Cybersecuritygetty Each May, the cybersecurity industry converges in San Francisco for the RSA Conference. This year’s gathering, attracting more than 45,000 attendees, highlighted several transformative trends reshaping digital asset protection, with AI unsurprisingly generating the most discussion. Beyond AI, we're witnessing an acceleration of platformization, which is enabling the rise of comprehensive security providers, cybersecurity moving directly into the data path, and growing threats to operational technology and industrial infrastructure. The Three Faces of AI: Protector, Protected, and Predator Artificial intelligence is emerging as a game-changing force in cybersecurity, playing three distinct roles in an increasingly complex digital landscape. Protecting Enterprise AI Today's enterprises are on the verge of deploying "agentic AI" systems that work independently — scheduling meetings, analyzing data, writing code, and making decisions with minimal human oversight. These AI agents create new security risks as they access sensitive company data and systems. Organizations now need specialized protection to prevent their AI helpers from being compromised. IBM leads this space with its watsonx platform, delivering comprehensive enterprise compliance and governance tools. Domino Data Labs takes compliance to an even higher level for highly regulated industries, while CrowdStrike brings its identity expertise to the agentic AI world through Falcon Identity Protection. As CrowdStrike's president, Michael Sentonas, told me at the event, "Every AI agent is an endpoint that must be protected." Palo Alto Networks unveiled its comprehensive new Prisma AIRS platform to protect AI workloads. The company also announced its intent to acquire Protect AI, an established provider of security solutions for AI applications. Several startups are making strides in this area, including CalypsoAI, with its platform ensuring AI model safety for inference, MIND, with its unique approach to data loss prevention and insider risk management for AI applications, and Cyberhaven, which provides visibility over AI tool usage. AI as a Digital Defender AI is indispensable for security teams protecting vast digital environments against rapidly evolving threats. Modern security systems can analyze billions of events to spot suspicious patterns, identify unusual behavior, automatically respond to threats, and predict potential attack vectors. These systems do this at a scale impossible for human analysts. SentinelOne unveiled its Purple AI Athena, introducing agentic AI capabilities that emulate seasoned security analysts' decision-making processes. Palo Alto Networks enhanced its Charlotte AI platform with tools that automate incident triage and initiate policy-driven responses. Defending Against AI-Powered Attacks Most concerning is how threat actors are wielding AI as a weapon. Cybercriminals and nation-states now use AI to generate convincing phishing emails, create deepfakes for elaborate scams, discover vulnerabilities, and customize attacks based on individuals' online behavior. The most alarming development is how AI democratizes cybercrime, making advanced hacking techniques accessible to almost anyone. This arms race means AI-powered attacks require equally sophisticated AI defenses. While a trend, there isn't dedicated protection against AI attacks. Instead, nearly every company I spoke with at the event recognized the threat and is enhancing offerings to better address it. Platformization: The Rise of Security Giants Cybersecurity platforms function as digital superstores — integrated systems providing multiple security functions through a single interface. Benefits include simplified management through unified dashboards, improved threat detection through tool communication, reduced costs through consolidated licensing, consistent protection across systems, and faster incident response. Palo Alto Networks pioneered this trend, evolving from a network security provider to a comprehensive platform. CrowdStrike expanded from endpoint protection to a full-scale security platform with its Falcon offering, while SentinelOne transformed its Singularity solution into a broader platform. Tech giants like Microsoft, Cisco, and Google follow similar paths. Protection Moves into the Data Path Traditional cybersecurity has functioned as a wall around digital assets. A new approach is emerging: embedding protection directly into data management systems. This "in-line" security continuously monitors and safeguards data as it moves, is accessed, and is stored. Nearly every storage provider is doing something in this space. NetApp has integrated real-time malware scanning directly into their storage systems, automatically checking files for threats whenever they're saved or accessed, all without requiring separate security software or adding delays. IBM offers similar technology across its storage portfolio. Infinidat, the only storage vendor exhibiting at RSAC this year, takes an even bolder approach by offering actual guarantees around data recovery after a cyberattack. Its storage solutions include built-in capabilities ensuring organizations can recover data without paying ransom, backed by a financial guarantee with specific recovery time objectives. Pure Storage supports immutable snapshots and offers comprehensive SLAs for ransomware recovery in its Evergreen//One storage-as-a-service offering. Hewlett-Packard Enterprise recently announced similar capabilities for its B10000 Alletra storage systems. OT and the Edge: The New Security Frontier Operational Technology refers to the hardware and software that monitor and control physical equipment and processes. These systems run power plants, water treatment facilities, manufacturing lines, oil refineries, and transportation networks. For decades, these industrial systems were largely isolated from the internet, creating an "air gap" that made them difficult to hack remotely. That world has disappeared. Today's industrial facilities are rapidly connecting their operational systems to corporate networks and the internet, creating dangerous new attack surfaces. Unlike typical cyberattacks that might result in stolen data or financial losses, attacks on industrial systems can have physical, real-world consequences. Securing these environments requires specialized approaches: Asset Visibility: Organizations are investing in specialized tools to discover and monitor all industrial devices and systems OT-Specific Security: Implementing security technologies specifically designed for industrial systems Network Segmentation: Dividing networks into isolated zones to prevent attackers from moving from business systems to critical operational systems Supply Chain Security: Securing complex equipment and software supply chains against tampering and compromises A small but growing segment of the cybersecurity industry is dedicated to protecting these environments. Cisco's Industrial Threat Platform directly addresses these concerns, announcing new capabilities at RSAC. It integrates new threat intelligence from Cisco Vulnerability Management and provides new industrial zone protection in its Cyber Vision and Secure Firewall. TXOne Networks, a startup specializing in OT protection, showcased its Stellar endpoint protection solution. Stellar enables AI-powered threat detection, zero-trust segmentation, and real-time behavioral monitoring for OT environments. The Road Ahead: Cybersecurity's Evolution The trends highlighted at this year's RSA Conference paint a clear picture of cybersecurity's future. The industry is moving from isolated security tools to comprehensive platforms, from perimeter defenses to protection embedded in the data path, and from primarily digital concerns to securing the physical-digital intersection. Meanwhile, AI has introduced a complex three-dimensional challenge: it must be protected as a valuable enterprise asset, leveraged as a powerful defensive tool, and countered as a formidable weapon in attackers' arsenals. Enterprises that adapt to this new reality will be positioned to thrive in an increasingly connected world. Those that cling to outdated security paradigms may find themselves dangerously exposed. The message from RSAC 2025 is clear: cybersecurity is no longer just an IT concert but a fundamental business imperative requiring strategic investment and continuous evolution. As attack surfaces expand and threats grow more sophisticated, the most successful organizations will embrace these emerging trends and build security into every aspect of their operations. Robust cybersecurity is about more than just avoiding disaster; Cybersecurity is about enabling innovation and growth with confidence. Disclosure: Steve McDowell is an industry analyst, and NAND Research is an industry analyst firm, that engages in, or has engaged in, research, analysis and advisory services with many technology companies, including HPE, IBM, Infinidat, NetApp, Pure Storage, and SentinelOne. Mr. McDowell does not hold any equity positions with any company mentioned.

