Archinect - News

Oliver Wainwright on Disney's 'dream or nightmare' Storyliving community

2024-04-09T11:58:00-04:00

With revenue from cinema and streaming falling in recent years, income from Disney’s “experience” division is soaring, and property development is the next logical step. Disney tried it before in Florida, first with utopian plans for Epcot (the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow), followed by the quaint town of Celebration, but Storyliving takes the branded living experience to the next level.

Writing for The Guardian, critic Oliver Wainwright reflects on plans for a major Disney-themed development at Rancho Mirage in the California desert.

As we reported initially in 2022 and in a follow-up last year, the 2,000-home Storyliving by Disney scheme will include a midcentury-influenced member's clubhouse named for the fictional Parr family from the company’s “The Incredibles” franchise, where users can engage with Disney-themed art lessons and experience dinners inspired by Disney stories.

Related on Archinect: Disney unveils further details for planned Cotino community in the Coachella Valley. Image courtesy Disney Parks

In his latest article, Wainwright views the development through the lens of the Architecture of Stage Realities exhibition taking place at Arc en Reve in Bordeaux. The exhibition "paints a portrait of Walt Disney as a natural-born developer, a cartoonist who understood not only how to lure people into his magical worlds but how to keep them coming back," Wai...

Boston reprioritizes Planning and Development Agency as reformers push to eliminate structural inequality

2024-04-03T19:07:00-04:00

The Boston City Council passed a measure Wednesday to shift planning authority away from the Boston Planning and Development Agency, a body that's reshaped much of the city in the 20th century and has faced criticism for the power it wields over building and urban renewal. The newly minted Boston Planning Department will assume many of the responsibilities, property and staff currently under the old agency, which will retain oversight of large developments.

As per WBUR, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu has been adamant about phasing out the current planning system during her time in office, calling it "an anachronism plagued by lack of transparency and misguided priorities."

Other critics have amplified her call, arguing that it inculcates structural racism. As a 2020 Boston Globe article stated: "The quasi-governmental agency referees Boston’s major real estate development, a sector that one agency board member described [...] as overwhelmingly white and male. The BPDA has been criticized in recent years for the cost of housing and what some view as overdevelopment."

The city is in the midst of several reforms aimed at increasing affordable housing and decarbonizing its built environment and needs to plan a massive flood barrier to protect against the effects of climate change by 2070.

Zaha Hadid Architects unveils major waterfront master plan in Oman

2024-03-15T11:52:00-04:00

Zaha Hadid Architects has designed a waterfront master plan for downtown Muscat in Oman.

Under the plans, named the Al Khuwair development, the existing administrative and industrial areas will become an urban district with an expected population of 64,500.

Image credit: X UniverseCG, courtesy of MoHUP

The district will comprise five areas: a marina, a recreational waterfront with beaches and sports facilities, a canal walkway, a cultural quarter, and a Ministry campus. Residential areas will be incorporated throughout the master plan alongside arts, culture, and leisure facilities within mixed-use developments.

Image credit: X UniverseCG, courtesy of MoHUP

Building on Muscat’s history as a port city, the development will be anchored by the marina, which will include public green spaces along the waterfront and dining, retail, hotel, and residential developments. Elsewhere, buildings within the existing Ministry campus are expected to be retrofitted and reused through a program of re...

Buro Happold and Dialog unveil new urban thermal comfort study for Toronto

2024-01-22T18:45:00-05:00

The City of Toronto recently completed a groundbreaking study of its ‘thermal comfort’ done by Buro Happold and Dialog. The work will provide valuable lessons to urban planners, developers, and other stakeholders as the country’s largest metropolitan area prepares a strategy to suitably mitigate the growing number of extreme heat days it faces in a given year.

The study will go a long way in informing Toronto’s response to heat and climate, leading eventually to the creation and implementation of new comfort guidelines included as part of a broader Heat Relief Strategy that was debuted two years ago. Toronto's City Planning Division contracted Buro Happold and Dialog to lead the study based on the former’s extensive experience with similar plans for large metro areas such as New York, Los Angeles, and Minneapolis.

