Archinect - News

Mass timber and high-tech meet in Sidewalk Labs' vision for Toronto

2019-06-25T18:56:00-04:00

Sidewalk Labs, Snøhetta, Michael Green Architecture, and Heatherwick Studio have unveiled a controversial $1.3 billion plan to reprogram a portion of Toronto's industrial waterfront into a new smart city prototype that envisions a wireless, data-driven, and mass timber-filled future for the city.

Site plan for the Sidewalk Labs Quayside development. Image courtesy of Picture Plane for Heatherwick Studio and Sidewalk Labs

The thorough and graphically-slick plan aims to articulate "a new approach for inclusive growth" by developing a 12-acre site with a mix of mid- and high-rise housing towers, shared pedestrian plazas, and commercial uses. The plan is being submitted for consideration by Waterfront Toronto, a government-funded corporation that is tasked with redeveloping the 1,977-acre Toronto Waterfront. The group selected Sidewalk Labs as a potential developer for a portion of the site in 2017. Since the initial proposal was unveiled, there has been a significant amount of public c...

Patrik Schumacher calls for a 'capitalist revolution' to fix housing

2018-05-15T15:06:00-04:00

Housing is one of our most essential and cherished commodities. It is rightly one of our biggest markets, but unfortunately one of the most politicised, suffocating under quasi-socialist political interventionism. The loss of prosperity in our whole society is enormous. Not only because of poor housing provision, but because of its stifling impact on all economic activities. That’s why the need for a capitalist revolution is so urgent.

It's been a bit quiet around Zaha Hadid Architects principal and outspoken free-market evangelist Patrik Schumacher since his last big public statement calling for the elimination of social housing caused an overwhelming backlash, but now he's back with a new commentary piece on how to fix housing via privatization and deregulation, published in The Guardian.

Patrik Schumacher addresses backlash against his statements on eliminating social housing and privatizing public spaces

2018-01-17T13:29:00-05:00

When Patrik Schumacher spoke at the 17th World Architecture Festival back in 2016, his speech, calling for an end to social housing and the privatization of public space, caused serious push-back, even from the firm he currently runs. Since, Schumacher has been trying to lay low—at least as far as spewing his politics is concerned.

“I was a bit shocked. I mean, I have a thick skin, but it was unexpected and troubling. And it did for a while make me pull away a bit and calm down, to hide my polemics for a little bit and let that storm kind of fly over. I was really ducking under for a while" the architect told the Guardian.

Now, however, Schumacher wants to clarify his stance, arguing that he has been misunderstood. In this recent article in the Guardian, the architect once again touts his neoliberal, privatization scheme clarifying that "it’s not about me attacking vulnerable groups in society and wanting to throw them on to the street...The headline premise here is how can we actu...

How neoliberalism is changing us (for the worse)

2016-04-21T12:50:00-04:00

We tend to perceive our identities as stable and largely separate from outside forces. But over decades of research and therapeutic practice, I have become convinced that economic change is having a profound effect not only on our values but also on our personalities. Thirty years of neoliberalism, free-market forces and privatisation have taken their toll, as relentless pressure to achieve has become normative.

"If you’re reading this sceptically, I put this simple statement to you: meritocratic neoliberalism favours certain personality traits and penalises others."

In this op-ed, Paul Verhaeghe asserts that neoliberalism has weakened social ties and pitted workers against one another in a constant struggle to become "successful." In the process, we've started to develop personality traits that resemble a checklist of psychopathy characteristics.

Neoliberalism's effects aren't confined to the workplace, but rather extend into the urban fabric. Read more: