design

Jony Ive’s design makes his position on screens clear

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“A large touch screen it doesn’t work in a car. That is unquestionable.” This is how blunt Jony Ive was recently. in an interview published by Top Gear. We are not only talking about the former head of Apple design, but also about the figure that Ferrari has turned to, along with LoveFromto shape the interior of the Luce, the first production electric vehicle in its history. The movement is not minor: it has an enormous symbolic load for the brand and, at the same time, it opens the door to a proposal that seems to move away from one of the most repeated formulas in the industry. Now, in addition, we know a little better where that path goes. After a few first previews published in FebruaryFerrari has once again shown the interior of the Luce in a new video and this time the material is much more useful to understand what the brand is trying to do. The first glance already suggested that we were not looking at a conventional cabin and opened the door to very different readings. This second tour, however, allows us to go a little further than the initial impression: it is no longer just about seeing a striking design, but about beginning to understand how Ferrari wants the driver and car to relate to this long-awaited vehicle. The interior of the Ferrari Luce points just in the opposite direction to the screen fashion If we look atwhat Ferrari teaches in this second tourthe interior of the Luce seems built around a fairly clear idea: returning prominence to physical interaction. The central screen is present, yes, but it does not dominate the dashboard nor is it presented as the absolute great center of the car; in fact, it appears integrated next to physical controls for various functions. Added to this is a digital display behind the steering wheel organized into three configurable dials and an ignition sequence that starts when a specific key is inserted into the center console. The video, however, does not allow us to categorically state that there is no tactile interaction, but everything points in that direction. Ive’s words help us read this proposal much more precisely. In his recent conversation with Top Gear he stated that the large touch screen not only seems like a debatable solution, but also directly unsuitable for real use inside a car. He even defined it as an “easy” and “lazy” response. If we take that frame and look at the Luce video again, the idea gains coherence. If we look back, a good part of the industry has followed the same idea of ​​modernity for years: fewer buttons, more screen surface and almost all functions concentrated in a large central panel. Tesla had a lot to do with that turn. Not only did it help turn the electric car into a desirable product, it also pushed a very specific way of understanding the interior. That is why Ferrari’s movement is so interesting. Just when it is time to enter this new stage, it seems to have preferred explore a different direction. Ferrari points out that It will be an electric car with a 122 kWh battery, 880 volt system and a range of close to 530 kilometers according to European tests. The video, for its part, shows 0 to 100 km/h in 2.5 seconds. There is, however, one big piece that remains to be fully revealed: its final exterior appearance. The launch will arrive on May 25 in Maranello, before starting production at the end of 2026 and deliveries at the beginning of 2027. There will be time to discuss whether this bet ends up working as well in practice as it suggests on paper. But what Ferrari has revealed so far already allows us to draw a provisional conclusion: the Luce does not want to limit itself to being the first electric car in the house, it also aspires to open a different conversation about how a car should feel inside. And that, in an industry that for years has pushed almost en bloc towards total screen, is already quite significant. In Xataka | We have normally accepted that cars have become rolling screens. China is tired

There is a spontaneous competition to design the “Flag of Humanity.” And the best design is an engraving of Voyager

