In addition to the above mentioned recipes, is not the ultimate (and unattainable) goal of a new city/ society simply to be content and happy? This interesting article highlights our existing capitalistic societies happiness requirements….although this appears to reflect the desires of mature adults, with no account for teenage / college year angst. There’s also the fact thaat some people simply are simply not happy unless they are miserable.
-a structure that would provide a "safe haven" for pizza-delivery drivers who are on the clock but seriously stressed out and in need of a couple minutes to chill without fear of reprisal.
Great article Bula! For me, a city needs to have more neighborhood mixed use with parks small enough to attract friends and neighbors, not just the people who have no space to have a family party. Oh ya, and be close to surf / skate / snow.
One of the big tastes asside from digitising and developing the masterplan layout will be to create interview questions for possible companies interested in developing in the town. Asside from asking them trick questions (do you like faux finishes? McMansions?) what should I try and find out about them?
I would be sure to have them provide you with a complete financial background. If they are from the USA, be sure to ask them if they have any Federal or State Back Taxes. It is something you most likely want to check out anyhow, but the question is always an eye opener, that you will be doing qualified background financials on who ever your in bed with.
start with the site and figure out where you want the water (rain) to go, it's all downhill from there. (that is if you want pervious pavement and rain gardens on ever block like portland).
plan for growth, but start small.
make sure to reserve plenty of parkland and greenbelts (along the streams and tops of ridges are good places for these recreation/natural areas).
don't worry about parking or traffic, but design for pedestrians and bicycles first, then figure out the transit system second.
look at lots of precedents of cities you've admired and enjoyed- overlay plans of these places onto the site to figure out the rough urban fabric, then modify to fit the local specifics.
take the time to analyze the site for cultural features, ecological features, climate features, geological features, views, constraints and opportunities. don't ignore the analysis.
have a town center or two.
take advantage of the ocean/beach with a public promenade (but allow a few, just a few, areas of development on the sand/cliff edge).
plan for mixed use and variety.
orient the streets for daylighting and solar energy by facing south.
create a large central park (big enough for a zoo) and cultural district.
involve the public with meetings before you start, as you're designing, and after you finish. (you can ignore the wackier ideas, but be prepared to defend the rationale).
thanks Barry. Much of the process has already begun from the public meetings to the design of the road and drainage layout and details. But that said there is still loads to do like overlays of the masterplan including options for growth and development. Once I get the okay I'll post the masterplan
So I'm a bit slow and just recently discovered that this thread existed (I think it was started when I was moving) but I thought I might chime in....
One of the things I've been obsessing over in my head for a while now is easily maintainable yet attractive infrastructure. If I built a city from scratch, I'd make it a priority to design a system of getting utilities to residents without stretching nasty-looking power lines over streets, and without the need for construction crews digging up pavement every 6 months somewhere. I'm convinced that there is a better way to lay streets down......pre-cast panels on a giant framing system, with berms for absorbing run-off? Maybe? I realize that in many places streets developed organically and not a lot of thought was given to how they were built. But we don't have any excuses for letting this happen anymore.
I agree that creating easily accessible underground utilities is critical, but costly. Many older cities are using sewer tunnels (especially if the city switched from combined sanitary and storm sewers to dedicated pipes) for routing fiber, electrical, and other new utilities. NYC has a dedicated duct system that they rent portions of to each utility to keep the underground chaos down and limit the overhead spaghetti.
Part of the challenge for a-philia is the seismic/volcanic activity of his island may reduce the mandate to build for longterm maintenance, especially underground.
Thanks for bumping this architechno - I forgot about this thread, but I had a recent trip to a newly designed/built town which might be relevant here. Its called Heyri and its right by the DMZ between South and North Korea, the most dangerous border in the world.
All streets need to have pervious paving, and they follow the natural topography (so no arbitrary grid here). There are no sidewalks, but it is clear that the streets are primarily for pedestrians/bikes, and for cars as a secondary use. Every single building must be unique and there is no paint allowed on the exterior. Interestingly, aging of materials is very important, and at the same time they consider ecological longevity and sustainability over architectural longevity. The buildings must be mixed-use and 60% (!!!) must be for cultural use open to the public.
