I like the 1st post - Vancouver. Looks like a dream city. Id like to see my own flat city have some backdrop, say a chicago with Denver's mountain range behind it. As it stands we have Iowa.
i'd mash up detroit, michigan with about an additional million people...say about 250,000 ambitious immigrants each asia, south america, europe & africa.
i'd mash up barcelona with salt lake city. the great salt lake would be replaced with lake michigan, and there would be an austin, tx district and a wicker park district. also, as a nod to puddles, there would be an eastern market between the two.
i'd mash up barcelona with salt lake city. the great salt lake would be replaced with lake michigan, and there would be an austin, tx district and a wicker park district. also, as a nod to puddles, there would be an eastern market between the two.
I think I'd take Portland, Prague, Edinburgh, my home town of Cincinnati, and a pinch of Barcelona and mash them all up together. The final product would have to have at least half the city with a Scottish brogue. If I had my dithers it would be the half of the city that consisted of eligible bachelors, LOL. Edinburgh would also donate that castle-on-a-hill thing, as well as a regular occurance of random bagpipes, and the Firth of Forth Bridge. Prague would donate its historical buildings. Barcelona would give the Sagrada Familia and some other Gaudi structures. I would snatch the Cincinnati Reds and Skyline Chili. Portland would make up the rest.
OK so I'm being a bit greedy, but it's my city, so I can mash up whatever I want.
I'd take my hometown of Cincinnati as a starting point, and add:
Amsterdam's political leanings.
Vancouver BC's climate and mountain backdrop.
North Carolina's Blue Ridge Parkway in the mountains.
An ocean with nice beaches a boardwalk in the other direction.
The nice parts of Florida's A1A highway along the shoreline.
The Yale University campus.
France's high-speed rail system, with a hub at Union Terminal.
Washington DC's subway system.
Portland's streetcar system.
Some of Chicago's and NYC's skyscrapers to replace downtown parking lots and fill in the gaps in the skyline.
A few hundred buildings from NYC's Lower East Side to fill in the gaps in Over-the-Rhine and rebuild the West End.
Chicago's lakefront park system along one side of the Ohio River.
Philadelphia's Fairmount Park along the other side.
Chicago's deep-dish pizza.
London's pubs and accent.
Philadelphia's cheesteaks.
New York City's Cathedral of St. John the Divine on top of Mount Adams, surrounded by a maze of steep, medieval streets imported from England. (Mount Adams already has steep streets and a church on top, but this would be even cooler.)
"...Piranesi's truly unique urban paradigm -- a city "reenacting" itself through all its physical, sociopolitical, and even metaphysical layers -- may well become the most real urban paradigm of the next millennium."
"Here a Versailles, there a Versailles, everywhere a Versailles, sigh."
Neuschwanstein! Plus Las Vegas, Monte Carlo, Dubai, and Angkor Wat? You're all flash, aren't you?!? But isn't Atlantic City a bit of a has-been? What does AC have that Las Vegas doesn't?
I'm curiously awaiting David Byrne's progression from Jane Jacobs to urban emergence, now that he's made a point as to why the notion of heterotopia is really not that useful as we were lead to believe as students.
I have to second SLC. Recently spent some time there and was very impressed.
My mash up city would be total population of about 4 million tops but fairly compact and dense enough to support a good subway system, modeled after the DC Metro. It would be on a large body of water but have topography, i.e. more Duluth than Chicago, but not necessairly located on a great lake. The climate would have to have a good mix of hot summers and winters that were just cold enough to support snow for at least a month or two. Architecturally I'd like to see high rise offices similar to a Houston or Dallas but not so much high rise condos like a Miami or Vancouver. Housing would be low rise single and multi-family in walkable communities. City parks would be numerous but smaller while outside the city would be very large natural areas.
Sounds like Auckland, except Auckland has 1.3 million, no subway, and snow is about 4 hours away.
I like Auckland, but I would add 1 million people by taking pockets of density/intensity after Amsterdam, add an adequate public transport system and dedicated cycle ways, and wait for the inevitable cultural blossoming.
Your Ideal City mash up....
Great article by DAVID BYRNE in today's WSJ.
So what would be your ideal mash up city...
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203440104574403293064136098.html?mod=loomia&loomia_si=t0:a16:g12:r1:c0.211192:b27778496
I like the 1st post - Vancouver. Looks like a dream city. Id like to see my own flat city have some backdrop, say a chicago with Denver's mountain range behind it. As it stands we have Iowa.
i'd mash up detroit, michigan with about an additional million people...say about 250,000 ambitious immigrants each asia, south america, europe & africa.
i'd mash up barcelona with salt lake city. the great salt lake would be replaced with lake michigan, and there would be an austin, tx district and a wicker park district. also, as a nod to puddles, there would be an eastern market between the two.
i'd mash up barcelona with salt lake city. the great salt lake would be replaced with lake michigan, and there would be an austin, tx district and a wicker park district. also, as a nod to puddles, there would be an eastern market between the two.