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It is more than seen and proven that borders and flags sometimes become the focus of conflicts and enmities. The fact of seeing our own planet from the outsidethrough the images taken by Artemis II, helps us understand that, deep down, we are all part of the same whole. A whole that still does not have its own flag. Therefore, for many years now and then someone has proposed a single flag for all of humanity. Now, with everything related to the trip to the Moon, the proposals are once again reaching social networks. The first proposal. In 1970, an Illinois farmer named James Cadle, inspired by the landing of humans on the Moon on Apollo 11, decided to create a flag that represented our entire planet. The result was a simple flag, easy to reproduce, in which the Earth is seen as a blue marble, accompanied by a smaller white one, representing the Moon. The background was yellow and black, in honor of the Sun and the blackness of space. The flag was first raised on a rural power pole that Cadle himself climbed, but has since been part of several space projects. More minimalist concepts. Continuing with the minimalist and, above all, unifying concepts, in 2000 the Danish designer Anne Kirstine Rønhede designed a new flag of Earth. This time there was also a light blue marble, surrounded by a white border representing its atmosphere and a darker blue background representing the cosmos. A symbol of unity. In 2015, Swedish designer Oskar Pernefeldt created another flag of Earth. Seven linked circles are represented, one for each continent. It is hoped that it can be used as a symbol of Earth on future missions to Mars. Science enters the scene. The arrival on the Moon of Artemis II has inspired more people to look for a flag that represents us as a planet. And since it was science that got us there, the most recent proposals focus precisely on it. The pioneers in this type of messages were Frank Drake and Carl Saganwho in the 70s decided to compose messages that combined the scientific knowledge of humanity to launch them into space in search of possible intelligent life. This is how the Pioneer Plaque emerged, a physical gold-anodized aluminum plate that was attached to the Pioneer 10 and 11 probes, in case an alien civilization intercepted the ship. To cover more space, they also designed a radio message, which was named the Arecibo message. It was a signal transmitted through the Arecibo radio telescope, hence its name. A flag based on the Pioneer Plaque. Recently, 2D and 3D designer braingrub has proposed in your X account an Earth flag based on one of the components of the Pioneer Plaque. This is the pulsar map, a diagram that indicates our exact location in the Milky Way. Pulsars are a type of star that is used to map space, because they emit radio rays at very regular and specific periods. Like a unique lighthouse. On the map there are 14 lines that indicate different pulsars located around the Earth. Each line also contains symbols that indicate, in binary, the exact pulse of each of these pulsars. Thus, through its unique pulse, you can find those headlights and, through the relative distance represented in the lines, find the Sun, which is the point at which all of them converge. From the Sun to the Earth, everything would be simpler for an intelligent civilization. An ideal moment. It is not surprising that this is one of the most interesting Earth flag proposals that we can find on the Internet. Without a doubt, the concept is very suggestive, especially in a time when we increasingly see how much we lack unity as humanity. Images | NASA | James Cadle | Anne Kirstine Rønhede | Oskar Pernefeldt |braingrub In Xataka | Artemis II has five different hot sauces on board: the reason is a radical change in what we consider “space food”

reproduce an Arabic design from a thousand years ago

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Luxury car manufacturers know that some of their millionaire customers They are going to make special requests to customize your cars. In fact, at Rolls-Royce they are these “whims” are so common They have even had to expand their customization workshop. However, there are requests that exceed any expectations. Rolls-Royce just presented he Phantom Arabesquea unique car in the world that reached its owner from the Middle East after five years of hard work in the brand’s workshops. It’s not that it took them five years to make it: it’s that they took that long just to perfect a completely new technique just to decorate the hood. The most curious thing is that the design that decorates the hood is more than a thousand years old. An Arabic design transferred to metal The result of five years of testing and development by Rolls-Royce is the first laser-engraved bonnet in the history of the brand, and of motorsport. In fact, it is such an innovative process that the brand has patented it. The reason for such a deployment of R&D is a client’s request from the Middle East who asked the brand to decorate the hood of their new Phantom with a design present in Arab architecture for more than a thousand years. Inspiration comes from mashrabiyaa classic element of Middle Eastern architecture that consists of a carved wooden lattice placed on windows and facades whose function is triple: to provide privacy, let in light and allow air circulation to cool the buildings naturally. A solution as elegant as it is functional, developed centuries ago and which today appears laser engraved on the hood of one of the most exclusive cars in the world. This Phantom Extended was ordered through the Dubai Private Office, one of five “private offices” that Rolls-Royce maintains in strategic luxury destinations. In the Rolls-Royce statement, the project’s chief designer, Michelle Lusby, explains that the objective went beyond the visual. “Mashrabiya is one of the Middle East’s most well-known and enduring design languages. For the Phantom Arabesque, we were inspired not only by its beauty, but also by the privacy, light and airflow it creates. Our goal was to interpret those qualities in ways that felt both culturally rooted and unmistakably Rolls-Royce.” Five years shooting lasers at a hood The hood design of this exclusive unit It is not a simple paintingbut has been subjected to a technical process as elaborate and precise as the design of the Arab lattices itself. First, a dark paint is applied to the hood, several layers of clear varnish are sealed, which will serve as a base for the work of art. It is then finished with a lighter top coat. The laser is fired on this last layer, reproducing the mashrabiya pattern at a depth of between 145 and 190 microns. Enough to affect this last layer of paint and showing the dark tone of the underlying paint. The effect is a surface with a three-dimensional texture that changes its appearance depending on how the light hits it and that can also be perceived by touch since, in fact, the design is sculpted on the paint. The technique is inspired by sgraffito (sgraffito) Italian, an artistic practice of revealing contrasting layers of color by precisely removing the upper surface. Adapting it to the body of a Rolls-Royce and giving it the precision required by a design as complex as that of arabesque architecture, required five years of work by the brand’s Exterior Surfaces Center, where new materials and paints are developed and then used. on such exclusive orders like those of this Phamtom Arabesque. Tobias Sicheneder, general manager of that department, sums it up: “laser engraving allows us to create a surface that is both technically precise and visually alive. The Phantom Arabesque is the first example of a technique that opens up completely new creative possibilities for future customers.” The mashrabiya pattern is not limited to the hood: it also appears on the illuminated door sills, which reproduce a cross section of the engraved design, and hand-embroidered in black on the leather of the front and rear headrests Without a doubt, a unique piece as well as its price will have been unique. In Xataka | Rolls-Royce wanted to make its Specter more scoundrel and sporty: the result is a limited edition that costs $490,000 Image | Rolls-Royce

