List of days of the year About

These annual rankings were last updated on June 13, 2025. Want to see your firm on next year’s list? Continue reading for more on how you can improve your studio’s ranking. New Zealand is a one-of-a-kind island in the Pacific, famous for its indigenous Maori architecture. The country has managed to preserve an array of historical aboriginal ruins, such as marae (meeting grounds) and wharenui (meeting houses), despite its European colonization during the 19th century. Apart from the country’s ancient ruins, New Zealand is also home to several notable architectural landmarks like the famous Sky Tower piercing the Auckland skyline to the organic forms of the Te Papa Tongarewa Museum in Wellington. Renowned architects like Sir Ian Athfield, whose works blend modernist principles with a deep respect for the natural landscape, have left an indelible mark on the country’s architectural legacy. Being home to a stunning tropical landscape, New Zealand architects have developed eco-friendly residential designs that harness the power of renewable energy as well as visionary urban developments prioritizing livability and connectivity. A notable example is Turanga Central Library in Christchurch, a project that exceeds all eco-friendly design standards and benchmark emissions. Finally, concepts like passive design are increasingly becoming standard practice in architectural circles. With so many architecture firms to choose from, it’s challenging for clients to identify the industry leaders that will be an ideal fit for their project needs. Fortunately, Architizer is able to provide guidance on the top design firms in New Zealand based on more than a decade of data and industry knowledge. How are these architecture firms ranked? The following ranking has been created according to key statistics that demonstrate each firm’s level of architectural excellence. The following metrics have been accumulated to establish each architecture firm’s ranking, in order of priority: The number of A+Awards won (2013 to 2025) The number of A+Awards finalists (2013 to 2025) The number of projects selected as “Project of the Day” (2009 to 2025) The number of projects selected as “Featured Project” (2009 to 2025) The number of projects uploaded to Architizer (2009 to 2025) Each of these metrics is explained in more detail at the foot of this article. This ranking list will be updated annually, taking into account new achievements of New Zealand architecture firms throughout the year. Without further ado, here are the 30 best architecture firms in New Zealand: 30. CoLab Architecture © CoLab Architecture Ltd CoLab Architecture is a small practice of two directors, Tobin Smith and Blair Paterson, based in Christchurch New Zealand. Tobin is a creative designer with a wealth of experience in the building industry. Blair is a registered architect and graduate from the University of Auckland. “We like architecture to be visually powerful, intellectually elegant, and above all timeless. For us, timeless design is achieved through simplicity and strength of concept — in other words, a single idea executed beautifully with a dedication to the details. We strive to create architecture that is conscious of local climate (hunker down in the winter and open up in summer) and the environment (scale and relationship to other buildings and the natural environment).” Some of CoLab Architecture’s most prominent projects include: Urban Cottage, Christchurch, New Zealand The following statistics helped CoLab Architecture Ltd achieve 30th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in New Zealand: Featured Projects 1 Total Projects 1 29. Paul Whittaker © Paul Whittaker Paul Whittaker is an architecture firm based in New Zealand. Its work revolves around residential architecture. Some of Paul Whittaker’s most prominent projects include: Whittaker Cube, Kakanui, New Zealand The following statistics helped Paul Whittaker achieve 29th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in New Zealand: Featured Projects 1 Total Projects 1 28. Space Division © Simon Devitt Photographer Space Division is a boutique architectural practice that aims to positively impact the lives and environment of its clients and their communities by purposefully producing quality space. We believe our name reflects both the essence of what we do, but also how we strive to do it – succinctly and simply. Our design process is inclusive and client focused with their desires, physical constraints, budgets, time frames, compliance and construction processes all carefully considered and incorporated into our designs. Space Division has successfully applied this approach to a broad range of project types within the field of architecture, ranging from commercial developments, urban infrastructure to baches, playhouses and residential homes. Space Divisions team is committed to delivering a very personal and complete service to each of their clients, at each stage of the process. To assist in achieving this Space Division collaborates with a range of trusted technical specialists, based on the specific needs of our client. Which ensures we stay focussed, passionate agile and easily scalable. Some of Space Division’s most prominent projects include: Stradwick House, Auckland, New Zealand The following statistics helped Space Division achieve 28th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in New Zealand: Featured Projects 1 Total Projects 1 27. Sumich Chaplin Architects © Sumich Chaplin Architects Sumich Chaplin Architects undertake to provide creative, enduring architectural design based on a clear understanding and interpretation of a client’s brief. We work with an appreciation and respect for the surrounding landscape and environment. Some of Sumich Chaplin Architects’ most prominent projects include: Millbrook House, Arrowtown, New Zealand The following statistics helped Sumich Chaplin Architects achieve 27th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in New Zealand: Featured Projects 1 Total Projects 1 26. Daniel Marshall Architects © Simon Devitt Photographer Daniel Marshall Architects (DMA) is an Auckland based practice who are passionate about designing high quality and award winning New Zealand architecture. Our work has been published in periodicals and books internationally as well as numerous digital publications. Daniel leads a core team of four individually accomplished designers who skillfully collaborate to resolve architectural projects from their conception through to their occupation. DMA believe architecture is a ‘generalist’ profession which engages with all components of an architectural project; during conceptual design, documentation and construction phases.  We pride ourselves on being able to holistically engage with a complex of architectural issues to arrive at a design solution equally appropriate to its context (site and surrounds) and the unique ways our clients prefer to live. Some of Daniel Marshall Architects’ most prominent projects include: Lucerne, Auckland, New Zealand House in Herne Bay, Herne Bay, Auckland, New Zealand The following statistics helped Daniel Marshall Architects achieve 26th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in New Zealand: Featured Projects 1 Total Projects 2 25. AW Architects © AW Architects Creative studio based in Christchurch, New Zealand. AW-ARCH is committed to an inclusive culture where everyone is encouraged to share their perspectives – our partners, our colleagues and our clients. Our team comes from all over the globe, bringing with them a variety of experiences. We embrace the differences that shape people’s lives, including race, ethnicity, identity and ability. We come together around the drawing board, the monitor, and the lunch table, immersed in the free exchange of ideas and synthesizing the diverse viewpoints of creative people, which stimulates innovative design and makes our work possible. Mentorship is key to engagement within AW-ARCH, energizing our studio and feeding invention. It’s our social and professional responsibility and helps us develop and retain a dedicated team. This includes offering internships that introduce young people to our profession, as well as supporting opportunities for our people outside the office — teaching, volunteering and exploring. Some of AW Architects’ most prominent projects include: OCEAN VIEW TERRACE HOUSE, Christchurch, New Zealand 212 CASHEL STREET, Christchurch, New Zealand LAKE HOUSE, Queenstown, New Zealand RIVER HOUSE, Christchurch, New Zealand HE PUNA TAIMOANA, Christchurch, New Zealand The following statistics helped AW Architects achieve 25th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in New Zealand: A+Awards Finalist 1 Total Projects 9 24. Archimedia © Patrick Reynolds Archimedia is a New Zealand architecture practice with NZRAB and green star accredited staff, offering design services in the disciplines of architecture, interiors and ecology. Delivering architecture involves intervention in both natural eco-systems and the built environment — the context within which human beings live their lives. Archimedia uses the word “ecology” to extend the concept of sustainability to urban design and master planning and integrates this holistic strategy into every project. Archimedia prioritizes client project requirements, functionality, operational efficiency, feasibility and programme. Some of Archimedia’s most prominent projects include: Te Oro, Auckland, New Zealand Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki, Auckland, New Zealand Hekerua Bay Residence, New Zealand Eye Institute , Remuera, Auckland, New Zealand University of Auckland Business School, Auckland, New Zealand The following statistics helped Archimedia achieve 24th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in New Zealand: Featured Projects 1 Total Projects 25 23. MC Architecture Studio © MC Architecture Studio Ltd The studio’s work, questioning the boundary between art and architecture, provides engaging and innovative living space with the highest sustainability standard. Design solutions are tailored on client needs and site’s characteristics. Hence the final product will be unique and strongly related to the context and wider environment. On a specific-project basis, the studio, maintaining the leadership of the whole process, works in a network with local and international practices to achieve the best operational efficiency and local knowledge worldwide to accommodate the needs of a big scale project or specific requirements. Some of MC Architecture Studio’s most prominent projects include: Cass Bay House, Cass Bay, Lyttelton, New Zealand Ashburton Alteration, Ashburton, New Zealand restaurant/cafe, Ovindoli, Italy Private Residence, Christchurch, New Zealand Private Residence, Christchurch, New Zealand The following statistics helped MC Architecture Studio Ltd achieve 23rd place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in New Zealand: Featured Projects 2 Total Projects 19 22. Architecture van Brandenburg © Architecture van Brandenburg Van Brandenburg is a design focused studio for architecture, landscape architecture, urbanism, and product design with studios in Queenstown and Dunedin, New Zealand. With global reach Van Brandenburg conducts themselves internationally, where the team of architects, designers and innovators create organic built form, inspired by nature, and captured by curvilinear design. Some of Architecture van Brandenburg’s most prominent projects include: Marisfrolg Fashion Campus, Shenzhen, China The following statistics helped Architecture van Brandenburg achieve 22nd place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in New Zealand: A+Awards Winner 1 Featured Projects 1 Total Projects 1 21. MacKayCurtis © MacKayCurtis MacKay Curtis is a design led practice with a mission to create functional architecture of lasting beauty that enhances peoples lives. Some of MacKayCurtis’ most prominent projects include: Mawhitipana House, Auckland, New Zealand The following statistics helped MacKayCurtis achieve 21st place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in New Zealand: A+Awards Winner 1 Featured Projects 1 Total Projects 1 20. Gerrad Hall Architects © Gerrad Hall Architects We aspire to create houses that are a joyful sensory experience. Some of Gerrad Hall Architects’ most prominent projects include: Inland House, Mangawhai, New Zealand Herne Bay Villa Alteration, Auckland, New Zealand The following statistics helped Gerrad Hall Architects achieve 20th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in New Zealand: Featured Projects 2 Total Projects 2 19. Dorrington Atcheson Architects © Dorrington Atcheson Architects Dorrington Atcheson Architects was founded as Dorrington Architects & Associates was formed in 2010, resulting in a combined 20 years of experience in the New Zealand architectural market. We’re a boutique architecture firm working on a range of projects and budgets. We love our work, we