Your Mac is a marvel of modern engineering, offering a seamless blend of power and elegance. Yet, beneath its polished exterior lies a treasure trove of features that remain just out of reach for the average user. The MacPilot tool is designed to bridge this gap, granting you access to over 1,200 hidden functionalities without the need to delve into complex command lines or system files.​ Imagine being able to customize your Mac’s Dock by adding spacers and smart stacks or choosing to display hidden files in Finder with ease. Perhaps you’ve wished to silence the startup chime for a more discreet boot-up or change the default format of your screenshots to better suit your workflow. MacPilot makes these adjustments possible and straightforward through an intuitive interface that feels right at home on your Mac.​ Beyond these surface-level tweaks, MacPilot offers tools to optimize and repair your system. Running maintenance scripts, cleaning up logs, and resetting launch services can now be accomplished with a simple click, helping to keep your Mac running smoothly and efficiently. Additionally, MacPilot provides detailed system profiles, offering insights into your hardware’s specifications, from graphics card details to RAM speed, all consolidated in one convenient location.​ For those who appreciate having comprehensive information at their fingertips, MacPilot includes a built-in reference database. This feature allows you to look up network ports, error codes, and even keyboard shortcuts, eliminating the need for time-consuming online searches.​ Embrace the full capabilities of your Mac by integrating MacPilot into your toolkit. MacPilot is currently available for a one-time fee of $29.97 (reg. $99) when you use the code MAC10 at checkout—but only until June 1 at 11:59 p.m. PT, or while supplies last! StackSocial prices subject to change. _ MacPilot Lifetime License See Deal

Netflix will embrace AI-generated ads, whether we like it or not. The streaming service will roll out AI-generated ads in 2026 that will play in the middle of a show or whenever users hit pause for its ad-supported plans. During Netflix's Upfront event for its advertisers, Amy Reinhard, the company’s president of advertising, showed off the upcoming feature for interactive midroll and pause ads that use generative AI for custom content. We've come a long way since Netflix's origin story of mailing out DVDs starting in 1997 and transitioning to an ad-free streaming service. Now more than ever, it feels like Harvey Dent's famous quote from The Dark Knight about living long enough to become the villain rings true for Netflix. The streaming service's longevity in the industry could be attributed to making compromises, like including ads, that take away from its initial glory. In a poetic turn of events, The Dark Knight trilogy was added to Netflix's library on April 1. This won't be the first time Netflix dabbled with AI. Last month, Netflix offered regional users a new search feature that uses OpenAI to find something to watch. Looking beyond AI-generated ads in 2026, it's not likely that the company will slow down on finding new ways to generate revenue. "So if you take away anything from today, I hope it’s this: the foundation of our ads business is in place," Reinhard said during the Netflix event. "And going forward, the pace of progress is going to be even faster." The golden age of binge-watching an entire season of a Netflix show without ads could be a long-forgotten memory. Next year, don't be surprised if Netflix tempts you with a Baconator while you watch people succumb to the deadly consequences of Squid Games. If this eventual change has you rethinking your Netflix subscription, you can always cancel it or begrudgingly upgrade it to the Standard or Premium plans to avoid ads. Don't forget, Netflix has been steadily increasing subscription costs for its ad-free plans, which could push more users towards the standard plan with ads as the most accessible option.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/netflix-has-figured-out-a-way-to-make-ads-even-worse-using-ai-180623064.html?src=rss

What the new wave of new AI design and dev tools, — Bolt, V0, Lovable, and Figma Make — mean for the future of software design.Prompt by the author, image generated by Sora.This article builds on reflections I shared last July in The expanded scope and blurring boundaries of AI-powered design, outlining what’s changed in a short time, and what it means for those designing software and leading design teams.Like many others, I’ve been exploring tools like Bolt, Lovable, V0, and most recently Figma Make, looking at how they are changing the way we build software today, and what that means for the future. For those who may not know, these tools are part of a new wave of AI-powered design and development platforms that aim to speed up how we go from prompt to prototype, automating front-end code, generating UI from prompts, and bridging the gap between design and engineering. Bolt is now the second fastest-growing product in history, just behind ChatGPT.While the AI hype hasn’t slowed since ChatGPT’s launch, it’s quickly becoming apparent that these tools represent a step change, one that is rapidly reshaping how we work, and how software gets built.A example of the Bolt.new UI interfaceThis shift didn’t start with AIEven before the recent explosion of AI tooling, design teams have been evolving their approach and expanding their scope of impact. Products like Figma enabled more fluid communication and cross-disciplinary collaboration, while design systems and front-end frameworks like Material, Tailwind, Radix and other libraries helped codify and systematise best practices for visual design, interaction an accessibility.This enabled designers to spend more time thinking about the broader systems, increasing iteration cycles — and less time debating padding. While such tools and frameworks helped to elevate the baseline user experience for many products, in enterprise SaaS in particular, they have had their share of criticism from the resulting sea of sameness that they generated. AI tools are now accelerating and amplifying some of the consequences, both positive and negative. These products represent not just a tooling upgrade, but a shift in what design is, who does it, and how teams are built.Design has evolved from the design of objects, both physical and immaterial, to the design of systems, to the design of complex adaptive systems. The evolution is shifting the role of designers; they are no longer the central planner but rather participants within the systems they exist in. This is a fundamental shift — one that requires a new set of values— Joi Ito, MIT Media Lab (Jan 2016)What AI tools are making possibleThis new wave of AI tools can generate high-quality UIs from a prompt, screenshot, or Figma frame. Work that once required a multidisciplinary team and weeks of effort — from concept to coded prototype — can now happen in a matter of hours. Best practices are baked in. Layouts are responsive by default. Interaction logic is defined in a sentence. Even connecting to real data is no longer a blocker, it’s part of the flow.Lovable, one of the many new AI design and full-stack development tools launched recentlyThese tools differ from popular IDE-based assistants like Cursor, Copilot and Windsurf in both purpose and level of abstraction. UI-based tools like Bolt automate many of the more complex and often intimidating parts of the developer workflows; spinning up environments, scaffolding projects, managing dependencies, and deploying apps. That makes sense, given that many of them were built by hosting platforms such as Vercel and Replit.With this new speed and ease of use, designers don’t need to wait on engineers to see how something feels in practice. They can test ideas with higher fidelity faster, explore more variations, and evolve the experience in tight feedback loops.Figma Make: Start with a design and prompt your way to a functional prototype, fast — all in Figma.This shift has also given rise to what some are calling ‘Vibe coding’, a term coined by Andrej Karpathy, that captures this expressive, real-time way of building software. Instead of following a strict spec or writing code line by line, you start with a vibe or loose concept, and use these tools to sculpt the idea into something functional. You prompt, tweak, adjust components, and refine until it feels right. It’s intuitive, fast, and fluid.There’s a new kind of coding I call “vibe coding”, where you fully give in to the vibes, embrace exponentials, and forget that the code even exists. It’s possible because the LLMs (e.g. Cursor Composer w Sonnet) are getting too good.