News 09.06.2025

News

Abu Dhabi welcomes world's first net-zero mosque, Brooklyn Film Festival champions mindful viewing and Gen Z can’t get enough of functional drinks.

World’s first net-zero mosque to break ground in Abu Dhabi

UAE – Masdar City in Abu Dhabi will be home to the world’s first net-zero energy mosque, blending sustainable design with cultural heritage. It will be developed by Aldar and designed by Arup, and the 1,595-square-metre building will accommodate more than 1,300 worshippers while generating 100% of its annual energy needs. 

The design draws from traditional UAE earth mosques, using rammed earth walls to cool and stabilise internal temperatures. ‘Formed from local materials, the walls cool air and regulate internal temperatures by leveraging thermal mass,’ Arup notes. The structure will integrate passive airflow and a roof with tiered windows to harness prevailing breezes, cutting energy use by 35% compared to typical benchmarks. 

Aiming for LEED Zero Carbon certification standards, the project includes solar panels, grey water recycling and sustainable materials such as low-emission concrete and energy-efficient lighting. In a regional first, hydrogen-based steel rebar, provided by Emsteel, will reduce structural emissions by up to 95%. 

The Masdar City Mosque offers a glimpse into the future of architecture, where sustainable innovation is seamlessly integrated with cultural heritage. Explore our Future Spaces topic to discover how these principles are reshaping the built environment. 

Strategic opportunity

As net-zero civic landmarks such as Masdar City Mosque set new benchmarks for urban design, brands should explore partnerships that fuse sustainability with cultural storytelling, embedding sustainable products, materials or services into future-facing public spaces

Brooklyn Film Festival rebrands cinema as good screen time

US – In response to growing digital fatigue, the Brooklyn Film Festival, which concluded on 8 June 2025, unveiled a new visual identity that reframes cinema as Good Screen Time.

Developed by creative studio Otherway, the rebrand borrows visual codes from social media – bold typography, saturated colours, rapid motion – but flips their purpose. Instead of fuelling distraction, the design language is used to encourage focus, presence and shared cultural experience.

The campaign reframes screens not as sources of distraction, but as portals for intentional storytelling. Titled Welcome to Good Screen Time, the launch identity encapsulates what executive director Marco Ursino calls ‘purposeful, powerful cinema that demands your full attention’. It’s a sharp inversion designed to resonate with digital natives – particularly younger audiences – who are increasingly reassessing their relationship with devices and dopamine-led platforms.

Complementing the visual elements, sound design by Klong introduces a glitchy, attention-grabbing sonic layer, enhancing the multisensory experience and reinforcing the campaign's message.

This rebrand offers a new blueprint for cultural institutions: using design to advocate for slower, more mindful screen use, without rejecting the digital world altogether. It joins a growing movement towards rethinking digital wellness through creative and cultural interventions.

Brooklyn Film Festival (BFF), US
Brooklyn Film Festival (BFF), US
Brooklyn Film Festival (BFF), US

Strategic opportunity

As digital fatigue reshapes cultural habits, there’s growing value in reframing screen time as purposeful and communal. Brands, festivals and media platforms can follow Brooklyn Film Festival’s lead by using design and storytelling to position digital engagement as mindful, meaningful and emotionally rewarding

Stat: Gen Z fuels surge of functional drink sales

Photography by Cottonbro Studio Photography by Cottonbro Studio

UK – The UK’s functional drinks market is booming, with Ocado Retail reporting a 54% year-on-year sales increase as Gen Z moves away from coffee and alcohol in favour of health-boosting alternatives. 

Two in five UK adults now buy functional drinks several times a month, rising to 61% among Gen Z. Sales of kombucha and kefir are up 22% and 30% respectively, while searches on Ocado.com for mushroom coffee have soared by 1,552%.

As we explored in our Functional Feasting report, younger consumers are leading this change, with 49% of Gen Z replacing alcohol or soft drinks with functional options and 39% swapping their morning coffee for matcha or mushroom-based blends. 

Ocado has responded by expanding its functional drinks range by 11%, spotlighting indie brands such as Mission and Hip Pop. Explore more shifts in this space in our Futures Forecast 2025: Food & Drink report.

Strategic opportunity

Rethink product rituals and social moments through the lens of functionality. Collaborate with wellness brands or develop low-caffeine, benefit-led drinks that meet Gen Z’s demand for health without compromise

Previous News Articles
World’s first net-zero mosque to break ground in Abu Dhabi

News

World’s first net-zero mosque to break ground in Abu Dhabi

Masdar City in Abu Dhabi will be home to the world’s first net-zero energy mosque, blending sustainable design with cultural heritage.
Sustainability : Mosque : Environmentally Friendly
Brooklyn Film Festival rebrands cinema as good screen time

News

Brooklyn Film Festival rebrands cinema as good screen time

In response to growing digital fatigue, the Brooklyn Film Festival, which concluded on 8 June 2025, unveiled a new visual identity that reframes ci...
Technology : Wellness : Branding
Stat: Gen Z fuels surge of functional drink sales

News

Stat: Gen Z fuels surge of functional drink sales

The UK’s functional drinks market is booming, with Ocado Retail reporting a 54% year-on-year sales increase as Gen Z moves away from coff...
Food And Drink : Health And Wellness : Functional Beverages
SXSW London 2025: Designing with empathy and reimagining Time magazine’s legacy

News

SXSW London 2025: Designing with empathy and reimagining Time magazine’s legacy

On day three of SXSW London, the design track spotlighted the future of design in an AI-driven world, with speakers urging designers to focus on wh...
Design : Technology : Media
Foresight Friday: Rose Coffey, senior foresight analyst

News

Foresight Friday: Rose Coffey, senior foresight analyst

Every Friday, The Future Laboratory team offers an end-of-week wrap-up of the topics, issues, ideas and virals we’re all talking about. This week, ...
Fashion : Retail : Advertising
Stat: UK shopping centres lag in EV charging infrastructure

News

Stat: UK shopping centres lag in EV charging infrastructure

A new study by Zenith, a UK leasing and fleet management firm, reveals that 20% of the country’s shopping centres lack any electric vehicle (EV) ch...
Electric Vehicles : EV : Charging Points
SXSW London 2025: The Store of 2050 and Minecraft’s chicken jockey opportunity

News

SXSW London 2025: The Store of 2050 and Minecraft’s chicken jockey opportunity

On day two of SXSW London, the panel Retail Remix: The Store of 2050 brought together executives from Co-op, Mondelez International and creative ag...
Pop Culture & Media : Technology : Branding
Nike and Lego team up on creative play experiences and products

News

Nike and Lego team up on creative play experiences and products

Nike and the Lego Group have launched a global partnership to inspire kids through active and creative play, combining sport and imagination.
Technology : Nike : Lego
Stat: Consumers globally are buying clothes they never wear

News

Stat: Consumers globally are buying clothes they never wear

According to Statista Consumer Insights, a notable number of shoppers admit to buying clothes they never wear – a wasteful habit most common among ...
Fashion : Retail : Sustainability
SXSW London 2025: Biological age, AI-powered abundance and Substack’s in-person future

News

SXSW London 2025: Biological age, AI-powered abundance and Substack’s in-person future

The first edition of SXSW in London brought hundreds of visitors to Shoreditch for a mix of music, film, experiential workshops and forward-thinkin...
Pop Culture & Media : Global Events : Wellness
You have 2 free News articles remaining. Sign up to LS:N Global to get unlimited access to all articles.
BECOME A MEMBER
SIGN IN