Archinect's Lexicon: "Magpie Architecture"

2015-01-30T18:55:00-05:00

magpie [maɡˌpī], adjective: architecture that is, in the words of Copenhagenize's Mikael Colville-Andersen, “attempting to attract people to big shiny things that dazzle but that have little functional value in the development of a city”.

Colville-Andersen uses the term to chastize Norman Foster's "Skycycle" proposal for London, published 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 cafés on their way to work or school and placing them on a shelf, far away from everything else."

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...

Norman Foster unveils plans for elevated 'SkyCycle' bike routes in London

2014-01-02T19:25:00-05:00

Gliding through the air on a bike might so far be confined to the fantasy realms of singing nannies and aliens in baskets, but riding over rooftops could one day form part of your regular commute to work, if Norman Foster has his way. Unveiled this week, in an appropriately light-headed vision for the holiday season, SkyCycle proposes a network of elevated bike paths hoisted aloft above railway lines, allowing you to zip through town blissfully liberated from the roads.

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Archinect's Lexicon: "Magpie Architecture"

Norman Foster unveils plans for elevated 'SkyCycle' bike routes in London