— Andrej KarpathyIn this new paradigm, the output isn’t just faster, it’s driven by rapid judgement and intuition, not necessarily depth of technical experience. In addition, the barrier to entry for non-designers to explore ideas has lowered too. Now that anyone can create compelling, usable apps with front-end and back-end logic, what does that mean for design?I would love to say that this means more time spent on outcomes and higher-impact work for designers, but it’s more likely to disrupt the foundations of what it means to be a designer. The boundaries between the classic product triad of design, engineering and product management were already blurring but this looks like it will accelerate even more.We are in the middle of a significant industry shift, we’re heading into a period of rapid, unpredictable change.. While testing some of these new AI tools, I have had several ‘oh shit’ moments where I get a sense of how things might evolve…. this is what copywriters and others in similar writing roles must have felt when ChatGPT first came out.The author, while vibe coding (image via Giphy)What this might mean for designAs UI generation becomes commoditized, the value of design shifts upstream. With that, the scope of what is expected from design will shift. Future designs team are likely to be smaller, and more embedded in product strategy. As companies grow, design functions won’t necessarily need bigger design teams, they will need higher-leverage ones.Meanwhile, designers and engineers will work more closely together — not through handoff, but through shared tools and live collaboration. In enterprise environments in particular, much of the engineering work is not so much about zero-to-one implementation but about working within and around established technical constraints. As front-end becomes commoditized, engineers will shift their focus further upstream to establishing strong technical foundations and systems for teams to build from.From years of experience to mindsetSome worry this shift will reduce opportunities for junior designers. It’s true there may be fewer entry-level roles focused on production work. But AI-native designers entering the field now may have an edge over seasoned professionals who are tied to traditional methods.In an AI-driven world, knowing the “right” design process won’t matter as much. Technical skills, domain expertise and a strong craft will still help, but what really counts is getting results — regardless of how you get there.The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence, it is to act with yesterday’s logic— Peter DruckerMindset will matter more than experience. Those who adapt fast and use AI to learn new domains quickly will stand out. We are already starting to see this unfold. Tobi Lutke, CEO of Shopify recently stated that AI usage is now a baseline expectation at Shopfiy. He went even further, starting that “Before asking for more headcount and resources, teams must demonstrate why they cannot get what they want done using AI”.This demonstrates that adaptability and AI fluency are becoming core expectations. In this new landscape, titles and years of experience will matter less. Designers who can leverage AI as a force multiplier will outpace and outshine those relying on traditional workflows or rigid processes.Speed isn’t everythingNote that I didn’t use the word taste, which many now describe as critical in the AI era. I cringe a little when I hear it — taste feels vague and subjective, often tied to the ‘I’ll know it when I see it’ mindset the design industry has been trying to shake off for years. While I get the intent, I prefer to describe this as judgment: the ability to make calls informed by experience and grounded in clear intent, shared principles, and a solid grasp of user and technical context — not personal preference or aesthetic instinct. When you can create infinite variations almost instantly, judgment is what helps you identify what’s truly distinct, useful and worth refining.What does this mean for designing within enterprise environmentsI lead the design team at DataRobot, a platform that helps AI builders create and manage agentic, generative and predictive workflows within large enterprises. We’ve been exploring how AI tools can augment design and development across the org.Screens from the DataRobot AI platformWhile these tools are great for initial ideation, this is often only a small part of the work in enterprise environments. Here, the reality is more complex: teams work within deeply established workflows, technical frameworks, and products with large surface areas.This differs from consumer design, where teams often have more freedom to invent patterns and push visual boundaries. Enterprise design is about reliability, scalability, and trust. It means navigating legacy systems, aligning with highly technical stakeholders, and ensuring consistency across a broad suite of tools.For us, one of the clearest use cases for AI tooling has been accelerating early-stage concepting and customer validation. While most of our focus is on providing infrastructure to build and manage AI models, we’ve recently expanded into custom AI apps, tailored for specialized workflows across a broad range of industries and verticals. The number of UI variants we would need to support is simply too vast for traditional design processes to cover.Some examples of DataRobot applications — both production and concept.In the past, this would have meant manually designing multiple static iterations and getting feedback based on static mocks. Now, AI tools let us spin up tailored interfaces, with dynamic UI elements tailored for different industries and customer contexts, while adhering to our design system and following best practices for accessibility. Customers get to try something close to the real output and we get better signal earlier in the cycle, reducing wasted effort and resources.In this context, the strict frameworks used by tools like V0 (like Tailwind) are an advantage. They provide guardrails, meaning you need to go out of your way to create a bad experience. It’s early days, but this is helping non-designers in particular to get early-stage validation with customers and prospects.This means the role of the design team is to provide the framework for others to execute, creating prompt guides that codify our design system and visual language, so that outputs remain on brand. Then we step in deeper after direction is validated. In effect, we’re shifting from execution to enablement. Design is being democratized. That’s a good thing, as long as we set the frame.Beyond the baselineAI has raised the baseline. That helps with speed and early validation, but it won’t help you break new ground. Generative tools are by their nature derivative.When everything trends toward average, we need new ways to raise the ceiling. Leadership in this context means knowing when to push beyond the baseline, shaping a distinct point of view grounded in reality and underpinned by strong principles. That point of view should be shaped through deep cross-functional collaboration, with a clear understanding of strategy, user needs, and the broader market.In a world where AI makes it easier than ever to build software, design is becoming more essential and more powerful. It’s craft, quality, and point of view that makes a product stand out and be loved.— Dylan FieldWhat to focus on nowFor individual contributors or those just starting out, it can feel daunting and difficult to know where to start:Start experimenting: Don’t wait for the perfect course, permission or excuse. Just jump in and run small tests. See how you can replicate previous briefs (or current briefs in parallel) in order to get a feel for where they excel and where they break.Look for leverage: Don’t just use these tools to move faster — use them to think differently. How might you explore more directions, test ideas earlier, or involve others upstream?Contribute to the system: Consider how you might codify what works to improve patterns, prompts, or workflows. This is increasingly where high-impact work will live.If you’re leading a design team:Design the system, not just the UI: Build the tools, patterns, and prompts that others can use to move fast.Codify best practices: Think how you might translate tribal knowledge into actionable context and principles, for both internal teams and AI systems.Exercise (your) judgement: Train your team to recognize good from average in the context of your product. Establish a shared language for what good means in your context, and how you might elevate your baseline.Final thoughtsThe UI layer is becoming automated. That doesn’t make design less important — it makes it more critical. Now everyone can ship something decent, but only a great team can ship something exceptional.AI might handle the pixels, but it’s just a tool. Design’s purpose is clearer than ever: understanding users, shaping systems, and delivering better outcomes. AI tools should amplify our capabilities, not make us complacent. This means that while we integrate them into our workflows, we must continue to sharpen our core skills. What Paul Graham said about writing applies equally to design.When you lose the ability to write, you also lose some of your ability to think— Paul GrahamThis article was written with the assistance of ChatGPT 4o.John Moriarty leads the design team at DataRobot, an enterprise AI platform that helps AI practitioners to build, govern and operate predictive and generative AI models. Before this, he worked in Accenture, HMH and Design Partners.Design in the age of vibes was originally published in UX Collective on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

