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Brick Award 24 honors international pioneers in brick architecture

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Jury of internationally renowned architects chose five winning projects out of 743 entries from 54 countriesWinners showcase the potential of brick architecture for sustainable and innovative construction

VIENNA, June 11, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — The international biannual Brick Award, created in 2004 by wienerberger to promote innovation and excellence in brick architecture, was held in Vienna for the 11th time. With a total of 743 entries from 54 countries, this year’s iteration once again showcased the relevance and innovative potential of brick architecture around the globe.

Brick Award 24 honors international pioneers in brick architecture

From the pre-selected 50 nominees, the jury chose winning projects in five categories — “Feeling at home,” “Living together,” “Working together,” “Sharing public spaces,” and “Building outside the box” — and an overall grand prize winner, based on criteria such as aesthetics, sustainability, and innovation.

“Today, architects face several major challenges at once,” says Heimo Scheuch, CEO of wienerberger. “They must create spaces that both reduce our impact on the planet and protect us from the effects of climate change, while also making homes more affordable as the costs of living have surged over the last years. To find answers, extraordinary architects explore new ways to utilize material and structure, as this year’s Brick Award winners demonstrate.

“Their projects, apart from their aesthetic and structural qualities, are physical manifestations of exactly the kind of innovative spirit that today’s challenges require. From saving resources to building into existing environments, these creative minds found solutions by tapping into the still vast potential of brick. We are proud to honor and support these pioneers.”

From living quarters to art installations: Winners showcase the potential of brick architecture
The award is endowed with a total of €27,000 prize money — €7,000 for the grand prize winner and €5,000 each for the other four category winners.

The grand prize went to the British studio Níall McLaughlin Architects and their project “International Rugby Experience,” an exhibition and events center in Limerick dedicated to the sport of rugby, in the Brick Award category “Sharing public spaces.” Its design takes inspiration from Limerick’s famous churches while still upholding a modern aesthetic, allowing the building to fit within the environment while at the same time enhancing it aesthetically.

The category “Feeling at home” was won by Paraguayan studio Equipo de Arquitectura, whose “Intermediate House” uses compressed soil blocks, allowing for low-emission temperature control.

The prize for “Living together,” the category for multi-party housing, went to the Argentinian team of Estudio Arqtipo for achieving a combination of 10 living units on a narrow corner lot while giving every unit a private outdoor space.

In the category “Working together,” two collaborating Irish studios — Grafton Architects and O’Mahony Pike Architects — came out first with their new office headquarters for the Electricity Supply Board of Ireland, which succeeded in bridging modern building standards with Dublin’s historic aesthetic.

The prize for “Building outside the box” went to a joint project between the studios HANGHAR from Spain and PALMA from Mexico. For an architecture and design festival, they built a temporary artistic brick construction titled “Types of Spaces” in a narrow passageway in the Spanish town of Logroño, which leads visitors through several architectural styles.

The jury consisted of five internationally renowned architects:

Christelle Avenier, France — architect and co-founder of Avenier Cornejo ArchitectesChristine Conix, Belgium — architect and co-founder of Conix RDBM ArchitectsIngrid van der Heijden, Netherlands — architect and co-founder of CIVIC architectsWojciech Malecki, Poland — architect and founder of Maleccy biuro projektoweBoonserm Premthada, Thailand — architect and founder of Bangkok Project Studio

The BRICK 24 Book
As in previous years, wienerberger has published a book entitled “BRICK 24,” which accompanies the architectural competition. It features the 50 shortlisted projects, including the winners. Five essays by international authors complete this overview of contemporary brick architecture. The book puts the spotlight on clay building materials, which are timeless and a perfect fit for forward-looking and innovative architecture. “BRICK 24” is published in cooperation with Park Books.

