Archinect - News

On the potential 'second draft' of the American suburbs

2022-07-28T13:29:00-04:00

It could look like another round of flight from the city. Or what we may be witnessing is a “second draft” of the American suburbs. Many communities that were once white, exclusionary, and car-dependent are today diverse and evolving places, still distinct from the big city but just as distinct from their own “first draft” more than a half-century ago.

The American suburbs are continuing to diversify and gain millennials and increased numbers of immigrants, two groups that have traditionally been confined to cities. More mixed-use and affordable developments are being delivered in suburban areas where single-family constructions have long dominated. Considerations for car-free and walkable communities are also becoming more popular in planning circles, joined by taller buildings, improved restaurant culture, and nightclubs. As Addison Del Mastro noted in the Vox piece, “the makings of a suburban transformation are here.”

Indeed. Home builders are currently attempting to meet a perplexing demand challenge by going smaller and cheaper, leading to a 7% decrease in single-family starts in June. ADUs are also starting to present themselves as affordable solutions, along with more newfashioned inventions like co-living that, in combination, are making the never-ending horizontal sprawl of the suburbs much denser. In the words of one eco...

BIG and WXY propose public realm improvements for Downtown Brooklyn

2019-12-27T16:29:00-05:00

A new plan by the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership—a consortium of three business improvement districts—seeks to make room for all of those people by curtailing car access and installing protected bike lanes, colorful street furniture, and monumental gathering spaces.

Despite rapid population growth, Downtown Brooklyn seems to be missing the appeal for the increasing number of pedestrians and cyclists.

The newly unveiled Downtown Brooklyn Public Realm Vision, developed jointly by WXY architecture + urban design and Bjarke Ingels Group in collaboration with the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, proposes a number of public realm, streetscape & green infrastructure improvements for an entire neighborhood.

Gallatin Place reimagined. Image courtesy of Downtown Brooklyn Partnership

Can LA's new pilot program for micro-unit apartments promote a walkable city?

2019-09-05T19:45:00-04:00

Last week Los Angeles City Councilmember Gil Cedillo initiated a new pilot program which explores the development of micro-unit apartments in LA neighborhoods situated near transit areas. Intending to promote a more "walkable city," Cedillo's proposal addresses the city's housing crisis and the burden it places on residents and those experiencing homelessness. The proposal also pitches micro-units as a potential housing solution for young professionals, persons who frequently travel for work, and seniors.

"Micro-units are emerging across the county as one way to help address this crisis by increasing housing stock and diversity while providing homes that are naturally affordable to moderate-income residents without public subsidies" reads Cedillo's motion.

While some may be skeptical towards this proposed solution, Steven Sharp of Urbanize LA provides an example of a city that found success with this housing option. In a more recent post, Sharp uses the city of Seattle as a prime ex...

Oslo's city center goes (almost) car-free

2019-07-11T07:30:00-04:00

[Oslo] has just phased out the last on-street parking spaces in the city centre, giving an edge to transit, pedestrians and cyclists without banning cars. The initiative included incentives for cyclists such as new bike lanes, including better lighting and snow removal, along with subsidies for electric bikes and cargo cycles. Council also expanded transit services and lowered fares.

London, Berlin, Paris, Toronto, and an increasing number of cities are aiming to reduce traffic congestion, polluted air, and valuable urban space occupied by parked cars through policy changes that promote walkability, pedestrian- and cyclist-friendly (and in certain cases, car-light or even car-free) city centers, and an overall improved quality of life.

Oslo became a closely monitored model of a hybrid approach: after the proposal of a complete ban of cars in the capital's center was met with fierce opposition from business owners, who feared decreased commerce, the city decided to close off only certain streets to motor traffic but replace the more than 700 downtown parking spots with bike lanes, greenery, and pedestrian-oriented infrastructure.

"Cities, like Oslo, have been built for cars for several decades, and it’s about time we change it," Hanne Marcussen, Oslo’s vice mayor of urban development, told Fast Company. “I think it is important that we all think about what kind o...

When walkability goes up, so do home prices

2016-08-25T09:56:00-04:00

Los Angeles, where homes sell for a median price of $475,000, has an overall Walk Score of 66.3. Each additional walkability point adds an average of $3,948, or a 0.83% bump, to the sale price. [...] Pedestrian access adds the most proportional value to homes in cities such as Atlanta, where the overall score is 48.4 and revitalization efforts are starting to open up more community gathering hubs. A single-point upgrade to an Atlanta home’s Walk Score boosts the sale price 1.69% on average.

More on the relationship between pedestrianism and the market:

Jan Gehl: "Never ask what the city can do for your building, always ask what your building can do for the city."

2016-05-25T20:18:00-04:00

I’m not so critical about New York, because they have this very firm grid-pattern. Even the newer buildings are lined up on good streets. If you stand in front of the Empire State Building, you can’t really guess how tall it is, because it meets the street in a friendly way. [...] It’s not so important how high the building is, or how much it looks like a perfume bottle, it’s more important how it interacts with the city.