pride ourselves on the work we do and we enjoy working with our clients to achieve a result that resolves their brief. The design process is a collaborative effort, working with the client, budget, site and brief, to find unique solutions that solve the project at hand. The style of our projects are determined by the site and the budget, with a leaning towards contemporary modernist design, utilizing a rich natural material palette, creating clean and tranquil spaces. Some of Dorrington Atcheson Architects’ most prominent projects include: Lynch Street Coopers Beach House, Coopers Beach, New Zealand Rutherford House, Tauranga Taupo, New Zealand Winsomere Cres Kathryn Wilson Shoebox, Auckland, New Zealand The following statistics helped Dorrington Atcheson Architects achieve 19th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in New Zealand: Featured Projects 2 Total Projects 14 18. Andrew Barre Lab © Marcela Grassi Andrew Barrie Lab is an architectural practice that undertakes a diverse range of projects. We make buildings, books, maps, classes, exhibitions and research. Some of Andrew Barre Lab’s most prominent projects include: Learning from Trees, Venice, Italy The following statistics helped Andrew Barre Lab achieve 18th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in New Zealand: A+Awards Finalist 2 Featured Projects 1 Total Projects 1 17. Warren and Mahoney © Simon Devitt Photographer Warren and Mahoney is an insight led multidisciplinary architectural practice with six locations functioning as a single office. Our clients and projects span New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific Rim. The practice has over 190 people, comprising of specialists working across the disciplines of architecture, workplace, masterplanning, urban design and sustainable design. We draw from the wider group for skills and experience on every project, regardless of the location. Some of Warren and Mahoney’s most prominent projects include: MIT Manukau & Transport Interchange, Auckland, New Zealand Carlaw Park Student Accommodation, Auckland, New Zealand Pt Resolution Footbridge, Auckland, New Zealand Isaac Theatre Royal, Christchurch, New Zealand University of Auckland Recreation and Wellness Centre, Auckland, New Zealand The following statistics helped Warren and Mahoney achieve 17th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in New Zealand: Featured Projects 2 Total Projects 5 16. South Architects Limited © South Architects Limited Led by Craig South, our friendly professional team is dedicated to crafting for uniqueness and producing carefully considered architecture that will endure and be loved. At South Architects, every project has a unique story. This story starts and ends with our clients, whose values and aspirations fundamentally empower and inspire our whole design process. Working together with our clients is pivotal to how we operate and we share a passion for innovation in design. We invite you to meet us and explore what we can do for you. As you will discover, our client focussed process is thorough, robust and responsive. We see architecture as the culmination of a journey with you. Some of South Architects Limited’s most prominent projects include: Three Gables, Christchurch, New Zealand Concrete Copper Home, Christchurch, New Zealand Driftwood Home, Christchurch, New Zealand Half Gable Townhouses, Christchurch, New Zealand Kilmore Street, Christchurch, New Zealand The following statistics helped South Architects Limited achieve 16th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in New Zealand: Featured Projects 3 Total Projects 6 15. Pac Studio © Pac Studio Pac Studio is an ideas-driven design office, committed to intellectual and artistic rigor and fueled by a strong commitment to realizing ideas in the world. We believe a thoughtful and inclusive approach to design, which puts people at the heart of any potential solution, is the key to compelling and positive architecture. Through our relationships with inter-related disciplines — furniture, art, landscape and academia — we can create a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. We are open to unconventional propositions. We are architects and designers with substantial experience delivering highly awarded architectural projects on multiple scales. Some of Pac Studio’s most prominent projects include: Space Invader, Auckland, New Zealand Split House, Auckland, New Zealand Yolk House, Auckland, New Zealand Wanaka Crib, Wanaka, New Zealand Pahi House, Pahi, New Zealand The following statistics helped Pac Studio achieve 15th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in New Zealand: Featured Projects 3 Total Projects 8 14. Jasmax © Jasmax Jasmax is one of New Zealand’s largest and longest established architecture and design practices. With over 250 staff nationwide, the practice has delivered some of the country’s most well known projects, from the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa to major infrastructure and masterplanning projects such as Auckland’s Britomart Station. From our four regional offices, the practice works with clients, stakeholders and communities across the following sectors: commercial, cultural and civic, education, infrastructure, health, hospitality, retail, residential, sports and recreation, and urban design. Environmentally sustainable design is part of everything we do, and we were proud to work with Ngāi Tūhoe to design one of New Zealand’s most advanced sustainable buildings, Te Uru Taumatua; which has been designed to the stringent criteria of the International Living Future Institute’s Living Building Challenge. Some of Jasmax’s most prominent projects include: The Surf Club at Muriwai, Muriwai, New Zealand Auckland University Mana Hauora Building, Auckland, New Zealand The Fonterra Centre, Auckland, New Zealand Auckland University of Technology Sir Paul Reeves Building , Auckland, New Zealand NZI Centre, Auckland, New Zealand The following statistics helped Jasmax achieve 14th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in New Zealand: Featured Projects 3 Total Projects 21 13. Condon Scott Architects © Condon Scott Architects Condon Scott Architects is a boutique, award-winning NZIA registered architectural practice based in Wānaka, New Zealand. Since inception 35 years ago, Condon Scott Architects has been involved in a wide range of high end residential and commercial architectural projects throughout Queenstown, Wānaka, the Central Otago region and further afield. Director Barry Condon (ANZIA) and principal Sarah Scott (FNZIA) – both registered architects – work alongside a highly skilled architectural team to deliver a full design and construction management service. This spans from initial concept design right through to tender management and interior design. Condon Scott Architect’s approach is to view each commission as a bespoke and site specific project, capitalizing on the unique environmental conditions and natural surroundings that are so often evident in this beautiful part of the world. Some of Condon Scott Architects’ most prominent projects include: Sugi House, Wānaka, New Zealand Wanaka Catholic Church, Wanaka, New Zealand Mount Iron Barn, Wanaka, New Zealand Bendigo Terrace House, New Zealand Bargour Residence, Wanaka, New Zealand The following statistics helped Condon Scott Architects achieve 13th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in New Zealand: Featured Projects 4 Total Projects 17 12. Glamuzina Paterson Architects © Glamuzina Paterson Architects Glamuzina Architects is an Auckland based practice established in 2014. We strive to produce architecture that is crafted, contextual and clever. Rather than seeking a particular outcome we value a design process that is rigorous and collaborative. When designing we look to the context of a project beyond just its immediate physical location to the social, political, historical and economic conditions of place. This results in architecture that is uniquely tailored to the context it sits within. We work on many different types of projects across a range of scales; from small interiors to large public buildings. Regardless of a project’s budget we always prefer to work smart, using a creative mix of materials, light and volume in preference to elaborate finishes or complex detailing. Some of Glamuzina Paterson Architects’ most prominent projects include: Lake Hawea Courtyard House, Otago, New Zealand Blackpool House, Auckland, New Zealand Brick Bay House, Auckland, New Zealand Giraffe House, Auckland, New Zealand Giraffe House, Auckland, New Zealand The following statistics helped Glamuzina Paterson Architects achieve 12th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in New Zealand: Featured Projects 4 Total Projects 5 11. Cheshire Architects © Patrick Reynolds Cheshire Architects does special projects, irrespective of discipline, scale or type. The firm moves fluidly from luxury retreat to city master plan to basement cocktail den, shaping every aspect of an environment in pursuit of the extraordinary. Some of Cheshire Architects’ most prominent projects include: Rore kahu, Te Tii, New Zealand Eyrie, New Zealand Milse, Takanini, New Zealand The following statistics helped Cheshire Architects achieve 11th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in New Zealand: Featured Projects 3 Total Projects 3 10. Patterson Associates © Patterson Associates Pattersons Associates Architects began its creative story with architect Andrew Patterson in 1986 whose early work on New Zealand’s unspoiled coasts, explores relationships between people and landscape to create a sense of belonging. The architecture studio started based on a very simple idea; if a building can feel like it naturally ‘belongs,’ or fits logically in a place, to an environment, a time and culture, then the people that inhabit the building will likely feel a sense of belonging there as well. This methodology connects theories of beauty, confidence, economy and comfort. In 2004 Davor Popadich and Andrew Mitchell joined the firm as directors, taking it to another level of creative exploration and helping it grow into an architecture studio with an international reputation. Some of Patterson Associates’ most prominent projects include: Seascape Retreat, Canterbury, New Zealand The Len Lye Centre, New Plymouth, New Zealand Country House in the City, Auckland, New Zealand Scrubby Bay House, Canterbury, New Zealand Parihoa House, Auckland, New Zealand The following statistics helped Patterson Associates achieve 10th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in New Zealand: Featured Projects 5 Total Projects 5 9. Team Green Architects © Team Green Architects Established in 2013 by Sian Taylor and Mark Read, Team Green Architects is a young committed practice focused on designing energy efficient buildings. Some of Team Green Architects’ most prominent projects include: Dalefield Guest House, Queenstown, New Zealand Olive Grove House, Cromwell, New Zealand Hawthorn House, Queenstown, New Zealand Frankton House, Queenstown, New Zealand Contemporary Sleepout, Arthurs Point, New Zealand The following statistics helped Team Green Architects achieve 9th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in New Zealand: Featured Projects 5 Total Projects 7 8. Creative Arch © Creative Arch Creative Arch is an award-winning, multi-disciplined architectural design practice, founded in 1998 by architectural designer and director Mark McLeay. The range of work at Creative Arch is as diverse as our clients, encompassing residential homes, alterations and renovations, coastal developments, sub-division developments, to commercial projects. The team at Creative Arch are an enthusiastic group of talented professional architects and architectural designers, with a depth of experience, from a range of different backgrounds and cultures. Creative Arch is a client-focused firm committed to providing excellence in service, culture and project outcomes. Some of Creative Arch’s most prominent projects include: Rothesay Bay House, North Shore, New Zealand Best Pacific Institute of Education, Auckland, New Zealand Sumar Holiday Home, Whangapoua, New Zealand Cook Holiday Home, Omaha, New Zealand Arkles Bay Residence, Whangaparaoa, New Zealand The following statistics helped Creative Arch achieve 8th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in New Zealand: Featured Projects 5 Total Projects 18 7. Crosson Architects © Crosson Architects At Crosson Architects we are constantly striving to understand what is motivating the world around us. Some of Crosson Architects’ most prominent projects include: Hut on Sleds, Whangapoua, New Zealand Te Pae North Piha Surf Lifesaving Tower, Auckland, New Zealand Coromandel Bach, Coromandel, New Zealand Tutukaka House, Tutukaka, New Zealand St Heliers House, Saint Heliers, Auckland, New Zealand The following statistics helped Crosson Architects achieve 7th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in