“These are significant new kinds of guidance that city leaders everywhere need to help protect their citizens and support public health in an era of rapid climate change,...

Cooper Robertson unveils campus master plan for the University of Maryland

2024-01-10T13:54:00-05:00

Details of a new comprehensive master plan by Cooper Robertson for the University of Maryland’s flagship campus in College Park were revealed Tuesday by the firm following its initial announcement in March of last year.

By prioritizing strategies for “holistic growth,” the university says it will be able to meet its slate of strategic development goals that include increasing institutional resilience, achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2025, improving transit options and pedestrian access on campus, making facilities improvements, enhancing connectivity between the campus and D.C. metro region, and preparing for a more diverse future.

Rendering courtesy Cooper Robertson

“This plan builds on the University of Maryland’s role as an ambitious, forward-looking, and value-driven academic institution,” Cooper Robertson partner and UMD alum Mike Aziz said. “By embracing its legacy of distinction in a modern and strategic program, the university is setting a highly sustainable and lasti...

Research finds a link between social vulnerability and urban heat island effect

2023-12-29T11:32:00-05:00

New research from two U.S. universities has drawn a link between socially vulnerable populations and urban heat island effect. The team, drawn from the University of Texas at San Antonio and Pennsylvania State University, used Philadelphia as a case study to summarize how more vulnerable people live in neighborhoods that are “less green and that get hotter.”

The research was recently published in the Journal of Buildings, and examines the differing characteristics of two Philadelphia neighborhoods to study how the way a neighborhood is built, and the characteristics of the people who live there, are both related to how hot it gets. The team found a “clear link between outdoor temperature and specific urban characteristics” before asking “whether these urban characteristics can be related to the social vulnerability of the residents.”

The social vulnerability of different Philadelphia neighborhoods. Image credit: Research team, licensed under CC BY-ND

The group established a social vu...

BIG's ‘Mindfulness City’ concept seeks to deliver new forms of prosperity to southern Bhutan

2023-12-20T20:00:00-05:00

Details of a new master plan from Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) for Bhutan’s future Gelephu Special Administration Region have been made public this week in the South Asian country.

‘Mindfulness City’ is a multifaceted economic hub designed by the firm’s Landscape and Urban Design Team to coincide with sustainability principles and the pioneering Gross National Happiness Index (GNH) concept that has been championed by King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and the Bhutanese government since 2008.

Rendering: Brick Visual

The 1,000-square-kilometer (386-square-mile) plan calls for the construction of a new international airport, hydroelectric dam, railway infrastructure, and university campus near the southern border with India. Ribbons of neighborhood-scale developments will run like tendrils influenced by the confluence of 35 different rivers and streams that pulse through the site, with densities increasing along the gradient from its northern rural highlands to mor...

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo is the 2023 ULI Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development laureate

2023-12-14T18:03:00-05:00

The Urban Land Institute (ULI) has today announced Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo as its selection for the 2023 ULI Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development, one of the industry’s leading honors for community building and development worldwide.

“La Dauphine,” as she is better known to the press, has spearheaded a renowned program of green investments in the French capital while simultaneously embarking on initiatives aimed at pedestrianization and alleviating urban heat islands, among other key policy drives which have made her into a leading figure in the international movement towards ‘15-minute cities,’ housing justice, and better healthy buildings policies.

“Mayor Hidalgo’s leadership throughout two decades of public service has not only made Paris a healthier, more inclusive, and more livable city today but has also transformed the way other cities think about the possibilities of tomorrow,” Diane Hoskins, ULI Global Chair and the co-CEO of Gensler, said of her accomplishments. “He...

University of Miami's School of Architecture to design smart 'Silica City' concept for booming Guyana

2023-12-12T11:53:00-05:00

The University of Miami School of Architecture has announced its participation in a master planning project that will help develop a smart city in the capital region of Guyana, South America.

Both students and faculty from the school will join with others in UM’s Advanced Study of the Americas program, Herbert Business School, School of Nursing and Health Studies, and Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science to realize the project, which leverages their expertise in the fields of resilient design, sustainable architecture, climate science, nature systems, technology, and more.

