Need to Know
25 : 07 : 19

Chengdu – The Garden Hotpot restaurant takes advantage of the region’s climate to immerse diners in its verdant landscape.

Architects MUDA built the restaurant to weave its way through a eucalyptus forest in China's Sichuan province. The structure is designed in response to its environment and uses a steel canopy and anti-corrosive wood to blend into the forest, respecting the natural landscape and minimising human intervention.

MUDA also used the project to experiment with small scale, low-cost architecture. Local migrant workers were hired to form the construction team, and while some were lacking professional skills and tools experience, the architects responded by creating simplified architecture guides, allowing all to be part of the build.

As explored in our interview with Snøhetta, which discussed the architects’ plan to open the Svart hotel in the Arctic Circle, architecture should be built in response to its natural environment and climate.

San Francisco – The visual discovery engine is launching a collection of emotional wellbeing activities for stressed, anxious or unhappy users.

Debuting in the US via the Pinterest app, users will see a prompt to explore a series of resources when they search for relevant key words, such as ‘stress quotes’ or ‘work anxiety’. These resources will look different from other content and users’ interactions with these activities will be private and not connected to their account.

The guided activities were created with the help of emotional health experts at Brainstorm, the Stanford Lab for Mental Health Innovation, in addition to advice from Vibrant Emotional Health and American's National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. They will include tools and advice to help people relax, as well as self-compassion exercises, with each resource designed to be an interactive way to improve mood.

According to Pinterest, the aim of providing wellbeing activities is to address a broader spectrum of its users’ mental health needs, while creating a more compassionate online platform.

US – The baby care brand has partnered with Google’s sister company Verily to create diapers that monitor babies’ nappies, feeding and sleep.

Lumi by Pampers claims to be the first all-in-one connected care system for babies. The system is comprised of an activity sensor, which can be attached to diapers, a video monitor with night vision, and the Lumi app, which is the core of the system. The app stores all the information parents need to know about their babies' routine in one place, charting data on a daily and weekly basis so parents can track their baby’s development over time.

According to Pampers, the Lumi connected care system helps parents by combining real-time data with their paternal intuition. The app will also include childrearing content produced by Pampers’ team of baby experts.

To learn more about the ways Millennial parents are looking to technology brands to help manage daily family life, read our Brand Parents microtrend.

When it comes to the burgeoning male beauty market, more young men are using hair colour to express their individuality, according to a new report by Mintel. The research found that the number of 16–24-year-old British men using hair colourants has grown from 38% in 2018 to 46% in 2019.

Furthermore, Generation Z men are drawing inspiration from looks on Instagram when it comes to their appearance. One in five (19%) men who colour their hair at home say they took inspiration from social media personalities for their latest colour choice. By comparison, just 7% of female users are inspired by influencers.

Beyond hair colour, the growth of Soft Masculinity is inspiring a new male beauty ideal rooted in femininity and prettiness, defying the macho qualities once valued by society and creating new opportunities for beauty brands.