New Zealand: A+Awards Winner 1 A+Awards Finalist 2 Featured Projects 4 Total Projects 6 6. Bossley Architects © Bossley Architects Bossley Architects is an architectural and interior design practice with the express purpose of providing intense input into a deliberately limited number of projects. The practice is based on the belief that innovative yet practical design is essential for the production of good buildings, and that the best buildings spring from an open and enthusiastic collaboration between architect, client and consultants. We have designed a wide range of projects including commercial, institutional and residential, and have amassed special expertise in the field of art galleries and museums, residential and the restaurant/entertainment sector. Whilst being very much design focused, the practice has an overriding interest in the pragmatics and feasibility of construction. Some of Bossley Architects’ most prominent projects include: Ngā Hau Māngere -Old Māngere Bridge Replacement, Auckland, New Zealand Arruba, Waiuku, New Zealand Brown Vujcich House Voyager NZ Maritime Museum Omana Luxury Villas, Auckland, New Zealand The following statistics helped Bossley Architects achieve 6th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in New Zealand: Featured Projects 6 Total Projects 21 5. Smith Architects © Simon Devitt Photographer Smith Architects is an award-winning international architectural practice creating beautiful human spaces that are unique, innovative and sustainable through creativity, refinement and care. Phil and Tiffany Smith established the practice in 2007. We have spent more than two decades striving to understand what makes some buildings more attractive than others, in the anticipation that it can help us design better buildings. Some of Smith Architects’ most prominent projects include: Kakapo Creek Children’s Garden, Mairangi Bay, Auckland, New Zealand New Shoots Children’s Centre, Kerikeri, Kerikeri, New Zealand Gaia (Earth) Forest Preschool, Manurewa, Auckland, New Zealand Chrysalis Childcare, Auckland, New Zealand House of Wonder, Cambridge, Cambridge, New Zealand The following statistics helped Smith Architects achieve 5th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in New Zealand: A+Awards Finalist 1 Featured Projects 6 Total Projects 23 4. Monk Mackenzie © Monk Mackenzie Monk Mackenzie is an architecture and design firm based in New Zealand. Monk Mackenzie’s design portfolio includes a variety of architectural projects, such as transport and infrastructure, hospitality and sport, residential, cultural and more. Some of Monk Mackenzie’s most prominent projects include: X HOUSE, Queenstown, New Zealand TURANGANUI BRIDGE, Gisborne, New Zealand VIVEKANANDA BRIDGE EDITION Canada Street Bridge, Auckland, New Zealand The following statistics helped Monk Mackenzie achieve 4th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in New Zealand: A+Awards Winner 2 A+Awards Finalist 4 Featured Projects 4 Total Projects 17 3. Irving Smith Architects © Irving Smith Architects Irving Smith Jack (ISJ) has been developed as a niche architecture practice based in Nelson, but working in a variety of sensitive environments and contexts throughout New Zealand. ISJ demonstrates an ongoing commitment to innovative, sustainable and researched based design , backed up by national and international award and publication recognition, ongoing research with both the Universities of Canterbury and Auckland, and regular invitations to lecture on their work. Timber Awards include NZ’s highest residential, commercial and engineering timber designs. Key experience, ongoing research and work includes developing structural timber design solutions in the aftermath of the Canterbury earthquakes. Current projects include cultural, urban, civic and residential projects spread throughout New Zealand, and recently in the United States and France. Some of Irving Smith Architects’ most prominent projects include: SCION Innovation Hub – Te Whare Nui o Tuteata, Rotorua, New Zealand Mountain Range House, Brightwater, New Zealand Alexandra Tent House, Wellington, New Zealand Te Koputu a te Whanga a Toi : Whakatane Library & Exhibition Centre, Whakatane, New Zealand offSET Shed House, Gisborne, New Zealand The following statistics helped Irving Smith Architects achieve 3rd place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in New Zealand: A+Awards Winner 2 A+Awards Finalist 1 Featured Projects 6 Total Projects 13 2. Fearon Hay Architects © Fearon Hay Architects Fearon Hay is a design-led studio undertaking a broad range of projects in diverse environments, the firm is engaged in projects on sites around the world. Tim Hay and Jeff Fearon founded the practice in 1993 as a way to enable their combined involvement in the design and delivery of each project. Together, they lead an international team of experienced professionals. The studio approached every project with a commitment to design excellence, a thoughtful consideration of site and place, and an inventive sense of creativity. Fearon Hay enjoys responding to a range of briefs: Commercial projects for office and workplace, complex heritage environments, public work within the urban realm or wider landscape, private dwellings and detailed bespoke work for hospitality and interior environments. Some of Fearon Hay Architects’ most prominent projects include: Bishop Hill The Camp, Tawharanui Peninsula, New Zealand Matagouri, Queenstown, New Zealand Alpine Terrace House, Queenstown, New Zealand Island Retreat, Auckland, New Zealand Bishop Selwyn Chapel, Auckland, New Zealand The following statistics helped Fearon Hay Architects achieve 2nd place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in New Zealand: A+Awards Winner 2 A+Awards Finalist 3 Featured Projects 8 Total Projects 17 1. RTA Studio © RTA Studio Richard Naish founded RTA Studio in 1999 after a successful career with top practices in London and Auckland. We are a practice that focuses on delivering exceptional design with a considered and personal service. Our work aims to make a lasting contribution to the urban and natural context by challenging, provoking and delighting. Our studio is constantly working within the realms of public, commercial and urban design as well as sensitive residential projects. We are committed to a sustainable built environment and are at the forefront developing carbon neutral buildings. RTA Studio has received more than 100 New Zealand and international awards, including Home of The Year, a World Architecture Festival category win and the New Zealand Architecture Medal. Some of RTA Studio’s most prominent projects include: SCION Innovation Hub – Te Whare Nui o Tuteata, Rotorua, New Zealand OBJECTSPACE, Auckland, New Zealand C3 House, New Zealand Freemans Bay School, Freemans Bay, Auckland, New Zealand ARROWTOWN HOUSE, Arrowtown, New Zealand Featured image: E-Type House by RTA Studio, Auckland, New Zealand The following statistics helped RTA Studio achieve 1st place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in New Zealand: A+Awards Winner 2 A+Awards Finalist 6 Featured Projects 6 Total Projects 16 Why Should I Trust Architizer’s Ranking? With more than 30,000 architecture firms and over 130,000 projects within its database, Architizer is proud to host the world’s largest online community of architects and building product manufacturers. Its celebrated A+Awards program is also the largest celebration of architecture and building products, with more than 400 jurors and hundreds of thousands of public votes helping to recognize the world’s best architecture each year. Architizer also powers firm directories for a number of AIA (American Institute of Architects) Chapters nationwide, including the official directory of architecture firms for AIA New York. An example of a project page on Architizer with Project Award Badges highlighted A Guide to Project Awards The blue “+” badge denotes that a project has won a prestigious A+Award as described above. Hovering over the badge reveals details of the award, including award category, year, and whether the project won the jury or popular choice award. The orange Project of the Day and yellow Featured Project badges are awarded by Architizer’s Editorial team, and are selected based on a number of factors. The following factors increase a project’s likelihood of being featured or awarded Project of the Day status: Project completed within the last 3 years A well written, concise project description of at least 3 paragraphs Architectural design with a high level of both functional and aesthetic value High quality, in focus photographs At least 8 photographs of both the interior and exterior of the building Inclusion of architectural drawings and renderings Inclusion of construction photographs There are 7 Projects of the Day each week and a further 31 Featured Projects. Each Project of the Day is published on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram Stories, while each Featured Project is published on Facebook. Each Project of the Day also features in Architizer’s Weekly Projects Newsletter and shared with 170,000 subscribers.     We’re constantly look for the world’s best architects to join our community. If you would like to understand more about this ranking list and learn how your firm can achieve a presence on it, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at editorial@architizer.com. The post 30 Best Architecture and Design Firms in New Zealand appeared first on Journal.

The tower takes shape as two sets of overlapping cylinders, clad with prefabricated panels intended to evoke clouds. PROJECT The Butterfly + First Baptist Church Complex ARCHITECT Revery Architecture PHOTOS Ema Peter When you fly into Vancouver, the most prominent structure in the city’s forest of glass skyscrapers is now a 57-storey edifice known as the Butterfly. Designed by Revery Architecture, the luxury residential tower is the latest in a string of high-rises that pop out of the city’s backdrop of generic window-wall façades.  The Butterfly’s striking form evolved over many years, beginning with studies dating back to 2012. Revery principal Venelin Kokalov imagined several options, most of them suggesting a distinct pair of architectural forms in dialogue. Renderings and models of the early concepts relay a wealth of imagination that is sorely missing from much of the city’s contemporary architecture, as land economics, zoning issues, and the profit motive often compel a default into generic glass-and-steel towers. The earliest concepts look starkly different—some evoke the Ginger and Fred building in Prague (Frank Gehry with Vlado Milunić, 1996); others the Absolute Towers in Mississauga (MAD with Burka Varacalli Architects, 2009). But one consistent theme runs through the design evolution: a sense of two Rilkean solitudes, touching.  On each floor, semi-private sky gardens offer an outdoor place for residents to socialize. Client feedback, engineering studies, and simple pragmatics led to the final form: two sets of overlapping cylinders linked by a common breezeway and flanked by a rental apartment on one side and a restored church doubling as a community centre on the other. The contours of the floorplan are visually organic: evocative of human cells dividing. The roundness of the main massing is complemented by curvilinear balustrades that smoothly transform into the outer walls of each unit. It’s an eye-catching counterpoint to the orthogonality of the city’s built landscape. The two adjacent buildings—built, restored, and expanded as part of a density bonus arrangement with the city—help integrate this gargantuan structure with the lower-rise neighbourhood around it.  The Butterfly is a high-end, high-priced residential tower—one of the few typologies in which clients and communities are now willing to invest big money and resources in creative, visually astonishing architecture. That leads to a fundamental question: what is the public purpose of a luxury condo tower?  A public galleria joins the renovated First Baptist Church to the new building. Serving as a welcoming atrium, it allows for community access to the expanded church, including its daycare, full gymnasium, multi-purpose rooms, overnight emergency shelter, and community dining hall equipped with a commercial kitchen. Whatever one feels about the widening divide between the haves and have-nots in our big cities, this building—like its ilk—does serve several important public purposes. The most direct and quantifiable benefits are the two flanking buildings, also designed by Revery and part of the larger project. The seven-storey rental apartment provides a modest contribution to the city’s dearth of mid-priced housing. The superbly restored and seismically upgraded First Baptist Church has expanded into the area between the new tower and original church, and now offers the public a wider array of programming including a gymnasium, childcare facility, and areas for emergency shelter and counselling services for individuals in need.  