'Silica City' is an 11,000-acre planned community of 60,000 people near the Guyana International Airport with residential plots, a city center, an 'Innovation Village' area, and AI-bolstered infrastructure. Preliminary design work has already begun via a new 12-student studio that was taught in the fall by former School of Architecture dean Jose A. Gelabert-Navia, who said: “You cannot devel...

MVRDV and Orange Architects introduce master plan for new mixed-use district in Kyiv

2023-11-27T13:58:00-05:00

MVRDV and Orange Architects have announced a new master plan for a mixed-used district in Kyiv, Ukraine, that's meant to spark a revitalization of the capital’s downtown commercial area.

The design for the NUVO complex calls for a five-building mix of new structures united by a central shared infrastructure and connecting to a planned high-speed rail extension. The plan will increase pedestrianism in the area while tying its development to core principles of sustainable building and green design, the architects say. The project features a palette of local materials to “showcase” the architectural products of manufacturer (and the property's developer) Kovalska and expands on a pre-Russian-invasion master plan from APA Wojcehowski Architects.

Rendering: Wizard 3D Studio, image courtesy MVRDV and Orange Architects

MVRDV’s portion calls for a pair of new buildings to be designed around potential future adaptations. The larger, L-shaped 18-story tower uses flexible floor plans to offer ...

Harvard's new Enterprise Research Campus breaks ground in Boston

2023-11-14T18:59:00-05:00

A master plan project at Harvard University from Studio Gang, Henning Larsen, SCAPE, and Utile has begun construction in the Boston neighborhood of Allston.

The 36-acre Enterprise Research Campus (or ERC) will coalesce an area across the Charles River from the Ivy League campus into a new multi-use innovation district with designs from MVRDV, Moody Nolan, and Marlon Blackwell, in addition to the university's first above-ground mass timber structures from Studio Gang.

Once complete, its initial two phases will entail 14 acres of redeveloped land reserved for offices, labs, conference center, hotel, residential component, and open green space.

Image courtesy SCAPE

The effort was inaugurated in 2018 in the interest of creating a "gateway to a collaborative community," which is Boston's well-known consortium of knowledge industries.

Studio Gang founding principal and partner, Jeanne Gang, said her team’s plan has "provided a framework for a vibrant and inclusive public realm that bring...

Noise-disrupting fountains? Belgian cities are leading the world in anti-noise pollution urban strategy

2023-11-10T13:26:00-05:00

Noise pollution often underestimated but significantly impacting our lives, has become a pressing concern in major cities worldwide. From the bustling streets of Brussels to the vibrant ambience of Paris, urban dwellers are increasingly raising their voices against incessant noise.

Exposure to noise pollution above an annual average of 53 decibels has been shown to shorten lifespans for city dwellers. Brussels, where 70% of residents are at-risk, has begun experimenting with pleasing “soundscapes” among other, more practical interventions that include lower speed limits, added greenways, and pedestrianization strategies. Antwerp is also planning to test out a new “noise-disrupting fountains” concept this spring. Ghent, finally, is attempting to limit maximum facade noise to 65 decibels using a combination of traffic reduction and improvements to road surfaces.

SHoP, Field Operations behind proposed $8 billion ‘Metropolitan Park’ mixed-use/casino development in Queens

2023-11-09T19:46:00-05:00

A group affiliated with New York Mets franchise owner Steve Cohen has revealed a proposal for a new mixed-use entertainment district and casino that would occupy a transforming portion of the Willets Point, Queens neighborhood if approved.

The $8 billion proposal covers 50 acres (20 of which will be dedicated open space) and will include designs from SHoP Architects, Fields Operations, and Jeffrey Beers International. The site is located adjacent to another development that was announced in May and is being master planned by HOK to create the first-ever dedicated professional soccer facility in New York City. The plan calls for a hotel, multiple restaurants or bars, a conference space, gardens and athletic facilities, a music venue, and a food hall for local vendors.

Speaking in a press release, Cohen said: “When I bought this team, fans and the community kept saying we needed to do better. Metropolitan Park delivers on the promise of a shared space that people will not only want t...

