Futuristic archeology in West Kowloon
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.
Popularity: 13% [?]
urbanism.org
Urban news [almost] daily.Archive for Heritage
Metropolitan Glory
John Julius Norwich is an earnest and somewhat stiff-backed editor. So it’s not entirely surprising that he reveals in his introduction that he is “braced for objections” over his selections for “The Great Cities in History,” a collection of essays and images. He anticipates that readers will ask, for instance, why Timbuktu is included and not Toronto, why Meroe (an ancient Nubian city) is included and not Melbourne. It’s a dull question, and Norwich answers it dully, by pointing to the “in history” part of the book’s title. The better answer would have been that there’s not a shred of romance in Toronto and Melbourne.
Popularity: 37% [?]
Why Grand Central Works
Grand Central Terminal. Why does it work so well? Listen to Vishaan Chakrabarti tell it like it is. First, he reflects on some design details of the spectacular Main Concourse. Next, he wanders down Park Avenue and shares some of the history of how private sector competition led to a major public amenity and transformed the entire metropolitan region. Then he explores the terminal’s tentacular North-end Access and reflects further on how the terminal has transformed urban and regional economies. Finally, as he delves into the food court, he ponders lessons to be learned from Grand Central that could be applied to Moynihan Station.
Popularity: 24% [?]
Street clutter threat to conservation areas
The nicest streets in England are gradually being wrecked – sinking under a tide of plastic windows, concrete roof tiles, replacement doors, satellite dishes, smashed-out front gardens and streetscapes cluttered with ugly broken paving, bollards, barriers and traffic signs.
Popularity: 42% [?]
Museum of the Phantom City
Ah, the New York City skyline.
A mile-high dome shades Midtown Manhattan, an airport floats off Battery Park, Harlem is enveloped in a hulking megastructure literally lifting residents out of poverty, and the tallest building in the world, continuously under construction, sprouts from ground zero, growing without end.
“It’s the city that never was but could have been,” said Irene Cheng, an architectural historian. “Sort of an alternate future.”
Popularity: 22% [?]
The 10 Oldest Still-Inhabited Cities
Urban society may seem a modern phenomenon but cities have been around for a lot longer than one might think. Indeed, once nomadic tribes began to settle in one location, they saw that it was good, became fruitful, and multiplied. Decades, centuries and millennia passed while war, climate change and human migration all took their toll. Relatively few ancient cities have managed to survive the test of time. Here are 10 that have not only survived, but continue to thrive.
Popularity: 46% [?]
A Vision of the Berlin Wall as a Giant Garden
While the Wall stood, the zone between East and West Berlin was a potentially deadly space. But since the end of the Cold War, it has mostly stood barren. Now a Dutch landscape architect wants to transform the former no man’s land into a series of secret gardens and recreational areas.
Popularity: 57% [?]
Future Vision Banished to the Past
How old does a building have to be before we appreciate its value? And when does its cultural importance trump practical considerations?
Those are the questions that instantly come to mind over the likely destruction of Kisho Kurokawa’s historic Nakagin Capsule Tower.
Popularity: 26% [?]
The forgotten man of the Plan of Chicago
Architecture can be tough on second bananas. A case in point: Edward H. Bennett, the co-author with the legendary Daniel Burnham of the Plan of Chicago, the tome of soaring prose, dazzling renderings and profound influence whose 100th anniversary will be celebrated Saturday.
Popularity: 29% [?]
The Tree Museum
Every tree is a living archive, its rings a record of rainfall, temperature, atmosphere, fire, volcanic eruption, and even solar activity. These arboreal archives together reach back in time over centuries, sometimes millennia. We can even map human history through them—and onto them—tracing famines, plagues, and the passing of our own lives.
Popularity: 22% [?]