My first memory of the Nintendo Switch is about as mundane as it gets. I don’t recall unboxing it, powering it on for the first time, or bringing it to a rooftop party. Instead, I see myself sitting in my ex’s living room on a random weekday. As they cooked, I sat quietly as I climbed atop of my first Divine Beast in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.  I don’t remember this because it was a triumphant achievement that showed off what kind of spectacle my new next-gen console could pull off; I remember it because I was very depressed. Recommended Videos While Nintendo was starting a meteoric rise in March 2017, I was hurtling towards the ground faster than Link with a depleted stamina wheel. I had just come off a stressful election year marred by a wave of beloved celebrity deaths. The world felt like it was coming to an end, an alarmist thought that especially felt true as a new administration wreaked havoc on the United States come March. My personal life wasn’t going much better. My ambitions were non-existent and I was locked into a day job career that I never wanted. I was becoming more despondent by the day and I could sense that a breakup was imminent. It would be months until I’d go to therapy for the first time in my life, so all of this pent up anxiety that I tried to keep quiet bled into my Joy-cons as I gripped onto them for dear life. Nintendo I find myself reflecting on this small moment now as the Nintendo Switch 2’s June 5 release date looms. For the first time in eight years, I’ll unbox a brand new Nintendo console on that day. Its internal storage will be empty. My Samus avatar won’t greet me when I boot it up because I won’t have logged into my account yet. The tablet will be a blank canvas that I will fill over the next eight years of my life one download at a time. And though it’s an arbitrary moment in time born from cold boardroom meetings and clinical earnings calls, I see the start of a new console era as an opportunity to reinvent myself too. If I look back through my life, I can map my development by the video game hardware I’ve owned. My Sega Genesis takes me back to the early days of my childhood spent playing Sonic the Hedgehog 2 with my brother before he got wrapped up in his own teenage  angst. The GameCube conjures countless memories of the formative high school years that I spent bonding with my close friends over rounds of Super Smash Bros. Melee. I’m back in college when I think about the Wii, navigating physicality for the first time in both my relationships at the time and the video games I was playing. Each console, each handheld tells countless stories about where I have been and how I have evolved alongside the tech that followed me there. That now weighs on me as I prepare to power down my Switch for what could be the final time in just a few weeks. My instinct has been to process that moment with a retrospective about the system, reflecting on the games that made it one of the best video game consoles of all time. Instead, I’ve found myself more and more focused on mapping my own generation. Who was I during this eight-year Switch era? What will be the snapshot I see when I think back to Super Mario Odyssey or Fire Emblem: Three Houses? Nintendo The answer doesn’t feel as simple as it once was when I was younger and console generations were shorter. I began that journey at rock bottom, hopeless and floundering amid societal collapse. The Switch would follow me through multiple breakups, several jobs, three apartments, the death of a close friend, and unprecedented moments in history that chipped away at my mental health. Just as the Switch is inseparable from a pandemic that defined its power, I can’t untangle those eight years from the waves of pain and uncertainty that washed over me between new game releases. If the Nintendo Switch 2 had launched in 2020, I’d be able to tell you with relative certainty that the Switch represented the worst years of my life. But eight years is a very long time, much longer than these hardware time capsules usually hang around. A period that long is bound to bring arcs, both for the console and its players. Nintendo kept steady while riding a wave of momentum shifts due to a changing landscape around it, but my ride was different. While I started at the bottom, playing Breath of the Wild as an escape from the world around me, I began to rise. I started therapy and got a better job months after the Switch released, just when everything was at its most hopeless. I made a more serious career pivot in 2020, landing a dream job that put me on the path to a career in video game writing I’d always thought was unobtainable. I eventually landed here at Digital Trends and made a name for myself writing work that I’m proud of. I stumbled my way through relationships only to land into something more secure and healthy. I hit a peak alongside the Switch in 2023, the same year it would release the double whammy of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Super Mario Bros. Wonder. When I look into my Switch’s display now, catching a glimpse of my reflection in the black screen, I see an era of rebuilding. These were eight years that threw the challenges of adulthood at me and dared me to overcome them. It felt impossible in the moment, but I’m still here. Maybe I’m just looking too closely to find patterns, but I see a direct parallel to that story and Nintendo’s own. Like me, Nintendo was listless in its Wii U era. It had no idea where to go after the Wii’s success, just as I didn’t know how to turn the creative fulfillment of my college days into something sustainable in adulthood. It too was at rock bottom when the Switch released, in desperate need of a second act. Nintendo got one, and so did I. If this is the start of a new era for Nintendo, who’s to say it can’t be another beginning for myself as well? But our lives don’t stay the same for very long. Ahead of the Switch 2’s launch, I find myself in a similar low to the one I was in back in 2017. History has repeated itself as a mentally taxing election year has yielded the same president that made my life hell for the Switch’s first four years on the market. The career I built for myself is one strong wind away from tilting over as games media endures an intense period of contraction, one that destroyed the website that gave me the dream job that catapulted me to success in 2020. Some days, I’m every bit as distant and despondent as I was back then. When I turn on my Switch 2 for the first time in a few weeks, it will feel cyclical in a way that’s bound to leave me overlooking just how much I’ve accomplished between launches. But I’m trying to approach it with a bit more hope this time. If this is the start of a new era for Nintendo, who’s to say it can’t be another beginning for myself as well? I know that I’m capable of climbing out of despair, even as the biggest forces in the world fight against me. There will be change. I will undoubtedly pack my things into 50+ boxes again in between playing levels of the latest Mario game. I will fall out of touch with some friends and gain some new ones. Perhaps I’ll miss Nintendo’s big Switch 3 reveal in 2033 because I’ll be too busy nursing an injured pigeon during my shift at a bird rehabilitation center. Maybe the Switch 3 won’t happen at all as Nintendo moves on to its next bright idea after a disappointing generation that calls for a creative overhaul. I can’t possibly know who I will be the moment I power my Switch 2 down for the last time. All I know is that Mario will probably be there at the finish line, looking not one day older than he does now while I greet him with a grayer beard. I’ll try not to be jealous of his eternal youth — some Italians just age better than others. Instead, I’ll embrace those differences, as grumpy as I no doubt will be in my middle age, as every change will be a sign that I’ve made it through another leg of an ongoing relay race. I’ll be ready to pass the controller to whichever version of me is up next when I get there.