All information regarding the projects, as well as photos available for download, can be found at www.wienerberger.com.

wienerberger
wienerberger is a leading international provider of innovative, ecological solutions for the entire building envelope, in the fields of new buildings and renovations, as well as infrastructure in water and energy management. With more than 20,000 employees worldwide, wienerberger’s solutions enable energy-efficient, healthy, climate-friendly, and affordable living. wienerberger is the world’s largest producer of bricks and the market leader in clay roof tiles in Europe as well as concrete pavers in Eastern Europe. In pipe systems (ceramic and plastic pipes), the company is one of the leading suppliers in Europe. By acquiring Meridian Brick, wienerberger further strengthened its position as a leading supplier of facade products in North America. With its more than 200 production sites, wienerberger generated revenues of approx. € 4.2 billion and an operating EBITDA of € 811 million in 2023. 

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Caladium Systems Launches Happiffie, India’s First AI-powered Celebration Platform

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CHENNAI, India, July 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Caladium Systems today announced the launch of Happiffie, India’s first AI-powered Celebration Growth Platform, introducing a smarter way for customers to discover, compare, book, and manage celebrations while helping businesses connect with high-intent customers through intelligent technology.

Designed for weddings, birthdays, corporate events, social celebrations, parties, festivals, and more, Happiffie brings together over 400 celebration occasions and 1,000+ celebration experiences on a single AI-powered platform.

India’s celebrations industry continues to rely heavily on referrals, manual coordination, inconsistent pricing, and fragmented vendor discovery. Happiffie addresses these challenges by combining AI-powered recommendations, transparent price discovery, secure bookings, payments, and event management into one seamless platform.

A key innovation is Happiffie’s Reverse Auction, where customers simply submit their celebration requirements and verified vendors compete by offering customised proposals. Instead of spending hours searching and negotiating, customers can compare multiple qualified offers and choose the vendor that best matches their preferences and budget.

“Customers can now book the experience of their choice with the vendor of their choice, in the budget of their choice. At the same time, vendors receive qualified business opportunities matched to their category, location and capabilities, creating value for both sides of the marketplace,” said Pradhyumna T Venkat, Founder & CEO, Happiffie.

“Every major industry eventually reaches a point where technology fundamentally changes how it operates. Travel did. Hospitality did. Mobility did. We believe celebrations are next,” added Pradhyumna.

The platform is powered by Experience Intelligence™, a proprietary framework that combines over 15 years of celebration industry expertise with Artificial Intelligence to deliver smarter recommendations based on customer intent, preferences, and celebration needs.

Whether planning a wedding, birthday, corporate event, baby shower, anniversary, or festival celebration, customers can manage the entire journey—from vendor discovery and quotations to payments and execution—through a single platform.

Alongside its launch, Happiffie has opened registrations for vendor partners across Chennai and Tamil Nadu, with a phased expansion planned across India. The platform aims to build one of the country’s largest AI-powered celebration ecosystems, helping businesses generate qualified leads and grow more efficiently.

“Our vision is not simply to build another marketplace but to create the technology infrastructure that powers celebrations. Reverse Auction is the first step towards building a smarter, more transparent, and AI-driven celebration economy that benefits both customers and businesses alike,” added Pradhyumna.

Built on the experience of planning and executing over 5,000 weddings and celebrations, Happiffie combines deep industry expertise with AI to simplify celebration planning and transform how India celebrates.

For more information, visit www.happiffie.com. Vendor registrations are now open at www.happiffie.com/vendor-registration.

About Happiffie

Happiffie is India’s first AI-powered Celebration Platform, connecting customers, venues, event professionals, and celebration businesses through one intelligent ecosystem. Built on over 15 years of industry expertise, the platform combines Artificial Intelligence with Experience Intelligence™ to deliver smarter celebration planning across more than 1,000 celebration experiences spanning weddings, corporate events, birthdays, social celebrations, parties, and festivals.