The church’s Pinder Hall has been reimagined as a venue for church and community events including concerts, weddings, and cultural programming. The Butterfly’s character is largely defined by undulating precast concrete panels that wrap around the building. The architects describe the swooping lines as being inspired by clouds, but for this writer, the Butterfly evokes a 57-layer frosted cake towering above the city’s boxy skyline. Kokalov winces when he hears that impression, but it’s meant as a sincere compliment. Clouds are not universally welcome, but who doesn’t like cake?  Kokalov argues that its experiential quality is the building’s greatest distinction—most notably, the incorporation of an “outdoors”—not a balcony or deck, but an actual outdoor pathway—at all residential levels. For years the lead form-maker at Bing Thom Architects, Kokalov was responsible for much of the curvilinearity in the firm’s later works, including the 2019 Xiqu Centre opera house in Hong Kong. It’s easy to assume that his forte and focus would be pure aesthetic delight, but he avers that every sinuous curve has a practical rationale.  The breezeways provide residents with outdoor entries to their units—an unusual attribute for high-rise towers—and contribute to natural cooling, ventilation, and daylight in the suites. Defying the local tower-on-podium formula, the building’s façade falls almost straight to the ground. At street level, the building is indented with huge parabolic concavities. It’s an abrupt way to meet the street, but the fall is visually “broken” by a publicly accessible courtyard.   The tower’s layered, undulating volume is echoed in a soaring residential lobby, which includes developer Westbank’s signature—a bespoke Fazioli grand piano designed by the building’s architect. After passing through this courtyard, you enter the building via the usual indoor luxe foyer—complete with developer Westbank’s signature, an over-the-top hand-built grand piano designed by the architect. In this case, the piano’s baroquely sculpted legs are right in keeping with the architecture. But after taking the elevator up to the designated floor, you step out into what is technically “outdoors” and walk to your front door in a brief but bracing open-air transition.  The main entrance of every unit is accessed via a breezeway that runs from one side of the building to another. Unglazed and open to the outside, each breezeway is marked at one end with what the architects call (a little ambitiously) a “sky garden,” in most cases consisting of a sapling that will grow into a leafy tree in due course, God and strata maintenance willing. This incorporation of nature and fresh air transforms the condominium units into something akin to townhouses, albeit stacked exceptionally high.  The suites feature a custom counter with a sculptural folded form. Inside each unit, the space can be expanded and contracted and reconfigured visually—not literally—by the fact that the interior wall of the secondary bedroom is completely transparent, floor to ceiling. It’s unusual, and slightly unnerving, but undeniably exciting for any occupants who wish to maximize their views to the mountains and sea. The curved glass wall transforms the room into a private enclave by means of a curtain, futuristically activated by remote control. The visual delight of swooping curves is only tempered when it’s wholly impractical—the offender here being a massive built-in counter that serves to both anchor and divide the living-kitchen areas. It reads as a long, pliable slab that is “folded” into the middle in such a way that the counter itself transforms into its own horseshoe-shaped base, creating a narrow crevice in the middle of the countertop. I marvel at its beauty and uniqueness; I weep for whoever is assigned to clean out the crumbs and other culinary flotsam that will fall into that crevice.  A structure made of high-performance modular precast concrete structural ribs arcs over a swimming pool that bridges between the building’s main amenity space and the podium roof. The building’s high-priced architecture may well bring more to the table than density-bonus amenities. On a broader scale, these luxe dwellings may be just what is needed to help lure the affluent from their mansions. As wealthy residents and investors continue to seek out land-hogging detached homes, the Butterfly offers an alternate concept that maintains the psychological benefit of a dedicated outside entrance and an outrageously flexible interior space. Further over-the-top amenities add to the appeal. Prominent among these is a supremely gorgeous residents-only swimming pool, housed within ribs of concrete columns that curve and dovetail into beams.   The ultimate public purpose for the architecturally spectacular condo tower: its role as public art in the city. The units in any of these buildings are the private side of architecture’s Janus face, but its presence in the skyline and on the street is highly public. By contributing a newly striking visual ballast, the Butterfly has served its purpose as one of the age-old Seven Arts: defining a location, a community, and an era. Adele Weder is a contributing editor to Canadian Architect. Screenshot CLIENT Westbank Corporation, First Baptist Church | ARCHITECT TEAM Venelin Kokalov (MRAIC), Bing Thom (FRAIC, deceased 2016), Amirali Javidan, Nicole Hu, Shinobu Homma MRAIC, Bibi Fehr, Culum Osborne, Dustin Yee, Cody Loeffen, Kailey O’Farrell, Mark Melnichuk, Andrea Flynn, Jennifer Zhang, Daniel Gasser, Zhuoli Yang, Lisa Potopsingh | STRUCTURAL Glotman Simpson | MECHANICAL Introba | ELECTRICAL Nemetz & Associates, Inc. | LANDSCAPE SWA Group (Design) w/ Cornelia Oberlander & G|ALA – Gauthier & Associates Landscape Architecture, Inc. (Landscape Architect of Record) | INTERIORS Revery Architecture | CONTRACTOR Icon West Construction (new construction); The Haebler Group (heritage) | LIGHTING ARUP (Design) & Nemetz (Engineer of Record) | SUSTAINABILITY & ENERGY MODELlING Introba | BUILDING ENVELOPE RDH Building Science, Inc. | HERITAGE CONSERVATION Donald Luxton & Associates, Inc.| ACOUSTICS BKL Consultants Ltd. | TRAFFIC Bunt & Associates, Inc. | POOL Rockingham Pool Consulting, Inc. | FOUNTAIN Vincent Helton & Associates | WIND Gradient Wind Engineering, Inc. | WASTE CONSULTANT Target Zero Waste Consulting, Inc. | AREA 56,206 M2 | BUDGET Withheld | COMPLETION Spring 2025 ENERGY USE INTENSITY (PROJECTED) 106 kWh/m2/year | WATER USE INTENSITY (PROJECTED) 0.72 m3/m2/year As appeared in the June 2025 issue of Canadian Architect magazine The post The Butterfly takes flight: The Butterfly, Vancouver, BC appeared first on Canadian Architect.

Xando Member Oct 28, 2017 38,006 With the launch of Call of Duty Season 4, Activision quietly put adverts inside loadouts for Black Ops 6 and Warzone, sparking a backlash in the process. Activision already has a bad reputation for the aggressive monetization of the premium Black Ops 6 and its free-to-play battle royale Warzone, but this latest move may have tipped some players over the edge. Following the launch of Season 4, adverts for weapon bundles can be seen in the build and weapon menus. These are unavoidable for players as they tinker with their loadouts. Elsewhere, Activision has added bundle and Battle Pass advertisements to the Events tab, another controversial change that has caused complaints. Here's a snippet of the response, sourced from across Call of Duty subreddits, Discords, and social media: I wouldn't even be mad if this was just in Warzone, a free game, but putting it in a pay-to-play premium title, with how expensive they're getting? F**k off. This game is still 80€ I get that they make most of their money from the store, but I feel like the bare minimum for a premium product would be to not have ads clogging the menus right? At this point it really feels like opening up a mobile game with how much more you see an option to buy anything in this game. Anyone who wanted this bundle would've checked the store and bought it. Putting it here isn't gonna make more people buy it, its justannoying. Just wait until they add pop up ads for bundles while you are playing the game. Click to expand... Click to shrink... More including some examples here: Activision Quietly Force Adverts into Call of Duty Black Ops 6 and Warzone Loadouts and Players Absolutely Hate It: 'At This Point It Really Feels Like Opening Up a Mobile Game' - IGN With the launch of Call of Duty Season 4, Activision quietly put adverts inside loadouts for Black Ops 6 and Warzone, sparking a backlash in the process. www.ign.com   Gaspode Member Jan 17, 2025 152 gross   MarcosBrXD Member Aug 28, 2024 1,779 Crazy one of the biggest IPs doing this   Wallace Member Oct 25, 2017 28,182 Midwest What a shit franchise.   Shirkelton Member Aug 20, 2020 6,976 Fuck that.   MinerArcaniner Uncle Works at Nintendo Member Oct 29, 2017 7,473 The revenue line has to keep going up. There's no such thing as "enough" with corporations.   Kinthey Avenger Oct 27, 2017 25,551 Poor Cod really needs the money to keep the lights on   skullmuffins Member Oct 25, 2017 7,615 oh, ads for in-game microtransactions. guess i'm not surprised. that's where all the money is these days.   Remark Member Oct 27, 2017 4,184 Yeah the ads are so bad this season. When you boot up the game in CoD HQ, theres a big ass button for Blackcell and BO6 and WZ are all the way on the right side of the menu. It's so annoying. Huge disrespect to the people who actually bought the game. I wish CoD HQ would go away, it doesn't even actually help with anything and actually hampers the UX experience in a lot of ways especially on PC.  Last edited: Today at 10:14 AM LiquidDom Avenger Oct 27, 2017 2,730 Wait it's just ads for the in-game purchases? Not outside ads that have nothing to do with the game? I don't have that much of an issue with it, still shit though.  Richietto One Winged Slayer Member Oct 25, 2017 26,147 North Carolina Lmao what a joke   Loxley Prophet of Truth Member Oct 25, 2017 10,702 We're inching closer and closer to this scene from Ready Player One. "We estimate we can sell up to 80% of an individual's visual field before inducing seizures" View: https://youtu.be/KpPE85Jogjw?si=Di0mlmiF27KidwWs  Fabs Member Aug 22, 2019 2,780 This doesn't seem that different than like Fortnite advertising the shop updates in the main menu. It's fairly harmless.   Noisepurge Corrupted by Vengeance Member Oct 25, 2017 9,775 Fabs said: This doesn't seem that different than like Fortnite advertising the shop updates in the main menu. It's fairly harmless. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Fortnite doesn't cost 80$  OP OP Xando Member Oct 28, 2017 38,006 LiquidDom said: Wait it's just ads for the in-game purchases? Not outside ads that have nothing to do with the game? I don't have that much of an issue with it, still shit though. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Considering half of the in-game purchases are basically ads for some brands or characters that have nothing to do with COD it's basically the same thing   Remark Member Oct 27, 2017 4,184 Noisepurge said: Fortnite doesn't cost 80$ Click to expand... Click to shrink... To be fair, Warzone is F2P but that shit should be in there. Whether you buy the game or not, you have to go through CoD HQ which is so annoying.   Doskoi Panda One Winged Slayer Member Oct 27, 2017 17,314 CoD is so fucking trashy lmao. I will never understand how it remains so popular. It just gets worse year over yesr, even Warzone.   SunBroDave "This guy are sick" Member Oct 25, 2017 15,148 How else is COD supposed to make money   Decarb Member Oct 27, 2017 9,264 Fabs said: This doesn't seem that different than like Fortnite advertising the shop updates in the main menu. It's fairly harmless. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Not only is it in a full priced mode, but its also in the weapon customization menu where you least expect it.   Agni Kai Member Nov 2, 2017 10,037 Only Battlefield 6 can save us now. Hold the line, my friends. Hold the line.   jroc74 Member Oct 27, 2017 34,177 Yeah I dont think it needs to be this aggressive. LiquidDom said: Wait it's just ads for the in-game purchases? Not outside ads that have nothing to do with the game? I don't have that much of an issue with it, still shit though. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Fabs said: This doesn't seem that different than like Fortnite advertising the shop updates in the main menu. It's fairly harmless. Click to expand... Click to shrink... While trying to play the game tho? "Following the launch of Season 4, adverts for weapon bundles can be seen in the build and weapon menus. These are unavoidable for players as they tinker with their loadouts." Imagine getting hit with Shark Card ads while browsing the in game stores in GTA Online....please Rockstar dont do this. Noisepurge said: Fortnite doesn't cost 80$ Click to expand... Click to shrink... Also this.  BradleyLove Member Oct 29, 2017 1,661 Doesn't surprise me. I bought Forza Horizon for PS5 a few days ago and was shocked to encounter unskippable ads for DLC. The American obsession with forcing ads everywhere they can is horrible. This reply was brought to you by NEW Mountain Dew—new look, same bold refreshing flavour.  TransEuropaExpress Member Dec 6, 2017 11,420 US They should go all in and start doing random 5-minute commercial breaks in the middle of rounds.   Pyro God help us the mods are making weekend threads Member Jul 30, 2018 18,922 United States Really fucking gross.   Vourlis Member Aug 14, 2022 5,911 United States I...where are the ads? edit: Oh like advertising the bundles or whatever. Okay.  jroc74 Member Oct 27, 2017 34,177 BradleyLove said: Doesn't surprise me. I bought Forza Horizon for PS5 a few days ago and was shocked to encounter unskippable ads for DLC. The American obsession with forcing ads everywhere they can is horrible. This reply was brought to you by NEW Mountain Dew—new look, same bold refreshing flavour. Click to expand... Click to shrink... I either forgot how it was or just didnt know, because I played it on XSX when it launched. But I was and am shocked at the mtx in FH5.  shadowman16 Member Oct 25, 2017 41,804 I feel like this has already become too normalised because I honestly assumed we were talking about unrelated product ads... Meanwhile the examples above... honestly I kinda expected. Granted the article also points it out perfectly that if it were just in Warzone (free) it'd be... less bad, but charging however much for COD THEN pushing those ads on you... you just know people will crack. Not the worst example of ads in games though, I still give that to SFVI's Turtles costumes, aside the cost, having that damn song playing constantly in the battle hub for month(s) on end drove me nuts at the time.  Papaya The Fallen Oct 25, 2017 2,735 California The financial model for CoD is awful and lacks any sort of creativity. They just copied fortnite even though it doesn't work for a military shooter. They rarely release any good content because it either doesn't match the game's tone, or it sucks. It just doesn't lend itself well to skins, and other visual customization options. Or maybe they just don't know how to make good. Either way, I've never seen a more boring battlepass in my life. CoD can be a super fun action game, but it's never felt more hollow and lifeless. The best counter-example to "games are art" I've ever seen.  BestBrand Member Mar 5, 2025 457 Call of duty is the worst man. I may not even buy another COD again.   MerluzaSamus Member Dec 3, 2018 1,471 Argentina Agni Kai said: Only Battlefield 6 can save us now. Hold the line, my friends. Hold the line. Click to expand... Click to shrink... The game published by EA to gather obscene money on the fps market? That one Battlefield? Jokes aside, 'fraid this is going to be the norm long term, Fortnite normalized it and publishers with less restraint are going wild, same with AI. At least on the AAA market.  Lumination Member Oct 26, 2017 16,064 Who could have expected them giving the game away would have affected the revenue stream and business model of the game itself.   Geeko Member Oct 27, 2017 1,413 San Jose, CA Lame as hell. The problem is that the masses won't care about it and will still spend crap tons of money on this game thus continuing this constant bombardment of ads.   shadowman16 Member Oct 25, 2017 41,804 Agni Kai said: Only Battlefield 6 can save us now. Hold the line, my friends. Hold the line. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Gameplay wise, Hopefully Dice will take the time and make something truly special. However... I wouldnt expect much better from EA of all publishers. They are every bit as summy...  OP OP Xando Member Oct 28, 2017 38,006 My guess is this is only going to get worse as MS tries to make up the lost revenue from people playing via GP instead of buying   SP. Member Oct 27, 2017 8,578 I guess I thought it would be worse than the reaction seems to suggest… They're in-game micro transaction ads and for the most are for weapon skins which naturally don't seem that out of place in a weapon selection menu. It's not like they're advertising a Burger King Whopper in here. Obviously it'd be better if they weren't there at all but honestly if I played the game and saw these I wouldn't think it's anything out of the ordinary.  Ravelle Member Oct 31, 2017 20,432 Noisepurge said: Fortnite doesn't cost 80$ Click to expand... Click to shrink... It doesn't spam you with multiple windows to buy something either  Rosebud Two Pieces Member Apr 16, 2018 51,386 Wallace said: What a shit franchise. Click to expand... Click to shrink... .   Kyokanto Member Mar 4, 2025 493 For a second I thought this was going to be McDonald's ads or something lol. I wonder how far off that is… Still scummy as is.  Pop-O-Matic Avenger Oct 25, 2017 14,007 MarcosBrXD said: Crazy one of the biggest IPs doing this Click to expand... Click to shrink... Not really. CoD might move more money than most of the rest of the industry put together, but capitalism (especially at publicly traded mega corps like MS and ActiBlizz before them) demands that the line must always be going up, and there isn't really much CoD can do to grow the player base in any significant way in the short-to-medium term, so they're going to start trying out shit like this to get even more money out of the existing players so the line goes up and the shareholders can be happy.   Fabs Member Aug 22, 2019 2,780 Noisepurge said: Fortnite doesn't cost 80$ Click to expand... Click to shrink... Decarb said: Not only is it in a full priced mode, but its also in the weapon customization menu where you least expect it. Click to expand... Click to shrink... jroc74 said: Yeah I dont think it needs to be this aggressive. While trying to play the game tho? "Following the launch of Season 4, adverts for weapon bundles can be seen in the build and weapon menus. These are unavoidable for players as they tinker with their loadouts." Imagine getting hit with Shark Card ads while browsing the in game stores in GTA Online....please Rockstar dont do this. Also this. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Full priced games advertise their dlc in menus all the time. Is it because it's in a new place? Is this that different than having the paid operators in the menu for selection like they have in past CoD? Or when I play Street Fighter and I can't pick Akuma because he costs money? I get it if it was for McDonalds but this seems like rage bait.  Plexas Member Jan 24, 2025 289 Several trillion dollar company needs some money to survive, please understand.   Twister Member Feb 11, 2019 6,692 This franchise peaked with BO3. Everything after has been a disaster   Vertigo1 Member Jun 30, 2023 1,093 CoD will never be as good as it was in the 360 era, ever again.   Sordid Plebeian Member Oct 26, 2017 19,955 Yeah I remember seeing that AI store slop when I booted up S4, and they wonder why they're driving players away   Tommy Showbiz Member Jul 20, 2022 3,727 This is pretty corny, but I was honestly expecting ads for like Dr. Squatch and not just prodding you to buy in-game bundles.   Apathy Member Oct 25, 2017 13,538 So the biggest game, created by the biggest publisher, paced by the riches company in the world needs to slide ads into their paid games. Lovely   DarkJ Member Nov 11, 2017 1,918 Ai slop? Ads in the menus? In a fully priced game? Really just making sure I don't even look at the next game.  T88heon Member Aug 26, 2024 1,042 This is a profitability issue coupled with horrendous stewardship of the ip. If the retail side was profitable would they need to stealthily run ads in "COD" of all ip? 😬  DSync Member Oct 27, 2017 884 Black Ops 6 in 2025 after the most recent update for Season 4 > £70 for the base game > £100 for the "Vault Editon" > £50/60 for a year of PS Plus to play the game online > £10 for the Battlepass > £15 for the Battlepass plus tier skips > £25 for the "Blackcell" Battlepass > Free and Premium (Costs money) Battlepasses for the Seth Rogan Operator Weed event > £16-25 Weapon and Operator bundles > AI art in the emblems, calling cards, posters in certain levels > Ads for bundles in creating a Loadout > Server instability issues > Whole game crashes to desktop/homescreen when editing your loadout during a match > UI Menu lagging > Cheaters, hackers run rampant > Store will 100% work no matter what (Prices for everything may not be exact)  Pai Pai Master Member Oct 25, 2017 37,298 Atlanta GA AI crap and ads, yet people will still buy this shit in record numbers every year  

Banksy Unveils New Lighthouse Mural With the Words ‘I Want to Be What You Saw in Me’ in France The anonymous street artist announced the uncharacteristically personal artwork on May 29. It’s located on a wall in the French city of Marseille The new Banksy mural is on a wall beside a covered street in Marseille, France. Viken Kantarci / AFP via Getty Images After a five-month hiatus, Banksy is back with a new lighthouse mural in France. Compared to many of his previous works, the piece is uncharacteristically personal. The anonymous street artist announced his latest creation in an Instagram post on May 29. Located on a beige wall beside a sidewalk, the black lighthouse appears to merge with a painted shadow of a nearby metal safety post. Stenciled over the artwork are the words, “I want to be what you saw in me.” “There is no official explanation for the phrase,” write the Associated Press’ Thomas Adamson, Bishr Eltoni and Jill Lawless. “But its emotional pull is unmistakable—a quiet plea for recognition, love or redemption.”Banksy’s post appeared on Instagram with no caption, initially leaving the new mural’s location a mystery. However, BBC Verify, a team of investigative journalists and fact-checkers, quickly deduced that the mural is located on a backstreet called Rue Félix Frégier in the French city of Marseille, according to BBC News’ Cachella Smith and Amy Walker. Reactions to the new artwork were mixed. As the Art Newspaper’s Anny Shaw writes, “It could be a defection from the commercialism he simultaneously critiques and profits from, but I guess I’ve been made to expect more—either by technique or by message—from an artist whose entire practice, cheesy as it may be, is enmeshed in social and class consciousness.” Banksy has been creating street art around the world for decades. Some of his most well-known pieces include Rage, the Flower Thrower, a commentary on war, and Girl With Balloon. The artist’s works have sold for staggeringly high prices at auction; his most expensive piece is Love Is in the Bin, which fetched more than $25 million in 2021. Last summer, Banksy completed a series of animal-themed paintings in London, including a pair of elephants, monkeys swinging from a bridge and a howling wolf painted on a satellite dish. Until the lighthouse, his most recent verified mural was a black-and-white painting of a veiled woman breastfeeding a baby—a reference to the Madonna and child—which he announced in an Instagram post on December 16, 2024. Much of Banksy’s career has been “politically charged,” drawing attention to issues like Palestinian suffering and the refugee crisis, writes the Art Newspaper. For instance, his recent London animal artworks may have been “a comment on the impact of humans on biodiversity.” Swinger, a mural Banksy painted in New Orleans in 2008 Infrogmation of New Orleans via Wikimedia Commons under CC BY 2.0 However, the new lighthouse mural is a departure for Banksy, who “seems to be getting more philosophical in his middle age,” per the publication. His latest work could be “a moment of rare self-reflection—after all, this is the first time Banksy has referred to himself in the first person in a public mural.” Nobody knows what Banksy’s intentions were, though many onlookers have theories. The Guardian’s Matthew Weaver suggests that “I want to be what you saw in me” may be a reference to a lyric from “Softly,” a 2001 country song by the band Lonestar: “I want to be what you see in me / I want to love you the way that you love me.” Banksy rarely includes text in his pieces. When he does, he “usually incorporates extant signage or graffiti when adding his touch rather than writing out his own phrases,” according to Hyperallergic’s Rhea Nayyar. “That being said, this particular text takes the street artist’s already on-the-nose symbolism to another level,” with the “heavy-handed captioning” coming across as “overly sentimental.” “Some commentators have said that at best, the latest offering attempts to open a vaguely profound conversation about being a ‘guiding light’ or ‘finding the light within.’ At worst, it veers into ‘live, laugh, love’ territory,” writes the Art Newspaper. “This message could be Banksy’s most personal yet—but its execution risks it also being his most banal.” Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.