Two centuries ago the tires on cars and motorcycles were white. It had nothing to do with the design.

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It is more than likely that, in some of the American films you have seen inspired by the last century, you have seen cars or motorcycles with a white stripe on their tires Today, some companies still implement them as a nod to the past. What you may not know is that the only reason the wheels weren’t completely black was to… save a few bucks. As explained in Motorpasion, no tire (neither motorcycle nor car) was born as black as they are now. Between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the following century, tires were white, light gray or beige. If you search any car from the 19th century You can check it easily. This was because natural rubber is naturally light in color. But of course, rubber cannot become a tire as it leaves the tree; it must be heated with sulfur so that it is able to withstand the heat of the asphalt, withstand weight and friction, and behave as expected in a tire. To achieve this, the rubber was “cooked” using a technique called vulcanization, a process that bleached the material even more and ended up producing clear, non-durable tires. The big change came with the introduction of a very specific material: carbon. With its arrival, tires became more durable and resistant, since this material reinforced the rubber structure. There was only one problem: it was very expensive. For this reason, during the early 20th century, tire manufacturers opted for a mixed solution: the critical part (the tread that directly contacts the ground) was made with rubber and carbon, the rest without it. The result was this: tires with said black stripe and the rest in white. As carbon became cheaper, tires became completely black as we know them now, but some manufacturers (mainly motorcycle manufacturers) maintain white treads to give their tires a retro feel. It is the case of some Mitas tires for Harley-Davidson. Yes indeed, through the forums they comment the price to pay for this hesitated retro: you have to constantly clean the tread if you want it to remain white. Image | Harley-Davidson In Xataka | I was about to buy the best-selling Chinese motorcycle in Spain. Until I read the fine print

Brussels points to its “addictive design” and calls for changes

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Maybe TikTok be one of the many applications installed on your mobile. It’s even likely that in recent days you’ve found yourself swiping almost without realizing it through a flood of videos competing for your attention. However, the European Commission does not look favorably on some of the dynamics of this social network, and everything indicates that the experience as we know it could change sooner rather than later. Addictive design. Brussels has focused on what it considers a possible “addictive design.” In a statement published this Fridaythe Commission points out several functions of the platform that, in its opinion, respond to a constant reward mechanism guided by the algorithm, something that “encourages the need to continue browsing and activates the ‘autopilot’ mode in platform users.” With the focus on minors. The executive arm of the European Union maintains that the company would not have taken into account relevant indicators of compulsive use, such as the time that minors spend on TikTok during the night, the frequency with which they open the application or other similar parameters. Added to this is the risk that “minors have an experience that is inappropriate for their age due to a misrepresentation of their age.” Insufficient measures. The community evaluation preliminarily concludes that the platform “does not appear to implement reasonable, proportionate and effective measures to mitigate the risks derived from its addictive design.” According to the Commission, current screen time management and parental control tools are not sufficiently effective: in the first case, because they can be easily circumvented; in the second, because they require additional skills on the part of the parents for their activation. The changes sought by the Commission. Beyond the diagnosis, Brussels also makes clear what kind of changes it hopes to see. In this phase, the Commission considers that TikTok would have to tweak basic elements of its design, such as progressively deactivating functions associated with continuous consumption (including infinite scroll), introducing truly effective pauses of use, also during the night, and adjusting its recommendation system. The objective would be to mitigate the risks that the analysis itself links to the current operation of the platform. How we got here. The origin of this research is found in the Digital Services Law (DSA), approved in 2022 to impose stricter obligations on large platforms operating in the European Union. The procedure against TikTok began on February 19, 2024 and is still ongoing, so there is still a long way to go before a final decision is made. As in any process of this type, the company has the right to defend itself. TikTok may examine the file and respond in writing to the preliminary conclusions. If these are confirmed and the company does not take the necessary measures, it could face a penalty of up to 6% of its global annual turnover. The company has already reacted. In an email sent to Xataka, TikTok’s Spanish office states that “the Commission’s preliminary conclusions present a categorically false and totally unfounded description of our platform, and we will take all necessary measures to challenge these conclusions by all means at our disposal.” Topic of the moment: social networks. All this occurs in a European context that is increasingly demanding with the use of social networks by minors. France has taken the first step to prohibit access to minors under 15 years of agewhile in Spain The Government of Pedro Sánchez is working on a similar measure with the intention of setting the limit at 16 years.. Images | Guillaume Perigois | Eyestetix Studio In Xataka | The science of “doomscrolling”: how technology hacked psychology so we can’t let go of our phones