Contact

Pradhyumna T Venkat
Founder & CEO
pradhyumna@happiffie.com
+91-7299002990

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/3007635/Happiffie_Logo.jpg

 

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Beko Publishes 2025 Integrated Report, Charting Years of Progress Toward Net Zero

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As Beko releases its 2025 Integrated Report, the company’s third consecutive inclusion on TIME’s global sustainability ranking — retaining the #1 position in its industry — underscores the progress documented within it.

ISTANBUL, July 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Beko published its 2025 Integrated Report, offering a comprehensive account of the company’s financial, environmental and social performance over the past year. In parallel, Beko has been named one of TIME Magazine’s World’s Most Sustainable Companies for the third year running, retaining the #1 position in its industry. The recognition, awarded in partnership with Statista, independently corroborates years of deliberate, measurable progress.

The report documents concrete results across Beko’s global manufacturing footprint. In 2025:

Energy efficiency projects across production sites saved 69,562 GJ of energy, avoiding 5,297 tonnes of CO₂e emissions.Waste recycling across all manufacturing facilities reached 98.6%, against a target of 99%.Renewable energy installed capacity reached 96 MWp, up from 90.2 MWp the prior year. Beko also reached 63.5% green electricity on the path to 100% across all manufacturing by 2030.Water efficiency and rainwater harvesting projects across locations delivered total water savings of 219,114 m3.

Behind these figures is a broader manufacturing transformation. Three of Beko’s manufacturing facilities have been recognised within the World Economic Forum’s Global Lighthouse Network, with the Ulmi plant earning the additional, and rarer, designation of Sustainability Lighthouse. The principles behind Ulmi’s approach are being extended across Beko’s broader manufacturing ecosystem, as the company scales low-impact production. Beko currently operates 13 smart factories globally — equipped with artificial intelligence, machine learning and robotics capabilities — with a target of 17 by the end of 2026.

On the circular economy side, Beko’s refurbishment centres across multiple locations reintroduced more than 148,000 appliances into the market in 2025 alone. The company recycled 1.98 million WEEE units through its own recycling facilities since 2014, and used 31,665 tonnes of recycled plastics in its products in 2025.

Across its product portfolio, 72.6% of Beko’s turnover in 2025 came from low-carbon products — a figure that reflects both the scale of the company’s energy-efficient product range and growing consumer demand for appliances that address environmental concerns.

“Being recognised by TIME three years in a row matters because it reflects that sustainability is a foundational part of Beko’s business,” said Can Dinçer, CEO of Beko. “Our factories undergo a twin transformation where we encounter both decarbonization and digitalization. That progress is deliberate and measurable, and our Integrated Report sets out exactly how. As the world prepares for COP31, the most credible thing a company can do is demonstrate its work rather than declare it. That is what we are doing.”

TIME’s annual list evaluates more than 5,000 companies worldwide across environmental and social performance, transparency and ESG reporting. Beko’s continued inclusion under increasingly rigorous standards points to a business model where sustainability is structurally embedded across operations, supply chains and product portfolios.

In addition to its Integrated Report, the Company has also published its second TSRS-compliant sustainability report, prepared in accordance with the Türkiye Sustainability Reporting Standards (TSRS), Türkiye’s adoption of the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards issued by the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB). The report is publicly available and provides detailed disclosures on the company’s climate-related risks, opportunities, governance, strategy and performance.

About Beko

Beko is an international home appliance company with a strong global presence, operating through subsidiaries in more than 55 countries with a workforce of around 45,000 employees and production facilities spanning multiple regions—including Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Beko has 22 brands owned or used with a limited license (Arçelik, Beko, Whirlpool*, Grundig, Hotpoint, Arctic, Ariston*, Leisure, Indesit, Blomberg, Defy, Dawlance, Hitachi*, Voltas Beko, Singer*, ElektraBregenz, Flavel, Bauknecht, Privileg, Altus, Ignis, Polar). Beko is the largest white goods company in Europe with its market share (based on volumes) and reached a consolidated turnover of 10.7 billion Euros in 2025. Beko’s 28 R&D and Design Centers & Offices across the globe are home to over 2,000 R&D employees and hold more than 4,500 international registered patent applications to date. The company has achieved the highest score in the S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA) in the DHP Household Durables industry for the seventh consecutive year (based on the results dated 16 October 2025).** The company has been recognized as the 89th most sustainable company on TIME Magazine and Statista’s 2026 list of the World’s Most Sustainable Companies and has been the sector leader for three consecutive years. Beko’s vision is ‘Respecting the World, Respected Worldwide.’ 