As policy makers in the UK weigh how to regulate the AI industry, Nick Clegg, former UK deputy prime minister and former Meta executive, claimed a push for artist consent would “basically kill” the AI industry.Speaking at an event promoting his new book, Clegg said the creative community should have the right to opt out of having their work used to train AI models. But he claimed it wasn’t feasible to ask for consent before ingesting their work first.“I think the creative community wants to go a step further,” Clegg said according to The Times. “Quite a lot of voices say, ‘You can only train on my content, [if you] first ask’. And I have to say that strikes me as somewhat implausible because these systems train on vast amounts of data.”“I just don’t know how you go around, asking everyone first. I just don’t see how that would work,” Clegg said. “And by the way if you did it in Britain and no one else did it, you would basically kill the AI industry in this country overnight.”The comments follow a back-and-forth in Parliament over new legislation that aims to give creative industries more insight into how their work is used by AI companies. An amendment to the Data (Use and Access) Bill would require technology companies to disclose what copyrighted works were used to train AI models. Paul McCartney, Dua Lipa, Elton John, and Andrew Lloyd Webber are among the hundreds of musicians, writers, designers, and journalists who signed an open letter in support of the amendment earlier in May.The amendment — introduced by Beeban Kidron, who is also a film producer and director — has bounced around gaining support. But on Thursday members of parliament rejected the proposal, with technology secretary Peter Kyle saying the “Britain’s economy needs both [AI and creative] sectors to succeed and to prosper.” Kidron and others have said a transparency requirement would allow copyright law to be enforced, and that AI companies would be less likely to “steal” work in the first place if they are required to disclose what content they used to train models.In an op-ed in the Guardian Kidron promised that “the fight isn’t over yet,” as the Data (Use and Access) Bill returns to the House of Lords in early June.See More:

After a looooong stretch of speculation, Apple officially confirmed earlier this year that Ted Lasso is returning for a fourth season. Now, actress Hannah Waddingham is sharing new details about the production timeline, as reported by Deadline. In an interview with Capital FM, Waddingham, who plays AFC Richmond owner Rebecca Welton, praised the show’s writing team: “Our writers are literally Jedi Knights. And we’ve got like a full room of real feminist men… You really see it in the scripts.” She added that the new season starts shooting in July, and echoed co-star Brett Goldstein’s recent statements about the return of the show: “We thought we’d mourned the loss, and now it’s rising from the dead!” Waddingham is one of several original cast members confirmed to return, alongside Jason Sudeikis, Brett Goldstein, Juno Temple, and Jeremy Swift. New season, new focus Although Ted Lasso was originally pitched as a three-season arc, Apple renewed the series for a fourth season last year. The new run of episodes is expected to follow Ted as he takes on a new challenge: coaching a women’s soccer team. In a recent press release about the show’s return, Jason Sudeikis said: “As we all continue to live in a world where so many factors have conditioned us to ‘look before we leap,’ in season four, the folks at AFC Richmond learn to LEAP BEFORE THEY LOOK, discovering that wherever they land, it’s exactly where they’re meant to be.” The new season has no premiere date yet, but you can catch up on Seasons 1 through 3 on Apple TV+. Apple TV+ is available for $9.99 per month and features hit TV shows and movies like Severance, The Studio, The Morning Show, Shrinking and Silo. Add 9to5Mac to your Google News feed.  FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.You’re reading 9to5Mac — experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Don’t know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

David Brickley is something of a social marketing pioneer. In 2011, he founded STN Digital, a leading social-first digital marketing company in sports and entertainment. STN now has more than 50 employees and creates hundreds of pieces of content daily for partners like ESPN, Warner Bros., NBC Sports, Under Armour, the Philadelphia Phillies, and NBA star Jayson Tatum, among dozens of others. The company helped Elton John launch his TikTok. In 2023, digital sports viewership surpassed traditional television viewers for the first time. Forty-three percent of young adult sports fans follow their favorite league on social media, 54% follow their favorite athlete, and 32% of all sports fans use social media while watching games. Brickley and STN have been at the forefront of this social-first revolution. Brickley never wanted to start a social marketing agency. But when Kobe Bryant opens a door—even by accident—you walk through. Building a business A lifelong Lakers fan who grew up east of Los Angeles, Brickley took a job in 2011 as a producer at Fox Sports Radio with the dream of hosting his own sports talk radio show. “I thought I should have my own afternoon show,” he said. “My program director thought differently.” Shut down by the higher-ups, Brickey became an entrepreneur by necessity. He used Fox Sports AV equipment and studio space after hours to launch his own YouTube channel. At the time, original sports content on the platform was scarce. His content regularly made it on YouTube’s front page, which grew his profile enough for him to start working directly with professional athletes, eventually landing Bryant as a client in 2013. In an exclusive interview, Brickley spoke with Fast Company about his evolution into a digital maven, sharing his insights on how social audience habits have changed, how he sees them evolving in the future, and how any company can build a social content strategy that works. The interview has been edited and condensed. How did you land Kobe Bryant as a client when you were just getting started as a small shop? It started with good karma. I did a ton of favors for the publicist of Matt Barnes, who was a Lakers player at the time, and as a favor, I interviewed his twins after they got on the honor roll at their elementary school. In exchange, I got a 10-minute one-on-one with Matt. Then one day I was at a boxing class and I ran into his publicist. She mentioned she was working with Kobe, so I asked if I could send over some ideas. Because of all those favors I’d done, she let me pitch Kobe the concept of the “Kobe Minute”—a 60-second weekly video about his on-court and off-court successes. They loved it because we could highlight his charitable work without it feeling self-promotional. How did creating content for Kobe and his team open your eyes to the idea of creating a social marketing agency? The Kobe opportunity was the epiphany moment. I had just reached out to my childhood hero about working together, and he said yes. So I realized if I could land Kobe, I could reach other athletes and teams too. We built an Excel sheet with all 32 NFL teams, found every email, and reached out. Seven hopped on calls, three wanted proposals, and the Minnesota Vikings were willing to try us out as a partner. It was pure bootstrapped cold outreach. Being able to create your own destiny without relying on someone else for opportunity was intoxicating. You started STN Digital basically from scratch. What struggles were your clients having when creating original content—specifically for social—and how did you position yourself as the solution? Back in 2013, every sports entity had social channels—the Facebooks and Twitters. But they weren’t posting original content. They had these audiences but didn’t know how to engage them. Social was just a PR dump of press releases and super boring, non-fan-centric content. So my message was, “We understand fans, we understand what the sports fan wants, and we can curate content specifically on social that speaks to them.” You gotta understand that at that time, a fan-first approach of speaking authentically about topics fans cared about didn’t exist. Now, as we transition to 2025, every CEO, president, CMO in the world is starting to think about a social-first approach, which is awesome to see. How does the agency work? In what ways do partners deploy your services and expertise on a given social marketing campaign or initiative? Our clients use us in one of two ways. Usually, they’ll either hire us as a world-class social media department and we run everything A to Z—copywriting, content, analytics, everything—or they’ll bolt us on as a world-class content house. In that case, they have an incredible team already, but they add us on top because their team doesn’t have three and a half hours to dream up a bunch of dope ideas in a whiteboard session or simply need more engaging content for all their initiatives. ESPN has a 75-person social team with incredible engines internally, but we’re able to be that supercharger to take them from 99% potential to hopefully 125% potential. What’s an example of a creative campaign you’ve executed that you’re really proud of? Our work with the Indiana Fever during the Caitlin Clark draft just won a Webby. My team spent 70 to 80 hours creating this video of a Toy Story-esque action figure of Caitlin Clark dribbling around her bedroom, shooting hoops. It got around 10 million views on TikTok alone and 500,000 engagements. What’s interesting is we’re seeing lo-fi content outperform hi-fi content by 40% more views and 30% more engagements on average. But this high-production piece was thumb-stopping creative that nobody else was posting—something that made people think, I gotta watch the rest of this. It’s something the Fever and we are super proud to have collaborated on. What are some of the biggest misconceptions you see about social marketing content, and what strategies that may seem counterintuitive actually work? I look at social media as upper-funnel fan engagement—building community, credibility, and trust. But a lot of the time, brands see it as a lower-funnel platform where they’re trying to talk about brand, logo, messaging, and calls to action. You have to be social on social. You have to provide value—whether it’s education, laughter, or elicit some type of emotion. People aren’t required to follow you, so why do they? You have to build that relationship. Brands that do social wrong are mostly just, “Look at me, look at me!” and constantly making calls to action. That’s not how you build true community, no different than a friendship or relationship. For every eight things you give your community, you have then earned the right to ask for two things in return. And the value you give in that 80% needs to be memorable. What are some of the other lessons you’ve learned about social engagement or audience behavior over the years? The power of real-time social, especially in sports, continues to be undervalued. During the Olympics with NBC Sports, we worked back-to-back 12-hour shifts daily and helped them get 6.5 billion impressions in 17 days. Those impressions would cost $50 million if you bought them on the open market. The key is being ready for every moment. If Simone Biles won bronze, silver, or gold, we had content ready for all scenarios with different angles and storylines. Same with Caitlin Clark’s draft. We spent 30 days planning content for before, during, and after she was picked to capitalize on arguably the biggest moment in the Fever’s franchise history. How do you approach data and measurement when creating content strategies and campaigns? We follow the data of what works, but we also pay attention to how different platforms’ algorithms behave. Instagram will serve you something in your feed that happened five days ago, so there are considerations about what goes on Stories versus in-feed. We’re constantly obsessed with data—not just what’s working or not working, but what different post types perform best, whether it’s a reel, carousel, or single post. We’re analyzing timing, post type, static versus video versus carousel, and noticing how algorithms are being optimized differently across Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube. We use platforms like Sprout Social and Rival IQ to get super deep with third-party and first-party data. We analyze our top 10 and bottom 10 posts constantly—weekly or monthly—to understand why certain posts underperformed. We look at who was featured, what time it was posted, whether it was a carousel versus a reel. We might notice reels are taking a dive and wonder if the algorithm has changed. Not all engagement metrics are equal, either. Watching something for 3 seconds and scrolling past is much different than watching it for the full 60 seconds. And I believe that one of the most undervalued engagement metrics is shares. If you take time to DM content to a friend saying, “This is so us,” that’s 10 times more important engagement than just a “like” because you’re actually taking time to send it to someone you love. We look seriously at shareability and ask, “Is this something you want to DM your family or best friend?” What about platforms? Which are the most important, and where do you see the most success and engagement? We still see Instagram and TikTok at the top in terms of engagement and virality. From a sports perspective, Twitter is still that real-time water cooler—nobody else holds a candle to it. There have been attempts with platforms like Bluesky, but we saw with the Luka Dončić trade how NBA Twitter just exploded in ways other platforms can’t replicate. Social behavior continues to swing back and forth. Once something becomes too saturated, there’s an opportunity for new platforms or content types to emerge as fresh ways to connect with audiences. The key is being adaptable and understanding where your specific audience lives and engages most authentically. Marketing efforts can often become fragmented across different departments. How should companies think about aligning their social strategy with broader marketing goals? Social and sales teams—even CMOs and marketing teams—often operate separately from social, which is a problem. CMOs should always oversee the social department because it has to ladder up to a greater vision of value prop and audience understanding. Social and community building and fan engagement at the top of the funnel is all to eventually work people down the funnel to become customers and drive revenue generation. If I were a prospective client who came to you and said, “My social strategy sucks. What can I do?” what’s the first piece of advice you would give me? Where would you start? I would ask, “What audience specifically are you trying to grow?” Then we can reverse-engineer a strategy based on what that audience finds valuable, entertaining, and engaging. Are you trying to grow mass audience because you’re a large brand, or are you saturated in one demo but want to diversify? Then, once we identify the target avatar, we can develop a strategy based on what we know works with other brands talking to that same audience. Without figuring out who your customer is at the very top of the conversation, you’re just posting content and hoping it works with no real endgame. So let’s figure out who you’re talking to, what they want most, and how we can meet them where they are and deliver it to them.

