Archive for September, 2009
September 30, 2009 · Filed under Architecture, Social Networks, Urban Actions, Visualization
Who says social networks make place irrelevant? Communication designer Sidney Blank begs to differ as he presents STACKD, a new site that helps people in Manhattan office buildings get in touch – for business or beers. In so doing, his project connects such themes as excess capacity, the spatial and local implications of social media and the singular opportunities presented by Manhattan’s built environment. What’s more, STACKD just might provide a powerful tool for architects, planners, developers and even management consultants to interpret how we use space and how we can use it more flexibly and more efficiently.
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Popularity: 24% [?]
September 30, 2009 · Filed under Artificial Landscapes, EcoCities, Infrastructure, Landscape, Revitalization, Urban Structure
Greenwich Street would be the “spine” of a more accessible neighborhood the Downtown Alliance calls Greenwich South. A vision of the future for an area would include green rooftops meant to be wildlife habitats.
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Popularity: 25% [?]
September 30, 2009 · Filed under Creative Cities, Diversity, Economics, Revitalization, Shrinking Cities
If Detroit had been savaged by a hurricane and submerged by a ravenous flood, we’d know a lot more about it. If drought and carelessness had spread brush fires across the city, we’d see it on the evening news every night. Earthquake, tornadoes, you name it — if natural disaster had devastated the city that was once the living proof of American prosperity, the rest of the country might take notice.
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Popularity: 19% [?]
September 30, 2009 · Filed under Active Transportation, Great Streets, Place making, Small Towns, Social Networks
When politicians and the media mention Main Street, they evoke one people and one place. But there are over 10,466 streets named Main in the United States.
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Popularity: 26% [?]
September 29, 2009 · Filed under Artificial Landscapes, Cities from Scratch, Mobility, Multi-Level Urbanism, Visualization
The architecture of science fiction has profoundly changed urban design. When building cities of the future, our best guides may be places like comic book megalopolises Mega-City-1 or Transmet.
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Popularity: 29% [?]
September 29, 2009 · Filed under Active Transportation, EcoCities, Health, Resilience, Urban Agriculture
The competition resulted in more than 50 inquiries and 22 formal entries received from around the globe, including proposals centered on cities in India, Mexico, Israel, Tibet, Germany, as well as the USA and Canada. “Many of the entries presented very credible and implementable solutions that could be utilized today to move our cities towards greater resiliency,” said Craig Applegath, founding member and moderator of ResilientCity.
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Popularity: 23% [?]
September 26, 2009 · Filed under Active Transportation, Creative Cities, Cycling, Great Streets, Public Art, Public Space, Urban Actions
Whether it’s bike polo, urban golf or scaling public buildings, interesting new urban sports are leaving a distinctive mark on German cityscapes. The metropolitan antics add a twist to traditional sports — and may be cropping up on stretch of tarmac near you soon.
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Popularity: 45% [?]
September 24, 2009 · Filed under Creative Cities, Public Art, Public Space, Urban Actions
On Friday morning, in what might be seen as evidence that tough economic times can be good for art, a new 37,000-square-foot outdoor exhibition and performance space will open in Lower Manhattan.
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Popularity: 30% [?]
September 17, 2009 · Filed under Climate Change, EcoCities, Ecosystems, End of Cheap Oil, Energy, Nature
Despite our romantic ideas about nature, it will be well-run, energy-efficient cities that ultimately save us from ourselves.
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Popularity: 28% [?]
September 17, 2009 · Filed under Artificial Landscapes, Cities from Scratch, Economics, Starchitecture
England is deserted, Australia and New Zealand have merged, and the man who bought Ireland has killed himself.
They were designed to make Dubai the envy of the world: a series of paradise islands inhabited by celebrities and the super-rich reclaimed from the azure waters of the Arabian Gulf and shaped like a map of the Earth. It was called The World.
As millions of tonnes of rock were dumped into the sea for the foundations, timely leaks suggested that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were to buy Ethiopia, Sir Richard Branson was tipped to occupy England, while Rod Stewart would border him in Scotland.
Instead it has become the world’s most expensive shipping hazard, guarded by private security in fast boats and ringed by warning buoys to keep the curious away. A development that was meant to send Dubai’s star into the firmament of First World cities has been left to the mercy of the waves and the baking winds.
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Popularity: 25% [?]
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