It is a bit extreme, but there are some really interesting results. I felt like a kid in a candy store because of the amount of great buildings. I will post pics once I get a flikr account but I'm sure plenty can be found on the internet and I believe Architectural Record had an article about this, although it might've been a single building in this amazing village.
Personal and loosely related to my education. I definitely recommend a trip to Heyri although most people won't have a reason to visit Korea let alone a town near the DMZ. I split my time between Japan and Korea and I took a boat to Japan so it was worth it for me.
Here is a picture of one of my favorite buildings there:
I finally got around to creating a flickr account and uploading the pictures, but then realized that there were far better pictures already posted on flickr. I have an account under "philarch" (How original) but really you can find much better pictures by looking up the tags "architecture" and "heyri."
Something that I didn't mention before is that the "village" does not have buildings over three stories. But interestingly, they do not have a limit on the height of the buildings or a strict guideline of what can count as a floor, so there are very creative solutions. Reminds me of some of Leon Krier's logic.
fyi - I'll be posting an image of the masterplan sometime next week. I don't have approval but f'it!
WK and others - so far the infrastructure is going to be all underground, there is unfortunately some nasty inverted trapezoidal drains that are going to be exposed running parallel to the site boundaries about 500 m apart - but we are trying to place them under the roadway...fingers crossed.
There is just something wonderful about watching a movie outdoors on a warm summer evening with a glass of wine or hooch....being bathed in starlite while the stars do their thing...
this is only one perspective, but i recently stumble across an urban manifesto and thought i'd share. by their logic munich is the world's most liveable city right now
networks of appropriate scaled spaces, ranging from the intimate to the great, connecting and interrelated diverse programs... organized by and organizing lines of infrastructure :)
Between 1995 and 1997the Soufriere Hills volcano in southern Montserrat destroyed the capital town, Plymouth. As a result the island lost its administrative, business, cultural and social centre and much of the private sector activity that contributed to the GDP ceased. The volcano also resulted in a substantial loss of population and decline in all sectors of the economy.
Since the late 1990s the Government of Montserrat and its people have been rebuilding their lives in the northern part of the island. The proposed development of new capital town at Little Bay is a key part of this process. It will be an important focus for stimulating private sector led economic development, re-establishing an administrative centre and re-generating cultural and social life. The Little Bay Development Project will provide basic infrastructure investment to develop this new urban centre for Montserrat.
Archi.....be sure to establish a historic district in your new town....might want to start off with one right away, so everyone
is required to document the buildings from the get go so when everything is over 50 years old you have a top notch set of record for future generations.....oh and from what you mentioned earlier you might want to keep a copy of those records off island.....just in case
you have a major wind, a major fire, a major hurricane.
that's a bloody good idea, it could be a great living archive or pdf drawings and original photographs. We actually will have a pseudo-historic town as much of the aesthetic of the town's buildings will be influenced by the design codes
presentation of the Master Plan to the Royal couple His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall (Chuck and Camilla, tu yuz) this weekend.
New City Wishlist
protection OF and design with
In addition to the above mentioned recipes, is not the ultimate (and unattainable) goal of a new city/ society simply to be content and happy? This interesting article highlights our existing capitalistic societies happiness requirements….although this appears to reflect the desires of mature adults, with no account for teenage / college year angst. There’s also the fact thaat some people simply are simply not happy unless they are miserable.
-a structure that would provide a "safe haven" for pizza-delivery drivers who are on the clock but seriously stressed out and in need of a couple minutes to chill without fear of reprisal.
I'm still laughing dammson, for many reasons - one of which is that we don't have a pizza parlour that delivers...
a neighborhood bar/coffee shop/book store/ice cream parlor on every corner!
Great article Bula! For me, a city needs to have more neighborhood mixed use with parks small enough to attract friends and neighbors, not just the people who have no space to have a family party. Oh ya, and be close to surf / skate / snow.
there's the Caribbean sea but no real surf to speak of, no skating and definately no snow
we DEFINITELY need robert mitchum:
a body of water
anything else anyone wants to see? Or know about the land?
yes robert mitchum is needed and the town can be called CaPeFeAr!