www.bekocorporate.com

*Licensee limited to certain jurisdictions.
**The data presented belongs to Arçelik A.Ş., a parent company of Beko.

 

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SOURCE Beko

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JustMarkets Releases Market Analysis on How Foreign Exchange Markets React to CPI Surprises

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HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam, July 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — JustMarkets today released a new market analysis examining how foreign exchange markets react to Consumer Price Index (CPI) surprises and outlining key considerations for traders preparing for inflation data releases. The analysis explains why the gap between actual CPI data and market expectations, rather than the headline inflation figure itself, is often the primary driver of currency market movements.

What people often miss on CPI day is that the number itself isn’t what moves the market. The common reaction is to check whether the headline number is high or low, but it’s all priced in advance. According to JustMarkets, the real driver of EUR/USD is the gap between the actual number and what the market was positioned for.

Even an unchanged reading can cause dollar weakness if traders expect higher inflation, while weaker numbers that beat consensus expectations may drive dollar strength. Citing Federal Reserve research, the price driver is a surprise component rather than the headline.

Why the Expectation Gap Is More Important Than the Level

Forex is driven by expectations for interest rate decisions, with inflation impacting central bank policy. Key factors influencing this reaction include:

Main factors:

Monthly CPI and core CPICore services inflationRevisions to the previous period dataCentral banks policy pricing

Year-over-year data is less important in terms of price impact than monthly and core data.

How to Calculate Surprise

Start with the simplest metric: Surprise = Actual CPI − Consensus CPI. 

Consensus comes from the economic calendar’s forecast and reflects the market positioning. And then you need to check the market reaction through rates. The sequence typically runs: CPI surprise → change in front-end yields → USD movement → the sentiment adjustment.

Traders frequently employ this methodology in combination with the JustMarkets Economic Calendar to track high-impact releases in real time.

What the Intraday Move Actually Looks Like

CPI reactions usually happen in three stages. The first one is a headline shock with the potential algorithm’s reaction within a few seconds. Then comes the interpretation stage, with a time frame of 15-60 minutes and analysis of core numbers and yield confirmation. And then either continuation or reversal happens.

Approaches to Trading CPI Day

There are two common approaches to CPI.

The momentum approach requires the consistency of headlines and core surprises with yields’ confirmation. Most traders wait until the first minute’s candle is closed to avoid false signals.The fade approach requires dislocations like the absence of yield confirmation to FX movement or dislocations between headlines and core numbers. In this case, traders wait 10−20 minutes for exhaustion of the initial move and reversal setup search.

Risk management is crucial. Most traders limit their position size to 0.25%-0.50% of their equity because of widening spreads and slippage. Sometimes the decision to trade off is more optimal during extreme volatility than forced entry.

One Way to Prepare for the Next CPI Day Release

A simple way to get ready is to monitor EUR/USD, GBP/USD, USD/JPY pairs and an economic calendar with events’ importance. The workflow is simple: Economic calendar → release → Trading platform.

The final step brings traders to the execution platform. Many turn to JustMarkets, which offers CFDs on these currency pairs, with execution stability and fast market access that make it well suited for high-volatility macro events.

Disclaimer: For informational purposes only. Trading financial instruments involves significant risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Ensure you understand the risks involved and trade responsibly.

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SOURCE Just Global Markets Ltd

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