Daniel L. Vasella, the chief executive of the Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis, was standing at the center of his imposing new corporate campus this fall, describing the lengths he went to in order to realize his architectural vision. “I made them move the border crossing,” he said pointing toward France. “It interfered with our plans. I put 100,000,000 Swiss francs on the table and said: ‘Move it over there. Tear down these silos and cranes.’ ”
Popularity: 30% [?]
Disney has always been an easy target for urban designers and architects. Main Street USA, the main drag of its parks, can be read as a cruel joke. Its simulated urbanism and festival atmosphere may seem like a sinister, conservative knock-off of actual small-town main streets of yore, lodged deep in the American collective memory, that corporate titans like Disney helped kill with their economics of scale and squeaky-clean spectacle. Now, instead of a public realm, we have cities that are “luxury products,” meant not for the stuff of life but for endless, mindless consumer fantasy. Thanks (in part) to the influence of Disney.
Popularity: 49% [?]
While college towns have long been considered recession-resistant, their ability to avoid the depths of the financial crisis shaking the rest of the nation is noteworthy. The ones faring the best right now are not only major education centers; they also are regional health-care hubs that draw people into the city and benefit from a stable, educated, highly skilled work force.
The big question hanging over these communities is whether their formula for success can outlast the nation’s nastiest recession in at least a quarter-century.
Popularity: 17% [?]
Harvard’s massive expansion into Allston has had to be slowed down, in part because of the slowing economy. Many in the neighborhood worry that means they’ll be left with a barren landscape for way too long, instead of the mixed use development Harvard has promised. Meanwhile, in another part of the neighborhood, Boston College is battling some of its neighbors over plans to expand on the former Archdiocese Headquarters Campus.
Popularity: 30% [?]
Following the presentation of the Master Plan for the new Campus of the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU) in May 2008, the WU and Bundesimmobiliengesellschaft (BIG), together with Austria’s Federal Minister of Science and Research Johannes Hahn and City Councillor Rudolf Schicker (Department for Urban Development and Traffic), recently announced the winning projects of the pertaining Architectural Competition.
Popularity: 33% [?]