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A case for nature: Architect and regenerative design strategist Amanda Sturgeon pushes for rewilding cities

2021-04-06T20:39:00-04:00

More cities are incorporating biophilic design approaches for several reasons. While some firms genuinely practice regenerative and sustainable design methods, others could be placed into the category of "greenwashing" to satisfy trends and bolster their firm's PR efforts. However, according to architect and regenerative design strategist Amanda Sturgeon, the goal is to have buildings "that are intimately connected to the living systems that have evolved with us, that celebrate the human-nature connection that is central to our wellbeing."

In her recent article for The Guardian, Sturgeon makes a case for rewilding cities. She explains, "rewilding is about adding nature everywhere, not just in parks, by using nature-based solutions or green infrastructure at the edges of our streets, in leftover spaces, and on and within our buildings."

Featured on Archinect: McMansion Hell's Kate Wagner dissects issues with big tech and the 'blurred line' between private and public space. Image cou...

Detroit's Maurice Cox to lead Chicago's planning department

2019-07-19T13:12:00-04:00

New York native Maurice Cox is stepping down from his role this fall as Detroit's planning director. He's expected to take on a role as the top planning executive for the City of Chicago, a city official confirmed.

After four years at the helm of Detroit's planning department, Maurice Cox is headed to Chicago to serve as the city's top planning executive under the Windy City's new mayor, Lori Lightfoot.

A Brooklyn native, Cox is an architectural designer, educator, and former mayor of Charlottesville, Virginia. Prior to arriving in Detroit, Cox directed the Tulane University City Center, a community outreach and design-build institute housed within the Tulane School of Architecture. Prior to that role, Cox served as the design director for the National Endowment for the Arts in Washington, D.C.

Cox told The Detroit News, "I feel strongly that Detroit's neighborhoods are receiving the attention that they deserve and people feel strongly that they have a road map for the quality of life for neighborhoods, whether it's streets, parks or greenways. Cox added that those efforts are "driven by the residents who stayed."

Labics redevelops former bus depot into “City of Sun” in Rome

2018-02-06T19:40:00-05:00

After winning the Municipality of Rome's invite-only competition in 2007, architects Maria Claudia Clemente and Francesco Isidori of Labics revitalized a former bus depot at the edge of town into a mixed-use complex called the Città del Sole, or “City of Sun”. Working with local public transit authority ATAC, the Municipality of Rome sought design proposals that would redevelop a number of transit depots in the city. Labics completed City of Sun in 2016.

Photo: Marco Cappelletti.

In designing the 17,300 sq.m. project, Labics wanted to create a porous urban center for the local community that would also enhance the neighborhood's identity.

Photo: Marco Cappelletti.

The multi-level complex has commercial spaces and a public library at ground level, offices on the first floor, and then public spaces on the next level.

Three buildings are suspended above the public spaces. One of the buildings provides additional office space, while the ot...

Architecture as urban regeneration: Theaster Gates, Art + Practice, and Assemble

2015-11-03T18:19:00-05:00

Most architects don’t build economic engines into their projects, and [Assemble's Anna] Lisogorskaya is quick to note that this type of intervention doesn’t make sense everywhere. [...] But she does argue that things such as economic sustainability and local jobs are inherently interconnected with any effort to rehabilitate a neighbourhood. The architecture is only part of the project, and can only do so much on its own.

University of Maryland grad students envision redevelopment plan for New Orleans neighborhoods

2015-04-10T18:26:00-04:00

Founded by Gerald D. Hines, the annual Urban Land Institute Hines competition challenges multidisciplinary graduate student teams from North American universities to propose a comprehensive redevelopment program for a designated U.S. metro area. The ideas competition is set up as a design exercise with no plans of implementation, but the hypothetical situations of the brief are largely based on actual urban development and redevelopment scenarios, so students get to test their design skills in relevant real-world issues. What student wouldn't be motivated by that?

For its 13th edition, the competition focused on the Tulane/Gravier and Iberville neighborhoods in downtown New Orleans that were affected by Hurricane Katrina.

2015 ULI Hines finalists (starting on the L, clockwise): Harvard University: “Tremé 2.0”; University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee and University of Wisconsin - Madison: “Quartier Vert”; Harvard University: “Claiborne Grove”; University of Maryland: “The Crossing”

The comp...

Olympics 2012: What happens next?

2012-08-08T13:18:00-04:00

London’s surprising win that morning was attributed to its focus on urban regeneration and legacy: perhaps the first time an Olympic bid had specifically presented the Games as merely the warm up for a longer-term rejuvenation.

A "dog's dinner of crap concrete"

2012-06-15T11:14:00-04:00

It seems to me Aberdeen thinks in terms of a consumerist society, where the solution is: "Well, put more shops in and get more business." I think it's a mistake; the same mistake they made back in the 60s.

The singer Annie Lennox has made a scathing attack on plans for a £140m privately run park (aka the Aberdeen City Garden Project) in the centre of her home city of Aberdeen. Sir Ian Wood an Aberdonian oil industry magnate, has offered to give at least £50m towards the project. Tom Smith, chairman of Aberdeen City Gardens Trust, which is leading the project, said it was designed to revitalise the city centre, and increasing the amenities and green space, yet the project seeks to replace the existing sunken gardens with the Granite Web proposal by Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Keppie Design.