Its design will not go unnoticed from the air

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In Bishoftu, about 40-45 kilometers from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia is already moving earth for a project that aims high in every sense. Ethiopian Group has officially started work on a new airport that, according to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Aliwill be “the largest aviation infrastructure project in African history” when completed. But size is not the only message: Zaha Hadid Architects It proposes a gigantic terminal with the approximate shape of an X, a visual signature that also responds to a functional idea, making the passenger’s journey more intuitive within a complex designed to grow in phases. Ambition is no longer counted only in renders. The difference here is that this is no longer an idea: the works have begun and the plan arrives with a budget, deadlines and a defined operational design. Reuters places the project at $12.5 billion and confirms that Ethiopian has officially started construction, with the idea of ​​completing it in 2030. The group behind the state airline is not only promoting the work: it will also be in charge of the design of a planned complex with four runways, a detail that anticipates the operational scale it seeks to achieve. When the form is also logistics. As we say, the terminal in X works as an aesthetic statement, yes, but the architecture studio insists in that it is also a circulation decision. The firm explains that the docks are connected to a central axis that runs through the building and that this organization aims to reduce transfer distances, something key in an airport that aspires to manage large volumes of passengers. This is inspired by Great Rift Valley and that each dock will have its own identity in materials and color palette to reflect the diversity of the country. The key figures. Reuters reports that the airport is designed with capacity for 110 million passengers per year and space to park 270 airplanes, a leap that multiplies by more than four the capacity of the country’s current main airport. In a first phase scheduled for 2030, there will be a 660,000 square meter terminal and two runways, designed to serve 60 million passengers per year. An airport on the limit. This plan is not only born from an ambition for image or regional leadership, but also from an operational need. It turns out that the country’s main airport will reach its limits with current traffic in the next two or three years. This information explains why Ethiopia is not talking about tweaks or expansions, but rather about building a new airport hub relatively close to the capital. For Ethiopian Airlines, considered the largest African operator, the equation is as simple as it is forceful: without physical capacity, there is no way to sustain the business. Architecture designed for the climate. Zaha Hadid Architects maintains that the project aims for LEED Gold certification and that part of the strategy involves passive resources: natural ventilation, shading and semi-open spaces that take advantage of the climatic conditions of the area. Added to this is a package of more industrial measures, from solar panels to produce energy on the premises itself to water management designed for an infrastructure of this size. Terrestrial connectivity. The project includes linking the new airport with Addis Ababa and Bole airport through a high-speed line, a key element if the infrastructure wants to operate as an integrated system and not as an isolated piece. We are looking at a design that has been designed for a high volume of connections, with the expectation that 80% of travelers will be in transit without leaving the airport. That is why specific services are contemplated for long stopovers, from a hotel in the air zone to restaurant offerings and outdoor spaces with local vegetation. Images | Zaha Hadid Architects In Xataka | Spain has been dreaming of a megatunnel with Morocco for decades. To no one’s surprise, he will not be there for the 2030 World Cup

Meta, Google, TikTok will go to the bench for “addictive design”