Austin becomes largest city in the U.S. to dump parking requirements

2023-11-05T09:00:00-05:00

Austin on Thursday became the largest city in the country to stop requiring new developments to have a set amount of parking — a move aimed at both fighting climate change and spurring more housing construction amid the city’s affordability crisis. The Austin City Council voted 8-2 Thursday to wipe out minimum parking requirements for virtually every kind of property citywide. That includes single-family homes, apartment buildings, offices and shopping malls.

As noted by The Texas Tribune, housing advocates, developers, and climate activists have increasingly advocated for the erasure of parking requirements, which have been found to drive up housing costs and fuels a dependency on cars. Cities across the country in recent years, including Portland, Minneapolis, and San Jose, have taken similar actions to scale back requirements. In 2019, the L.A. City Planning Department released its Downtown Community Plan, called DTLA 2040, which included plans to eliminate parking requirements for all of downtown Los Angeles.

Previously on Archinect: Are vacant parking lots affecting the cost of housing? A new study in Boston sheds light on the issue

According to Austin City Council Member and the proposal’s author, Zohaib Qadri, keeping parking requirements contradicted the billions of dollars the city has set out to invest in its public transit system.

Opponents of the move worry that getting rid of parking requirements will redirect parking to near...

Foster + Partners designs Hangzhou master plan along a central ‘leafy spine’

2023-11-01T17:22:00-04:00

Foster + Partners has unveiled its design for a new master-planned center for the Chinese city of Hangzhou. Organized around a central landscaped axis, the master plan is described by the firm as a “green and interconnected mixed-use quarter.”

Image credit: Foster + Partners

The central axis is intended as a “leafy spine” guiding visitors through the district, bookended at each end by green space. While the north end holds a public park, a wetland in the south is connected to a new cultural hub.

Image credit: Foster + Partners

The axis itself holds several cultural centers, including a public library, exhibition hall, and galleries. Massing gradually steps up towards the axis, creating a defined skyline while seeking to “respect the site’s natural surroundings” as well. The density also increases around public transport hubs to encourage public transit use.

Image credit: Foster + Partners

“The master plan is organized around a 2.5-kilometer central axis that runs the full length of th...

MVRDV designs residential master plan as new neighborhood for Brussels

2023-10-24T15:34:00-04:00

MVRDV has released details of their master plan for Tour & Taxis Lake Side in Brussels, Belgium. The master plan consists of 17 buildings designed by seven different architects including MVRDV, adding 800 residential units to the area.

Image credit: RZGraphics

The master plan is split into three sections. A mixed office and housing campus to the east contains large-scale buildings, including cross-laminated timber and lightweight hybrid structures. The middle section, meanwhile, sees 14 individual buildings clustered around a public garden. The ground floors of the buildings contain public amenities and shops, while all 14 buildings hold either green or energy-producing roofs. The third section of the master plan blends the dense neighborhood into the adjacent Tour & Taxis Park, with a more open space punctuated by a tower known as the Park Building.

Image credit: RZGraphics

The plan contains a range of housing types, including two buildings providing co-living apartments. The master ...

BIG designs stepped concave towers for ‘Europe’s largest regeneration project’ in Greece

2023-10-18T12:15:00-04:00

Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) has designed a major residential complex in Athens, Greece. Named Park Rise and commissioned for LAMDA Development, BIG’s scheme is part of The Ellinikon, described by LAMDA as “Europe’s largest urban regeneration project and a smart city being built from the ground up in Athens.”

Image credit: Bjarke Ingels Group / LAMDA

Park Rise will form the centerpiece of Little Athens, a new residential neighborhood located within the Ellinikon master plan. BIG’s concept will contain 88 residential units across five building cores: two rising to five floors, two rising to eight floors, and one rising to 12 floors.

Image credit: Bjarke Ingels Group / LAMDA

From the outside, the scheme is defined by a curved concave facade which, the architects say, “creatively reimagines the classic Greek column while adding a soft geometry to the aesthetic.” Off-white glass-reinforced concrete with exposed aggregates is integrated into the facade to “harken to the natural landscape.”

