Archive for Authenticity
March 10, 2010 · Filed under Authenticity, Diversity, Emergence, Place making, Urban Design, Urban Structure
When we speak of the identity of a place, we express a recognition of the patterns formed around us. We may not be conscious of them to the point of being able to draw them back with precision like Stephen Wiltshire, but we can remember them in the abstract, and in this way, identify different places from the abstractions we recall of their patterns. This is how one street can look sufficiently alike another that we can identify a neighborhood, and it is also why a landscape like Liberty City in Grand Theft Auto can feel like New York City, despite the fact that every object has been reconfigured to create a parody environment.
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Popularity: 2% [?]
March 9, 2010 · Filed under Authenticity, Creative Cities, Diversity, Economics, Families, Gentrification, Place making, Social Justice
Sharon Zukin had come to Greenwich Village and the Shrine of St. Jane not as a pilgrim but to wax sardonic.
Ms. Zukin, a Brooklyn College sociology professor, stared at the modest red-brick town house on Hudson Street that once was home to Jane Jacobs, whose 1961 book, “The Death and Life of Great American Cities,” celebrated the joyous hodgepodge of New York’s neighborhoods: the working-class tailor and the artist, the Italian grocer and the writer, living cheek by jowl.
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Popularity: 4% [?]
February 8, 2010 · Filed under Architecture, Authenticity, Beauty, Place making, Planning, Urbanization
In chapter eight of Anthony M. Tung’s erudite and impressive Preserving the World’s Great Cities: The Destruction and Renewal of the Historic Metropolis, there is a passage that stopped me in my proverbial tracks and hasn’t left my thoughts since. Tung is writing about Amsterdam at the dawn of the 20th century:
As parts of the inner city became slums and were threatened with clearance, and as picturesque canals were filled in to create new roads and better circulation, elements of the historic environment began to be eliminated. Growing numbers of citizens became alarmed and called for preservation of the historic center. In addition, a new ring of speculative housing began to surround the old metropolis. Numerous Amsterdammers began to ask that the expansion of the city meet a reasonable standard of beauty.
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Popularity: 15% [?]
February 4, 2010 · Filed under Authenticity, Density, Diversity, Ecosystems, Generative Design, Urban Design, Urban Structure
The Hatoyama government’s ambitious carbon reduction goals position Japan for leadership in the postindustrial global economy. Less discussed is Tokyo’s remarkable energy efficiency, urban ecology innovations, and its potential for playing a leading role in the next decade’s biggest environmental challenge: creating sustainable cities with human and environmental benefits.
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Popularity: 17% [?]
February 4, 2010 · Filed under Authenticity, Diversity, Public Life, Public Space, Safety, Urban Actions
Urban regeneration has seen entire districts pass into the hands of private companies – and their security guards.
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Popularity: 13% [?]
February 4, 2010 · Filed under Advertising, Artificial Landscapes, Authenticity, Information Design, Media, Public Space, Social Networks
Digital screens now line the walls of nearly every airport terminal, restaurant, convenience store, bar and waiting room in America. They have popped up in gas stations, taxis, schools and even on public buses. They wrap the exterior of L.A. Live and other major commercial complexes. And increasingly they rest in our palms, in the form of the iPhones, BlackBerrys and other smart phones that many of us rely on, like Dante following Virgil, as we walk or ride through the city.
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Popularity: 10% [?]
January 23, 2010 · Filed under Authenticity, Beauty, Creative Cities, Economics, Planning
Architecture clearly illustrates the social, environmental, economic, and aesthetic costs of ignoring beauty. We are being torn out of ourselves by the loud gestures of people who want to seize our attention but give nothing in return.
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Popularity: 18% [?]
January 19, 2010 · Filed under Architecture, Authenticity, Beauty, Creative Cities, Place making
www.stuckincustoms.com
Economists have argued that individuals choose locations that maximize their economic position and broad utility. Sociologists have found that social networks and social interactions shape our satisfaction with our communities. Research, across various social science fields, finds that beauty has a significant effect on various economic and social outcomes. Our research uses a large survey sample of individuals across US locations to examine the effects of beauty and aesthetics on community satisfaction.
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Popularity: 21% [?]
January 11, 2010 · Filed under Architecture, Artificial Landscapes, Authenticity, Heritage
The reclaimed land of West Kowloon has been transformed into a mock archeaological site, but the line between faux and actual is hard to draw.
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Popularity: 13% [?]