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Today The selection of the jury that will judge Meta, TikTok and YouTube begins in Los Angeles due to childhood addiction to social networks. It is the first time that these technological giants have to defend their business model in court for damages to minors. Why is it important. This is not just another case of inappropriate content or poor moderation. This lawsuit directly attacks the design of the platforms: scroll infinite, autoplay, notifications push and algorithms that maximize screen time. If the plaintiffs win, a precedent is set that could be devastating for the entire industry. The facts. The plaintiff is a 19-year-old girl identified as KGM. She claims to have developed an addiction to networks since she was a teenager. He maintains that the design of these applications was what fueled his depression, anxiety, body dysmorphia and suicidal thoughts. Meta, TikTok and YouTube have denied these accusations and argue that they have invested in security tools. During the six weeks of the trial, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, and Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, will testify. Snap, also initially accused, reached an out-of-court settlement last week for an amount not publicly disclosed. Between the lines. The plaintiffs’ key argument avoids the traditional protection of technology companies: the famous Section 230which exempts them from responsibility for the content uploaded by users. But here the question is not what is published, but rather how the experience was designed to engage minors. The lawsuit openly compares it to slot machines and the tobacco industry: “Defendants deliberately embedded in their products a series of features designed to maximize the engagement youth and increase advertising revenue. The threat. This is just the tip of the iceberg. There are more than 3,000 additional lawsuits in California and 2,000 federal cases pending against these same companies. Several will go to trial this year. The parallels with the trials against tobacco companies in the 90s They are clear and that ended in an agreement of 206,000 million dollars spread over 25 years. A favorable verdict for the plaintiffs would not only cost them billions but would force them to redesign their products practically from scratch, eliminating the addictive mechanics that sustain their spectacular usage figures and therefore their advertising models. The context. Global regulatory pressure has increased greatly in recent years: Australia banned social media for those under 16 in December. France is studying doing the same with those under 15. Other countries such as the United Kingdom and Egypt are currently evaluating similar measures. According to a recent survey by Wall Street Journal71% of Americans would support banning most social networks for those under 16 years of age. Yes, but. The technological they don’t sit idly by: Meta, TikTok and YouTube have launched a public relations offensive by organizing workshops for parents in schools and promoting parental controls. Meta has hired the same lawyers who defended McKesson in the opioid scandal. And TikTok has signed those who represented Activision Blizzard in Previous Lawsuits About Video Game Addiction. At stake. If KGM wins, Section 230 will cease to be the impenetrable shield it has been until now, since it questions how the applications are made, not the content that is uploaded to them. Hopefully this case will end up in the Supreme Court, whatever the verdict. The next six weeks will determine if the scroll infinite and other common practices of these networks have their days numbered, or if there are engagement for a while. In Xataka | An eternally unfocused generation: “I can’t do anything for more than fifteen minutes without looking at my phone” Featured image | Solen Feyissa

Your design teams no longer report to design

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Tim Cook has placed John Ternussenior vice president of hardware engineering, will lead Apple’s design teams from the end of 2025. The move has not been officially announced and internal and external organizational charts do not reflect it yet, but Mark Gurman has made it public on Bloomberg. Ternus now acts as an “executive sponsor” of all design at Apple. Manages communications between the design team and executive leadership, and represents design in leadership meetings. Decisions are still made by consensus among senior managers, but Ternus now has more influence than any other hardware chief in Apple’s recent history. Why is it important. Only Apple’s most prominent figures have supervised design. Jony Ive did it until 2019. Cook briefly between 2015 and 2017. AND Jeff Williams from 2019 until its retirement in 2025. Ternus now joins that list. The difference is very notable: Ive was a designer, Williams came from operations and Ternus comes from product engineering, where his work has consisted of converting other people’s designs into manufacturing products. Now he is the one who oversees both phases: how the products look and how they work. Between the lines. Apple has gone years without major aesthetic revolutions in its main products. The iPhone has maintained a similar visual structure for several generations. He air It is fine as a recent exception, but otherwise the same. Macs have converged on a predictable, established design language. Apple’s recent innovation has focused on its own chips, integrating hardware, software and services; and in supply chain optimization. Exactly the areas where Ternus has excelled. Placing him at the forefront of design certifies that at Apple execution increasingly matters more than aesthetics. The company seems to have accepted that its years of visual leadership give way to another stage and that its competitive advantage lies in systems engineering and the optimization of each component. Yes, but. Design is still important to Apple, but it is no longer the department that sets the course. Ternus is not a designer and Cook “keeps his distance from design decisions,” according to sources from Bloomberg. Craig Federighi and Greg Joswiak They maintain a voice in Apple’s overall aesthetic. Some company executives, as reported by Gurman, fear that Ternus is too risk-averse and uncharismatic. His main strength is his strong knowledge of the supply chain and attention to detail, but not the conceptual vision that Ive brought. Marking agenda. This move consolidates Ternus as big favorite for Cook’s succession. At 50, he is Apple’s youngest senior executive and Cook is exposing him to more and more areas of the company. Apple has increasingly positioned him as the public face of the business. Cook turned 65 in November. Although there appear to be no imminent plans to retire, succession planning is part of his responsibilities. And the signs are becoming clearer. Featured image | Carles Rabadà on UnsplashApple In Xataka | John Ternus, vice president of Apple: “The iPhone Air had been in development for years, but we had to say ‘no’ until now”