So officially I start working tomorrow.
One of the big tastes asside from digitising and developing the masterplan layout will be to create interview questions for possible companies interested in developing in the town. Asside from asking them trick questions (do you like faux finishes? McMansions?) what should I try and find out about them?
I would be sure to have them provide you with a complete financial background. If they are from the USA, be sure to ask them if they have any Federal or State Back Taxes. It is something you most likely want to check out anyhow, but the question is always an eye opener, that you will be doing qualified background financials on who ever your in bed with.
snooker thanks - I've been so caught up with the usual questions (type of development, likely spatial requirements, parking etc)
a-techno:GOOD LUCK!!!!
start with the site and figure out where you want the water (rain) to go, it's all downhill from there. (that is if you want pervious pavement and rain gardens on ever block like portland).
plan for growth, but start small.
make sure to reserve plenty of parkland and greenbelts (along the streams and tops of ridges are good places for these recreation/natural areas).
don't worry about parking or traffic, but design for pedestrians and bicycles first, then figure out the transit system second.
look at lots of precedents of cities you've admired and enjoyed- overlay plans of these places onto the site to figure out the rough urban fabric, then modify to fit the local specifics.
take the time to analyze the site for cultural features, ecological features, climate features, geological features, views, constraints and opportunities. don't ignore the analysis.
have a town center or two.
take advantage of the ocean/beach with a public promenade (but allow a few, just a few, areas of development on the sand/cliff edge).
plan for mixed use and variety.
orient the streets for daylighting and solar energy by facing south.
create a large central park (big enough for a zoo) and cultural district.
involve the public with meetings before you start, as you're designing, and after you finish. (you can ignore the wackier ideas, but be prepared to defend the rationale).
be bold.
be ecological.
create the first eco-city in the western hemisphere.
follow Balmori's Land Code.
Try to get an inside scoop on the Sustainable Sites Initiative (I may be able to help).
refer to LEED-ND but strive for better.
work with an integrated multi-disciplinary team with as many different disciplines as you can afford.
thanks Barry. Much of the process has already begun from the public meetings to the design of the road and drainage layout and details. But that said there is still loads to do like overlays of the masterplan including options for growth and development. Once I get the okay I'll post the masterplan
So I'm a bit slow and just recently discovered that this thread existed (I think it was started when I was moving) but I thought I might chime in....
One of the things I've been obsessing over in my head for a while now is easily maintainable yet attractive infrastructure. If I built a city from scratch, I'd make it a priority to design a system of getting utilities to residents without stretching nasty-looking power lines over streets, and without the need for construction crews digging up pavement every 6 months somewhere. I'm convinced that there is a better way to lay streets down......pre-cast panels on a giant framing system, with berms for absorbing run-off? Maybe? I realize that in many places streets developed organically and not a lot of thought was given to how they were built. But we don't have any excuses for letting this happen anymore.
berms are bumps, swales are ditches :-)
I agree that creating easily accessible underground utilities is critical, but costly. Many older cities are using sewer tunnels (especially if the city switched from combined sanitary and storm sewers to dedicated pipes) for routing fiber, electrical, and other new utilities. NYC has a dedicated duct system that they rent portions of to each utility to keep the underground chaos down and limit the overhead spaghetti.
Part of the challenge for a-philia is the seismic/volcanic activity of his island may reduce the mandate to build for longterm maintenance, especially underground.
Thanks for bumping this architechno - I forgot about this thread, but I had a recent trip to a newly designed/built town which might be relevant here. Its called Heyri and its right by the DMZ between South and North Korea, the most dangerous border in the world.
All streets need to have pervious paving, and they follow the natural topography (so no arbitrary grid here). There are no sidewalks, but it is clear that the streets are primarily for pedestrians/bikes, and for cars as a secondary use. Every single building must be unique and there is no paint allowed on the exterior. Interestingly, aging of materials is very important, and at the same time they consider ecological longevity and sustainability over architectural longevity. The buildings must be mixed-use and 60% (!!!) must be for cultural use open to the public.
