2024-05-01T22:47:45-04:00 https://archinect.com/news/article/119594876/archinect-s-lexicon-magpie-architecture Amelia Taylor-Hochberg 2015-01-30T18:55:00-05:00 >2018-01-30T06:16:04-05:00 <img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/5o/5or2s97irretn3tw.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><p><strong>magpie</strong>&nbsp;[ma&#609;&#716;p&#299;],&nbsp;adjective: architecture that is, in the words of <a href="http://www.copenhagenize.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Copenhagenize</a>'s&nbsp;Mikael Colville-Andersen,&nbsp;&ldquo;attempting to attract people to big shiny things that dazzle but that have little functional value in the development of a city&rdquo;.</p><p>Colville-Andersen uses the term to chastize&nbsp;<a href="http://archinect.com/news/article/90312872/norman-foster-unveils-plans-for-elevated-skycycle-bike-routes-in-london" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Norman Foster's "Skycycle"</a>&nbsp;proposal for London, published&nbsp;in Copenhagenize on January 20, 2014: "Now of course this isn't a good idea." His use of "magpie architecture" is less about critiquing design elements, and more about deriding Foster's entire concept: "Ideas like these are city killers. Removing great numbers of citizens who could be cycling down city streets past shops and caf&eacute;s on their way to work or school and placing them on a shelf, far away from everything else."</p><p><img title="" alt="" src="http://cdn.archinect.net/images/514x/1v/1vn6na5l073v40kf.jpg"></p><p>Given that the author is an urban designer specializing in urban mobility, and whose Copenhagenize blog champions cycling as a key aspect of thriving cities, it's no surprise that Colville-Andersen isn't a fan of pushing cycling towa...</p>