why interior design occupies the place of fashion today

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There was a time when status was measured by the cut of a lapel or the logo on a handbag. Today, the true statement of intent is not in the closet, but on the living room shelf. The scene is typical: a dinner at home does not begin until the table, perfectly “staged”, has been captured by the lens of a smartphone. Decoration is the new language of identity; a space where we project who we are with the same urgency with which we previously chose a outfit to go out into the street. The exposed shelter. The border between private and public has jumped into the air. If before the home was the place where “we took off our shoes”, now it is the stage where we “put on the filter.” An example of this phenomenon It’s the rise of the breakfast nook. What started as a functional gesture to organize cups and coffee makers has ended up being a “symbol of the aspirational home” that floods our morning stories on social media. This phenomenon is not coincidental. As detailed in the S Moda supplementthe house operates today with the codes of the street style: millimeter poses, studied corners and carefully filtered light. We no longer decorate to live, but so that our life “is sustained before the eyes of the eyes.” voyeurs of the networks”. The landing of the brands. The market has read the change with surgical precision. According to a report by Business of Fashionhome design is a $643 billion global market that has reached a higher cruising speed than fashion after the pandemic. Large luxury brands no longer see furniture as an accessory, but as a central piece of their ecosystem: Luxury as an architect of lives: Brands such as Hermès, Bottega Veneta or Loewe use fairs such as the Mobile Show from Milan to demonstrate that its aesthetics can encompass everything, from a bag to an armchair worth thousands of euros. The Democratization of Style: Real change comes from affordable fashion. As Modaes points outMango Home is emulating Zara Home’s strategy, positioning its home line in the segment premium with openings in strategic locations to elevate the brand. You no longer buy a quilt, you buy the “universe” of the firm. Even home care has become a beauty routine. Actress Courteney Cox, through her brand Homecourthas turned detergent and linen sprays into objects of desire. As explained in Forbestheir intention is to make mundane tasks like doing laundry feel like “a self-care ritual” and for the jars to be so pretty that they don’t have to be hidden. How did we get here? To understand why we are obsessed with making our living room “instagrammable”, we have to look back. We could place the starting point in the birth of Pinterest in 2010, a platform that created the first global archive of domestic aspirations. However, the real turning point was 2020. Seeing ourselves locked up, our homes became our offices, gyms and leisure centers. How do they explain from the Somos Nido studio For the supplement, space stopped being something external and became part of our mental health. At the same time, the real estate crisis has played a psychological role. According to psychologist Noelia Sanchointerviewed in El Mueble, faced with the impossibility of buying a house, we invest in objects to generate an emotional bond and reaffirm our identity in an unstable world. The rebellion against the “dictatorship of the neutral.” In recent years, a search for simplicity and homogenization has prevailed; an aesthetic of beige spaces designed for the algorithm. But the trends of 2026 already propose a rebellion against that coldness. Pantone’s recent selection of the color ‘Cloud Dancer’ (an ethereal white) as Color of the Year 2026 has sparked debate. According to Architecture and Designinterior designer Virginia Sánchez admits “not being a big fan” because she considers it a somewhat cold tone. To prevent homes from looking like empty clinics, experts recommend accompany this white with rustic materials and warm woods. In this context, furniture with character regains its throne. Pieces such as mango or walnut wood sideboards and grooved fronts — like those proposed by the firm sweeek— they come back strong to provide that personality and “exoticism” that extreme minimalism had stolen from our living rooms. Living is the new dressing. The rise of interior design tells us that we are no longer satisfied with being spectators of beauty; we want to live inside it. Whether through tablescape —the art of decorating the table in an almost theatrical way— or choosing a designer lamp, we are trying to regain control of our immediate environment. Fashion has moved from the catwalk to the sofa because, in an increasingly digital and ephemeral world, the home continues to be the only place where we can build a refuge that, in addition to being beautiful on a screen, makes us feel good when the camera turns off. In the end, the question is no longer what we wear to be seen, but what atmosphere we have created to be ourselves. Image | Unsplash Xataka | The bidet is dead. The square meter killed it and Scandinavian design buried it