Modern luxury embraces a quieter kind of elegance, one that leans into minimalism instead of extravagance. It reflects a way of living rooted in purpose, calm, and thoughtful design. These interiors blend sophistication with simplicity, avoiding clutter in favor of clean lines and refined choices. Every element serves a role, allowing essential details to shine. The outcome is a space that feels balanced, serene, and timeless. By combining minimalism with wellness and smart living, these interiors enhance not only the look of a space but also how it feels and functions. Through purposeful design, integrated technology, and a focus on mental clarity, you can introduce these design concepts to create a space and lifestyle that is calm, intentional, and elevated. 1. Infuse Timeless Elegance In luxury interiors, minimalism is more than an aesthetic as it represents a refined elegance achieved through restraint. These spaces are grounded in timeless design, where organic forms, soft curves, and clean lines establish a sense of harmony and visual rhythm. A thoughtful blend of ambient, accent, and task lighting shapes both function and mood. Sculptural fixtures and strategically concealed LEDs highlight textures, enhance the atmosphere, and elevate the space with quiet sophistication. Additionally, true luxury lies in incorporating timeless craft and craftsmanship where each element is thoughtfully designed and intentionally curated. Longchamp enters the world of home decor with its first furniture collection, created in collaboration with designer Pierre Renart. Known for its refined leather craftsmanship, the French fashion thoughtfully designed sculptural forms that merge elegance with motion. The collection captures a sense of flow with materials like leather and wood while pushing creative boundaries and embracing luxury minimalism. The Wave bench, is wrapped in cashew-toned leather and hovering above a fluid wood base. The Ruban chairs follow, with eight shades of leather including Longchamp’s signature Heritage and Lumière greens, creating a subtle rhythm of color and form. Though bold in design, each piece maintains an airy, effortless feel. Renart’s use of locally sourced French wood grounds the collection in sustainable values. inimal, and made to resonate with a new generation of design lovers. 2. Less is more Luxury minimalism embodies the “less is more” philosophy, crafting clutter-free spaces that strike a balance between beauty and purpose. More people are looking for homes that provide peace, comfort, and a place to relax in this fast-paced world. As a result, these interiors promote mindfulness and reduce stress. Clutter-free spaces are designed with built-in storage, functional furniture, and sophisticated designs. Every element serves a purpose, adding depth rather than clutter. The choice to invest in fewer, premium pieces creates an atmosphere that’s both inviting and thoughtfully composed. The outcome is a peaceful, nurturing space that supports intentional, present-day living. The Gont vase captures the essence of luxury minimalism with its clean lines and natural textures. Inspired by the structure of a pinecone, its layered plywood shell adds quiet complexity without visual clutter. The silhouette is sculptural yet subtle—perfect for modern interiors that value restraint. Inside, a cylindrical metal insert offers practical elegance for holding small, non-flowering trees. At just over a foot tall, the Gont belongs in well-lit spaces, where its geometric facets catch shifting light and cast bold, architectural shadows. 3. Consider Neutral Color Tones Neutral tones form the foundation of tranquility in luxury minimalist interiors. Shades of earthy brown, soft white, and warm cream blend seamlessly to evoke a sense of calm and openness. These hues work in harmony rather than in contrast, creating a light, balanced atmosphere that feels both expansive and serene. Texture brings these tones to life—through tactile materials like plush textiles, natural stone, and rich wood finishes. Finishes in brushed brass or matte black steel bring a sleek, contemporary contrast. The restrained palette ensures a clean, uncluttered look while adding subtle depth and character. 4. Use Natural Materials Luxury minimalism celebrates natural materials that blend aesthetic beauty with comfort and conscious living. Soft textiles, such as cotton, linen, silk, and wool, introduce warmth and tactile richness, while woods like oak, walnut, and ash lend a grounded, organic feel. Timeless stones like marble and granite add quiet sophistication to surfaces and statement accents. Each material is thoughtfully selected for its quality, durability, and enduring style. By prioritizing fewer, well-crafted pieces, this philosophy embraces sustainability and reduces excess. Richard Haining’s handcrafted chandelier is a refined statement in luxury minimalism, made from salvaged California Redwood once part of NYC’s iconic water towers. Measuring 36 inches across with ten dimmable LED bulbs, it offers a warm, ambient glow. Each wood segment is precisely stacked to reveal the grain’s natural beauty, creating a sculptural form that feels both grounded and elevated—organic elegance distilled into a functional centerpiece. Part of Haining’s STACKED Collection, the chandelier reflects a deep commitment to sustainability and thoughtful design. Sourced from pre-war buildings and local woodshops, the reclaimed materials are given new life through meticulous craftsmanship. The result is a one-of-a-kind piece that honors the texture, tone, and history of natural materials—minimalist in form, rich in story. Perfect for interiors that value quiet luxury, authenticity, and timeless design rooted in place. 5. Create an Indoor Outdoor Connect Luxury minimalism often dissolves the boundary between interior and exterior, fostering a seamless connection that enhances light, flow, and spatial harmony. Open floor plans play a key role, inviting natural light and fresh air to circulate freely. Expansive windows, sliding glass walls, and fluid transitions extend living areas outward, creating a biophilic atmosphere rooted in nature. Thoughtfully placed greenery—like sculptural indoor trees, succulents, or lush potted plants add softness, warmth, and a sense of life to the space. These elements not only elevate the aesthetic but also support wellbeing. The result is a tranquil, light-filled environment where simplicity, nature, and comfort exist in perfect balance. Geddes Ulinskas Architects deliver a masterclass in luxury minimalism with this 12,000 sq. ft. Cow Hollow residence in San Francisco. Defined by clean geometry and natural materials, the home centers around a cast glass staircase that is sculptural and serene, forged from molten glass over three months. Layered, glazed volumes create seamless indoor-outdoor transitions, framed by bronze ribbon windows and a floating roof supported by glass-wrapped columns. A 20-foot wooden door leads into refined interiors featuring hand-textured stone, warm wood, and blackened steel—all in a palette inspired by nature. Floor-to-ceiling sliding doors blur the boundary between garden and living space. Fabric-stretched ceilings conceal systems, maintaining smooth lines and quiet elegance. The home includes a theater, wine room, gym, 72-foot lap pool, and wellness spa with sauna and steam shower. A rooftop deck with a stone fire table offers panoramic Bay views—completing this restrained yet richly layered modern retreat. Luxury is more than décor—it’s also about comfort and staying in tune with the present. In minimalist homes, technology is discreetly integrated to enhance everyday living. Smart lighting, concealed audio systems, and touchless features offer modern convenience while preserving a clean, tranquil aesthetic.The post 5 Steps To Add Luxury Minimalism For Having Timeless Elegance And Smart Tech in Perfect Harmony first appeared on Yanko Design.

Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Forget traditional garden rows and Pinterest-perfect raised beds. A new wave of gardeners—fueled by the rise of “chaos gardening”—is embracing a freer, wilder approach. Culinary plants are breaking out of the vegetable patch and popping up in unexpected places: nestled in flower beds, tucked into sidewalk cracks, or spilling from upcycled containers.  What is chaos gardening—and why is it so popular? Chaos gardening is the ultimate plant-lover’s rebellion. It’s low-stakes, low-structure, and high-surprise—perfect for gardeners who crave creativity over control. By scattering seeds or tucking plants in overlooked spaces, growers often discover new, more sustainable ways to cultivate food. It’s also a celebration of adaptability. Culinary plants like mint, thyme, and garlic can thrive in unique microclimates or unconventional containers. Mushrooms can grow on food scraps. And grain? That can thrive in your front yard. Take it from Brie Arthur, a horticulturist and author who’s turned edible gardening into an aesthetic statement. “As an avid food grower, I love experimenting with unusual crops like fava beans, sesame, turmeric, and rice!” she says. “Grains are a fun and practical food crop to include in gardens and containers—they are beautiful, bountiful, and always spark conversation. Brie Arthur is a horticulturist and garden enthusiast. Image: Courtesy of Brie Arthur The case for culinary plants outside the garden box Planting edibles outside traditional beds isn’t just unconventional—it’s often more effective. Herbs like basil, parsley, and nasturtium attract pollinators, while tucking garlic near ornamentals can reduce pest pressure. Hardscapes and vertical spaces create microclimates where herbs thrive, and growing among flowers often disguises plants from hungry critters. Mushroom grower and educator Misilla dela Llana takes it a step further. She grows oyster mushrooms on food scraps like corn cobs, garlic stalks, coffee grounds, even wine corks and bamboo toilet paper. “So far, I’ve had great results from garlic stalks and corn cobs producing multiple flushes of mushrooms,” she explains. “The bamboo TP experiment resulted in beautiful bouquets of oyster mushrooms!” She’s also integrated wine cap mushrooms into raspberry and dahlia beds, where they decompose organic matter and nourish surrounding plants—an edible garden that feeds itself. Yes, you can grow edible mushrooms kind of anywhere. Images: Courtesy of Misilla dela Llana Where to tuck edibles: Creative planting spots In the Flower Bed Along Walkways and Driveways Under Shrubs or Trees In Containers You Forgot You HadWendi Phan. “I repurpose unexpected objects, elevate containers, and grow vertically to guide plants toward the sun.” Her DIY tall garden bed on wheels is a great example of how to make tight spaces productive. Climbing and Trailing Chaos with a purpose This gardening trend is more than quirky—it’s adaptive and empowering. Misilla’s garlic growing approach is wonderfully low effort. “While garlic is grown as an annual crop, it’s a perennial, and the bulbs can be left in the ground to multiply,” she says. She also grows garlic from bulbils, tiny clones that develop on the scapes of stiff-neck varieties. It’s slower but more economical and disease-resistant. Winter sowing, for example, lets gardeners get a jump on the season while building resilience. “Winter sowing saves time, money, work, and space,” says Misilla. “I’ve noticed that plants are hardier and more resilient when exposed to adverse conditions outdoors in the early stages.” In zones like the Pacific Northwest’s 8b, she starts as early as December using recycled milk jugs and other DIY cloches. Another creative and decorative example comes from Michelle Akbashev of Everyday Gardening Tips, who turns bay laurel into a container showpiece. “Bay laurel makes a surprisingly perfect centerpiece for your decorative container,” she says. “It’s not only beautiful but also edible, perfect for snipping fresh leaves right from a pot near your kitchen.” Paired with Primo Wild Rose Heuchera and Evercolor Everillo carex, her low-maintenance combo delivers year-round impact. Your yard, your rules If it grows and you enjoy it, you’re doing it right. Whether you’re harvesting cherry tomatoes from a hanging basket, cultivating mushrooms on corn cobs, or tucking thyme between stepping stones, edible gardening doesn’t need to follow the rules. So go ahead—scatter seeds, repurpose that rusty wheelbarrow, or plant garlic between your dahlias. Culinary plants are thriving in wild new places—and your garden can be one of them.