I...

Field Operations will lead new Fifth Avenue pedestrian corridor redesign in Manhattan

2023-10-13T17:18:00-04:00

Field Operations has announced its participation as the design lead for a new public space and pedestrianization project that will affect a large swath of Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan.

The new “Future of Fifth” project, announced by New York Mayor Eric Adams this week, will permanently reimagine the area between Bryant Park and Central Park South based on an 11-block pilot that last year added $3 million in revenue to local businesses, according to a study performed by Mastercard.

Field Operations will be joined on the project by Arcadis, Sam Schwartz, Public Works Partners, and a number of other design and engineering firms, seven of which are either minority- or women-owned business enterprises. It is seen as an extension of the city’s Open Streets program that was targeted at local businesses’ recoveries after the pandemic and builds on a larger $375 million investment in public space outlined in Adams’ “Working People's Agenda” from earlier this year.

Together, the firms wi...

RIOS unveils 100-year 'Hyper-Abundant City' concept at Seoul Biennale

2023-09-14T14:44:00-04:00

RIOS has released details of a new 100-year master plan included as part of its participation in the 4th Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism (SBAU), which takes place through the end of October in the South Korean capital.

The firm's concept for the 'Hyper-Abundant City' significantly alters the upscale Apgujeong district by incorporating the urban fabric of the adjacent Gangnam neighborhood while extending an existing connection to the Han River. Ecological plots revealing vertical villages that are inspired by Hanok architectural traditions are protected by shoreline islands which the architects say aid in managing stormwater runoffs and flood mitigation. Finally, the plots are connected to each other through an interlinking series of open spaces that permeate the site.

Rendering by Aesthetica Studio, image courtesy of RIOS

The river’s natural systems are relieved by the careful selection and placement of access points which minimize human activity while allowing land to...

Former Chicago Transportation Commissioner Gia Biagi joins Studio Gang in new planning role

2023-08-24T17:33:00-04:00

While the city’s top transportation post remains vacant, the department’s respected former commissioner has landed a leadership post at the award-winning Chicago architecture firm Studio Gang. Gia Biagi will join Studio Gang as Principal of Urbanism, the firm announced Thursday. Biagi told the Sun-Times that under the newly-created role, she’ll lead Studio Gang’s planning and urban design work nationally.

Biagi told the Sun-Times architecture critic, Lee Bey, her work will help Studio Gang’s efforts to shape “how we think about cities, how we revitalize them, and how that connects to other important systems, whether that’s emphasizing ecology or looking at the important public policy questions on the ground.” She will leverage further experience with the Chicago Park District and the Department of Planning and Development in the execution of her duties.

Previously on Archinect: Studio Gang's Gia Biagi picked to run Chicago Department of Transportation

Gang says Biagi, who worked previously at the firm from 2015 to 2019, shares the same goals and values essential to the core mission of the 12-year-old planning studio. Biagi holds degrees in planning from the University of Michigan and the University of Illinois Chicago.

The CDOT is still searching for a permanent replacement after she stepped down from the role at the end of July.

SOM reveals plans for 100,000-person Sultan Haitham smart city in Oman

2023-08-23T14:53:00-04:00

A new plan for a proposed smart city in Oman has been released by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) in advance of the project’s anticipated construction start next year.

The 14.8 million-square-meter Sultan Haitham City is located west of the country’s capital, Muscat, and will accommodate 100,000 people with a total of 20,000 units of housing and climate-resilient naturalistic elements developed around twelve core aims of creating an experience that is "affordable, safe, compact, accessible, comfortable, robust, efficient, circular, healthy, smart, and lovable."

The project is part of the larger Vision 2040 initiative, which has, to date, seen the construction of the world’s largest 3D printed building made with real concrete. The development will begin with the construction of six neighborhoods around a 1.9-square-mile central core and later spread out along a 4.6-mile stretch until completion in 2045. SOM’s Managing Director Thomas Behr says it "provides a new model for sustainabl...