How to design that elusive "Perfect Town"

2016-03-07T13:49:00-05:00

This got us thinking about what it takes to build an ideal town: should pubs be on every residential corner or on the high street? How many trendy coffee shops are too many? Are libraries still a thing? We didn't have the answers to any of those questions, so we spoke to Matt Richards – a planner at property consultancy Bidwells – to find out what makes the perfect town.

Jan Gehl's perspective on making "a good urban habitat for homo sapiens"

2015-08-24T14:09:00-04:00

Every time we build something, we manipulate the conditions of people’s lives, but most planners don’t know enough about this manipulation...I have worked very hard to find out what the life is that goes on inside our buildings and how our buildings influence that life...Because if you just do form, then you are doing sculpture, but if you look after the interaction between life and form, you are doing architecture.

Locals welcome The 606, a.k.a. Chicago's "High Line", but anxiety for its future remains

2015-06-10T10:15:00-04:00

Chicago's highly anticipated elevated trail and park system known as The 606, otherwise referred to as the Bloomingdale Trail or the "Chicago High Line", finally celebrated its grand opening this past Saturday on the appropriate date of June 6 (6/06). The centerpiece of the $95 million project — which had its first phase designed by ARUP, Carol Ross Barney, Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Burns & McDonnell, and the Chicago Public Art Group — is a 2.7 mile elevated trail that replaces the defunct Bloomingdale rail line. The trail will connect the Wicker Park, Bucktown, Humboldt Park, and Logan Square neighborhoods and six parks. And unlike similar linear-park projects, The 606 is open to pedestrians and cyclists to use as a new "transit corridor".

Prior to The 606, those communities were historically divided by the Bloomingdale railway and were in need of open green space. The newly opened trail is still looking fairly sparse at the moment, but later phases of the project include ...

The uncertain future of Moscow's urban renewal ambitions

2015-06-08T20:00:00-04:00

The plan was to create a new type of city that answered the needs of Moscow’s creative middle classes. But did the exit of Sergei Kapkov, the culture minister who ushered in these changes, also signal the end of the city’s urban revival? [...] “Kapkov’s reforms provided a whole generation of young creative types with a sense – perhaps somewhat illusory – that they could do things on a small scale; that there was a real fabric of life in a public city,” said Tsentsiper.

Stockholm's Vision Zero offers idealistic concept of car-free cities

2015-03-25T09:19:00-04:00

As the Vision Zero conversation widens, a new dimension is emerging to the approach. Increasingly, planners and advocates are talking about creating cities rich in human interaction, cities that provide a healthier environment that puts people above cars in a variety of ways...[At the same time,] Stockholm is already focusing on walkability, even if not under the Vision Zero rubric.

The Edmonton Freezeway may soon become a reality

2015-02-26T19:37:00-05:00

If all goes accordingly, Canada might get another ice-skating trail known as The Freezeway to turn Edmonton -- a city that can get average below-freezing winter temperatures up to five months in a year -- into a hot destination. Or more like a winter wonderland. Proposed by Edmonton-born graduate student Matthew Gibbs, the 11 km Freezeway is a climate adaptive trail that would enable users to skate to different parts of the city.

Gibbs got inspiration for the skating trail when former city councilor Tooker Gomberg suggested, perhaps lightheartedly, back in the 1990s that the city "crack the fire hydrants open in the winter and flood the streets so people can skate to work."

In the summer months, the Freezeway would become a greenway for bikes and walking. According to Gibbs, the trail would promote a more active winter lifestyle, winter programming and social activities, and an alternative method of sustainable transportation.

Since the Freezeway was one of three winners in the annual ...

Think of sunnier days ahead with this floating "Walk-On" balcony

2015-02-11T15:07:00-05:00

On a regular office workday when the weather is fair, it can be hard to resist stepping outside to take a quick breather. The designers of Zalewski Architecture Group from Gliwice, Poland found themselves in a similar mindset as they looked out onto the dreary courtyard outside from their third-floor office. Then came the idea for the "Walk-on" balcony.

At only 80 cm wide, the narrow grassy pathway whirls and intertwines with itself while suspended in the air, latching itself to the walls of the surrounding buildings. It also features a polished metal palate underneath that mirrors its surroundings. Unless you're afraid of heights or are seeking a little adventure, the pathway "allows for a relaxing walk 'from office to office'" and adds some whimsical fun to the courtyard, as described by the designers.

With spring and summer outdoor events around the corner, the Zalewski Group's idea of the "Walk-on" balcony has potential to be fully realized into an interactive installation. From t...

Study Links Walkable Neighborhoods to Prevention of Cognitive Decline

2014-12-16T13:33:00-05:00

In a study presented last weekend to the Gerontological Society of America, University of Kansas assistant professor Amber Watts examined 26 subjects with mild Alzheimer’s Disease and 30 healthy control subjects. She tracked health outcomes over two years, controlling for home price, income, gender, and education. [...] "Our findings suggest that people with neighborhoods that require more mental complexity actually experience less decline in their mental functioning over time.”