What's on Your Mind?

Being a field dependent on big developer clients and even bigger sums of money, rarely do architects get to pick the projects they work on. Would they if they could? Absolutely. Fast Company asked architects and designers from some of the top firms working around the world to think about the kinds of projects they wish they could do, clients, budgets, and possibly reality notwithstanding. From the abstract to one very specific (and notorious) train station, seven architects shared building projects they’d love to tackle in 2026. Here’s the question we put to a panel of designers and leaders in architecture: What’s your dream project in 2026? An urban district …

Most organizations still hire for culture fit—even those that loudly champion diversity and inclusion. The phrase sounds benign, even wise: who wouldn’t want colleagues who “fit in”? But behind this feel-good notion lies one of the biggest obstacles to innovation and progress in modern workplaces. Culture fit has become a euphemism for cultural cloning: selecting people who already look, think, and behave like the incumbents. It’s a polite way of saying, we want people like us, because there’s nothing more comforting than working—and hanging out—with people who are just like you! The irony, of course, is that such homogeneity kills the very things organizations claim …

Struggling to fall asleep is irritating. Struggling to get enough sleep is at least partially debilitating. Research shows: People who sleep five to six hours are almost 20 percent less productive than people who sleep seven to eight hours per night. People who only get six hours of sleep per night have greater difficulty performing any task that requires focus, deep thinking, or problem-solving. People chronically sleep-deprived (think six hours or less) have a much harder time performing complicated tasks. So, yeah: Performing at your best requires getting enough sleep. But what if you struggle to fall asleep? Here are three techniques sleep sc…

Small businesses are planning to hire fewer recent college graduates than they did in 2025, making it likely harder for this cohort to find entry-level jobs. In our recent national survey, we found that small businesses are 30% more likely than larger employers to say they are not hiring recent college graduates in 2026. About 1 in 5 small-business employers said they do not plan to hire college graduates or expect to hire fewer than they did last year. This would be the largest anticipated decrease in small businesses hiring new graduates in more than a decade. Small businesses are generally those with fewer than 500 employees, based on standards from the U.S…

Nearly seven tons of ready-to-eat grilled chicken breast products are being recalled over Listeria concerns. According to a Jan. 16 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) notice, the product was distributed by Suzanna’s Kitchen, a Georgia-based food company known for its prepared meats. The recall targets 10-pound cases containing two 5-pound bags of fully cooked grilled chicken breast fillets with rib meat, which were produced on Oct. 14. 13,720 pounds of ready-to-eat chicken were recalled, per the notice. According to the notice, the lot code 60104 P1382 287 5 J14 is printed on the side of the case and on the package. The products were distributed to operat…

Is the future of concert venues more spheres? It seems so. Following on the success of Sphere in Las Vegas, plans are underway to bring a smaller-scale version to the National Harbor in Maryland, just outside of Washington, D.C. Wes Moore, the governor of Maryland, announced on Sunday that the state and Prince George’s County are working with Sphere Entertainment Co. and Peterson Companies to develop a 6,000-seat sphere, its second venue in the U.S. “This will be one of the largest economic development projects in Prince George’s County history,” Moore said in a statement. “We’re excited for what this means for our people, and how it will showcase the best of wha…

Most of us know that job loss is emotionally difficult, but what’s less talked about is the experience of knowing you will be terminated without knowing when. This process can be drawn out and draining—a form of anticipatory grief—an emotional response to a loss before it occurs. Often experienced by the loved ones of terminally ill patients, a version applies in the workplace when job loss is on the horizon. In today’s volatile landscape, this kind of professional uncertainty is increasingly common, prompting leaders—in limbo due to mergers, acquisitions, funding losses, or downsizing—to feel a loss of self-identity, irritability and helplessness at not being in control.…

Remember a couple of years ago when Intel declared that the “age of the AI PC” had arrived? Back at CES 2024, the chip giant was saying that its Core Ultra processors would usher in a new era of personal computing, enabling all kinds of new on-device AI capabilities. As Michelle Johnston Holthaus, then the company’s CEO of products, said in a keynote presentation, AI is “fundamentally transforming, reshaping, and reimagining the PC experience.” Two years later, there’s been a vibe shift. While Intel is still talking about AI, it now believes its PC processors will play more of a supporting role for cloud-based AI tools. At the CES trade show earlier this month…

Protein is everywhere these days. The cultural obsession with the macronutrient has become unavoidable; from constant protein-adjacent Instagram ads to protein-focused recipes and protein-filled Chipotle bowls, Starbucks drinks, and Pepsi products. All of these products are starting to sound like part of some big, loud, fitness influencer chorus. But there’s one brand that’s managed to break through the noise—often, by saying nothing at all. Early this month, the protein bar company David debuted a print campaign in the New York City subway system featuring plain images of its bars, with no text or embellishments, surrounded by a sea of blank white space. It’s the en…