The Madrid-Barcelona AVE will reach a peak speed of 350 km/h. And it will do so thanks to new sleepers of Spanish design

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While in China they are already thinking about trains that reach 4,000 km/hIn Spain we are looking for an AVE that reaches 350 km/h that could be reached without problems if it were not for one detail: the tracks. And for something much more specific: the sleepers. The solution is a new design called “aerotraviesa” that will increase the speed of the BIRD. The problem is that theory is one thing, and practice another. a physical problem. Spain plays in the high speed major league and, in it, Renfe opera four types of trains. The Alvia and Avant reach 250 km/h. The Avlo and the AVE reach 300 km/h. However, the machines are prepared to reach higher speeds, the aforementioned 350 km/h. The problem is in physics. When a train exceeds a certain speed, 300 km/h, a phenomenon called ‘ballast flight’ occurs. This implies that the underside of the train generates turbulence that creates areas of low pressure on the track. This causes the passage of the train to vibrate the stones, the ballast, lifting them and causing them to collide against the underside of the train or settle on the tracks and sleepers themselves. Furthermore, at more than 300 km/h, the possible bumps on the journey increase. Air traverses. That’s where a new sleeper design comes into play that the company itself Adif presented a few years ago. Instead of a flat crossbar, a traditional rectangle, the central part of it has a more rounded design. Adif affirms This modifies the velocity field on the ballast in the area between the sleepers, minimizing the presence of ballast particles, and the key points are: Reduces 21% of the aerodynamic load in the space immediately above the ballast bed. The design allows increasing the distance between the ballast level and the upper face of the sleeper. It has no higher manufacturing or handling costs (they are still molds). And most importantly: the aerodynamic load generated by a train at 330 km/h on a track with current sleepers is equivalent to that generated by the same train at 370 km/h, but with aero sleepers. AV350 Plan. In short, the aerocrossers improve the aerodynamic performance of the infrastructure and there is another important fact: their use allows an increase of 12% in the operating speed of the train. And it is not just theory, since Spain wants to start installing overhead traverses to improve the speed of the AVE. A few weeks ago, Óscar Puente, Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, advertisement that the Madrid-Barcelona line will be the first to have these overhead traverses. The result? Reach the maximum speed of the original design of the infrastructure, which is 350 km/h. Currently, the AVE reaches those 300 km/h due to the physical limitations mentioned above. This will allow us to go from the two hours and 37 minutes of the AVE that currently takes the least time to less than two hours. Puente highlighted that the design of the aerocrosses is pioneer in the world. The Polytechnic University of Madrid, Adif and SENER constituted a consortium to develop this technology and obtained the patent in March 2014, achieving international protection in Europe, Saudi Arabia and the United States. There are countries that have faced the ballast problem in other ways, Germany covering the ballast with concrete, for example. Arching an eyebrow. Increasing the speed of the train by changing the sleepers sounds great. The problem is that there are some aspects to consider. On the one hand, the cost-benefit debate not only because of what the investment will mean in changing all the sleepers, but also because of the maintenance of certain train materials that will suffer more than now. Driving at 350 km/h exponentially increases the wear of both the wheels and the catenary, regardless of whether the ballast causes no damage to the train, or causes less. On the other hand, not only the sleepers come into play, but also the own land. A bump at 300 km/h can be annoying, at 350 km/h it can be something more. Or two. And, beyond whether it is worth the investment to gain half an hour or what will happen with those possible technical problems, the big question is what happens with the rest of Spain. It is estimated that the Madrid-Barcelona section in which these air crossings begin to be applied will take about two years to complete. At a rate of 800 sleepers changed per day and 1,666 sleepers per kilometer, the work is of great magnitude. And it is clear that it is a congested route and that it is seeing a boom in the number of travelers, but while that line is reinforced, the connection with other parts of the peninsula remains neglectedlike the train to Soria, Teruel or the perennial case of Extremadura. Images | Xataka, Adif In Xataka | AVLO’s departure from Madrid-Barcelona seemed like another problem for Renfe. He has left us an unexpected winner

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