Start SlideshowStart SlideshowDisney has enchanted us for decades with its resplendent animation and fantastical stories of princesses, wicked witches, and fire-breathing dragons, but music has always been its most indelible sprinkle of pixie dust. There are songs that move us, make us dance, and help us understand the characters that have already been so lovingly drawn. With over 350 songs in the Disney canon, it’s nearly impossible to narrow them down, but we’ve chosen the 23 in honor of the year 1923, when Walt Disney founded the company. These songs are the most magical and remind us why Disney has endured for over a century.Previous SlideNext Slide2 / 25List slides23. “Whistle While You Work” from Snow White and the Seven DwarfsList slides23. “Whistle While You Work” from Snow White and the Seven DwarfsWhistle While You Work - Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Larry Morey and Frank Churchill’s merry tune about finding the joy in the most mundane of chores is quite simple, with only nine lines, yet incredibly catchy. Adriana Caselotti’s warbling, baby voice is fitting for this old-fashioned, operetta-style number and the entire sequence that features the big-eyed, adorable forest creatures helping her out. The squirrels sweep the dust with their tails, and the raccoons wash dirty clothes in a nearby watering hole to every sprightly beat. It’s difficult not to be beguiled by this little ditty, and you’ll find yourself humming it the next time you do your spring cleaning. Previous SlideNext Slide3 / 25List slides22. “The Family Madrigal” from EncantoList slides22. “The Family Madrigal” from EncantoStephanie Beatriz, Olga Merediz, Encanto - Cast - The Family Madrigal (From “Encanto”) Lin-Manuel Miranda’s fingerprints are all over modern Disney soundtracks. He is a master at crafting clever, fast-paced, and genre-blending earworms. The biggest ones to emerge from Encanto are “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” and “Surface Pressure,” where he blends classic Broadway stylings with punchier salsa and reggaeton genres. “The Family Madrigal” may not have reached the same level of pop culture infamy as the other songs in this film, but it’s a clever and economical way to introduce the Madrigal family and their powers. Stephanie Beatriz’s bubbly voice as Mirabel suits the song’s bouncy rhythm perfectly, while the Colombian folk instruments such as an accordion, caja vallenata, and guacharaca match the colorful energy of the magical town the Madrigals call home. Previous SlideNext Slide4 / 25List slides21.“Dig a Little Deeper” from Princess and the FrogList slides21.“Dig a Little Deeper” from Princess and the FrogDig a Little Deeper (From “The Princess and the Frog”/Sing-Along) Randy Newman’s toe-tapping blend of big-band swing and gospel choir refrains perfectly captures the vibrant soul of the New Orleans setting. The feisty Jennifer Lewis leads “Dig a Little Deeper” as Mama Odie, backed by the rousing Pinnacle Gospel Choir. The song’s brassy rhythms help Tiana let loose and Naveen to realize that he’s in love with her. The lessons Mama Odie imparts through the lyrics are wise and grounded: it doesn’t matter what you have or where you come from—that doesn’t define who you are. True fulfillment doesn’t come from material wealth, status, or outward appearances—it comes from understanding what you really want on the inside. The song crescendos with Anika Noni Rose’s powerful belt and the soulful shouts of Mama Odie’s bright flamingo chorus. Previous SlideNext Slide5 / 25List slides20. “I See the Light” from TangledList slides20. “I See the Light” from Tangled“I SEE THE LIGHT” | Tangled | Disney Animated HD The dreamy melody of “I See the Light” begins with a soft guitar. Glenn Slater and Alan Menken’s composition is fairly simple, allowing the glittering visuals to take center stage. The song takes place during the lighting ceremony that Rapunzel has yearned to visit after observing it from her tower for 18 years. Flynn and Rapunzel float on a gondola, surrounded by over 45,000 glowing lanterns floating in the air, dotting the sky and reflecting off the water that surrounds them. The characters sing the verses separately in their heads before their emotions burst, then they harmonize the chorus loudly, compelled by their realization that they’re in love. It’s a unique and touching way of framing a Disney love song. Previous SlideNext Slide6 / 25List slides19. “Friend Like Me” from AladdinList slides19. “Friend Like Me” from AladdinAladdin - Friend Like Me (HD 1080p) Howard Ashman’s playful lyrics and Alan Menken’s up-tempo, syncopated, vaudevillian song was the perfect musical playground for Robin Williams to fill with the zany impressions and quirky voices he was renowned for. A trumpet warbles in between one of the clever lyrics, sights and sounds so jam-packed with hilarity that you can barely stop to catch your breath. Robin Williams was so adept at improvisation that he had nearly an entire day’s worth of material. The animation is just as bonkers as his vocal performance, where Genie morphs into countless creatures—from a train whistle to a maître d’, a boxing trainer, a bunny, and a dragon. The Broadway-style showstopper culminates with a kick line under bright spotlights with monkeys, elephants, and dancing girls in crop tops and harem pants. “Friend Like Me” is a shining showcase for one of our finest comedic talents, the great Robin Williams. Previous SlideNext Slide7 / 25List slides18. “Baby Mine” from DumboList slides18. “Baby Mine” from DumboDisney’s “Dumbo” - Baby MineSongwriters Frank Churchill and Ned Washington are responsible for childhood traumas everywhere with “Baby Mine,” which takes place when Dumbo’s mother has been jailed as a “mad elephant” for fiercely protecting her son against his bullies. She reaches her trunk through the bars to cradle Dumbo to the soft, slumbering melody accompanied by haunting strings. Betty Noyes’ has that rich, rounded tone found in vintage singing, and it conveys Mrs. Jumbo’s maternal strength. The images of all the animals—zebras, tigers, monkeys, and even the underwater hippos—nestled in the love of their mothers, except for poor Dumbo, set against the song’s soothing orchestra, is absolutely heart wrenching. “Baby Mine” is the kind of song that inspires dreams of being comforted and cared for by a loving parental figure.Previous SlideNext Slide8 / 25List slides17. ”Once Upon a Dream” from Sleeping BeautyList slides17. ”Once Upon a Dream” from Sleeping BeautyOnce Upon A Dream | Sleeping Beauty Lyric Video | DISNEY SING-ALONGS Jack Lawrence and Sammy Fain craft a solo-turned-duet with a woozy, mysterious quality that perfectly complements the story of Sleeping Beauty. Mary Costa has such an elegant and operatic voice, with rich tones that make her sound far more mature than a 16-year-old girl. She’s soon joined by the strong, handsome voice of Prince Phillip, who appears unexpectedly in the forest. Their romance unfolds quickly, twirling together in the woods, surrounded by beautiful medieval-inspired, Gothic-Renaissance style visuals. The lilting orchestration and the grand choral ensemble add to the old-world mystique. The lyrics—of knowing someone before you truly know them, of seeing them in your dreams—add a tinge of mysterious excitement and mystical fate to their romance. Previous SlideNext Slide9 / 25List slides16. “Hellfire” from The Hunchback of Notre DameList slides16. “Hellfire” from The Hunchback of Notre DameHellfire - The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz crafted one of Disney’s darkest songs. It’s hard to imagine Disney taking this type of creative risk again. “Hellfire” is sung by a corrupt priest consumed by lust for the Romani woman Esmeralda. The deep-voiced Tony Jay plays the dishonorable Frollo, who paints himself as a virtuous man—even though he killed Quasimodo’s mother and nearly killed Quasimodo. A true Catholic would have helped them. Today, Disney would never dare to show that authority figures—especially religious ones—can often be wrong and hypocritical, if not outright evil. This is one of the most provocative villain songs, in which Frollo essentially confesses his horniness. He sings of being enraptured by Esmeralda’s smoldering eyes and raven hair—a desire that burns and threatens to turn him to sin. “Hellfire” also has a spooky quality in its use of Latin and the intense religious choir that looms over Frollo in judgment, cloaked in red with faces like empty black holes. It’s a haunting song of operatic grandeur, with notes that flare and fade like the flames dancing in front of him. Previous SlideNext Slide10 / 25List slides15. “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes” from CinderellaList slides15. “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes” from CinderellaA Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes (from Cinderella) Sung with silky warmth and a shimmering, ethereal vibrato by Ilene Woods as Cinderella, “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes” is soft and soothing, yet carries an undercurrent of quiet determination. She sings to her loyal companions—adorable flocks of birds and mice—who wear the tiny outfits she’s lovingly made for them. They join in during a break of the song that is more playful and buoyant while she prepares for another grueling day of chores, yet she stays positive by believing her dreams will come true. “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes” has become a marketing anthem for the studio—used in various ads to evoke nostalgia, magic, and the promise that dreams really do come true, with Disney theme parks as the place where that magic can happen. Previous SlideNext Slide11 / 25List slides14. Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride from Lilo & StitchList slides14. Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride from Lilo & StitchHawaiian Roller Coaster Ride (From “Lilo & Stitch”) The rich voice of Mark Kealiʻi Hoʻomalu and the cheerful Kamehameha Schools Children’s Chorus come together for a song that is as sweet and breezy as a summer’s day. “Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride” takes place during a touching moment of family bonding as Lilo, Nani, and David go surfing, gliding through the waves with ease. Stitch has been naughty, so he feels a little shy about enjoying the day with them, but he slowly begins to warm up to what it feels like to have a family. We see the adorable progression as the little thrill-seeker ends up riding the waves too. The song’s instrumentation—featuring ukulele, traditional Hawaiian fingerstyle guitar, and steel guitar—evokes the ocean waves and open skies, giving it that relaxed, beachy vibe. Both the animation and the song itself honors the film’s beautiful Hawaiian setting. Previous SlideNext Slide12 / 25List slides13. “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” from MulanList slides13. “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” from MulanMulan | I’ll Make a Man Out of You | Disney Junior UK “Let’s get down to business, to defeat the Huns” Donny Osmond sings in his perfectly crisp voice. The rousing number “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” by Matthew Wilder and David Zippel is the pump-up song for a training montage. It starts out comical as we see Mulan and her clumsy friends attempt to become the ideal Chinese soldier. The catchy chorus uses evocative nature metaphors for the type of strength and calm that Mulan needs to find, and the deep-voiced punctuation “Be a man!” at the end of each line adds to the hype. When Donny Osmond belts “Time is racing towards us, ‘till the Huns arrive,” you feel a thrilling rush of urgency and swell with courage. The final chorus plays against no instrumentation, the manly voices of the soldiers booming, allowing you to focus on Mulan and her friends now kicking ass. Previous SlideNext Slide13 / 25List slides12. “A Whole New World” from AladdinList slides12. “A Whole New World” from AladdinAladdin - A Whole New World (HD 1080p) Brad Kane’s voice carries an excited, breathy quality that draws you in as he whisks Jasmine away on a magic carpet ride. He sounds bright and earnest as he describes the shining, shimmering, and splendid world that Jasmine has never seen and he’s eager to show her. Lea Salonga, who is a Broadway legend in her own right, has an angelic innocence as Jasmine. Their voices come together in perfect harmony for this sweeping duet. “A Whole New World” is one of Disney’s most romantic love songs, with a melody that flutters and glides like the magic carpet itself. Written by Alan Menken and Tim Rice, the orchestration has lush strings that propel the adventurous animated sequence where they soar through the clouds, pass the Sphinx, and touch down near a group of horses. Previous SlideNext Slide14 / 25List slides11. “Strangers Like Me” from TarzanList slides11. “Strangers Like Me” from TarzanStrangers Like Me (1080p Full HD) - Tarzan (1999)Opening with a pulsing drum track, Strangers Like Me evokes the spinning wheels in Tarzan’s mind as he learns more about what lies beyond the jungle. The montage is gorgeously animated, featuring old-fashioned ink illustrations that Tarzan looks at through a magic lantern. He sees the city of London, a giant castle, the Sphinx, and even outer space for the first time. This flood of information drives the song’s urgent pace.The filmmakers craft the entire animated sequence as a response to the lyrics, as Tarzan watches Jane (“Every gesture, every move that she makes / Makes me feel like never before”) or shows off a pocket of the rainforest filled with parrots (“Come with me now to see my world / Where there’s beauty beyond your dreams”). Phil Collins’ bright voice captures Tarzan’s wonderment, especially in the soaring chorus, where Tarzan expresses his desire to learn more about strangers like him. You feel his hunger for the great, wide world in the song’s pounding, tribal drumbeats. Previous SlideNext Slide15 / 25List slides10. “I Won’t Say I’m in Love” from HerculesList slides10. “I Won’t Say I’m in Love” from HerculesHercules (1997) │ I Won’t Say (I’m In Love) [DPU HD 4K] The story of the ancient Greek hero Hercules has such a unique musical style, with lyricist David Zippel and composer Alan Menken blending doo-wop, Motown, and gospel soul. The muses serve as a literal Greek chorus, commenting on the action with their sassy perspective. In “I Won’t Say I’m in Love,” Megara’s velvet-voiced, sarcastic Susan Egan stands apart from other Disney heroines, who often sing fluttering arias about dreaming of a prince. Instead, Megara resists her feelings because she’s been burned too many times before, creating a comical juxtaposition with the Muses, who cheekily insist that she’s in love. They tease her with “Check the grin, you’re in love.” It’s a playful and flirtatious song that celebrates an unconventional Disney princess and musical choices. Previous SlideNext Slide16 / 25List slides9. “How Far I’ll Go” from MoanaList slides9. “How Far I’ll Go” from MoanaAuli’i Cravalho - How Far I’ll Go (from Moana/Official Video) Ever since their introduction in The Little Mermaid, Broadway-style “I Want” songs have become a hallmark of Disney princess films. They are passionate solos that reveal what each heroine desires most in the world. Whatever her heart longs for becomes the emotional engine driving the story forward. In “How Far I’ll Go,” composed by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Moana is torn between her dream of exploring what’s beyond her remote island and her duty to her family. She’s genuinely torn, even wondering if she’s wrong to yearn for what lies beyond the horizon. Auli’i Cravalho’s pure, heartfelt voice captures all the wistfulness and uncertainty of growing up. The melody swells and crashes gently like ocean tides, mirroring the push and pull of Moana’s inner conflict. Previous SlideNext Slide17 / 25List slides8. “Be Our Guest” from Beauty and the BeastList slides8. “Be Our Guest” from Beauty and the BeastBeauty and the Beast - Be Our Guest (HD) Music Video Broadway royalty Jerry Orbach helms this showstopper with music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Howard Ashman. The suave candlestick Lumière uses the number to lure Belle out of her bedroom, and show that the enchanted castle is more friendly and exciting than spooky and depressing. “Be Our Guest” has clever, fast-paced lyrics sung in a classic “patter song” style which then explodes in a lively, French can-can finale. The living castle objects just want to serve and make someone happy again, offering Belle elaborate meals and dazzling entertainment. Everything is on the plate for Belle, from soup du jour, hot hors d’oeuvres, beef ragout, cheese soufflé, and of course, the grey stuff. What’s just as exciting about the number as its giddy music is the animation, with spoons swimming in punch bowls like a Busby Berkeley number, prismatic spotlights, sumptuous, brightly-colored cakes, a glowing chandelier, and dancing flatware. Previous SlideNext Slide18 / 25List slides7. “You’ll Be in My Heart” from TarzanList slides7. “You’ll Be in My Heart” from TarzanPhil Collins - You’ll Be in My Heart /Tarzan(ターザン)Phil Collins knocked it out of the park with the entire Tarzan soundtrack. Somehow his earthy voice, drum-infused instrumentals, and heartfelt lyrics were the perfect mix for this jungle story. Rather than a traditional Disney musical, Phil Collins acts as an omnipresent narrator, commenting on the action or voicing the character’s thoughts. “You’ll Be In My Heart” rightfully earned the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Originally written as a lullaby for his own daughter, the song starts off tender, with Phil Collins almost gently whispering against soft marimbas. Its lyrics of true love and devotion are moving, especially in the scene where Kala sings it to a baby Tarzan, who, despite being a different species, experiences a bond where love and care know no bounds. The song eventually crashes into driving drums, moving toward a bridge that sees the child fly free on their own: “When destiny calls you / You must be strong / I may not be with you / But you’ve got to hold on.” This song is touching for anyone who has ever loved someone and watched them grow, no matter what type of relationship. Previous SlideNext Slide19 / 25List slides6. “Under the Sea” from The Little MermaidList slides6. “Under the Sea” from The Little MermaidThe Little Mermaid - Under the Sea (from The Little Mermaid) (Official Video) Those solo calypso opening notes of “Under the Sea” immediately get you excited, and Samuel E. Wright delivers a rollicking underwater bash. His booming voice and vivacious energy are perfect for the overdramatic crustacean and his mission to convince Ariel that living under the sea “is the bubbles” with no troubles. “Under the Sea’ buoys the rainbow-colored montage of marine life that fills Ariel’s world—fish, dolphins, and coral reefs. The scene cleverly ties the instruments to various creatures and animation — harps echo the swirling school of fish, shells mimic steel pans, and a pair of octopuses intertwine their legs like bass lines. With its infectious Caribbean beat, Howard Ashman and Alan Menken’s song is a true banger and impossible not to love, which is why it won the 1990 Oscar for Best Original Song. Previous SlideNext Slide20 / 25List slides5. “Colors of the Wind” from PocahontasList slides5. “Colors of the Wind” from PocahontasPocahontas - Colors of the Wind (Blu-ray 1080p HD) “You think the only people who are people / Are the people who look and think like you / But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger / You’ll learn things you never knew, you never knew.” In this increasingly polarized world, that message has never been more relevant. Pocahontas is not immediately smitten with John Smith; instead, she condemns his entire culture, which prioritizes gold and hatred over acceptance and the beauty of nature. Stephen Schwartz’s lyrics paint gorgeous pictures of the American wilderness, questioning why the white men who have invaded these lands cannot appreciate the world around them — from the grinning bobcats to the sweet berries to the trees that stretch toward the sky, if only we let them grow. Alan Menken’s surrounding score is rapturous, carried by Judy Kuhn’s passionate vocals. More than just the profound lyrics, it’s the visuals that make this musical number so unforgettable — particularly John Smith and Pocahontas dancing in a pastel-colored wind. It’s no surprise that “Colors of the Wind” won an Academy Award for Best Original Song. Previous SlideNext Slide21 / 25List slides4. “When You Wish Upon a Star” from PinnochioList slides4. “When You Wish Upon a Star” from PinnochioPocahontas - Colors of the Wind (Blu-ray 1080p HD)Written by Leigh Harline and Ned Washington, “When You Wish Upon a Star” has come to define Disney itself, typically playing over the castle logo that opens every movie. The ethereal ballad is sung by Cliff Edwards as Jiminy Cricket, whose resonant yet quirky voice feels like someone sharing a story by a crackling fire. “When you wish upon a star / Makes no difference who you are / Anything your heart desires / Will come to you,” he tenderly sings over the opening credits. The gentle melody wraps you in a warm embrace of possibility. People often make fun of Disney adults, but perhaps one reason we hold on to Disney films long after growing up is that they offer hope in an increasingly grim world. This aspirational song reminds us there is more to life than the ordinary—if we just dare to imagine.Previous SlideNext Slide22 / 25List slides3. “Beauty and the Beast” from Beauty and the BeastList slides3. “Beauty and the Beast” from Beauty and the BeastBeauty and the Beast Tale As Old As Time HD As Mrs. Potts, Angela Lansbury’s warm, cheery English voice adds a rosiness to this powerful love ballad, backed by an orchestra of sumptuous strings. The lyrics aren’t the pure romanticism of past Disney love stories; there is no love at first sight here. Instead, Mrs. Potts gently reflects on how true love can take time to blossom, and how relationships sometimes require change, admitting your faults and working hard to set aside your vices and worst qualities. It’s a surprisingly mature outlook for a Disney love song. The accompanying animation is one of the most exquisite sequences in Disney history: Belle’s golden dress glides delicately across the floor as she and the Beast dance in the grand ballroom, the camera swirling to reveal the sparkling chandelier and Michelangelo-esque ceiling of painted cherubs above them. That Howard Ashman wrote this song while dying from complications of AIDS makes it all the more poignant. Previous SlideNext Slide23 / 25List slides2. “Part of Your World” from The Little MermaidList slides2. “Part of Your World” from The Little MermaidJodi Benson - Part of Your World (From “The Little Mermaid”)Before The Little Mermaid kicked off the Disney Renaissance (a period of more sophisticated storytelling and box office success) princess songs were mostly focused on their prince charmings. They had very few aspirations outside of dreaming about their prince or wishing for their prince. But the introduction of the songwriting team Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, who had worked on the off-Broadway show Little Shop of Horrors, helped develop a Disney princess that had greater ambitions. Ariel wanted to see the human world, and she would express that within a Broadway-style solo called the “I Want” song, where the protagonist sings about, well, what they want. “Part of Your World” has a flowing melody and a sweet yearning in Jodi Benson’s voice (and given a more soulful power in the live-action version from Halle Bailey). We see her comical misunderstanding of what her treasures are, all whozits and whatzits galore. “Wouldn’t I love to explore that shore up above?” her voice soars while reaching out through the top of her grotto towards the sun. In that moment, with her big eyes and aching voice, you completely understand how much the human world means to her.Previous SlideNext Slide24 / 25List slides1. “Circle of Life” from The Lion KingList slides1. “Circle of Life” from The Lion KingCarmen Twillie, Lebo M. - Circle of Life (From “The Lion King”) No Disney song is quite as epic as Elton John’s “Circle of Life.” The image of the rising sun, paired with the opening lines sung passionately in Zulu by Lebo M., without any instrumentals, immediately hooks you into this sweeping story of the African savannah. The title, “Circle of Life,” is fitting for this tale of birth, death, and everything in between. The lyrics somehow encompass everything about our big, beautiful world — how finite life is, and the experiences, both good and bad, that give us balance. There’s despair and there’s hope. There’s faith and there’s love. The lyrics are poetic and make you think about the wonder and mystery of existence. The song reaches a powerful peak at the end when the chorus rises together. It’s impossible not to get full-body chills on that final soaring note, “It’s the circle, the circle of life,” punctuated by the thunderous drumbeat, where the sight of Rafiki lifting Simba on Pride Rock cuts to black. “Circle of Life” is a beautiful song with a grand vision, especially for a film geared towards children.