It is a bit extreme, but there are some really interesting results. I felt like a kid in a candy store because of the amount of great buildings. I will post pics once I get a flikr account but I'm sure plenty can be found on the internet and I believe Architectural Record had an article about this, although it might've been a single building in this amazing village.
Philarch.....wow! That sounds pretty amazing. Was this on a personal trip or business? Or school? That area of the world fascinates me.....
Personal and loosely related to my education. I definitely recommend a trip to Heyri although most people won't have a reason to visit Korea let alone a town near the DMZ. I split my time between Japan and Korea and I took a boat to Japan so it was worth it for me.
Here is a picture of one of my favorite buildings there:
philarch, do let us know when you get that flickr account up and running. i'd love to see some more of these buildings/heyri.
philarch- great precedent and case study. here's a map:
just did a google search for 'heyri'
I finally got around to creating a flickr account and uploading the pictures, but then realized that there were far better pictures already posted on flickr. I have an account under "philarch" (How original) but really you can find much better pictures by looking up the tags "architecture" and "heyri."
Something that I didn't mention before is that the "village" does not have buildings over three stories. But interestingly, they do not have a limit on the height of the buildings or a strict guideline of what can count as a floor, so there are very creative solutions. Reminds me of some of Leon Krier's logic.
Treekiller - BTW, the map you posted is an older one, and I have a newer one that shows many more buildings.
There are some streets now that feel almost "urban". Its a very strange and unique place, I can't get it out of my head.
fyi - I'll be posting an image of the masterplan sometime next week. I don't have approval but f'it!
WK and others - so far the infrastructure is going to be all underground, there is unfortunately some nasty inverted trapezoidal drains that are going to be exposed running parallel to the site boundaries about 500 m apart - but we are trying to place them under the roadway...fingers crossed.
a-techno-
does it have a drive-in movie? ok, or a bike-in movie? maybe just a outdoor movie-on-the-beach like they do at waikiki?
no drive in - but there is a movie club in the size of a cinema...weird I know but true
There is just something wonderful about watching a movie outdoors on a warm summer evening with a glass of wine or hooch....being bathed in starlite while the stars do their thing...
Finally presenting the concept Masterplan tomorrow
2 presentations for 100 stakeholders and a couple round of beers after
good luck!
this is only one perspective, but i recently stumble across an urban manifesto and thought i'd share. by their logic munich is the world's most liveable city right now
networks of appropriate scaled spaces, ranging from the intimate to the great, connecting and interrelated diverse programs... organized by and organizing lines of infrastructure :)
more images of the new site for the town centre in Montserrat
Between 1995 and 1997 the Soufriere Hills volcano in southern Montserrat destroyed the capital town, Plymouth. As a result the island lost its administrative, business, cultural and social centre and much of the private sector activity that contributed to the GDP ceased. The volcano also resulted in a substantial loss of population and decline in all sectors of the economy.
Since the late 1990s the Government of Montserrat and its people have been rebuilding their lives in the northern part of the island. The proposed development of new capital town at Little Bay is a key part of this process. It will be an important focus for stimulating private sector led economic development, re-establishing an administrative centre and re-generating cultural and social life. The Little Bay Development Project will provide basic infrastructure investment to develop this new urban centre for Montserrat.
Archi.....be sure to establish a historic district in your new town....might want to start off with one right away, so everyone
is required to document the buildings from the get go so when everything is over 50 years old you have a top notch set of record for future generations.....oh and from what you mentioned earlier you might want to keep a copy of those records off island.....just in case
you have a major wind, a major fire, a major hurricane.
that's a bloody good idea, it could be a great living archive or pdf drawings and original photographs. We actually will have a pseudo-historic town as much of the aesthetic of the town's buildings will be influenced by the design codes
with inclusion about the new town
presentation of the Master Plan to the Royal couple His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall (Chuck and Camilla, tu yuz) this weekend.
will you be wearing bermuda shorts?
no I'll likely be wearing this
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.