Anita Hofschneider & Ayurella Horn-Muller, Grist Published May 18, 2025 | Comments (0) | Newly elected Pope Leo XIV, Robert Prevost arrives on the main central loggia balcony of the St Peter's Basilica for the first time. © ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty Images On a sweltering January day in 2018, Pope Francis addressed 100,000 of the faithful in Puerto Maldonado, Peru, not far from where gold mining had ravaged an expanse of Amazon rainforest about the size of Colorado. “The native Amazonian peoples have probably never been so threatened on their own lands as they are at present,” he told the crowd. He simultaneously condemned extractive industries and conservation efforts that “under the guise of preserving the forest, hoard great expanses of woodland and negotiate with them, leading to situations of oppression for the native peoples.” Francis denounced the insatiable consumerism that drives the destruction of the Amazon, supported those who say Indigenous peoples’ guardianship of their own territories should be respected, and urged everyone to defend isolated tribes. “Their cosmic vision and their wisdom have much to teach those of us who are not part of their culture,” he said. To Julio Cusurichi Palacios, an Indigenous leader who was in the stadium that day, the words from the head of the Catholic Church — which claims 1.4 billion members and has a long, sordid history of violence against Indigenous peoples worldwide — were welcome and momentous. “Few world leaders have spoken about our issues, and the pope said publicly the rights of Indigenous peoples were historically violated,” he said after Pope Francis died last month. “Let us hope that the new pope is a person who can continue implementing the position the pope who passed away has been talking about.” During his 12 years as pontiff, Francis radically reshaped how the world’s most powerful religious institution approached the moral and ethical call to protect the planet. Beyond his invocations for Indigenous rights, Francis acknowledged the Church’s role in colonization, and considered climate change a moral issue born of rampant consumption and materialism. As the Trump administration dismantles climate action and cuts funding to Indigenous peoples around the world — and far-right politics continues to rise globally — experts see the conclave’s selection of Robert Francis Prevost, or Pope Leo XIV as he is now known, as a clear beacon that the faith-based climate justice movement his predecessor led isn’t going anywhere. In 2015, Pope Francis released his historic papal letter, or encyclical, titled Laudato si’. In the roughly 180-page document, he unequivocally identified planet-heating pollution as a pressing global issue disproportionately impacting the world’s poor, and condemned the outsize role wealthy countries like the U.S. have in contributing to the climate crisis. With it, Francis did what no pope had done before: He spoke with great clarity and urgency about human degradation of the environment being not just an environmental issue, but a social and moral one. Laudato si’ established the definitive connection between faith, climate change, and social justice, and made it a tenet of Catholic doctrine. The lasting influence of Francis’ encyclical would be buoyed by his other writings, homilies, and his direct appeals to world leaders. He was, for example, credited with helping rally nearly 200 countries to sign the 2015 Paris Agreement, regularly urged cooperation at international climate summits, and released a follow-up to his pioneering encyclical in 2023 that sounded the alarm in the face of the climate crisis. “Pope Francis routinely said that we have a throwaway society. We throw away people, we throw away nature … and that we really need a culture that’s much more based in care,” said Christopher Cox, executive director of the Seventh Generation Interfaith Coalition for Responsible Investment and a former priest. “That means care for people, especially the most poor, the most vulnerable, the most marginalized. And we also need much greater care for creation. We’ve been given a beautiful earth and we’re consuming it at a rate that goes far beyond what will be able to sustain life for the long term.” The first Latin American pope, Francis was unique in implicitly embracing some elements of liberation theology, a Catholic social justice movement that calls for the liberation of marginalized peoples from oppression. Although Francis was occasionally critical of the doctrine’s Marxist elements and never fully supportive of it, many observers see his statements regarding poor and Indigenous peoples as reflective of the doctrine’s central values. “Right from the beginning of his papacy, that outreach, that recognition of Indigenous ways of being Catholic and Indigenous language in Catholicism, heralded — up to that point — the most expansive official recognition of Indigenous contributions to Catholicism thus far,” said Eben Levey, an assistant professor of history at Alfred University who has studied the relationship between Catholic Church and Indigenous peoples in Latin America. In the centuries since conquistadores arrived in the Americas and forced Indigenous peoples to accept their religion, many Indigenous communities have made Catholicism their own, and a growing number of church leaders have embraced the idea that there are multiple ways of being Catholic and that Catholicism and Indigenous cultures can coexist. A year after becoming pope, Francis approved the use of two Mayan languages, Tzotzil and Tzeltal, in mass and sacraments like baptism and confession. In 2015 he expanded that list to include the Aztec language Nahuatl, and in 2016, during a visit to Mexico, he celebrated mass in Tzeltal, Tzotzil and Chol. In 2022, Francis officially apologized to Canada for the residential schools that ripped Indigenous children from their families, leading to the deaths of many who were later buried in unmarked graves. The following year, he rejected the Doctrine of Discovery, a religious concept that colonizers used to justify the illegal seizure of land from Indigenous peoples and became part of an 1823 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that described Native Americans as “savages.” “The Doctrine of Discovery is not part of the teaching of the Catholic Church,” Pope Francis said, adding that he strongly supports the global implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. He also drew a clear connection between those rights and climate action: In 2023, he made clear that Indigenous peoples are critical to fighting climate change when he said, “Ignoring the original communities in the safeguarding of the Earth is a serious mistake, not to say a great injustice.” But Pope Francis’ progressivism had its limits. In 2019, he called for a meeting of church leaders, known as the Synod of Bishops, for the Pan-Amazon region to address issues affecting the Amazon Basin. Indigenous Catholics who attended brought up illegal logging and violence against land defenders and proposed reforms. “The ancestral wisdom of the aboriginal peoples affirms that mother earth has a feminine face,” reads the document that emerged from the gathering and urged the church to give women more leadership roles and allow married deacons to be ordained as priests. In his response, Francis condemned corporations that destroy the Amazon as committing “injustice and crime,” yet refused to embrace the proposals to make church leadership more inclusive of women and married men. Francis’ climate activism was also riddled in constraint. He transformed how religious institutions viewed the climate crisis, framing a failure to act on it as a brutal injustice toward the most vulnerable, but could have implemented “more direct institutional action,” said Nadia Ahmad, a Barry University School of Law associate professor who has studied faith-based environmental action. Though the former pontiff publicly supported renewable energy adoption, called for fossil fuel disinvestment, and prompted churches across the world to go solar, he did not mandate what he deemed a “radical energy transition” across dioceses, schools, and hospitals. The work he accomplished “could have been amplified a bit more and had more accountability,” said Ahmad. But that limitation, she noted, likely stemmed from contradictory politics playing out within the church — many traditional, conservative Catholics, particularly in the United States, resisted Francis’ progressive teachings. A 2021 study found that over a period of five years, most U.S. bishops were “nearly silent and sometimes even misleading,” in their official messaging to parishioners about climate change and the pope’s famed encyclical. Though Pope Leo XIV has been lauded for his advocacy in defense of immigrants and worker rights — his namesake, Leo XIII, who reigned from 1878 until 1903 is known as a historical Catholic champion of social justice and equality — the new pope’s track record on engaging directly with climate change is sparse. Still, Mary Evelyn Tucker, co-director of the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology, sees comments the new pope made last year on the need to move “from words to action” as a promising sign that he will continue Francis’ commitment to communicating the urgency of a warming