A self-described “rat pack” of five “food-loving journalists” just bought the trademark to the defunct food magazine Gourmet, updated it for the modern reader, and brought it back as an online newsletter—all without consulting the magazine’s former publisher, Condé Nast. And if you didn’t know that already, you might’ve been able to guess it from the publication’s new wordmark. The logo looks nothing like what you’d expect from the magazine that shuttered in 2009. Instead of a crisp, delicate script, this wordmark is unapologetically blocky, chunky, and weird. It’s more reminiscent of forgotten sheet pan drippings: certainly not pretty too look at, but more delicious …

For professionals looking to moodboard, but sick of juggling Instagram lists and Pinterest boards, Cosmos arrived in 2023 to woo millions of users in an otherwise crowded market. With a pared-back design, and an algorithm trained on a carefully seeded list of creatives, it topped the Design category in the App Store, and the company reports it’s now used by creative teams at companies including Nike, Apple, and Amazon, who snag over 10 million pieces of content a month from across the internet for their collections. This growth has been enough to raise a $15 million Series A from Matrix Partners, GV, Accel, and Squarespace CEO Anthony Casalena, as the company con…

The most qualified marketing candidates already know how to spot a bad ad. They scroll past headlines that don’t resonate, tune out vague language, and ghost messages that feel robotic. And when your job post reads like a corporate compliance document instead of an invitation to do meaningful work, they won’t even click. More than 80% of job seekers check company reviews and ratings before applying, according to Glassdoor. And it’s not just about perks: Edelman’s Trust Barometer found that nearly 6 in 10 employees choose where to work based on shared values. These aren’t surface-level preferences; they signal a deeper shift in expectations. Candidates want a reason to…

Like many industries, architecture has jumped on the artificial intelligence bandwagon. AI tools are becoming everyday parts of the practice of architecture, from iterating design concepts to optimizing floor plans to accelerating the creation of construction documents. Some architecture firms are even branding themselves as “AI-driven.” AI’s infusion into architecture is well underway, but it’s also an ongoing process. Firms are finding new ways of making these emerging tools work for the way they design buildings, while also grappling with what AI could do to a profession so dependent on actual human intelligence. Fast Company asked architects from some of the top f…

A great, fictional man once declared: “I believe virtually everything I read.” David St. Hubbins, lead singer and guitarist of Spinal Tap, mocked the earnest confidence of rock stars in the same way AI futurists are now mocking critical thinking itself. Right now, most of the tech industry has adopted St. Hubbins’ line without the irony. Google is embedding AI into Chrome. Tech leaders are declaring the end of websites. Hundreds of links will collapse into single answers, traffic will disappear, the open web gets hollowed out. The future belongs to whoever wins inclusion in the AI’s response, not whoever builds the best site. Sigh. We spent the last decade le…

The blockchain is coming to Wall Street. The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) said on Monday that it was developing a platform to trade tokenized securities, digital representations of assets like stocks and bonds. But exactly when the 233-year-old financial institution will turn it on is still up in the air. Supporters of the technology argue that the change could modernize the NYSE, giving traders some of the same advantages that are enjoyed by investors in the cryptocurrency world. But Wall Street stalwarts are wary of altering a system that has been the bedrock of securities trading for more than two centuries. Curious what the fuss is about? Here’…

Want to be wealthier? Get married. According to a study published in Journal of Sociology, the net worth of a married person grows approximately 75 percent more during their thirties, forties, and fifties than the net worth of an unmarried person. (That’s per person in the relationship, not per couple.) Want to make a higher income, and feel more satisfied with your job? Get married. A Washington University in St. Louis study found that people with relatively prudent and reliable partners tend to perform better at work, earning more promotions, making more money, and feeling more satisfied with their jobs. What the researchers call “partner conscientiousness” pred…

While working as an engineer at Tesla, Niccolo Cymbalist never planned to start a business. But he’d been considering an idea for new technology—an autonomous, wind-powered cargo ship. Then, while on paternity leave in 2024, he discovered a free program that helps scientists and engineers launch businesses for the first time. Weeks after finishing the program, called 5050, Cymbalist had launched a startup called Clippership. The company’s first ship is being built in the Netherlands this year. Without the accelerator, he says, the company likely wouldn’t exist. The program has now helped scientists and engineers launch 100 businesses, from Huminly, which uses enzy…

The Sundance Film Festival may be a little bittersweet this year. It will be familiar in some ways as it kicks off on Thursday in Park City, Utah. There will be stars, from Natalie Portman to Charli XCX, and breakout discoveries, tearjerkers, comedies, thrillers, oddities that defy categorization and maybe even a few future Oscar nominees. The pop ups and sponsors will be out in full force on Main Street. The lines to get into the 90 movies premiering across 10 days will be long and the volunteers will be endlessly helpful and cheery in subfreezing temperatures. But the country’s premier showcase for independent film is also in a time of profound transition after decades…