Snøhetta to redevelop site of the second-largest waterfall in the US

2023-08-16T11:27:00-04:00

Snøhetta has unveiled a master plan to revitalize Willamette Falls in Oregon City. The second largest waterfall in the United States by volume, the site has been obscured by infrastructure for over a century, with Snøhetta’s plan centered on making the area more publicly accessible.

Image credit: Snøhetta

The master plan includes a riverwalk that begins at the entrance of Oregon City’s historic downtown and culminates at the waterfall’s peak. Imagined as a sequence of "islands" crafted from basalt, steel, wood, and concrete, the riverwalk is designed to be an immersive experience where visitors can witness the power of the falls up close while also feeling the mist and appreciating the landscape's changing tones.

Image credit: Snøhetta

By encompassing the city’s historic downtown, the project hopes to revitalize Main Street, which once served as a major avenue but today dead-ends at the entrance to the waterfall site. Under Snøhetta’s plans, the street will become the gateway for the ...

Ohio State researchers use machine learning to create 3D digital models of lost historic neighborhoods

2023-07-21T12:38:00-04:00

A team of researchers from The Ohio State University has developed a machine learning technique that converts old urban maps into three-dimensional digital models. According to the team, the models could potentially revolutionize research involving historic neighborhoods and the economic impact of their demolition.

The study, recently published in the journal PLOS ON, involved extracting and digitizing data from Sanborn Fire Insurance maps. The maps, created during the 19th and 20th centuries and frequently updated, were used by fire insurance companies to estimate their liabilities in about 12,000 U.S. cities and towns.

"We now have the ability to unlock the wealth of data that are embedded in these Sanborn fire atlases," said Ohio State Geography Professor Harvey Miller, a co-author of the study. "It enables a whole new approach to urban historical res...

Los Angeles approves car-free 'superblock' pilot program

2023-06-26T17:57:00-04:00

The Los Angeles City Council voted Tuesday on a motion to identify a location to implement its first Park Block -- modeled after the city of Barcelona’s Superblocks, a block grid system that restricts traffic to major roads and opens up city blocks and streets to pedestrians.

The “Park Block” motion was initially introduced by Los Angeles District Councilmember Kevin de León last year. The program aims to save lives lost due to poor air quality and traffic violence. As detailed in a report by LA City Council’s Transportation Committee, the Blocks will serve to form open public space with adequate shade, outdoor recreation, greening, and stormwater capture in communities that lack parks.

Previously on Archinect: LA Councilmember introduces plan to establish Barcelona's car-free 'superblocks' in Los Angeles

The program will first be implemented in León’s District 14, which includes parts of downtown Los Angeles, Boyle Heights, and Eagle Rock. LA's Department of Transportation will choose which area will host the initial pilot, with priority given to communities that have the least access to public space, the highest health disparities, and high population densities. In addition, the Department will report back on what funding and resources are necessary to...

The Architectural League of New York appoints Jacob R. Moore as its new Executive Director

2023-06-15T11:49:00-04:00

The Architectural League of New York has named Jacob R. Moore as its next Executive Director, following a thorough national search. Moore succeeds Rosalie Genevro, who announced her decision to step down last year after leading the organization for nearly 40 years.

“Jacob brings tremendous passion and a deep knowledge of the most important forces and issues impacting the built environment today,” said Mario Gooden, President of The League’s board of directors. “His vision for the future of The League and his commitment to equity, spatial justice, and the environment make him the ideal person to shape our next chapter.”

Moore will assume the position after most recently serving as the Associate Director of the Temple Hoyne Buell Center for the Study of American Architecture at Columbia University’s GSAPP. While at the Buell Center, he led the design, development, and execution of a range of public programs with a focus on the built environment, climate change, and social justice. S...

Carlo Ratti wants to remake New York into a ‘Playground City’

2023-05-15T17:09:00-04:00

Carlo Ratti and Harvard's Economics department chair Edward Glaeser recently detailed their vision of New York as a “Playground City” in an interactive opinion feature for the New York Times. The six-point plan calls for a number of radical solutions — including the widespread (but not windowless) conversion of “deep core” office buildings favored in comments by Mayor Eric Adams — and apparently has parallels to life in 17th- and 18th-century London.