world. The timing of the conclave’s unprecedented decision to select the first pontiff from the United States, coming amid the Trump administration’s sweeping dismissal of climate action, elimination of environmental protections, and attacks on Indigenous rights, isn’t lost on her. “It may be a signal to say ‘America, come back into the world community, come back into a planetary future where we collectively have been working to create a future worthy of our children and our children’s children,’” she said. Leo grew up in Chicago and is a citizen of both the U.S. and Peru, where he spent decades serving as a missionary and bishop before Francis made him a cardinal in 2023. He speaks five languages fluently and some Quechua, an Indigenous Incan language. While he was working in Peru in the 1990s, Leo was critical of the government’s human rights abuses — though he refrained from explicitly taking sides in the political fight between Maoist rebels and the government of then-dictator Alberto Fujimori, according to Matthew Casey, a historian and clinical associate professor at Arizona State University based in Lima. Still, his reaction to the country’s authoritarianism could provide a glimpse of what stances he might take as pope, Casey said. “It doesn’t matter who was abusing human rights, he was on the side of the people,” he said. In 2016, the would-be pontiff spoke at a conference in Brazil where attendees talked about threats to the Amazon rainforest and Indigenous peoples who lived there. He praised Francis’ encyclical, describing the document as “very important,” and representing “something new in terms of this explicit expression of the church’s concern for all of creation.” To Casey, that suggests Pope Leo XIV, like his predecessor, has an awareness of the issues affecting Indigenous peoples, such as the rampant degradation of the environment. “Both Francis and Prevost are attuned to Indigeneity in ways that they couldn’t have been if they worked in Europe or the United States, because the politics of Indigeneity in Latin America are just so different,” Casey said. More than a week after the conclave that named him pope, communities across Peru are still celebrating the selection of Pope Leo XIV. Francis and Leo’s shared experiences working with marginalized communities harmed by colonialism and climate change, and their commitment to the social justice aspects of the church’s mission, are particularly meaningful in this political moment, said Levey, the Alfred University historian. “We are seeing a resurgence of ultra right wing politics globally, and the Catholic Church next to the United Nations is one of the few multilateral organizations perhaps capable of responding in some form or fashion to the questions of our modern age or contemporary moment,” he said. This article originally appeared in Grist at https://grist.org/international/pope-leo-climate-catholic-indigenous-francis/. Grist is a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future. Learn more at Grist.org. Daily Newsletter You May Also Like By Matt Novak Published February 18, 2025

"We’ve crushed fascism before and we’ll crush it again."Crushing FascismA 98-year-old World War II veteran, who served in the British Army, absolutely destroyed a Tesla vehicle with the license plate "FASCIM" in a recently shared YouTube video.As first spotted by Gizmodo, veteran Ken Turner used a Sherman tank, one of the most widely used tanks used by the US and its western allies against the Nazis in World War II, to turn a navy blue Tesla into a pancake.The video was uploaded by the British anti-Brexit and anti-conservative political group Led by Donkeys to send a clear message."Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, is using his immense power to support the far-right in Europe, and his money comes from Tesla cars," the group wrote in the video's caption. "We’ve crushed fascism before and we’ll crush it again." Tesla SmackdownThe symbolic stunt highlights Musk's embrace of extremist and racist views. The mercurial CEO has used his considerable platform to further unhinged conspiracy theories and spread hurtful anti-immigrant rhetoric.And who could forget president Donald Trump's post-inauguration celebration, during which Musk performed not just one but two Nazi salutes?He has appeared at a rally for the Alternative for Germany party — a growing, far-right nationalist contingency boasting ties to neo-Nazism — and attended meetings with Italian right-wing populist political party Lega.As a result, anti-Musk sentiment has soared, giving life to an international protest movement, dubbed "Tesla Takedown."It's a terrifying new predicament, with experts warning of the rise of technofeudalism, ruled by a tiny number of "broligarchs," like Musk.To some, it's an eerie deja vu of some of the darkest chapters in recent human history."I’m old enough to have seen fascism the first time around, now it’s coming back," said veteran Turner in the latest video — before crushing the Tesla in a tank.Share This Article

CRS79 Residence / OADSave this picture!© Alvis RozenbergsHouses•Riga, Latvia Architects: OAD - Open Architecture Design Area Area of this architecture project Area:  440 m² Year Completion year of this architecture project Year:  2024 Photographs Photographs:Alvis RozenbergsMore SpecsLess Specs Save this picture! Text description provided by the architects. The owners envisioned a home that is both discreet and bold, seamlessly blending into its natural surroundings while making a strong architectural statement. Nestled within a historic manor park, the landscape plays an integral role in the project - an element OAD saw as inseparable from the overall vision. In collaboration with Galantus, the landscape was meticulously designed to complement and enhance the architecture. From the street, the house remains nearly invisible, tucked behind a grassy embankment, while on the canal side, expansive windows and a rustic facade create a striking contrast. The design gradually reveals itself, beginning with a wild meadow garden where narrow, trimmed paths echo the organic flow of the architecture. As the building extends deeper into the property, its form evolves - what starts as a grounded volume rises into a more geometric composition, with the master bedroom appearing to float above the terrain in a futuristic, hovering design. Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!The architecture masterfully balances contrasting materials - concrete, corten steel, glass, and wood - to create a structure that is both sustainable and timeless. Large glass panels reflect the surrounding landscape, while clean, modern lines establish a sense of order and clarity. Ventilation windows are seamlessly concealed behind perforated trim panels, integrating function into form. The house is oriented south and designed without extended eaves, yet the holistic approach prevents overheating in summer. The layout ensures that the master bedroom is bathed in morning light, while the spacious west-facing terrace offers sunset views, shaded by a deep overhang that prevents excessive heat penetration. Skylights allow low winter sun to enter, optimizing natural warmth and illumination. Traditional window placement is reimagined, with unconventional openings becoming architectural focal points - treetops visually extend into corridors, and a low-set window frames water reflections, creating a calming, dynamic experience. Save this picture!Save this picture!The interior continues this harmony with nature while maintaining a sense of restraint and privacy. The elevated master bedroom provides sweeping views, while natural materials echo the surrounding landscape. The home's two levels clearly define a functional hierarchy: the living areas sit lower, while the master suite is elevated with a lower ceiling height to enhance energy efficiency. The minimalist approach extends to the finishes - predominantly wooden paneling, with exposed concrete surfaces left visible where they serve as structural elements. Every detail directs focus toward the landscape, with transparency reinforcing the connection to nature and curated art pieces adding personal significance. Strategically placed openings enhance the interplay of light throughout the day, while the refined material palette ensures a serene, timeless atmosphere. Save this picture!The interior embraces minimalist detailing, where privacy and human-centered design take precedence. This philosophy is also reflected in the hidden Japanese garden and the carefully positioned low window, drawing attention to the seamless symbiosis of architecture and natural elements. This house stands as a bold dialogue between modernism and nature, where thoughtful design and craftsmanship create a lasting connection between architecture, landscape, and the lives within.Save this picture! Project gallerySee allShow less About this office MaterialsSteelConcreteMaterials and TagsPublished on May 17, 2025Cite: "CRS79 Residence / OAD" 17 May 2025. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1029462/crs79-residence-oad&gt ISSN 0719-8884Save世界上最受欢迎的建筑网站现已推出你的母语版本!想浏览ArchDaily中国吗?是否 You've started following your first account!Did you know?You'll now receive updates based on what you follow! Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors, offices and users.Go to my stream