+
OOh great article. Great thread!
I think I'd take Portland, Prague, Edinburgh, my home town of Cincinnati, and a pinch of Barcelona and mash them all up together. The final product would have to have at least half the city with a Scottish brogue. If I had my dithers it would be the half of the city that consisted of eligible bachelors, LOL. Edinburgh would also donate that castle-on-a-hill thing, as well as a regular occurance of random bagpipes, and the Firth of Forth Bridge. Prague would donate its historical buildings. Barcelona would give the Sagrada Familia and some other Gaudi structures. I would snatch the Cincinnati Reds and Skyline Chili. Portland would make up the rest.
OK so I'm being a bit greedy, but it's my city, so I can mash up whatever I want.
I'd take my hometown of Cincinnati as a starting point, and add:
Amsterdam's political leanings.
Vancouver BC's climate and mountain backdrop.
North Carolina's Blue Ridge Parkway in the mountains.
An ocean with nice beaches a boardwalk in the other direction.
The nice parts of Florida's A1A highway along the shoreline.
The Yale University campus.
France's high-speed rail system, with a hub at Union Terminal.
Washington DC's subway system.
Portland's streetcar system.
Some of Chicago's and NYC's skyscrapers to replace downtown parking lots and fill in the gaps in the skyline.
A few hundred buildings from NYC's Lower East Side to fill in the gaps in Over-the-Rhine and rebuild the West End.
Chicago's lakefront park system along one side of the Ohio River.
Philadelphia's Fairmount Park along the other side.
Chicago's deep-dish pizza.
London's pubs and accent.
Philadelphia's cheesteaks.
New York City's Cathedral of St. John the Divine on top of Mount Adams, surrounded by a maze of steep, medieval streets imported from England. (Mount Adams already has steep streets and a church on top, but this would be even cooler.)
well that's silly. that would never happen.
"...Piranesi's truly unique urban paradigm -- a city "reenacting" itself through all its physical, sociopolitical, and even metaphysical layers -- may well become the most real urban paradigm of the next millennium."
"Here a Versailles, there a Versailles, everywhere a Versailles, sigh."
"Pilgimage, Reenactment and Tourism"
Ichnogrphia Quondam
Neuschwanstein + Las Vegas + Atlantic City + an Indian Reservation + Monte Carlo + Dubai + Angkor Wat + Pompei = "My kind of town."
Neuschwanstein! Plus Las Vegas, Monte Carlo, Dubai, and Angkor Wat? You're all flash, aren't you?!? But isn't Atlantic City a bit of a has-been? What does AC have that Las Vegas doesn't?
I'm curiously awaiting David Byrne's progression from Jane Jacobs to urban emergence, now that he's made a point as to why the notion of heterotopia is really not that useful as we were lead to believe as students.
Rotterdam, New Orleans and Venice.
i'll be a little less ambitious, in hopes that something like it could happen someday: louisville/rotterdam, please!
forthcuming:
Dick Hertz, All Flash Urbanism (Squirtsville: DizzKnee Pubs., 2345), 6789 pages.
Atlantic City, Angkor Wat, Pompei all has-beens.
EKDD, all wanna-a-be.
Thanks for inspiring a new working title: The Satire Escapes Her.
I love it when he watches Namaste America on Saturday mornings, and he had no idea I could dance just like them. Later, popcorn and The Informant.
my ideal city is the world I live in not perfect, but you are able to see the opportunities from hills so high to valleys deep.
I have to second SLC. Recently spent some time there and was very impressed.
My mash up city would be total population of about 4 million tops but fairly compact and dense enough to support a good subway system, modeled after the DC Metro. It would be on a large body of water but have topography, i.e. more Duluth than Chicago, but not necessairly located on a great lake. The climate would have to have a good mix of hot summers and winters that were just cold enough to support snow for at least a month or two. Architecturally I'd like to see high rise offices similar to a Houston or Dallas but not so much high rise condos like a Miami or Vancouver. Housing would be low rise single and multi-family in walkable communities. City parks would be numerous but smaller while outside the city would be very large natural areas.
Aquapura,
Sounds like Auckland, except Auckland has 1.3 million, no subway, and snow is about 4 hours away.
I like Auckland, but I would add 1 million people by taking pockets of density/intensity after Amsterdam, add an adequate public transport system and dedicated cycle ways, and wait for the inevitable cultural blossoming.
Hong Kong Skyline + Edinburgh topography + Cincinnati Pre-1940's culture (when Over-The-Rhine was in its hay day) + Las Vegas + Maui's beaches
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