“In a Playground City,” they describe, “mixed-use neighborhoods that tie life, labor and leisure together generate what the New York urbanist Jane Jacobs calls the 'sidewalk ballet,' a productive and playful dynamic in which a diversity of different users come and go at all hours.”

The plan centers on increased social interaction and a revival of street life, fueled by small businesses, green space, and recreation. They say we must “view the city as a for-profit real estate development company wholly owned by a nonprofit poverty-allevi...

Arup’s VR95 experience tool offers the vantage point of small children for urban planners

2023-04-29T08:00:00-04:00

An immersive new VR experience tool developed by Arup called VR95 is helping architects and urban designers immerse themselves in the unique perspective of children in the hopes of creating a better environment for them to dwell in.

Arup feels this is an important venture as nearly 70% of the world’s population is expected to inhabit cities by mid-century. In order to prepare, they reached out to the Bernard Van Leer Foundation for help developing an experience that gives users a sense of the world at only 95 centimeters (or a little over three feet) tall.

According to the creators of the tool, it aims to "raise awareness about some of the common challenges currently faced by young children in cities around the world, and encourage decision-makers and thought leaders into thinking from the perspective of a 3-year-old."

Related Feature on Archinect: How Digital Spaces Can Shape Cities as We Exit the Pandemic

It is included as part of the Proximity of Care Design Guide, a tool that ap...

UNStudio debuts K.Wah G72 mixed-use development in Nanjing

2023-04-25T13:58:00-04:00

UNStudio has just unveiled plans for another new mixed-use development project in the Chinese city of Nanjing.

Dubbed K.Wah G72, the scheme will enact what they call a “lifestyle waterfront community” space along the city’s Qinhuai River, with the new home of the UCCA Centre for Contemporary Art serving as its base surrounded by green terraces, a hotel, apartments, and office tower blocks that create a new hub for socializing and commercial activity.

Image courtesy UNStudio

Ben van Berkel, the studio’s founder and principal architect, shared: “The Nanjing K.Wah G72 mixed-use development will serve as a one-stop destination in which lifestyle, innovation and work are brought together. It aims to be a benchmark for newly integrated urban developments in Nanjing, across the country, and beyond.”

Image courtesy UNStudio

As always, UNStudio says sustainability will be the project’s central concern, adding that it will serve as a “landmark in sustainability and future-proof design in China....

A job opportunity at the City of Tacoma offers insight into a career in urban planning

2023-04-05T16:36:00-04:00

Following last week’s look at an opening for the Architecture Program Chair at the University of Michigan, we are using this week’s edition of our Job Highlights series to explore an open position on Archinect Jobs for a Senior Planner at the City of Tacoma’s Planning and Development Services.

The role, based in Tacoma, WA with the possibility of a remote arrangement, calls for an individual who is “passionate about working with diverse community members to solve complex problems and building great communities.” The position also asks for either a bachelor’s degree in planning, architecture, urban design, or a closely allied field with four years of planning experience, or a master’s degree with two years of experience in the planning profession.

Why the role interests us

The position at the City of Tacoma offers insight into the role performed by public planning department...

Chicago releases updated designs of the 'Revive the Drive' lakefront project

2023-03-31T18:57:00-04:00

The groups behind Chicago’s planned overhaul of a key portion of the iconic Lakeshore Drive have revealed the latest renderings of a project that’s set to add much-needed protective barriers and green space along the city’s Lake Michigan shoreline.

The non-profit news platform Block Club Chicago has the latest details on the "Redefine the Drive" plan, which will take shape over the coming years through a series of community engagement meetings expected to reconvene in the fall.

Image courtesy Illinois Department of Transportation & Chicago Department of Transportation

While a final design plan hasn't been confirmed, renders shared by the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) and Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) aim to "help Chicagoans 'better understand the characteristics' of park, lakefront, pedestrian, and bike space expansions that would be universal to any final plan," reports Mack Liederman of Block Club Chicago.

Image courtesy Illinois Department of Transpo...