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In Hanoi, Vietnam—a city where the past and present coexist in a delicate, often chaotic dance—every alley, every faded French balcony seems to whisper stories of a different time. Yet as urban development surges forward, these voices are growing faint. Amid the construction dust and scaffold-covered facades, entire layers of the city’s architectural memory are quietly disappearing. Against this backdrop, the Architectural Association Visiting School Hanoi (AAVS Hanoi) is positioning itself not as a nostalgia project, but as a radical rethinking of what it means to preserve the urban past. Running from July 7 to 20, 2025 , the two-week program is not your average summer architecture course. Organized by the prestigious Architectural Association School of Architecture (AA) in London, AAVS Hanoi turns away from conventional heritage narratives to focus instead on what it calls “experimental preservation.” This means turning a critical eye toward 20th-century buildings that exist far ...

In the early summer light of Venice, where winding canals brush against ancient brick walls, a quiet yet powerful architectural gesture has taken shape in the Arsenale. As part of the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, the Circularity Handbook and its accompanying spatial installation—conceived and developed by the design collective PILLS—offer more than just visual spectacle. They propose a shift in how we think about architectural exhibitions: not as disposable showcases, but as living, reusable ecosystems. The Circularity Handbook isn’t just another printed guide for visitors. It is a strategic manual rooted in circular design thinking, created specifically for the Biennale’s participants. Its focus is on sustainability through the entire lifecycle of an exhibition—from materials sourcing and construction to teardown and reuse. Developed by PILLS in collaboration with a multidisciplinary team including JIN ARTS, typo_d, Archi-Neering-Design / AN...

 Intel’s stock has been on a turbulent journey recently, reflecting deep uncertainty about the company’s future direction under its newly appointed CEO Lip-Bu Tan. The report that Tan is weighing a major shift in the firm’s chip manufacturing strategy—from focusing on the advanced “18A” node to the next-generation “14A” process—has sent ripples through the market. Investors are grappling with the prospect of billions of dollars in potential write-downs, as the company might need to absorb heavy development losses to reposition itself for competitiveness in the cutthroat semiconductor industry. This scenario is not just about numbers on a balance sheet; it underscores the challenges of transforming a legacy tech giant in an era defined by innovation speed and relentless competition. The stock’s reaction was immediate and telling. On the news, Intel shares plunged about 4% in a single trading session, reflecting investor fears about the cost and complexity of such a strategic pivot....

 The U.S. labor market in June presented a picture that on the surface appears surprisingly robust, with headline figures showing stronger-than-expected job growth and a lower unemployment rate. Employers added 147,000 jobs—significantly exceeding the forecasted 110,000—while the unemployment rate dropped unexpectedly from 4.3% projected to 4.1%. These numbers might initially evoke a sense of optimism, yet a deeper look reveals a nuanced story of underlying shifts and potential vulnerabilities shaping the employment environment. The resilience shown in June is particularly notable considering the private sector’s report of 33,000 jobs lost within the same month. This paradox highlights that gains were concentrated in specific public sectors such as state and local government and healthcare, sectors often viewed as more stable or cushioned from economic cycles. A public school teacher friend recently remarked how the local school district had increased hiring this summer to cover b...

As urban land becomes increasingly scarce and residential spaces continue to shrink, garden enthusiasts are learning to cultivate greenery in creative new ways. For those living in apartments, townhomes, or with only a tiny backyard, “growing upward” rather than outward has become more than a trend—it’s a lifestyle. Vertical gardening offers an elegant solution, turning blank walls, fences, balconies, and other vertical surfaces into lush, living canvases. For Katherine, a homeowner in Portland, transforming the cold wooden fence in front of her home into a vibrant vertical garden has been one of her proudest achievements of the past year. Using metal brackets and repurposed tin containers, she created a wall of herbs, pansies, and petunias. On summer evenings, she pulls up a folding chair and relaxes beside her handmade oasis, occasionally plucking a few basil leaves for that evening’s pasta. At its core, vertical gardening is all about giving plants a higher dimension to thrive. St...

 The recent decision by the United States to lift export restrictions on chip design software sales to China marks a significant turning point in the ongoing trade dynamics between two of the world’s largest economies. This move, reversing the curbs imposed just a few months earlier in May, has sent ripples through the semiconductor industry and global markets, signaling a nuanced shift in the complex interplay of geopolitics, technology, and commerce. Major players like Synopsys, Cadence Design Systems, and Siemens AG have swiftly responded, restoring access to critical software and technology that underpin the global chip design ecosystem. This policy reversal is emblematic of the delicate balance Washington and Beijing are striving to maintain amid broader trade negotiations and strategic competition. The semiconductor sector, often referred to as the backbone of modern technology, relies heavily on sophisticated design software that enables the creation of increasingly complex...

In the quiet suburbs of Long Island, New York, garden designer Conni Cross has spent over three decades cultivating a private garden that she calls her “living work of art.” For Conni, a garden is far more than a collection of plants—it’s a thoughtful dialogue between space, time, and lifestyle. Her philosophy is echoed by designers across the U.S. and Europe, each adding their own cultural flavor, from the drought-tolerant gardens of California to the romantic perennial borders of Southeast England. Many garden lovers can relate to this: you walk into a nursery, see a bloom that steals your heart, and take it home on impulse. But Conni gently reminds us that the best gardens are built on intention, not impulse. Especially when it comes to trees and foundational shrubs—these are the anchors of your garden, akin to the foundation of a home. In her own garden, a white ash tree that started as a slender sapling now towers majestically, a living witness to decades of design, pruning, and ...